#'you have to be fed the vampire's blood' - Mina)

[marypsue]

You know, for years I've been thinking "the whole half-vampire situation and 'kill the head vampire and free any half-vampires' thing in The Lost Boys is so unique, I've never seen that particular approach to vampire turning in any other vampire story, and it really fits the story well, I wonder how they came up with it" and.

It's Dracula. It's literally just what happens in Dracula. Michael Emerson and Mina Harker 'having to kill the master vampire whose blood (which you ingested) is slowly turning you into a creature of the night in order to become human again' handshake meme.

[butchyeons]

give and take

jeongmi but make mina a vampire. they have a deal where when mina needs blood, jeongyeon gets to smash. also they love each other but it’ll never get to really happen bc yknow… mina’s dead or whatever. i <3 subby vampires and i esp <3 subby vampire mina! hope y’all enjoy :3

read on ao3

warnings/tags: vampires, vampire sex, light bdsm (i think), handcuffs, strap-ons, blood, blood drinking, light angst

minors dni

———

Mina was dying.

At least, she certainly felt like she was. As much as an undead person possibly could, anyways.

She almost couldn’t remember the last meal she had. Her head pounded, her body was half limp. She locked herself in her dorm, holing herself up to prevent herself from jumping on the next person she saw. Her fangs angrily protruded from her gums as she laid in her bed, tossing and turning, trying to fight off the voice of her vampiric side screaming at her to feed.

She doesn’t often let this happen- but she’s been busy. It’s the end of the year, and her classes were piling up. She hadn’t had time to go hunting, instead being forced to finish her homework and study for her finals. And right now she was too scared to ask anyone for help- she messed up with Sana, and even though Sana assured her it was fine, she didn’t trust herself to reach out to the others.

But she really couldn’t ignore it any longer. She only had one option.

Hesitantly, she pulled her phone out. She opened her messages and scrolled down until she found the exact name she was looking for.

MN 🐧

Hey, are you at your apartment? It’s an emergency.

Almost immediately she received a reply.

JY 🐶

yeah. you ok?

MN 🐧

Hungry. Please, I need your help.

A moment passed before Jeongyeon replied again.

JY 🐶

alright, come over whenever you’re ready.

An hour passed and Mina found herself nearly banging on the door to Jeongyeon’s apartment. After a minute, Jeongyeon answered the door, wordlessly inviting the anxious girl inside. Mina pushed past Jeongyeon, quickly taking her shoes off, before heading directly to Jeongyeon’s bedroom. Jeongyeon couldn’t help but roll her eyes, following behind her. Mina was standing at the end of the bed, her fists balled at her sides, biting her lip between her front teeth. Her fangs were still protracted- a clear sign that the poor girl was hungry, desperate.

Jeongyeon leaned against her doorframe, looking at the vampire with pity.

“A hello would’ve been nice.”

Mina looked up, a sullen expression.

“Hi.”

Jeongyeon finally moved into the room, walking over to Mina and cupping her cheek. Mina gulped, almost wanting to shy away from Jeongyeon’s touch. She could practically hear the blood running through the veins in older girl’s arm, could already even smell it.

“You know how this goes, Minari.” Jeongyeon said, her voice low.

“J-Just this once, Jeong… Make it easy, please.” Mina whispered, locking eyes with her friend.

Jeongyeon just tutted, slightly annoyed, running her thumb back and forth against Mina’s cold cheek.

“When’s the last time you fed?” She asked, ignoring Mina’s plea.

“Three days ago.” Mina answered.

Jeongyeon raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t like Mina to go that long without at least a snack- she often frequented the woods on the outskirts of their college, preying on any small animals she could find before she could get a real fix.

“Did something happen?” Jeongyeon asked, genuinely concerned.

Mina mashed her lips together.

“Haven’t had time. But… I fed off of Sana last week and… It got pretty messy.” She answered, looking down at the ground.

Ah. She had scared herself.

“She’s fine.” Mina quickly reassured. “Just… Needs more time to rest.”

It wasn’t the first time Mina had messed up during a feeding. The other girls tried to be gracious and understanding with her, always helped when they could. When she first got turned, they all often volunteered to feed her- until she got too excited and nearly killed Dahyun. None of them really spoke about it, but some of the others became a lot more distant. Dahyun was hardly ever around, and Tzuyu and Chaeyoung started to avoid her like the plague. It caused a rift, and it ruined Mina for months.

Jeongyeon knew how badly it ate at her friend. Mina was sweet, caring, and shy. She took things a lot harder than the others. It was unfortunate that out of everyone in their friend group, she ended up being the one to get turned.

However, Jeongyeon used the opportunity to set up a deal with her. Mina would feed, so long as Jeongyeon could have her way with her. There was a boundary set that made sure Jeongyeon was always safe. And really, she always had a soft spot for Mina- feelings that were much deeper than just platonic. Their deal was unfortunately the only way Jeongyeon could ever be with Mina like that now that she was a vampire. Jeongyeon loved her dearly, always had, but the two of them could never really be together now.

But, despite Mina feeling the same way, she only typically resorted to Jeongyeon if all else had failed because she knew the older girl was not letting her get her way so easily.

“Did you ask the others?” Jeongyeon asked as she stepped away, moving to her closet and squatting down to search for something.

Mina hummed.

“No. I… I don’t know if I can trust myself with them right now.” She replied.

Jeongyeon looked back over her shoulder as she rifled through some of the boxes on the floor, her expression curious.

“And what makes me any different?” She asked, finally grabbing the box she was looking for.

Mina stepped over towards her. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, her fangs glistening in the light. She took a deep breath before answering.

“Because you’re the one in control.”

Jeongyeon smirked as she stood back up, holding the box in her hands. She moved back over to the bed, setting it down and taking the lid off. Inside was her collection of toys- several dildos of all different shapes and sizes, a few vibrators, a blindfold, handcuffs, and most importantly, her harness.

“Pick the one you want, and I’ll give you a taste.” Jeongyeon said bluntly.

Mina nodded reluctantly. She knew this was inevitable. Where everyone else let her freely feed, sometimes a bit too freely, Jeongyeon was different. She had to be the one in charge, the one who took and gave. Secretly, Mina loved it- Jeongyeon’s blood was to die for, sweet but not overwhelming. And Jeongyeon was… well, an amazing lover, to say the least.

But right now, at that moment, Mina was desperate- she was starving.

And still Jeongyeon seemingly couldn’t care less. If Mina took from her, she would take something right back- that’s how it always went. It kept Mina in check, prevented her from going too far. It was good, Mina told herself, to have someone else in control for once. It helped her not think so much about everything. Sure, she needed to feed- and soon. But… she really needed to be brainless and broken more than anything else. It was good to have someone take care of her for a bit, to use her.

Mina walked over to the bed, looking down at her options. She eyed the different toys before settling on one of the… tamer ones, a smaller purple dildo- around 6 inches- that only slightly curved up towards the end. Jeongyeon chuckled.

“You sure you don’t want your favorite?” She teased, eyeing the one Mina normally asked for- the thick, 8 inch realistic one that matched Jeongyeon’s skin tone a bit too perfectly.

Mina pursed her lips the best she could, her fangs digging in slightly. She shook her head.

“Not tonight…”

Jeongyeon hummed and nodded. She grabbed the toy, her harness, and, much to Mina’s dismay, the handcuffs. Mina pouted.

“Really?” She asked.

Jeongyeon smirked.

“I can’t remember the last time you’ve been this desperate, Minari.” She replied, moving to return the box to its proper home in the closet. “At least let me have some fun.”

Mina rolled her eyes as Jeongyeon walked back, trying to ignore how her body was practically screaming at her with hunger. It was taking everything in her to not jump on the older girl, to sink her fangs directly into Jeongyeon’s neck and just take it-

Jeongyeon held up her wrist to Mina.

“Go on, baby. I promised you a taste.”

Mina moves slightly closer, shakily taking Jeongyeon’s forearm in her hands. She looks up at the other girl, her expression asking if it was okay. Jeongyeon just nods, moving her wrist slightly closer to Mina’s face. Mina practically salivates as she stares at the most prominent vein on Jeongyeon’s wrist. She needed this so badly, her head nearly spun.

She kept her eyes locked on Jeongyeon’s as she pulled her wrist towards her mouth. Gently, she pressed her fangs against Jeongyeon’s skin, still hesitant. Jeongyeon only looked back and nodded, smiling softly.

“I trust you, Minari.”

No matter how rough Jeongyeon was going to be with her after this, and as much as she wanted to show she didn’t care, she was still Mina’s big softie.

Gently, Mina sunk her fangs down, breaking the skin of Jeongyeon’s wrist. Jeongyeon’s breath hitched, her eyes fluttering closed. Mina began to feed, still doing her absolute best to contain herself, as she drank Jeongyeon’s sweet blood directly from the source. Mina couldn’t help the groan that escaped her throat, her hunger finally somewhat satiated. Jeongyeon hummed, her eyes still closed.

“Do I taste good?” She asked, a smirk on her lips.

Mina rolled her eyes- of course Jeongyeon was using the opportunity to stroke her ego- but did her best to nod, not wanting to jostle her fangs too much and cause Jeongyeon any serious pain. She felt like she was in heaven, her eyes finally closing as she sucked away. Her body relaxed, and her mind started to get foggy- almost as if she was drunk on Jeongyeon’s blood.

But right as she was just starting to feel better, Jeongyeon pulled her wrist away. Mina’s eyes flew open, and she let out a whine. Quickly, Jeongyeon’s other hand met her throat, squeezing tight enough to cut off her air.

