dracula film where everything is historically accurate but whenever we see jonathon write its on a laptop in email form

The Brides tormenting Jonathon Harker.

From the comic book adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), art by Mike Mignola.

Jonathan when he quotes hamlet: fully aware of the horror he is in, writing down everything to keep himself sane, and that night he is faced with vampire ladies threatening to drain kiss him

Lucy when she quotes hamlet: aware only of a dreadful exhaustion, afraid to sleep, writing down reassurances that the people around her are trying to help, and at night there is that sound of wings flapping against the window

Y'all ever seen a character and just been like, "Yes. That's a man-kisser."

Like, no character interactions, nothing canon, just a single voice line and you just know that's a man who likes men as well as women, if not entirely a gay man-kisser.

I know what you are. YOU LIKE MEN, YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME.

Ok but look at the contrast between Jonathan and Mina.

Jonathan is a passive character, he doesn't particularly seek anything out, he's left almost entirely reacting to things that happen to him

Mina is an active character, she actively seeks out information, talking to the locals in Whitby, finding the story of the Demeter. She also does other stuff I can't delve into without giving spoilers.

This is a very distinct contrast as it feeds into the themes of gender non-conformation. Mina is filling the role of the male protagonist, while Jonathan is filling the role of a female damsel in distress.

the relationship between vampirism & queerness

Vampires are inherently queer characters. Their queerness is represented in countless texts including Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula (1897), Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella, Carmilla (1872), the film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and Rainbow Rowell’s novel Carry On (2015). Vampires’ queerness is enforced by a multitude of factors; notably the sexual nature of a vampire itself, the relationship vampires have with ‘normal’ society, and the inherent evilness behind vampires. 

The queerness of vampires is enforced by the sexuality behind the concept of a vampire itself. Unlike other monsters, vampires are not apparently beastly or undead. Their evil nature is hidden beneath a suave, charismatic personality. The ‘charming vampire’ character was first popularised by John William Polidori in his 1819 short story, The Vampyre. This story was a source of inspiration for Carmilla and Dracula, who further cemented ‘charisma’ into the fundamentals of the vampire archetype. A part of vampires’ hunting method is seduction, which often leads to a blurry line between ‘prey’ and ‘romantic interest’. One of the most iconic traits of a vampire is the bite to the neck. Popularised by Bram Stoker, vampires typically drain their victims of blood from the neck. While it’s a convenient spot because of the carotid artery, a plentiful source of blood, it’s often argued that the sexual nature of biting one’s neck played a large part in the popularisation of it.

The sexulisation of vampires opens up an opportunity for authors to explore queerness in a non-explicit setting. The relationship between a vampire and their victim can mirror that of a romantic/sexual couple. Often vampire characters are more fluid with their sexuality and they influence their human prey with their vampiric, sexual, queer nature. In Interview with the Vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac’s story starts with his partner, Lestat de Lioncourt turning him into a vampire. The scene in which Lestat bites him includes him pinning Louis to the ground and biting his neck before whispering in his ear. “You can be young always, my friend, as we are now.” Lestat’s use of ‘we’ as opposed to ‘you can stay young’ shows his interest in staying with Louis. Louis’ character development stems from a queer male vampire changing his life. Count Dracula’s prisoner was Jonathon Harker, with whom he was extremely infatuated. Upon finding other female vampires attempting to bite Jonathon’s neck, Dracula was outraged. "How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me!” Dracula was possessive of Jonathon, which alludes to an attraction beyond chaste fascination. In Carmilla, the titular character came into human Laura’s life and engaged her in a romantic relationship. Carmilla says “‘I have been in love with no one, and never shall,’ she whispered, ‘unless it should be with you.’” to Laura, who consistently described Carmilla as attractive, “She was so beautiful and so indescribably engaging.” While it’s up to the reader if Carmilla’s feelings were simply an act used to lure Laura in or true love, their relationship was intimate and unmistakingly queer. In Carry On, Tyrannus Basilton ‘Baz’ Grimm Pitch never bites Simon Snow, but they are involved. Baz says “You were the centre of my universe. Everything else spun around you.” While Baz did not attempt to make Simon a vampire, he was knowingly queer before Simon; Simon was unaware of his own queerness before Baz. This is another example of a queer vampire influencing their human partners. The queer themes in these texts are fueled by the sensual nature of the vampire characters. 

One way vampires are shown as an allegory for being queer, is the relationship vampires have with regular society. A vampire fitting in with human communities is difficult, due to the inability to be in sunlight or eat normal food. Queer folk historically struggle to fit into heteronormative spaces seeing as, like vampirism, it’s been widely viewed as a negative trait. That sense of displacement or otherness felt by queer people is mirrored by vampires. Count Dracula’s odd behaviour was quickly picked up on by Jonathon. Upon finding Jonathon using a shaving mirror, Dracula was enraged. “This is the wretched thing that has done the mischief. It is a foul bauble of man's vanity. Away with it!" And opening the window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung out the glass.” Similarly, Simon always suspected Baz was a vampire, and spent his highschool career trying to prove it. “Are you saying you don’t think Baz is a vampire?” “I know he’s a vampire. But it’s still unconfirmed.” Baz being odd because he was a vampire is not unlike his being different because he was queer. Baz was always self aware he was unlike everyone else. Baz and Simon in a crowded room: “They’ll know that we’re gay.” “There go my job prospects. What will my family say? Baz, you’re actually, literally the only thing I have to lose. So as long as doing gay stuff in public doesn’t make you hate me, I don’t really care.” Regular, heteronormative, human society makes both the vampire community and queer people feel like outsiders; creating a sense of guilt for being different. Baz and Louis have both chosen to drink rat blood to avoid drinking humans. Their inner turmoil over being a blood-sucking demon reflects the common queer mindset of feeling guilty over being different. The sense of ‘otherness’ unites queer folk and vampires. 

