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justmeinadaze · 7 months

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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.

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dathen · 10 months

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One of the weirdest arguments for why people who think Dracula fed on Jonathan are Wrong is that “no one ever thought this before 2022 and no interpretations included it” when there’s a little thing called The Hayes Code. Acting like something that Stoker had to self-censor about in a book published right after the Wilde trials is a 1000% completely neutral topic on par with “what color is Lucy’s hair” or something is just BEYOND baffling to me. Homoerotic subtext has been leeched out of and censored from adaptions of all kinds of stories for ages (where is my Frankenstein adaption that actually includes his intimacy with Henry); all that proves is society’s homophobia.

And then there’s the fact it simply isn’t true. The very first Dracula adaption/spin-off, Nosferatu, had the Count drink from the Jonathan stand-in several times. The scene implying that Dracula fed on Renfield, the 1931 stand-in for Jonathan, almost got censored by movie makers anxious about the homoerotic implications—but the creators pushed it through and refused to cut it. Michael Pink’s Dracula ballet with its incredible sequence of Jonathan struggling with Dracula before being bitten premiered in 1996, just a couple years after the notorious Coppola film that reinforced so much of modern mainstream perception of the story. Freaking Moffat even used it in 2020. This is not an interpretation invented wholesale by Dracula Daily readers on Tumblr Dot Com in 2022.

But on top of that, haven’t we been ranting about how inaccurate and heteronormative adaptions have been this whole time?? How Jonathan’s story in particular is almost never treated with any care or caution, whether by cinema or by academics trying to make him the boring cardboard stand-in for everything wrong with the Victorian era? These are the same adaptions and readings saying that Lucy is a slut who was asking for it and that Mina is in love with Dracula; putting these obscenely heteronormative readings on a pedestal to say “THEY didn’t think Dracula fed on anyone but women, why should we??” is honest to god making my brain dissolve.

I don’t care if anyone personally has a different theory. If you feel that after “tonight is mine!” Dracula changed his mind last-minute and decided to chow on some random worker nailing the boxes shut, knock yourself out. But this weird backlash against the reading and the insistence it’s wrong because it’s not explicit enough on the page isn’t just baffling, it’s downright ignorant.

#dracula daily #discourse

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yallemagne · 11 months

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Luthur (Lucy/Arthur) Propaganda

I'm writing this with all the pent-up rage of an entire year of seeing "Lucy's so dumb, she should have picked my favourite suitor" posts and "who should Lucy have chosen?" polls that always result in practically no votes for Arthur.

This is not an anti-Jack or anti-Quincey post by any means, though it may come across as defensive. It is just a pro-let-Lucy-choose-for-herself post. And yes, letting her choose for herself even includes letting her be monogamous when she has made the conscious decision to remain monogamous.

So, to the proposal descriptions--

Seward tries to hide his anxiety by putting up a front of sternness. From how Lucy describes it, it sounds like he's negotiating a contract:

He spoke to me, Mina, very straightforwardly. He told me how dear I was to him, though he had known me so little, and what his life would be with me to help and cheer him. He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I did not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said that he was a brute and would not add to my present trouble. Then he broke off and asked if I could love him in time; and when I shook my head his hands trembled, and then with some hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one else. He put it very nicely, saying that he did not want to wring my confidence from me, but only to know, because if a woman's heart was free a man might have hope. And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one. I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

Sounds like he hardly popped the question so much as stated: "I would be honoured to have you (I need you I need you I need you I need you) as my wife. If you don't love me back, I will die."

This proposal comes across as very neurodivergent to me. He goes into it thinking mostly about what he wants from Lucy and how good the marriage would be for his mental health, not stopping to consider if she's already seeing someone (literally the man who introduced them) or just maybe... that he's putting too much of a burden on her with this style of proposal. This approach would work better with another no-nonsense B, but Lucy is overwhelmed. He didn't think of her feelings in the matter because he was too busy schooling his own emotions so he wouldn't screw it all up. It comes across as very scripted until he sees that he's upset Lucy-- that is when we get a glimpse of his care for her. But then he's back to his bullet points of "but could you love me one day? do you love another now? on a scale from one to ten, how would you rate this interaction?"

Lucy gets through Seward's entire proposal without getting carried away and writing about Arthur instead, but with Quincey--

I suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him. I know now what I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl love me. No, I don't, for there was Mr. Morris telling us his stories, and Arthur never told any, and yet—— My dear, I am somewhat previous.

She certainly finds Quincey charming, but she cuts herself off to talk about Arthur. While she momentarily thinks that telling adventurous tales would win a woman's heart, she says that it didn't win her own. There's a sort of peacocking going on with Quincey prefacing his proposal with tales of his adventures. It's very much like Seward's stoic attempt but with far more confidence and pizzazz.

Mr. Quincey P. Morris found me alone. It seems that a man always does find a girl alone. No, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice to make a chance, and I helping him all I could; I am not ashamed to say it now.

Quincey "found [her] alone". Now, before, she said "Mr. Morris was telling us his stories"-- who is us? I am guessing that perhaps Lucy's mother or someone else was sitting in as a chaperone? And then Quincey found an opportunity to talk to her in private?

Again, she drifts off talking about Arthur while she's trying to explain Quincey. "Arthur tried twice to make a chance"-- my best guess for what this means is that Arthur has tried to have un-chaperoned time with Lucy twice before in order to propose to her, but he never succeeded despite her attempts to aid him.