“You’ve had more than enough, Minari. It’s time for you to hold up your end of the deal.”

Mina whimpered, her head fuzzy from the lack of oxygen mixed with the euphoria of getting to feed. Jeongyeon loosened her grip, and Mina gasped for air. Jeongyeon moved her hand away, cupping her cheek. Her thumb swiped across Mina’s now blood-stained lips before dipping inside. Mina eagerly sucked, running her tongue across the tip of it. Jeongyeon huffed, amused.

“So desperate, baby. You’re so easy to work up.”

Mina just nodded weakly. Her legs felt wobbly, and her head was nearly spinning. She was still hungry, especially now that she could smell the blood that was dripping from Jeongyeon’s wrist. But a part of her dripped too- she could feel the arousal that pooled at her core, the wetness even more apparent when she shifted her weight onto her other leg. She let out a small whine, finally releasing Jeongyeon’s thumb.

“P-Please, Jeongyeon. Need you. Need all of you.” She whimpered out.

Jeongyeon smirked.

“Get on the bed.”

Quickly Mina complied. Both of them undressed, Mina haphazardly tossing her clothes to the side as she crawled onto the bed. She sat and watched as Jeongyeon took her time, deliberately prolonging Mina’s wait. Mina fidgeted as she watched Jeongyeon’s little show- her mind completely enthralled by it all. After what felt like an eternity, Jeongyeon finally pulled her shirt and sports bra over her head, leaving herself in just her underwear. But those, too, were removed as she stepped into her harness and pulled it up. She walked over to the bed and grabbed the handcuffs first. Mina whined as Jeongyeon moved to stand beside her.

“Do we really have to do this?” She asked, her voice meek.

Jeongyeon reached her hand out for Mina’s wrist. Mina complied, pouting as Jeongyeon attached one of the cuffs to her hand and the other to one of the metal poles of the headboard. Jeongyeon leaned down, her mouth close to Mina’s ear.

“I can tell that the moment I let my guard down, you’d devour me.” She whispered, her voice low. “I know that once we get started, you’ll get more frenzied. And although I trust you, it’s just a precaution.”

Jeongyeon grinned.

“Plus you look hot like this.”

Mina blushed and pouted, feeling a little embarrassed as she looked down.

“Fine…”

Jeongyeon leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of Mina’s head.

“You can have as much as you need once I finish, I promise.” She whispered.

Mina nodded, smiling weakly.

“Usually I’m too tired after you’re done with me, anyways…”

Jeongyeon chuckled.

“That’s kinda the whole point, Minari.”

Jeongyeon gave Mina another kiss before she leaned back up. She gave her wrist to Mina again, letting the vampire have a last few licks- Jeongyeon was mean but not mean enough to make Mina pass out from hunger- before she moved to settle between Mina’s legs. Mina parted them immediately, a blush creeping up on her pale cheeks as Jeongyeon examined her. The human propped herself up on one arm, using her other hand to gently run her fingers through Mina’s slick folds. The vampire couldn’t help but let out a whimper as she felt Jeongyeon’s index finger circling her clit.

“So wet for me already.” Jeongyeon cooed. She moved to lay down, her face hovering right above Mina’s core. “I need a taste.”

Mina whimpered but nodded eagerly, her eyes squeezed shut. Jeongyeon pressed a kiss to her mound before moving down, licking a broad stripe before sucking Mina’s clit into her mouth. The vampire moaned, her head rolling onto her shoulder. She nearly bit at her own skin, unable to hold back the sounds she made as Jeongyeon worked at her.

If Mina’s head wasn’t swimming before, it certainly was now. Between the sensation of Jeongyeon between her legs, her hunger, and the smell of Jeongyeon’s blood, she felt absolutely ravenous. It was torture in the best way possible.

“Jeongyeonie…” Mina groaned out. “Need you… Please…”

Jeongyeon looked up, her lips still attached to Mina’s clit. She pulled away for a moment, replacing her lips with a finger, lightly rubbing over the bundle of nerves- the pressure was too light for Mina to get off, but enough to tease her. Mina hissed, which made Jeongyeon chuckle.

“Need me to do what?” She asked coyly. “Use your words, baby.”

Mina whimpered, baring her fangs.

“Need to drink…”

Jeongyeon hummed, taking her fingers away. Mina let out a whine, but Jeongyeon shifted up onto her knees. Mina looked at her frustratedly, but something darker flashed across Jeongyeon’s face. Without a word, she held up the wrist that Mina had bitten, right in front of Mina’s face but just out of reach.

Mina’s breath hitched. She began to salivate instinctively, her pupils blown wide. She pulled at her restraint- her body was too weak to break free, and Jeongyeon knew that. Jeongyeon was toying with her.

“Need this?” Jeongyeon asked, smirking.

Mina hissed, unable to reply as her instincts fully took over. Jeongyeon leaned back, taking her arm away. Mina grunted.

“J-Jeongyeon…”

The older girl clicked her tongue, moving away. She got up and grabbed the dildo that Mina had picked out earlier and fastened it to her harness, giving it a few pumps to make sure it would stay. She crawled back onto the bed, pushing Mina’s legs apart with a smirk.

“You can have all of that and more once I’m finished playing with you.”

Mina gritted her teeth and nodded. She knew this was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier. But now on top of being hungry, she was turned on- painfully so. Jeongyeon gently adjusted Mina onto her back, her arm still being held to the headboard by the cuff.

“Is that okay? It doesn’t hurt much, does it?” She asked from above Mina, a worried expression.

Mina rolled her eyes and smiled. Jeongyeon really couldn’t keep up the tough act for very long.

“It’s fine, Jeong. Just fuck me so I can eat already.”

Jeongyeon nodded, moving to position herself between Mina’s legs. She rubbed the tip of her strap through Mina’s soaked core, earning a moan from the vampire. After teasing her a bit more, Jeongyeon gave in, finally sliding into Mina’s dripping hole. Mina let out a breathy moan, her jaw hanging slack. Jeongyeon plants her hands on either side of Mina’s shoulders before she bucks her hips, earning another moan.

“So fucking tight, Minari.” Jeongyeon whispers from above her. “Such a good girl for me.”

Mina bites her lip hard enough for her fangs to nearly break the skin. Her eyes have squeezed shut, her body trembling. She nods eagerly.

“J-Just for you, only you, Jeongyeon.”

The older girl lets out an amused huff, smiling down at the vampire.

“And so easy to break.”

She finally begins to thrust, moving at a pace she knows is agonizing for Mina- it’s pleasurable but it’s just not enough, and Mina needs more. She bends down and takes one of Mina’s nipples into her mouth, swirling her tongue around before biting gently.

Mina is truly beside herself at this point, all sense of shame out the window. She writhed around, the pleasure too much but not enough at the same time. Her hunger was insatiable- she could still smell Jeongyeon’s blood. Her fingers dug into the bedsheets as Jeongyeon switches to her other breast, repeating her actions, causing a hiss to rip itself from Mina’s throat. Her mind is practically gone, her vampiric instincts fighting to take over, screaming at her to just take it- to absolutely ravage Jeongyeon. She pulls against her handcuff again, but it’s useless- she’s trapped.

She’s brought back down to earth at a particularly rough thrust. Jeongyeon had propped herself back up on her hands, giving herself a better angle to work with. She rolled her hips roughly, causing Mina to moan out. She could feel Jeongyeon everywhere- her strap pressing directly against her most sensitive spot over and over. She gripped at the handcuff around her wrist, a tight coil in her stomach.

“Jeongyeon… I’m gonna-“

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before one last thrust directly against her g-spot sent her over the edge. But even though Mina wasn’t finished, Jeongyeon didn’t slow down.

“W-Wait-“ Mina tried to warn, her body trembling from overstimulation.

Jeongyeon clicked her tongue.

“I want two more.”

Mina whimpered, her body going limp as Jeongyeon continued to fuck her- to use her. Mina really couldn’t complain- after all, she wanted it just as bad as she wanted Jeongyeon’s blood. The system worked for a reason.

Jeongyeon repositioned herself so that Mina’s legs were over her shoulders, letting her thrusts get even harder, reaching impossibly deeper. Mina let herself go completely limp, the pleasure of it all overshadowing everything else.

Mina loved their deal. That’s the only thought she had in her now brainless mind.

“Come on baby, I know you can give me another.” Jeongyeon teased as she moved her hand down to rub at Mina’s clit.

Mina whimpered out, her hole clenching tightly around Jeongyeon’s strap. Her instincts kicked back in for a moment, and she tugged harshly at the handcuffs, hissing and baring her fangs. She was just so desperate- to finish and to feed. Jeongyeon didn’t care, continuing to pound into her at an animalistic pace, nearly pinching Mina’s clit between her knuckles. The vampire’s eyes screwed shut, and she moaned brokenly.

After a bit more, Mina’s second orgasm hit, and she writhed under Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon finally let her have a break, slowing down to a halt, her strap still buried deep inside the vampire. Jeongyeon adjusted Mina again, letting Mina’s legs fall back down and wrap around her waist, before leaning down so her face was above Mina’s.

“You look so pretty when you’re all fucked out, Minari.”

Mina finally opened her eyes, looking up at the smiling girl above her. Although Jeongyeon was sadistic, to say the least, she was still so… Jeongyeon. She was still so sweet despite what she wanted everyone else to think. Mina weakly reached her hand up to cup Jeongyeon’s cheek.

