#renfield is his humanity

[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​

[ninjathrowingstork]

More Renfield potato content but I can't stop thinking about this moment,

Ugh it's the first time he's seen it's possible to stand up to someone that much stronger, even if it means knowing they could kill you she'd rather go down fighting than be paid off and be owned by the mob like the rest of the department

And then

The great war. WWI.

Sure he catches himself and does know recent global events, but it means something that it's the earlier war he thinks of first. If we're basing his age off Dwight Frye's, then he'd have been fifteen when the war started, just turning nineteen when it ended. He grew up during the war that wiped out most of a generation, maybe older boys he'd known. Did young Robert Montague Renfield also join, once he was of age near the end of the war? Did he at all see action in the final years? He'd already lived in a world where he'd feel powerless against the constant death and horror of the war.

And then, being young and studying to be a lawyer in the 20s, seeing the glitz and money and industry rising around him, and then just passing the exams in 1930-31 (in Dracula, Jonathan only learns he's passed as he's leaving to meet the Count) and the early years of the Depression and stock market crash, and he's a young father and trying to make this business deal that might set his career and provide for his family as the market is fading from under him, he's grasping for any way to keep up the career and family and life that a businessman is expected to in his generation, and then. And then he meets this aristocrat who promises him immortality, to not die like so many others he'd known, to have access to prestige and society and wealth that he's craved, if only in exchange for his service. And back then, it was more common for a gentleman to have a valet, after all, and his own father might have employed one himself. But he was also alone, no one else knowing where he'd traveled to and seeing this power and monstrosity from one man, being terrified and weak and isolated he just broke. The person he'd been before was gone, traded for a trickle of physical strength and the status of serving an aristocrat and by the time society rotated and that social power didn't mean as much, it was too late for him to have walked away without being shown that was even possible. He's traded his freedom for the assurance he wouldn't die, wouldn't be vulnerable to the uncertainties of the world he'd grown up in, but he says The Great War because that was the last one he was actually free and a person for.

[see-arcane]

After today’s entry, I am once again baffled by any adaptation that makes Renfield out to be some direct and obedient minion to Dracula’s whims. This guy literally breaks out the second he thinks his Lord and Master (read: Idealized Supernatural Benefactor He’s Decided Will Give Him Grisly Boons and Superpowers) is being ‘stolen’ from him and begins wailing on those he deems responsible...

...except those same guys are the ones hired specifically to carry out Dracula’s instructions of Transylvanian dirt box removal/delivery. The actual, if unwitting, minions getting paid to do his mysterious bidding. Considering Renfield’s mindset, it reads a lot less like ~protecting his Master~ and a lot more like--

Dracula, having a grand time: Well, that’s Miss Westenra taken care of, obstinate guardians notwithstanding. Oh, and here come my laborers for the earth moving! Lovely. What a productive few days this has been--

Renfield, Victorian era “Girlfriend” by Lady Avril Lavigne blasting in his head, attempting to murder the Count’s secondhand employees out of doing their job: DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY MAN OR HIS DIRT

Dracula, now t h i s close to having people turn up to snoop around Carfax to figure out what this guy’s problem is with the place/apologize to the homeowner and revealing his whole deal: 8)

All of which lends more weight to Renfield being less an outright Igor caricature being unduly influenced by the Count, and more like Dracula getting a taste of, How About That, Not So Fun Having a Fixated Aggro Stalker, Is It? medicine himself.

[zoophagist]

just finished the epilogue from re: dracula and i'm just..... do you think they ever think about renfield? :( does mina ever remember what he sacrificed for her? does jack ever look back with shame at how he treated him, dismissed him? the final note has that bit about little quincey's names tying together all the group and how someday they'll tell him the full story of how so many men risked it all to save his mother... do you think renfield ever figures in that? does his name get remembered? or is his part in the story lost?

[littleblondesoprano]

RM Renfield, AKA the most badass character in the Mina Protection Squad (and all of Dracula, really, besides Mina and Quincy)

[canyourfavesurvivecastledracula]

aziraphale from good omens :)

Bahahahaha! Oh my.

Okay, for the sake of sportsmanship, let's be as fair as we can and give Dracula every fighting chance.

The first big question is holiness - Aziraphale is undoubtedly very very holy. But he's an angel of God, not literally God, and that makes a difference. If we take the demons of Good Omens as a test case, we can see that they share some traditional weaknesses with vampires, the most prominent one being Holy Water - (although NB Dracula never interacts with Holy Water in novel, just as none of the demons in Good Omens, book or series, never interact with the Host). It seems reasonable to presume that Crowley for instance would have a bad time with a crucifix. So we can perhaps say that the two are repulsed by the divine in much the same way. But. No one would ever suggest that Crowley cannot physically touch Aziraphale. Right? Apart from it being demonstrably untrue, whole pillars of fandom would collapse. It's a non-starter. So Aziraphale is not prima facie the kind of divine that is repulsive to the demoniac... except perhaps aesthetically.

