#lucy westenra is mina's innocence

[the-crooked-library]

On Horror, Queerness, Mirrors, and Dracula

Your wish is my command (you may or may not regret this). 

Here’s the thing - I love horror, and I love patterns, and I think the best horror is always in some sense symmetrical.  It might not be obvious, but what’s the point of staring into an abyss if you can’t see your own face reflected back?  The symmetry itself comes in any number of different twists, whether it is familial, communal, erotic, or individual, and most of these apply to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

The centre of our novel rests on the Harkers.  So, starting with Jonathan - his experience in Transylvania is a twisted version of his life back home.  Dracula is reserved but eloquent, seemingly caring and occasionally affectionate, he reads train schedules and they spend hours upon hours in conversation; which is a dark mirror to Jonathan’s train schedule-loving, passionate but serious Mina.  It may even be said that the Count is re-enacting a caricature of traditional heteronormative domesticity - he maintains the household, waits on his guest himself, and blows him kisses from the stairs.  His possessiveness of Jonathan is the only way a vampire like Dracula is capable of understanding the bond Jonathan shares with Mina.  The Count states that he, too, feels love; but he is written by a closeted gay man in the late 19th century, so his imitation of married life is both a lie and a tragedy.  He is a shorthand for forbidden, wrong, and corrupting desires. 

At the same time, Mina herself also has a same-sex connection in the beginning of the story, and her relationship with Lucy mirrors the relationship between Jonathan and Dracula.  They cling to each other, in a sense; despite being excited about the prospect of their impending marriages, there is some trepidation associated with this new stage in life.  A common part of a dowry used to be a shroud, simply due to the frequency at which Victorian wives died in childbirth soon after the wedding; and even provided a survival, the transition to married life was still a loss of innocence.  As such, Lucy’s affection for Mina is the last expression of her girlhood, and she herself is the personification of Mina’s.  Lucy is, therefore, the direct antithesis of the Count; her death and subsequent rising change Mina the same way that Dracula does Jonathan, establishing a firm duality between the Harkers and their respective vampires. 

The other characters are reflections of each other, as well; the suitors defend while the brides terrify, Van Helsing wants to preserve life while Renfield wishes to consume it - and even further, the old Hungarian lady cares enough about  a stranger to give Jonathan a cross for protection, while Lucy’s own mother lets Dracula into the house herself, selfishly ignorant of her daughter’s needs and the doctor’s orders.  Another parallel is drawn again between Jonathan and Renfield, who represents directly what he could have been, had he not escaped from Dracula’s grasp; which makes Renfield’s vehement, last-ditch attempt to protect Mina perhaps all the more poignant.  In him, she sees the resilience of Jonathan’s humanity; while he gets to see exactly what she could become after her turning  - in Dracula himself.  These dualities are integral to the story’s thematic structure, and therefore inextricable from each character’s development. 

There is really too much to say about each individual dynamic to fit into one rant, but for the current purposes, I can forgo the details.  They all converge as it is on Jonathan and Mina, and thus, the central theme of this story is devotion.  If Jonathan had truly broken, like Renfield, Mina would have stayed by his side; and if she had fully turned, like Dracula, he would have adored whatever shred of her still remained.  In madness and in death, in happiness and sorrow, in sickness and in health - until the echoes start to sound like wedding vows. 

@stripedshirtgay​

@bluberimufim​

[freuleinanna]

I'm always fuming at adaptations because they dare insult the original not by adding modern details, but by completely erasing the original message. Like now, when I'm in my Dracula feelings yet again, I keep thinking how the tendency for the UnExPecTEd PLoTtwISts hurt the story. Because it's always the same, always the 'ooh let's fuck it up and make everything exactly the opposite hehe'

Van Helsing? No, not an old doctor who's exploring the possibilities he himself doubts because he must, because it's his duty. Make him a sexyman doing backflips and hunting vamps since he was in a crib

Lucy Westenra? Yawn on the sweet innocent girl fallen to tragedy. Let's fucking hammer that voluptuousness into her, why not? She got what was coming to her

Mina Harker? Who even wants to see good, loving women caring for her friends and husband with all her heart, even when literally damned. That's so 19 century. She's obviously hot for Drac and is, in fact, his reincarnated love

Jonathan Harker? What do you mean he used to have character?

QUINCEY MORRIS WHO THE F-

And on it goes. By turning the story inside out they ruin any message, and speck of true light. That's partially why I'm so into Dracula Daily and now Re: Dracula too, because they prove just how equally entertaining the original can be. You don't have to reverse the characters for the shock effect. The story shocks you with emotions and is doing it all by itself.

[twopoint99]

Possible spoilers if you haven’t already listened or read the book. Also, spoilers for The Horror of Dracula, 1958 and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992.

One of my favorite things about @re-dracula is seeing the reactions of people whose main exposure to the story is through the many film adaptations. The differences in how the characters relate to one another are way too many to list from film to film. Even aside from the bizarre choices (Lucy as Mina’s sister-in-law - the Horror of Dracula, 1958, or Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula’s lost love - Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992) the most important difference between those adaptations and re - dracula is that these are fully rounded characters who clearly care about one another.

Jonathan adores Mina, Mina loves him, and loves Lucy. The suitor squad and Van Helsing genuinely cherish Lucy and it causes everyone palpable pain when they see her slipping away. When the group finally gets together in one place, they all acknowledge and respect the various strengths they each bring, and they hold one another up as needed.