“Only for you.” She whispered. “No one else gets to do this to me. Just you, Jeongyeonie.”

This was the only real way the two of them could ever be together. They both knew it, accepted it a long time ago. But even in the middle of their roughest scenes, both of them couldn’t help but indulge in some of the softer things they both craved.

Jeongyeon leaned down and gently pressed her lips against Mina’s. Mina did her best to kiss back with her fangs getting in the way, but the kiss was soft, gentle. Both of them were savoring it. After a bit longer, Jeongyeon pulled away, breathless. Her cheeks were bright red, and Mina giggled softly at the sight.

“So cute.” She teased.

“Stop it…” Jeongyeon said, looking away with a pout.

“Can’t help it.” Mina took Jeongyeon’s chin in her hand and pulled her back to make eye contact. “The cutest girl I’ve never seen.”

Jeongyeon’s pout melted.

“I love you, Mina.” She whispered.

Mina smiled.

“I love you too, Jeongyeonie.”

Jeongyeon moved back down for another brief kiss. She shifted herself back up, pressing her hips firmly against Mina, reminding the vampire of the strap that was still nestled so deeply inside her. Mina let out a breathless whimper.

“One more.” Jeongyeon reminded. “For me, baby.”

Mina nodded eagerly. Jeongyeon took off again, fucking her deeply. Mina couldn’t help but bring her hand to the back of Jeongyeon’s neck, pulling the older girl in for a kiss. It was rough, and sloppy, Mina’s fangs nearly ripping Jeongyeon’s lips open- but it was perfect.

Shortly afterwards, Mina came one final time with Jeongyeon gently fucking her through it. After she relaxed, Jeongyeon pulled out, ridding herself of her harness before finally taking the handcuffs off Mina. Jeongyeon adjusted both of them so that Mina laid on her chest. They laid there together for a bit, just enjoying the moment with each other.

Mina was satiated by then. Her frenzy had gone away, but she still needed something. Her body was weak, but not in a good way. She slowly rose to look up at Jeongyeon.

“Jeong… Please…” She whimpered.

Jeongyeon reached up to swipe her thumb across Mina’s bottom lip.

“I know. Let me help.”

The two of them shifted around so that Mina was lying against the headboard among the pillows. She pulled Jeongyeon’s back against her front, wrapping her arms around the older girl’s waist. She pressed her nose into Jeongyeon’s neck, inhaling deeply- Jeongyeon’s blood smelled just as good as it tasted. She ran her tongue along the skin, causing Jeongyeon to shudder.

“Mina...” Jeongyeon whimpered.

Mina only nuzzled into Jeongyeon’s neck further.

“Shhh… Let me have this.” Mina spoke softly. “I never get to be with you like this anymore…”

Jeongyeon moved her head to the side, baring her neck to Mina. She closed her eyes and frowned, although Mina couldn’t see, her brows furrowed.

“I’m sorry, Mina. I wish things were different.”

Mina frowned too. She accepted a long time ago that her and Jeongyeon just weren’t meant to be.

“It’s okay. I’m happy I still get to have you sometimes, even if it’s just… Temporary.”

She grazed her fangs against Jeongyeon’s neck, earning another shudder. She paused, ready to sink them in, and looked up. Jeongyeon’s eyes were closed, but she nodded, giving Mina permission. At that, Mina sunk her fangs in, breaking the skin.

Jeongyeon nearly moaned, biting her bottom lip to hold the sound in. She could feel her body heating up at the sensation of Mina feeding from her- the feeling of the vampire’s lips and tongue on her sending a wave of pleasure straight to her core. Jeongyeon grabbed at the sheets, trying to ground herself, but it was no use. It felt so good when Mina drank from her. She couldn’t focus on anything other than the need between her thighs, how she was practically dripping onto the sheets.

Jeongyeon pressed her thighs together, letting out a tiny sound as her head got fuzzy- both from the blood loss and from just how turned on she was. The feeling, she guessed, was like being high. She almost never wanted it to end.

Mina continued to drink blissfully- her body had already long calmed down, and at this point she was just hungry. Jeongyeon’s blood was so delicious to her, and she nearly got lost in the moment when she registered a whimper from the older girl. Mina looked up, noticing the way Jeongyeon bit her lower lip. She could feel Jeongyeon’s body tensing, and her eyes trailed downwards- Jeongyeon was touching herself.

Mina couldn’t help but smirk. She moved one of her hands down from Jeongyeon’s waist, swatting away the other girl’s hand and replacing it with her own. Jeongyeon groaned, her head rolling back as Mina began to rub tight circles into her clit.

“Mina…” Jeongyeon groaned out, her voice deep.

Mina couldn’t really reply with her fangs still in Jeongyeon’s neck. She just hummed, applying more pressure to her movements as she drank. She knew Jeongyeon was already close based on how her body twitched, how warm she had gotten. Her jaw was locked tightly, her teeth gritted together as she made tiny noises of pleasure.

Mina loved it- she loved being able to have Jeongyeon just as needy as she was earlier. As much as Jeongyeon got to take from her, she could take right back. She knew she was the only one who got to do this to her- no one else got to see Jeongyeon a whimpering, needy mess but her. A major perk of their system, indeed.

After a bit longer, Mina finally finished and pulled off, feeling significantly better. She laved her tongue over the wounds on Jeongyeon’s neck, sealing them up. Jeongyeon whimpered brokenly beside her.

“Mina- Please… Harder…”

Mina wordlessly obliged, adding more pressure against Jeongyeon’s clit. And with a few more passes of her fingers across it, Jeongyeon came undone, whimpering as her orgasm washed through her. Mina pressed a few kisses to Jeongyeon’s jaw as she helped her through it, gently rubbing until Jeongyeon pushed her hand away. Mina helped Jeongyeon lay down on her back, the older girl nearly panting.

“Do you feel okay? Did I take too much?” Mina asked, worried.

Jeongyeon’s eyes were closed, her face scrunched up.

“Jus’ dizzy…” She replied. “Feels good, though…”

Mina leaned down to kiss her cheek, forgetting that her mouth was covered in blood. She accidentally smeared some on Jeongyeon’s cheek, and moved to rub it off with her finger. Jeongyeon whined.

“Did it get on me?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…”

Jeongyeon was half asleep at this point. Mina took that as her queue to leave. She gently got up from the bed and went to gather her clothes.

“What are you doing?” Jeongyeon asked.

Mina turned to look over at Jeongyeon, who was now propped up on one arm, a frown on her face.

“I…” Mina answered, her voice trailing off. “I’ll be going.”

Jeongyeon’s frown deepened.

“Stay…” She pleaded. “Please.”

Mina smiled softly. She just couldn’t resist her Jeongyeonie. She dropped her clothes and crawled into the bed with Jeongyeon, pulling the other girl on top of her. Jeongyeon latched onto her side, throwing her arm and leg across Mina, pinning the vampire down. Mina couldn’t help but laugh.

“Somebody’s needy…”

Jeongyeon whined.

“I missed you.”

Mina pressed a kiss to the top of Jeongyeon’s head.

“I missed you too. I think I always do.”

Both of them laid in silence. After a bit, Jeongyeon drifted off. Mina didn’t need to sleep anymore, so she stared at the ceiling, letting her mind wander. She can’t help but wonder what her and Jeongyeon could have been if she wasn’t turned. Even though they weren’t as close anymore, she still had so much love for her. Jeongyeon was always the sweetest to her, always took care of her. They could go for weeks without speaking but go back like nothing happened. She couldn’t remember the last time they got to see each other before then, but here they were, cuddled close as if they really were partners.

Deep down, a greedy part of her wanted to turn Jeongyeon. To have Jeongyeon to herself completely. But she really wouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy- she could never do that to Jeongyeon.

For now, she decides, this is enough. Their system is enough. Jeongyeon clinging to her for dear life while she sleeps after they both ruined each other is enough. Getting to hold her and taste her every once in a while is enough.

She wonders if Jeongyeon felt the same.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jeongyeon shifting slightly. Mina could get a clear view of the sleeping girl’s face, all relaxed. She couldn’t help but smile.

“I love you, Jeongyeonie.” She whispered.

There was a moment of silence. Mina closed her eyes.

“Love you too, Minari.” Jeongyeon answered.

That would always be enough.

[vickyvicarious]

Now that Dracula Daily is over, I decided to go through my copy of the novel (Norton critical edition) to look for interesting footnotes and read the various essays/etc. at the back.

Here's some of my favorite footnotes:

An enlarged thyroid gland resulting in a swollen neck; one symptom of iodine deficiency; particularly common in some mountainous regions; may cause brain damage.

—Page 15/May 5, after Jonathan mentions seeing a lot of people with 'goitre' as he is driven out of town and up towards Castle Dracula. Didn't notice this detail at all, but it plays around with possible signs of being fed upon, mundane medical causes, and also maybe an association with madness and superstition. A neat touch.

The word strange in late Victorian England was often suffused with homoerotic undercurrents.

—Page 30/May 7, after Jonathan says "It may be that this strange night-existance is telling on me". Did not know that 'strange' was apparently a gay word in a way 'queer' (or even 'gay') was not at the time. Gives that line a kind of different possible reading... and now I kind of want to search up where else in the text that word is used.

A port city in Yorkshire, on the North Sea coast of England; in the 1890s, a vacation resort where Bram Stoker spent many summers. Whitby's eerie charm is a good setting for the ensuing action. It shares the harsh beauty of nearby Bronte country; moreover, in Victorian England its best-known product was the black stone worn as part of the mourning costume - mourning stone, or jet - a local industry now displaced by Dracula tours.