The next thing to get out of way is that Aziraphale is not strictly speaking the kind of thing that can die. But he can be discorporated, and the waiting list on bodies is such a bother, so I am going to say that if his physical body gets destroyed by any means that counts as not surviving Castle Dracula, though I love the idea of him possessing people later in the novel (I'm thinking either Renfield or Van Helsing, because Renfield is basically a medium already and like real weird about angels, and Van Helsing has that one scene where Jonathan is like .... so I'm like 90% sure he was possessed and speaking with literal divine authority just then. Weird.) The question then becomes what it takes it discorporate an angel and whether Dracula in fact possesses those means. The one thing that actually accomplishes it in universe is that summoning circle, which is a pretty extreme example. BUT if we include actual biblical canon in our angelology, then, while while that doesn't bring us any closer to what, if anything, can kill an angel, we do at least have examples of angels being beaten in fistfights. So, for the purposes of this exercise, Aziraphale can in principle be killed, and he can also in principle be beaten in a fistfight.

It might make some difference if we are talking about the Book or the Series. Book!Aziraphale is a little bit more of a bastard, a little less naive, a little less distractactable, and (as is Crowley) a whole lot more terrifyingly competent than his televised counterpart.

...okay enough of this. Aziraphale outclasses Dracula so hard it's not even funny. Angels and Demons are set up to be evenly matched because they are fundamentally the same type of thing and that's the whole point - but Dracula isn't that type of Demon. He's a human person who's mildly demoniac because he majored in it in college. It's very impressive to other humans, sure, but like, the ravings of his solicitor aside, he's really not on the level of actual Demons of the Pit. And the things that humans are better at - creativity, growth, love - he's traded for vampirism. He's got the disadvantages of both without really the advantages of either.

Aziraphale's fatal flaw, if you want to call it that, is that he really likes humans. He would be delighted by Dracula's cooking and by his library. He would never stand for the baby eating. He would he more insufferable about the paprika than our baby lawyer. But he's also had 6000 years of learning to be unassuming and letting people underestimate him, and perfecting the Reverse Customer Service voice. He would do that Disapproving Bookseller thing and make Dracula uncomfortable in his own home. He's not the kind of thing that can be hypnotized. He's not going to waste time looking for the key, the doors will just open for him when he tells them to. And if all else fails he has wings, he can literally just leave whenever.

So um, yes. Aziraphale can survive Castle Dracula. And he will probably mess with Dracula non-trivially while he's there.

[lauralot89]

Horny Dracula fans, take two

I made this poll already but I left off names like an idiot so let me do my spiel again

You have been given an unlimited budget and an unlimited run time to make your ideal adaptation of Dracula. You can be as faithful or unfaithful as you want, it's all up to you, with one caveat:

Dracula has to have a relationship, sexual or romantic or both, with one of the humans.

Now if I just made a poll right here, the answer would overwhelmingly be Jonathan Harker. Let's be real. Even if you don't personally ship it, he's the one Dracula spends the most time with, he's the one Dracula declares to be his and stares at while saying "I too can love," Jonathan's plot parallels so many damn "pretty lady with dangerous man" narratives like Bluebeard and Scheherazade and so on and so forth, it all writes itself

so I have removed him as a choice because I'm genuinely curious as to who your second choice would be and why

You don't have to vote on what you think would be cute or whatever (I mean you can if you want but given what Dracula is and his goals I don't think he can have a cute or even vaguely healthy relationship with a human), just whatever you think would be most narratively interesting. Whether within the narrative of the existing story or going off in some other direction.

Give me your vampire romance thesis

[ladyantiheroine]

While I’m still thinking about Renfield, I love how the movie never attempts to make him into a *~cool macho badass~*

Like yes, he spends a good chunk of the movie doing badass fight scenes and karate-chopping bad guys, but even then he still feels like the timid dork he is the rest of the time.

The way he awkwardly smiles and waves at Rebecca while slamming that guy to the ground at the apartment complex? Poetic cinema. The way his fight scenes (while entertaining to watch) only happen because of his abusive servitude to Dracula? Meanwhile, him taking on brighter colors and more "feminine" hobbies like baking and home decorating is not framed as emasculating and instead a sign that he's becoming a happier, healthier person? *chef's kiss*

I’m tired of male characters being one-dimensional power fantasies. We need more leading men who are pathetic wet cats in human form even when they’re kicking ass.

