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#the first scene of inhumans was...scarring for someone my age
wandringaesthetic · 6 months
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OVERTHINKING 30 SECONDS OF ALUCARD CASTLEVANIA:
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I deliberately spoiled myself for whether he would be showing up before I started watching because I didn't want to disappoint myself if he didn't. So I saw this screenshot out of context and was like "no, put him back." He looks a bit too smooth and cherubic. Doll-like and a bit too feminine.
In context it's not so bad, in profile the change isn't so drastic and I think it's more that they have him exceedingly pale and that flattens out all of his shading than that they changed his facial shape much. Some of this is also just the slight difference in art style. Lines are lighter and more sketchy here and we don't have as much dark dark shading.
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I expected that he would probably have white/gray hair a la Symphony of the Night and he does. A lot of the Ayame Kojima artwork he looks more pale blond but I most people playing the game interpret that sprite as having gray or white hair.
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Also like Symphony of the Night, he's got a cravat. All laced up to the chin versus loose, low necked shirt or walking shirtless scene in Series 1
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I always guessed that they had his first appearance like this to confirm beyond a doubt that the long haired pretty person was male so foreign language markets wouldn't be tempted to change his gender. And also I guess let's show off that scar.
ANYWAY. I always interpreted Alucard's silvery SotN hair as an expression of age/weariness/grief. He's canonically been taking a dirt nap for a while, right? An expression of the fact (?) that he hasn't been feeding. Homeboy is anemic.
By the way, it's never really made clear in Castlevania the animation whether Alucard needs to drink blood. I always assumed that he did at least sometimes. In part, because of this:
He has a confidence here that says to me that this is not the first time he has lunged after someone's throat.
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Also it looks like the coffin apparatus he rises out of when he's introduced is feeding him blood somehow.
[He also eats food obviously, from his foraging and cooking montages in S3. my fanon interpretation of this is that he needs some of both but not as much blood as a full vampire would need and not as much food as a full human would need. He can survive a long time (probably a very very long time) without either but he'd suffer for it]
Some Castlevania vampires have more inhuman features than others. I'm speculating on this being more true the more old/powerful the vampire. Drolta's black sclera, Dracula's ridiculous height, Olrox's glowing eyes, etc. So the white/silver hair (and the 'is he glowing or is he REALLY white' complexion) might be an expression of Alucard aging and coming into his powers. Because a lot of our Castlevastle vampires are paper white but not all.
Him being laced to the chin versus tits out implies a more closed personality. Maturity, perhaps. Less emotional and sexual availability.
(In the first season he just woke up so you can't blame him for not wearing a shirt. In season 4 the shirtlessness is a Choice.)
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I would say "please, someone fuck this man" but we all know how that went.
IIRC, in games canon he went immediately to sleep after Castlevania III and then didn't wake up until Symphony of the Night. This implies some self hatred and maybe depression. Feeling like you're something that shouldn't exist but being unable to easily self terminate and/or sticking around just in case you need to fight a monster worse than you.
Animated Alucard doesn't seem to have that level of self hatred. In series 1, he seems to identify more as a vampire than as a human (his comment about being less than excited about the Belmont hold because it's a museum dedicated to the extermination of his people) and doesn't seem to think that existing as a vampire is wrong in and of itself. In fact he seems to have some pride in vampires as preservers of knowledge even after the events of season 2. ALSO, his relationship with his father seems more positive in the animation than in the games. In the animation, he loves and respects his father up until the point he decides to exterminate all humans. In the games it seems like that father son relationship was more fraught and possibly more distant.
HOWEVER. If his kill count really is in the thousands, that makes me believe that not only has he been awake most of the last 300 years, he's spent most of that time killing vampires and that he may have started killing vampires generally rather than just those making problems. Even if he hasn't come to the conclusion of "all vampires must die and then when I have finished my grim work I shall die too" if he has been hunting and killing vampires for SO LONG he has to have started seeing them, and the parts of himself that are like them, as the problem.
I don't love that kind of moral absolutism, but. In Castlevania we have (correct me if I'm wrong) two morally ambiguous vampires (Dracula and Olrox) and the rest are evil. Castlevania the animation seems to not come down on the side that vampires are soulless monsters, but the overwhelming majority are evil. I think it would go against the series core to argue that vampires aren't people or can't be good people, or that you get one choice and that determines your whole life and impact on the world going forward (how Christian of you--also, a lot of them didn't get a choice!) But the fact remains that vampires have a strong incentive to view human beings as not really being people.
Alucard MIGHT be choosing to abstain from blood and that MIGHT be why he's so pale he glows. Drink your juice, Alucard. Take care of yourself.
I don't love the idea of Alucard being so self hating because I love him and I want what's best for him, but I have to admit that this kind of self hatred is what makes Symphony of the Night Alucard and most notable dhampir characters compelling. A monster fighting worse monsters. A cursed, bastard existence that nonetheless gives you great power. Choosing to do good even though you yourself are damned. Being constantly on the verge of a fall, of awful temptation, of becoming the thing you hunt. Fighting for a world that has no place for you in it.
