#c: Jonathan Harker

[see-arcane]

Forgot just how much I love not only Jonathan's return to his journal (hooray!), but also just how immediate the turn from 'absolute wreck of self-doubt' to 'Oh, the unholy supernatural peril is real? Cool, that means I get to break out Vendetta Mode (tm) and finish what the shovel started :)'

Sometimes all it takes is knowing you can kill your demons (literal) to vastly improve your mental health (✿◡‿◡)

[wynought]

to me it is evident that jonathan already knows that his situation is precarious at best and actively dangerous at worst. all the "he doesnt see the red flags" stuff that people used to say about him is utter nonsense.

he recognizes that drac is purposefully keeping him awake at night and, while he doesnt remark upon his suspicions, his wording and choice of details to include (e.g. drac going "you must be less interesting, so i don't keep you awake", which is more a reflection on drac being a bad host than on any fault of jonathan's) makes it clear that he understands that this is done on purpose and not by accident.

he keeps taking note of situations in which he would expect to see other people, but doesn't. he is aware that he is isolated and alone with a dangerous man (he took special care to highlight drac's unnatural strength and cold skin, the nauseating feeling he got upon being too close during that first supper, and he keeps taking note of any incident in which drac makes him feel uneasy - the nasty smiles, the way drac comes and goes without letting jonathan know when to expect him).

he is wants to be the model picture of an english gentleman guest, trying not to snoop and wander about the castle, when he doesn't have his host's permission. still, he can't help himself but try the doors, and the second door he tries is already locked (which is, of course, important in conjunction with the fact that drac tells him that he wouldnt wish to go anywhere that was behind a locked door, anyways). additionally, he notices that there are no mirrors, which he tries to frame as "oh, i am lacking one of the comforts i am used to, haha, sure weird that these transylvanian people don't have those", but it gives him pause - especially, considering the obvious wealth and opulence he is otherwise surrounded with.

to me this all reads as a continuation of that sentiment from may 4th where he already penned down that if he doesn't make it back himself, he hopes that his journal does (and that one of the last sentiments he wished to convey was his love for mina, i am still not okay about that). obviously, he isn't yet at the point where he wants to give shape to his fears by outright writing them down, but he is meticulously keeping track of all those red flags people joke about him missing. if he wasn't, he wouldn't be writing them down. their inclusion in his journal shows that jonathan knows what's going on (with the limited information he has, obviously), shows his wariness of his host, and shows that he isn't sure if he will safely return to mina.

[immediatebreakfast]

The subtlety of gothic horror today is brought by a caring old lady trying to save Jonathan from what could be a certain death.

Because, here is what we have to understand. The readers know that count Dracula is a vampire, and we have a general idea about how they work, and how they feed, but Jonathan doesnt.

This is the first time that Jonathan traveled outside of his home country. It's the first time he encounters other people who are culturally different than the English. This is exemplified with Jonathan knowing what the date is, but not caring enough about the meaning behind it, and him not knowing how important a crucifix is in these lands.

Specially since the old lady is practically warning him to not travel today because he is in danger. Both the readers, and the old lady know the actual danger, but again Jonathan doesn't. Even if he knows that the warnings are serious, Jonathan can't simply wait for something that is framed as a very important duty.

Jonathan can't be convinced, so the old lady cries for him. This poor old lady is just truly trying to save a young man who just started his life, and the horror sinks in when one thinks about the possibilities of how many times she has done this.

"Must you go? Oh! young Herr, must you go?" - Old lady, may 4.

How many times has she fruitlessly tried to protect young people with a single crucifix as she sends them to what could be their doom?

[magnuspanoptes]

Dracula, Bram Stoker // MAG 92 - "Nothing Beside Remains" // MAG 161 - "Dwelling" // MAG 49 - "The Butcher's Window" // MAG 67 - "Burning Desire"

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

i am. OBSESSED. with ur jonathan harker. particularly his hair. it's so lovely. also i binged the league of extraordinary gentlefolk yesterday and the scene with the knife!!!! with dr. kemp! lives rent-free in my head.

anyway. do u have a favorite jonathan moment? from dracula or lxgf, either one

aw thank you! jonathan's hair has undergone extensive evolution over the time i've been drawing him but i've always enjoyed drawing the curly bang

my favorite jonathan moment in lxgf is probably [redacted] in episode 2 or maybe [redacted] in episode 8

[wiwiurikawa]

doodle

My fave clasics

[yogoblog]

ah… my concern with signing up for dracula daily this year after missing out on it last year was that there wouldn't be as much draculaposting since everyone got it all out last time around, but now it has been displaced by the concern that a good chunk of this year's draculaposting is just going to be reread commentary with the well-meaning but slightly alienating energy of that one friend who's already seen the show you're watching and keeps making Unsubtle Pointed Remarks during every scene

[hotvintagepoll]

this is a poll for a movie that doesn't exist.