Which makes this all so much funnier? Some joke that the Suitors probably arranged it all, but this hints that Arthur has been trying his damndest to propose, but the one day he actually gets a chance to, he finds out his two friends proposed to her first! Those dogs!!

I do not know myself if I shall ever speak slang; I do not know if Arthur likes it, as I have never heard him use any as yet.

Lucy interrupts her "haha the silly American talks silly American gibberish" with "would Arthur like it if I spoke this way?" Gah, she's so in love with him. It's funny that she says she's never heard him use slang considering she's already mentioned "Dress is a bore." which she even called slang.

Well, he did look so good-humoured and so jolly that it didn't seem half so hard to refuse him as it did poor Dr. Seward; so I said, as lightly as I could, that I did not know anything of hitching, and that I wasn't broken to harness at all yet. Then he said that he had spoken in a light manner, and he hoped that if he had made a mistake in doing so on so grave, so momentous, an occasion for him, I would forgive him. [...] And then, my dear, before I could say a word he began pouring out a perfect torrent of love-making, laying his very heart and soul at my feet. He looked so earnest over it that I shall never again think that a man must be playful always, and never earnest, because he is merry at times. I suppose he saw something in my face which checked him, for he suddenly stopped, and said with a sort of manly fervour that I could have loved him for if I had been free...

She remarks that Quincey's more light-hearted nature makes him easier to refuse than Seward. However, she finds it harder to reject him when he drops the act and starts behaving more earnestly. She finds it easier to imagine loving him when he's being sincere. She doesn't have this same thought with Seward because, unfortunately, even when he snapped out of his legal negotiation of the potential marriage, he still kept himself emotionally guarded through the rest of the interaction.

Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.

I must say... Lucy here is not saying "I want a harem of men.". Stop. Just stop saying that she is. That interpretation has led to every single adaptation that brands her an insincere cheater who strings along men and deserves to be punished by the narrative. Just stop. What she is expressing here is guilt at not having an option that would please all parties involved. She's been raised as a people-pleaser, but in this scenario, there is no choice she could make that wouldn't lead to someone being hurt. So, she makes the decision to follow her heart rather than her guilty conscience.

And think, just earlier, Jack planted this seed of insecurity by saying that he'll be upset if she does not love him. And then goes even further to imply her loving another robs him of his hope. It makes it so that, even when Quincey is more gracious in accepting her refusal, she can't help but beat herself up for practically destroying these men's lives (hyperbole, of course) all for her own happiness!!

Lucy clearly displays polyamorous traits. She laments that, if she did not love Arthur so much, she could love Quincey (rip Seward). But she has chosen not to explore those feelings. Part of her cutting herself off while writing about Quincey to talk about Arthur could be subconsciously reminding herself: "nope, there is no chance with him, I want Arthur". She compares the two constantly as if to remind herself she made the right choice. There's also her love for Mina, but she has plausible deniability in this era and can claim that as just classic girl love.

But when she considers a woman marrying "as many men as want her" it is not reflective of her being polyamorous because she doesn't have this thought out of "I love these three men enough to marry them" but "I feel guilty about being loved by three men at once, and I have to repay the favour somehow, but I can't". She does not say "as many men as she wants" because it's not about the woman's feelings but about the feelings of the men that surround her. But you know what? She showed agency when she picked the man she wanted and didn't bow and pick the man who would be the most devastated upon being rejected, and I'm proud of her.

Lucy is incredibly brief when describing Arthur's proposal, but let's. just. think about this. Previously, she has tried to hold back her overwhelming love for Arthur in her writing to Mina (she failed, lol). Other than wanting to be discreet, she explains:

My dear, this quite upset me, and I feel I cannot write of happiness just at once, after telling you of it; and I don't wish to tell of the number three until it can be all happy.

She doesn't want to taint her happy feelings with bitterness about how "oh, I'm so horrible and selfish for picking the man I love! I don't deserve to be loved by anyone!" And even then, she goes into a bit more detail in her post-script:

P.S.—Oh, about number Three—I needn't tell you of number Three, need I? Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his coming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was kissing me. I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, and such a friend.

Such a friend. Before this, Seward and Quincey were not friends of Lucy's. They were acquaintances that knew her through Arthur (though she does not explicitly state this about Quincey, so she could have met him somewhere else?), and upon being rejected romantically, they swore friendship to her. Before then, they saw her as a potential bride.

But Arthur was already a friend to Lucy. They have been close for longer than she's known either of her other suitors, and while they'd never said the L-word (love) to each other before, I think what wins Lucy's heart is that Arthur is genuine with her. We don't get to see it (she teases us!! how dare!!), but that feels like the most plausible thing that would set him apart from Seward and Quincey. Now, the other two are honest men (we see it when they comfort her), but they both initially put up a front to impress/entertain Lucy. Meanwhile, Arthur doesn't bother with that. He comes into the room, and she's practically already in his arms! It's so effortless with him. She doesn't have to imagine herself being happy and in love with him because she already is.

#dracula #dracula daily #re: dracula #lucy westenra #john seward #jack seward #quincey p morris #quincey morris #lucy x arthur #arthur x lucy #luthur #may 24 #wrote this like a few nights ago lol #just had to

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vickyvicarious · 1 year

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there is so much "falling in friendship at first sight" in dracula methinks

There truly, truly is. And while I adore it as is, enough that I have included a selection on quotes down below to illustrate the point... also, I love how they all get to know one another and make that decision to be friends for life because they're already connected - through documents, through stories, through trust in a loved one being extended outwards to someone that loved person trusts.

