#holmward

[seabluesiren]

A grip of the hand, the tightening of an arm over the shoulder, a sob in unison, are expressions of sympathy dear to a man’s heart.

[luanna801]

So earlier this year I was lucky enough to commission some absolutely beautiful artwork from the awesome @marghen for my post-canon Jack/Arthur fic, Expressions of Sympathy.

In honor of Dracula Daily coming to another close, I thought I'd share it here so my fellow Dracula nerds can appreciate it too. <3 And if you're curious about what might happen to Jack and Arthur after the book ends, you can check out the fic!

[wizardoftheloops]

the real sexual liberation in dracula isn't mina leaving her devoted husband for a fuckass vampire it's jack being horny about arthur's strong young manhood the whole novel and then marrying him in the end #facts #getitright

[capribornio]

I am currently absolutely losing it listen.

I took out from the library the Spanish translation of Dracula, because what better thing to do after reading Dracula than reread it in my language. I flipped to today's note, because curious. And then I got to the Holmward line, and I died.

The OG: "[...] which we could all look back on without despair, for Godalming and Seward are both happily married."

The more natural (in Stoker's heterosexual meaning) translation: "...que ahora podemos rememorar sin desesperación, porque tanto Godalming como Seward están felizmente casados." (Empathizes each one, separately, are happily married.)

The absolute Gigachad of a translation I read: "...que ahora podemos rememorar sin desesperación, porque Godalming y Seward se han casado, y son felices." (Literally just. Art and Seward got married and are happy. There is literally no way to read this heterosexually unless you have the world's thickest Straight glasses.)

Anyway I hope translator Francisco Torres Oliver has all the bitches he wants of any gender he likes them.

[ibrithir-was-here]

Blood of My Blood: Epilogue

(Click for better quality)

And here is where we leave them all, off into a new, free future

Thank you all so, so much for following this journey. All our readers and all my co-authors, @animate-mush @see-arcane @bluecatwriter @pinkninjapj @thegoatsongs

I don’t have the words to express the gratitude I feel for all of you💛💛💛💛

Also a finale little surprise under the cut!

Here’s little second Harker baby, Francine!

[marsonbase]

What Van Helsing thinks will happen if Arthur finds out Jack gave blood to Lucy-

Arthur: Wow, NOT epic or cool of you, Jack, to put your blood in my fiance!! Friendship over.

What would actually happen-

Arthur: *immediately starts making out with Jack*

[paris-in-space]

Congrats to Art and Jack on their wedding

(definitely real and canon and what Bram meant)

Post-novel Holmward is helping me cope.

[bluecatwriter]

I didn't spin the wheel of kisses but fic prompt that came to me and seemed your style:

"What's that on your collar!?" / "Uh. Lipstick..." / "oh thank god..."

Came into my head as Arthur/Jack but honestly anyone in this novel would be relieved that a red mark on their partner's collar was just lipstick...

Five months later, here you go... ;D Blood of My Blood timeline, before Quincey meets them!

~~~

Uncle Jack had lipstick on his collar. 

As he and Lu ate lunch together, she observed this fact with mild curiosity. It was quite a bright shade of red, a hue that many young ladies' fathers would outright ban (if she chose to wear a color like that, her own dad would say nothing, but he would make that nervous hum he always made when he was uncomfortable with something she did). But she and Uncle Jack were talking about other things, and so she didn't ask about it.

Tensions had been high in the household this week; some of their spies had picked up evidence of vampire activity in Surrey, and although Lu wasn't privy to all the details, Uncle Jack had told her that the situation had nearly gotten out of hand, and was not yet fully contained. Her dad had been running around trying to keep control of the situation, and was fraying at the edges.

When they had nearly finished their sandwiches, her dad burst into the room, hand full of telegrams. He gave her and Uncle Jack brief smiles, but no kisses, which showed just how distracted he was. He sat down across from Uncle Jack, trying to butter a roll  in between frowning at the telegrams.

Just as Lu took the last bite of her sandwich, she saw her dad's head snap up. He was staring at Uncle Jack.

"What is that?" he snapped.

Lu and Uncle Jack both looked up in surprise; his voice was sharp as ice, and he was pointing with the butter knife at Uncle Jack's lipstick-stained collar.

For a moment, Lu felt a sudden, nagging doubt. She had never seen her dad jealous over his husband, but she didn't know how else to interpret his angry reaction. For one moment, she wondered if there were something going on between them, something personal, that had been adding to the tension of the past week.

Uncle Jack signed back in puzzlement, "What are you talking about?"

"What is that on your collar?" His voice was still sharp. Lu glanced back and forth between them, feeling as if a rug were about to be pulled out from under her.

Uncle Jack followed the line of the pointed knife, scrunching his neck so he could look down at himself, pulling his collar away from his face to look at the lipstick.

"It's lipstick," he signed.

Her dad let out a huge sigh of relief. He resumed buttering the roll. "Oh, thank God."

Uncle Jack raised an eyebrow. "What did you think it was?"

"It looks like blood."

Lu snorted, and Uncle Jack laughed softly. But after a few more moments of eating, Lu felt that uncertainty return. "Uncle Jack, why do you have lipstick on your collar?"

"I don't know," he signed, thought for a moment, then got a look of dawning realization. "I do, actually. I was questioning a witness this morning and she ended up sobbing on my shoulder. Poor thing."

"Better get it laundered," her dad said, passing a few of the telegrams to him.

For a moment Lu watched the two of them, sitting across from each other, sorting through telegrams in between bites of food, working together as a seamless team. 

Relief washed through her, and she giggled. 

Without looking up from his work, her dad asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Lu said. She stood to leave, leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek on her way out. "Nothing at all."

~~~