LASTLY. As a Trephacard shipper. In animation canon he probably AT LEAST stayed awake for more or less a human lifetime. With Sypha and Trevor, in whatever capacity. Undeniably, he loved them. But there are ways that might contribute to the self hatred. It would have distanced him from the vampire part of his identity. I keep thinking of the fact that Trevor corrects Alucard ONCE when he refers to Dracula as "my father" and Alucard refers to him as "Dracula" for the rest of the series. I keep thinking about him staring at the cabinet of vampire skulls in the Belmont hold and Trevor and Sypha both seeming to not really notice. It would be tempting to minimize or fight against that part of his identity. He might feel like he has no place with them if he doesn't.
(AND THAT'S NOT EVEN GETTING INTO THE FACT THAT DRAC IS ALIVE NOW. I have no idea how they're going to choose to deal with that, but I have trouble imagining Alucard and Dracula having a positive relationship going forward. That might even contribute to Alucard feeling like he had to choose.)
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misterewrites · 3 years
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Inhuman Interrogation (Welcome to the Underground!)
Hello everyone! E here hoping you are all safe and sound! Here’s the next chapter of the Underground!  A special thank you to everyone who reads my stories. I know they’re not everyone’s speed and I get wordy but I really do appreciate it! I really hope you are having some fun with it. Okay stay safe, sound, keep your loved ones safe, wash your hands, wear masks and get yourself vaccinated, push for vaccines worldwide. Here's the next chapter, enjoy! Feel free to leave likes, tell your friends, reblog and leave feedback I love it all! have a good week and I'll see you later! E is out byeeeeee!
If you want an easier way to read my story here’s the newest chapter at ao3
https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/79942294
Curious what this about? Here’s the first chapter
https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/68094967
Want an overview of my works, you can find me right over here! Fun fact I do, on a occasion, write stuff for fandoms! Shocking I know :D
https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42
Summary: Oliver's been caught red handed and there's only one thing to do: Claw and lie his way out of the situation. However, the bard might be a little over his head from this stranger who watches all.
-----
Oliver could feel a chill run down his spine, fear gripping him tightly as he scrambled to keep himself calm. Being found out was always a possibility he’d calculated in his plans, he just hadn’t wanted to deal with it tonight. Well you know what they say: When life gives you lemons, squirt lemon juice in life’s eyes and run like hell.
He’d been caught so the next step was to determine by who.
Oliver blew cool air onto his face as he pivoted around to see which person had been acute enough to catch onto his antics.
He had been expected to looking at an unhappy Lea with his sword drawn.
What found waiting for him was worse.
It was good looking man though Oliver couldn’t hazard a guess to his age. His hair was short wispy dark brown like the color of copper. His face was scratched by dozens of tiny whites line, healed scars that somehow did not detract away from his handsomeness. He wore a plain white tunic with black leggings, a large bronze hued cape hung over his unusually thin frame. The most striking feature were his golden eyes. Not golden in shade but actual gold, metallic shimmering and shining like metal caught in the glow of the sun.
He was a sight to behold, perfection made flesh and blessed by the gods.
And Oliver knew he was utterly and terribly inhuman. He was not a mortal being for no human could ever been so perfect.
The Stranger tilted his head quizzically, his eyes dilated into pupil-less orbs.
“You” He spoke in a raspy, low voice “You’ve been busy.”
Oliver coughed, trying to get his dry throat working again.
The Stranger took a step closer, his gaze unflinching “Yes, very busy.”
Oliver chuckled nervously “I haven’t the slightest clue what you mean increasingly creepy man. If you excuse me.”
As Oliver turned to leave, his blood turned cold when the stranger harshly whispered, his words booming in Oliver’s ears.
“How’s Death I wonder? He’s an old friend for you, right?”
Oliver whirled around, fist clenched but the Stranger hadn’t taken a step forward. In fact he had taken a step away, furthering the distance between them.
Oliver gulped nervously, trying his best to stop his racing heart.
“And you” he murmured quietly, trying to hold onto his fleeting courage “Smell of it.”
It was true: Even this far away, Oliver could smell the stench of decay, of death and blood wafting off the Stranger as if he’d come straight from a bloody battle.
The Stranger made no indication he heard Oliver’s comment, just stared with golden eyes unblinking.
Oliver let out a tense breath before closing his eyes. He centered his will, he reached out into the universe and drew in the power of his magic.
He could hear the scrawling of a pen across the scratchy surface of parchment, the squishy wet sounds of paint drying, the tuning of a lute among excited laughter and cheers.
‘I need to escape.’ Oliver spoke in his mind.
Knowledge filled his mind: Spells and their uses. The hand gestures necessary to tug at the weave to make his will, his need a reality.
An unknown force guided his hand, raising it high and surging with magical power. Oliver’s eyes snapped open with a fierce determination. He took a deep breath, his fingers at the ready as he prepared to recite the incantation.
“I…” Oliver began when the Stranger struck. There was a blink and there was the stranger in front of him, his hand wrapped tightly around Oliver’s wrist.