Mina knows the suitor squad from Lucy's descriptions, and trusts van Helsing knowing that Seward and Lucy trusted him. Van Helsing knew Mina from Lucy's letters, and then got to know her and Jonathan through their respective journals. Jonathan trusted van Helsing, and the suitor squad later, after learning about them from Mina. Arthur and Quincey and Lucy trusted van Helsing because Seward did. The suitor squad trusted in Mina on van Helsing's word and Lucy's love, and then got to know her and Jonathan through their journals. They all make those decisions to be devoted friends to one another almost immediately, but it's not only uninformed instinct; these people are already connected through a web of trust and love and shared documents (which give physical form to the trust and love).

It's really wonderful, and it's why they succeed in the end. Anyways, have a collection of quotes to be emotional about...

Arthur and van Helsing, on their second or third meeting in person:

"I must not call you 'Mr.,' and I have grown to love you—yes, my dear boy, to love you—as Arthur." Arthur held out his hand, and took the old man's warmly. "Call me what you will," he said. "I hope I may always have the title of a friend."

Van Helsing meeting Quincey:

Van Helsing strode forward, and took his hand, looking him straight in the eyes as he said:— "A brave man's blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble. You're a man and no mistake."

Mina on the day she meets van Helsing:

Dr. Van Helsing must be a good man as well as a clever one if he is Arthur's friend and Dr. Seward's, and if they brought him all the way from Holland to look after Lucy. I feel from having seen him that he is good and kind and of a noble nature.

van Helsing on the day he meets Mina:

"Oh, but I am grateful to you, you so clever woman. Madam"—he said this very solemnly—"if ever Abraham Van Helsing can do anything for you or yours, I trust you will let me know. It will be pleasure and delight if I may serve you as a friend; as a friend, but all I have ever learned, all I can ever do, shall be for you and those you love. There are darknesses in life, and there are lights; you are one of the lights."

van Helsing meeting Jonathan (and Jonathan's reaction):

"And you, sir—I have read all the letters to poor Miss Lucy, and some of them speak of you, so I know you since some days from the knowing of others; but I have seen your true self since last night. You will give me your hand, will you not? And let us be friends for all our lives." We shook hands, and he was so earnest and so kind that it made me quite choky.

Seward, the day he meets Mina:

"You are quite right. I did not trust you because I did not know you. But I know you now; and let me say that I should have known you long ago. I know that Lucy told you of me; she told me of you too. May I make the only atonement in my power? Take the cylinders and hear them—the first half-dozen of them are personal to me, and they will not horrify you; then you will know me better."

Mina, the day she meets Seward:

"...I have been more touched than I can say by your grief. That is a wonderful machine, but it is cruelly true. It told me, in its very tones, the anguish of your heart. It was like a soul crying out to Almighty God. No one must hear them spoken ever again! See, I have tried to be useful. I have copied out the words on my typewriter, and none other need now hear your heart beat, as I did."

Seward meeting Jonathan:

He is uncommonly clever, if one can judge from his face, and full of energy. If this journal be true—and judging by one's own wonderful experiences, it must be—he is also a man of great nerve. That going down to the vault a second time was a remarkable piece of daring.

Mina and Arthur on the day they meet:

"I know now how I suffered," he said, as he dried his eyes, "but I do not know even yet—and none other can ever know—how much your sweet sympathy has been to me to-day. I shall know better in time; and believe me that, though I am not ungrateful now, my gratitude will grow with my understanding. You will let me be like a brother, will you not, for all our lives—for dear Lucy's sake?" "For dear Lucy's sake," I said as we clasped hands. "Ay, and for your own sake," he added, "for if a man's esteem and gratitude are ever worth the winning, you have won mine to-day. If ever the future should bring to you a time when you need a man's help, believe me, you will not call in vain."

Mina and Quincey the day they meet:

"I wish I could comfort all who suffer from the heart. Will you let me be your friend, and will you come to me for comfort if you need it? You will know, later on, why I speak." He saw that I was in earnest, and stooping, took my hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed it. It seemed but poor comfort to so brave and unselfish a soul, and impulsively I bent over and kissed him. The tears rose in his eyes, and there was a momentary choking in his throat; he said quite calmly:— "Little girl, you will never regret that true-hearted kindness, so long as ever you live!"

Jonathan and Quincey, less than a week after meeting:

I grasped his hand instinctively and found it as firm as a piece of steel. I think he understood my look; I hope he did.

bonus: "you just rejected my marriage proposal so I will hold your hands and promise that we will be friends forever" to Lucy.

Jack Seward:

And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one. I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

Quincey Morris:

"Tell me, like one good fellow to another, is there any one else that you care for? And if there is I'll never trouble you a hair's breadth again, but will be, if you will let me, a very faithful friend." [...] I was right to speak to him so frankly, for quite a light came into his face, and he put out both his hands and took mine—I think I put them into his—and said in a hearty way:— [...] "Little girl, your honesty and pluck have made me a friend, and that's rarer than a lover; it's more unselfish anyhow."

#dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #anonymous #replies #polycula #there's so much love everywhere

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see-arcane · 2 years

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Lucy, Jonathan, Mina, and the Bastardization of Their Horror Story

I’ve been chewing on this one for a while. I thought it kind of went without saying among all us bitter bookworms when it came to the TV and movie treatments of Dracula and the characters/arcs therein. A lot is a given by now; a running joke. But goddamn if rereading today’s entry didn’t just tick me right off all over again. So here we go.

