#the one to fear : dracula

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: romantic

[karmathenightowl]

"You fall down to all fours and you heave and arch your back, which doubles in length. Your legs grow and thicken and all end in big, powerful hooves. Your neck stretches, your face stretches as though it were rubber. And you recover and stand up, proudly, on all four hooves. You have turned into a werehorse."

-The Adventure Zone Versus Dracula, Episode 6

[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.

[immediatebreakfast]

What is the feeling of crushing helplessness? What is that feeling of staring at the abyss knowing that even if you scream not even your voice will answer it?

How does it feels to stare at rows of wolves, twisted and made angry beyond the canine state by the whims of the man who keeps forcing you to play a helpless role for his amusement?

Don't step out of the script too much Jonathan, the Count may have liked your little human tantrum earlier, but don't push him too much dear you already know how he gets when is angry.

Even if Jonathan asks for whom the bells toll, he already knows the answer as the only being inside that cursed castle with a beating heart... but who says that he can't make them toll earlier? Who is going to stop Jonathan from leaving this earth by extending his own hand to pet the jaws of the wolves? Better to die at the hands of earthly animals than feel the torture of those terrible women tomorrow, than to lock himself alone in the room as his mind spirals more and more because of Dracula's words.

Tonight he is mine, and tomorrow he is yours. How Jonathan's life is reduced to this, a plaything, a skittish prey that doesn't know when to quit while the jaws of the wolf close upon his form.

To-morrow! to-morrow! Lord, help me, and those to whom I am dear!

However, there is something that Jonathan can never lose, nor placate, even if it's now locked deeply inside his mind with no chance to get out. The hope of escaping still lives within, even when everything making him feel that this is the end; there is that little warm light guarded in Jonathan's being. The hope of seeing england again, the hope of seeing Mina again.

[vickyvicarious]

seeing ppl go "lol jonathan why are you admitting you found them hot what will mina think of you when she reads it!!!" has me go "*shakes you* you are going against the thesis of the book!!!"

I know some of why is dependent on knowledge of future events, and so people new to Dracula Daily won't be aware of it. But to be honest, Jonathan admitting his attraction to the vampire ladies is so, so important to me. On several different character levels, even outside of the entire book proving over and over again that sharing knowledge is absolutely vital (and is also an expression of deep love/trust/support).

Let's just stick the quote in here for reference:

There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.

Firstly - he needs to keep an accurate record. This is his only place to speak freely, his only opportunity to be precise about what he is going through. It is vitally important for him to keep his sanity intact that he be clear and try to remain logical in this diary. We see him fact-checking again and again. We can extrapolate from other statements that he doesn't always mention everything he suspects unless he feels it relevant or possible to prove. For example, repeatedly noting Dracula himself doing things before ever getting around to voicing the theory that the Count has no servants (he collected evidence first, didn't speak his suspicions until they were proven). Or putting the crucifix above his bed and taking the opportunity to sleep elsewhere, thus pointing to feeling unsafe and possibly experiencing bad dreams in his own room (he mentioned what he does about it, but not the feeling on its own or whatever nightmares he may be having). Jonathan works very hard to keep his diary focused on a few things above all: what the Count/ladies are, what everyone does, what Jonathan observes or learns, his actionable plans. He of course expresses his fears and emotions at times in his diary, more than he can out loud, but never going all the way down the rabbithole of fear, hopelessness, etc. He tries to calm himself by sticking to facts (all the harder when something strange is happening), which is in itself a soothing process for him so that's helpful too. His goal is to make this diary useful to himself and to others, if he ever gets the chance to share it. There is a goal here.

And what that means, is that the things Jonathan writes in great detail are things that feel relevant to him. The entire encounter with the vampire ladies was extremely important. It revealed a ton of new information to him, as well as being a truly horrifying and traumatic thing to go through. Jonathan's feelings are as relevant as his observations/actions here, because both are directly affected by the presence of the vampire women. Jonathan can't move. He feels dreamy. He feels attracted to them. He cannot resist and in the moment a large part of him didn't even want to. These are all effects they are causing, at least to some extent. I know mileage can vary a lot on how much of Jonathan's attraction is just coming from him, but honestly, I can't agree with any version that doesn't have a natural attraction at the very least being exacerbated by supernatural vampire abilities somehow. If not caused or called forth by them in the first place. The way he narrates, with so much obvious fear and revulsion mixed in with the desire, makes that clear to me. He sounds like he doesn't fully understand his own feelings at the time, at least where they all came from or why they were so strong. It goes along with all the other symptoms he is experiencing, and the other abilities they demonstrate. And so, to keep his record accurate - it has to go in. He cannot leave it out. It might become very relevant later.