[another-chaotic-bisexual-vampire]

what a heroically tragic ending for Renfield! Renfield spent the whole novel yearning to meet Dracula, to be made into a vampire, so he may have eternal life by drinking blood... But when he finally meets Dracula, he sacrifices his dream of vampirism and gives up his life and his blood to defend Mina, the one person who showed him the barest crumbs of human kindness...

there's a lot going on in today's entry, but this alone has got me like:

[justmeinadaze]

Children of the Night (Steddie X You)

"Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!"- Dracula

A/N: "I present to you...this fucking thing." Lol always the TikTok that comes into my head when I try something new. I had started doing like a camboy Steddie thing but I struggled a lot with it and the feelings I wanted to convey. While listening to a song, this idea popped into my head so... I hope you enjoy it!

For the first half, everyone is referred to by their screen names.

Eddie is Dracula.

Steve is Renfield

Reader is Mina

I also set it in 2005 when things like streaming were relatively new and cameras weren't 100% clear.

Warnings: Camboys Steddie (Vampire Eddie and Human Steve) X Human Fem Reader, SMUT of the Steddie variety, Daddy kink (because im me lol), choking, biting. ANGST, blood is mentioned mostly from Eddie feeding, the reader has an abusive boyfriend so Domestic Violence Trigger, Eddie defends her and both boys take care of her. I think that's it.

Word Count: 4046

InnocentLittleMina: Hey sexy boys.

You grinned at your computer screen when you saw the long-haired boy smirk under his mane of hair.

“Hey, honey. How are you tonight?”, the other man smiled lovingly into the camera.

InnocentLittleMina: I’m alright. Can’t complain. What about you?

“I’m ok. As you can see Dracula is a little grumpy.”, he teases. 

“I’m hungry.”, he growls making you giggle. 

When you first saw these boys known only as Dracula and Renfield, you were drawn to them immediately. There was something about them that was not only attractive but confident as hell and it drove you wild. People around town talked about them constantly which was interesting since Los Angeles was a huge city. In 2005, there weren’t many people streaming, let alone broadcasting the content they were. 

 Everyone including police tried to track them down but never could. Their website itself was fairly generic but that’s not what their fans cared about. What they cared about was the content these two provided. 

The man known as Dracula would feed of off the other man known as Renfield and nine times out of ten it led to something sexual. The first time you heard Renfield moan, your pussy clenched around nothing. It was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard. Not many of their fans stayed after they finished but you always did, loving the way Dracula took care of Renfield after. They seemed to genuinely care about each other and that was something you appreciated. 

When you created your account you hoped it would get their attention and as luck would have it, it did especially since a lot of the female fans that watched them named their accounts after the character Lucy always believing that was the girl Dracula fell for. 

After a few months of back and forth, you actually came to know them as friends. Dracula didn’t talk as much as his friend but he did chime in where necessary and played his guitar for you once or twice making you swoon. Renfield always asked about your day and told you things about their time away from the computer but you couldn’t help but feel like they were holding information back. 

You asked them constantly why they decided on this particular vampire style content and theme and every time they changed the subject. You asked once how they faked the blood that stained Renfield’s chest when they were done and they pretended like they didn’t hear you. You asked them for their real names and each time they said their screen ones making you sigh. 

To make up for being obtuse and hoping to distract you, Renfield offered you a job as their moderator and paid you fabulously for your time. Since they trusted you enough with their business, you met their kindness with one of your own by turning on your webcam and showing them your face. 

Dracula’s eyes had turned towards you, grinning at your beauty. 

“Pretty girl.”

“Very.”, Renfield agreed. 

It had been a few months since then and you were extremely fond of them both. 

InnocentLittleMina: Ok, well, you have your stream in a few minutes so… don’t get too hungry! You need and love him.

“I do.”, Dracula smiles.

“We’ll talk to you after, honey.”, Renfield winks and you watch as they get into their places on the bed behind them. 

***

A little sigh left your lips as both men removed their shirts. Dracula’s tattoos on his chest always had you entranced. You noticed the first time you watched them that they both had scars along their stomachs up to their necks but that was a question you knew better than to ask. Trauma like that was none of your business unless they chose to tell you. 

The stream began and you kept your eyes peeled as fans began pouring in. They never said a greeting nor even said hello. You figured part of it was because by this point Dracula’s eyes were black like a shark on the hunt and those contacts had to be killing him. 

Straddling Renfield’s waist, Dracula tenderly kissed the man’s neck before gripping his fluffy hair in his hand and tugging him back as he bit into his skin. Renfield’s palms promptly came around to cling to Dracula’s head as his eye’s rolled and he fell backwards onto the mattress. 

A heavy exhale escaped you at the sight, licking your tongue across your lips as his hips began grinding up against his own. 

“Fuck. That’s it, baby. Take what you need.”, Renfield moaned. 

Something happened. Dracula’s head abruptly shot up looking vacantly in the distance. 

“What? What’s wrong? Wh-What do you feel, honey?” He cooed underneath him as he ran his fingers across his cheek and moved some of his messy hair back. 