Lucy Westenra is best known by public osmosis as ‘Mina’s Hot Best Friend’ and/or the ‘Maneater/Heartbreaker,’ what with her small-scale Helen of Troy setup with the suitor trio and Dracula gunning for her first once he hits England. Most people know the Francis Ford Coppola version which not only distills a lot of her and similar damsels’ treatments in Dracula flicks, but also specifically includes…a lot.

Like this:

It happens for a whole blink, and is never mentioned again or returned to as any kind of meaningful romantic relationship beyond, ‘Lucy hot, Lucy gets around, Lucy makes out with everyone, lol.’ It also includes, and very much highlights, this:

TW: Sexual assault/implied rape/impaired consent

Yeah. That’s Dracula, halfway out of his wolf form. Doing that.

This is followed by her swooning away in bed, becoming more vampy (in both senses) and so forth. Is she still a victim? Yes. But the framework of it has been entirely distorted. She’s the Whore to Mina’s (Marriable! She’s the brainy brunette destined to be with Dracula!) Madonna.

“She was susceptible to Dracula’s seduction because she was already the hot/promiscuous one! It was practically a monsterfucker meet-cute, guys!” –Francis, probably

Then we turn to today’s entry. Hell, the past couple entries in which Dracula’s been zeroing in on Lucy. He abused her sleepwalking, yes, but ultimately resorts to visits, stalking, and—as with today—idly playing with his food by sitting in plain view, watching her watch him, knowing how her mind is struggling between the sleeping trance and the innate dread.

(I know those eyes. I know them. I know him. I fear him. Why?)

This girl, barely nineteen, has been made a target. She has a pliable medical condition being used against her, like pulling a puppet by its strings. She can’t not sleep. She can’t avoid his tugging at her. No more than she can hide from him now that he’s tracked her back to the home she’s sharing with Mina and her mother. And yet, for now, what does Dracula do?

He toys with her. Just a bat at the window. Just a little taste, dear. Back to bed now, I’ll see you tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. Because I can.

There’s no bodice ripping, no overt sexual assault, but the violation remains intact. Along with a far more palpable helplessness. Mina won’t be there to guard her forever or keep the room all shut up against Dracula’s visits. (No spoilers for future chapters, but suffice to say, the Count does not suffer being rebuffed very well or very long. Shit gets intense. Wait and see.)

We saw with the Demeter how Dracula behaves when it’s just a matter of gluttony with victims he has no interest in beyond casual cruelty. Kill, toss, kill, toss. It’s nothing to him.

Willing Lucy to open the window so he can drop the bat form, become himself, and get far more visceral in his playtime would also be nothing. But in Lucy’s case, as with Jonathan’s, when Dracula decides to take a true interest in a victim, he not only likes to savor the game, he prefers psychological torture. Especially with characters established as 24K sweethearts. (Sorry, Lucy. Sorry, Jonathan. Sorry, Mina.)

Right now? Lucy’s just barely at the start of her nightmare. And the most tactile the Count has been with her, period, is a couple nibbles. Everything else is down to the slowly shrinking noose of the situation she’s in. She doesn’t know that yet. Neither does Mina. Mild spoilers, there’s a period coming up where everyone will sigh with relief. They aren’t living in Whitby, after all. They’re on holiday. They’ll leave. Lucy will get better. All is well.

…Until Dracula gets moving too. Back to bloody business. And the volume gets cranked up past 11.

Now let’s swivel to the bizarre (if not unexpected) character flip of Jonathan and Mina’s situations. It’s been gone over a dozen times now just how screwed Jonathan Harker is in every adaptation. He’s either practically nonexistent or transformed beyond recognition into a walking snore. Explicitly ignoring the two months he spent as a captive with Dracula in one-on-one castle time. Canonically, this man spends the most time with Dracula in the entire book. His story could be its own book! Its own movie! And yes, Dracula gives some bullshit excuses about ‘learning how to speak like an Englishman,’ but the core of it was just…he wanted to.

He wanted to keep Mr. Harker in that big stone box with him, just to play mind games, savor that solicitor flavor, then pass him off to the Brides as a present before, presumably, forcing him to turn and join the undead girl gang. And while past directors have loved the idea of a trio of sexy voluptuous vampire babes pawing at a man and each other, that appears to be literally the only purpose Jonathan ever gets within a show/movie. Everything else gets scraped off.

They harvested his devotion to Mina and gave it to Dracula.

They harvested his fucked up Beauty and the Beast-style plush and predatory imprisonment—here, enjoy a cigar, some fine dining, a pretty room, lots of books, nonconsensual touching, being forced to lie to your loved ones, the cannibalization of two children, a woman eaten alive by wolves, knowing your own death date (Which won’t get you out of this castle! You’re here forever! We saved a coffin for you, buddy!), and all the Evil Monster Man Seeks Virtuous Damsel bells and whistles—and gave it to Mina.

Because if they kept to the book that’d look too Ell Gee Bee Tee. And not even in the hot unfulfilled lesbian way! Can’t have that. Nope, we’ll just hand all the creepy-amorous hospitality stuff to Mina.

And oh God. Mina. Poor, poor Mina.

