#mina murray‚ writings.

[kastalani123]

Not my usual content, but I just. I wanna ramble, ig.

Do you understand how baffled I was about how the vampire book, written by a man in 1897, is essentially a PSA about how important proper communication is?? Even after I scrolled through Tumblr, saw the memes, read people geeking out about the relationships (platonic and romantic) in Dracula, I was still caught off guard, because. Like. Everything in this book is about communication.

Sure, it's kind of a given, considering it's an epistolary novel partially made up of letters between the characters, but. I dunno. From Dracula controlling Johnathan's lettres, van Hellsing refusing to tell anyone shit, the men keeping Mina out of the loop, to Mina using her telepathic link with Dracula, it's. It's literally all about how important actually talking to each other and sharing information is. Fuck, throw in the fact that "Harker", Mina and Jonathan's, arguably the main characters, last name means "to listen"/"eavesdropper", and that the book is Mina's in-universe creation to help compile, organize, and share what they know about Dracula, and the book's very essence becomes centered around information-sharing!

And I just. The narrative punishes just about every secret hidden, every time the characters don't communicate. There's the obvious, Dracula keeping Johnathan from sending out letters for help and Mina getting bitten because the men leave her home alone, but also. Van Hellsing not telling Lucy's mom that the garlic flowers and closed windows and so on are the treatment and she is not to touch them is what kills Lucy and her mom! They maybe could have survived if he just told them what's happening/what he's doing! And even the godsdamned telegram he sends to Seward! If he had just addressed it properly (communicated to the telegram boy properly!) then Seward wouldn't have been late and maybe could have prevented the massacre!

There's also Jonathan's diary right after he finally reunites with Mina, and obviously Mina's whole ✨ thing ✨ with the diary during their wedding is like. Peak romance, but Johnathan doesn't fully get better until Mina reads and shares it with van Hellsing and van Hellsing assures Johnathan that he's not insane. Sure, it's an oversimplification of PTSD and healing and such, but it makes sense, especially if you consider communication and information sharing as a major theme! Only sharing his experiences, reading through them himself after blocking off the memories, is what heals him! He cannot get better without knowing what happened, and without others knowing what happened, because knowing and sharing is important.

Renfield's also an interesting case. I don't have the book with me right now to check, but as far as I remember, he tries to talk about Dracula, tries to get Seward to release him from the asylum so Dracula can't use him against Mina, but is dismissed entirely; as a consequence, Dracula gets in the building, kills Renfield, and bites Mina.

Even the language barriers! The villagers Johnathan meets on his way to Dracula's castle try so hard to warn him of the danger but they can't. They can't, because they don't speak enough of the same language, but they try so hard. But whatever does get through to Johnathan, such as that woman begging him to take the crucifix she gives him — that might've saved him. It keeps him unsettled and wary and he does keep the crucifix, which wards Dracula off. They can't communicate the full extent of the danger, but what they managed is probably responsible for him surviving.

And the whole idea is even mentioned in-text! Sure, Lucy saying that a wife ought to share everything she knows with her husband is definitely sexism-flavoured, but Johnathan says it too! He says that his idea of an ideal marriage is one without secrets! And Johnathan is effeminate, yes, he spends a good chunk of the book as the "damsel in distress", but he is still the hero! He is still the one who kills Dracula (with Quincey), and can therefore be assumed to be an intended role model. The (male) main character and hero of an 1897 novel says that a good relationship relies on communication. Sure, he doesn't always stick to it, mostly by agreeing to keep Mina out of the loop when van Hellsing pushes for it, but that doesn't discount that that is what Stoker set as the ideal.

I just. I love this book so much. It subverted just about all expectations I might've had about it and I'm so glad for it. It's undeniably a product of its time, with plenty of racism and sexism and ableism, but it's also so. Not, at the same time? It's so good.

[see-arcane]

I have been possessed by a stronger than average craving for tinkering with Jonathan Harker's genders (Jonders). Jonathan Harker is undeniably and forever my favorite gothic heroine. But, being that there is so much to chew on regarding his potential fluidity when it comes to gender roles within the story--the classic damsel, the willingly submissive half of the couple, the vengeful berserker, etc--it's got me thinking.

Let's take the metaphor out. What would happen to the Dracula narrative if Jonathan Harker was...

