#and also Renfield is FINE

[aidenwaites]

RENFIELD DID SO GOOD TONIGHT 😭❤️❤️❤️❤️

[renfieldmyfriend]

is this controversial . i made it for laughs and jokes and giggles

[5qu1dink]

dad doesn’t know how to approach child with autism more at 11

[bi-rezi]

renfield is not very good so if somehow you hadnt heard this yet annd were planning to watch it this is your message to not bother

[lauralot89]

The Dracula Ballets

And Where to Watch Them

Dracula by Michael Pink: Originally staged in 1997, this ballet's plot is the closest to the novel. Seward does not appear in this version, his role being merged with Van Helsing's. Notable for eeriely beautiful and sometimes brutal choreography, the Harker and Dracula pas de deux, Renfield dancing in a straitjacket, and Quincey dancing briefly with a rifle.

Watch it here.

Dracula by Krzysztof Pastor: This version of Dracula portrays Mina as the reincarnation of the count's late wife, similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula. That film's score is also used in this ballet. Quincey does not appear in this version. Notable for Renfield's haunting dances, one of which he somehow manages while tied to other patients, Dracula's creepy servants, the Dracula Jonathan Tango, and an onstage blood transfusion.

Watch it here.

Dracula: The Romantic Ballet by Ben Stevenson. This ballet is set entirely in Transylvania with a new cast of characters. Besides Dracula, the mortal leads are villagers Flora and Svetlana, and Svetlana's suitor Frederick. Notable because this ballet wants you to know that Dracula fucks: he not only has his ever present brides, but an entire harem to go along with them. He even has locals employed in bringing maidens to his castle. Also this Dracula has seemingly human servants who are fine with it all, I guess.

Watch it here.

Dracula by David Nixon. This ballet intends to portray Dracula as a more ambiguous, nuanced creature. As Nixon puts it, ‘All creatures need to be loved and the love that Dracula shares with Mina transcends the boundaries of good and evil.’ Quincey does not appear in this version. Notable for the creepiest Old Dracula ever seen in anything (with the fun nervous habit of biting himself when he's trying not to bite others), a Seward and Renfield dance, and vampire brides with Christina Aguilera in "Lady Marmalade" hairstyles.

Watch it here (ignore the title and video description, they are incorrect).

Kont Dracula by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet. This is a 2013 adaptation for which I can find no information or video. If you know of a recording of this performance, please comment.

[sammaggs]

3x06 The Bounty Hunter | Obvious

Because I think the "obvious reasons" might not be quite so obvious to children and/or non-Canadians, I would like to Explain! The! Joke!

Bobby Orr: One of the greatest hockey players of all time

k.d. lang: Canada's Most Famous Lesbian

She's a musician and her story is pretty fascinating; she was famously profiled in Vanity Fair after being shut out of the country music scene in America for being gay. (You should read the piece! It's good!).

AND ALSO DID I MENTION SHE WAS ON THE COVER OF THAT MAGAZINE GETTING A CLOSE SHAVE FROM CINDY FUCKING CRAWFORD IN 1993

Hard to explain the impact on a baby butch lesbian. Much to consider.

And k.d. was hot shit—even Madonna said of her "Elvis is alive—and she's beautiful!" She was from the real middle-of-nowhere in Alberta (village population 600) and managed to make it big. You probably recognize at least this classic banger:

So of course Renfield Turnbull, confirmed queer (to me), would be crackin' wise about k.d. lang.

Also of no relevance to anything, Bobby Orr is from Parry Sound, which is also the closest town to my cottage, and you can still hit up fine family establishment Orr's Fine Meats and Deli or play hockey at the Bobby Orr Community Centre any time lol

Quiet Canadiana in due South, a series [more]

[thethirdromana]

Getting to the ending of Dracula, I'm struck that nobody dies cheaply in this novel.

The closest thing is probably the unnamed sailors who Dracula kills on the Demeter, but even then, the novel is clear that this is not right. They're not collateral damage. They are mourned, and they should have lived.

I was thinking about this particularly because I'm currently reading the first book of the Wheel of Time, where - minor spoiler - innocent people do suffer for the sake of saving the lives of the Chosen One(s), and the Chosen One(s) aren't always comfortable with that calculation being made on their behalf.

See also the Lord of the Rings, where it's clear that even if hundreds or thousands of people die, their sacrifice is worthwhile if it means Frodo can destroy the Ring. See also Rogue One, which is my favourite Star Wars movie in part because it isn't about the heroes who live, but about the people being sacrificed so the heroes can keep fighting.

I'm fine with those stories. What I really dislike is the Marvel-esque approach, where there's huge body count of people who the story tells us doesn't matter. Main character deaths are mourned; the people that they plough through in order to get to their objectives are background cannon fodder. The growing death toll emphasises the severity of the situation but that's all.

I think it's noteworthy that Dracula doesn't do this. Our heroes don't actually kill anyone who isn't already dead, and the narrative doesn't shy away from how difficult and traumatic it is to do even that. They do fight Dracula's servants, who are as close as this novel gets to faceless goons, but they don't kill any of them. The characters - and the novel - move on too quickly from Renfield's death for my liking, but it's still shown to matter.

Dracula doesn't care how many people he has to kill to achieve his ends. Our heroes always do.

[spaceagebachelormann]

hellloooo :D

feel free to cut out any characters if u want! (theres a lot lol) but i was wondering if u could do some characters with an ftm reader? romantic or platonic is fine!

i was thinking specifically dracula, van helsing, viktor and adam frankenstein, dr jekyll and mr hyde, erik destler, meg and carlotta?

again, no pressure and take as long as u want!