The travesty of what gets done to her character in so many adaptations. She ranges from Classic Bland-Pretty Damsel to Miraculously Sensual-Spiritually Awakened Dracula-Wife (Not a sultry harem Bride, though! That’s for Lucy and the trio of sexy whats-her-faces in Transylvania. Who Dracula always seems to have no matter how romantic and suave he’s being. Can’t drop those standby chicks even for a reincarnation love story, eh, Francis?). We’ll see later how vital she is to the plot and tackling the problem of Dracula.

A problem she will be extremely vehement about destroying, considering the fact that this undead bastard is responsible for tormenting the two most important people in her life, in ways that are intended to terrify, convert, and low-key enslave the victims to a damned eternity. Once she’s clued in to all Dracula has done, our girl’s going to be livid and instrumental to helping the Vampire Hunter Gang in taking him down. But who needs that!?

Just have her go ‘Eek!’ or swoon into Count Fuckula’s manly liberated embrace!

Which really does sum up all of these characters’ crappy deals in media.

Lucy Westenra? Having a nuanced and increasingly horrifying ordeal situated on having a supernatural stalker walking you around like a windup toy in your sleep and preying on you in a fashion meant to ultimately destroy your happiness and humanity so you can join his undead sexdoll collection?

Who needs that!? Make her a redheaded Lilith caricature who barely needs a nudge to give it up to her sexy wolfman-monster-master! She’s the side chick anyway, who cares? :)

Jonathan Harker? Being the character who spends the most time of anyone in close proximity with the Count, the only one to share multiple conversations with him, gets forced into the damsel-in-distress role while Dracula and his Brides make sexually-coded predatory moves on him, gets traumatized by the death and horror he witnessed in the castle he barely escaped, all saturated with the driving force behind his determination being his love for Mina from start to finish?

Who needs that!? Just turn him into a stuffy English scarecrow who gets felt up by the Brides and then we can forget about him. Get that homoerotic shit out of here, we don’t need to see that. Oh, but keep that ‘Loving Mina to the Point of Corruption’ stuff—we can save that for Dracula. :) :)

Mina Murray? One of the earliest examples of intelligent and capable women in all of literature, let alone gothic literature, taking an active role in pursuing Dracula and being exactly as passionately in love with Jonathan Harker as he is with her, said love for him and Lucy being what drives her to participate in a hunt for a monster who wields the threat of not just death, but an infinite horror of existence, a fiend she loathes as much as fears?

Who needs that!? Slap a corset on her, heave up those breasts, and let’s make us a fine Victorian final girl for the Count to woo with his sexy badass vampire charisma. :) :) :)

Fuck :) you, :) Francis. :) And every book-bastardizing director like you :) :) :)

If someone wanted to do a real, fresh and, (yes!) romantic take on Dracula, I think the key would sit with two things.

One: Leaning into the healthy unconventional romantic relationships as much as highlighting the unhealthy/predatory undertones Dracula and the Brides bring to the table. It is possible, even while staying period-accurate.

Lucy can still accept Art’s proposal. But maybe point out that he, out of all the suitors, has the best financial arrangement—and that she and all the suitors basically stealth-conferred with each other. She, Art, and Quincey (Sorry, Seward, you came on too strong, too fast, too weird. Please reapply next year with a new polycule resume, sir.) are a throuple in as close a way as they can manage with Arthur ‘Son of a Lord’ Holmwood basically planning to set up a lifestyle in which they can all still remain together.

Hell, the Suitor Squad should have their own hints and confirmations among each other. Lucy might just be the latest addition to their group, who knows? Play with healthy large-scale LGBT and poly romances! Pool’s open!

Lucy and Mina? Lucy and Mina. In their case, I picture a somewhat past-tense romance, riding in tandem with Mina and Jonathan’s relationship, but open to renewing once all is settled with Mina and Jonathan’s wedding. We’ll say Mina has an open invite, Jonathan too.

Let Jonathan and Mina have the Most Intense Bi4Bi Gothic Romance of All Time the book explicitly lays out for them in coming chapters. They are sweethearts. They have been in love since childhood. They would die and kill for each other. (Yes, that is foreshadowing. Brace yourself, first-time readers.)

Let Jonathan flex his asexual/biromantic horizons. We all read into the ‘thing’ with him and Dracula, and even the hypnosis of the Brides—zero interest in reciprocating/invitation on his part. But if upcoming chapters are any indication, he’ll be firing sparks off with Quincey. Mild spoiler, they have a mutual love of knives! Fun! (Bigger spoiler, Seward, that repressed little bug of a man, is going to start having Thoughts once Jonathan enters the scene. You’ll know when you read it.)

Yes, vampiric and general monster media is often used as a vehicle to explore (or, sadly, demonize/fetishize) the Other. Carmilla did it with lesbians, Dracula does it with—gasp!—a male monster preying on/damselifying another man, the sultry and powerful women being monsters, and with the ‘evils’ of polyamory (No, not just the Bride harem thing. There’s a bit about blood transfusions that takes a unique turn. Again, you’ll know when you read it. Ugh.).

A new adaptation would win a lot of points in depicting all the positive reflections of non-heteronormative relationships and the heart of the last lap of the book, which is a group of good and valiant people taking on a dangerous task for others, and, I cannot overstate this enough, Jonathan and Mina’s love story.*

*Which I’ve mentioned before, could have taken a very spicy and sinister turn in and of itself. If any darkfic-loving directors out there want to take a chance…well. You know what to do with that kukri blade.

Two: Break the story up into three acts!