“So.” the Stranger spoke in an oddly smooth voice “You ready to tell me what you were doing squirreling about?”
Oliver was strained against the Stranger but his grip was as strong as iron. Unless he could complete the hand gestures and motions along with the incantation, the spell was incomplete and he was as helpless as a kitten in Stranger’s grasp.
Oliver grimaced in pain “Now you’re remembering to be human? No creepy staring or awkward conversations about death?”
“Sorry, sometimes my lady speaks through me. I am her will incarnate on this plane.” The Stranger gave a sheepish grin
Oliver smiled uneasily “Right mysterious lady sure. That’s totally normal. How about you let me go and I won’t take the psychotic act personally?”
“But it is personal.” The Stranger’s smirk widen, his teeth too sharp to be mortal “You’re up to something and I’d like to know what.”
‘Great.’ Oliver thought to himself, his eyes darting about for a sign of assistance: a cloaked figure nearby fidgeted awkwardly but ultimately did nothing, a few nobles conveniently glanced the opposite direction of their altercation. Even the guards were nowhere in sight. Whoever this person was, he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.
Oliver pursed his lips, his mind desperately grasping at ideas to escape this situation.
“Party planner” Oliver offered helpfully “My job is to keep track of everything, make sure the party is moving smoothly and ensure there is no issues. You know how Mr. Brambleoak dislikes unnecessary distractions.”
The Stranger nodded in understanding “Party planner? That’s a good one. Feasible. If were I shade dumber, I might actually believe you. However…”
Oliver winced in pain as his grip tightened. The bard had been manhandled once or twice before but never this single handedly.
“Now” The Stranger’s golden eyes narrowed threateningly “Let’s try this one more time before you really anger my lady. What were you doing?”
Oliver opened his mouth.
“There you are!”
For one nerve wracking moment Oliver thought the Stranger had backup but he seemed just as confused as he was.
Maria cut in between two men gracefully and forced the Stranger to release his grip. He backed away as she linked herself arm in arm with Oliver.
“Sweetie!” She spoke with honeyed words, patting his arm lovingly “You ran off so quickly. I was worried I’d upset you.”
“Umm.” Oliver eyed the Stranger carefully, wary at any sudden movements “Sorry honey. This person thought I was someone he knew.”
Maria peered closer, getting a good look at the man.
The Stranger smiled cheekily “Fraid I got the wrong person.”
“You should really be careful, the guards here dislike any disturbance to the festivities.”
Almost as if magically summoned by her words, the guards began to approach with hands on their blades.
“Of course. Of course. Wouldn’t want trouble.” the Stranger bowed mockingly “Besides, I don’t think he’s the one I want.”
“That’s certainly ominous.” Oliver murmured under his breath.
Maria jabbed him with her elbow though her gaze never left the Stranger’s golden eyes.
“We should go.” Oliver offered helpfully “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
Maria beamed cheerfully “No worries, I was feeling a bit tired myself. Good night good sir.”
“Bye.”
“Good night miss” the Stranger tilted his head “Bard.”
Maria hurriedly dragged Oliver away.
“Thanks for the save.” Oliver said gratefully.
Maria blew a strain of hair from her face “You’re welcome.”
“Not mad about using you as a distraction?”
“Normally I would be” Maria admitted “But that little stunt you pull got the harpies off my back for the rest of night.”
Oliver chuckled “Basking in the admiration of their adoring fans?”
“You have no idea.” she replied wearily “I’m just happy for a moment of peace. So thank you for that.”
“You are welcome then.”
The two made their way outside and straight into quite the scene: a massive cheering crowd formed around a handful of people. Most of the combatants were faced down, sprawled across the cobbled streets though Oliver spotted two familiar faces standing tall and victorious over their fallen foes.
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?” Terri screamed into the roaring masses, arms flexed. Tyrell looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.
Oliver spotted Lea among the thundering crowd, his eyes alive with excitement and joy.
Terri caught Oliver’s eye and gave a proud smile. Oliver offered a subtle thumbs up as Maria led him away from the bank.
“I take it you can’t go far.” Maria stated simply.
“No” Oliver spoke honestly “I’m afraid my business is not yet concluded.”
“Is it alright if I stay with you for now?”
Oliver bit his lip nervously “Sure. Of course. I have a moment. Not curious about what I was up to?”
Maria gave a cheeky smirk “Naturally but I have a feeling secrecy is important here. Better to not ask than force you to lie to me."
“Thank you. I don’t like lying to you.”
The two stood side by side, arms intertwined together in a quiet comfortable near silence.
Maria smiled softly “You know my father used to warn me about my sentimentality for people. About they would use it against me.”
“People like me?”
She smirked mischievously as she puffed out her chest, speaking in a mocking tone “There will come poet whose weapon is his word. He will slay you with his tongue.”
Oliver snorted loudly, trying to hide his flushing skin “Oh lei oh lai oh lord?”
“Oh quiet you.” Maria scolded with a chuckle “Surprise you didn’t take the set up.”
“Too easy.”