☆ — classic lit characters with someone who’s ftm

✧ masterlist — navigation

✧ carmillas notes — wrote this as like coming out to them!!sorry this request took forever anyway i included all the characters but if they’re ooc i apologize, i also apologize for how badly written this prob is because i’m afab ALSO none of them are explicitly romantic or platonic so take it as u wish. also renfield mention because he’s my MAN 💜 also i ran out of motivation half way through i apologize

✧ warnings — MIGHT be inaccurate

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ count dracula

realistically he’d probably be very very confused but we’re gonna go off what i think!

i think at the end of the day he could honestly care less

in his eyes, it’s not his problem

you could sit there and tell him how you’re feeling, what being trans means, all of it, and he’d just sit there and twiddle his thumbs

“…okay.” and then y’all go on with the day

he ends up mentioning it to renfield for some reason who actually understands and gives him a good description of it (renfields cool he’d be super supportive btw)

then dracula is like “ohhhh”

he sits you down later that day and asks questions and he’s not outwardly supportive but also not outwardly bad? he just doesn’t really care

occasionally you’ll just find random masc clothes in your room or laundry after that

he’s not. the greatest but he definitely tries his best with the pronouns and gets livid if someone messes them up, even by accident

(only he’s allowed to mix them up and he apologizes and uses the correct ones after)

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ abraham van helsing

he’s fascinated honestly

outwardly more supportive than dracula, already kind of gets it and doesn’t ask as many questions unless he feels they’re necessary

he’s like “wait here” after a couple of moments and comes back a bit later holding some of his old clothes he doesn’t wear anymore and lets you keep them

he’s another one who would kind of struggle with the pronouns but for the most part he gets the hang of it pretty quickly

if he or someone else uses the wrong pronouns he’s very polite with correcting himself or someone else

wouldn’t yell but would definitely have a TALK with anyone who still uses she/her

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ victor frankenstein

he’d be very fascinated and have a lot of questions

he’s kind of asking them repeatedly but it’s just because he wants to understand. it’s also because he’s like entranced and wants to know more

also he’s a surgeon. he could give you free top/bottom surgery but also maybe you shouldn’t trust him that much considering his earlier experiments

for some reason his brain is used to it instantly and he always uses the correct masc pronouns for you and it someone uses the wrong ones he emphasizes the pronoun until they get it

overall he could genuinely care less, the concept of ftm had him interested and that’s the only thing he cared about (getting information)

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ henry jekyll

he’d be very confused. but not necessarily mean

you kind of just need to keep explaining it to him every time he messes up and then after a while he’s like “ohhhh”

it’s not his fault he’s just not used it

he would also be perfectly fine with it once he’s doing asking his questions, in his words “it’s perfectly normal to want to be your true self” (he’d know)

would probably like. tailor some of your clothes himself or pay someone to do it so they’re more masculine presenting or would straight up just get you new ones

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ edward hyde

his reaction is essentially “okay??” because he has no idea what this has to do with him

he’s cares less than everyone else. realistically he’d misgender you and then go on like nothing happened but the next time he uses a pronoun it’s likely masculine. he kind of just accidentally switches between them

he’s trying (he’s not)

he doesn’t treat you any different because he hates everyone equally, so he’ll still torment you and then drag you off to go rob a stand or something

he doesn’t have the best memory for the right pronoun, but he’s not transphobic. he just doesn’t care

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ erik destler

very similar to hyde, wouldn’t care

however, he actually does try to look out for how he refers to you and if he messes up he’ll kinda just stand there like 😨 for a moment before he corrects himself

tbh i feel like if you have longer hair he’d cut it for you himself because he’s very talented with his hands

would also let you borrow a lot of his clothes and gives you money to buy new ones, but will not be getting you them himself (unless he asked madame giry) because he does not leave that cellar

over all very supportive!! is actually very sweet about the whole thing (considering if you trust him enough to come out as ftm ur probably close w him)

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ meg giry

essentially she’s screaming I KNEW IT in your face

then goes on a long rant about how she knew and every little thing you’ve ever done that she thought was even slightly suspicious

overall she’s also very sweet and will give people the thousand yard stare if they misgender you (she’s very good with pronouns)

knows all kinds of ways to present more masculine because of her role in the opera house and helps you with those

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩ carlotta giudicelli

at first she’s like okay…. what

one of the ones that needs it explained to her in full detail

because she’s a diva she will 100% be yelling at people for you because she does not support rude behaviour from anyone except herself

would also wanna pick out your clothes for you and do your hair for you herself, because she’d be very good with fashion and clothing i feel

lowkey she’s like look at my MALE FRIEND who’s a MALE and is a MAN but it’s more so to keep herself in check because she’s genuinely worried about messing up

[tenebris-lux]

You know, while we’re waiting for something to happen in Varna, I wanna gush (and I do mean gush) about an earlier entry and its performance in Re: Dracula: Seward’s diary, October 1, 4am.

First, a note on a detail in Re: Dracula. The part where all the guys said one after another that they all wanted to meet Renfield….

“May I come also?” asked Lord Godalming.

“Me too?” said Quincey Morris. “May I come?” said Harker.

The way Seward said “said Harker”, he sounds so annoyed! Like, “Ugh, FINE, everybody come. All of a sudden my patient is the most popular guy around.” The delivery for just that little line in Re: Dracula made me grin.

But onto to the meat of the entry.

Renfield pulled out ALL the stops in trying to convince Seward to take him out of the asylum. He did everything he could to impress on Seward that he was on the same page as any other guy, even ahead a little—intelligence, reasonability, culture, diplomacy, you name it. He took full advantage of the entourage that followed Seward. The pointed way Trench said the line, “By the way, you have not introduced me,” had the emphasis meant to put Seward on the spot—‘who appears less civilized here? In company?’ He then shows respect for everyone in the room named, displaying knowledge, grace, courtesy, charm, what have you. He was probably not expecting everybody to show up, so he had to improvise. But right off the top of his head, he was able to impress on each of them that he’s not “lesser”.