Secondly - Jonathan is honest with Mina, specifically. I love this about their relationship. I don't think it's so much 'I noticed they were attractive' that he fears might hurt her, because Mina isn't particularly shy herself about noticing both women and men as good-looking, and even admiring their looks while on a date with Jonathan (poor Pretty Girl in Piccadilly). He also called local women pretty in his first entry as well (though he did say "except when you got near them" so it felt a bit backhanded to me), so again it's not the noticing that's an issue either way. It's more that he felt actual desire to act on an attraction, or rather for them to act. This is unusual, this is a separate matter from noticing people are hot, this is something that comes much closer to cheating or at least wanting to, and he feels very guilty about it. There's no real sense that he is worried Mina will be angry at him, and there's no sense that he will ever outside of that one moment ever want to act on any attraction he feels for someone other than Mina (or someone Mina also approves of, varying depending on your polycula headcanons). I personally do kind of tend to view Jonathan as some form of demisexual so how much he even tends to feel attraction to other people is often a little wibbly to me, but that's kind of irrelevant for the point of this. We can also set aside the shared language of "kiss" between Jonathan and the vampire ladies, and how this may point to a desire to become available for being drunk from, rather than necessarily sexual desire specifically, even if that's the type of language used. With regards to Mina: he's not worried about being caught, because he is choosing not to hide. He feels bad talking about the attraction because it might hurt her feelings, but he'll admit to it regardless because it's more important to him to be honest with her. Jonathan hates hiding things from Mina. This actually becomes plot-relevant later on. Even when she herself expressly forbids him from telling her stuff, he feels anguished about it and is certain to ensure that records are kept which she can read later. He trusts her completely. Embarrassment, shame, bad behavior, or whatever else - he will still share that with her. The only times he doesn't confide in Mina are when he's trying to repress everything because he thinks he was crazy (and possibly may even have some PTSD-related memory loss as well), or when he and the other men are trying to make sure she isn't exposed to danger (which is wrong in several ways but this post isn't about that so I won't get into it), and of course when she tells him not to. Every single time he feels upset about it. So yeah, he's going to regret that she may feel hurt, but deliberately hiding things from her would be worse.

Thirdly - Jonathan admitting his attraction here is a huge comfort to Mina later on. I truly believe this. I've talked about it before actually, but let me try to rephrase a bit to keep it on the same post. By being open about his own attraction and experience with nearly being drunk from, he provides precedent for Mina's October 3rd trauma. It makes it easier (though obviously still not easy) for her to admit to the same kind of desire:

"I was bewildered, and, strangely enough, I did not want to hinder him. I suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that such is, when his touch is on his victim."

Mina never blamed Jonathan for expressing such thoughts. She wasn't concerned about the issue being another woman when she came to him in the hospital, and when she read his diary she never mentioned any hesitations or misgivings about this scene at all. But even if she had secretly felt upset before (I personally don't see her thinking that way at all, but for the sake of argument), I think that experiencing something similar would make her grateful for Jonathan's candor. In a moment when she's already feeling deeply unclean and complicit, Jonathan's earlier honesty here relieves her from a little bit of the guilt she is feeling. It lets her recognize her own lack of desire to stop Dracula as something he did to her, just like Jonathan experienced with the vampire ladies when he couldn't/didn't want to move away. It's possible even that Mina felt more explicit desire for Dracula's 'red lips to kiss her' but didn't feel comfortable saying quite that much - even if so, again Jonathan's account would be a comfort.

And having that account written down long ago means she has already internalized this. If Jonathan had kept it hidden only to try and ease her mind later, well... first off, Mina too might have kept her reaction hidden out of guilt. And even if she didn't or he told her then, a confession at that time wouldn't mean nearly as much or carry the same kind of weight, I don't think. It would feel like he's making excuses for her, like he didn't trust her enough to tell her earlier, just... bad stuff mixed in, which are all avoided by having Jonathan be truthful from the start.

[smooth-noob]

hooooolyyyyyyyy fuck. todays entries were SO beautifully done.

hearing draculas voice again after so long was so distressing, but at the same time so exciting. everyone is going to be in the same place in only two days. i cannot even put into words how highly im anticipating the entries on the twentieth omg.

there were two specific spots where the music really dug into me--when seward and van helsing get to lucys room and seward says "how shall I describe what we saw?" that whole paragraph the music was so well fitting. and then the music when we get THE quincey morris himself had me ascending. wow.

it's so heartbreaking to hear minas concerns about jonathan only for her to apologize to lucy and hope she isnt spoiling such happy moments for her :( mina i have such bad news for you :((((

im so glad i got to take forty whole minutes out of my afternoon for this, SUCH a great job as always.