“Mina.”, he growled. 

That got your attention as you sat up straighter. They both swiveled their heads towards the computer before you heard heavy footsteps and immediately yanked the cord from the wall just as the door opened. 

“John! Hey. I-I didn’t think you’d be coming over tonight.”

“You say that like you’re not excited to see your boyfriend.”

“Pfft. No, baby, I am. You just scared me is all. H-How was your day?”

His stern blue eyes flicked towards your little pink razor phone by your end table as it continued to vibrate. The boys knew your number. You gave it to them when they hired you. 

Please don’t let him walk over there to see. 

“Are you going to get that?”

“No, baby. I want to talk to you. Tell me about your day. I missed you—”

“Answer. The phone. Y/N.”

You sighed, pretending to be annoyed he was making you answer a random call as you flipped it open. 

“Hello?”

“Mina?! Are you alright?!”

“I’m sorry. I think you have the wrong number.”

You can hear them arguing in the background, vaguely picking up tidbits as your boyfriend steps closer to you. 

“I can feel her. I know where she is! Something bad is about to happen to her!”

“NO! You can’t reveal yourself and bring her into our mess! She deserves to have a better life!”

“She won’t have a fucking life, Steve, if this fucker kills her!”

“I always knew I’d catch you cheating on me sooner or later. Give me the phone.”

“John, I’m not… I would never…”

“Give it to me NOW.”, he snarls. You do as he says and as soon as your device touches his palm, his free one flies across your face smacking you so hard you fall on to the mattress. “Whoever this is, what you have with my girl is over.”

The growl that came through your phone’s speaker scared even you as you heard it loud and clear from where you were. 

“You’re going to regret touching her. If I were you, little man, I would leave now.”

With that there was silence and John threw the phone across the wall hoping to smash it into pieces. You two began fighting each other but he was much stronger than you, getting a good hit to your eye making you dizzy.

The banging of the door caving in is loud and your eyes are half open when you see a blur fly into your room, tackling your boyfriend to the ground. You hear his screams but they sound so far away. After a few minutes, everything is silent again and your arms fly out defensively when a hand touches your side. 

“No! No please!”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Mina. I never would. Just hold on to me, ok?” You feel your body being lifted and you press your cheek against cold, bare skin. “Clasp your hands around my neck, sweetheart.”

After barely registering his command, you feel a sudden rush of wind and after a minute you find yourself being placed on a bed that isn’t yours. 

“Have you lost your fucking mind!? Killing someone and then bringing her here!?”

“How do you know I killed him?”

“Because I fucking know you!”

“Can you stop berating me and help her, please!?”

A much warmer hand tenderly moves your hair back as something wet is dragged across your face making you jump.

“Hey, hey now. Everything’s ok. I just need to clean your cuts here. Can you go get me some ice, please?” Wind lightly blows your hair back twice before you hear the pack slam into his hand. “Thank you. What, um, what was happening when you got there?”

“He was hitting her. I’ve felt his anger before but this was different.”

“So you did go hunting for her even though I told you a thousand times not to.”

“No.”, he snarled, voice deep with annoyance. “I can just…feel her. I don’t get it either ok?!”

“Oh wow.” The wet rag was replaced with the cool of the ice pack as the man’s voice beside you got louder. “You like her.”

“And you don’t? She’s beautiful, kind, funny—”

“Innocent.”

“Fuck. Off. Little boy. Or I swear to God—”

“You swear to God what? Finish that sentence, Dracula. I dare you.” The man scoffed as he focused his attention back on you. “Go clean up your fucking mess while I take care of her.”

There’s a whoosh of air and everything in the room stills. 

################

You woke up the next morning in utter confusion. You vaguely remembered your boyfriend being angry and attacking you but then…someone saved you. Turning to your side, you noticed you were at home in your room tucked safely under the covers. 

Carefully standing, you glance around the room to find nothing out of place except for your phone by your bed that was broken in half.

Loud knocking on the door, startled you before you power walked to see who it was before answering. Sighing, your best friend doesn’t even wait for you to fully open the door before she barges in.  

“Ma’am! I have been calling you all morning and your phone goes straight to voicemail! What’s going—“ She freezes when she sees your face. “Y/N! Oh my god! What happened?!”

“Nothing, Lilly. I’m fine. I just—”

“Fell? You always say that. Where is that fucker? Is he here? I’m going to kill him.”

Lilly stomps towards your bedroom and you quickly run after her but you’re not one percent sure why. Him being attacked was a dream you had, right?

“Hm. Well, next time I see him he’s dead. Jesus, looks like he destroyed your phone. Come on. Let’s go the store so we can get you a new one. Maybe one of those sleek shiny new ones with the screen you touch.”

“But I like my razor phone. It’s shiny enough.”, you smile as you change to go out into the world. 