It is vintage times. The powers that be have decided to again remake the classic vampire novel Dracula for the screen. in an amazing show of inter-studio solidarity, Hollywood’s most elite hotties are up for the starring roles. The producers know whoever they cast will greatly impact the genre, quality, and tone of the finished film, so they are turning to their wisest voices for guidance.

you are the new casting director for this star-studded epic. choose your players wisely.

Previously cast:

Jonathan Harker—Jimmy Stewart

The Old Woman—Martita Hunt

Count Dracula—Gloria Holden

Mina Murray—Setsuko Hara

Lucy Westenra—Judy Garland

The Three Voluptuous Women—Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall

Dr. Jack Seward—Vincent Price

Quincey P. Morris—Toshiro Mifune

Arthur Holmwood—Sidney Poitier

R.M. Renfield—Conrad Veidt

The Captain of the Demeter—Omar Sharif

The First Mate of the Demeter—Leonard Nimoy

Edit: adding since there’s been some confusion—this is for MR. SWALES, the old seaman with a bizarre accent in today’s entry of Dracula Daily.

[see-arcane]

Launch is this Friday, link to come.

See you then 👁️

[wynought]

jonathan and mina deciding together that they want to learn shorthand and cheering each other on and writing little letters to each other is so cuuuute

it's like that thing you do with your best friend of going "let's get our own little secret language that nobody else will understand". i bet they sent each other little messages during the day a la "dear jonathan, little james spilt ink all over his shirt today and it reminded me of that time you were writing an urgent letter for mr. hawkins and in your haste toppled the inkwell right upon finishing the last stroke of your pen. you were so very flustered! please don't forget to take breaks from your studies, yours in love, mina" and "dear mina, for lunch today i went to a delightful little place with mr. hawkins that we simply must visit together soon! can't wait to see you in the evening, yours forever, jonathan"

my little nerds being all in love ;^;

[wynought]

[ID: A screenshot of the text of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It reads:

"I shall not fear to sleep in any place where he is not. I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed - I imagine that my rest is thus freer from dreams; and there it shall remain."

End ID]

Oh, hey, this is downright chilling:

Jonathan explicitly hangs his crucifix that he knows provides at least some protection from Dracula over his bed.

He has not made mention of anything specific to do with his dreams, but they frighten him enough that he has taken his one safety net off his physical person and placed it on his bed.

In-story, we have had no instance to suggest to Jonathan that the crucifix will protect him from the more nebulous supernatural terrors of Dracula, but he knows it will repel Dracula's physical person.

And, Dracula has already entered his room when he was supposed to be sleeping.

The implications are horrifying.

[love-liberty21]

In honor of Dracula Daily starting again, I thought I'd share with you ...

What you need:

6 chicken drumsticks (or an entire chicken)

3 onions

4 garlic cloves

3 paprika peppers (of any color)

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

800g (1,6 lbs) peeled tomatoes

Chili powder (as you like)

100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup of) cream

3 tea spoons of sweet paprika powder

3 tea spoons of hot paprika powder

2 tea spoons of (corn)starch

a pinch of sugar

salt & pepper

What to do:

preheat the stove to 150°C (302°F)

meanwhile, peel the onions and garlic cloves, and cut them into cubes.

Wash the paprika peppers, remove the pips and cut them into cubes as well.

Wash and dry the chicken, then sear it. Add the onions and paprika peppers, then the garlic and roast them for two minutes.

Add tomato paste and peeled tomatoes.

Add paprika powder, salt, pepper and sugar.

Add chili powder (a little, a lot ... depends on whether or not you want to have the Jonathan Harker experience of chugging water all night)

Put it in the stove in a closed pan for 2h and let it simmer.

Then take it out, add cream and make it boil while stirring.

Bind with starch.

If necessary, flavor with salt, pepper and chili powder.

Goes well with:

rice

potatoes

a salad

Have fun trying it out! Oh, and please note: the garlic used in this dish could be effective against vampiric attacks, so it's better to use too much than too little. For your safety.

(source)

[vickyvicarious]

I think Jonathan talks to Jack the most out of all suitors before All That since he is the third main record keeper, but their interactions are off screen and alluded like:

"Harker has gone back, and is again collating his material. He says that by dinner-time they will be able to show a whole connected narrative. He thinks that in the meantime I should see Renfield, as hitherto he has been a sort of index to the coming and going of the Count."