The pure charisma he displayed made a slight impression on Seward, kind of a knee-jerk reaction to go, “Yeah, sure, you seem perfectly fine, I’ll draw up the paperwork…” But then Seward catches himself. Unfortunately. Still, if Seward had been at all professional about Renfield in his treatment of him so far, him saying he’d talk to him more about it in the morning might not have been unreasonable. And if Renfield didn’t have an ulterior motive to leave the asylum right then, he could’ve possibly taken the opportunity to try to impress him more; not play Seward’s twisted mind games. Unfortunately, he could not afford to wait. At all. So he insists that time is of the essence and he has to go now.

“He looked at me keenly, and seeing the negative in my face, turned to the others, and scrutinized them closely. Not meeting any sufficient response, he went on:—

‘Is it possible that I have erred in my supposition?’

‘You have,’ I said frankly, but at the same time, as I felt, brutally. There was a considerable pause, and then he said slowly:—

‘Then I suppose I must only shift my ground of request….’”

���Brutally” is right. Jack’s voice was very blunt and short in Re: Dracula, and it was audible in Renfield’s voice that the wheels were turning; like, ‘how can I get through to this guy? I thought I was onto something there, but … Plan B then.’ His Plan B is a little more direct, less certain, and involves more crossing one’s fingers: appeal to Seward’s compassion, and try to tell him why he wants out so soon, which … ugh, isn’t much. That’s why he threw his all into plan A; plan B was extremely uncertain at best.

Still reasonably, he says he has reasons for wanting out, that it’s for the sake of others. But he can’t tell him why. Just … please trust him on this?

Unexpectedly, he just loses ground with Seward, but he’s got Van Helsing’s interest, and Van Helsing’s the type who tries to make a practice of giving the benefit of the doubt.

“He said to Renfield in a tone which did not surprise me at the time, but only when I thought of it afterwards—for it was as of one addressing an equal:—“

Which Jack found weird when reflecting on it later. Because why would Jack even consider Renfield being equal? But anyway, Van Helsing takes the initiative and overrides Jack’s authority by saying, ‘If you can state clearly why you want to go and convince me, he’ll let you and take responsibility.’ Which is kind of a weird gamble, if you ask me. Like, yeah, Seward would probably do it, because it’s Van Helsing, but it still seems odd to me. Van Helsing says later that he knows a lot less of “madmen” than Seward does (should we tell him?), so it’s a risk. But he was much closer to believing Renfield than Seward was. Whatever the case, Renfield couldn’t tell them anything. Van Helsing tried to persuade him to change his mind, because then he’d make so much more progress, rather than if he just kept secrets, right? But he wasn’t picking up that it wasn’t that Renfield didn’t want to say something, or was afraid to.

He literally couldn’t tell them.

“Dr. Van Helsing, I have nothing to say. Your argument is complete, and if I were free to speak I should not hesitate a moment; but I am not my own master in the matter. I can only ask you to trust me. If I am refused, the responsibility does not rest with me.”

The helpless way he says ‘I have nothing to tell you.’ And he’s DROPPING HINTS. He hears and understands Van Helsing’s arguments and if he WERE FREE TO SPEAK … but he is not his own MASTER…. Come onnn, Jack, you’ve heard that word before, right? I think somehow Renfield knows the guys are heading next door, so come on, Jack, put two and two together. Where else has Renfield used that word? And again, I love the added emphasis Felix Trench put on the word “master”. Like, come on, man, take a hint. Yes, Renfield’s addressing Van Helsing, but Seward’s hearing this. Seward’s the one here who knows his habits, his patterns.

Right?

…

No go.

“Come, my friends, we have work to do. Good-night.”

Renfield’s only chance is heading out the door. Reason and trust have both failed. Last ditch effort: pure desperation. Pleading, begging, on his knees, crying. Saying he’ll go under ANY circumstance Seward picks out, even if it comes to torture. Anything. Anything.

And Trench’s performance … oh god, the tears coming, the breathlessness, the way words warp when you talk while crying….

“Can’t you hear me, man? Can’t you understand? Will you never learn? Don’t you know that I am sane and earnest now; that I am no lunatic in a mad fit, but a sane man fighting for his soul? Oh, hear me! hear me! Let me go! let me go! let me go!”

GOD. He’s just so desperate to get ANYTHING from Seward. Is there anything in that man he can reach?

Still no. The way Jonathan Sims said Seward’s next lines—“Come, no more of this; we have quite enough already. Get to your bed and try to behave more discreetly.”—were PERFECT. Sternly chiding a lesser person who’s misbehaving, in tone, but with cold unfeeling words. Absolutely no warmth. No connection.

“He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several moments.”

The last check. Is there anything there? Anything in there at all he can reach or connect with?

“Then, without a word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the bed.”

Just … the way he gives up. He’s out of options. Absolutely nothing will get through to the guy he needs to understand him. Or his friends, even the “open-minded” one. They all think he’s crazy and apart from them. He just needed one of them—preferably Seward, but any of them would do—to stand in his corner, and just relocate him somewhere. They can pick any conditions they want, just so long as he leaves now.

But Seward has never understood him. He made it a hobby to “try to understand him” and “know how he works”. And now when he actually needs to, he’s completely off-base. I won’t go so far as to say that if it weren’t for Seward, the attacks on Mina wouldn’t have happened, because it ultimately comes down to Dracula being the attacker. Still, it’s frustrating.

The final thing Renfield says to Seward as the doctor heads out the door—“You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later on, that I did what I could to convince you to-night.”—was described as said “in a quiet, well-bred voice,” and it certainly was that in Re: Dracula, but it also came across as drained and defeated and … done. Just … ‘I tried.’

And he really did try.

He knows he has a weakness and is susceptible. There’s no telling when his mental fortitude might weaken next. But if/when it does, it wouldn’t be just him that suffers consequences.