None of the characters seem cast aside, as often happens in film adaptations. Even the 1992 film, which includes all three suitors, doesn’t manage to make them all seem like full personalities. They appear more as aspects of an individual, or as tropes. Lucy herself in the ‘92 movie is the complete opposite of her characterization in the novel. Her behavior in the film is anachronistic at best, and offensive at the least. It is a perfect illustration of the stupid and misogynistic attitude in horror that “wanton” women are punished.

Not only that, but it also completely changes the story and the dreadful implications of it. Lucy isn’t targeted because she’s “done something wrong” (quotes because I don’t believe expressing/exploring one’s sexuality is wrong, no matter what my favorite genre keeps telling me), she is targeted because she is convenient. Dracula wasn’t musing in between leaving his castle and reaching England that by golly, he couldn’t wait to terrorize Lucy Westenra! He saw an opportunity, like any other predator, and he took it.

Of course, we’ve seen that he is very willing to play with his food once he feels in control. He was very pleased to be able to torment Jonathan, yet another character who is often treated poorly in adaptations - in the 1958 version he’s so smug and patronizing toward what appears to be a terrified woman, that I was actively hoping for his death.

In contrast, the novel/Dracula Daily/re-dracula show us a sweet, earnest man, one who is gentle and loving. He, like Lucy, is a convenient victim, and like Lucy, is innocent.

The true horror is that terrible things can happen to anyone, and no amount of wealth, education, or simple good-heartedness, will act as a shield. There are no preventatives, and no one “deserves” the terrible things that happen. The real strength of the story isn’t in deciding which characters(usually women) are worthy of saving, an overly simplistic approach that many film adaptations take, some more subtly than others. The story resonates because in spite of the randomness of the horror, the people involved decide to do something about it.

These people are not always perfect or even heroic. Dr. Seward (who I really enjoy, and who is also often portrayed badly in adaptation) is not a safe person for his patients to be around. He is ableist, arrogant, patronizing, and definitely not handling his own mental health well. He is also loving, practical, loyal, and in many ways exceptionally tender-hearted. All of the cast is achingly good in their portrayals, but Johnny Sims’ interpretation of Seward has been revelatory. The man is flawed, but gosh darnit, he’s absolutely human. His pain is visceral, his awkwardness is utterly relatable, and his attempts to make things make sense is so hard to hear, because we want the awful things to be a puzzle with a logical solution, but we also know that there is no motivation for what is happening, it is all chance.

Mina herself questions why they need worry about Dracula, once he is gone from England. By this time she’s had a horrific experience with the count and understandably wants to be done with the whole thing. Earlier, however, she begins her work of compiling all the information available about Dracula, because she understands that something may need to be done, for the good of all.

She is afraid of losing her husband, she is afraid of what other horrors may wait, but she also is able to put that aside to continue to pursue stopping Dracula, so that there won’t be another victim, and so that Dracula himself might be saved from the horrific reality he’s experienced for so long.

I have been telling people ad nauseum that re-dracula is hands down the best adaptation of the novel I’ve ever encountered. It is because it is treated as a story about people, real people, with real connections to those around them, real flaws and strengths, who grow to share a bond. They swear to stop Dracula, not out of vengeance, as Jonathan can be forgiven for wanting, but out of love for those they have lost and those they may save.

[noblessenoir]

so as much as i hate the francis ford coppola adaptation of dracula setting a precedent for making mina into dracula's reincarnated lover, i do admit that there is merit in the defense that this at least gives dracula a personal attachment to a member of the human cast

because as it stands in the book, dracula initially targets lucy for seemingly no reason, not realizing that she and his first english victim, jonathan, are even connected. and because it's all just a coincidence, it's less satisfying for the audience

but i argue that there's a better way to give dracula a personal connection to the human cast without compromising mina's character: make dracula obsessed with jonathan instead

it makes sense, jonathan is his first new victim in transylvania, jonathan is his first point of contact with this new world he seeks to invade, and because we know that dracula has been intercepting his letters, this means he knows about jonathan's personal life and the people he cares about

so here's how i would do it in a hypothetical dracula adaptation:

when dracula leaves for london, he does so specifically to target mina because he knows who she is and where she lives from jonathan's letters to her. maybe he even taunts jonathan over this, which is what drives jonathan to make his final desperate escape from the castle to try to somehow warn mina in time. then i would fudge the timeline a bit so that by the time dracula gets to london, mina has just left for transylvania to find jonathan after receiving the letter from the abbey where he has been recovering. but then, dracula remembers other details from jonathan and mina's correspondence; he remembers the passages about beautiful, innocent, beloved lucy westenra, and decides that if he cannot have mina, he will have her instead

this could be a great source of angst for both jonathan and mina if they ever figure out this connection, and it could even sow seeds of discord within the group—after all, this means that jonathan and mina are indirectly responsible for the death of someone who arthur, quincey, and seward all loved. but also, this makes dracula's later attack on mina much more personal. he's not just doing it because she is one of the biggest threats in the human cast, he's also doing it because she was his target all along, and lucy was just a tragic consolation prize

all of this could also add a homoerotic element to the story between dracula and jonathan. much has already been said about dracula's status as a sex symbol in pop culture and how sex is a big theme of the original novel. and as it stands, there are already parts of the book that make dracula's obsession with jonathan seem romantically charged. especially in the early chapters in transylvania, dracula almost seems to be setting up a beauty and the beast situation between him and jonathan, trying to charm him while keeping him prisoner. and then later in the story, dracula targeting mina can be played as jealousy for her relationship with jonathan. and of course, there's this infamous passage from early the novel where dracula stops his brides from feasting on jonathan:

so yes, i think francis ford coppola had the right idea to give dracula a more personal connection to a member of the human cast, he just chose the wrong one

