Papercuts & Highlighter

Currently Reading: Amish Werewolves Of Space by Kerry Neitz

[citizen-zero]

One by one several of the passengers offered me gifts, which they pressed upon me with an earnestness which would take no denial; these were certainly of an odd and varied kind, but each was given in simple good faith, with a kindly word, and a blessing…

For some reason I only now picked up on this while listening to the Re: Dracula episode and I’m only now struck by the weight of what it means.

Jonathan doesn’t tell us what these gifts are beyond being “odd and varied,” so I have to assume they’re things he doesn’t recognize. I feel like it’s a safe guess that these might be talismans these people carry to ward off evil.

So it makes it heartbreakingly touching and selfless that the other passengers on this coach give this complete stranger these items, because by doing so they endanger themselves all the more. It’s just such a human moment, wanting to save a person from certain damnation and only being able to do this one small thing that may not be enough in the end. They’re so afraid of Dracula that they won’t even openly speak of him and the evil he represents, but they willingly part with their protective tokens just on the chance that it might save this young man’s soul, even if not his life.

[dathen]

Jonathan doesn’t mention what the gifts from the other passengers are in today’s entry, but we get more details about them later on:

How was it that all the people at Bistritz and on the coach had some terrible fear for me? What meant the giving of the crucifix, of the garlic, of the wild rose, of the mountain ash?

We also know from later that garlic refers to garlic flowers, not bulbs.

This means that alongside the crucifix, Jonathan leaves the coach bedecked in flowers laid on him by those watching him go to his death, like a funeral.

[sunburstsandmoonshadows]

With a second read of Jonathan's journey to Dracula's castle, more and more I find myself admiring the locals he meets along the way.

They've clearly been under the oppressive threat of Dracula for a long time--all of them show true fear in the face of him. He's paramount to the Devil itself to them, going off the words Jonathan translates. And that's totally understandable, considering he steals their children for his "brides" to eat, never mind what other things he may be subjecting them to.

With that context, it would be very easy for them to leave Jonathan to his fate. They could tell themselves there's nothing to be done for him already. They could be glad that he's Dracula's choice, even, if that chances a reprieve for them.

But many of them chose compassion over fear.

Every step of Jonathan's last leg to Dracula's castle has someone reaching out to prevent the tragedy in front of them.

The woman in the hotel begs him to leave, please leave, for your safety, and when he refuses she freely gives up what might be a precious belonging in the hope it will save him.

The people at the bench of the hotel try to bless him from evil.

A man in the coach points out a beautiful view of the mountain during the ride, perhaps wishing to give Jonathan one last moment of wonder before he vanishes into the horrors of the castle.

The coachman drives his horses to their limit in the desperate hope that he can make Jonathan miss the awaiting coach, and the other passengers do not begrudge him this risky move but instead urge him to go faster, faster!

Very little of helps, in the end. They cannot prevent the start of this tragedy. There's a very good chance they knew that themselves.

But by god were they willing to try.

[elizabethswitch]

It never seems to come up, or at least I can’t recall it, in any Dracula film, but one of the more sinister, I mean actually appalling, notes Jonathan makes about his carriage trp into the Carpathian range is simply this: 

“Here and there we passed Cszeks and Slovaks, all in picturesque attire, but I noticed that goitre was painfully prevalent.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitre

Goitre is, or was, a common illness in landlocked areas, especially mountainous regions without easy sea access. Even as lately as Mr. Harker’s trip, its causes were not well understood and treatment was centered on excision of the distended gland, often only when it threatened someone’s ability to swallow or breathe. The incision and resulting scar were covered thereafter with bandages or large cloth bands around the throat, and it wasn’t unusual to know several older people receiving treatment– yet Jonathan sees so many people with bandaged throats during his top speed afternoon carriage ride that he makes note of it in his little pocket journal the next morning.

Dracula hasn’t been eating well, perhaps, but he has been eating frequently.

[bluerats]

Reading may 5 a second time, wow does the bravery of the coach driver and the other passengers stand out. They all knew were Jonathan was going, and all of the passengers were shouting encouragement at the driver to go faster and faster, and the driver tried to lie to Jonathan to get him to go on to the next town. They all worked together just to try to save one travelling Englishman. It's such kindness!

[ri-writing]

Now that Dracula Daily has gotten to the part where Jonathan tells us what he does for a living, let’s talk about this.  There was a lot of confusion among Americans last year about what a solicitor is and what they do.