***

As you amble around the phone store, you friend continues to babble about mundane things that you barely hear. What does catch your attention is a group of girls talking in the corner. Pretending to look at the devices in front of you, you slide closer to them as you listen in.

“Did you see their stream last night?”

“It started getting good but then Dracula disappeared to ‘save Mina’. Like are they kidding?”

“I hope they aren’t mixing plot with their sex-ca-pades.”

“Now if they want to add a Mina I think that’d be hot but don’t just cut a stream short like that!”

“Y/N! Did you find what you want?”, your friend practically shouts making you and everyone around jump. 

“Yes! Good God, Lilly. Lower your voice.”

“Aw. I love you to.”

***

Staring at your blank computer screen, you debated on even signing on. All the clues were telling you what happened last night was real but that can’t be, right? You had called John multiple times to no avail and even went to his house with no answer. Checking the message boards of their fan group, others were saying what the other group had said about them cutting mid-stream and Dracula abruptly vanishing. 

What happened?

“Hey, honey—Oh my god, Mina what happened?!”, Renfield asked as soon as you signed in. Dracula was sitting beside him, his arms folded as he starred off to the side. Turning on your mic, you decided you needed to know the truth. 

“I was going to ask you that.”

“Us? Why? The last time we saw you was before our stream.”

“Really? I could swear I heard Dracula’s voice in my house and then you two fighting while I was passed out.”

“Huh. A dream maybe? I mean, we’re pretty far from you.”

“Oh yeah? Where?”

Your stern tone had Dracula turning to face the screen as Renfield sighed. 

“Far, Mina.”

“How would you know? I don’t even know your names let alone where you live.” You glare at your computer, feeling a confidence you had never felt before. “Did you kill John? Or hurt him?”

“Who cares what happened to that asshole? You deserve better.”, Dracula answers in a deep tone of his own that made you a little bit nervous but you ignored it as you pushed forward. 

“Again, how would you know? You never met him.”

“Don’t need to see him to see the damage he inflicts on you every time he comes over. Why do you put up with it, sweetheart? Because you think you deserve to be treated like trash?”

“How did you get here so fast? People are saying you disappeared after saying my name.”

“This was a mistake.”, Renfield whispers to the boy beside him.

“I’m not afraid of you…either of you. I just…I just want answers.”

Dracula’s eyes darken as he turns to Renfield. 

“No. No! Don’t you fucking—” 

Before he had finished his sentence, the long-haired boy was gone and you heard your front door open as a breeze hit your face. 

“You may not be afraid of us now, little one, but you will be.”

With that, he lifted you over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and in the blink of an eye you were back in a room you vaguely remembered. 

##############

“Why am I even here? You never fucking listen to me!”, Renfield whined.

“Sit.”, Dracula commanded you as he pointed towards a chair. “Not a sound. Do you hear me?”

You nod completely frozen in fear at the speed of which he even brought you back to their house. 

“You to. Sit.”

“Fuck you. Are you kidding me right now? After everything we’ve done to avoid getting caught—”

The man choked on his words as a strong hand wrapped around his throat and walked him backwards towards the end of the bed.

“I’m not in the fucking mood to have this argument right now, Steven.”, Dracula growled angrily. “I didn’t get to finish eating last night and I’m starving.”

“You…you didn’t…eat her boyfriend. I’m…shocked.”

Your eyes widened at his audacity to talk back even in the position he was currently in. Plus, he always seemed so gentle so hearing him talk this way startled and excited you. 

Dracula’s eyes fluttered closed as he dropped Renfield who promptly gasped for air.

“Jesus Steve, if you could fucking smell what I smell you’d do anything for her to. You think she’s scared but she’s not. She’s turned on.”, he whispers as you watch him adjust himself in his jeans.

“Steve?” They both turn to look at you as you suddenly speak. “Renfield is Steve. W-Who are you, Dracula?”

The man can feel your heart beat slow as you find a sense of grounding in your current chaos. He wasn’t lying when he said he could feel you weren’t afraid but you were extremely confused, trying to make sense of a reality that they both had long accepted. 

“Eddie. My real name is Eddie.”

Your hand shakes as you point to your chest. “My name is Y/N.”

Something in their room beeps as they give each other their attention once again. 

“You’re insane if you think we’re streaming right now.”

Eddie points his finger at you once more as his voice deeply rumbles. 

“No noise. Not even a squeak.”

They get into a position you’ve seen numerous times but this time the energy is different. The man you now know as Steve clenches his jaw as he tilts his head to expose his neck. 

A ring laced hand reaches out to cup his cheek and turns his face towards his own as he leans his forehead on his. 

“Please don’t be this way. I need you.”, Eddie whispers. 

“Yeah. For this right? Because you sure as hell don’t listen or care about my opinion.”