….. anyways, that’s my gush.

[barbara-on-myspace]

I’m gonna say it, y’all were way too mean to the Renfield movie. I get shitting on Awkwafina and that whole b plot, but everything else was a perfectly fine, fun horror/comedy. Also what do you mean y’all didn’t like the therapy angle? You just don’t get it. BABYGIRL NEEDED THERAPY THATS THE POINT!!!!

[xxgothchatonxx]

I thought the whole “Renfield breaking away from his abusive relationship” story was done pretty well.

This film is primarily a comedy but I thought there was an appropriate level of seriousness given to the subject matter. Especially in the apartment scene.

Thankfully I’ve never been in a position that bad (yeah i know i’m talking about vampires here but you know what I mean) but when Drac started with his “I’m the real victim here” shit I was like “yep, heard that before...” (to clarify - i’m fine. I’m safe. Not in any danger. I just had a “huh.. yeah that’s pretty realistic” reaction)

Again, for a horror-comedy, i thought the arc was executed pretty well. There was a good starting point, there were a few scenes of various levels of abuse to show just how bad the relationship was without feeling too exploitative or redundant, and there was an incredibly satisfying conclusion, which also involved Renfield throwing Drac’s own words of “full power” back in his face.

Honestly, that was my only real expectation that was going to make or break my enjoyment of the film. So... thankfully it didn’t break it :)

[vickyvicarious]

There were even such books of reference as the London Directory, the "Red" and "Blue" books, Whitaker's Almanac, the Army and Navy Lists, and—it somehow gladdened my heart to see it—the Law List.

Me at first: I am getting cute aggression stop!

Me now: Wait, what if Dracula is studying the Law List in order to find ways around the system like what legal strings must be pulled to enter an inhabited house uninvited.

Well, he is still deeply adorable. Baby Solicitor comforted to see Law in the wild. I love it just as much now.

But yeah, also that's an alarming idea, and something I 100% would believe. Something I don't think Dracula often gets enough credit for is how innovative he is about the rules of vampirism in this book. He absolutely does some rules-lawyering of his own, and in fact his entire plan is dependent on a pretty clever move with the whole if I surround myself in my native soil then I'll be fine to cross running water trick. And he also is pretty good at thinking of backup plans and contingencies. He eventually has a bunch of those here in the castle with Jonathan, such as:

Jonathan is locked in so he can't get out

He doesn't know the exact way back even if he did

While he's lost in the wood wolves could hunt him down before he found friendly people, if he did escape

Dracula's impersonation of him turns the locals against him if he did get to them, past the wolves, lost in the woods, through the locked doors

Also no one at home will know what happened to him because of his dictated letters and Dracula's impersonation, suggesting an entirely different timeline/location for him vanishing

And all of this layers well with other goals, such as isolating and emotionally torturing Jonathan. Stuff like his multiple lawyers/homes for his multiple dirt boxes to be stashed are also really clever. Dracula can make a good plan... given enough time/control over a situation. But he consistently underestimates his opponents, because he believes he is so innately superior to them. In doing so, he leaves gaps, opportunities they can take advantage of without him even realizing (sticking to the Jonathan example: his diary, some of his more extreme snooping, the final escape. Or later on, a fantastic example is Mina turning his attack on her against him, both choosing to spy back on him, and figuring things out from his triumphant evil monologue).

He also gets impatient and stubborn. I've mentioned before how he could have played the entire Lucy situation much smarter had he been more patient/less outraged at people here figuring out a way to temporarily hold him off. And when things go wrong, he's not great at pivoting in any kind of subtle/clever way. He defaults to anger, force, shows of power. And again, that can be used against him.

Sorry, I got totally away from your point. Yes, I agree, he'd try. And it would be completely in-character for him to overlook that actual lawyers might be able to out-maneuver him in such an area, and he'd get stupid-mad should they mess up some plan by doing so. That could be a fun thing to incorporate into some kind of AU (where Lucy survives: imagine if Mrs. Westenra's lawyer insisted on putting in some kind of clause that she kept the house at least until her marriage was finalized) (preventing Mina's attacks/saving Renfield: if the lawyer characters put together the stuff with Lucy and looked into the legal documents for the asylum, maybe putting some document together that changed the wording to restrict his access unless only Seward invited him in, or Renfield's invitation only went for the main asylum, not Jack's private rooms, or whatever).

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Do you think a Dracula MBS AU would work? If so, in what way? Hope you are doing well!!!

Sophie, I love this question!! It’s actually something I have thought of, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to make into a post on its own. And I’m doing well, hope you are too :DDDD

Yes, Dracula MBS AU could be a thing, but I would definitely need to make a few tweaks. Us Dracula book fans aren’t a huge fan of “tweaks” for…certain reasons (*side eyes adaptations*), but this one would still be faithful to the spirit of the book. :)

Note: Heavy spoilers for Dracula, and the Mysterious Benedict Society. Also, I’m basing this AU on the MBS books, not the series (Curtain is not really redeemable in this one, though he is the gremlin man you know and enjoy!). As a disclaimer, all of the MBS characters that are kids are adults in this AU — in their 20s to be precise. Everyone else retains their original ages (except for the one who is playing Dracula, of course).

Jonathan Harker -> Reynie Muldoon

You know I had to start off with my one of my favorite blorbos and honestly, this just works. These two characters are a lot alike, more than you might assume. Both are considered “average” by others, and are constantly underestimated, which they shake off in different ways (Reynie with his abilities, Jonathan through the power of Tumblr’s book club). They have a kind heart and love helping others. They are meticulous and can be bold when needed, sometimes using clever words to talk themselves out of a situation (Jonathan several times in Dracula’s castle, Reynie when Curtain catches him looking at the Executive’s list). Jonathan and Reynie are also leadership material, though you probably wouldn’t think it by looking at them.