First thing's first--she almost definitely gets shouldered out of the Important Solicitor's position due to reasons of Being Girl. But she still has to get to Transylvania to be menaced by Count Bat Bastard. How?

Hawkins! Johanna is working at the firm as a secretary and personal assistant to a still very paternally mushy old Peter Hawkins. When Dracula's request comes around, he can't give up such a lucrative client over his gout and there's no one he trusts to pass it to. He has to go. And it'd only be right to treat his surrogate daughter to a paid scenic vacation have his aide along on the business trip. Especially when she hunted down Carfax Abbey herself! What a lovely outing they'll have.

...or not.

True to form, Count Dracula is very much not to be trusted around pretty young things of any kind. Considering his canon habits, things aren't about to go any easier for Miss Harker. But at least she has Hawkins watching out for her in-person! It all makes for some very tense talk when discussing anything other than the estate purchase; which Hawkins seems as keen to rush as Dracula is to dawdle over. But at least they'll be out of here soon. What's a couple of awkward nights, right?

One in particular has Johanna nervous as she goes to bed. Hawkins had taken Dracula aside with a hard smile, insisting there was a 'delicate matter' he wished to speak with the Count about. The last time a 'delicate matter' was brought up was when he nearly lobbed a typewriter at one of his ex-solicitor's heads for some distinctly unseemly behavior in her direction. She hopes there isn't a storm brewing under their host's roof. She hopes harder that tomorrow they'll be heading back to the Borgo Pass.

Instead:

Oh.

Oh no.

Between this and one requisite nightmare-week in which the joys of womanhood come and go--let's leave it unspoken whether her set of bloodstained cloths stay in her possession or not--Johanna gets put through the wringer. Per usual. But eventually..!

Yeah. No shock there. Deep calming breaths, Jack. Don't let the wonderful diary concuss you.

Part of being one of two (gasp) G I R L S in the Scooby Gang, Van Helsing and company vote Johanna and Mina out of the dirt hunt. Except. Well. Johanna is still necessary to have on the ground here. She's the only one with the location intel--and a surprise willed gift of inheritance and the firm from poor Hawkins, who the Transylvanian locals all vouch for as being 'slain by wolves,' leaving Johanna free of blame--so she's still running around for the crew.

Even so, odds are high that she initially gets sidelined with Mina. Which isn't overly awful. It is good to be side-by-side in this timeline! No needless sequestering from each other! Johanna is already planning to see Mina back to their new house before they have to sleep another night in an asylum.

And then comes the 3rd of October.

Van Helsing: "Madam Harker, is it not somewhat attention-catching to wear trousers in public? We are meant to be unremarkable while we wait on th--"

Johanna, has already smoked through two cigars, kukri in her lap, playing a game of chicken with God: "Do you think I scaled a mountain in three layers of skirts, Professor? No? Then I will not do the same if the rancid bastard tries to escape out the window."

Van Helsing, aside: "Friend John, can you speak sense to her?"

Jack, melting off the side of the bench: "I think I hauve consumption"

Anyway. She very much does get to the Dracula head chopping. And there will be much rejoicing. BUT all that grimdarkness aside, there are other, more hijinks-flavored opportunities to think of with this particular set up. If only because I genuinely believe that Lucy and Art, having two spare best friends on hand and a general vibe that radiates 'ooooh what if triple wedding???', would come up with the following master plan. Some truly Shakespearean folly kind of shit:

Thankfully, Johanna and Mina nix the idea pretty quick. Case in point:

And, last but not least, my final word on the range of Jonders that exist within my very best gothic heroine friend:

ha ha I do that

[ibrithir-was-here]

Couple of fan posters I made for @starstrider-productions upcoming podcast "Dracula: 2004"

This project is already looking so cool, but they still need help funding it and have 2 weeks left to do so. Please help them out if you can, lowest tier is about 13 USD. Let's get this thing funded ya'll!

[lady-dulcinea]

There are so many great character details crammed into this one letter, but I feel like this is what gets me thinking the most no matter how many times I read it. Mina actively chose to write ‘lady journalists’ when just ‘journalists’ would serve the exact same purpose. She knows of other working women like herself, and has paid attention to them enough to copy their methods when doing something as simple as a personal journal. It’s a subtle but effective way to show that not only she acknowledges women that are probably career oriented - and does not phrase it in any way that implies derision or disapproval - but also admires them enough to find inspiration in the work they do.

