#our friend jonathan

[enbylestat]

Mina's Diary

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Dracula - Bram Stoker (Novel 1897) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings (check notes and tags!) Relationships: Jonathan Harker/Mina Murray Harker, Mina Murray Harker/Lucy Westenra Characters: Mina Murray Harker, Jonathan Harker Additional Tags: Inspired by Dracula - Bram Stoker (Novel 1897), Book compliant, Bisexuality, Period Typical Attitudes, south asian mina murray, 1890s, Historical References, Historical Inaccuracy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Epistolary, POV Multiple, Historical Accuracy Series: Part 1 of Accounts of Carpathian Vampire Summary: Inspired by @re-dracula and Dracula Daily's fandom, thanks @see-arcane, @0nelittlebirdtoldme, @bluecatwriter & @starlitartworks! semi-weekly updated fan fiction from mostly Mina's perspective. Exploring themes of found family, heroism, love, relationships, perspective, slaying the monster whilst fighting your own and more…

[only-when-i-write]

Reading Dracula for the third time now. Second year via dracula daily and it keeps getting better each time. Can’t wait to discover new reasons to roast van helsing for his losy job as the savior of the day.

»new scheme of villainy« ~ 31 May

[starry-kattz]

I too am following the story of my friend, also named Jonathan. I think his stay with this strange Count will be most pleasant.

i'm doing my TMA relisten and i don't think anything bad will happen to my friend Jonathan this time around

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Hot take maybe but I think Bertie would be FAR more likely to survive the first two months of Dracula than Jeeves would be. Bertie has a healthy sense of self-preservation. Jeeves consistently underestimates how dangerous a situation might get (Steeple Bumpleigh, the club book) because he’s overconfident about his level of control over any given situation. He'd handle Dracula masterfully if they faced off in England, but on Dracula's home turf? Much more doubtful.

I realize this might be a tough sell, so I will explain further (or it's not a tough sell, and I'm going to explain further because I want to). (criteria taken from @canyourfavesurvivecastledracula) Without further ado.

Would Jeeves and Wooster survive Castle Dracula?

Jeeves

Jeeves' survival will depend on how long Dracula finds him more entertaining than irritating. On that basis, I don't think he's long for this world. On the one hand, he has a huge wealth of knowledge about English society and culture that he can recite perfectly from memory. That should buy him at least a little time with noted teaboo Dracula.

On the other hand, he would be absolutely no fun as a vampire plaything. Jeeves cannot be got. Sneaking up on him while he's shaving will yield zero reaction (though that's at least good for his short-term survival--given that, although he DID take the crucifix from the old woman out of politeness, he certainly isn't going to wear it. The rules of fashion don't go out the window just because you're in a spooky castle). Then, although managing the whims of rich jerks is not an insignificant part of a valet's job, Jeeves usually does this by bending his employers to his will. Dracula is not the sort of employer this will work on. It'll just add insult to injury when on top of being impossible to scare, NOW Jeeves is telling Dracula that his favorite cloak is several centuries out of fashion and he's not allowed to wear it anymore.

Jeeves will 100% go exploring in the areas he was told not to go-- though to be fair, he MIGHT actually get away with this, what with his superpower of appearing in rooms without being seen or heard. Said superpower might save him from the brides as well (though this is by no means guaranteed). Since I find it doubtful that Dracula would come to rescue his annoying ass, not being noticed is his best defense.

There are a couple other things working in Jeeves's favor; the question is just whether they'll be enough to save him.

He DOES know shorthand, and could try to send coded letters. He might even have the foresight to squirrel away some extra stationary where Dracula can't find it. But could he get them posted? Would it even do him any good?

He certainly has enough cultural literacy to figure out what his new boss is pretty quickly. If he didn't chuck the crucifix out the carriage window, he might start carrying it around in his pocket.

Psychology of the individual, sure, but the individual in question is a 400-year-old vampire who lives in an isolated castle in a foreign country and is regarded as a terrifying mythological figure in the surrounding villages. Jeeves has never come up against anything this alien before, he's cut off from his normal resources, and opportunities to play people against each other are limited.

He probably has enough upper body strength from all that shrimping and fishing to climb the wall, so he COULD escape if he wanted to, if he survived long enough. It's just, again, that overconfidence, and also Dracula has a vast library full of rare old books that are entirely at his disposal. He's keeping his eyes and ears alert for potential escape strategies, of course, but I don't see him being as desperate to get out as Jonathan was.

There are just a lot of "depends on"s here, and I'm not convinced that luck would shake out in Jeeves's favor, all things considered.

Bertie

Bertie is so perfect for the job of Castle Dracula Prisoner it's like it was made for him. Think about it. Being held against his will in big manor houses comes more naturally to him than breathing. He's afraid of things that are scary. A lifetime of dealing with Aunt Agatha has made him the world's preeminent expert in "curl[ing] up in a ball in the hope that a meek subservience [will] enable [him] to get off lightly." He will NEVER go exploring in places he's been warned away from if nobody is forcing him to (Rev. Aubrey Upjohn's office notwithstanding. There were biscuits in there). He's both fun to talk to and easy to toy with (and extremely English). A+ prisoner. Dracula adores him.