From their conception in common folklore, vampires have been written as evil, soulless beings. Vampires are undead demons that drink blood and transform innocent humans into more blood-drinking demons. The queerness behind vampire characters is linked to their being inherently evil. Vampires turning humans into vampires is a metaphor for gay people ‘corrupting’ others with their homosexuality. After the death of his wife and child, Louis was attacked by Lestat and turned into a vampire. Lestat gave him a whole new life and they adopted a daughter, Claudia. Louis went from a ‘straight’ human man who played his part in regular society, to a queer vampire. Vampires have a massive influence over their victims and partners. Their influence, in terms of both vampirism and homosexuality, leaves lasting effects on their prey. In the aftermath of Carmilla and Dracula, Laura and Jonathon are said to have struggled with recovery. From Carmilla, “The following Spring my father took me a tour through Italy. We remained away for more than a year. It was long before the terror of recent events subsided.” Vampires’ impact on their human partners is not necessarily for the better. For Laura, it was detrimental to herself, whereas in other stories, such as Carry On, Simon Snow was better off with his vampire boyfriend. Baz helped him find a version of himself he was unfamiliar with and they started their new life together. “He's not a villain. He's just a boy. I'm kissing a boy. I'm kissing Baz.” 

Vampirism is an allegory for being queer. The queerness with which vampire characters are written is shown through the sexulisation of vampires, the sense of ‘otherness’ felt by both parties, and the inherent evil nature behind vampires. The evidence and recurring themes across Dracula, Carmilla, Interview with the Vampire and Carry On show the ways in which queerness shows itself in vampire texts. Writers using vampires as an outlet for queer allegories implies an urge on the author’s part to explore a more fluid perspective on sexuality. I think a lot of the appeal of vampire texts and characters lies in the desire to fantasise about a different way of being — it’s a safe, abstract way of exploring one’s own sexuality through stories. Vampires represent homosexuality in a subtle, indirect way that connects with the queer community and create a way to show queer stories without being blatantly queer.

PROPAGANDA

mina/johnathon

She's the genius of the Dracula-hunting mission and he swears to follow her into hell if she becomes a vampire and calls it the holiest love. What more can you ask for

percabeth

Annabeth is a clever daughter of Athena and good with a knife. Percy is a seaweed brain and he loves his gf :)

Come on guys. At least half of you were Percy Jackson kids. You know they're perfect for this

Percy literally admits to being a malewife like i'm not kidding. He talks about how he's amazing at cooking/cleaning/looking pretty. He loves his girlfriend Annabeth very much for being an awesome genius badass and they are just an amazing couple in general.

there is so much fucking percabeth propaganda yall i give up

This, I think, is a particularly powerful passage on the part of Bram Stoker.

The story has thus far been compelling and mortifying, but here he really seems to bring forth the full impact of the Count’s heartless predatory behaviour. It is such a brief yet emotional scene, and when Jonathon concludes that he can’t even pity the woman’s gruesome death by mauling, it’s such a perfect example of how mental anguish can far exceed the pain of physical torture and death.

I am extremely worried about my friend Jonathan. He was an avid travel blogger for the first month of his first big work trip, but a few days ago he abruptly stopped posting. We were promised recipes!

Jonathon: I mistrusted myself. Doctor, you don't know what it is to doubt everything, even yourself. No, you don't; you couldn't with eyebrows like yours.

Van Helsing:

Ah yes, the three ages of women:

Twenty

Engaged (x3)

Old married woman

Love this lol. Have you made a design for Drac? Also is there an in universe reason for the premature white hair?

Thank you!!! I'm so excited about the response to my silly comic <3

I have not made a drac design! I want to, I'm just struggling to reconcile Bram Stoker's Drac with 2004 Van Helsing Dracula which is the one that lives forever in my heart.

tbh, this isn't the most fleshed out AU. This concept, character designs, everything, was inspired by @foxgoblin​‘s line “Dr Seward’s podcast (sponsored by coca-cola and nintendo)” That one single line moved into my head, not quite rent free, but maybe into a timeshare for a modest fee. I only have a couple comics planned and they're mostly like the sponsor my cows one- quick and jokey.

If there WERE a full universe, it would be a college AU. When I tried to think of an alternative to death for Lucy, my first thought was grad school, which is basically death for your social life, right?

The Squad would all be in school or recently graduated as doctors/lawyers/etc, and Dracula is a corporate lawyer and part time teacher. Jonathan must escape from a summer internship at his evil law firm with his soul intact. The hair color is a dye job. He's rebelling against the strict standards of corporate law and definitely going to end up doing something like the Innocence project or fighting slum lords or joining the ACLU post-graduation.

Van Helsing is the ethics professor and teaches a required course for MDs and JDs. Quincey's college aged, but owns or works on a ranch. Maybe Jack is SOON to be a psychiatrist and just runs a late night college radio station where he answers people's relationship questions. He's turning it into a podcast. Art's going to be a phlebotomist and tell people his theories about how giving blood is like being married. Mina is supporting Jonathon through school with the goal of eventually being a SAHM and focusing on her writing career (autobiographical, of course).

The school is Drac University. Jonathon attends its law school, Drac U Law.

"some mysterious receptacle about the seat of his trousers"

I'm fucking DYING, like...either Jonathon is completely mystified by his first encounter with the concept of a rear pocket or he looked at this guy and was like, "That man pulled a book out of his asshole."

Bram Stoker's Dracula - cover art by Mike Mignola (1992)

🧛🏻🩸⚰️🦇

Even Hellsing said "omg Mina I'm so sorry your girlfriend that you loved so much died, you and your husband must be so stressed about it"