#hope we hear more of the bloofer Lady

[eolewyn1010]

Newspaper article for a change! Lucy is up and about, minus one (1) immortal soul, plus an urge to drink the blood of several little children. Charming. I bet Renfield is dying from envy. So far, she hasn't killed any, but she lures or takes them away from their way home and nips a bit before letting them go. Clever of her to take very young children who can't give much detail beyond "there was a bloofer lady" (which I've read elsewhere means "beautiful lady", and I'll run with it). I think it's funny that they suspect a dog of biting the children, what with Dracula's doggo days... Not so funny is that Lucy is not all that concerned with how weakened she leaves the kids. Can't be long before she takes it too far.

Mina is meeting van Helsing. Beforehand, she tells her journal and us that she wants to learn more about Lucy's last days in this life, but also can't get Jonathan's journal out of her head and hopes some light can be shed on his experiences. What a neat concidence. Stoker, your characters are not clairvoyant. Then Mina allows us the tiniest look into her actual emotions - stress over all the shit that's been going down, nervousness over having let her still-not-all-that-well Jonathan out of sight for the first time since they married, grief for all her losses, confusion about the journal, guilt for feeling she hasn't done enough for Lucy and Mrs. Westenra - and has a good cry. God, don't I sympathize.

And... it was all about Jonathan after all. Well, at least Mina has a ton more words to feel sorry for him rather than for Lucy once her meeting with van Helsing is over. Not to speak of dedicating an entire paragraph to the latter's goddamn looks. Mina, I do know that a head is typically to find on the neck (and if not, it's probably Dracula's fault). And with the phrenology again. Anyway. Van Helsing asks for a full report on Lucy's somnambulism adventures; Mina takes the opportunity to brag about her shorthand, but once he's appropriately impressed, she tells him all that happened and they have lunch together. Van Helsing insta-crushes on Mina, can't blame him, and drops this queer-dreamy bit: "I [...] who have studied all my life men and women", so Ace Abe is officially Bi Abe now. He inquires about Jonathan, Mina pours her heart out, and Stoker gets in the obligatory sexism about how there are "still good women left who make life happy" (go suck on a blood blister, Stoker; I'd make you miserable on purpose!) and that Mina must take care of herself solely to keep Jonathan happy. I'm not having a good day to be graceful about this bullshit.

However, I'm here for Mina admitting to van Helsing that what she's about to tell him of Jonathan's misadventures is "queer". Heh, it sure is. I refuse to let go of this joke. Van Helsing gets the type-written copy of Jonathan's travel account, having promised Mina not to wave off all the weird stuff as foolishness. He asks Mina to see Jonathan on a date with him the other day after he has read through everything she has given him, and that very same evening, he sends her a brief note, confirming everything Jonathan has lived through as true. FINALLY! I think that's the first factual statement van Helsing made regarding this! Can we stop talking in "I have to be sure"s and vague speculations yet? He's also majorly impressed by Jonathan's sheer brainless balls on having survived Castle Dracula, having escaped from there, and having whacked the sleeping Count with a shovel. That's the type of guy who's immune to long-term PTSD! Trust van Helsing on that matter; the man's a doctor. Mina is relieved for half a minute that Jonathan is not hallucinating hardcore, then realizes the implications of Dracula being a goddamn reality just over in London. She invites van Helsing to drop by for breakfast as soon as Jonathan has come back next morning. I assume she wants to tether the polycule back together, now that the Lucy glue is missing.