In my opinion, Bertie is at Castle Dracula either because Aunt Agatha got some wires seriously crossed and thinks he’s going to meet an eligible potential bride (I mean, there are certainly brides there), or because Dracula has something Aunt Dahlia wants him to steal (far less likely, given that one of Dracula’s THINGS is famously not owning anything silver). Either way, he's shown himself entirely willing and able to escape down drainpipes if a sitch gets too scaly.

He DOES take the crucifix, and DOES wear it (which is what will save him during the shaving scene, because you KNOW he's going to jump a foot and cut himself like the dickens). He's read enough supernatural goosefleshers to be genre savvy about terrified old women cryptically pushing crucifixes into one's hands. I also think his sunny disposish endeared him to the villagers, and they were particularly vehement about urging him not to go. He doesn't speak German or Romanian, but he's empathetic enough to recognize Pure Terror. So by the time he actually gets to the castle, his imagination is already running wild and he's plenty aware that he is in imminent danger.

I think the biggest risk to Bertie will be the brides; whether or not he's susceptible to trances, if he thinks they're trying to marry him, it's against the code of the Woosters to turn them down. But that only becomes an issue if he comes face to face with them, which, luckily, I think is unlikely on account of the aforementioned "won't go exploring" (and if he did, Dracula would definitely rescue him).

I'm inclined to say due to his drainpipe-escape habits that he WOULD be able to climb the wall and MAY attempt to sneak into Dracula's room to look for the keys if his desperation grows to outweigh his fear. Whether he does or not, though, he does NOT have the stomach to attempt shovel murder, and therefore won't get magic brain fever, and may very well simply walk out the front doors when the people come to take the boxes away. OR he climbs his way out like Jonathan did. Either way.

When Bertie tells this story at the Drones later, Tuppy will say that no doubt it's been greatly exaggerated and all that probably happened was that he spent a couple months in an oldish house entertaining a weird loner.

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

absolutely hilarious how this is phrased actually

[justaslime]

[keawi]

"Oh Lucy, my dear sweet Jonathan is traveling abroad soon. I do hope he has a good time!"

[msfbgraves]

Mina and Jonathan Harker are such good examples of the fact evil can never really know who it is up against.

Jonathan Harker is a mild mannered junior solicitor. Mina Harker is a former etiquette teacher turned housewife. There is nothing to distinguish them from anybody else but they're this great nobleman-turned- monster's greatest foes. They're ordinary people living ordinary lives, until when confronted with great evil their strength of character becomes all that stands between him and victory. You can't target them in preparation because you'd have to target the whole world. They don't stand out. They're not seeking greatness. They simply stand for love, and they don't stop.

[urgentkettle]

Woke up thinking about “For your mother’s sake” with such gripping sadness. The voice acting in from re: dracula just got me. She is grieving for him in his mother’s stead. She arms him with all of the power of god and love that she has. But the time loop persists, and Jonathan goes to meet the count anyways.

[pawswithprose]

it’s nearly time

you can almost smell the paprika

[enbylestat]

Mina's Diary

May 24: my two loves

5/?

Summary: Mina thinks on Lucy's words and has some meaningful conclusions of her own.

Content Warning: period typical attitudes associated with gender roles (being Victorian these may read as "essentialist" to some, and indeed in essence they are, whilst Lucy and Mina rebel against the patriarchy in their own differing ways in canon they still internalize the patriarchy they grew up in). TLDR: writing =/= endorsement.

Sorry for not updating for awhile, Mina and I were tired, I was in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and Maryland, USA. Expect more regular weekly updates from now on!

[aotearoa20]

Jonathan: How can I get into Dracula’s room!? The door is always locked! There’s no other entrance except…

Jonathan: except the window…

Jonathan: (contemplating every life choice he made that got him into this position)

Jonathan: (sighing and taking of his shoes) bloody lizard-fashion it is then

[only-when-i-write]

No news from Jonathan since May 19.

[another-chaotic-bisexual-vampire]

Jonathan, Day 1 at Castle Dracula - arriving as if in a dream: Such a remarkable place! Jonathan, Day 51 at Castle Dracula - helplessly witnessing someone get torn to shreds by wolves: god i wish that were me

[tmblr-university]

When you wake up and all your stuff is gone

Tumblr University's Charity Shoutout of the Week

[catpriciousmarjara]

Conversation between a reddit user who migrated to tumblr and a tumblr user I saw on discord just yesterday.

Him: Why are people so obsessed with Dracula? Is it like a collective vampire fetish or....?

Her: Oh no it's not the Count we like! It's everyone else!

Him: ....like this Jonathan you go on about in #babygurl?

Her: Yeah! Our good friend Jonathan Harker who sends us the most delightful emails... Though he's been having a rough time of it recently...

Her: You should check out our cowboy too! He's wonderful!

Him: ........

Him: okay.

Him(about 20 mins later): What exactly is a Paprika Hendl?