[topaz-mutiny]

"Seeing from his violent demeanor that he was English" is still probably one of the best (funniest) lines in Dracula, but I love how this part of the Post Script contrasts with the rest of the letter Sister Agatha sends.

The main body of the letter is to the point and polite on all matters (makes sense as it seems this part of the writing was overseen by our good friend Jonathan himself, though he's too weak to write) in contrast to the Post Script where Agatha adds in details that are emotionaly powerful and some aren't necessarily sordid but would absolutely be of concern.

Jonathan has nothing on him, he is shouting and in a rush, he has a frightening delirium, delirium can last and reemerge a long time into the future, he rambles about terrifying and grotesque subjects when in the throes of his brain fever (which is an old-timey way to describe a lot of mental illnesses and behaviors), and all of this overcomes a frailty and physical weakness from whatever else he's been through that causes him to otherwise be bedridden.

Even half of that could erode trust in someone. But as told in the rest of the Post Script:

He's recovering, he's gaining more lucidity, the Sisters notice his lucid moments are punctuated by gentleness and sweetness (hard to trust at first likely, due to frequent relapses, and the Sisters are eventually convinced a lot of his prior behavior was caused by the fading brain fever and not by his inherent personality), he is a cherished patient of the Hospital of St. Joseph And St. Mary, and it seems the staff are enamored with how often and with such love he talks about Mina, such that this spurred Sister Agatha to make the Post Script in the first place because it's the first thing she mentions.

[bluecatwriter]

38 …because they’re running out of time. Mina/Lucy

Thanks for the suggestion! This prompted me to work on a version of a fic that's been nebulously floating around in my head for a while. :)

(Send me a ship and a number and I'll write a kiss.)

(All kiss ficlets here)

A kiss because… they're running out of time

[TW for cheating? I guess? It's complicated.]

Mina flew about the room like a hummingbird, throwing clothing and personal items into her suitcase as if the world would crumble if she didn't move quickly enough. Lucy watched her, feeling that she was stuck in slow motion. It would be best for her to stay out of the way, anyway; Mina didn't need her help.

They had both shed joyful tears upon receiving Sister Agatha's letter, forwarded from Mr. Hawkins. But too quickly the joy had turned to panic, since Mina determined that she would be able to take the next train out of Whitby only if she packed everything within forty-five minutes. Then she would be off, on a train then a boat then another train, racing across the continent to reach her Jonathan… and Lucy would be alone.

She didn't know how to feel as she watched Mina flit about the room, trying to figure out how to pack everything she could into a single suitcase. For so long, Mina had been haunted by her fears about her fiancé, and now that she had a clear path to follow, she'd be off like an arrow. 

Mr. Hawkins says we are to be married as soon as possible, and I quite agree. The words, which Lucy had enthusiastically agreed with less than an hour ago, rang through her head like the bells tolling at sea. Of course that made sense, for Mina was done waiting. But this sudden turn of events had wrenched Lucy out of the course that she had charted in her head, and she felt suddenly, awfully adrift.

They were supposed to have to spent the rest of the summer in Whitby. Arthur was to visit tomorrow, and meet Mina, and the three of them would take walks in the sunshine and visit the cows again and have lunch at the restaurant overlooking the sea and the days would stretch long and… and Mina would be here. This was supposed to be their summer, before they were both to be married. Lucy would have been married first, and then Mina later on, as they had originally planned. 

She didn't know why it felt like a cut to the heart that Mina would be married first. After all, Lucy herself was getting married, too. But she longed, with some small, and she thought selfish, part of her heart, that she were the one initiating the change between them. She would have enjoyed the carefreeness of their summer, and then gone to the altar knowing that it was her choice to move on. To have Mina suddenly fall between her fingers like sand— to race ahead to the next part of her life— felt like an abandonment. 

It was silly, she told herself, and yet the aching loneliness would not go away.

Mina abruptly paused, and stared down at her suitcase, her lips moving silently as she went through a checklist of everything she would need. Lucy found herself drifting toward her, stepping over random items cast aside in her fervor. 