—Page 63/July 24, after the location is mentioned. Love the detail about the mourning stones.

"Not only Mr. Swales' preoccupations, but even his name, associate him with living death. The English Dialect Dictionary (1898) provides a revealing North Yorkshire definition of the verb "swale": "to consume or waste away; to melt or gutter as a candle in a draught."

—Page 66/July 24, after Mr. Swales' big speech on death. I can't believe he was actually named "Mr. Is-Dying".

Seward distributes his medical reports profigately.

—Page 105/September 2, in response to the line: "I reminded her that a doctor's confidence was sacred;" - I'm just laughing at the snarky footnote here.

This is the first and last we hear of Van Helsing's third career (he is also a physician and a professor). Characteristically, he uses his legal expertise to circumvent the law.

—Page 148/September 20, after VH says he is a lawyer. Characteristically indeed, ahaha.

Various late Victorian tonics used the advertising slogan "The Blood is the Life." Renfield might be referring to Hughe's Blood Pills or Clarke's World-Famed Blood Mixture. Both claimed to vitalize the body by purifying the blood.

—Page 207/September 30, after Renfield tells Mina that he tried to kill Seward while inspired by the Biblical phrase 'the blood is the life': "'Though, indeed, the vendor of a certain nostrum has vulgarized the truism to the very point of contempt.'" I just never really put together that this quote had been used as an advertising slogan and it's making me crack up. Imagine your mental patient attacking you and slurping your blood off the floor, then shouting "Ba-da-da-da, I'm loving it!" while being dragged away. (I know that's not the most direct comparison but it's the one that popped into my head and it's very funny.)

Again, the British characters have more difficulty communicating with each other than with the Romanian vampire.

—Page 231/October 1, after Jonathan is misled by phonetic/dialectic spelling. Even the footnotes are getting fed up with this dialect nonsense, Bram.

[serial-serializednovelreader]

What's the first thing comes to mind when you think about them? -Jonathan Harker

Favorite canon thing about this character? -Van Helsing

Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves -Jonathan Harker

More asks yay!!!! I am going to get into some implied spoilers in this one; since you’re asking about Van Helsing, it sounds like you’ve read the book before! I’ll try to keep the spoilers implied, but I also have a spoiler-free ask here, if you haven’t read Dracula already!

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of them?

Jonathan Harker — bravery, love, and lizard fashion (yes I know, hear me out).

For bravery, I think of him trying to save a child, hitting Dracula with a shovel, and silently sharpening his knife.

For love, I think of “(Mem. get recipe for Mina)”, holding Mina closer when she cries and calls herself unclean, and his hair turning white.

For lizard fashion, I think of him looking down to prevent surprise/fear of the height later, straining to climb just a *little* more while gritting his teeth, and risking his life in hopes he could escape by imitating the monster who’s kept him prisoner.

Favorite canon thing about this character?

There are many things I love about Van Helsing, so I’ll give two: a serious and a funny thing.

Serious: That he’s not afraid to break down and be emotional, especially in front of other men. Most mentor characters, even in today’s age, are expected to be infallible and stoic. When things go wrong, they are impassive and continue on as if everything is normal. It’s refreshing to see him not be stoic when something terrible happens and instead cry it out — especially considering the conventions for men at the time. I know you didn’t ask this question, but this is also the scene that really made me love him!

Funny: Pulling Jack Seward’s ear “playfully” and making metaphors about corn is just a regular thing he does. IIRC, that’s like…the first in-person scene we get with Van Helsing (by which I mean he’s in-person with Jack and not writing a telegram/letter to him — I know everything in this book is a collection of letters/diary entries)? And he immediately owns the scene by calling Arthur “good corn” and then pulling on Jack’s ear when he doesn’t get the metaphor. It’s glorious, I love it!

Deepest darkest secret they won’t admit even to themselves?

I think, for a while, Jonathan is unable to admit to himself he was fed on by Dracula the night of June 29th. The evidence is all right there for him to see the next day when he sees Dracula bloated and blood coming out of his mouth, but…he doesn’t seem to register it. He doesn’t say anything of it, except he’s (understandably) disgusted, but also notes he doesn’t want “his own body” to be a “banquet” for the three vampire sisters — as if he wasn’t already one last night.

I think it’s understandable he doesn’t write it down. We know Jonathan doesn’t like to write about events he has no concrete evidence for and — well, he’d remember being fed on by a vampire, right? He remembered when the sisters were going to do it last time. But this is different. I believe the Count kept Jonathan asleep for the feeding (or wiped his memory of it) because he knows Jonathan has been acting “rebellious” lately and didn’t want him to rebel further, though it would’ve been difficult for him to with Dracula’s mind control on him. Perhaps Dracula just didn’t want to take any chances.

So if Jonathan can’t remember the event, he isn’t going to write it down. Plus, emotionally, it may be too overwhelming for him to write about in the moment. After all, he’s just tried to escape the castle several times before he wrote it and he’s about to try another escape attempt right after he finishes the entry, which may result in his death. In other words, his emotions are all over the place. We’ve always commended Jonathan on writing the hard truth — even when it’s difficult — but in this case, I think it’s a lot like Seward writing about Renfield, where he’s not even fully thinking of the idea to make it conscious. At this point, it’s more of a horrifying possibility he’s content to leave as an unconscious idea for the time being. Later, when Jonathan has processed this trauma, he’s able to understand he was fed on and can use that knowledge to his advantage! For now, he can’t admit this, even to himself. :(

Ask game here

[rallamajoop]

Hi! I was reading up your meta and I saw you mention you'll talk about "did Dracula feed on Jonathan?" but I can't find it! Has it been posted? Thank you!

Ah, yeah ‒ I did promise that back in my How Gay was Bram Stoker? post, but you can file that one under the general category of "stuff I totally meant to write, but then never got around to." But what the hell: let's do this!

Ahem.

Did Dracula ever feed on Jonathan?

The short answer, based on what Jonathan overhears Dracula saying to his wives in a short passage everyone following Dracula Daily would have read on June 29, is: yes, and perhaps even, well, obviously?

"Back, back, to your own place! Your time is not yet come. Wait! Have patience! To-night is mine. To-morrow night is yours!" There was a low, sweet ripple of laughter, and in a rage I threw open the door, and saw without the three terrible women licking their lips. As I appeared they all joined in a horrible laugh, and ran away. [emphasis mine]

In other words: the brides get to feed on Jonathan tomorrow. It’s Dracula’s turn tonight. If the dialogue doesn’t make this clear enough, the ‘three terrible women licking their lips’ is pretty unambiguous. And we know Dracula did feed that night, because the morning after, Jonathan finds him asleep in his coffin, looking suddenly much younger, with blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. Jonathan never puts together that it was himself Dracula fed on (or at least never mentions it in his diary) – but then, Lucy and Mina never had any idea they’d been fed on either. So the implications remain technically subtext, but there for anyone paying attention.

Except there’s another version of that paragraph quoted above. The Dracula Daily text is evidently drawing from the American version of Dracula, published in 1899 (and pictured above). The original UK publication came out two years previously, and there, Dracula’s speech is oh-so-significantly different.  

"Back, back, to your own place! Your time is not yet come. Wait! Have patience! To-morrow night, to-morrow night is yours!" [emphasis again mine]

‘To-night is mine!’ never appeared in Dracula’s original publication, and any subtext that Dracula may have fed on Jonathan is that much subtler without it. Stranger still, this seems to be the only notable difference between the two versions of Dracula: Stoker certainly hasn’t made significant rewrites, nor is there any other evidence some US editor had it sloppily transcribed. So was this change Stoker’s? Was it a deliberate change at all, or just an accident of editing?

Now, I want ‘To-night is mine!’ to be the definitive version – not just because I’m always here for slashy vampire shenanigans, but because it makes so much more sense. Why force the brides to wait for tomorrow, if not so Dracula could have first dibs? For which matter, why keep Jonathan alive and (physically) unharmed in the castle for so long at all, if not as Dracula’s convenient, pre-journey snack? It even ties right back to Jonathan’s first encounter with the brides, and Dracula’s iconic line, This man belongs to me!

It’s admittedly a little questionable that Jonathan himself never acknowledges such definitive evidence Dracula has fed on him (in either version) – but then, panic and denial can do a number on the faculties of a man far faster on the uptake than our dear Jonathan. ‘Tonight is mine, tomorrow is yours!’ doesn’t just read better, it all adds up.

Before I get too bogged down in conspiracy-theories though, I’d like to share one suspiciously similar bit of trivia from the first (authorised) Dracula film adaptation, the Universal picture from 1932. Here, it’s nominally Renfield rather than Jonathan who goes to the castle, and the ‘brides’ have only two scenes and no dialogue, but the climax of the castle section still plays some familiar notes. Drugged at dinner, our Jonathan/Renfield amalgam collapses, and we watch the brides advance on him with clear intent – only for Dracula to sweep in, turn them aside, and lean down over our hapless hero himself.

But this wasn’t supposed to be the version that made it to screen. Supposedly, studio execs had insisted that it would be the women who fall upon their victim, not Dracula himself – and that’s what was in the shooting script. In fact, you can see this version shot as intended in the Spanish-language version of the film (shot at night with a whole second cast and crew, using the same sets and script). But the director for the English-version, Tod Browning, had the sense to ignore the official mandate and let the film's titular villain be the one to bite Renfield. He’s the real threat – he’s the one who Renfield will spend the rest of the film obsessed with. Why undercut that in your very first act?