[fantasyandromancelover]

Dracula AU

Dracula - Alastor

Johnathan Harker - Moxxie

Abraham Van Helsing - Husk

Mina Murray - Millie

Lucy Westenra - Charlie

Arthur Holmwood - Blitzo

Dr. John Seward - Vaggie

R.M Renfield - Angel

In the 1400's, during the time when the Ottoman Empire destroyed Constantinople and threatened Europe, Alastor a knight of the church, joined the Order of The Dragon to defend his home country and his people. In battle he was victorious, successfully slayed his enemies, and managed to rescue many prisoners of the Turks including a beautiful Byzantine princess. They fall in love and marry after the war but unfortunately, a life of wedded bliss was not to be.

The Order of the Dragon, had become corrupt after their leader chose to renounce God, sell his soul to Satan, and become the world's first vampire. The order's new plan to infect the world with this plague and create a vampire coven. Horrified, Alastor left the order and intended to flee to another country with his wife where they could live together peacefully. Tragically the order was insulted by his refusal to join their cause and decided to punish him. The order abducted Alastor's wife and burned her at the stake then he was forcibly changed into a vampire.

Driven insane by the loss of his wife and the torture of being transformed into nosferatu, Alastor terrorized Eastern Europe. Possessed by an uncontrollable blood lust, he killed many lives as did the Order, but he was merciful enough to ensure none of his victims became vampires themselves as opposed to the Order. And he swears vengeance against the order, intending to destroy it and then take his own life.

Centuries later, in the 1800's, an English solicitor Maximus (Moxxie) has become engaged to the lovely and devoted school mistress Mildred (Millie). He loves her more than anything in the world but feels that he is too poor to marry her so he desperately seeks any method to change his fortune. An opportunity for such arises when his employer assigns him to an extremely wealthy client in Transylvania though it requires him to travel to said country and stay there for a few days. Mildred wishes to marry before he leaves, insisting that she doesn't care about money and that his love is all she needs. But Maximus wants to wait til after he returns so he can afford to give her the wedding of her dreams and so much more.

While he's away, Mildred stays with her aristocratic but beautiful and innocent best friend Charlotte who has also become engaged. She has been arranged to marry Baldwin (Blitzo) a young lord who is believed to be of noble birth and dreadfully wealthy. However unlike Maximus and Mildred, Baldwin and Charlotte are not in love, though she tries to love him and he is good to her, he often neglects her for business and leaves her alone with his hateful sister Barbara (Barbie).

Upon arriving in Transylvania, Maximus is welcomed graciously by his client who happens to be Alastor and his servant Anthony, a young man who he rescued from being a sex slave. Alastor desires to secure an estate in London under the claim that he has established a new business over there but in actuality, he wishes to move there because that's where the order has traveled to. Maximus is suspicious of Alastor's intentions at first, especially when he hears and sees so many strange things during his stay. But he ends up complying with Alastor's request after seeing the man's incredible collection of treasure. In a few days, Maximus, Alastor, and Anthony go to London and he moves into the estate next door to Baldwin's.

One night Alastor catches a glimpse of Charlotte and is stunned to discover that she looks identical to his late wife. Desperate to meet her, he throws an engagement gala for Maximus and Mildred "To show his gratitude to him." At the event he and Charlotte fall in love at first sight and he suspects her to be the reincarnation of his lost love.

Meanwhile unknown to everyone else, Baldwin and Barbara have lost their fortune and their place in society due to their father going into debt and have secretly joined the order to recover what they've lost. Although Baldwin is completely unaware of the evil taking place within the cult. So while Baldwin is busy running errands and making secret deliveries for the order, Alastor begins tracking down and killing members of the cult one by one. One night his killing is witnessed by Maximus who also discovers the painted portrait of Alastor's wife and her resemblance to Charlotte. He flees to warn the others but Anthony intercepts him, they fight and both men knock each other into the river.

Luckily Anthony is found and taken to the hospital while Maximus is discovered by a nun and whisked away to a convent where he suffers from a brain fever. Mildred travels to said convent to marry him,  leaving Charlotte completely alone in the house with Barbara. But at night Alastor begins to invite Charlotte to one romantic evening after another, causing their love to grow stronger. During one of these outings Alastor professes his love to her and they share a passionate kiss but Charlotte quickly regrets it, telling Alastor that she wishes to remain faithful to Baldwin, and cannot see him anymore. Though heartbroken, Alastor accepts her decision.

Word of the mysterious way Alastor's victims died soon reaches Dr. Harlin Talanov (Husk) a professional in the medical field and in vampire hunting, having slain the very vampire who turned Alastor. He suspects vampirism is plaguing London and travels there with his headstrong apprentice Vagatha to investigate. They set up their research at the hospital with Harlin studying the dead bodies and Vagatha taking care of the living patients, thus leading her to meet and form a bond with Anthony. It isn't long before Harlin begins to suspect Anthony is a vampire's minion and he convinces Vagatha to get answers from him.

Back at Whitbay, Charlotte suddenly becomes ill but Barbara refuses to let Baldwin call a physician but when Mildred visits, she becomes suspicious and sends for Vagatha. The three women strike up a friendship and Charlotte confides in them about her friendship with Alastor, and Vagatha can't help noticing the similarities between him and Anthony's "master." Later Barbara lies to Baldwin that Charlotte's ailment is really a cover for an affair she's been having with Alastor. Charlotte pleads with Baldwin that she has been faithful and still retains her virtue but he does not believe her and furiously has her confined to her room until the wedding.