Mina Murray -> Kate Wetherall

Yeah, so those who know I ship these Reynie and Kate may have expected this one. I can’t help it! Still, I think these two work as well. Mina is very much an extrovert and will talk to everyone she meets, just like Kate. Mina may not carry a bucket, but she does carry her journals and writing around with her! Kate and Mina are both silly at times, adding their own personal flair to situations. I would see Kate embodying Mina’s bolder side and being excited about journalism for the chance to meet people. She is fine with studying and typing (especially to help/bond with Reynie), but it’s not her favorite thing, if that makes sense. Or, alternatively, she could have more of Mina’s affinity for typing and thoroughly love it! Up to you. Those who have read Dracula all the way through also know that Mina and Kate are also alike in their need to be *in the action*, not sidelined. And they’re absolutely correct.

Dracula -> Ledroptha Curtain

Yeah, this one is pretty obvious. Both are cackling villains, both like their cat-and-mouse games: it just fits! Plus, if you compare Curtain’s weird lecture/manipulative speeches to Reynie in the first book to Dracula’s speeches to Jonathan…it’s almost uncanny how similar they are!!! Dracula and Curtain honestly use a lot of the same tactics to draw their victims in (making them feel special/isolated, puffing his own ego, etc.).

Renfield -> Crawlings

I’ll be honest, Crawlings is my favorite Ten Man and I can just see him as Renfield. He’s soooooo weird and I love him for it!!! Bro has one eyebrow and was constantly being quirky. Can I see this man eating a fly and being locked in an asylum in 1800s England? Yes, yes I can. Plus, his name is Crawlings and he follows Curtain. ‘Nuff said.

Van Helsing -> Nicholas Benedict

You probably also saw this one coming after I paired Dracula with Curtain. This Dracula AU fits a lot better than one first assumes and here is another example. Van Helsing in the novel is very much a quirky professor, befuddling his former student (Seward) with his metaphors and laughing far too much to be in the horror novel Dracula, let’s be honest. In the same way, Nicholas Benedict is a jovial, unassuming man, who one wouldn’t think to be a genius instrumental to saving the world, yet he’s in the very name of the book series! In the same way, Van Helsing has garnered a name for himself that has far outlived his first appearance in the novel: as much as Dracula lives on in the public sphere, Van Helsing is right beside him. I think this fits Nicholas to a tee. Plus, Nicholas and Van Helsing are capable of great seriousness and emotional depth when the situation calls for it.

Aaaaaaand this is where things get switched around. I’m going to list the characters first, then describe how exactly their arcs would be changed, but I want to make it clear that this Suitor Squad would not be a Suitor Squad anymore in my AU. I do not ship these characters!!!!! Just want to make that clear upfront.

Lucy Westerna -> Constance Contraire

This one is a bit of a stretch personality-wise, but it’s the clearest fit in terms of leading/supporting characters. Lucy is obviously a very sweet person and Constance is…well…the society says it best: “Constance is Constance”. However, in RoA, we do get a glimpse of a sweeter Constance and I do believe this is how Constance will be once she matures: still her feisty self, just able to let her empathetic side show more. And really, that’s who Lucy is. She has a defiant and bold streak within her: this is just held back by the confines of Victorian society (though not in the way adaptations want to portray her — I just mean she could be more sassy if she wanted to). Whether Constance adapts more of Lucy’s bubbly and sweet personality or retains her sassy and grumpy self is up to you. Either way, her and Kate (Mina) would definitely still be best friends and have a similar relationship they have in MBS, perhaps with a dash of maturity (LOL). Lucy/Constance is also the youngest, clocking in at 19, to everyone else’s mid- to late- 20s.

Quincey Morris -> Milligan

You can probably see why I emphasized the importance of not shipping these characters. So yes, Milligan now takes the role of an American cowboy and I think he would adopt this role with gusto! Of course, in this AU he’s never lost his memories so he is his cheerful self. He is a lot like Quincey in being perpetually cheerful, compassionate and a good friend to the rest of the Crew of Light (plus, earnestly cheering them up when needed and kicking Dracula/Curtain’s butt — both of these characters excel at their job). Quincey is known as the oathmaker of Dracula, always keeping the promises he makes. Readers of MBS know that Milligan also takes his promises seriously, so much so that his last promise became his very name (how his name is still Milligan when he didn’t lose his memories doesn’t make sense, but…you know…uh….*magic*). Is he Kate’s father in this AU? Perhaps. 😏 I once commented to @nobodysdaydreams that these two would be father/daughter in every universe, so I think even if they’re not biologically related, they would certainly fit that dynamic and adopt each other as such.

Jack Seward -> George “Sticky” Washington

Seward is definitely on the darker side of what Sticky is capable of, but I don’t think this is out of the realm of possibilities for Sticky. I honestly think he could’ve become something like this, had he not been exposed to Mr. Benedict and his friends at a young age. Not that Sticky is “bad” or “evil” in this AU — Jack isn’t either!!!!!! I would just say he has bad coping mechanisms and needs therapy for depression…so just hand that over to Sticky without the strongest support system and I think these two meld together well.

Arthur Holmwood -> SQ Pedalian

For all my SQ lovers, this one’s for you!!! SQ and Arthur are both sweet guys who really shouldn’t be in traumatic situations, but, unfortunately, are. Fun to be around and a beacon of light to those they meet, SQ and Arthur always try to make the best of a bad situation! I think SQ would fit right into Arthur’s role, though it won’t be easy for him as the book goes along…

Three Vampire Sisters -> Martina, Jillson and Jackson

I believe it makes sense for Curtain’s most trusted executives to also be in his castle as his vampires in this AU. Oh, and Jackson’s here too — for the vibes. :D yes, they do try to “seduce” Reynie. Yes, it is weird (though, as a reminder, minus the vampire thing they’re similar in age — Reynie is in his 20s and the vampire siblings got turned into vampires around the same age). No, I don’t want to dwell on it.