"I think that is all I shall need," Mina said uncertainly, and clicked her suitcase shut. "I'm so sorry to leave this mess—"

"Don't be," Lucy said. "I'll clean it up and pack everything away so you can pick up everything else on your return."

"Thank you, dear one," Mina said, turning toward her with the smile that shone like a cozy fire amid the bitter cold of winter. "Thank you for everything." Her smile faltered. "I'm sorry that I must leave so soon."

Lucy reached out and took both her hands, turning her to face her. "I am just glad that Jonathan is safe." She felt a panic rising within, thinking to herself, This is the last time I shall hold her hands while she is Mina Murray. This is the last time I shall see her smile while she is Mina Murray. They would see each other again, and Mina would be changed— on to a new adventure, her heart bound up before God and man to another person— and this was for the best, it was all for the best, there was nothing to fret about, she must keep her chin up…

Mina squeezed her hands, and began to slip their fingers apart, ready to turn away from her, to ride to the train station, to leave her behind—

This is the last time— the last time—

Lucy grabbed Mina's arm and kissed her.

They had kissed before many times, casually, carelessly, as young women were wont to do. This was nothing like that. This was a sudden, desperate fire leaping up inside her, threatening to consume her from the inside out. Her cheeks flamed with heat and she kept her eyes scrunched closed, tasting Mina's mouth in a way that she realized she had never admitted to herself that she had yearned for.

This is the last time I shall kiss her while she is Mina Murray.

They broke apart, and Lucy gasped as if coming up out of water. She was trembling, her hand clawed into Mina's arm, and she felt a wave of cold guilt wash over her. She herself couldn't even name what madness had come over her, but—

Mina cupped her face with one hand, and kissed her back. 

Lucy closed her eyes, the bright sunlight of the room orange behind her eyelids. Mina's mouth was firm, and unabashed, and so sweet that Lucy's eyes stung with tears.

They parted, and stared at each other with something like awe. Lucy could've kissed her again, on and on, forever and ever, but the moment had passed. Their time was up. 

Mina gave a short laugh, as if surprised, and Lucy scrubbed away the tears welling in her eyes and said, "Now, you must get going if you are to catch your train!"

"Yes," Mina said, and grabbed her suitcase. Lucy's hand slipped from her arm, and she almost wondered if the past few moments had been a dream. 