Keep reading

[animate-mush]

On the subject of OMG Mr. Peter Hawkins, the lawyer the solicitor, WHY are you describing him like that???

Dracula already knows Jonathan's name and has been arranging his travel since Budapest at least. He's not surprised to be receiving Young Mr Harker rather than Old Mr Hawkins. So he and Hawkins have clearly already corresponded about this substitution. Someone can probably better explain than I can the custom of Letters of Introduction, but it's a Whole Thing - the sealed letter Jonathan is handing over is a social formality thing more than new information per se.

My thinking is therefore that Dracula probably some very specific requirements about what sort of a person was sent out on his behalf. In Stoker's early notes he specifies "does not speak German" (in a version of the story where Dracula lived in Austria!!!) Later we will learn that he specifically engaged a firm not from London to find him property in London, because he didn't want local prejudices interfering. Dracula did his research, and probably required Hawkins to do some additional research as well.

So my thinking is that Hawkins' letter of introduction describes Jonathan Like That because he's highlighting the ways in which he lives into the specific qualities Dracula requested. Maybe it went like this -

Dracula: hi I need to buy a hose in England. Here's a stack of money. Please come over to sign papers ASAP

Hawkins: Thank you for this stack of money. First off we really value your custom. Unfortunately I can't come out myself for medical reasons but I've got my best man on it.

Dracula: I don't know... I don't want to have to keep changing solicitors... maybe I should go with a different less enfeebled firm. And you're the one I contracted with. How do I know I can trust this other guy? Is he going to go tell all his buddies my business? I hate that. And what if he has his own ideas? I need to have full control over my business and I know you understand that but does he? I don't know man...

Hawkins: nonono you don't need to worry about any of that. He's young and vivacious and perfectly discreet and super obedient and all those good things - it'll be fine I practically raised him

Dracula: oh good 😈 just what I'd hoped you'd say 😈

...in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Dracula scoured the law lists for a sickly solicitor with a small firm specifically so that he could pull this

[bluecatwriter]

I was brainstorming for a fic and had a thought about the religion of Ishmael and Queequeg in Moby Dick:

Ishmael is a Presbyterian, a denomination focused very much on predestination and the sovereignty of God. Calamity, disaster, sin, and evil are considered to be all within God's control, woven together into a story that we can't fully comprehend, because His ways are higher than ours.

What I've gathered of Queequeg's religion (or rather, Ishmael's perception of it) so far seems summed up in this line from chapter 16: "Queequeg placed great confidence in the excellence of Yojo’s judgment and surprising forecast of things; and cherished Yojo with considerable esteem, as a rather good sort of god, who perhaps meant well enough upon the whole, but in all cases did not succeed in his benevolent designs."

This is a huge contrast to the idea of a sovereign god, but also seems to beg the question, what is easier to bear in the face of terror and trial and senseless evil: a god who is omnipotent but allows (or perhaps causes?) the suffering anyway, or a god who does his best and yet doesn't always succeed in warding off the bad?

I'm guessing these themes will be important as the story progresses, but I thought it was neat the way our two main characters are set up with such diametrically opposed ideas of the divine, and, by extension, predestination/fate.

[spider-xan]

Thinking about how Mina, Jonathan, and Van Helsing are three of the most central characters in the story, and the epilogue masterfully grants each of them their moment in the most fitting way possible, as well as giving Jack and Arthur a thematic resolution and including Quincey, despite his death.

Jonathan writes the final entry in the novel, mirroring how the story started with his journal, and the written record of his time trapped in Dracula's castle was what inspired Mina to start typing up the manuscript and gave Van Helsing the means to put everything together along with the Harkers.

Van Helsing gets the very last line of quoted dialogue, which is fitting for a character who communicated primarily through long speeches rather than the written word, and the final statement resonates with his authority and wisdom.

Mina is the focus of the final lines boldly stating that this was her story, for if the novel has a protagonist amid the ensemble cast, it's definitely her, the smart, courageous, and loving one who wrote the manuscript, got everyone together, and was the reason they all fought until the very end, for nothing would have been possible without her.

Jack and Arthur were introduced as Lucy's suitors who both lost her in similar and different ways, and the final line we get about them specifically is that they were able to find love and marriage again.

Quincey may not be there at the end himself, but he lives on through Mina and Jonathan's son in both spirit and name, as without his sacrifice, the happy ending and next generation would not exist.

[janglingargot]

You know, pop culture has trained me to expect a big fight scene with the vampire, and when framed in that sense, today's entry does feel a bit anticlimactic. We expect Dracula to leap from the box, and THEN the final showdown to begin, and so it feels like it's over before it began.