Mr. Hawkins - Miss. Perumal

While it wouldn’t make any sense for Jonathan/Reynie’s boss to be a woman in this time period, I am making Mr. Hawkins Miss Perumal anyway because I do not care. Jonathan basically calls Mr. Hawkins his adopted father and that is what Miss. Perumal is to Reynie. Whether you want to make Miss Perumal a guy or just make Victorian England less sexist in this AU is up to you (I’m rooting for the latter).

Captain of the Demeter -> Captain Noland

I think this one explains itself. Noble captain of The Shortcut becomes the noble (and, unfortunately, doomed) captain of the Demeter. 🫡🫡

First Mate of the Demeter -> McCracken

My choice here might seem strange — and it is — but I honestly think this first mate that gets more and more desperate is better filled by McCracken the Ten Man than anyone else. I truly believe if something supernatural happened to him, he would not believe it and would scoff at anyone who did — until it was too late. Then, he would try to fight the monster (as the First Mate does), and if he had no option left…flee. That’s my interpretation of McCracken’s true character anyways — just give him less weapons and less self-confidence. Plus, I wanted McCracken to be a part of this and had no good place for him (lol). 🤷‍♀️

Second Mate of the Demeter -> Canonball

The bravest “mate” on the crew, I chose Canonball as Second Mate instead of First Mate because he would be exactly the type of man to volunteer to keep watch and let everyone else get some sleep; unfortunately, that kind of selflessness is not rewarded by Dracula. :( RIP Canonball in this AU, you will be missed. 🫡

Mrs. Westerna -> Number Two

I’m envisioning a different kind of relationship than mother/daughter for Lucy/Constance and Mrs. Westerna/Number Two. I’ll explain it more when we get to my “changes”, but suffice it to say, Mrs. Westerna/Number Two is an aunt or mentor figure to Lucy/Constance rather than a biological mother. I picked Number Two for this role because she has Mrs. Westerna’s strict adherence to rules down and an anxious streak, though to a lesser extent of course. These qualities would be dialed up to 11 for the AU.

“Correspondent” -> Rhonda Kazembe

According to a number of posts I’ve seen on here (though I haven’t been able to find anything when I looked it up — doesn’t mean it’s not true, just means my research skills needs work!), Stoker originally envisioned a woman reporter who ended up working with the Crew of Light to take down Dracula. Whether due to time constraints or too many characters to keep track of, he dialed this character back to a “Correspondent” (gender unidentified) who reports on the Demeter’s landing, and what has become of the ship. While we don’t get much from this Correspondent, they show a lot of personality in just two entries: boasting about their running abilities and reporting about villagers wanting to be friends with a dog. I would definitely select Rhonda for this role because, while she may seem quiet and ordinary, she hides a ton of inner personality! I think I would give this Rhonda a little bit of her energy from the show because her actress just did such a good job of embodying her character and giving her an even more distinct personality that I think would go great with the Correspondent. Other than that, I do think she would work with the Crew of Light in this one, as Stoker originally intended, though how much and in what capacity, I’m not sure of.

Mr. Swales -> Risker

I was honestly thinking of picking one of the Ten Men for this one, but I think “kooky old man who you can’t tell what he’s saying half the time” fits Risker perfectly. 😂😂

Now that we have all the chess pieces into place (yes, that was an MBS reference), how do they move around the chessboard? Most Dracula fans by now will probably be shouting at me “But Nova, if there’s no Suitor Squad, how will you fulfill Lucy’s arc?” Well you see, there’s one relationship we need to consider here: that of Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict and Lucy/Constance.

So for those who may not know (on both sides of the fandom), Van Helsing considers Lucy to be his daughter in a sense. In MBS, Mr. Benedict ends up adopting Constance, though this is not an easy process, as her papers are lost to time. I intend to merge these two story arcs.

So to start, Lucy/Constance would be an orphan, not being born from a wealthy family like in the original book. She would meet Jonathan/Reynie and Mina/Kate and they would all be childhood friends, as in the original book, though perhaps Lucy/Constance understands the other two on a deeper level — as they all three know what it’s like to be orphans and to want for friendship and parents.

Somewhere along the way, Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict meets Lucy/Constance (she’s in her teens at this point) and he starts to see her as the daughter he wants to have. Unfortunately in Victorian England, there’s no legal adoption process. So basically, Lucy/Constance can only have the feeling of having a father, no papers to prove it. And just like in the MBS series, this causes her to feel frustrated and insecure (though with a bit more maturely, since she’s older lol). Another issue is that she rarely sees Van Helsing/ Mr. Benedict since he’s working on research in Germany. He doesn’t want to take her with him, since he presumes she should be out living her life and learning how to be a lady (more out of a desire for her to fit in with other girls and make friends than him sticking to the confines of society). Which is why he’s entrusted her with Mrs. Westerna/Number Two, providing her a permanent place to live. We can also work something in there about Milligan/Quincey (a family friend of his) adopting Mina/Kate along the way or them being father/daughter (you could swap Mina and Lucy’s roles here). I personally like the former option, but the latter works as well!

Living with Mrs. Westerna/Number Two is nice, but not what Lucy/Constance wants. She only wants to be with her father :(. At this point, she’s an adult and can make her own choices, so she asks her father if she can go on a trip with him. Surprisingly, he says yes!