The answer, of course, is the dreaded h-word: homoeroticism. A vampire bite is far too sexy to be allowed to happen between two men. The boundaries on that one fascinate me a little: neither the novel nor any film adaptation has ever balked at vampire!Lucy preying on children or the brides eating a literal baby because they’re seeing paedophilic overtones all of a sudden. These are horrifying acts, certainly, but here we take them at face value.

By and large though, Dracula is not the text you want to come at with the ‘rational’ notion that there’s nothing inherently sexy about a vampire bite: this is a book where even mundane, life-preserving blood-transfusions have become a very significant metaphor by the time of Lucy’s death. And who goes to a Dracula movie wanting to see Dracula biting men? (Yes, yes, I know. Please form an orderly queue to the left.)

My point in all this is that it’s not like we don’t know that nervous producers are perfectly willing to cut some corners off the integrity of their own product for fear of getting The Gay in their good, wholesome, gothic vampire film. And if producers from the 1930’s could do it… why not publishers from the 1890’s?

This is why it’s so hard not to find layers of meaning in that critical little addition of To-night is mine! Was there some earlier draft of Stoker’s manuscript (much like whichever theoretical earlier draft of the screenplay those execs had objected to) which contained that line? Was it Stoker himself who got nervous, and cut it from the British manuscript before publication? Keep in mind, this was only a couple of years after the Oscar Wilde trial, an incident which brought homosexuality under more scrutiny than it had suffered in an age. Stoker was already a known Wilde-associate, who’d take chances in that environment?

Or was it his publishers who made the change? Anything's possible. Either way, how the ‘original’ version found its way back into the US version is still in question: maybe Stoker found his nerve again, or maybe he just accidentally included a page from the wrong draft ‒ but it's easy to miss these things when the result is an ocean away. Don’t tell me it doesn't sound plausible!

Alas, I am guilty of building this one up mostly just to knock it down again: what little real evidence we have all points the other way. When Stoker re-edited a (slightly) abridged version of Dracula in 1901 (two years after the American one), the original ‘Tomorrow, tomorrow!’ line is dutifully reproduced. When he threw together a stage version (very rough, and which would be “performed” exactly once for copyright reasons alone), there was no ‘To-night is mine!’ in that one either. And the single, surviving full-but-unfinished draft of Dracula that anyone has ever found contained the 'To-morrow' version too. There are some fascinating differences between that one draft and either published version and I could talk about it all day – but if Very Rough Draft Outlines of Dracula is to be believed, then ‘Tomorrow, tomorrow’ was part of the novel long before it reached publication. There’s nothing about this scene in any of Stoker’s earlier very-rough-draft-outlines for Dracula either.

All that said, I still want ‘To-night is mine!’ to have been Stoker’s original plan for that scene. It just works so much better on so many levels!

It also adds rather fascinating little wrinkle to another favourite Dracula-debate topic of mine: does anyone bitten by a vampire become one, or do you have to drink that vampire’s blood in turn?

In these modern, rational times (filled with tales of complex, even sympathetic vampires), we’re much more comfortable with the vampire's-blood version. It just doesn’t track that everyone bitten by a vampire becomes one ‒ not without one vampire turning into a major zombie outbreak within a matter of weeks. And it's so widespread now that few realise the idea didn’t even exist before Dracula. Traditional vampire folklore has a thousand variations and as many different ways someone can join the undead (including being bitten by one), but drinking vampire blood is one I have never found a remotely credible source for. If anything, drinking a vampire’s blood often works to protect you from that vampire (smearing it on your body or eating some of the grave soil may also do the trick).

And even in Dracula, debate remains as to why Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood. Many assert that the true point is to create the psychic connection he uses to spy on her friends later (and his own dialogue in that scene could certainly be taken that way). Meanwhile, Van Helsing does say that anyone bitten can become a vampire. He doesn’t seem at all concerned this will happen to the children Lucy has fed on, but then, destroying the parent vampire before the potential vampires have turned is exactly how Mina is saved too. Whether or not you buy it, it still holds together.

The one-bite version is an interpretation you can still see in lots of post-Dracula media too. Hammer’s Dracula films of the 50s-70s, for example, certainly seem to think that being bitten is plenty (how long the transformation takes post-bite is… less consistent). Not until after Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire comes out in the 1970’s does the idea that you need to drink the vampire’s blood in turn really seem to start taking hold.

But it’s not as though no-one reading Stoker’s novel ever came away with the idea that he'd added a new element to the process of becoming a vampire. Universal’s 1931 film doesn’t even show the iconic blood-drinking scene, leaving Mina simply to recount those events in dialogue after the fact – but Dracula spells out his own purpose to Van Helsing very clearly: "You are too late. My blood now flows through her veins. She will live through the centuries to come...as I have lived."

In fact, there’s an even earlier script from 1927, from a failed attempt to create a new stage version commissioned by Stoker’s own widow, that takes the same angle: “Come, drink of my blood, that you may become even as I.” (Thank you to Skal's Hollywood Gothic for that interesting tidbit!) It’s unlikely that honouring her late-husband’s artistic intent was foremost in Widow Florence's concerns (far more about securing a higher cut of the profits than she was getting from the existing stage versions), but the fact Mrs. Stoker herself was down with that interpretation isn’t nothing.

Looping all the way back to the original point, though, if Jonathan really was supposed to have been bitten by Dracula way back in the early chapters of the novel, then we can pretty much throw the one-bite theory out the window. It doesn’t neaten everything up: we’ve still got the weird implication that Lucy could have been saved by enough blood-transfusions, whereas Mina slowly deteriorates over the journey back to the castle and only Dracula’s death will save her, and so on – because as much as I love this novel, Stoker’s vampire mythology is an inconsistent mess with more holes in it than a parade of slowly-turning vampire victims (and it really is such a tribute to the overall atmosphere that it still draws you in, and can even keep you from noticing the inconsistencies). But damn, could one little bite-mark on Jonathan’s neck recontextualise so much of the rest of the story.

Tl;dr: I will never know for sure whether Stoker’s original plans for Dracula involved Jonathan being bitten by the titular vampire himself, or how that one line came to differ between the UK and US publications. But I really want the US version to be the ‘true’ one. And maybe now you do too.

(Photos of Dracula & Jonathan come from Michael Pink's ballet adaptation of Dracula ‒ the slashiest ballet version I've seen and my second-favourite overall, because I am entirely the kind of Dracula-nerd with a second-favourite ballet version, what can I tell you.)

[wiliecoyotegenius]

Dracula says to the men "the girls that you love" will feed on them. He has no idea that Lucy is no longer a vampire.

That tells me that he only has fed MINA with his blood.

If Lucy was fed Dracula's blood they'd have a link like he and Mina do. And he'd know that she's no longer connected to him.

Dracula wants Mina to be his first in command, against her will.

[see-arcane]

Why did Dracula "save" Jonathan for the very last night until his journey? We know from how he fed on Mina for three days she was pale and weak, but not dead, so he could have been feeding on him for a few days/week until he succumbed.

But he kept him unbitten until Jonathan's final letter was written and only then Dracula declared that "he is mine tonight", and the rest is history.

Dracula prefers foreplay over the climactic act when he's enjoying himself rather than pressed for time. He likes playing with his food and/or future conscripted vampires. With Jonathan, he gives the superficial reason of wanting the Englishman around to learn how to speak in the same way. Which might be part of it! But to have him prisoner and literal captive audience for two months implies the more likely desire of just enjoying the cat-and-mouse of it all. Teasing things out until the last possible night and what Dracula assumes will be Jonathan's last night as a human being full of terror before the Brides have their turn with him, forcing him into inevitable vampirism.

Even with the Demeter crew, we see him playing. None of the men aboard strike him as anything other than another revitalizing meal in potentia, so the only fun he has is playing the torturous game of picking them off one by one in the dark, but the play is there.

You mentioned how different his MO with Mina was--how brisk. I'd say it's because it was all business. And petty vengeance. Not only was he striking at an enemy by trying to conscript her, not only was he violating her and her husband in what played out very much like a rape and a hovering promise that in time she will very literally be another of his pretty undead pets like the Brides. It was also to (unsuccessfully) give him eyes and ears on the group using her borrowed senses. He was on the clock with Mina, which is why she gets the quickest treatment.

Though I think there is something else worth mentioning in how he preys on Lucy; the character we're meant to assume is the template for how he hunts out new undead members to the Dracula club. And what do we learn from her case?

We see that if it weren't for Mina, Van Helsing and the suitors' intervention, his playtime with Lucy would have been far, far shorter and had even less impression on him than the book already showed. Lucy has friends. Lucy has people giving her new blood to stall her undeath. Lucy's conscription keeps getting stalled--and that is what keeps Dracula interested. It's a matter of engagement, pride, and, most likely, the only reason he really bothers to play more extravagantly with her. Hence the theatrics of getting poor Berserker in on it.

And after all that back and forth and bleeding and biting and Bloofer Ladying? He immediately loses interest and starts sniffing after the Pretty Girl in Piccadilly. Which, while indicative of him being a glutton for beauties, shows another very lopsided treatment compared to how he toyed with Jonathan.

I've pointed out before how Jonathan is the only character in the book Dracula goes out of his way to have whole conversations with. Mina gets one villain monologue, the group gets some fist-shaking and moustache-twirling at the Piccadilly house, but even when he has no reason to, Dracula really does go full gothic horror 'courtship' mode with Jonathan. Chatting, cooking for him, maintaining the whole castle charade; true, with increasing acts of abuse and psychological torment, but he actually engages with Jonathan.