As they murmur to each other, you imagine it’s too low for the mic to pick up but you can hear it and the pain in both their voice breaks your heart. The metalhead’s dark eyes flick towards the web cam before settling back on the man beside him. 

“I do, sweetheart. I care about you and what you have to say. It’s because of you I’m still here…I’m safe.”

Steve’s eyes flutter slightly as his admission as he blinks back tears. 

“I love you.”, he whispers as he kisses his forehead. 

“I love you to, baby. Come here. Let me take care of you to.”

Eddie tenderly pushed Steve back against the mattress, pulling down his sweats and boxers, and tossing them to the floor. When his cock sprang free, Eddie wasted no time, licking and kissing his tip before enveloping him fully into his mouth. 

“Fuck.”, Steve whimpered as he reached down to tangle his fingers in the boy’s messy hair. 

Lifting his head, he spit on the man’s dick and twisted his wrist as his palm smeared his saliva along his length. 

“Such a good boy for me always, aren’t you, baby?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

“Sometimes I can be a bad boy and not think.” While pumping his hand faster, Eddie leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “But Steve, you were right. I like her so fucking much. You can’t tell me you don’t want to make her moan. Taste that sweet pussy I smell practically dripping from here.”

Steve’s eyes turned to meet yours as he continued to speak. 

“Feel a beautiful woman’s tight cunt choke your dick again.”, Eddie tightened his fist as if to prove his point as he quickened his pace. “To have a girl in our lives again who isn’t afraid of us and makes us feel complete.”

Steve craned his neck back towards Eddie as he passionately kissed his lips. 

“Take what you need, honey, please.”

Unbuckling his belt, he pushed his jeans down enough to free his cock, and both men mewl as Eddie guides himself into his entrance. You couldn’t help when your hand slid between your shorts and you rubbed your clit. Their moans, Eddie’s passion as he thrust into him, and Steve’s tenderness when he clung to his back drove you wild. 

“Can—shit—can you hear it, baby? The sound her fingers between her legs.” Steve nodded as he waited for Eddie to truly take him. “Fuck, you feel so good. Are you ready?”

“Y-Yes, sir. I’m ready.”

From your angle you couldn’t see much of what happened next. Eddie’s head tilted slightly and Steve’s entire body arched as he held the man closer to him. The metalhead’s pace quickened as he slammed his hips into his partners.

“J-Just like that, Daddy, fuck.”

Eddie grunted as one of his hands came up to cup the boy’s cheek as if to hold him still as he sucked on his neck. Steve shuddered as his eye’s rolled and he came. Eddie’s own rhythm faltered just enough as his grip tightened on his boyfriend’s hair and released his seed inside of him. 

Steve became limp as the man above him continued to roll his hips till he had given him everything he had and came off his neck with a loud syrupy smack. Your own body trembled as you came, covering your mouth as to not give yourself away. 

Eddie crawled down the man’s frame as he headed for the opposite corner of their room to the mini fridge where he grabbed two water bottles and a power bar. Normally, they left the cameras on to show the aftercare but this time, he sauntered towards his computer and promptly ended the stream. 

After handing a bottle to you without looking your way, he immediately focused on Steve. 

“Sit up, sweetheart. There we go. Here eat this for me ok?”, he coos as he hands him his snack before leaning under the bed and producing a first aid kit. You watched with studious eyes as Eddie grabbed a rag and cleaned the blood from his neck while Steve daintily nibbled on the bar in his hands. “Good boy. Drink some water.” His fingers tenderly pushed back some of the boy’s hair as he kissed his shoulder. 

“S-S-So, this is real. You’re really a vampire?”

He heavily sighs as he looks your way. “I am.”

“And what is Steve?”

“My boyfriend. He…he takes care of me.”

“How? What? I…I have so many questions.”

“Tomorrow, little one. He won’t be back to 100% for another few hours and even then he’s had a long couple of days. Here. Let me take you home.”

“NO! I mean…please. May I stay?”

“Um, yeah sure. I don’t see why not. Let me see if we have any clean spare sheets for that guest bedroom we have.”

Once he leaves, you sit by Steve’s side and glance over the wound on his neck. 

“He should really cover these up since they’re kind of deep.”

“Pfft. They’ll be gone by tomorrow. Eddie uses vampire voodoo whatever he can to make sure he doesn’t leave a scar. As you noticed, honey, we have enough.”, he giggles. “He’s right you know. You are very beautiful. I’ve always thought so.” You softly smile as his palm lazily comes up to trace your now black eye from yesterday. 

“Fucking asshole. He’s lucky I can’t run in the blink of an eye.”

“Steve, sweetie, why don’t you lay back?”, you grin as he limply nods and scoots his head up towards the pillows. 

“Y/N. I have to keep saying it so I don’t forget. Y/N.”