But on second read, I really like this. Because, if you set aside the expectations of modern Hollywood, it becomes clear that this Dracula is too dangerous to be allowed to leap from the box at all. They're racing the clock, because if he's freed from his coffin after dark, this close to his castle, there will be no fighting him. It would be game over on the spot. The end of the line for all of them. He has to be destroyed before it ever comes to blows.

They're not trying to outfight a mortal creature. They're racing to defuse a nuclear bomb. And that's absolutely terrifying, and I love it.

[lunaryugamine]

Goodbye Jonathan "my good friend" Harker

Goodbye Mina "I am the train fiend" Harker

Goodbye Lucy "polyamorous icon" Westerna

Goodbye Dr John "what are morals" Seward

Goodbye Quincey "shoot a bat" Morris

Goodbye Arthur "money solves everything" Holmwood

Goodbye Dr. Abraham "I am an expert in everything" Van Helsing

Fuck you Count "lizard fashion" Dracula

You will be missed. Except for Dracula.

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

dracula stained glass, part 5

[arbitrarity]

Mina being able to sense Jonathan's presence* in the final days solidifies for me the theory that Jonathan was giving her blood. as much as it just being the power of their love would rule, i don't see it being that - i think it was a vampire blood connection.

I started to get on board with this theory when Jonathan woke up on the steamboat feeling so refreshed. he went from went from pale, cold-handed, and almost not breathing on the couch in Galatz (Oct 30) to feeling so restored waking up on the steam launch (Nov 2). He writes "I slept peacefully and was forgetting my trouble... I am a new man this morning ... I can feel that my strength and energy are coming back to me. I wonder where Mina is now". This could be from getting sleep, from the fresh air, from feeling more hopeful about their hunt, but it could also be because he isn't feeding a nearly-vampire his life blood. Even the switch in his thoughts from 'getting my energy back' to thinking of Mina...

she, on the other hand, has a mixed reaction to being separated from Jonathan. she doesn't immediately decline as if suddenly cut off from her food source. but she slowly fades, sleeping more and more, eating less, shifting to nocturnal. but then, at her most vampiric, she can sense that Jonathan is approaching and knows immediately which rider is him. if a vampire can sense the nearness of a recent victim, that might even explain how Dracula was able to find Lucy again in London after the move from Whitby. so this entry decides it for me: Jonathan was giving Mina his blood

(*an aside: i was SO relieved her comment about 'her husband' approaching was about Jonathan)

[thebibi]

speaking of events from others' pov, i now wonder what the final day would have looked like written from jack's pov.

like, mina's was detailed, but it also was about her own condition, how much she can sense her husband's presence, and his actions then after he appears.

would jack be focusing on his dreadful gut feeling more? his words and separation from quincey when they saw the carriage? would he be searching desperately for van helsing? what brief words did they exchange upon reuniting? would he be fascinated by the unnaturalness of jonathan, and curious about what he'll finally do with that knife he'd been fidgeting with? would he talk more about quincey's dying and how he reacted at seeing the fatal wound?

God the final chapter would have been such a different beast!! Let's assume Jack gets a phonograph to speak into, otherwise he could never record what happened with such detail.

-Jack would mention how tired and cold he is, and yet he and Quincey are relentless at tracking Dracula's coffin, now that it's within sight.

-he would mention the strain the horses feel but they press on

-when they held up their guns, and he caught a glimpse of Van Helsing and Mina, still alive and pointing their guns on the henchmen, and Jack was breath a sigh of relief that he hasn't even realized he was holding in.

-how Quincey flung himself off of the horse immediately after ceasefire, how he and Jonathan had a one track mind that was the epitome of manhood and while Jack kept his Winchester gun steady, his heart was throbbing from the action

- how he and Arthur, despite having not seen each other for days, both moved seamlessly to pressure the henchmen to not attack Quincey and Jonathan. It would have been too late though, and Quincey was bleeding.

-Jack's mind switches to doctor mode. He knows he can't compromise the mission, but the way Quincey is pressing his side to stop the bleeding is worrying. His view is blocked because Jonathan used his insane strength to throw down the coffin on the otherside of the wagon. He can only pray it is treatable.

-maybe a little wishful thinking, he wonders if he can silently communicate to Van Helsing that Quincey is hurt and he will need help stopping the bleeding. It must be treatable, otherwise he will lose another person he loves.

