#suuuuuuper belated. been catching up on some old asks today

[vickyvicarious]

About all the touching between Dracula and Jonathan... it all culimates on June 30, doesn't it. In case you want to talk about the climax of that saga

It seems there's now two instances.

The heavily implied feeding in Jonathan's room/bed. In his Old Man form, Dracula doesn't turn into mist or bat, so one way or another, he had to touch Jonathan to feed on him.

Jonathan again touching Dracula in his room/"bed". Pretty much immediately after. But this time he emphasizes how very repulsed he's feeling at the contact. "I shuddered as I bent over to touch him, and every sense in me revolted at the contact". Last time he had searched his body he didn't feel this way, but now he sees him as fully monstrous.

But also there's a potential different mirroring contact... Dracula's teeth on Jonathan's skin, Jonathan's shovel on Dracula's skin.

I've actually been meaning to make a post about this for ages. (Obviously. It's been months now.) And I think the final consideration has to include 25 June as well. Because that is when the reversals start to majorly kick in, and those reversals are a huge aspect of any touches going forward.

First, Jonathan's act of climbing the walls like Dracula proceeds right on the heels of Dracula first acting like Jonathan by wearing his clothes. And similarly to how Jonathan was unable to act while Dracula killed a child, Dracula becomes unable to act while Jonathan searches him for the key. I mentioned all of this in more detail in the post I linked above, so I won't rehash it all. But there's another comparison too: Jonathan bending over Dracula in his 'bed' while he is unconscious is a mirror at that time of when Dracula returned him to his own bed (16 May). Jonathan tried to search Dracula's clothes for the key, while Dracula undressed Jonathan. The first time Jonathan is touching Dracula instead, it's a reversal/echo in a lot of ways.

And that's relevant too for this final instance, culminating the castle's progression of invasive touch. While it's possible Dracula put a hand on Jonathan's shoulder or something while walking him back to his room on 29 June, if so it's another unmentioned touch. But, while I could absolutely see that happening, that particular scene might almost be worse if it doesn't have any touch at all, because then we bring back a horrible anticipation (fearful, on Jonathan's part; eager, on Dracula's) which is reflected in Jonathan hearing that he is 'Dracula's' tonight and praying while he waits to see what will happen.

Then we get to 30 June. We hear nothing at all about Dracula biting Jonathan, though I am convinced it did happen. And yes, he would be doing so in his human/old man form. Jonathan moves from the floor to his bed, so there's a strong chance that particular scene repeated itself once more... either before or after Dracula bit him. For reversal/mirroring purposes, I suspect that Dracula hypnotized Jonathan and helped/ordered him to bed first before biting him in his bed. And we don't know exactly what went down. We don't know how Jonathan felt about it. But I think it is likely a fairly direct contrast to the shovel scene... meaning, I think just as Jonathan emphasizes disgust in the morning, while being bitten I suspect there was at least some degree of pleasure. Similar to the "languorous ecstasy" with which he waited for the vampire ladies to bite him on 16 May. Of course, it would be mingled with disgust and fear, but if Dracula had control of his mind enough to ensure he didn't remember anything in the morning, then it's possible those emotions would have been somewhat suppressed or muted.

In the morning, while free of the direct hypnotic influence of a vampire feeding, Jonathan still is unable to remember what happened to him. And yet, as you said, he is absolutely repulsed by having to touch Dracula. Maybe this reflects a sense-memory even if he can't consciously recall what's been done to him. And he hates having to touch him... yet at the same time, he feels a "wild desire" to search for the key at any cost, and when he can't find it, a "terrible desire" to destroy Dracula. The only other time Jonathan uses that word in the castle is when he's describing his "burning desire" to be 'kissed' by the vampire ladies. Dracula says it several times though. Jonathan's desire to touch Dracula, first to take the key (which previously I've compared to Dracula wanting to bite Jonathan) and then to harm him when he can't find it, I think is indicative of another sort of reversal going on with Dracula's own desire/touching him to bite him that night. At the very least, even if you ascribe no relevance to that wording, Jonathan's shovel attack absolutely still echoes Dracula biting him. They both loom over the other one and pierce their skin/draw blood. The anticipation/building invasiveness is over with a final act of violence.

And while Dracula succeeds in biting Jonathan, he fails to turn him (technically the vampire ladies are the ones who don't do that, but I tend to assume it's something he wanted/ordered based on his line about hoping to see Jonathan in the castle again). Jonathan fails to find the key or kill Dracula, but does succeed in harming Dracula and escaping. Both strike a blow here but it's not quite the final one they wanted to happen.

So in the end, the touching culminates there with Jonathan echoing Dracula's touches, just as he did the other times he touched Dracula. But, and I think this is also really significant... while Dracula does far more touching overall, the whole saga concludes with Jonathan making the final touch. The reversal is completed. The dynamic at the beginning, where Dracula invaded Jonathan's space more and more while Jonathan was unable to stop him, is switched around. Jonathan is the one hunting Dracula, and he's the one who has to escape. If Dracula wanted to have Jonathan become a vampire, become a predator, then in a way it has come true here... except Jonathan is only interested in hunting Dracula himself. And since they both got out of the castle alive, that may become relevant later.