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- This man belongs to me!
- —Dracula threatening the Weird Sisters - Bram Stoker
Harkula is the slash ship between Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula from the Dracula fandom.
Canon[]
Dracula - Bram Stoker[]
The story begins with four journal entries Jonathan wrote while on his way to Castle Dracula, Transylvania for a business trip. The first journal entry marked as third of May has him summarize his way there, even noting that Dracula gave him advice at which hotel Jonathan should stay, having given a letter to the lady working there, the letter addressing Jonathan as "my friend" and wishing him an enjoyable stay in his beautiful land. The next few days has Jonathan note many of the little things Dracula did for him to make his journey to Castle Dracula easier for him, however, he also notes how strangely the locales were acting, most of which acted like they were terrified for Jonathan's life.
Jonathan finally arrives at Castle Dracula on the night of the fifth of May, and is given a warm welcome by the Count himself. Though he notes a lot of strange things about the Count, his completely pale complexion (to the point where neither his skin, nor his clothing had any color), his very sharp canines, his impressive speed despite standing as still and firm as a statue and his insistence to do everything himself, explaining that his servants are currently absent. Though Jonathan was increasingly paranoid over the terrified behaviour of the locals and the increasingly strange sightings on his journey, the kindness and politeness of Dracula made him feel safe. Jonathan always entered the dining room with supper already prepared for him, but notes how strange it is that no servants are present and that he never saw Dracula eat a single bite since he arrived.
The following days, Jonathan gets increasingly suspicious of the Count. At first, he politely accepted his request to not look into any of the rooms that are locked and was quite charmed when he found out that Dracula learned perfect English through reading books he stored in his impressive library. He also accepted Dracula changing the subject to business matters, giving Dracula a full description of the house Jonathan had secured for him in London. But the day after that has Jonathan lose his trust in the Count, seeing him sneak up to him has despite Jonathan looking into a mirror, Jonathan seriously starts to doubt whether the Count is even human. The realization that he has nobody to talk to besides him slowly begins to drive him mad and he realizes that Dracula's doors are locked because the Count doesn't want him to leave. He also realizes that he had probably seen the Count before he even arrived at the Castle and that the Count talks about historical events as if he lived through them.
On the twelfth, Dracula told him to not send any personal letters, but Jonathan attempted to do so nonetheless. His suspicion that the Count wasn't human was confirmed when he saw him climb the wall of his castle face-down. He witnesses this multiple times, later the Count had stolen Jonathan's clothes to throw of suspicion.
On the sixteenth of May, Jonathan finally ignores the warnings of the Count and manages to enter one of the forbidden rooms. When he woke up in it, he was greeted by the sight of three lovely young-looking women, two had dark hair and resembled the Count in the shape of their noses and piercing almost red eyes contrasted by the moon. The third one was "as fair as can be", with long, golden hair and pale sapphire eyes. But when the fair one made advances towards him, looking very hungry, Jonathan could feel the Count's presence near him. When Jonathan dared open his eyes, he saw the Count grab the woman by the neck, his eyes blazing red. He then tossed her aside and using the same gesture Jonathan saw him use when he controlled the wolves, the Count chastised the women for coming near Jonathan, outright telling them that this man belongs to him and warns them not to meddle with him. The fair woman then just laughs, telling the Count that he never loves, but the Count retorts that he can love, promising them that they can kiss Jonathan all they want once the Count is "done with him". Jonathan pretended to be asleep for the majority of this, but he noticed they all disappeared from one moment to the next. Horrified, he fell unconscious. Jonathan notes that he woke up in his own room, believing that the Count must have carried him there. He also notes that the Count must've done his laundry and not noticed his journal, as he was still able to write in it.
For the rest of May and most of June, Jonathan is slowly driven mad by the thought that he had to know where the Count had disappeared into and is given instruction by the Count to write three pre-dated letters, the last one dates as June 29, Jonathan realizes that the Count had given him a literal deadline. Any further attempt for Jonathan to reach out or escape were foiled by the Count.
On the twenty-fifth of June, Jonathan notes that one of Dracula's post-dated letters had been sent, fearing the worst could happen should the third one arrive in London. He also notes how strange it is that he hadn't seen Dracula in daylight at all. He makes plans to try and enter Dracula's bedroom during day, no longer fearing death. He later risks the climb and finds the bedroom almost completely empty, but a staircase to a tunnel leading to darker secrets. In what appears to be the castle's basement, he found a row of boxes containing coffins. In the third of these was none other than Count Dracula himself, eyes wide open but unresponsive. Further examining him has him notice the look of hatred in Dracula's eyes, fearing the idea of waking him up so much that he ran right back into his own bedroom.
