#There's a reason I assume that he's actively being kept inside as an abuse tactic

[ceo-of-jennette-de-alger-obelia]

Does Whitley actually speak to anyone besides his family aside from that one convo with Ruby? No? Not even the other manor servants?

Well then how the FUCK would we know what kind of character he is?

[sinceritygem]

Reasons Trevor and Alucard’s Friendship Matters to Me

Watching this series, Trevor and Alucard’s friendship hit me really hard, not in the least because I realized it’s the dynamic I have with my partner and one of my best friends (I’m Alucard, if anyone is wondering).

The reason that this dynamic resonated so deeply with me is that the series really captures the way that, despite being so different on the surface, these characters are dealing with very similar traumatic experiences. They are able to find companionship specifically because they both have outside status, and that friendship is presented as thoroughly beneficial and healthy inside a show that’s full of darkness:

1. They Get to be Their Full, Flawed Selves

Alucard is a half-vampire with the weight of stopping his dangerous father from destroying the world on his (very young) shoulders. 

Trevor is the only heir to a family of vampire hunters who were both legendary and hunted to extinction, who also feels responsible for stopping Dracula. But everyone hates him. He’s also quite young. 

Both of these men have impossible burdens, and are ostracized by other people who have no real understanding of their experiences. We literally meet Trevor in a bar with other patrons talking about how they want his whole family dead, and we know humans (and his own fucking father) want to kill Alucard.

These two are set up to be diametrically opposed enemies: Alucard is all class and coldness where Trevor is crass fiery chaos. Alucard is an upper crust noble where Trevor is a working knight. They’re literally the Vampire and the Vampire Hunter.  But we never really go there. They are aware of their differences, but when they’re together, they get to be young men. They give each other shit for the way they talk or stupid things they do -- not actual distaste for one another. Their badgering happens because they are safe to be flawed, and safe enough to let the other see who they are. Other than Sypha, neither character lets anyone else in the show remotely this close to them.  When Trevor and Alucard meet, Alucard coldly and aloofly asks if they’re searching for a savior, the larger-than-life role he’s constantly forced into. In return, Trevor shrugs and says he fell down a hole. He doesn’t have this expectation of Alucard, and Alucard is free to meet him as a peer, which he pretty quickly does.  There’s a great follow-up exchange in Season 2: Sypha: Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.  Alucard: Oh, please. We're not children. Trevor: [Pointing at Alucard] Eat shit and die. Alucard: Yes, fuck you.[They both chuckle.] This is the bullshit of friends, not mortal enemies. It’s also the bullshit of late teens or early adults, not two men who have the entire weight of the world on them. Because of their friendship, they get to actually be people. 

2. They Can (Finally) Rely on Someone

Alucard and Trevor have both spent a lot of time alone, and have both been abandoned by family members, emotionally and/or through death. Alucard literally left home and slept for a year, and Trevor roams around getting drunk and starting fights. These are people who expect to be abandoned and disappointed.

But they trust each other. Pretty immediately.

This exchange starts partially out of need. Alucard says, “I need a hunter and a scholar. I need their help to save Wallachia, perhaps the world, and defeat my father.” But it does matter it’s Sypha and Trevor. He appreciates their honesty, and their bluntness. He very quickly appreciates their humor. And it’s mutual. Trevor respects Alucard’s wit, humor, and commitment to his goal.

3. Their Suffering is Understood, But Not Dwelled On

Part of the reason for above is because they have an understanding of shared experience, even if they’ve handled it differently. 

More importantly, they both get what trauma does, and have a respect for each other for having gone through it. Alucard has a line right at the end of Season 1, when the gang is assembling, where Trevor asks why Alucard wants to team up and kill Dracula. Alucard says, “Because it is what my mother would have wanted. And we are all, in the end, slaves to our family's wishes.” This is a huge connection for Trevor, who can see both the humanity (taking a kind action for a loved one) as well as relate to the burden of our family’s wishes, which in his case is passing on the vampire hunter manner. But it’s also more personal than that. There’s a line late in Season 2 where Alucard says, “I’m disturbed to find I had more of a childhood than you did.” Alucard is not coy about how fraught his childhood was, but that also gives him the empathy to actually understand that Trevor had it rough. He isn’t belittling Trevor; he’s actually seeing him. 

These men who have had almost no one support them suddenly have a person who values them as they are and can deeply see what they are experiencing. That’s huge. 

4. They Don’t Have to Worry About the Other One Being Afraid of Them

Alucard and Trevor could both kill each other. They establish that the first time they meet and remind each other of it constantly.

This is actually a trauma response. They’re so used to people leaving, that they’re pushing to see if the other will leave.

This is crucial to their friendship, because the other one doesn’t leave. He’s not even really phased. He just makes a joke and keeps going. This is how they build trust, and it mirrors Lisa’s relationship with Vlad -- one of the clearly healthy dynamics in the show.

We can contrast this with Trevor’s interactions with the Priest and various tavern-goers, who all hate him genuinely and immediately. His pushing away tactics “work” in these cases and get him hated.

Alucard is similarly disliked by the vampire community and we can assume general humans. Worst of all, his own father has actively rejected him. Alucard thus decides to be cold and distant, similarly pushing others away. But in their friendship, they are equals, and they are kept around, even with all their flaws and monstrous ability. They even start to exchange some traits. Trevor thinks things through a little more and isa little more genuine, and Alucard relaxes a little more and engages in some asshole tomfoolery. They begin to let down their defenses. 

5. This Dynamic is Healing Oriented 

The reason this dynamic gets my heart strings going is that IT MATTERS SO DEEPLY. These are two damaged souls fighting an impossible fight, and THEY FOUND SOMEONE WHO RESPECTS THEM AND SEES THEM. Alucard and Trevor don’t ask each other to be different than they are; they use their skills and approaches to try to solve an impossible task, while validating that they want the other one around. They also accept and support that the other person has experienced trauma. 

These are the friendships we deeply need when we’re carrying the weight of things like PTSD, abandonment, neglect, abuse, and other mental health worries. I love Alucard and Trevor because they are such GOOD, HEALTH FRIENDS, even when their own shit is still messy. I absolutely relate to Alucard Tepes, and this show gave me a renewed appreciation for the Trevors in my life. I’m here and as healthy and strong as I am because they saw me and they loved me.

A follow up to “Reasons Alucard Tepes Matters to Me” Here [X]