And since the impression he gives to Jack is "quiet, business-like gentleman", yeah I'd say he'd use RP!

(in reference to this post)

Agreed! Jonathan also met Jack first of the suitors, he's staying in the guy's house, and of the three Jack is the least overwhelmingly rich. This is also kind of a side effect of Jack being the next main record keeper but in helping Mina go through the records, he may have gotten a bit used to reading his thoughts or even potentially hearing them spoken (depending on whether he was mostly helping Mina organize things she had already typed, or if he ever took a turn listening too) and thus felt a bit closer to him in a way even before much direct interaction. Not to mention, that interaction you quote shows Jonathan's interest in Renfield, which would naturally lead him first to Jack (I constantly curse the lack of Jonathan/Renfield interaction, it could be so fascinating had Stoker not just Forgot He Was There). Those may be a couple additional reasons he might want to or feel more comfortable coordinating with the doctor more directly. Also Arthur is still very sad and Quincey is still very concerned about Arthur so I can see them being a little less likely to initiate much socializing than they usually would.

But Jonathan's mostly offscreen, helping Mina with the records, going off hunting after boxes... Of course there are some offscreen conversations taking place, and they surely wouldn't be only with Jack, but if what we see in the documents is any indication, Jonathan is fairly quiet and only really speaks up about 'business' (AKA Dracula-hunting) matters. And even then mostly only when he has something new to contribute. He isn't going on any epic rants (yet) and he isn't volunteering to be the one to explain everything from his experience, just bringing up relevant points for discussion or connections. And if he is trying to a) be businesslike/professional b) seem as calm and sane as possible under the circumstances of these people knowing what he's been through and how it's affected his mental health c) be polite with people he is not very familiar with yet... then yeah, I totally can see him using RP during all this time.

So his outpouring of utter emotion on October 3 is a big change, to be sure. And dropping into his natural accent while doing so would be an excellent way to illustrate how every other consideration just completely falls away for him as soon as he knows Mina is being attacked. He can't spare any attention towards sounding sophisticated, his wife has been targeted by his former tormentor and he is out for blood (/vowing to be out for literal blood should worst come to worst).

[vampire-research-center]

Dracula (Vlad Bat)

Dracula (Vlad Bat)

Over 400 years old 5'6" feet tall True Vampire (Progenitor) 1887-1999 Status: Alive Born as Vlad III Dracula, he spent his human life dedicated to God, showing his devotion through battle and conquest but his life was cut short in 1476-- Turning his back on what he worshiped, he became a vampire upon his death, and came back three days later. From that point, he became a ravenous and feral creature, killing all those who came in contact with him and draining them of their blood, amassing an immense well of souls, before he faded into obscurity and legend after finally calming-- resurfacing many, many years later when a certain solicitor is sent for. After the events of Dracula, he is taken captive by Abraham Van Helsing, and semi-willing serves the man due to natural vampire social hierarchy.

Relationships

Abraham Van Helsing | Mates | ♥♥♥♥♥ Mina Harker | Complicated (Sire / Spawn) | ♥♥♥♥♡ Jonathan Harker | Enemies / Complicated | ♡♡♡♡♡ Arthur Holmwood | Enemies | ♡♡♡♡♡ John Seward | Enemies | ♡♡♡♡♡ Integra Van Helsing | Adoptive Spawn / Master | ♥♥♥♥♡ Walter C. Dornez | Household Member | ♥♥♥♡♡ Seras Victoria | Spawn | ♥♥♥♥♡ Pip Bernadotte | Spawn's mate / Grandspawn? | ♥♥♥♡♡ Alexander Anderson | Complicated | ♥♥♡♡♡

[see-arcane]

Only addendum I can think of is that if the Harkers are as cryptid-cool and competent as seen above, the question would have to arise: How the hell were they both captured by the enemy?

Likely answer: They caught wind of a rumor that merited being taken behind enemy lines to confirm. They were caught, they went through the interrogation/torture gauntlet—and didn’t let on what they really were until their captors brought out what they thought was a secret weapon to finish them off; perhaps on the very night their son was coming to the rescue.

The enemy brings out a super soldier of their own—a work in progress, but terribly promising.

Enter a vampire in military regalia, grin sharp and thirsty…until he scents something on the Harkers that his human brethren (ha, hilarious that they still think he meant to let them live to tattle the secret of him after the war!) did not detect. Until now. Until the ruse drops and eyes burn arterial red or Ferryman coin-bright respectively.

Quincey reunites with his parents as their captors are swearing, screaming and running. The vampire’s head is already off, his heart pierced with a broken chair leg. Parents and child regard each other for a beat.