On the twenty-ninth of June, Jonathan notes that this was the day written on the third letter. Seeing the Count climb down wearing Jonathan's clothes yet again made him wish that he could just shoot him and get rid of him for good, but then he feared that no man-made weapon could kill him. The last time he saw him do that, the Weird Sisters appeared in the moonlight, so Jonathan took no risks and went into the library to distract himself before going to sleep. The Count found him there and told him that tomorrow, he ordered a carriage to take him home, but hopes that he will eventually come back. Doubting the Count's sincerity, he question why he couldn't leave today, a question which the Count quickly evades. Jonathan tells him that he would even walk home to get away from here. The Count reminds him of his baggage in a way that Jonathan knows is just trying to trick him again, but then admits that it would be cruel to make Jonathan wait for another hour if he doesn't want to stay, to the point where even Jonathan is almost convinced of his sincerity. Taking Jonathan to surprisingly unlocked door, he opens it to reveal a pack of wolves snarling their teeth at him and Jonathan fears the worst. He tells the Count to shut the door again, convinced that he will wait until morning. But when Jonathan returns to his bedroom, he hears the Count whispering that they shall wait until morning, hearing the trio of women laugh once more in their soulless manner.
On the thirtieth of June, Jonathan is fully convinced that whatever happens, this will be the last thing he will ever write in this journal. When morning arrives, he is surprised to find all the doors unlocked, except the entrance of the castle. Driven to desperation, Jonathan tries to sneak back into the Count's bedroom, steal the key and finally escape his clutches for good. Even if he dies, he would prefer that over being stuck in the castle forever. Trying to search the Count's body for the key, he is startled by the Count appearing younger than the last time he had seen him. He notices blood around his lips and draws his conclusions. Though it repulsed him to touch the Count, he had to find the key, to no avail. Noticing how the Count seems to be smiling in his sleep, Jonathan can't believe that he helped such a monster try and establish and empire in London. Overcome with a desire to kill the beast, Jonathan stopped when he saw the Count's eyes had moved towards him. Dracula's minions appear to take him to England, but Jonathan uses the opportunity to flee the Castle and take shelter at a convent, escaping the Weird Sisters in the process.
After being found by his fiancée Mina, whom he marries there and is taken back to London after recovering from his trauma, Jonathan sees Dracula in London and fears the worst. Indeed, Mina's best friend Lucy had succumbed to vampirism and had to be beheaded, so Jonathan joins forces with Lucy's three suitors and her doctor Abraham Van Helsing to track the Count down and put an end to his reign of terror. Jonathan's vendetta against the Count becomes a lot more personal when Mina insisted on coming along and gets attacked by the Count in the process, slowly she begins to turn as well. Harker is so enraged at the idea of losing her that he would sent Dracula to hell personally, even if he had to sacrifice himself to do so.
Jonathan's experiences with Dracula and the Count making him familiar with his plans prove very useful in tracking him down. Eventually, the group finds Dracula's coffin being transported by his minions, with Jonathan beheading him by slashing his throat with a knife. With Dracula gone, Mina's vampirism is cured and she and Jonathan have a son whom they name Quincey, in honor of Quincey Morris, the man who put a knife through Dracula's heart, sacrificing his life in the process. When Quincey Harker turned seven, Jonathan took him, Mina and the surving three of their party back to Castle Dracula, for old times' sake. The group does plan to tell Quincey about Dracula when he's older.
Fanon[]
Harkula had always been the most popular ship for the book. It took until the release of Dracula Daily for the ship to get mainstream attention, with many being amazed at how homoerotic Dracula's interactions with Jonathan are through the modern lens. Most of which is read from Dracula going the extra mile to make sure that Jonathan feels welcome at his castle, with many preferring to ignore the parts of the story where Dracula's obsession with keeping Jonathan at the castle turns genuinely abusive. Many even question why adaptations went for DracMina when the potential of a gay vampire romance was right there.
Some have expressed a wish that Harkula would go down the same path as Hollstein, with an adaptation being released that changes the context of Dracula's interest in Jonathan to be more wholesome and "fluffy", with some referring to the as "the Carmillafication of Dracula". Oftentimes, Harkula is shipped alongside LuMina, with some even going further and having all three of Lucy's suitors date each other to drive the "Everyone is happy" sentiment home.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Dracula/Jonathan tag on AO3
[]
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| Dracula Ships • Dracula Characters | |||
| SHIPS | het | DracMina • JonMina | |
| slash | Harkula | ||
| femslash | LuMina | ||
| poly | Dracula Polycule | ||
| CHARACTERS | male | Dracula | |