This, when Lucy doesn't get so much as a 'Hey xoxo ;)' and Mina is given a traumatic speedrun to get her into vampire mode ASAP.

Dracula shows minimal finesse with Lucy, none with Mina, and devotes two months to Being Very Intimately Weird with Jonathan. Which means the question is less 'Why did Dracula wait so long to bite Jonathan?' and more 'Why is Jonathan's treatment so different from every other victim of Dracula's period?'

[ssaalexblake]

The Dracula updates for today were such a weird mix of horrifying and hilarious to me? 

You have the viscerally horrifying image of the count feeding on Mina, forcing Mina to feed off of him, both of them covered in red blood as he restrains her in an odd and creepy way. Jonathan unconscious at their sides all the while, hypnotised into submission as much as Mina, but at least with the vague mercy of being unaware of the proceedings (for now). What Mina tells us the count said to her, that he’d brutally murder Jonathan. That there’s no point in screaming anyway, because he’s already fed off of her, no reason to stop him now! That he will turn her into a monster and his slave and there’s nothing she can do about it, he crossed him and he will punish her. 

Jonathan embracing her after this attack, rejecting that she is in some way tainted by this all and all the while smearing the blood of both Mina and Dracula over himself without a care of it. Van Helsing declaring that the count would sleep well as he is so full from a large meal and will be tired and plump, having briefly forgotten that the meal and her husband are right there next to him struck into horror by his words. This isn’t even going into what was done to poor Renfield, who was brutally and viciously murdered by Dracula who was trying to kill the only person to treat Him like a person we’ve seen in the book. 

I haven’t really genuinely thought of any of the proceedings as viscerally horrifying before these events in the book, but the passage where they find Mina being fed upon was truly disturbing. That we can look back and remember Lucy’s implied awareness of what will happen at the very end, coupled with Dracula cruelly torturing Mina with the knowledge of what he’d do to her as she is in a situation equivalent to being drugged and only half aware, it paints a picture about what may have occurred when Lucy and he were alone that we did not get to know about. 

But at the same time, lets be honest, the mental image of the four men barging their way into the Harkers bedroom by literally body slamming it till it gave way and stumbling into the room, Seward noting that Van Helsing did in fact literally fall over into the room was legitimately a funny image to me. Meanwhile, Dracula looks up from his meal, shocked at four grown men suddenly falling into the locked room he’s in. It’s like a sketch from a cartoon. Two doctors, one Lord and a cowboy bottleneck through a locked door to interrupt count Dracula's lunch. Everybody is frozen in shock for a few seconds. 

And then to make it worse later on in the day, Dracula is cornered by the five of them in Piccadilly, four whom have crosses and one who has a Kukri knife that gets so close to nailing Dracula that it slashes his pockets and he drops all his cash. Sensing the writing on the wall, Dracula ducks down, grabs some of his money off the floor (i assume he has a reason for this, but that it makes the rich guy look like a cheap old bastard adds to the humour), and runs away from them and launches himself Through A Damn Window, runs across the garden and locks himself in the shed to keep them away from him while they stand there shocked at the course of events. I can almost see the Dracula shaped hole in the window! It’s like a scene ripped out of tom and jerry! It’s hilarious! Dracula gets mugged, jumps out of a window and locks himself in a shed to get away from the baby lawyer with the big knife. 

I was laughing really hard. 

It’s the dichotomy that gets me here. I am both horrified but laughing my ass off at how the count is, actually, laughably ridiculous. The vampire can’t even get a decent meal and a nap without some random men ruining it all. 

[yallemagne]

The first thing Mina says after being fed vampiric blood is "I must touch him or kiss him no more," which shows how much she wants and values their intimacy and how much she doesn't want to lose it (because she is now what he had called the other vampires a feared Devil Of The Pit, so she must stay away from him). So MAN can you imagine their first kiss after the attack... she'd be so afraid that like Lucy she'll want to draw blood with her sharpened teeth if their lips met, and it'd be a struggle between want and fear.

It's painful to see Mina feel the need to withdraw fully from him, no doubt in large part because of Arthur and Lucy being denied their last kiss for similar reasons.

Note, I feel like Van Helsing insisting that the kiss would spread vampirism was an overreaction because, as we can see, Mina and Jonathan kiss several times and the vampirism never spreads. The situations are a bit different, yes, but I believe that that precaution was taken unnecessarily, and it certainly heightens the angst that way. That was an example of someone taking it too far and treating a victim like the abuse that they suffered debased them and would taint the one they loved. Van Helsing, while well-meaning, stigmatized victimhood, and Mina heavily internalized the message. Arthur couldn't have argued with Van Helsing, but Jonathan never gives anyone the chance to validate Mina's fears. Van Helsing follows suit, comforting Mina when the mark he, unfortunately, inflicts upon her head seemingly condemns her further.

Approaching intimacy after the blood ritual must have been nerve-wracking, especially because all the traits projected upon the female vampires in particular are linked with promiscuity. Every caress would feel like giving in to corruption and, even worse, corrupting Jonathan. How could she tell what desires were her own and what desires were the devil's? If not for Jonathan's interference, she may have simply settled with the false notion that no matter what, any desire she felt was sinful and wrong and that nothing could cleanse her.

Fortunately, the epilogue gives us closure in the form of Quincey Harker. His existence is symbolic of both life triumphing over death and Mina triumphing over her own fears and insecurities. No matter how long it took, Mina was able to reclaim her sexuality and not let it be twisted into something harmful and corrupting.

That being said-- I NEED MORE JONMINA SMUT!

Anyway, for feelings about this, I highly recommend The Train Trip by BlueCatWriter. The first and third chapters in particular deal with this struggle with intimacy on both sides.

[ubyr-babaj]

Anyway, big Renfield rant under there, a bunch more incoming.

So, it’s a movie that says: “We have the most miserable Renfield and the most abusive evil Dracula” while stripping them of their canon characterizations completely.

Like, in the 1931 movie Dracula drugged and fed on Renfield and used his powers to do his bidding, which influences Renfield’s behavior. It’s a rape metaphor and even if Renfield did check Dracula out in the beginning, he fucking hates the guy guts and is terrified of him while more or less lucid.

In the 2023 version there's none of that.

Renfield is never drugged, he never spends time in the insane asylum. Yes, there’re moments from Frye’s asylum days replicated with Hoult, but they’re brief shots, if you don’t know the OG movie by heart you wouldn’t even know they’re from the asylum. Renfield doesn’t even mention Seward.

2023!Renfield joins Dracula out of his own free will, when the guy promises him money and power. And he fucking DUMPS HIS WIFE WITH A FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD TO LIVE WITH THE GUY.

As for Cage!Dracula... Well, yeah, they say he's evil and messed up, but they remove all the fucked up shit he did in the book and the 1931 movie.

He never exploits a mentally ill man, his Renfield isn't mentally ill to begin with and chooses to be with him. In fact, every familiar in the movie chooses to serve him of their own free will.

He outright states he has no sexual interest in his victims. Annnd, yes, he doesn't have brides. He doesn't turn Lucy, he doesn't turn Mina. In fact, his blood doesn't even turn people into vampires, it's just a power up/healing serum.

The fucked up things he does are: opening up Renfield's stomach wound when he's pissed off and, yes, king, that's not a good look, doesn't matter if you heal him up right away, or not. Also he yells at Renfield, when he brings him the corpses of the local sinners and he tears that church group apart.

And the problem is, the lore of this movie is so muddled, I have no idea if Dracula actually has the right to be pissed off when it comes to sinners. Like, it's implied that when he's heavily wounded, he can't digest the blood of the sinners willy-nilly. So, is it him being cranky and picky old fart? Is it him actually being in pain and having his caretaker bring him shitty food he can't properly eat? How should I feel about it????

And Renfield's relationship with his support group is weird as fuck.

Like, he says they're his friends, but he never actually listens to any of them, he keeps interrupting one particular girl and he is visibly grossed out by the only psychotic guy among them. He just, idk, sits there waiting for his turn to speak and for everyone else to validate him and say he never did anything wrong. Yep, he kills their abusers, but he doesn't seem to actually care about the other members. He only does it to feel like a good person and to show off his sick fighting moves. And, yes, Hoult!Renfield actively enjoys killing and maiming people, he gets waaaay more gory and inventive with his kills than his Dracula. Drac mostly just rips people's throats out/snaps their necks.

[dross-the-fish]

Could we get a drabble of Larry convincing Quincy he's a werewolf?

sure. It's not a long scene and Quincey is pretty easy to convince because he's already aware of supernatural creatures since his parents are Johnathan and Mina. I've decided they would be open about their history with Dracula with him.

...

By the time Quincey Harker arrived at Talbot Manor the police were wrapping up their investigation, the last of the blood was being cleaned out and the dismembered bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Talbot were being taken from the scene. Amidst the chaos and noise Larry sat, head in hands on a chair. Quincey noticed his shirt was soaked with blood.

“Larry, what happened?” Quincey rushed to his side and put a hand on Larry’s shoulder.

The look on Larry’s face brook Quincey’s heart. He’d never seen his friend look so lost and frightened, “The wolf…i-it was the wolf,” he choked.

“The one that bit you? It followed you home?” Quincey asked.