“…Hello, son.”

And because this is war and there are comrades gawping over his shoulder, Quincey denies himself a theatric faint to croak, “Mum. Papa.” A hard swallow as he puts composure in a stranglehold. “Is there something you wanted to tell me?”

The story turns on its heel out of straightforward human horror and into monstrous menace as the Harker family (un)officially take charge of tackling the new-ancient threat posed by the enemy putting the undead to use…while also trying to keep their own power hungry superiors from gaining a grip on that supernatural temptation.

I imagine some climax occurs in which, yes, the major opposing vampiric threat is dealt with, only for the main higher-ups to haggle or coerce their way into willing vampirism. Maybe they succeed. Maybe they turn on their ex-allies, intending to slay Mr. and Mrs. Harker as the only threat to their new power.

Cue Quincey and his entire battalion, newly minted vampire hunters in their own right, falling on their former commanders like a pack of hunting dogs swarming a wolf. Key word being ‘former.’ They are vampires, after all. And the soldiers do have their orders to follow. Slay the monsters, right, sirs?

They return home with a tragic tale of many men lost in battle to a ferocious enemy—the superiors dying oh so valiantly for their men. But, every soldier ever comforted or protected by the family agrees, they owe their lives and more to the Harkers. Medals and addresses make their rounds, lifelong connections made.

Time will pass. The world will war again, somehow more wretchedly than before. And more stories will spread before it comes to a close. Impossible ones, the kind desperate young men make to turn luck into miracles. Those who return will share them with their fathers and uncles who will bristle with recollection.

Their boys tell them of three figures that appeared at the edge of so many battles. Two men and a woman. Hunters more than soldiers, carving through the horror. The woman who led and wove through the enemy as if she were a prophet reading the attacks in an itinerary. The dark-haired man a blur of a shot, never missing, never slowing. The white-haired man sending enemies running with his strength and steel in one moment and carrying wounded men to safety like weightless babes the next. Do not laugh, but many claim they even slew monsters in the night! Things that promised worse endings than mere artillery.

The old men do not laugh. Only tell their own story in turn. And wonder, idly, if they will live long enough for their grandchildren to cross paths with a strange and ageless family, protectors one step removed from the ordinary trudge of humanity.

But they don’t wonder long. Or aloud.

Some secrets are better off only as legends, after all.

i really wish i had the motivation to write rn, because i have an idea for a post-canon Dracula fic where the characters have to deal with world war one. like, how do you even cope with thinking you saved all those lives, only for the entire western world to go to absolute shit just 20-ish years later? if only Bram Stoker had known what was coming.

anyway, i find it so interesting to consider what certain characters would do in that situation.

depending on when he was born, Quincey Jr could be just old enough to enlist or get drafted. or honestly, he might just want to be a hero like his parents, and lie about his age. and let's be real, that boy has some latent vampire powers that would give him an edge.

Jonathan has good survival instincts, an ear for languages, and the ability and willingness to scale sheer walls with a knife between his teeth if necessary. Mina has a really impressive memory for conversations and schedules, a love of technology, experience resisting what is essentially supernatural interrogation, and probably some vampire side effects of her own. both of them know shorthand and have plenty of experience with life or death situations. they would kick ass as spies and wireless operators.

Jack and Van Helsing would have to cease the medical malpractice to be actual army doctors. maybe learn about shell shock and call up Jonathan about that old "brain fever" diagnosis of his.

and what would Arthur even do? what did lords do during WW1? try to keep his friends out of harm's way? use his seat in government to try and end the war? grapple with the fact that lordships are falling out of favour and the world is moving on into a modern era without him?

i just find it fun to ponder.

[singingbookwormwithrainbowheart]

Seward finds Renfield beaten bloody, close to death.

Van Helsing arrives along to help while the rest of the gang watches.

Renfield tells about Dracula.

Dracula is in the house.

He attacks the Harkers' in general and Mina in particular.

VH&C manages to stop D, but Mina is too hurt and will, possibly become a vampire.

Jonathan is aflame with rigtheous anger for his wife's sake.

VH&C strive to hauny and kill Dracula even more now, because they have to help Mina.

Dracula destroys paper and phonographs in an attempt to hinder VH&C.

But Mina and Jonathan have made hidden copies - TAKE THAT, COUNT D!

They make new plans, as they are all steadfast good people!

The men are to break up and destroy all the boxes.

Mina is to sort new and temainijh papers and audios.

Before they all do their things, Van Helsing blesses Mina by pressing a Sacred Wafer to her forhead

And because of Count D horrifying crime when he bit her and made her drink his blood, it burns into her skin, and she is now marked

It's a sad sad day.