As his eyes close, you lay on your side beside him and run your fingers along his cheek till your palm rests on his chest. 

“He’s fine.”, Eddie announces from the doorway where he had been observing you two talk. “I never take enough that would kill him or turn him. That first night though I did the same thing.”, sighs as he gestures towards your hand. 

“Is it ok if I stay with him?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just hang out in this room here—”

“You can lay here if you want. I don’t mind.” He scans you over making you slightly self-conscious. “I mean…unless…you have a coffin you sleep in or…”

Eddie laughs as he comes to the opposite side of the bed and lays on his back.

“No coffins, princess. I sleep here with him.”

“I’ve never heard you laugh before or even seen you really smile. It looks good on you.”

He smiles as he turns on his side and brushes some of your hair away from your face. 

“Y/N.”

“Eddie. I like your names better than your screen ones. Plus both Dracula and Renfield’s stories end tragically.”

“Maybe Eddie and Steve’s stories did end tragically…”, he muses. “Or it was the only book he and I actually read in school.”

You giggle as he grins your way before he’s taken aback when you roll over and pull his arm over your waist. Most people feared him especially back in their hometown. It had been so long since anyone besides Steve touched him without hesitation and he didn’t realize how much he missed the contact. 

Even though he soothed your worries, your hand still rested against Steve’s chest making sure it was still rising and falling at a normal pace. There was a lot you didn’t know about them but you were dying to find out.

[thethirdromana]

Dracula characters based on how likely they would be to eat a worm

Jack Seward There’s scarcely anyone in this story more likely to eat a worm than Jack Seward. As an experiment? Yeah, sure. When he was bullied at school? Almost certainly. Because a somewhat overbearing father figure suggested it? Without question. This man has eaten a worm before and he would do so again.

Arthur Holmwood Arthur is the son of a Lord, the Victorian 1%, one of the most wealthy and privileged individuals in one of the most wealthy and privileged countries in the world. Until the events of the novel, do we think Arthur Holmwood, future Lord Godalming, ever had to do anything he didn’t want to? Even in the horrors of the Victorian public school system, rank has its privileges. He would not eat a worm.

Quincey Morris An adventurous type like Quincey? He wouldn’t just eat a worm, he’d fry it in a little butter and cayenne pepper and do his best to enjoy it.

Lucy Westenra as a human I was going to say absolutely not. Surely she would be horrified at the very idea. But equally, Lucy is by far the biggest people-pleaser in the whole novel [edited to redact unreasonable slander of Jonathan Harker]. If she thought eating a worm would make someone she loved happy, she’d dig right in.

Lucy Westenra as the Bloofer Lady Small children have been known to eat worms, and Lucy has been known to eat small children. So indirectly, yes, she would eat a worm.

Jonathan Harker It strikes me that we don’t know much about the eating habits of any of the characters in this novel – for instance, we know which pub Jack Seward likes, but not what he eats when he’s there.

But we have a wealth of information about Jonathan, and we know he is the kind of man who will have an unfamiliar paprika dish for dinner, have “queer dreams”, then go down for breakfast and have even more paprika.

Jonathan Harker would eat a worm.

Mina Harker née Murray Mina would do anything for her friends and loved ones, and that includes eating a worm. But come on guys, really? You would force Mina to eat a worm after everything she’s been through? You monsters.

Van Helsing Van Helsing thinks astral projection is real and parrots live forever. He’s the first person to consider the possibility that Lucy is being vampired. This man has the most open mind in the entire novel. He is a deeply weird individual and he would definitely eat a worm.

Mrs Westenra Mrs Westenra is a respectable Victorian lady of the upper-middle or upper-classes, and under no circumstances would she eat a worm.

Unless it was the last-ditch treatment for her ailing daughter, I guess.

Dracula You know the song you might have sung as a kid – “nobody likes me, everybody hates me, think I’ll go and eat worms?”

We know Dracula eats solicitors and Lucys, he doesn’t eat worms. But he should.  

Renfield Do I even need to answer this one?

[brightwanderer]

There’s a paradox in Bram Stoker’s handling of bigotry in Dracula. The narrative seems like it wants to stand up against the classism, sexism, ableism etc on display by the white men, but the vibes are… not great? It’s confusing sometimes how Stoker seems to be both condemning and reinforcing these attitudes.

I think I’ve figured out why that is. At the heart of all this bigotry is the basic idea that these “civilised” white men are the highest form of human being, and that everyone else is less than. The “peasants” of Transylvania are less than, ignorant and credulous. Women are less than, emotional and fragile. A madman is barely human at all. The clever men of England do not have to bother listening to those who are less than.