[shadowtoons]

@murdxrxfcrxws - Don't mind the tiny lil half-vampire looking up at Dracula. " Woah.. I thought big brother was a tall one.. but y'er HUGE Mister! " the innocent lil bean looking up at the other.

He stared down at a short female, see how she looks could probably guess maybe a vampire, but something else he couldn’t quite put it. “An- gene I guess.” He wasn’t too sure how to take this, “You aren’t from around here, are you young one?” To Dracula she is still young in his eyes, not everyday as well anyone just waltz in here, like his wife did.

While he was in the middle of a vampire court, but seems could wait.

[opaline-entropy]

I'm getting the hyperfixation feeling but specifically for vampires. Like my brain is tingling about vampires specifically, and idk why

[yuelaos-codex]

so. im really in my vampire era now i guess

[the-crow-binary]

Dracula: I AM VLAD DRACULA TEPES. THE IMPALER, THE DEMON KING ! THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS ! MASTER OF CASTLEVANIA ! IN MY ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF REIGN I HAVE SLAIN MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS AND VANQUISHED ARMIES WITH JUST THE SNAP OF MY FINGERS ! ONE LOOK AT ME WILL SEND THE MOST FEARSOME WARRIORS CRYING IN THE ARMS OF THEIR MOTHER ! I AM FEARED BY THE NIGHT AND THE DAY ALIKE. EVERYONE TREMBLES AT THE MERE MENTION OF MY NAME. I WILL NOT BE DISRESPECTED LIKE THIS-

Julius, placing his last Uno card on the table: I won.

Dracula: *Flips the table over*

[allthatdivides2]

every night i ask myself. do i watch a horror movie or do i play minecraft. and the decision is impossible every time

[office-worker-91]

Infinity Train Fear and Hunger AU Snippet 3

(This WAS the end of these weird AU snippets, but I have more ideas to throw around so there's gonna be one more after this. Still, if I ever do anything else with this concept it will be in a Fear and Hunger INSPIRED Au called Infinity Dungeon AU, that way I could avoid the more uncomfortable parts of Fear and Hunger while still having the basic gist of the franchise available.)

(CW: Serious Injuries, Mentions of Gore)

It was shaky at first. Very shaky.

Jesse and Lake had ran into a strange cave, covered in flesh. Lake was not surprised to see it, nor were they particularly affected by it. Jesse was an entirely different story. He squirmed and tip toed across the hall as Lake rolled their eyes at the human, slipping into an unfamiliar steel contraption to hopefully hide from any monsters around. With that, Lake turned to Jesse, realizing they were stuck with him, and decided to lay out some ground rules.

They get to distribute the duo's food.

If he does anything stupid that gets them in trouble, they're ditching him.

"If you steal from me I'll bash your brains in." (All talk of course, though at the time Jesse didn't know that)

The boy just nodded along vigorously, not speaking at all. The two were silent at first, still sheltering in the metal contraption, but when Jesse decided to poke around in it he found a lever that sent the contraption downwards with them in it.

Lake considered enacting rule 2 right then and there, but there was no time for that. Their stomach growled and drove them out of the cage to explore the huge cave they had been brought to, Jesse scampering behind them.

He then began to talk. A lot.

"Woah, this place is huge! Y'know, I heard from one of my friends that caves like this are formed because of underground rivers! UNDERGROUND. RIVERS!"

"Are you... made of metal?! How? Why? Does that mean you're invincible? Is that how you've survived down here?"

"Soooooo... what do you think was up with that flesh hallway?...... Y'know what, let's not talk about it."

"By All-Mer, is that a deer???"

Lake had Jesse tuned out, which meant that they didn't notice the deer until they ran face first into it. They immediately backed up, terrified that it was some monstrosity that would destroy the bridge they were both on and take them and Jesse down with it. Instead the deer looked at them with simultaneously dead and curious eyes. Some sort of impossible mixture of no thought and unknowable thought that boggled their mind.

Jesse liked the deer. He tip-toed up close to it and stared in awe. Lake regained their voice and yelled out to stand back, not wanting Jesse to get turned into mince meat five minutes after deciding they would protect him, but the deer didn't attack, or ever approach Jesse. It just kept staring.