“Should I be offend?”
“I mean those are pretty good lyrics” Oliver replied, hand high in surrender “Surprised they came out of your father’s bitter lips.”
“I suppose everyone has their moments. However rare.”
“I suppose so.”
Maria’s hazel eyes met Oliver’s brown, curious yet expecting “Do you remember what you said to me two months ago? At the last competition?”
“Umm…” Oliver scratched his chin thoughtfully “I say a lot of things. You need to be specific.”
“That my voice was utterly angelic?”
“Ah, I didn’t think you actually heard me.” Oliver’s cheeks blushed a bright red.
Maria giggled sweetly “Did you mean it? What you said inside?”
“Yes” Oliver answered without hesitation “You don’t need them. You would be amazing by yourself.”
Maria’s smile was sad. She sighed tiredly as she threw a glance towards the bank “My father won’t let me but you knew that, didn’t you?”
Oliver nodded in confirmation.
“I feel like I am a disappointment. A puppet controlled by a father who craves nothing but influence and status.”
“You’re not.”
“How do you know?”
Oliver shifted uneasily.
“That’s what I thought bard. Nice try though.”
Oliver caught sight of Flora and Sel making their way outside, signaling the others the mission was complete. Terri and Tyrell broke free from the fight circle and began making their way towards the rendezvous point.
Maria slipped her arm out of his “It is time I suppose.”
“Enjoy your night off.” Oliver took her hand in his own and softly kissed it. Maria flushed a pink hue but still curtsy in response.
Oliver turned to face her, his eyes gentle and understanding “You aren’t a disappointment.”
Maria rolled her eyes “You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not.” Oliver firmly stated.
Maria’s eyes stared quizzically into his “Certain, are you?”
Oliver cleared his throat “You aren’t a disappointment to me.”
“That’s sweet but I’m afraid I barely know you. Besides you’ve been a thorn in my father’s plans consistently. Technically, I shouldn’t be talking to you let alone assisting.”
Oliver gave an impish grin “Yet you are.”
“You are far too charming for your own good.” Maria frowned mockingly
“Nothing compared to you.”
“Sweet words are nothing without meaning beyond them bard.”
Oliver took a deep calming breath, struggling to get the words out before he lost his nerve “The boy who used to climb your fence still loves you.”
Maria’s eyes widen with confusion before realization dawned upon her hazel eyes “How did you…?”
but Oliver ran, bravery failing. He disappeared into the crowded streets without another word. He ducked and weaved through the people in case Maria decided to chase him though he doubt she would. Perhaps those words didn’t have the same weight as they once did. Oliver really did not want to stick around to find out. He shouldn’t have said anything but he’d never been good at keeping his mouth shut.
-----
It hadn’t taken long for Oliver to meet up with the rest of the crew. Everyone managed to gather in a nearby alley, their chatter excited and cheerful.
“Boss man!” Terri boomed, arms opened wide “WE DID IT! See the pile? Do I get results or do I get results?”
Oliver gave a weak chuckle “Yes you do. Remind me not to piss you off.”
“Damn straight.” Terri flexed unnecessarily once more. Flora gave a playful wink towards her girlfriend which turned Terri a lovely bright pink.
Tyrell looked haggard and sick “I never want to do that again. Ever.”
“You did amazingly Ty! You can be First Chair in no time if you keep this up!” Terri patted his back approvingly, Tyrell nearly went sprawling to the floor below.
Oliver gave a sharp whistle, grabbing the attention of everyone “We did great team and it was an honor to work with you. If you require my assistance, I’ll be in town for a few days at the Right Hook. Ask for Ollie.”
Terri slipped her hand into Flora’s “We won’t be in town much longer. We have business up north but we wish you well! Permission to leave?”
“Granted.” Oliver waved them off “No making out until you leave our sights.”
It was impossible to know who was a redder shade: Terri or Flora.
The pair bowed respectfully before taking their leave, Flora’s head resting lovingly on Terri’s shoulder. Oliver couldn’t help chuckle at Terri’s proud “And you didn’t poison anyone! Great work sweetheart!”
Oliver turned to the remaining two “Sel, destroy the paper and report back to the local Conductor. If there’s any more trouble come get me.”
Sel gave a single nod before disappearing into the crowded streets without another word.
“And me?” Tyrell whispered anxiously “What about me?”
“You.” Oliver stretched his neck, trying to relive the tension of the night “You’re gonna tell me how to get into the Clifftop Distract.”
“E-excuse me?”
Oliver waved his question off “Don’t even. I know you’re a noble born. Your clothes are way too nice to be a simple baker or blacksmith’s son. And barely frayed means you ran away from home recently.”
Tyrell glanced away, fidgeting nervously “You noticed?”
Oliver nodded.
“And you don’t care?”
“Not in the least” Oliver admitted honestly “You got into the Choir. That means you’re good in my book.”
“Thank you.” Tyrell smiled softly “I appreciate it. May I ask why you need to get into the Clifftop Distract?”
Oliver scratched the back of his neck sheepishly “Someone I know has business up there. Figured I might as well ask you to make our lives easier.”