When she over hears Barbara trying to convince Baldwin to send her to an asylum, she cries herself to sleep. Alastor hears her cries and later sneaks into her bedroom. When she wakes, she reveals that she remembers her past life as his wife and confesses that she still loves him despite the fact that he's a vampire. She offers herself to him as his bride and they make love. Shortly after, Charlotte's illness increases and she takes a turn for the worst. Unable to lose her, Alastor turns her into a vampire and carries her off to his estate.

Meanwhile Maximus finally recovers from his fever and reveals Alastor's identity as a vampire. He, Baldwin, Harlin, and Vagatha then go to Alastor's state to stake him but are mortified to find him and a vampirized Charlotte sleeping together in a coffin. Charlotte then denounces her engagement to Baldwin and declares that she is now Alastor's wife, and wishes to be with him forever. Baldwin unable to accept this, tries to take her by force but Alastor attacks him and the others, only agreeing to spare them on Charlotte's behalf. The couple then choose to flee back to Transylvania.

That same night, Mildred is attacked and bitten, now in the process of becoming a vampire herself. The group believes Alastor is responsible and sets out to destroy him in order to save Mildred. The order of the dragon offers to help but Harlin does not trust them and advises the others to avoid the cult. Unfortunately Barbara persuades Baldwin to bring them along. As Mildred slowly transforms, she develops a psychic connection to Charlotte due to them making a blood sister pact sometime ago and reads her mind in order to locate her and Alastor.

They take a train to Transylvania to pursue them and during the trip Maximus, Harlin, and Vagatha can’t help noticing how uncomfortable Mildred acts around Barbara, and Harlin keeps picking up a peculiar yet familiar scent on her. When the group splits up, Maximus and Harlin search her bag, discovering a rare but very fatal poison that has no known cure. When they confront Barbara about it she reveals to them that Charlotte’s illness had been a result of her secretly poisoning her so she and Baldwin could inherit her fortune and use it to benefit the order. She also reveals that the order had transformed her into a vampire and that it was she who attacked Mildred.

She and cult then capture them, and try to force Mildred to feed on them. She almost succumbs to their influence and bites Maximus but her love for him allows her to resist long enough for Harlin to place a communion wafer on her head to slow down the transformation. Mildred helps them escape and the flee to warn Baldwin and the others.

Baldwin’s group manages to catch Alastor and Charlotte before they reach the castle, and a fight breaks out. During the battle Barbara attacks Charlotte revealing her vampire form and true nature to her brother. As she prepares to stake Charlotte, Alastor desperately throws himself on to his wife and takes the blow for her. Finally recognizing the evil of the order and his sister, Baldwin turns on them and fights back along with Maximus and the others upon reuniting with them. In the end, all the cult members are killed, the Order of The Dragon is finally destroyed, and Baldwin is forced to stake and decapitate Barbara thus saving Mildred from becoming a vampire herself.

A tearful Charlotte then takes the dying Alastor into the chapel where he was cursed and prays to God to let him live, while he repents for his sins and agrees to face death and damnation with dignity but pleads that Charlotte be spared. Heaven is moved by their love and by Alastor’s sacrifice, so through a miracle not only is Alastor saved but both he and Charlotte are reverted to their human forms, free to live a happy life together at last.

[vickyvicarious]

Then, for the first time in my life, I saw Van Helsing break down. He raised his hands over his head in a sort of mute despair, and then beat his palms together in a helpless way; finally he sat down on a chair, and putting his hands before his face, began to sob, with loud, dry sobs that seemed to come from the very racking of his heart. Then he raised his arms again, as though appealing to the whole universe. "God! God! God!" he said. "What have we done, what has this poor thing done, that we are so sore beset? Is there fate amongst us still, sent down from the pagan world of old, that such things must be, and in such way? This poor mother, all unknowing, and all for the best as she think, does such thing as lose her daughter body and soul; and we must not tell her, we must not even warn her, or she die, and then both die. Oh, how we are beset! How are all the powers of the devils against us!" Suddenly he jumped to his feet. "Come," he said, "come, we must see and act. Devils or no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters not; we fight him all the same."

I feel like today's entry, and specifically this scene, is a key characterization for van Helsing in much the same way Mina going across town to rescue Lucy was for her.

He has been running himself ragged trying to solve everything himself. While he's not willing to tell the truth to people, I do think it's out of a protective instinct most of all. He also treats Lucy like a child. This is depriving her of respect as a fellow adult, and excluding her from key information about her own life and death. That's definitely no good either, but once again it seems clear to me that he means it well, and is trying to comfort and protect her. He's trying not to burden other people with knowledge that will only hurt them. It's a serious flaw, but not one unique to him by any means, and not maliciously meant.

In a way, his anguish over being unable to warn Mrs. Westenra about the danger of what she did without killing her (and thus possibly Lucy) sums up his feelings about telling the others about vampires. It's just, the danger they will face isn't physical. But he'll destroy their worldview if they believe him, he'll cause them deep anguish and fear. And if they don't believe him, he might destroy his own relationship with them, and he might lose his ability to try and save Lucy. At the same time, nothing he's trying is succeeding in saving Lucy anyway. It feels like every single time he makes any progress or thinks he finds some kind of solution, he returns to find her dying again. No wonder he talks about fate; it's like nothing he can do is able to help. How can this even happen, without the power of all the devils surrounding them and actively working against them?

