#((i had a feeling he'd be okay; largely because van helsing is one of the most popular characters to come out of the story))

[vickyvicarious]

"opened it with much impressment—assumed, of course" van Helsing's unboxing video... no but really this line. He's actively trying so hard to appear cheery and lighthearted all the time for Lucy

awwww Lucy sounds SO cute when she thinks she is receiving a gift

"but not for you to play with." Um, van Helsing, people don't typically play with bouquets of flowers...

I fricken love whenever people describe Lucy having an animated face. The thoughtful wrinkles Art and Mina love. The sharp look she gave Jack when telling him to go to bed. Today's "wry look" and van Helsing telling her "you need not snub that so charming nose" - every time it feels like more of the true Lucy being expressed beyond the face she puts on for her mother/society at large.

But once again van Helsing is mischaracterizing Art by saying he wouldn't like to see Lucy's snub nose. I am one hundred percent confident he would specifically love that expression on her face. I wish he had not worded it in a way to make her feel guilty over the idea of upsetting Art with her appearance, because she's too prone to be worried about things like that (at least as regards her illness) already. I know he was joking but still

LUCY'S VOICE WITH LAUGHTER

"I never jest!" you filthy liar

No but really his sudden sternness is super telling. He's been actively trying so hard to be gentle and lighthearted and reassuring. But he is extremely stressed and his instructions have already been discarded once to disastrous effect. I don't know that Jack would have told him it was Lucy's idea, in which case he'd want to nip this in the bud all the more, or maybe it was just the pressure getting too much at the idea of another such dismissal. He's gone to a lot of effort to get these flowers and he may not be entirely sure that they will work yet but he wants to give the best chance possible, and at that laugh he loses his control for a moment

but again I hate that he guilts her. It's a good method to get Lucy to do something but she doesn't deserve it and I fear she'll take it to heart

anyways, Jack sounds so taken aback by vH's snapping too. "seeing poor Lucy scared, as she might well be" with such a sense of 'wow, professor' awkward silence

I love the rustly flower noises. And the window sounds! (someone fix that broken window)

"It all seemed.. grotesque to me" well that's a bit harsh Jack

"It is well we have no sceptic here, or he would say that you were working some spell to keep out an evil spirit." Jack says this line half like someone would say 'okay so this story happened to a friend of mine' when it was obviously them, and half like someone making a joke out of a suspicion specifically with the intent of being corrected and told that they're wrong

But instead van Helsing says "Perhaps I am", with ominous music and everything. Love the delivery, more than half to himself. and Jack, not getting the response he hoped for, falling into awkward silence rather than replying

Lucy's calm solemnity in her promise <3

The way Jack says "unshed tears..." is so good

#re: dracula #dracula daily #jack seward #van helsing #lucy westenra

[theheadlessgroom]

https://beatingheart-bride.tumblr.com/post/661212351392071680/beatingheart-bride-theheadlessgroom

@beatingheart-bride

“Lucy’s...dead...”

It had struck a chord with Randall, when he first read of Lucy’s taking ill, and how she continued to get worse, no matter what the others tried to do for him. Topics like that-of incurable illnesses and the pain that came from them-were uncomfortable to him, deeply so, getting under his skin in a way few horror-related things did. He hadn’t told Emily, but the whole plot of Lucy being ill, wasting away in a quiet agony, felt all too real to him, haunting him more than the Count ever could.

For a brief minute, as he sat there, he found himself back in the old apartment in New Orleans, sitting by his mother’s bedside as she lay there, sick with fever. He could see himself sitting on a stool by the bed, holding her hand as she tried to fight against the fever that would ultimately take her. It had been a hopeless fight, despite all he tried to do for her-even with the glimmers of hope he held onto during it all, they were all too fleeting as reality came crashing in.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in California with Emily, trying to swallow the bitter truth that Lucy was dead. His face had paled a little, his throat suddenly dry as he was seized by a quiet sadness, the pit in his stomach cold and unpleasant. He knew at heart that it was silly to get upset over a character in a book, but he still couldn’t help but shed a few tears for her.

But as he wiped them away, he wondered, ever so briefly: Were the tears for Lucy... …or for his mother?

He didn’t dwell on it too long as he quickly brushed away the errant tears, replying, “I...I was afraid she’d...she’d die. I didn’t want to believe it, but...I-I had a feeling she would.”

#((i was a little taken aback when quincey died! admittedly i wasn't sure who else might bite the dust during the back half of the novel)) #((lucy's dead; renfield got killed trying to save mina; it seemed like anyone could've gotten killed at that point!)) #((it defidently kept me on my toes worrying about who'd get it next! i was worried it would be jonathan)) #((i kinda thought maybe lucy's comment earlier about seward being a match for mina would wind up coming true)) #((that jonathan would die and she'd end up with him and i did admittedly worry for van helsing considering he's the oldest of the group)) #((i had a feeling he'd be okay; largely because van helsing is one of the most popular characters to come out of the story)) #((but i worried just the same! i didn't want anyone to die period but i had one more member of the gang would wind up dying)) #((and it wound up being quincey! he went out like a badass mind you but still it took me aback that he was the one to die!)) #((maybe it was so surprising because most adaptations kinda remove the subplot with lucy's suitors; not usually having all three)) #((and instead trading them out depending on the adaptation as well as cutting out the whole fight with dracula at the very end)) #((in favor of a different final confrontation so maybe that's why it was so surprising! what do you think?)) #outofhatboxes #beatingheart-bride #V:Sweethearts of the Silver Screen