“You’re a good friend.”
“I’m really not.” Oliver murmured quietly, unable to stare Tyrell in the eyes.
Tyrell shook his head is disagreement but didn’t press further “Every month they change the password. This month’s is Knightly Valor.”
“Knightly Valor, thank you.”
“No, thank you for not telling the others. May I go now?”
Oliver ruffled Tyrell’s hair playfully “Go on scamp.”
Tyrell bowed and with a skip in his step, made his way out of the alleyway.
Oliver stood there alone for a moment before turning towards the shadows.
“You gonna keep follow me or we’re finally going to talk?”
The figure did not break the silence of the night as they stepped out seemingly from darkness itself.
“You knew I was following you? Impressive given not many can sense my presence” the cloaked figured spoke. unable to keep the curiosity out of her voice.
“Mhm.” Oliver grunted “Ever since West End. You were in the bar the night Abigail and I hired Archie. I heard you moving about when we camped for the night, just down the tunnel out of sight. I assume you lost us when we went down the side tunnels and decided to stake out West Haven for us to pass through. You’ve been tailing me all night since I left the Right Hook.
The figure said nothing.
“That’s what I thought.” Oliver sighed tiredly “Alright, we gonna have a problem? I've had a long night and I've been threaten one times too many today.”
“No problem.” The figure muttered.
Oliver narrowed his eyes suspiciously “Then why show yourself?”
“You need to know my presence.”
Oliver sighed “You are being very cryptic.”
“Now you know how everyone else feels.”
Oliver smirked mockingly, unable to hide the sarcasm from his voice “Thanks, I hate it!”
“Be careful bard.” the figured glanced about, worried “Something is coming.”
“Nice and vague, thanks for the tip ninja.”
The figure shifted uncomfortably but remained silent.
“Fine, go on then if you're not gonna be any more helpful.” Oliver shook his head before closing his eyes. When he opened them, the figure was gone, upped and vanished into nothingness.
Oliver ran his hand through hair tiredly as he began making his way back to the Right Hook.
“And I still have to climb two stories. Fucking hell, what a night.”
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inessencedevided · 4 years
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The Untamed, episode 43 - watching notes
The sun is setting on this show for me and I'm not ready to say goodbye yet 😔
(As if I will! Ha. Imma blog about nothing else the next ... probably years)
Last time on Sophie watches the untamed: We're still in the restricted section. The twin love-struck idiots of lan and wwx found the Collection of turmoil and suspect Jin Guangyao of intentionally bringing about Nie Mingjue's qui deviation.
As much as I love the "hihi. Wwx is wearing his boyfriend's underrobe" aspect of this, I also like the visual incorporation of lwj's colour scheme into wwx's clothes. (Not just through the undertone, his black tone also has slight grey seam.) It's as if now that they are finally fully committed to each other, wwx is displaying it for all the world to see
Jin Guangyao tore out a page to hide the evidence. That's not how to do that!!!
My heart is breaking for Lan Xichen. He looks like a man standing on a train track and watching the light speed towards him in horror while he's unable to move away
Feels like exactly no one on this show is getting their happy ending
*thinks about yi city and cries forever*😭😭😭
"Wangji, Jin Guangyao,in my eyes, is a totally different person from how you and other people see him." And we all know that lwj knows exactly what that's like
PARALLELS! 😭
(Sorry, I have a thing for those)
And lwj looks so pained
Thinking about it, it's now the man lwj loves against the man lxc loves (in whatever way. I still ship them. Not sure if its "canonically" romantic though). They can't both be right, so ... one of them is going to get their heart broken
Great, first the Yunmeng brothers, now the lan brothers are breaking my heart 🥺
Lwj says he's visiting "Grand Master", that's Lan Qiren right? What happened to him anyway? Haven't seen him in ages
I love how, even though it is wwx's word against jgy's right now, lan Xichen is still genuinely kind towards wwx
The whipping scars! I hadn't even thought about those anymore 😳
I'm probably going to get my heart ripped out soon, but before that
"You are not qualified to talk to me."
Sickest. Burn. Ever.
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Also, no disrespect to the actor, but that's a backpfeifengesicht if I've ever seen one
(Backpfeifengesicht: "German compound word for a 'face that should be slapped'. Ex:. When GWB smirks on TV, my German friend Uwe tells me that he sees a 'Backpfeifengesicht'." Urban dictionary)
He went to burial mount after wwx was killed??? 🥺🥺🥺
I've noticed something with lwj. When he's distressed, he won't look people in the eye or not even at their faces, just in their very general direction. To me it seems like he almost... can't? Any thoughts on that? Cause I'm intrigued but I can't think about it too much right now cause I'm already writing half an essay in this commentary again 😅
Oh fuck YOU Jiggy!!!
Holy shit ... holy shit
Lan Wangji 🥺🥺🥺
He fought against everyone?
This is how he showed his grieve???
He went to the place wei Wuxian had called home and ... what? Protected or ot so they wouldn't desecrate it? To search for him? To ... what?