But then we come to the defining moment. Because van Helsing refuses to give up. Even if it's a fight he's destined to lose, he's going to fight it all the way to the end, because Lucy doesn't deserve this. He lets himself break down, can't help it - but he ensures that he doesn't show any of it to Mrs. Westenra or Lucy. He tries to be gentle and smiling with both of them. And he gives himself only a minute before getting back up and heading in to resume the fight again. He donates blood himself, this time, and then volunteers to stay up with her for multiple nights to come, even though he sent both younger men home after their own transfusions, and was just talking about how much exhaustion has built up for him.

He hates everything about this. But above all, he wants to protect people. Whether that be their emotions/innocence (in many ways misguidedly), their health, or their soul. He will give all he has, will push himself to keep going until the very end to protect them as best he can.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Oh boy not me rubbing my asexual hands all over Lucy Westenra but here we fucking go. Here’s why I don’t like the “Vampire Lucy getting staked is symbolic of men repressing women’s sexuality” take, at least in the reductive, simplistic form too many people use it in.

Vampire Lucy is a demon who possessed the body of an innocent woman, tormenting her even in her afterlife. Her only desires are to consume children and to skulk about.  Sure, Stoker uses the word “voluptuous” one too many times and has a thing about spiritual purity that can read as sexual purity, but Vampire Lucy is not a sexual being. She only tries to offer herself to Arthur once, and it’s an act of desperation and manipulation, not desire. She has nothing of Lucy’s personality, her values, her friendship, or her love. The only thing she has is Lucy’s body, which is why she throws it at Arthur as a shield. This is Lucy’s body, right? That’s all that matters, right?

And according to a thousand adaptations, yes. All Lucy can or should be is an avatar of sexuality. Ignore her interests, her friendship with Mina, her family history of sleepwalking, literally every part of her character besides that one line that her vampire self said. The vampire self which, as the narrative stresses over and over, is just a Thing wearing her skin. Because that’s all that matters, that’s the REAL her, the most desirable. A body with no soul to get in the way.

[19011301180905]

With the recent boom of interest around dracula, i highly recommend reading one of my favorite retellings of the book: DRCL: Midnight Children by Shin'ichi Sakamoto (creator of Innocent and Innocent Rouge)

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Coming-of-Age

Status: Ongoing

Content Warnings: Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, typical Victorian England things in a private all-boys school

Instead of Jonathan Harker, it follows Wilhemina "Mina" Murray in Whitby School, a prestigious all-boys school. She's constantly bullied and looked down upon even if she's proven that she earned her spot on the school (Also she's a very good wrestler).

Other familiar characters such as Lucy Westenra, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, John Seward, and Bram Stoker also appear, albeit a bit different from the original.

Sakamoto has changed a few things such as Quincey becoming an African-American student and John becoming Jo Sewa, who is now Japanese. Another change is Lucy is now Luke "Lucy" Westenra, though it's not currently clear if Luke/Lucy is genderfluid or a trans woman. Jonathan Harker is also changed as Mina's disabled childhood friend.

(And of course, they're all teenagers in an all-boys school)

Midnight Children is a completely different novel as a result of the modifications, yet it does follow most of Dracula's major plot points. Sakamoto's writing is excellent, and he creates a bleak, claustrophobia atmosphere right away, thanks to his realistic, nightmarish artwork.

Without giving too much away about the plot, I'll just mention Shin-ichi Sakamoto's art, which is rendered in an intimate, dream-like realism in every panel. Because all of the characters treat the unsettling, mystical forces surrounding them as normal, it does give a massive whiplash.

minor tangent: i like that the author doesn't go the tokenism route, which is such a low standard, but Sakamoto knows how to write queer characters. his writing in the Innocent series is enough to prove that. just a low standard but there's few stories that write their queer characters of color with respect, especially one based on Victorian England.

I recommend reading the one-shot first, then the manga. while it does spoil you a bit, the one-shot is a great mood-setter for the rest of the manga which is an amazing slow-burn.

[somnesca]

Fuck it.

The Polycula as Disney Princesses*

*includes non-official ""princesses"" because I don't care about that branding crap and this is more fun

Mina Harker: Some might think Belle is the obvious parallel here but imo she's better suited as Tiana. No one works harder, deserves better, or handles malevolent harbingers of the underworld with more guts and grace. Plus: she's got a beautiful fancy best friend.

Jonathan Harker: ...honestly I had too many options here but our good friend is taken hostage by a lord of a creepy castle with dark secrets, avoids a pack of wolves, wanders into forbidden wings, and bonds with said lord over their mutual interest in books. Jonathan is the OG Belle and there's nothing I can do about it. Plus: he loves his "monster" (Mina, of course, not Drac) and WILL defy all of society to defend that love if he has to.

John Seward: Suddenly overwhelmed with evidence of creatures and beings that don't make any sense? Check. Firmly believing there is "madness" in others while avoiding confronting his own? Check. Baffled by seemingly nonsensical wordplay of one of his helpful companions? Check. He's Alice in Wonderland, all right. Someone come get him out of this rabbit hole.

Arthur Holmwood: Ok bear with me on this one, it's kind of a deep cut. I was leaning toward a classic princess at first, but then it occurred to me: a character who is glamorous and elegant and comes from high society, but who will jump into action when innocent lives are on the line, even using their connections to travel to far-off lands... well that's the lovely Miss Bianca from The Rescuers, baby.

