"hey i was gonna drink that"

19 May - After the encounter with the weird sisters and Dracula's request for letters, meals probably aren't a pleasant affair anymore.

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)

May 18-19

Jonathan, really, you are the one that got in the ladies room. You gotta respect the rooomies privacy, while you are still here.

Some late night Quincey doodles that aren't BoMB. Stayed at my mom's for the weekend and she braided my hair and it gave me some Canon Ending Quincey thoughts

Though the ending one may seem melancholy it is meant to be ultimately hopeful. He made it home from the war alive. And even if he's not the same, some things still are. And his parents are here to love him and help him heal and find new things to keep living for.

“I am surely in the toils.” - Jonathan Harker

He's like a hare in a hunter's snare

Jonathan's decision to play along today was very difficult to make. But, in the end, it was the right move. He set aside his anger and impulse to rebel... perhaps as much or more out of fear rather than just logic, but we do see his reasoning and it makes sense.

And honestly, I think he pushed his luck nearly to the limit anyways. Look at how Dracula asked. First, he waited a few days after everything that went down with the vampire ladies, perhaps to see if Jonathan would bring up the topic. If Jonathan does, maybe he had plans to lie to him again, to gaslight him about either never sleeping outside of his room, or about Dracula finding him dreaming somewhere else and helping him back to his own bed. Still, Jonathan's reaction to such a lie could very easily force an end to all this pretending. But since he never brings it up at all, Dracula knows he can continue his game. In fact, Jonathan is proving to be a very resilient player, one who has just enough struggle in him to make it more interesting, without being too unmanageable or ever close to actually get away.

Dracula gives Jonathan this 'request' "in the suavest tones" - he's really emphasizing his charm here, being extra friendly as he tries to make Jonathan feel even worse. But then, contrary to what he's seen thus far, Jonathan hesitates.

I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his power; and to refuse would be to excite his suspicion and to arouse his anger. He knows that I know too much, and that I must not live, lest I be dangerous to him; my only chance is to prolong my opportunities. Something may occur which will give me a chance to escape. I saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath which was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from him. He explained to me that posts were few and uncertain, and that my writing now would ensure ease of mind to my friends; and he assured me with so much impressiveness that he would countermand the later letters, which would be held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my prolonging my stay, that to oppose him would have been to create new suspicion.

I think he must have been sitting there making these arguments to himself in real time. Wrestling with his fear and his outrage and possibly losing most of his control over his expression and body language as he did so. And at first, this is fun for Dracula. He wants Jonathan to struggle like this. It's fun to watch. But then, the longer it goes on, the more real becomes the possibility that this will be Jonathan's breaking point. And if it is, if he outright says "no" even this once, then Dracula's entire game is ruined. He's just committed to wanting to keep Jonathan around for another full month. Jonathan passed the test with the other vampires. Dracula has been looking forward to this. How dare he spoil this -

Dracula's rage rises as he finds himself forces to make excuses and be convincing when he likely assumed he no longer needed to put in that much effort. Jonathan finally does agree, but he didn't do so right away. And it's a very fine line, because continuing to do this does in fact make him more interesting and fun in the long run, and thus perhaps allow him to live longer. Maybe after they separate for the evening (morning, being nocturnal) Dracula would actually look back on this moment with indulgent enjoyment. He pushed perhaps right up to the limit of what Dracula would tolerate, but he didn't quite cross it, so the game can continue. But at the same time, pushing like this (or rather, resisting being pushed before giving in) is extremely dangerous in the moment - because in the moment, there's still a chance Jonathan could cross the line. Dracula has a temper and he will take it out on Jonathan if he decides he's had enough.

It's that tightrope again. More of the same. But I just... love imagining this moment. Dracula's sickly-sweet smugness at the start, his utter confidence in his victory once again. And Jonathan - pausing. Saying nothing in response. Thinking it over, taking so long to do so, trying so hard to keep a neutral face but not fully succeeding, maybe keeping his head bowed so his expression can't be seen. Dracula's anger building along with almost a sort of desperation, as he lays out all this bullshit reasoning, maybe losing control of his own tone somewhat as he gets more aggressively vehement. The absolute tension rising, up and up right until the moment Jonathan looks up and agrees, when it suddenly dissipates. But the aftermath lingers, even in Dracula's victory. Even as Jonathan writes the three letters, one after another under Dracula's watchful eye. Dracula takes them from his hand, squeezes his shoulder in ostensible thanks, but such a clear threat. Jonathan's face twitching, a little spasm of fear and despair, at the contact.

It could be SUCH a good scene in an adaptation that emphasized the abusive dynamic here.

"I was not alone. [...]. In the moonlight opposite me were three young women."

Jonathan & the Three Brides

(More of my art)

While I’m sure it was just an audio flourish, I like to think that Dracula did exactly as Karim Kronfli did in @re-dracula and just flat out cackled after listing the three dates

Dracula: HA HA HA HA HA—

Jonathan:

Dracula: —HA HA HA HA HA—

Jonathan:

Dracula: —HA HA HA..!

Jonathan:

Dracula:

Jonathan:

Dracula: So did you want to use the stationery with the little wolves on them or the bats?

Jonathan: Bats, please.

Dracula: Wolves it is :)

Jonathan Harker and the Weird Sisters, by Becky Cloonan

Something that strikes me about today’s entry this go-around is the dates. Before now, Jonathan has mostly just been focusing on getting through each day and gathering bits of information with which he might plan his escape and figure out what the Count’s deal is.

But Dracula made a mistake today.

He gave Jonathan a deadline.

And those can be extremely motivating.