1. Jonathan—The two months in Castle Dracula.

2. Lucy—The perils of being Dracula’s first ‘special interest’ victim in England.

3. Mina—Everything coming to a big, grisly, race-to-the-finish crescendo.

If you want to add extra salt to the wound, have a prelude and/or interspersed highlights of the fact that, according to the text and its implications, Mina, Jonathan, and Lucy have been friends since they were little kids. Yes, really.

Three friends who have known and loved each other all their lives, all on the verge of their respective happily ever afters, attacked and tormented one after the other by the same immortal sadist. That’s a horror story.

Like it’s supposed to be, FRANCIS.

tl;dr: I respect a good monsterfucker narrative, but Dracula is absolutely NOT THAT STORY. It is horror, and it deserves to be portrayed as such. There’s a whole other essay in how absolutely unrecognizable Dracula himself is in so many media depictions, turning him from a formidable and horrifying entity into ‘Heehee Hoohoo Sultry Vampire Man, give me your love bite~~~.’ They pulled his fangs out and made him into a Ken doll. But that’s a ramble for another time.

#Francis meet me in the pit #lucy westenra #mina murray #mina harker #jonathan harker #dracula #dracula daily #adaptation #bastardization #francis ford coppola #(he is not the only director to do his shit but his is the most well-known/damning/influencing example)#rant rant ramble ramble #dracula spoilers

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immediatebreakfast · 8 months

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Every little detail makes me think of Lucy's original unabridged letter in which she actually airs grievances about the role her mother has put her in. No wonder she is keeping it a secret that she had three proposals.

That letter is filled with such rich information about Lucy, and her bitterness over her role in society, and in her mother's eyes, is so good that I still don't understand why it was never included.

Maybe from Bram's perspective it was too bold, and didn't fit Lucy's character, but it was amazing.

But yeah, the budding under tension between Lucy and Mrs. Westenra is a really good point in the narrative. Since the woman holds so much power over Lucy, even if she is a few months away from getting married, and enter regular society as a full grown adult. Of course, Lucy probably knows that this illusion of new independence still comes from her mother, who "allows" her to become an adult while probably hoping to maintain the same power balance pre-marriage.

So, as a way to taste a new kind of independence, Lucy managed all of her marriage proposals like a young lady like her should do, without telling Mrs. Westenra.

Also, the class power that Mrs. Westenra also holds over Mina probably didn't escape Lucy's watchful eye. Remember that Lucy has been educated (both traditionally and self-taught) to be observant of her fellow humans so she can present herself as a perfect lady. She is probably very aware of how her mother seems to perceive Mina (a qualified yet perfectly unpaid babysitter) in the equation of their friendship, so in her own way Lucy tries to cheer up Mina with everything she can because she is the greatest friend someone could ask for.

Mrs. Westenra may treat Lucy like a child, but Lucy isn't simply going to quietly lower her head, and agree to that. The act of managing her own proposals probably felt freeing, and accomplishing.

#Sorry if this reads like a mess I have the weirdest headache right now it's so weird #I lost the fucking letter too #I searched for it and it's nowhere in my archives #But yes Lucy does have a strike of defiance in her #Even if that defiance to us looks small #dracula daily #dracula #lucy westenra #mrs westenra

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bananonbinary · 7 months

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once again flabbergasted at how anyone reads dracula as a bodice-ripper romance. like, i get it, ravishment fantasies are a big thing and no shade to that...but this is NOT erotic. like, at all. the way all the characters are so horrified they keep cutting off from the Actual Description does not lend itself well to wank material. jonathan straight-up doesn't include getting bit in castle dracula, lucy only refers to it obliquely as "dreams", renfield fucking died off-screen in a pretty brutal and violent assault, and mina has to talk around it and cuts herself off from the Juicy Bit.

it's very much played for horror, how bad does your reading comprehension even have to be to think it's sexy??

#fan wank /#im still mad about that one post that got super popular #bc it turned into people just talking about ravishment fantasies in general #BUT THE OP WAS DEAD WRONG THERE IS NO RAVISHMENT FANTASY HERE JFC

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tildexart · 4 days

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Hello again! Please elaborate on why you don’t like Bram Stokers Dracula (1992) I love hearing people go off and I think I’ll agree with your conclusion since I don’t like it either haha

HI thanks for sending this as an ask!! Here's a very long, convoluted response. Warning: it is not proofread.

So, the main reason I don't like Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) is because of accuracy. Now, I am completely fine when a book-to-film adaptation isn't a perfect recreation of the book (frankly thats impossible imo) but MAN does this adaptation do the original book injustice. The romance between Dracula and Mina?? The plot line about Dracula's dead wife? Renfield originally working with Harker?? MINA ATTEMPTING TO SEDUCE VAN HELSING???? Really, most of the injustice is done to Mina as a character. Book!Mina is such a strong, well written character. She is integral to the plot and to the book's structure (we would not have had all of the letters, newspaper clippings, and diary entries without her). The book itself states this with how often the Dude Squad (I think I got that title from an Overly Sarcastic Productions video, im going to keep using it) directly tell Mina that they could not have defeated Dracula without her. She is resilient, smart, and stands up for herself. 1992!Mina is not this. James V. Hart, who wrote the screenplay, took everything that made Mina Mina and created a stereotypical damsel character. It's a shame because I strongly believe that Winona Ryder could play a killer, book-accurate Mina Harker.