-at that moment, Mina screams. Jack snaps out of his thoughts and demounts from the horse, rushing over past the other henchmen to see Dracula defeated, turning into dust. Quincey stabbed him in the heart with his Bowie knife, and Jonathan beheaded him cleanly with his kukri knife.

- the Romani people seemingly snap out of a haze and begin to leave them alone with an empty coffin. Jack looks up to Van Helsing and their eyes meet, the professor gives him the signal to stay, as his begins to descend from their hideout. He notices Mina stays where she is.

- the Doctors run to each other, Jack trying to explain that Quincey is bleeding to death if they don't do anything about it, and Van Helsing interrupting him saying he saw him get cut down, the blood flowed freely. There was nothing they could do to save him.

- Jack's mind begins to fog over the implication that Quincey will die, and he and Van Helsing rush over once he collapses into Jonathan's arms. He knows he's too late, but suddenly everything happened so fast. All those days they focused on tracking, all those precious memories, and he is the only one who will remember these past few days together

-Jack sees Mina run and hold Quincey's hand ans he lays dying. They all kneel on the ground and Arthur is already crying. As Quincey gives his last words Jack realizes Mina's scar on her forehead is gone. As his best friend leaves this world forever, he took Mina's curse with him. They were free of the devil called Dracula, but why did Quincey have to pay the price?

[myrskytuuli]

But what if both Mina and Jonathan were left with lingering vampiric traits. A perfectly sweet and normal married couple, expect there is something uncanny in both of them. Animals get weird around them. They’ve quietly removed garlic from their recipes. You see them both working in a pitch black room, and neither noticed that it’s too dark for human eyes. Everytime you see them out in broad daylight, they seem a bit fatigued. They’re such a sweet young couple, but there is something just a bit off about both of them.

[see-arcane]

There's also the fact that Joanthan would visit her at her school where she taught

It inspires the lovely image of Jonathan 'Down to Make Out with his Fiancée/Wife in Front of Anyone' Harker showing up to ask her out for lunch. Which is sweet! She loves that!

But at the same time, she knows she's walking a thin line between, 'Okay, need to be composed in front of my students or I'll be a hypocrite in their eyes,' and, 'Ohhh but LOOK at him, I can't just NOT give him my arm and maybe share a kiss or two or three...' Like--

Jonathan: Lunch date? Hold arm? Kisses? c:

Mina: Lunch yes, the rest no.

Jonathan: :c

Mina, trying to dodge the many interested gazes of her girls from the door: Jonathan, the students.

Jonathan: <:'c

Mina, sweating: Look, maybe once we're away from the building...

Jonathan, full 🥺: Mina...hates Jonathan? Mina is unyielding? Mina is incapable of loving Jonathan? I am running away. I am packing my little law books and going out to the Aerated Bread Company as an unloved solicitor's clerk. I can no longer stand the heartbreak.

Mina: ...

Mina's etiquette students: :)

Mina, after letting Jonathan take her arm and sharing a kiss: Our next lesson will be on when to ignore the lessons. Extra good marks for everyone who breathes not one word of it beyond the classroom.

Mina's etiquette students: Yes, Miss Murray. :)

Later, Mina will red-facedly report to Jonathan that he is responsible for a minor insurrection among her class, what with them all now distracted by questions less to do with decorum and more about their own courtship, and do they kiss in public all the time, and demanding to know if he has an available younger brother and the like.

She hopes he's proud of himself.

(He is.)

[ultraviolet-eucatastrophe]

Now that Dracula Daily is done... it occured to me a while back when reading the book like this (like, somewhere in the Lucy arc, back in September) that a pleasingly horrifying AU would be one where Van Helsing was working with Dracula the whole time. Because Van Helsing doesn't really tell them everything (or even much at all) of what he's planning or thinking in canon, but they place so much mostly-unconditional trust in him, initially because of Seward and their past together, but even they haven't seen each other for years. What if in that time, Van Helsing fell in love with turned to working with Dracula or even got turned into a vampire himself. He's arguably the smartest character in the book (except perhaps Mina, I would say) and so he's good at hiding it until the very end. Imagine if they went through all their plans, got to Dracula's castle in the middle of the mountains in Transylvania, completely trusting Van Helsing... and they get to Dracula's coffin and suddenly Van Helsing helps Dracula out by the hand, and they both start to laugh, because they really believed him all that time. And now the sun is setting and they're surrounded, and the night's going to be a long and dark one...

...I just think it would be fun, you know?