“That looks to be what happened,” interjected a police officer who was standing nearby, “There’s been a series of attacks and word of wolves roaming around London. We don’t know how they’re getting inside houses but we just came from a woman’s house, her husband and children were torn apart, paw prints everywhere. Just like here. No human could do this, I reckon young Mr. Lawrence survived because he was locked in his room,” he gave Larry a pitying look as the boy burst into sobs, “We’ll mount a search for the thing tonight and kill it.”

Quincey felt Larry stiffen at the words “kill it” and he wrapped his arm tighter around his friend’s shoulders. Once the police were gone Larry collapsed against Quincey and began to sob, “It was me! I’m the wolf!” he cried.

“What are you talking about?” Quincey took Larry’s face in his hands and pulled him back so he could look at him properly, “What do you mean you’re the wolf?”

“I turned into a wolf last night. My fever broke and…I-I don’t know, I remember my body changing and this horrible urge to hunt. When I came back to myself I was covered in blood and mum and dad were-were…” he couldn’t finish. He quaked from head to foot and wrapped his arms tightly around himself before a terrible cry burst from him, “I killed them, Quinn! I killed mum and dad! How could I do that?!”

Quincey patted him gently, “Larry it couldn’t have been you! People don’t just turn into wolves-“ he stopped, remembering suddenly something his father had told him, “-but vampires can. What if that wolf that attacked you was a vampire?!” he checked Larry’s neck for puncture wounds, “You haven’t been fed off of, we should take you to my parents, they might know more about what’s going on!”

Larry shook his head vehemently and tore the bandages from his arm, “Look, Quin, that bite that I got from the wolf in the park, it’s completely healed! Yesterday it was infected and I was convulsing from the worst fever I’ve ever had. Today I’m the picture of health! I tell you I changed into a wolf last night.”

Quincey knew that his friend was not prone to flights of fancy or delusions and as he examined Larry’s arm, where nothing but a faint scar remained, he realized his friend had to be telling him the truth. Given that Larry being a vampire was not likely Quincey wracked his brain for other supernatural creatures that might fit the scenario and it only took him a moment to reach the answer.

“Larry…I think we need to see my parents as soon as possible. I think you were bitten by a werewolf and we need to do something before you turn again.”

[indecisivepsyche]

The Last Voyage of the Demeter as an Adaptation

Okay, a few days later, but I'm still bursting with thoughts about The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Let's go! I'll go ahead and say that this is going to contain spoilers for Dracula up to October 4th, so don't read this if this is your first go around with Dracula Daily.

This is going to be a bit long, but if you don't have much time and are curious about my major two bones to pick with the film, just skip to the bottom. I'll put a heading. I'm also putting this under a read more due to the number of thoughts I have.

One thing before that: I'd be curious to see how many words from the Captain's Log were taken verbatim from the book. Some of the sentences certainly seemed familiar, but there were also clear differences.

I don't need to address the addition of Clemens, Toby, and Anna, do I? The movie used Clemens and Anna to offer different perspectives and convey information the normal crew members wouldn't know. Toby helped ramp up emotional investment and fear. I guess you could suggest that the voyage would have played out almost as it did in the books if these characters weren't present. Eh, kind of, since they changed how vampires work.

Let me start by discussing Dracula himself. I knew going in that this movie was going to position him more as an aggressive movie monster than a stealthy, steady deliverer of dread. He certainly acted that way with his brutal attacks and monstrous form, but there is something about his portrayal that I appreciated. He had moments where it was clear that he had 'human' intelligence (God I wish I understood those first words he uttered to that poor guy on the rigging). As an extension, it seems to be a very valid interpretation that he was straight-up fucking with the crew, playing with his food. No need for the pleasantries he must've exchanged with Jonathan, no need for negotiations like with the villagers/Romani. Time to play with his food! Him using the knocking to frighten and attract the crewman one night was particularly effective.

I actually do question if he was acting with that first attack with him crawling out from under the stairs. Was the movie implying that this Dracula is greatly weakened by just a short time without blood? He was quite quick and powerful when he finally struck, though, so it might have been him seeing what kind of reaction he could get.

Can't say too much about his design since I'm not well versed on horror monsters, but I thought it was effective. Reminded me of The Descent. One thing I liked about his form is that his eyes did seem to be informed by the description of them burning.

A minor gripe I have about Dracula is that they didn't quite play around with his powers as much as they could have. It seemed to me that when the dog saw his shadow that it was taking on the shape of a wolf, but that could have been me deluding myself. I do really wish that they had taken at least one opportunity to show him either turning into or forming out of mist.

Why didn't they have someone stab him only to be met by air like what happened to the First Mate in the book? The reason is probably budget, but it would have helped explain how he got into the cabin with Toby when the hole in the door wasn't large enough for him to fit through. That was an effectively suspenseful and horrific scene, but I imagine it left the layperson with questions.

Let me take this opportunity to pivot to the thralls/fledgling vampires. They were interesting! A bit like the Bloofer Lady but a lot more mindless. They provided the writer with opportunities to pull from later in the book. I liked the use of blood transfusions, the concept that in addition to keeping the recipient alive, it was also helping to water down a sort of vampirism infection.

It also played with the connection Mina formed with Dracula after he fed on her! Anna started talking about what she was experiencing through Dracula and I almost thought some of her descriptions were word-for-word Mina's account of Drac's boat trip.

This brings me to the thralls/vampires being set on fire by the sun. I honestly just decided to shrug and accept this. That's a fatal weakness prominent in pop culture and tied to Dracula since Nosferatu. It's easier to wrap your head around than him just being weakened by it. They also used it to great effect with two horrifying scenes (poor Captain) and one emotional one at the end. It's fine.

You know what's not fine?

The Bones I Have to Pick

Hey. Hey movie team. Look at this passage from Dracula:

"The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix, the set of beads on which it was fastened being around both wrists and wheel, and all kept fast by the binding cords. The poor fellow may have been seated at one time, but the flapping and buffeting of the sails had worked through the rudder of the wheel and dragged him to and fro, so that the cords with which he was tied had cut the flesh to the bone."

You're telling me that you have an R-rated film and you're not going to take the opportunity to portray the fate of the Captain in all its gristly detail??? The Captain was one voyage from retirement, the audience knew he was going to die. You could have opened the film by showing us that one shocked coastguard seeing him! Or saving that visual for the end of the log's events and instead showing his form in shadow swinging "horribly to and fro" at the wheel!

It's not just the loss of the horrific imagery that I'm unhappy about. It's also the fact that they removed one of Dracula's weaknesses and robbed the Captain of his desperate, tragic victory against Dracula in one fell swoop. So what's up with the crucifix having no effect? It really seemed like they were building up to it having a role, like Dracula halting his attack on Toby shortly after we see the crucifix dangling close to his leg and the weight given to Anna giving that crucifix to the Captain.

They gave a form of triumph instead to Clemens in his survival and Anna in her decision to die (instead of being controlled by Dracula? I forgot the fine details of their final conversation, sorry). However, I really don't think the small triumphs needed to be mutually exclusive. Have the Captain lash himself to the wheel, Dracula be unable to attack him, the others not be able to take advantage of this because they don't have their own symbols of faith on hand, the Captain repeat his resolution that he must not leave his ship, and include dialogue from the coastguard about the wild behavior of the ship before it crashed. Even with the plot element of trying to sink the ship, I don't think they needed to do the Captain dirty like they did.

My other major bone to pick with the film is its final scene. I got so excited at the slow set-up with the anticipated appearance of the cane, the return of the taunting knocking, the fact that Dracula was faced away and slowly turning to face Clemens... And then I was absolutely disappointed when I saw the same monstrous face I had become used to over the course of the movie.

Show me Javier Botet with long black hair and a mustache, looking human but still piercing you with burning eyes! We recognize the cane! Anna had the line about Dracula being able to appear human! We know it's him from the distinctive knocking and the reaction of Clemens! But no, maybe they think we wouldn't be able to figure it out and now we're left with major questions about how Dracula was able to exist in the pub looking like that.

One minor nitpick to wrap things up: Dracula never made use of that small bridge in the hold, did he? All those lingering shots in the hold made me expect someone would be up there eventually.

If you read all my thoughts, I appreciate you! I'd also be happy to listen to your own opinions about the film, so feel free to share them in a reblog. If you read this without having seen the movie, I would actually recommend it! It's fun! Makes me want to start working my way through Dracula adaptations again.

[ourgoodfriendjonathan]

Ok genuine question: I really enjoy the Drac-fed-on-Jonathan theory, “tonight is mine” etc. but. If Jonathan was bitten, how did he not experience similar symptoms to Mina and Lucy? Is there, like, a threshold of how many times someone must be bitten before they start to turn? Is turning a victim something Drac can choose to do or not do? How is that supposed to work?

Remember October the third? *shudders* Yeah I can't forget it either...

That night, Dracula made our beloved Mina drink his blood, instead of the other way around. This seemed a deliberate action, because he kept going on about intending to make her his "jackal", meaning: turning her into a vampire.

We assume he also made a deliberate choice to turn poor dear Lucy, out of vengeance for being thwarted by the drac attack pack. To ascertain his dominance, in a way, the way he did with Mina as well. We don't know what he did to poor dear Lucy that fateful night of the 17th, but it could be something specifically intended to turn her.

Dracula never intended our good friend Jonathan to get turned into a vampire. Jonathan was supposed to be leftover food for the weird sisters/abominable brides/weed-smoking girlfriends. We also don't know exactly what Dracula did to him, but he could have left out the specific thing that would turn him.