Oh god, Wangji! 😭
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That image... I'm speechless. It's so powerful
He's half-mad with grieve and kneeling in the ruins of his dead loves home, having fought himself to exhaustion and I'm... not okay 😭😭😭
He had to repent for THREE YEARS??
Oh no, you don't
Holy ...
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Holy shit
How can my heart break and be so full at the same time 💔🥺
Lan Wangji ... my love
I'm ... so proud of him and yet so sad
Here he is at his lowest, finally standing up to the orthodoxy he knows to be wrong
This is inhumane 😳
The corporal punishment of the lan sect always was but THIS
Fuck them
Or Lan Qiren specifically
That's his nephew. How can he even look at himself?
"Eradicate evil. Establish laws. Than goodness will be everlasting."
IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING EASY!!!
WHAT EVEN IS "GOODNESS"? WHOSE VERSION OF GOODNESS? DEVINE EVIL! HOW FAR REACHING INTO THE PRIVATE SVERE SHOULD THUSE LAWS BE? DOES IT STOP AT "DON'T STEAL FROM PEOPLE OR AT "DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE AT DINNER"?
what I'm saying is: there are about 200 ethical question ls being raised by this rule alone!
And now lan Wangji had 3 tears to contemplate them
Wwx asking "why would he bother ...?" BECAUSE YOU ARE LOVED YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!!
Ohhh! We're getting their parents' story 😱
Oh this IS a Lan episode 💙
So another Lan falling quickly and never looking back?
I'm sensing a pattern here 🤨
Wait what?
Let me get this straight:
Their father loved a woman who DID NOT love him back and then killed one of his teachers
(And I hope we find out why. That sounds like there is a REALLY interesting story there)
Then he takes her to cloud recess and DESPIT HER NOT LOVING HIM, marries her, fathers two children with her (um... how voluntary was that????) locks her up (as punishment for the murder?) then locks HIMSELF up and then fucks of and leaves his children with their uncle
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What kind of disaster human being was their dad????
Did he do the right thing WHEN HE MARRIED AND PROBABLY RAPED A WOMAN WHO DIDN'T LOVE HIM???
NO!!!
The fuck kinda question is that ??
If you have to marry her against her will and then lock her up, guess what? That's not love, that's wanting to possess someone
I hope that maybe the connotation is different in the og Chinese,but I'm not holding out much hope
That explains why Qiren is such a lovely character through 😒
But god, my heart breaks for lwj and lxc :'(
Little Lan Wangji!!! 🥺🥺🥺
Oh darling ...
Oh no ...
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Look at him look at his crooked little headband😭😭😭
He went there every month!!!
Oh Wangji 💔💔
Stubborn, steadfast, loving Wangji!
That seals it. I KNEW why he was my favourite character
He isn't so passive all the time, because he feels too little! He feels entirely too much!!! 😭😭😭
And that explains why lwj was so worried about wwx's demonic cultivation harming him!!! 😭
Oh god, it was such an old hurt for him. I had no idea 🥺🥺🥺
All of these characters need a therapist
Lxc playing the flute to what ... deal with his emotions? Express his grieve? Remeber their mother? (And god, do I want to know more about her!!) Either way, It's making me tear up 😥
"It's so difficult to determine others personalities depending on our perspective." Welcome to the human condition, my friend 💙
And that's love
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I ... wish I could show you my face right now
I'm smiling through tears right now
It's so utterly beautiful
He looks so vulnerable here! With his hair (almost) down
And given what we've just learned, that's remarkable!!!
He closed himself off became the immovable stone-faced second Jade of Lan and yet, somehow, wwx wormed his way into his heart and sure, both of them needed to overcome a lot, but here they are, vulnerable and open,not letting their parent's fate decide theirs
I'm... *sniff*
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I can never get enough of lwj with his hair like this!!
It's so domestic, so soft
And look at his face! 😭
And mister "alcohol is prohibited" is now serving it 😭
Oh my god this scene is so beautiful
I'm speechless
Was the second flute Jin Guangyao as well?
At this point I'm just expecting more plot-twists
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He looks so young! 🥺
Both of them are exhibiting so much growth in this episode!! Wwx realising that the fact that the cultivation world had always looked for a scapegoat and that he himself was just the most convenient target, that it's not to any personal failing of his, that's HUGE!
And I'm so proud of him :')
Lwj starting to play in the distance :')
This is so utterly peaceful
My heart is bursting 😭😭😭
The music, the scenery ...
Also, both thinking they have a clean conscious!!! 😭😭😭
Again, it's them holding the same morals that's important! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!
(But wwx still cannot drink like a normal person :D)
The contrast to lxc sitting alone couldn't be starker 😔
Wait, why are there puppets at burial mounds again?
Are we going back to burial mounds? I'm weirdly excited 😅
Aaand Jin Guangyao just proved to them that he's lying. Poor Xichen
Yup, I'm pretty sure his heart just snapped in half
Little Apple!!! I've missed him 😁
Gosh, they're laying it on thick with the domestic husband bliss this episode and I'm here for it.