Mina was out the door, off to join her soon-to-be husband, vanishing like a shadow in the sunshine.

~~~

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

Yes in Dracula, Jonathan and Mina come from the same backgrounds. When Peter Hawkins dies, Mina writes:

Jonathan is greatly distressed. It is not only that he feels sorrow, deep sorrow, for the dear, good man who has befriended him all his life, and now at the end has treated him like his own son and left him a fortune which to people of our modest bringing up is wealth beyond the dream of avarice, but Jonathan feels it on another account.

Earlier, Mina muses about her future wedding:

Lucy is to be married in the autumn, and she is already planning out her dresses and how her house is to be arranged. I sympathise with her, for I do the same, only Jonathan and I will start in life in a very simple way, and shall have to try to make both ends meet.

Mr Hawkins also says that he pretty much took both of them in. Mina says that she has never known "a mother or a father" and has felt that Mr Hawkins was a substitute for both. And we learn from early on that Jonathan was raised to manhood by him and he has no parents to write to. So they were literal Victorian orphans who he made his wards.

Thank you , anon! I always second guess my memory lol. Plus my re-read has been sporadic so some of the backstory details are foggier, but I was pretty sure their background was close. Literal Victorian orphans otp dfsgsfdg. I love it.

[vickyvicarious]

20. pressing the other’s hand against their cheek, Mina/Lucy, for the hand holding game :)

11 August, morning.

"I am so sorry," Mina said again, fervent insistence in each word, and Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She had awoken late, and felt well rested for the first time in quite some time. True, it was a queer kind of restfulness - she could still vividly recall the strange, unsettling experience of the night before. The dream that had not felt like a dream, and the waking after which had felt so dreamlike. All the way home, she'd felt subdued and unsettled, easily led about by Mina like a thoughtless doll. Only worry for Mina's feet, and later fear of her mother learning of the misadventure, had truly been able to penetrate the fog around her mind. Once back in her own bed, it hadn't truly felt like falling back asleep so much as sinking a little deeper into waters she had been treading ever since Mina pulled her up from the depths.

It had been a weird and disturbing night, and her thoughts skittered away from examining it too closely. The pinch at her throat - and it was such a little prick, truly nothing for Mina to be concerned over! - was another reminder she would far rather leave behind than dwell on now. All the more given the way she felt so much lighter today, somehow. Perhaps it was simply the relief of such a dangerous event being resolved so simply, perhaps it was due to the deeper sleep in the wake of it, but this morning Lucy felt both more alive and more aware of being so than she had in some time.

It was all thanks to Mina. Dear, sweet, Mina, who even now could not help fretting about the tiny marks on her neck as though she had caused them with a deadly blade rather than a little pin.

"Mina - Mina," Lucy giggled, and caught up the hand hesitating against her collarbone in both of her own. "It's nothing at all. I don't even feel it. And I rather prefer it to the alternative; you know how I hate to be cold."

The joke did not seem to have the intended effect, with Mina's brows creasing even further in guilt. Lucy felt a sudden kinship with dear Arthur as she watched those little wrinkles deepen. Of course, she did not like what they told about Mina's distress, but the expression was so caring, it flooded her with a wash of deep affection for the wearer.

She tugged the hand she held up to her face, pressing it against her cheek.

"See, feel; I am not fevered. I am not suffering at all from last night, I promise. And it is only thanks to you that I am so well now." Lucy felt her voice tremble a little, and clutched Mina's hand a little tighter, guiding her own thoughts away from any dread of what might have been with the reminder of what had happened instead: Mina noticed when she was gone. Mina came to find her. Mina brought her safely home.

"I am so lucky to have you," Lucy whispered, and turned her face to nuzzle into the hand against her cheek. She closed her eyes, pressing a kiss to the center of Mina's palm. "Please, don't worry over me so."

Now that was a promise she knew her Mina could never honestly make. Lucy knew how closely she watched her. With her history of fickle health, she could hardly blame her, but it was so tiresome to always feel guilty for making others fear over her. She loved being healthy for its own sake. Having energy to dance, to play tennis and go on long walks, to properly enjoy a concert, to make conversation freely (when it was polite to do so, at least). Those were reasons enough, but chief over them all was when she could look at her mother or Mina and see them smile back fully without any nervous shadow hidden behind the expression. She counted herself lucky that Arthur had yet to see her in a period of weakness, if only not to have to see that look on his face as well. It was a boon she would happily give up to have him by her side now, of course, but the thought at least helped a little with missing him.

Mina was here though, and her brows relaxed a little, so Lucy kissed her palm again.

"Are you certain?" Mina asked softly, reaching up with her other hand to cup both Lucy's cheeks.