Rather than the three iconic proposals here, I envision Lucy/Constance telling her three family friends (because Van Helsing has a LOT of those) about her impending trip instead, which they all take in different ways. Seward/Sticky does not take this well. Van Helsing is kind of a father figure to him as well and having him be away has been difficult for him to handle. Now, hearing that he’s going to “lose” someone he considers to be his sister as well is just too overwhelming for him to hear. He accepts it, but doesn’t like it. Milligan/Quincey is excited for her, but sad to see her go. He feels a “loss” as well, since he considers Lucy/Constance to be his daughter, though he’s never said it. Arthur/SQ is the only one truly excited for her, giving her travel tips, as he’s traveled himself and wants her to have only the best experience. It may not be as dramatic or exciting as proposals, but I do think this works with hitting similar emotions from the three men (grief, bittersweet, and joy).

Then we come to the sad part of our story. Lucy/Constance begins experiencing symptoms of a vampire bite and while Sticky/Seward tries to care for her himself, his last resort is to call in Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict (which he doesn’t want to do, because he doesn’t want him to see her like this and it feels too much like the end…). When Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict arrives, he understands very clearly what is going on, and it pains him to see his daughter in this condition. However, for her sake, he keeps to his jovial self (and he retains his narcolepsy, so you can play a lot with him trying not to give in to this emotional turmoil).

At first, it seems like things are working in their favor: they put up garlic and it seems to keep the evil bat away. Unfortunately, Mrs. Westerna/Number Two doesn’t get the memo and takes the garlic down, leaving poor Lucy/Constance exposed. That’s when the bad turns to the worse.

If you want maximum angst here, you can go with the canon ending…which is that Lucy/Constance dies. And if you thought Van Helsing’s reaction to Lucy’s death was bad (which is a full on mental breakdown, by the way), this is oh-so much worse. Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict is inconsolable. He won’t talk to anyone. He keeps waking up and passing out for a full day, he is SO full of emotion. He mourns that he was never able to take her on a trip or able to legally adopt her. Not to mention, Dracula/Curtain took Mrs. Westerna/Number Two from him too, so he’s mourning THAT death as well. So yeah, needless to say, he’s not in a good place. And he’s determined to avenge the people he’s lost at any price. Also, he would have to be the one to stake Lucy/Constance when she eventually turns into the Bloofer Lady (which he would be in denial about at first, though he would see all the signs). Because I need this to be more heartbreaking, apparently. By the end of this AU, him and Jonathan/Reynie are very much silently sharpening a knife, waiting for their moment to strike at Dracula/Curtain (who looks eerily similar to Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict, that’s strange…).

Since MBS is included in this, though, I don’t know if this would be what happens. I kind of believe Lucy/Constance would make it through in this AU. So either Mrs. Westerna/Number Two actually listens to Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict (which is likely, let’s be honest) or they’re able to save her in some other way. Bottom line: Lucy/Constance makes it, and she’s infinitely grateful! Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict vows to take her on a trip very soon and makes her a little adoption certificate thing. It’s not real, but to them it is! On the inside, however, Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict is very angry at Dracula/Curtain for almost killing his daughter and that’s not something he takes lightly…

So yeah, those are my ideas for a Dracula MBS AU. Hope you like it! :D

[saltiestgempearl]

Today is the day! At long last, I can talk about my absolute favorite headcanon about Dr. Seward with you all.

I'm writing a new post about it instead of just reblogging my post from last year because that post is not spoiler free. That is, I posted October 22 of 2022, so it does mention things from entries that have not happened yet in the 2023 Dracula Daily.

That said, most of it is still fine now that the September 3 entry has arrived, so I have put together a slightly edited version that does not touch on anything that happens after the September 3 Dracula entry:

It starts out with this passage from today's entry:

How can he'—and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with which once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after, a particular occasion which he never fails to remind me of—'know anything of a young ladies? He has his madmen to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.

The thing is, that's not exactly the wording in the original book. In the original book, it says “He has his madams to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.” Many people write this off as a typo to the point of changing it to “madmans” or “madmen” in some versions.

But what if it wasn’t a typo?

The word “madam” implies an older woman, like anywhere from middle-aged to elderly. And at the time, it was not at all uncommon for women in this age group to be sent to asylums to recuperate. Sometimes it was just a way to get female relatives you didn’t like out of the way, but sometimes it wasn’t.

You see, many Victorians (men and women alike) unironically bought into the “delicate woman” narrative. People really, genuinely thought women were just psychologically more predisposed to mental instability.

Anyway, the headcanon is that Seward actually started out as a relatively low-level psychologist at an asylum, primarily working with middle-aged to elderly women. And being the inquisitive man he is, he interacted with the patients in a less-than-conventional way, letting them talk about things that would normally be considered signs of imbalance by the contemporary medical community (e.g., “sometimes I wish I’d never had my children,” “sometimes I just want as little to do with my husband as possible,” “honestly those suffragettes make some good points,” etc.). This isn’t to say he was some feminist icon mind you; he didn’t even necessarily agree or legitimize these ideas. But he didn’t shoot them down either—he just listened. And by engaging with the women in this way, he was essentially exploring some of what we now call talk therapy, which was very much not a thing at this time. He may have also tried to be supportive of their hobbies, which while not unheard of (institutions like Bedlam set a precedent for this), was not the most common thing either.

So he did this for a while, and surprise surprise, it actually helped these women quite a bit. He quickly got a reputation for being someone who was unusually gifted in turning around cases of “nervous disorders” that were so common with these delicate womenfolk.

But then some higher-ups decided “oh, well if he’s good with this, he must be good with insane people too.” So despite being a 29-year-old budding psychologist in a very young field, he suddenly found himself the head of an asylum with a very different sort of population to treat.

Given why he was put in this position, Jack naturally continues using the methods that helped his former patients recover so spectacularly. The issue is, of course, that people who are dealing with psychosis or other more serious conditions generally need a different approach than neglected women with anxiety. Basic talk therapy isn’t going to cut it with someone like Renfield.