I love lwj's soft smile when he looks at bunnies so much!! 🥰
Bunnies, bunnies everywhere
It's the invasion of the bunnies
Who ever is the show runner *banging pots and pans together* IT'S GAY!! cab you all hear me? These two love each other! It's G - A - Y!!! Gay!!!
Probably
Lwj's shocked look when wwx says that he's not popular with little animals, as if to say "how dare they!" :D
Holy shit ... HOW MANY SCENES CAN THEY INCLUDE IN THIS EPISODE THAT MAKE THEM LOOK SO GODDAMN MARRIED???
Is wwx sitting side saddle?
Wwx plays wangxian :')
He finally remembers how lwj recognized him :')
Sneaky, show, very sneaky :D
Wwx about to casually steal some melons, lwj *wordlessly takes out money* ^^
MIANMIAN!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!
I'd given up hope that we'd see her again!!!
I'm so happy I could burst!!!
Lwj's little exasperated head-shake before he stands up from crouching behind some hay 😂
Aww, look at her family! 😍😍😍
She build her own live :')
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And look at this badass woman protecting the ones she loves!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME WEI WUXIAN??? You don't remember her???
You better remember my wife!!!
Aaand another freeze frame. But I'm willing to forgive it because THIS EPISODE WAS SO GODDAMN BRILLIANT!
It made me realise why I was so drawn to lan Wangji as a character. Of course he is mu favourite character! He ticks every single box
Let me explain. My favourite characters almost always share the following characteristics: seems either cold and distant or ethereal and aloof, as if they are above such puny human things like feelings™️(bonus if they're actually not human and their argument is "I'm [insert species]. We can't feel [insert emotion they are definetly feeling very strongly]"). then, over the course of the story, we (along with they themselves because they were in denial) discover that it's not that they feel too little, they feel entirely too much. They're a sea of emotions so deep that the surface is calm, but don't you dare be near them when the storm is coming because all hell will break loose. (extra bonus point if that storm involves them rebelling against the oppressive society they were born into and adhered to until then because they realise their consciousness won't allow it any longer.) afterwards they realise that making themselves vulnerable once in a while is actually a good thing and they proceed to fuck the Rebel™️ who they've secretly been in love with the entire time, a feeling they only now allow themselves to act on
The last part sadly isn't always canon, but who has ever had time for that?
You know what this episode made me realise most of all? The Lan sect are just as human as the rest of them. In fact, they seem to be especially prone to acting rashly on strong emotions. (I don't remember the exact story, but didn't the founder of the Lan sect also have some kind of tragic love story?) It should be obvious, but the impression you get is that they are so detached from their wants, so rigorous and disciplined in their righteousness, that they are almost super-human. But no. Thise 3000 and some rules? They weren't born out of some enlightened mind that had the secret of live figures out, they're a crutch. Abiding by them without question rids one of responsibility to make even the tiniest moral choice for oneself. But that won't work because a) they're bounty to contradict each other at some point and b) that's not how human beings work. They're messy and unpredictable and beautifully complicated. The way Lan Qiren choses to apply them, he completely disregards that. At that point, the rules aren't there anymore to grant a harmonious society, but simply for their own sake. (Or maybe as a wall to hide behind)
@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose
I think this liveblog has been the longest so far. I'm sorry for going on so many tangents, but lwj's backstory hit me really hard. I hope you guys weren't too bored 💚
(I also apologise for the mountains of typos that probably accumulated in this post. I'm too tired to check.)
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annaadamsauthor713 · 4 years
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What We Do in the Shadows Movie Review
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Opening Thoughts
I am so excited to get to return to doing Movie Reviews! I wanted to start off with my most favorite vampire movie of all time; What We Do in the Shadows. This movie is, in my humble opinion, the overall best vampire movie ever made, and I will fill this post with my arguments for this.
Watching Thoughts (Spoiler Alert!)