The sunshine boy went on a rant that, somehow, ended in giving the deer a green herb to eat (didn't he know those were a valuable medical resource???) and naming him Alan Dracula. Stars shone in his eyes as he gazed at the inexplicable cave deer lovingly. Lake wanted to reprimand him, but two things happened.

They saw Jesse's face. It was... utterly happy. Despite everything the boy must've gone through, despite his discomfort and his nervous ramblings, right now he was utterly happy. Lake had vague memories of the sun from being Tulip's reflection. They think this must be what being out in the sun is like.

They look at "Alan Dracula" and realize their reaction to him had been similar to Jesse's reaction to them, something Lake didn't appreciate. Just because something wasn't human, and it was down in the dungeons.... well, Lake was living proof that not all monsters are monstrous, right?

So Lake stepped forwards and tentatively reached out to pat Alan Dracula. In response, the deer simply closed its eyes. Jesse, for the third time since they've met less than half an hour ago, begged Lake for something, this time asking if they could "keep him." Lake refused, but it sounded weak when they were feeling his soft head in their hands. They pivoted their stance to "the deer has free will and can come if it wants!" which led to the two turning around and walking back across the bridge. The deer stared after them, but didn't follow.

Jesse was disappointed, and Lake was too, but they wouldn't show it. They were starving, and Jesse was starting to get hungry too. So they kept scouring the cave, and that's when they saw it: Eggs. Giant eggs. Dozens of them.

The sunshine boy ran forward eagerly before his metal companion had to pull him back. They reminded him that something has to LAY those eggs in order for them to be there. Instead of this getting what Lake thought was the appropriate reaction, Jesse suddenly got very sad and said he didn't want to eat some poor cave creature's eggs. Lake wasn't sure whether that was a sign of goodness of heart or insanity, but either way they knew they still needed to eat. So after some light convincing and a growing pain in his stomach, Jesse agreed they would take a few, but not enough for the mother to know any were missing.

As Lake shoved some eggs into their pack and instructed Jesse to do the same, they heard something. From the dark abyss they were standing next to, something was coming toward them. Their fight or flight instinct kicked in, and they grabbed Jesse's hand and tried to run, but by that point the thing was already upon them. It was winged. It's talons were sharp, each a few inches long. It's face was HORRIBLE, it was so humanoid and it didn't belong on its monstrous body. Lake wonders if maybe that's how people see them.

Okay, flight didn't work. On to fight, then. They quickly tossed Jesse an iron spear they'd found on a table somewhere, which he caught clumsily in his hands, his face one of pure terror. They then pulled out their trusty morning star, their prized weapon they had lucked out with in a random chest.

The mother was brutal. It pecked and slashed with overwhelming speed and power. Lake's swings didn't all connect, as the thing was in the air and they had to get close in order to hit it, but the swings they did land were solid. They targeted the wings, knowing without them it was much less mobile, and hoping Jesse would do the same.

Surprisingly, he did. He wasn't all that bad. Despite the weapon he held being steel he had control over it, suggesting physical strength Lake didn't know was there before. Holes and bruises covered the beasts wings, but Lake wasn't without injury. The talons scratched up their skin, which normally wouldn't concern Lake, but it looked like it was beginning to do actual damage, which wasn't something they've experienced before. The mother was by far the toughest thing they had to fight, and if that's true they didn't even want to THINK about what this was like for Jesse. For most of the battle he was relatively unharmed, but at one point the cave mother dashed past Lake and bit down on Jesse neck, causing him to scream and fall over.

Lake didn't know why, but they panicked.

They swung their morning star at the thing's already damaged left wing and broke it. The mother in retaliation rushed towards Jesse again, and Lake protected him once again without thinking. Their arm seared with pain at the blow, and they swore that nothing had ever cut them that deep before. They dropped their weapon and hissed, but before the mother could finish the job Jesse had stood and wildly thrusted the spear into the mother's wing with one hand while the other clutched his injured neck. The cave mother cried terribly, now on its talons, before backing away from the pair, eying them with pure hatred as it walked off the edge and it slowly slinked into the dark abyss.

Lake looked at their arm, determined it would stay attached to them for now, and immediately ran over to Jesse and bandaged his wound to stop the bleeding. He thanked them for the save, and Lake did the same while simultaneously calling him soft. It was meant to be a joke, but they said it grimly. He gave a weak laugh regardless.