But again, this field is very young, so Seward is actually relatively limited on how much he can research this. So he continues with his talk therapy, but then adds things like straightjackets into the mix when his patients have meltdowns because that was also a relatively accepted solution at the time (though not universally so; even in Bram Stoker’s time, there were some professionals in the field who had figured out that this type of manual restraint was not helpful and honestly not humane.)

It’s also possible that Jack might have had some criticism early on for not being firm enough with his more “difficult” patients, so he might have overcompensated for that by using the straightjacket solution more often when things got out of hand.

And finally, Jack also has his mad scientist tendencies that he openly grapples with in his diary—you know, the sort that caused him to make wildly irresponsible decisions like “let’s let Renfield escape, but supervised, and see what happens.” And since Jack was the head of the hospital, no one shot down this obviously ridiclous idea because they probably didn’t have the authority to.

TL;DR: The headcanon is “maybe Van Helsing did mean ‘madams’ because Jack started off wildly successful in treating older women with anxiety, and as a result was catapulted into a much more powerful position he was neither properly trained for nor mentally ready for.”

[tachvintlogic]

Mina and Jonathan refusing to voice their thoughts.

The Harker dynamic of being so open and trusting each other is so wonderful, and it is tailor made to receive maximum disruption when Gender Roles™ get reinstated to shut one of them out.

Mina, feeling so rejected, doesn't tell anyone about her nightmare or share her record of it because she fears being shut out more. Except she can't be shut out more than she already is because they're not telling her anything. She's hoping for a chance at crumbs here, and doesn't want to confirm the suitors thoughts that she can't handle it and take that chance away.

Throughout October 1st, Jonathan keeps trying to convince himself that this is fine, telling her nothing is protecting her somehow, and real props to his voiceactor on Re: Dracula because he sounds so doubtful. He does not believe a word he's saying but he wants to so badly.

They're both just itching to get this over with so they can tell each other everything immediately after, which is funny because that's not the impression I got from Van Helsing.

Sure, he did say "We shall tell you all in good time." but I got the feeling that he imagined telling Mina years later after the Harkers have settled down and had kids, if at all. He doesn't understand how his decision to exclude Mina has disrupted the Harker dynamic that they both want to go back to.

And this disruption has also caused Jonathan, the man who is most connected to and comfortable with femininity, to hesitate voicing his own feelings.

Somewhere, looking out from the shadow, I seemed to see the high lights of the Count's evil face, the ridge of the nose, the red eyes, the red lips, the awful pallor. It was only for a moment, for, as Lord Godalming said, "I thought I saw a face, but it was only the shadows," and resumed his inquiry, I turned my lamp in the direction, and stepped into the passage. There was no sign of any one; and as there were no corners, no doors, no aperture of any kind, but only the solid walls of the passage, there could be no hiding-place even for him. I took it that fear had helped imagination, and said nothing.

Arthur thought he saw the Count, and so did Jonathan. If Jonathan had backed up Arthur's statement, then the fact that 2 people saw him suggests it wasn't just a trick of the light, that he might actually be there.

But Jonathan says nothing, and I think there are a lot of factors that caused this:

Jonathan recently had brain fever put upon by doubting his own recollection of what happened. This place reminds him of the castle, so it's no wonder he might suspect his mind is playing tricks again.

He's in the presence of 2 doctors, one who runs a lunatic asylum, and they just got back from rejecting Renfield's request to go home. He doesn't want to give the doctors any reason to doubt his sanity.

His wife has been excluded from the hunt. Van Helsing declared her work "finished" now that all the documentation has been gathered. He helped with that too. Van Helsing could also declare that Jonathan is similarly "finished" and he has no more part to play.

And so, we see very clearly in the October 1st entry how disrupting the Harker dynamic has worsened the open and honest communication that was vital to their initial investigation and gathering the papers, and has also worsened the communication between the Harkers and the rest of the crew.

[rudolphsb9]

Both Harkers and Renfield are both absolutely going THROUGH IT today!

"As I must do something or go mad, I write this diary." You and me both, my guy.

Is the attendant who keeps falling asleep under Dracula's spell?

Oh good! They're talking to Mina again after she's gone through some of the most horrific trauma in the book so far. (Man alive this back and forth about keeping her in the dark drives me up a wall.)

Van Helsing has a suspicious amount of experience with breaking into people's houses. (Such is life in Moscow the vampire hunting trade.)

Also I was yesterday years old when I noticed the kukri is integrated into the Dracula Daily emblem. P sick emblem design tbh.

Mina has said "Unclean! Unclean!" twice now. Except this time we all know what's up.

"To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone. I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant many; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so the holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks." DAMN! (The book features a post about how this is very affecting, and marks Jonathan Harker as the gothic heroine of the novel which, yeah. But also I think this comes up later too. But we'll get there in a few days I am sure.)

I love how much hope they have that this'll all be wrapped up by sundown, when something tells me it's not gonna be that easy.

ARTHUR has a suspicious amount of experience with breaking into people's houses. (What did they all get up to in their shared backstory? I think they were in the army together or something like that?)

Imagine smoking so as to not attract attention. I know everybody smoked back then but damn.

I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"In all our hunting parties and adventures in different parts of the world" OK so it probably wasn't the army, these guys were just traveling and shooting at things. I mean it doesn't fully explain the breaking and entering experience a lot of these guys have but still.

I know that the Count thinks he is by default better than everyone and therefore it is his right to rule the world but it sounds so pathetic.

I've heard of looting the corpse but this is ridiculous.

Mina has a point. Wrath is a deadly sin and though Jonathan has every right and reason in the world to be angry, giving in to it during this perilous battle against supernatural malevolence could have disastrous results in the long run.

Jonathan is firmly in the "tired in a way that needs peace" category.

"Hush! there is someone in the corridor!" IDK quite why but this gave me chills. It's fine, it's Quincey, but still. This entire middle of the night sequence is getting to me a bit.