Speaking of who plays the characters... the cast is really hit or miss for me personally. I do think Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins are good picks (especially based off of the book portrayals) and I remember liking Cary Elwes as Arthur Holmwood. Tom Waits as Renfield is a pretty inspired choice ngl.

But. Keanu. Don't get me wrong, I love Keanu Reeves. I think he is great in Bill and Ted's and John Wick. But that's why it confuses me as to why he was cast in this film. He can't do the accent, he shows no emotion, and it sounds like he is remembering his lines as he says them. In fact, my family and I quote his lines in this film as a joke all the time ("Is the castle far?"). None of his former roles at the time implied that he would be a good Jonathan either.

I can't remember much of Gary Oldman's performance, I just know I didn't like it lmao. He made Dracula too suave when he's really just a Creature.

Note: in looking up the cast I was reminded that Richard E. Grant plays Seward and as a fan of Saltburn (2023) that is just. hilarious to me.

I only went into this movie because I was told I would like it because the production design was pretty. Honestly? It's not. The film is poorly lit and the costumes are questionably accurate. The few shots I can remember are for the wrong reasons- such as that One Scene with Lucy in the cemetery. I won't get into it much more, it makes me extremely uncomfortable, but its another instance of Bram Stoker's Dracula taking away everything that made the female characters interesting.

Honestly? The best thing I can say about this movie is that it included Quincey. He's my favorite and he usually doesn't make it to screen adaptations. I'm happy you're here buddy.

I think what infuriates me is the title. Bram Stoker's Dracula implies that this adaptation takes a lot from the book. It's not just Dracula, it's Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's like saying that this adaptation is the most faithful. But... it's not. Bram Stoker's Dracula takes more of it's inspiration from old Universal films and previous Dracula adaptations than it does from the actual book. Thats okay! I'm all for new interpretations of old stories. But if you're a new interpretation that changes half of the characters and plot, don't market said interpretation with the original authors name.

This is not Bram Stoker's Dracula, it's Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula.

Which, even then, this is weak for Coppola. I'm not a huge fan of his work (I've seen The Godfather and Apocalypse Now) but I can understand and appreciate why he is as influential as he is. I think his films are well written and beautifully shot. He has great casts who elevate the writing and make their characters memorable. This film goes against all of that and that bothers me so much. It feels like a cheap imitation of Coppola's work.

Anyway- that sums up my thoughts on Bram Stoker's Dracula. I reallt enjoyed writing this, as someone who wants to be a film historian but doesn't actually get to do film-deep dives this was pretty refreshing haha. Good reminder that this is a film blog, not a podcast one.

Feel free to ask me more about movies, especially if you like Dracula! I am of the opinion that there is no good adaptation of Dracula... but I have ideas on how to fix that so...

#i believe this film is my lowest rated film on letterboxd #tilda rambles #bram stocker's dracula #francis ford coppola #film ramble #dracula

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missewoodhouse · 2 years

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“New Women” and Stoker’s Theatre Job

Given Bram’s “New Woman” rant at the end of Mina’s 10 August diary entry, now seems like a good time to discuss two of the great actresses of the Fin de Siècle stage! First of all, we have Ellen Terry -- onstage partner to (you guessed it) our pal Henry Irving, and probably most widely recognizable in this John Singer Sargent painting of her as Lady Macbeth.

While the beetle-wing green dress deserved to be immortalized in all its stately glory, the tone of the portrait is actually very different from that of Terry’s Lady M -- she never crowned herself onstage, and the character was played with a much more “fragile” brand of late-Victorian femininity. Despite a scandalous private life (including two children born out of wedlock, gasp!) Terry’s public persona was aligned with a series of “virtuous” Shakespeare heroines (Ophelia, Cordelia, Desdemona, Portia, Beatrice, Imogen).

In 1878, when Henry Irving became manager of the Lyceum theatre (where Bram Stoker soon became business manager), he convinced Ellen Terry to join the company as his leading lady. Both actors were separated from their spouses (Terry from her second husband) at this point, so their partnership publicly mirrored that of earlier husband-wife leading pairs. At least officially, Irving dictated the company’s artistic choices, the casting, and Terry’s (record breaking) salary, and onstage, Lady M may have been evil, but she was also Macbeth’s perfectly loyal wife.

Ellen Terry’s Imogen (see the colorized edit of a publicity photograph above), opposite Henry Irving’s villainous Iachimo in 1896 is regarded by some as a key inspiration for Lucy Westenra (interesting article/abstract here and book chapter/summary here, apologies for the paywalls). Given that Iachimo creeps on Imogen while she’s asleep and then uses this encounter to threaten her life / accuse her of promiscuity, there are certainly some parallels to be had if you go looking for them.

Interestingly enough, however, when Stoker produced a staged reading of Dracula at the Lyceum in 1897 (in order to claim copyright over any future stage adaptation), Ellen Terry’s daughter, Edith Craig, played Mina. And Edith was very definitely a card-carrying, suffrage-supporting, queer and polyamorous New Woman. Fun fact: in the post-Lyceum phase of her career, Ellen Terry was actually a pretty active suffrage campaigner / fundraiser too. (And I suspect, if we were to carry Mina and Lucy forward to their hypothetical Dracula-free, untouched by Bram Stoker’s authorial misogyny futures, both of our heroines eventually would be too).

While we’re on the subject of the scandalous New Woman, however, the other late Victorian actress I cannot go without mentioning is the French sensation Sarah Bernhardt (who by the time Dracula was published had a substantial performance history in England and the US as well). A rough contemporary of Ellen Terry, Bernhardt, by contrast, cultivated her own reputation for the scandalous. Bernhardt quite intentionally broke gendered boundaries left right and center.