"I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his power; and to refuse would be to excite his suspicion and to arouse his anger."

This could be written by someone who's in an abusive relationship and it's a quiet interesting choice that Stoker gave this part to a young man. Also Dracula has to know that at this moment Jonathan knows how powerful he is and therefore uses this deliberately which also fits into the 'abusive relationship' interpretative approach.

The use of "it would be madness" stands out as well imo: if I'm not totally wrong (pls correct me in this case), back in 1897 many believed that only women suffer from mental diseases - so Jonathan fearing to go mad etc. is pretty much a contrast to these believes.

"Something may occur which will give me a chance to escape."

I thinks it's poignant that Jonathan still hopes but isn't sure if there's still an opportunity for him. Despite everything he endures and is unwilling to give up.

"I know now the span of my life. God help me!"

When I read Dracula the first time, this line made me shudder and it still does.

I have been down to look at that room again in daylight, for I must know the truth. 

Even if today's entry was short, it was extremely concise in explaining the declining mental state that Jonathan is dealing with it, on top of taking a huge peek inside his dilemma in the castle.

It has been sadly established that Jonathan is suffering greatly thanks to the Count purposefully messing up his sleep schedule, and abruptly revealing all of the supernatural stuff he can do in situations in which Jonathan doubts his own mind.

Did he truly saw the Count go down in his lizard fashion, or the lack of sleep is getting to him? Did the three Weird Sisters actually existed, or that awful experience was just another nightmare? All of this is the result of Jonathan just trying to make sense of anything he sees as he jumps from his own shadow, and deals with nightmares. It's the expected result that Dracula wants to extend this obligatory play in which Jonathan can't get out alive.

However, even if today ends with a note of fearful realization, it was not in vain.

When I got to the doorway at the top of the stairs I found it closed. It had been so forcibly driven against the jamb that part of the woodwork was splintered. I could see that the bolt of the lock had not been shot, but the door is fastened from the inside.

How joyful is to find something, anything, that proves that such traumatic event did happen. That your mind is not playing games with you.

Oh yes, the feeling that you have to rely to the creeper who you loathe so much that you have come to hate even the rooms he resides in, that he's not the scariest thing in your life, that you have to run to his arms for safety. Horror! Dracula claiming him was the high point of the entry (than the almost-bite)

Honestly, yeah. The dynamics between Dracula and Jonathan are so scary, to the point that all the supernatural events are the cherry on top rather than the main course, as far as the horror of this section goes.

Dracula does so much manipulation here, holds so many different kinds of power over Jonathan, and multiple levels of each too. He's got physical power - both in the sense of the castle being a prison, and in the sense of his incredible strength. He's got social power - as a noble, and as a client/boss. He's got monetary power over Jonathan too, able to potentially make or ruin his career. He has so much control over Jonathan's ability to express himself - he's the only company available to him, he's forcing him to keep up a pretense of friendship, he's limiting and controlling his communication with others. Jonathan has no escape: he can't go out of the castle because he's locked in, he can't go many places inside the castle because he's locked out of them, and now he can't leave the rooms Dracula wants him in because otherwise the vampire ladies will get him, and within those rooms there is nowhere safe from Dracula himself. Jonathan has seemingly no action he can take: if he sneaks around behind Dracula's back, a greater threat awaits. If he acts openly, Dracula's own threat may become realized. If he doesn't act at all, he's doomed. If he acts at all, he's doomed. If he trusts Dracula, he's doomed. If he doesn't trust Dracula, he's doomed.

Of course, the supernatural elements are the mechanics by which Dracula increases the stakes, the threats underlying the charming veneer. Specifically, the introduction of the vampire women is what puts Jonathan in this seemingly inescapable box, and one with potential threats to something even greater than his life.

But Dracula's playing this Bluebeard role and could have done so with some more mundane threat as well, without changing too terribly much about his own actions. Where he's scariest (at least to me) is in these interactions with Jonathan, in these manipulative webs and traps he lays out in his words, in the way he pushes so many boundaries until they're forced to collapse or warp under the pressure. Jonathan's privacy keeps getting worn away. Dracula's speech and touch get more familiar and more possessive. He started out the first night blaming Jonathan for the things he did himself ('oh, why did you make your conversation so interesting we had to stay up all night?') and escalates until now he's making Jonathan be the one to act, and to suffer the consequences: whether in forcing him to lie to his loved ones, or in dangling the bait of sleeping outside his room and then only barely saving him when he does. And Jonathan has no real choice but to act. To fail to do so, in one way or another, would mean giving up all hope at escape or likely even survival. But because he has to act, he winds up feeling complicit. He ends up in situations where Dracula thanks him, forgives him, saves him. It keeps putting them on seemingly the same side, with Jonathan in a lesser/reliant role. And that's all a huge lie, at its core. But in a very real way, it's true too, to an extent. More and more, he's getting layers of resistance scraped away, and having to seek safety from Dracula now is so, so horrifying. In many ways all he truly has left is his will to live, his internal determination to resist - and now he's been given powerful incentive not to trust in that latter part too much. It's absolutely brutal.

He's walking a wire that just keeps getting thinner and thinner. All he can possibly do is try to keep this balancing act going, and hope for something to change that will give him more options down the line.

The Brides section of Dracula reminds me how I went to an immersive performance of Dracula where the brides were about to eat Jonathan and Dracula got pissed about it and the brides started saying they were hungry and pleading

So then Dracula said something like "Fine, you can have those two" and pointed to me & my friend, and the brides immediately lunged at us and let me tell you I nearly SHRIEKED THE HOUSE DOWN