"Yes, silly," she laughed, and reached out to pull that sweet face closer and kiss it instead, once between each word: "Trust - me - and - relax, - darling."

Finally, finally Mina relaxed with a laugh of her own. "Yes, alright. Alright!"

She still didn't look truly happy, but that had been true since her arrival. Lucy could tell something was bothering her, but she didn't mind waiting. Mina would certainly tell her in time, and until then she was happy to offer distraction and comfort like this, instead. Lucky then, that Mina so obviously enjoyed it too - as proven by the way she continued to laugh with each break for air, and pressed forward eagerly herself as well.

Lucy drew back eventually... when she had to and no sooner. Grinning breathlessly at the flush spread over her friend's cheeks, she hopped out of bed.

"That's enough of that for now," she said, turning away towards her wardrobe. "I must get dressed. I want to go out today - the weather promises to be lovely."

Perhaps not the churchyard, today. And she would be sure to wear something around her neck if her dress alone did not cover the marks.

She'd rather Mina not be reminded of anything to make her worry again.

[voyaging-too]

Inspired by @prettyboysdontlookatexplosions's posts some weeks ago, I made a list of pairings in Dracula (1897) that have more canonical chemistry than the Dracula/Mina pairing every subsequent adaptation seems inexplicably obsessed with:

Mina/Jonathan. Canon married, he would follow her into undeath.

Mina/Lucy. Best besties.

Jonathan/Dracula. "He's mine!"

Dracula/Renfield. Renfield and his master.

Renfield/Seward. Renfield and his doctor.

Lucy/Arthur, Lucy/Seward, Lucy/Morris, Lucy/Arthur/Seward/Morris. The suitors, with or without their bride.

Van Helsing/Seward. Sucking poison from the wound.

Mina/Seward. Geeking out over recording technology, together.

Van Helsing/Mina. She totally bit him.

Renfield/Mina. He died to try and warn her.

No seriously basically any two characters.

[serial-serializednovelreader]

One more thing I forgot to mention about our good friend Jonathan Harker is that he writes “I shall enter here some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my travels with Mina.”

I know he likely just meant that specific passage discussing the history of Transylvania, but I think we can take it further to mean most of the dairy as is. He becomes more detailed after that and while it’s in shorthand, you do get the feeling he’s writing more, like he’s realizing he *needs to be writing more* so he can recount this to Mina later. So, we wouldn’t have Jonathan’s account in such vivid detail if it wasn’t for his love for Mina.

Essentially, Jonathan’s journal in its final form is a love letter to Mina. And I think that’s beautiful!

[immediatebreakfast]

After these talks of preparation, Jonathan's attitude becoming more and more jumpy as he listens to the people supposed to help Mina talk about her transformation, and the Czarina Catherine being held hostage by the fog... Mina is probably living her own version of hell on earth right now.

Mina is a kind woman, an intelligent woman, an observing woman. Very aware of her surroundings, and the people that walk around her thanks to being a manners teacher. She reached when Lucy couldn't, she guided Jonathan towards information and inspired all of these men to swear loyalty to her alone.

And now Mina is trapped in a limbo of darkness, and coldness. Hearing, and watching how her comrades talk about how to kill her if god gives up on her. Then the hypnosis comes in a shove in the water deep deep down, and suddenly Mina is dead. Not in the body but in the mind.

Feeling dead, but her heart is still beating. Knowing what a coffin feels like, and how no light comes underground. Only hearing the sound of the waves as her breathing becomes shorter becasue what if she can afixiate while doing this? Then Mina wakes up, and the first thing she sees is Van Helsing's face deep in thought.

The report is the same as yesterday... Again, but Mina notices (of course she does) how Van Helsing "subtlely" checks her face, and mouth then talks to Seward in hushed tones. But, not the ones that ladies like her, and Lucy have practiced up to perfection to talk about someone who is present without noticing, no. It's a simple low voice without finesse, or any attempt of masking that they are talking about her, about her letargy, about her pale skin, about her spike in energy on the evenings. Even Jonathan could do a better job, Mina knows because she taught him a little.

Mina is probably more aware than anyone might think, so aware that she probably prefers sleeping than enduring. I wonder Mina thought for even a second "Do they think she is stupid now?"

[leliesblou]

Clara Entwhistle (reader of books on taxi regulations) would get along with Mina Harker (train fiend) so well <3

[see-arcane]

Jonathan is escaping just as the beginnings of brain fever and far worse things are roiling in him. Making him more ill and haggard as he traverses the Carpathians in search of a train. Running, burning, withering. Dying.

The closer he gets to death, the more he can feel Dracula's poison trying to overtake him. It's a trap waiting to spring. He knows it. Dracula knows it. Just as the Count knows the Brides let him slip away--

Ah, well, their loss. It seems you are to be mine alone after all, my friend.

--and dreams little visions his way when Jonathan dares to sleep.

Flashes of dark water and mist. Men screaming like sheep before the butcher. Slaughtered with less mercy than any farmer ever showed his livestock before being discarded like trash.