Quincey Morris: This was harder than it should have been because not enough classic Disney princesses are allowed to have guns. (But they should.) So I went with just vibes. Who loves adventure and not being confined to a single place? Who's great with horses and quickly befriends tough guys and thieves through sheer earnestness? Who would absolutely fuck up an intruder (whether human or bat) without hesitation and with any weapon that's available to them? None other but Rapunzel.

Abraham van Helsing: I love the thought of a curious and passionate academic who winds up in a land very different from their own, who pushes through the difficulties of language barriers to connect and communicate with locals through compassion and understanding. Sure, his attempts are a bit clumsy from time to time and the locals may never fully understand the nuances of his culture, but he becomes a most beloved protector nonetheless. Ergo: Jane Porter from Tarzan.

Lucy Westenra: Now we could go the Aurora route and that suits me just fine (both are victims of a sleeping disorder and don't get that much screentime) buuut she is the fairest in all the land, charms the hell out of older men, and is released from her supernatural death curse with a gesture of true love...Snow White, is that you?

Renfield: Look at his stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think his collection's complete (although adding a kitten would be nice)? Poor Renfield's got a strong voice with a lot to say but no one listens to him, because he's angling for something more by striking a deal with a dark power. Despite all his best efforts, he does not end up being part of that world. (But he can be a part of ours! Tumblr loves you, Ariel Renfield.)

I invite alternatives and arguments if you feel so moved, it shouldn't need to be said but this is not to be taken seriously by any means.

[the-countess-vampira]

• Bram Stoker 🧛🏼‍♂️🍷🕯🦇

• Bram Stoker, byname of Abraham Stoker, (born November 8, 1847, Clontarf, County Dublin, Ireland). Was an Irish writer best known as the author of the Gothic horror tale Dracula (1897). Due to disease, Stoker could not stand or walk until he was seven years old. He went on to become an outstanding athlete and football (soccer) player at Trinity College, very famous in Dublin, where he earned a degree in mathematics. After 10 years in the civil service at Dublin Castle, during which he was also an unpaid drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail (later the Evening Mail), he made the acquaintance of his idol, actor Sir Henry Irving.

• After misters Irving death Stoker published Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving [1906], a biography of Irving that includes a great deal of biographical detail about Stoker himself.). But his most famous work is definitely Dracula, it was published in 1897. The story was written chiefly in the form of diaries and journals kept by the principal characters: Jonathan Harker, Wilhelmina (“Mina”) Harker (née Murray), Dr. John (“Jack”) Seward, and Lucy Westenra, Mina’s friend and a victim of Dracula who herself becomes a vampire and, of course doctor Van Helsing. The story is that of a Transylvanian vampire who, using supernatural powers, makes his way to England and there victimizes innocent people to gain the blood on which he survives.

• Dracula is still a very popular gothic horror novel and people read the books even now. Vampires like Dracula are very popular characters, with their unique features, such as charming, beauty and intelligence.

• Bram Stoker died in 1912.

• I hope you guys read Dracula since it's spooky season, I'm reading it now and there's a book review coming soon. Goodnight, vampires. 🖤

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[elizabethswitch]

Unsupported headcanon follows.

On the night before her wedding day, Abraham Van Helsing stayed up with Lucy Westenra until dawn. We have no record of what passed that evening. We know that she was sealed in her crypt, and that he watched through the dark to ensure that noone released her, be it Dracula or some thrall. What I believe is that they spoke through the closed portal.

She must of course have begged for release, poor starveling Lucy, and this is why he sent Jack away. Jack would have caved, no question. But Van Helsing needed to ascertain some other particulars about her sojourn: he discovered somehow that she had not done murder. The papers made no mention of any dead children, but she was very clever and could have concealed a body easily. In the end he was assured of her innocence. What else he may have told her, what promises offered, I can't say.

But in the end he decided to set her up, and to let Arthur see her at her absolute lowest, with no fear of causing the demise of a child. For I do not believe he would have risked that-- but he does know how to cage a vampire, and he did deliberately set her free.

So now to Mina Harker, and Van Helsing's assurance to her of potential salvation: why must the Count be destroyed first, when Lucy was freed by decapitation? It's nonsense. He doesn't want to risk her committing suicide, and has nothing to give that would stay her hand, so he lies, he confabulates, he does whatever is necessary to prevent her damning herself.

[minas-diary]

Crew of light as dogs...

Based on this post. Exactly what it sounds like. Some fluff to aid you all in getting through the Droughtula.

I would like to thank @re-dracula for being absolutely brilliant and thank @victoriantheorist14, @see-arcane, @marghen and @garnetsfists for their service to the Dracula (1897) fandom at this time.

I would also like to highlight my friends, @zoophagist, @wcstenra, @carpathianprince @gingerhastoomanyobsessions @the-brat-prince-1760 and @withinycu, we shall survive the droughtula. 💞

Disclaimer: contains vague spoilers for the book Dracula (1897). Proceed no further baby bats. 🦇

1. Mina Murray/Mina Harker - beagle. - the most intelligent character in the novel, other than Jonathan the primary hunter of Dracula. Beagles are known well for their intelligence and ability to hunt.

2. Jonathan Harker - Labrador retriever. - A sporting and family dog, thoroughly charming and intelligent but understated to a point. Just like our dear friend Jonathan. Can spot red flags from a good distance, they however, can’t always act to protect themselves.

3. Lucy Westenra - Yorkshire terrier - charming, intelligent, earnest, would not deliberately hurt anyone and amiable. Just like our ingenue, Lucy.

4. Van Helsing - Dutch Shepard - a herding dog, somewhat parental, Dutch, clever and known to read signs and cues very well.