Visually, Bernhardt is perhaps most strongly associated with the art nouveau posters she commissioned (from artist Alphonse Mucha) for her theatre company in Paris - examples of 1899′s Hamlet and La Tosca are above. While there are also plenty of photographs of her as Hamlet (although far from the first woman to play the role, Bernhardt’s performance is one of the most famous) and in other promotional images, the photo I’d rather draw your attention to is this one:

Yes, that is a young Sarah Bernhardt lying asleep in a coffin -- a coffin which she is said to have traveled with and claimed to sleep in regularly. Quite the publicity stunt (and pre-Dracula too)! Other features of her eccentric public persona included traveling with a menagerie of wild animals -- including an alligator, at least one variety of big cat, and a number of lizards and/or chameleons.

Bernhardt was also a sculptor, and her Self-Portrait as a Chimera (circa 1880, below) notably features bat-like wings, instead of more traditionally feathered, bird-like ones.

Which is to say, I think we’ve found another vampire!

#ellen terry #sarah bernhardt #Bram Stoker #our good friend henry irving #fin de siècle #the new woman (gasp!)#dracula daily #theatre history #shakespearean / stage manager reading dracula #cymbeline #hamlet #lady macbeth

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thethirdromana · 2 years

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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?

#dracula daily

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thedarkone121 · 1 month

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How I would try to Adapt “Dracula”

Hello, resident Film student that is about to graduate here and I have been through the deep-dive of the Dracula by Bram Stoker waters. Suffice to say, I feel in love and was very disappointed that the cultural osmosis of adaptations that I grew up around to understand Dracula does not even come close to the masterpiece that I found within the original story. It’s Jonathan and Mina, by the way. Their relationship is the masterpiece of this story. Go away very problematic themes, stereotypes, and ideas, I will not let you take this relationship away from me.

Seriously, how was it possible for me to ship a Victorian couple so hard? Why do we not have this in more adaptations?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU HOLLYWOOD?!

…AHEM! Once again, I am sorry to my followers for another fixation has caught my attention. At least this is something I could probably put in a portfolio…

Moving back to my idea, I should make a point that I am a storyboard artist so my idea generally falls to making it into an Adult Cartoon Series. Something along the lines of the Legend of Vox Machina — because I really like that art style and it feels like it fits best with my plot.

Speaking of which, let me get into the plot! Strap in newcomers because I am a bit of a storyteller when it comes to explaining my whacky ideas, if you didn’t already figured that.

DARKY’S DRACULA ADAPTATION, GO!

The setting of my adaptation takes place relatively the same time period. In fact, things are largely the same as the beginning of the novel; Jonathan travels to the Count’s castle, he notices the strong ongoing, he has that horrible encounter with the Vampire Ladies, Dracula does who know what to him, he even has his refined taste for paprika!

You might ask yourself: “Well, how is your adaptation any different from the book?” Well, that’s easy, my good friends. Because Jonathan manages to kill Dracula that day on June 30th, where he successfully decapitates the monster that’s been tormenting him.

It all sounds well and good, right? That means no one to torment Lucy and she can have her big day with Arthur. Mina will be safe, no children get bitten. It sounds wonderful…

…But Jonathan can’t get out of the castle. He remains there, trapped, with the Vampire Ladies and a presence that won’t go away.

Months go by and Mina receives a letter, one from her missing fiancé. He is still in Romania working with the Count, but he would like for Mina to come by and look at the land. Thinking how it would be a wonderful place for a honeymoon.

Mina is confused by the contents of the letter, but it is her proof that her fiancé is alive. And now she has a location of his whereabouts.

With a sadden goodbye to Lucy due to the fact that she will miss her wedding, Mina heads to Transylvania in order to find Jonathan.

But when she arrives at the Castle, welcomed by the Three Women, Mina realizes what horrors had plagued Jonathan and now it will soon come to her.

And that’s the outline of the Pilot I had in my head. Do I think it’s possible for Jonathan to decapitate Dracula with the shovel? Probably not, but it needs to in order for this adaptation to work. And before anyone says, yes, this Adaptation is pretty much Mina Murray going all Resident Evil 7 on Dracula’s castle.

She deserves to have her rage moments. Also, she really wants to get married. If it means she has to storm a castle, then she will do that!

Some other facts that I wanted to include:

Lucy gets more of an active role in the story. She’s been poorly adapted for so long, I wanted to give her something more. She’s the Galinda to Mina’s Elphaba. You bet she’s going to lead a search party that involves her husband, their two best friends, and the silly Professor that was interested in the location in order to find her two childhood friends.

Also, yeah. Lucy and Arthur got married. I’m going to give these two a chance to be happy before things go wrong when they arrive at the castle.

The Vampire Sisters get a chance to be main villains for the first half of the show. Yes, I called them Sisters instead of Brides cause I read that two of the three look like Dracula and I’m just going to leave it at that. Also, I think the Blonde one is their mom? I’m not a hundred percent sure. It’s an adaptation. They’re getting more screen time and depth, is what I’m trying to say!

Mina has a gun, watch out.

Dracula still has a role in this story. That I can include.

I know I likened the plot to Resident Evil 7 so I ‘m just gonna go ahead and say this; Mina will not loose any of her hands.

Expect a lot of Jonmina moments, flashbacks and when they reunite included.

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