What loss are they, my friend? I have tasted the finer things. A sweet English vintage; I shall savor more of the same in time. But these? Bah! I have seen a thousand of their paltry kind come and go. I would no sooner cherish their meal than you would swoon over a cut of shoe leather. What difference is it if I play with this coarse fare? You shall learn the same habits in time.

"No. No, no, I won't, I can't. I have to go home. I have to get to her. My life is there. My life is her."

What home is that, my friend? Who is she?

He does not answer. He cannot answer. His head is all fire, burning holes through mind and memory. No, God, he must know! He must remember! He has come all this way, he must know where he's going and who is there! His nightmares fill with as much saccharine sympathy as cutting laughter. The most sincere comment he receives in the mire of it is a single reassurance:

You will recall it all, my friend. Sickness makes no mark upon us. You will know. You will be well. Some night, in this year or the next, perhaps we can go and meet her together. In the meantime, cease your struggling. I can feel your fatigue, poor boy. Put down your head. Stop running. Let it take you. Let it help you. Rest.

"No."

Rest.

"No!"

Rest.

"No, no, no--,"

He stuffs himself with berries and a hare and handfuls from a river. A ferryman takes pity--he thinks? a river, he remembers a River, the Ferryman telling him where to go, how soon the sun will rise, he doesn't know, his head, his chest, everything burning, dying--and a blur passes between himself and the train station. He was loud there. Did he scream? Sob? Bare his teeth? They shoo him away with a ticket.

(Sharp. Why do his teeth feel so sharp? Why is he so thirsty when the fluttering shapes of the nuns keep forcing water down his throat?)

(Quiet now. He cannot get through the walls here. Ha. Could not even open his journal if he tried! The crucifix is wrapped around it! Ha!)

(Stings to hold. Why? God, God, please, not now, don't don't don't, please do not do this, the nuns, they think him mad! They are of faith, but they do not believe! They do not know! They won't understand what he is when they put him in the cemetery they won't know what they invited in unawares they won't know until he is up and out of the dirt and oh O God the Cross and the Son will not save them not entirely not when he feasted on an entire mountain range of the faithful whose prayer saved no one and soon he will not need their necks only whatever meat his teeth can reach and no no no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO--)

Something is different.

A white light twinkling in the red inferno. He knows it. It has brushed him more than once. She found him in the graveyard, weeping over the stones of his parents. How did she know then that he was there? He'd never told her.

Her.

Her who?

(Love. Darling. Soul. I know this. I know...)

Even if he cannot pierce the veil of a holy place, her presence can. It fires through his eyes--he is caught mid-kiss, the girl's head is hanging down, familiar sunny locks, who..?--and into Jonathan Harker's.

Jonathan Harker. Yes. Yes, that sounds right. And she is...

Running to him, to the nodding girl, a wisp under the moonlight coming to throw herself into danger for the sake of another, as ever and ever amen, she is--

"Mina."

"Pardon?" asks the attendant refilling his pitcher. She watches him carefully. "Did you say something young herr?"

"Mina. Mina Murray." His bloodshot eyes roll to the window. It faces the west. It faces her. Within him, something blessedly cool turns over, quelling an irate blaze. "I should like to write to her."

"I can speak with Sister Agatha about this. Who is Mina Murray, if I may ask?"

"My fiancee. And my name is Jonathan Harker. We live in Exeter." He offers a weak smile. One without sharp teeth. "My apologies for taking so long to remember it."

[ljf613]

In honor of Mina's appearance today, I whipped up a quick little mockup cover for the Jonathan/Mina prequel love story that lives in my head rent-free.

(Silhouette and concept design both stolen borrowed from Melissa de la Cruz's Alex & Eliza.)

[doriansredroses]

Okay but imagine a Barbie and the Diamond Castle au but featuring the characters from Dracula. The story will differ from the original narrative, but that’s okay because it’s an au!

Mina is Liana. Liana is the more headstrong of the two girls so I feel like that fits Mina. She also does most of the rescuing.

Lucy is Alexa. She just has the vibes. Both girls also get possessed.

Quincey, Seward, and Holmwood replace Ian and Jeremy. My parody of Double Vision will be hilarious.

Dracula is Lydia. Enough said. They’re the villains of their respective stories. Renfield is Slyder (or whatever the serpent is named).

Jonathan is Melody, the one trapped in the mirror. It’s too funny not to do this. He got trapped in the castle. Melody was trapped in the mirror. It’s perfect.

The Weird Sisters are the Muses.

Instead of searching for the Diamond Castle, Mina and Lucy try to find Dracula's Castle to defeat him. Van Helsing will show up as a minor character but the story is mostly about the two girls trying to save the day and defeat Dracula. If you haven’t seen this Barbie movie from 2008, then you may not know what in the world I’m talking about, but if you do, then great!

[appendingfic]

Me: I think a Buffy-esque story where the Chosen One actually is modeled after Mina Murray would be cool The Fiore in my brain: A recurring Mina-Chosen-One where the tragedy of the Dracula Polycule repeats itself over and over Me: ...damnit