5. Arthur Holmwood - papillon - charming, upper class, ridiculously cute, and known for their good hair and most thorough innocence and good intentions.

6. Quincey Morris - German Shepard - a ranch dog, strong, steady, versatile, hard working, earnest and loyal to the end, just like our American cowboy.

7. John/Jack Seward - Affenpinscher - a German dog originally bred to kill rats, awkward looking, small, and hard to find in the 21st century. Some may consider them to off putting but if you utilized correctly a useful set of paws, or hands to have on one’s team.

8. Not technically in the polycule but he gets love here.

R. M Renfield - Basenji - an usual dog, known for being “barkless” or “voiceless” in dog terms, often wrongly perceived as lacking substantial will or helpless. This is in fact, untrue, rather than silent this dog “yodels” “sings” and “sirens.” Useful as hunting dogs as Renfield is, despite circumstances useful to our vampire hunting polycule/crew. Basenji often alert their owners of danger and send signals, albeit in no traditional way. What Basenji sound like.

[linipikk]

washed by sadness because of Lucy Westenra

Seward and Van Hellsing, and of course Arthur, but also her mother and Mina, everyone loves her so much and they ask constantly how she is doing and she just puts this front while we know that she can't be feeling all that well. But she tries, while Dracula eats every ounce of vitality she has in her, leaving her on the threshold of death.

And, at this point, the only thing keeping her alive is the blood transfusions from all these men who are trying so hard to not let her fade. Even when she wakes up closer to a corpse, they still... give her willingly their blood. Like the monster of the story, she needs their blood to keep alive, but we know how futile it has been every time, while the real vampire feeds and feeds.

What if the horror is really how the love of the people around her and their wish for her to be okay is unknowingly transforming her into the monster, and Dracula is just waiting for Lucy to not being alive anymore and still needing the blood of those close to her, enjoying this young innocent woman being corrupted by the love others feel for her.

[gildatheplant]

Dracula Dreamcast (inspired by the popularity of IWTV)

So your first thought upon reading that title might be, “What do you mean inspired by the popularity of IWTV?”

I mean a version of Dracula that deeply explores the queer themes of the original novel. One that embraces: the homoerotic relationship between Dracula and Jonathan, the fact that Jonathan is framed for much of the story in the way women typically were in stories of the time, the way Jonathan and Mina are framed as each other’s protectors, explores how the story might have gone had Stoker been able to explore Dracula’s infatuation with Jonathan instead of having to switch his interest to Lucy, does NOT rewrite Mina as some kind of love interest for Dracula (my biggest pet peeve in Dracula media since Mina is explicitly attacked for her connection to Jonathan and Lucy- Dracula has no interest in her beyond that and she absolutely hates him), one that explores Jonathan’s gentle and ‘feminine’ traits as well as Mina’s stoic and more ‘masculine’ traits.

With the renewed interest in the original novel, and particularly the growing understanding that Dracula media has deeply wrong the character of Jonathan, I’d like to quickly discuss some dream casting and why.

Alex Wolff as Jonathan Harker-

I’ll be honest, this pick is entirely based on his performance in Hereditary. It was an amazing performance though, so I think it’s fair. Alex Wolff has a combination of vulnerability and strength that I think would be perfect for Jonathan Harker. Hereditary proves that he is excellent at playing a character struggling with horrifying events beyond his control, and the effects such events have on a person’s psyche. 

Christian Bale as Dracula-

I believe this image was created by infamous_captain on reddit, but if I’m wrong please correct me. Christian Bale is known as an actor who really disappears into his roles and gives 110%. While he’s most famous for his role as Batman, he’s no stranger to playing villains. His breakout role was American Psycho in which he played a vain and cruel serial killer, and he’s played a wide variety of characters with dubious morality. As the above image shows, a bearded and long-haired Christian Bale looks straight out of Stoker’s novel. He is very good at being intimidating, and I think his age and presence would make an excellent contrast to Alex Wolff’s youth and vulnerability.

Anya Taylor-Joy as Lucy Westenra-

Another actor with horror credentials under her belt, I think Taylor-Joy has the kind of beauty that seems both ethereal and a little creepy. Much like Jonathan Harker, Lucy Westenra’s characterization in media often veers far away from the innocent and loving woman she is portrayed as in the novel. Taylor-Joy has the acting chops to depict Lucy’s fall from beloved friend and confidante to beautiful and deadly child attacking vampire.

Jared Harris as Abraham Van Helsing-

Jared Harris is the kind of actor who elevates everything he is in. The role that really convinced me he’d be the perfect choice for Van Helsing was Captain Francis Crozier in The Terror. In that role Harris showed how well he could go from a strong, non-nonsense leader, to a caring father-figure, to a man who has seen too much but continues to push forward all perfect traits for the actor playing the legendary Van Helsing.

Mina Murray Harker-??? 

Suggestions would be welcome for this one. Mina is the heart and soul of the Crew of Light aka the good guys in Dracula. She is Jonathan’s strength and in some ways, protectress. In this version of the Dracula tale in particular, where Dracula pursues Jonathan as his main love interest, Mina needs to be played by an actress with the strength and courage to challenge Dracula for Jonathan’s safety. I also picture this Mina as Jonathan’s dearest friend, where their marriage is based more on protecting their beloved friend from a society that would destroy them for not being the ideal Victorian Man and Victorian Woman. 

Thoughts?