And the narrative punishes them for it! Jonathan ignores the fear of the locals and is trapped with the Count. The men dismiss and exclude the women, and so Lucy and her mother die and Mina is left vulnerable to attack. Seward treats Renfield like a funny animal that does tricks and so fails to grasp the significance of his attempted warning. Stoker is clearly challenging this belief that people who are less than can be safely ignored.

But. I think what’s happening here is that Stoker is challenging the wrong part of the belief. He is not, in fact, trying to say “actually, these people are not less than”. He’s saying “yes, of course they’re less than, but you should listen to them anyway”. He’s not saying “actually you shouldn’t sideline women because they are our equals”, he’s saying “actually you shouldn’t sideline women even though they are not our equals”.

Which is fairly progressive for a Victorian man, but LIGHTYEARS from actual equality.

[pop-goes-the-weasel]

It broke ny heart when Renfield's eyes brightened on seeing Van Helsing. He is in terrible pain, he knows he has not long to live but he is happy to get a chance to tell all so that Mina may be saved. He has recognised Van Helsing as the person who is the most respected among the group and it is he who has the greatest power to muster help.

And Van Helsing just pays attention to his words so that he may gather information. All the data collection and collation that was so admirable till this point takes on a ghastly form.

Till the very end, Renfield remains an instrument to impart knowledge. First as a subject on whom Dr Seward may build his career. Then as a record which only spits out facts, with no humanity extant in him. And that is the true horror of his story

[vickyvicarious]

Mina: "Every armed guard stepped away from Jonathan because he was too single-minded and impetuous, so that made them cower aside without him having to lift a hand against them."

But Quincey was also going at them straightforwardly and with a single purpose, yet he had to parry their knives with his own instead of paralyzing them

Yeah. This is DEFINITELY a huge moment for any supernatural!Jonathan interpretations. More so in my mind than Jonathan throwing down the box a moment later, even. It seems to be his version of Dracula's basilisk stare, which he used against both Jonathan himself and Renfield when they threatened him in the past. Not just threatened him; sought to block him from going where he wanted (Jonathan, by attacking him so he couldn't leave the castle; Renfield, by fighting to prevent him getting to Mina). And now Jonathan is doing the same to all those who seek to stand in between him and his chosen prey, and they cower away, feeling all the strength slipping out of them...

Meanwhile Quincey has to fight his way through like a normal human, and gets stabbed as a result.

[theoscout]

Hear me out: Dracula D&D (5e) AU

Jonathan's a battle based bard. You need charisma when you're a solicitor. Feel like his charisma was the reason he was able to survive in the castle for SIX FUCKING MONTHS without dying or getting chained to a wall, he got it bad but let's all admit he could have had it a lot worse! Also his bribery phase is pretty entertaining LOL. Think he'd be in the college of Swords or Valor.

Mina's a rogue. From what I understand of her, she's got a wide breath of knowledge that a rogue would have, and she's a teacher so she'd kind of have to be like that. Unsure about subclass because I can't decide between Inquisitive or Phantom.

Quincey's a ranger because obviously

Arthur's an artificer, just because from how it looks, it seems everyone's using him as the Uncle Pennybags of the group, and that's what artificers tend to end up as. Possibly a battle smith, with the steel defender being one of his dogs

Lucy's a Druid. I was originally going to make her a cleric for symbolic and ironic reasons, but I just get druid vibes from how she talks from re:dracula and there's also a bit of symbolism in how Dracula can corrupt nature.

Jack's a wizard because he's interested in advancing knowledge and goes to great and memeically unusual lengths to archive his work. Possibly an enchantment wizard because of how he's interested in studying human minds. He'd write his diary entries in his spellbook using the same method for transcribing spells and use all his expensive ink and stuff in the process.

Renfield's a barbarian, he's been described as being very strong and I'm pretty sure you need a strong constitution to eat all those birds and bugs without getting an upset stomach. Strength and constitution are what barbarians are best known for. Beast barbarian because it gives a bite attack and I just KNOW that Renfield's the kind of person to bite people LOL

Abraham Van Hesling's probably a multiclassed character, but I suppose that if he had any 'main' classes he'd be a bard or rogue for the sake of skills. He'd be all over the place. His player probably optimised him for maximum skills. Probably a Lore Bard or Knowledge Cleric if we had to stick with one class.

[itsernestok]

Wrenfield's costume includes a helmet that makes it look like he has red hair, otherwise being light-grey with a black visor, and revealing his mouth and chin. The outermost padding of the body armor gives off the appearance of a muscle structure with different weak points than that of a normal human body, while the innermost layer provides ease of motion. The logo on the chestplate is a stylized "W", because "Wrenfield" is pronounced just like "Renfield". It's also made of a reinforced variation of the alloy batarangs are made of because people can and will aim for the logo. (Bruce knows this from experience.) The gloves and boots are dark blue while the utility belt is dark green, and the body armor mentioned above is dark grey, and highly bullet-resistant.