As they began to leave the area towards the iron cage (who knows if there were more of those things), both of them saw something charging towards them in the darkness. It was the cave mother, now running, wingless, towards them in a blind fury. There was no way they could fight that thing, nor run from it, in their current state. Lake shielded Jesse, wondering, crazed from hunger and pain, if Jesse was an angel sent to earth to release them from the hellish dungeons and into the afterlife, guiding them towards death.

Then Alan Dracula was next to them.

Jesse didn't question it and grabbed Lake's hand, vaulting onto the deer's back. Lake wanted to protest, saying they were too heavy for a deer to carry, but when Jesse pulled them up, Alan Dracula began dashing as if they weighed nothing at all.

Lake didn't know much of anything about deer, but apparently they're faster than winged cave ladies, since he easily outran the creature and headed into what vaguely looked like mines, dashing straight into them and not stopping until the cave mother had obviously lost them.

As soon as he stopped, Alan Dracula threw Jesse and Lake onto the ground in a painful, moaning heap of flesh and metal. They were injured, more so than either had ever been in their entire lives, but they were alive. Alan Dracula looked down at them, that same mix of thoughtlessness and thoughtfulness present in his eyes.

The two hugged Alan Dracula, which he let them do. Both were crying from the experience they'd just had. Still, they had food. They had each other. And they had a "rad deer friend," as Jesse lovingly put it while scratching him behind the ear.

After taking a while to get their bearings, the three ventured off deeper into the mines, careful to be stealthy and evade anything they saw that moved.

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

when I was a little kid at some point I got upset with my parents because I didn't have a crucifix in my bedroom and they did- I was like why do YOU get to be safe from vampires??? you're okay with me getting my blood sucked???? so we took a little trip to the catholic store but the one closest to us was run by a group of nuns that had been moved here from romania. I got a little baby pink cross and this sweet old nun was like 'aww, is this a baptism gift?' and I was like no. I need to be protected from vampires. and she immediately got SO serious and was like 'this is the best one we've got, you'll definitely be safe' and since she was literally from vampire land I was convinced she was like, van helsing. like the whole time my parents had been laughing about how cute my fear was but she literally Knew dracula and was taking my concerns seriously I held this over my parents for so long lmfao

[immediatebreakfast]

There is a dreadful undertone which is starting to grow more, and more each day the crew can't reach Dracula, or the Czarina Catherine. It's right under every conversation Van Helsing and Seward are having while Mina is still next to them, and it was very present today during the hypnosis session.

The guys (specially Van Helsing and Jack) are priming themselves to kill Mina if she ever has the misfortune of doing something deemed "too suspicious." It sounds horrible, but it is right there. Most of the male characters are letting their fear cloud their perspective of Mina, no matter how justified that fear is.

It's so worrying to see Van Helsing and Seward treat anything that Mina does as suspicious. Moreover, it's really sad to read about how Quincey, and Jonathan reacted to Mina's small moment of being possessed. Because yes, that single moment of her rising was probably the Count taking control over the mental link for a second, and the tense atmosphere of the scene only helped to amplify that fear.

Mina is not lost yet, she is not. The fight is not over yet despite the every growing despair. If Jonathan getting colder, and more distant from the rest of the crew as a reaction to this dehumanizing suspicion by the same men who swore to help Mina, then Mina immediate switch into "hostess mode" is her reaction to this too.

She needs them to see that she is capable of being a normal person. Mina must get them tea after the possession to show them that she is fine. She has to prove to them that Mina is still human.

"She could not remember anything, but asked what she had said; when she was told, she pondered over it deeply for a long time and in silence."

Mina is still helping. Despite the suspicion, the rising tension, and the physical and mental toll that is affecting her every time she is hypnotized she is helping. Because just like everyone else Mina is also fighting for her peace, and freedom.

[vickyvicarious]

She is in gay spirits and full of life and cheerfulness. All the morbid reticence seems to have passed from her, and she has just reminded me, as if I needed any reminding, of that night, and that it was here, on this very seat, I found her asleep.

Yesterday, Dracula's boxes were delivered at last to his Carfax estate in London. Presumably, the Count went along with them. That was his plan from the first, after all.

Today, for the first time, Lucy talks about what happened to her. And not in a single thoughtful murmur to herself while possibly in a trance/flashback... she brings it up to Mina. The way she does so seems like she's trying to make light of a very frightening experience, but she's able to give details when asked. She is willing to talk further despite being disturbed by the memories. The morning after Dracula leaves, while sitting over the spot where he once

It's almost as though, with the Count gone, Lucy is released from some kind of magical compulsion to be silent.

[dizzyspice717]

Fighting a Fae: Blood bank I choose you!