[cascadiums]

Dracula and 'The Antimacassar', aka the shorthand-and-vampires cinematic universe (spoilers for both stories below)

Okay, this is not an "if you loved reading Dracula, you have got to read 'The Antimacassar'" post. If you are interested in women writers of the horror pulp scene, Greye La Spina's contributions to Weird Tales are definitely worth a look, but I'm not recc'ing 'The Antimacassar' as a hidden gem of vampire lit. Personally, I don't love the story (I felt like it built up in a cool and interesting way, then flopped promptly on its face in the final act), but it has some very unusual commonalities with Dracula that I want to talk about.

It's always really easy to draw parallels between any post-1900 vampire story and Dracula. However, it's usually the same themes and images that crop up - bats, the eroticism of the vamp/victim dynamic, Christianity, loss of innocence for a beautiful youth... Repeated adaptations and intertexts have formed an echo chamber that amplifies certain aspects of Dracula and deadens others; we all know about Bela Lugosi's cape, not so many people know about the Texan. 'The Antimacassar' doesn't follow this pattern.

La Spina's protagonist is Lucy, the victim of a vampire bite, who is protected as she sleeps by filling her room with flowers to ward away the evil. It's too familiar a narrative for me to think it's a coincidence. However, there are no spooky castles. No bats. Not even a mention of fangs. La Spina echoes very different elements from Dracula, ones based much more in practical, down-to-earth things.

In Dracula, recording information in shorthand is vital. The novel is assembled from meticulous notes, transcribed in triplicate by Mina. Within the narrative, the shorthand baffles the Count and is key to piecing the mystery together to defeat him. Metatextually, it is the novel. It's integral to the conceit of the novel's format. In 'The Antimacassar', a warning is woven in shorthand into the titular antimacassar, which helps to solve the mystery and rescue the protagonist. Shorthand is quite literally woven into the fabric of the story's namesake. Interestingly, La Spina's Lucy initially thinks the shorthand looks like 'some kind of ancient symbols', which suggests an intriguing thematic intertwining of the arcane and the administrative, but honestly I haven't pushed too far into that reading yet and this post is long as it is.

Shorthand as an essential vampire-fighting tool is a device that I wish had become as iconic as garlic and crucifixes. It's deliciously and incomprehensibly dull, which for one thing is very funny, and also makes a weird sort of sense. What could combat the fantastical more effectively than mind-numbing normality? I understand why office skills didn't become the number one vampire trope. I get that it's not the most exciting weapon to wield against the undead, but I'm also very glad Greye La Spina carried on the tradition.

Another really neat shared trait between Dracula and 'The Antimacassar' is the narrative importance of a woman expanding her professional skills. We have Mina Murray practicing her journaling and observation to be able to make better records for Jonathan. We have Lucy Butterfield (and Cora Kent before her) staying in an isolated farmhouse where she can study weaving. Both womens' professional development are narrative catalysts in some way. I don't want to say anything as reductive as "vampires happen to girls who want careers" but I do think there is a gap in the vampire canon for women working a 9-5; Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a whole time-loop episode to make the point that she could never hold down a job and fullfil her vampire-hunting responsibilities. Maybe if Joss Whedon shared La Spina's focus reading Stoker, Buffy could have been a CEO.

As 'The Antimacassar' is centred around women in the textile industry, it places the narrative in a space for craftswomen. Like Mina, Lucy and Mrs Westenra, it's a story that draws in on women facing a supernatural threat within their own environment. La Spina has shifted the idea from a familial to a professional space, which is an interesting development.

Reading Dracula alone, it's easy to look at the Westenra household as vulnerable and defenceless, but after 'The Antimacassar', I think about it differently. My perspective has shifted from seeing women attacked after being left alone to an invasion in an established territory. A mother, a daughter and her friend have created a space that is theirs and theirs alone. A space where a troop of men have come to present themselves to Lucy and hear her judgement of their proposals. A space where Lucy and Mina lived as they built their castles in the sky. The Count isn't just exploiting a vulnerability by choosing them, he's violating a space that was curated for these women to exercise their autonomy. La Spina deviates from a male invasion with Kathy, the landlady's daughter, being revealed as the vampire. This is a different kind of violation: in a space created for women to teach each other and help each other grow, they are instead consuming one another. In both cases, what's important is the destruction of a female community.

The big point I'm getting at is that I wouldn't have given much time to reading Dracula like this if Greye La Spina hadn't highlighted these same ideas and explored them in 'The Antimacassar'. She gives an alternate reading of the vampire mythology which Bram Stoker presents to us. The Stoker-La Spina vampire is vulnerable to everyday office-workers, and is thematically connected to women not as a metaphor for sexuality, but as a nuisance getting in the way of them trying to do their goddamn jobs and spend time with their friends. Compared to the Stoker-Rice vampire as forbidden desire and the Stoker-Midnight Mass vampire as social corruption, it's an unfamiliar reading. Maybe it's not as narratively juicy but I can't help liking it.

So yeah. Essentially, any vampire media that came after Dracula can still influence Dracula and the way you read it. I highly recommend looking for niche, non-stereotypical vampire stories because you will find connections and themes you hadn't paid much attention to before.

And shorthand is the best vampire-hunting weapon

[charmantevamp]

From here.

For @wcstenra. Lucy Westenra.

Her song is Friday I’m in Love, especially when relenting she can’t be with Mina and all her suitors and earnestly in the most innocent of ways wholeheartedly loves them all, but Victorian society makes her pick one.

Bonus: Lucy and Audrey as friends, or “the ingenue and the mistress” - women who love with hearts of gold and too deeply.