Conclusion: you need to deliberately do something specific to turn a person into a vampire. We saw with Mina that this specific thing is: make the person drink your blood.

Tl;dr:

Getting drinked alone will not turn you into a vampire.

Drinking a vampire's blood will turn you into a vampire.

We assume our good friend Jonathan never drinked (only got drinked).

We assume poor dear Lucy was forced to drink the way our beloved Mina was :( both out of revenge

[hasufin]

The Damned Saints the Walk the Earth

Something I’ve been thinking about after finishing Dracula Daily.

Now, Van Helsing - Professor Exposition - has certain knowledge of vampires. And he seems to know some particulars about Dracula specifically.

He describes in detail how Dracula was able to “turn” Lucy, tried to do unto Mina, and presumably did to his other “brides” as well. We learn that this is due to them swallowing - even though without consent - his tainted blood, though it is suggested that anyone who died of vampirism would turn in due time. We learn too why he does this, that while Dracula must rest in his own native soil and thus intended to arrange a great many safe resting spots throughout London, he is also able to safely rest in the places of his progeny. So by turning others, he can greatly expand his range.

There are, however, certain questions which were unanswered. We saw that Lucy, like Dracula, had to consume blood. Van Helsing says that if Lucy were to kill someone, her victim too would become a vampire. It’s not clear if she would hold sway over them, or if that requires the “Baptism of Blood”. Also, since Wallachia is not overrun with vampires, we can also conclude that simply being fed upon by a vampire is not alone enough - though that might be due to Dracula’s apparent habit of consuming infants, who he gives to his brides and which they seemingly destroy.

Perhaps more importantly - we never learned just how Dracula himself became a vampire. While he is presented as a fully capable vampire in the novel, there is I think a certain implication that he had to learn for himself what that meant. At the least, there is no indication he is beholden to any greater vampire.

From this we may reasonably conclude that his becoming a vampire was not in the same manner as he forced upon his progeny. But then, what was it?

I have a suspicion - a speculation, if you will. Dracula is described as having been a great scholar and a cunning warrior in life; a great man. I wonder if the origin of his curse was in the unique combination of his history. His actions in life were greatly heroic - in turning back the Ottomans, he did Christianity a great service; one might even say that he saved the religion. IN the balance sheets of such matters, that might have been enough to guarantee him a place in heaven. Yet his means of doing so was so brutal, so terrible, that he was also damned. And so, perhaps,upon death he discovered that while there was a place for him in the Christian heaven, and no place for him in Hell, the Gates of Heaven were forever barred to him.

And so, he awoke - most likely after three days in a grotesque parody of the Resurrection - knowing that he could enter neither Heaven nor Hell, cursed with a body which was too pure to rot but by that same token bereft of and hungry for the spark of life. And from there, spurned entirely by heaven and a curiosity to hell, he had to learn the nature of his existence His keen intellect and knowledge of magic and alchemy doubtless served him well, but those first few years must have been very hard on a tortured mind that had brutally discovered itself truly alone even unto the afterlife.

I would further posit, this status is likely not unique to Christendom. The particulars would be reliant on the beliefs and afterlife a particular individual would hold - and some belief systems are, I’m sure, more likely to spawn such creatures than others. But the simple requirements would be someone who was so perfect and heroic in life that they were assured a place of reward, but who managed to also so entirely damn themselves that they cannot take up that place. Greek heroes, unable to enter the Elysian fields but promised no punishment and denied the surcease of the River Styx for whatever reason. Norse warriors who fell in battle yet too dishonorable to enter Valhalla. Many belief systems hold such contradictions, and in each case the person would find themselves stuck in the mortal world, neither living nor dead, damned yet also a saint. Abandoned by a god which yet protects them.

This status is surely rare, but doubtless not entirely unique. But each individual would doubtless approach it differently, and while away the long centuries in their own ways...

[krystal-prisms]

Okie dokie, new post in my October Dracula binge. If you missed my last one, it's here on my blog if you wanna find it under #dracula

So, next movie we've got is Dracula (1931). They switched out my good friend Jonathan Harker with Renfield, and he was the one to go to Transylvania, where he proceeded to totally lose it and become Dracula's weird little minion, and is yeeted to an asylum. Interesting choice to do that, saves my boy Jonathan some trauma.

Interesting angle they've gone with in introducing the characters together, I feel like Jonathan isn't as much as an effective protagonist without having gone through his Trauma™, that's like his entire character arc, and they put that all on Renfield and made him Dracula's lackey.

Point for making van Helsing weird old dude, however he just straight up comes out and says Yeah, we've got a Vampire instead of his Chronic Withholding Information Disease.

Dr Seward is in it, which is a plus, but they made him old, and didn't retain his Bitchless Swag, and he doesn't have as much of a close relationship with van Helsing. Seward did respond rather well to the vampire news, considering that Lucy is entirely unaffected by Vampire Disease at this point, which is the main driving plot for a good portion of the book.

Point off for making Dracula into a relatively sexy dude, where Lucy is into him at first. They also seem to be remixing Lucy and Mina, with Mina being the one to first be fed on by Dracula, but Lucy did still die and is seeming to be the Bloofer Lady. Mina is bit and in the process of Vampiring.

I am curious as to how the characters didn't somehow make the connection of Renfield going on a trip to Count Dracula's castle and returning (excuse the pun) batshit crazy, and the count turning up in town at the same time that Renfield returned, having completely lost it. I would assume, that Renfield being a patient of Seward, that Seward would be aware of Renfield's history and drawn some sort of connection.

Lucy is hardly in the movie at all, and as such, Arthur and Quincey are not in it at all. I would have at least liked to have some of her storyline beyond just dying.

Mina and Jonathan are having their storyline relatively accurate of the end bits, where Dracula made Mina drink his blood and now she's slowly becoming a vampire, and Jonathan is drinking his Victorian Respect Women Juice.

Props to Martin, an asylum worker, who is channeling Quincey P Morris and just shooting at the bat.

Dracula did die, but I would prefer if we actually got to see it. I love brutal vampire murders. He still got satisfactorily dead though, and Mina and Jonathan got their good ending. Also, though, it's implied that Lucy turned into a vampire, but we didn't see her dealt with, so it looks like she's still just out there, eating children.

Overall, solid adaptation, I enjoyed it a lot. I would have preferred to have had Jonathan still go to Dracula's castle more than Renfield cause Jonathan didn't get any character arc or development and they could have just as easily had him go, but oh well. All in all, it was actually relatively accurate, and a good time to watch, I give it a 9/10.

[morfanerina]

Watched the Last Voyage of the Demeter, slept on it and I'm still severely disappointed by it, both as a horror and as an adaptation.

Actually especially disappointed as an adaptation, they had what? 6 paragraphs to follow and all the freedom in the world and managed to screw what little constraints they had?

Rant with Spoilers below:

So, I don't have anything to say about the beginning. Wonderful views, everyone was appropriately spooked by the symbol, we have a child on board and the first mate was finding new crew members. Three of them, on of which ends up being our POV character.

Cool so far though isn't that ship far too big for a crew of only 10 (including the captain)? It's faithfull but, ya know.

And then we get Anna. Now Anna was in one of the boxes of dirt to be fed on by Dracula as a snack until the boat reached high water wherein Dracula would feed on the crew. That didn't work because that box opened up and the crew discovered Anna was on board, sick. To save her our heroic doctor does some blood transfusions. With his own blood. Daily (?). Pretty sure he would get woozy but Sure why Not.

This brings conflict with the crew since many of them are supersticious or just feel she is too much of a stoaway. It doesn't matter as her function in story is:

A: conflict bringer

B: exposition about the monster

C: i think we are supposed to assume the doctor and her have romantic feelings for each other at the end?

Also she has badass scenes and brings heart as a victim and willingly sacrifices herself by burning at the sunlight #girlboss

Oh yeah. Them burning in sunlight is bitten and turning into a mindless slave. If you haven't read Dracula, this will be: yeah makes sense. If you have, I hope you are pissed off by this change. And also by the change that religious symbols such as crosses do not affect Dracula.

I guess that's why Anna says that somehow Dracula has no one to feed from in her country. He must have eaten them all (directly contradicted by the fact she is a literal sacrifice to him) because it certainly weren't the crosses and so on to defend themselves that did it.

With this let's go to what this change actually implies in story. See, the characters actually eventually disciver where Dracula sleeps, the specific box even (it was literally the more embellished box.

Yeah.). And they know he only attacks at night and have literally seen on of their crew dying in flames implying Dracula would stay during the day in the box.

So they plan to ambush him at night and not use the knowledge of that box ever. Even Jonathan in the book whacked the vampire in the face while he was sleeping.

I will cut the ranting a bit to now talk about the end.

First: the doctor survives. This is stupid especially as the last scene is he looking super cool while promising himself he would end the blight of Dracula, hunting and finishing him himself.... which won't happen as we literally have how the story goes and he is not at all involved.

Second: master of disguise Dracula doesn't have a human face. Yeah, I was expecting to see his human face but no, it's just the design they created with fancy clothes. Are you joking.

Speaking of jokes Olgaren got possessed and I literally turned to my friend who has read Dracula and said: Mina Harker would never. And it's true, biting doesn't mean turning into vampire unless that person dies and... something. Dying is an important step however.

I'll finish by talking on how disappointing the horror aspect was. There was no actual psychological horror, Dracula played with the religious crewmember sailing away once and the rest he was a beast. It was basically jump scares and gore.

All in all: you could have done so many things, so much freedom and you did this? Truly disappointed.