Such detailed sets and costumes. Lots of love with into this. The first reason this is the overall best vampire movie is because so many different types of vampires are represented, meaning it doesn’t matter what kind of vampires you like, there’s a character in there for every vampire fan. Relate-able. I also have an extreme aversion to dishes. ‘Vampires don’t do Dishes’ is a new motto of mine. Vlad is definitely the most quotable vampire. So many hilarious lines like ‘I was known as Vladislav the Poker.’ I LOVE the opening music in this. Another great thing I love about this movie is the human emotion these vampires seem to explode with. Ah yes, gotta have the sweet vampire x human love story for those romance lovers. Perfectly punctuated with an awkward trumpet. Something that people like to try to hide is the fact that vampires are awkward. By removing all humor, most vampire movies come off as waaaay too hoity-toity. This movie doesn’t take itself so seriously that they can’t make us laugh and enjoy the story they are telling us. They also make fun of the trope that vampirism makes you immediately a hunk or babe. A Trope which I think is a damaging thing. It keeps vampires boring and gate-kept. Where’s my cleft lip vampires? My midget vampires? Vampires with acne scars? Vampires who aren’t the hottest hottie hot who ever hotted hot? What We Do in the Shadows doesn’t have a glass ceiling saying who can and can’ be a part of the hellish legions. I would like a more in-depth look into the media of this universe. If they can find a vampire feeding on a man in the street, what is daily life for humans like there other than needing door-men to keep vampires out of the bar? Why are humans still in town? Does the vampire hunter that comes in later get paid? Is that is day job? And is Anne Rice a vampire in this universe? (Jackie named her daughter Akasha so we have to assume Anne Rice was still famous but was she still human?????) Ah, pedo hunter. That is one of the jobs I would love to have if I was a vampire. Clean up those streets! How does Jackie’s hubby feel about his wife having a master? Viago is a wonderful vampire but I find his method of finding prey to be the creepiest of the flat-mates. He reminds me of the boys who would pretend to like you while they orchestrated how to get you in bed. Every moment had a motive, and no matter what you said about your wants or needs, he’s going to take what he wants. Especially in modern times, vampires are a way to hide our sexuality in fiction, and the manipulative undertones of the romantic vampire did not escape my notice. Peter moves so smoothly through the window all I can imagine is him being pushed on a skateboard to get that silhouette. Which makes me laugh every time. The dinner scene is my favorite. Absolutely hilarious notes on virginity, mispronunciation of spaghetti, a great and blatant theft from the Lost Boys, and some really great special effects. By far the funniest scene in the movie. Not to mention, it runs into the best dance sequence of all time lol. Deacon and I would be best buds. As you may end up noticing in my novels, I am HERE for vampire turning scenes. I love how different it is for every story and even every vampire. Such a personal and extreme experience. I love it. When I was a kid I loved the idea that vampires can fly, but now that I am an adult I can only accept it if vampirism is a magical infection, not a scientific one. Luckily, these vampires can do all kinds of magic tricks so it’s fine and doesn’t bother me. Stew tickles me pink. He’s so confused. What would a modern vampire story be without the dance club? Sad and without dancing, that’s what. What is the point of living forever if you don’t truly enjoy the arts? I like the idea that the arts move vampires differently than people because it is the only way they can truly connect to humans, and their eternal lives allow them to have deeper layers of emotions that are stroked by artistic immersion. We even get a little vampires vs werewolf action for those who like that enemy dynamic (even though vampires and werewolves are rooted in the exact same myths, let them keep imagining this fight. Says a lot about the nature of humans to fight the self.) If a lion can be friends with a gazelle when not starving, so can a vampire be friends with a person, and I am here for it. Go Stew. Deacon and Nick are so similar in the root of who they are. Deacon is jealous of Nick and Nick is jealous of Stew. Deacon is just older and more careful. I would be a terrible vampire. People already grow up too fast around me while I sit in my house in dark rooms lol. My human pets would die left and right while I just kinda lost sense of time. Enter the other reason this movie is so good. Up until now it has been very funny with a few moments of gore and questionable morality. But now we get to see some sadness, which no vampire movie should be without. This movie balances humor with some gut wrenching scenes, like here where Nick can’t eat his favorite food anymore. They take a funny puking scene and make it sad and relate-able. The romance of vampires is stripped in this movie and they are shown for us for what they truly are or can be if we just let them; complex, strange, sat monsters that can hold our secret human feelings. Vampires help us explore humanity, sexuality, and mortality. They are our fears and our desires. They are us. Death is what all vampires truly embody. Our fear of death and the inevitability of it. Our desire to live forever no matter the cost, and the horrid truth that no matter how long you live, the sun will find you one day. The head blur was a good and simple trick to simulate turning a head 180 degrees. Even the vampires reacting to a house visit from the police is relate-able. ‘You will not notice anything out of the ordinary,’ she said under her breath, scooting the bong under the couch with her foot. They are very good at softening very sad scenes with humor, and toning down funny scenes with sadness, another thing many vampire movies struggle to do. I would have loved a little promo pamphlet of Wellington Vampire Laws. I would have read that shit out of that. We all have our Beasts, lol. I love that the ball is held in just some rental hall like a regular ol wedding or something. Not in a cemetery or an old gothic hall. Nope, there’s finger sandwiches and banners. I wish they would have touched on the fact that they treat witches as inhuman? I wanna know more. Again, vampires embody our fear of death, which includes our fear of age. It is inevitable, that as you age, you will outlive your friends, or they will outlive you. No one escapes without losing someone. Vampires allow us to face and figure out that fear a little bit (hopefully) before it happens to us and our loved ones. Loss is universal. No vampire movie could contend for overall best without exploring loss and how it deeply effects our lives. And we can’t feel loss without first feeling love. Loss and love are at the heart of what a vampire needs to touch our hearts. Without it they are just monsters. But a perfect movie wouldn’t end on a sour or somber note, in my opinion, and What We Do in the Shadows delivers a lovely and light-hearted wrap-up to the best vampire movie ever made.  
Closing Thoughts
It doesn’t matter what kind of vampire fan you are, whether you’re an Anne Rice fan, only like pre-1900’s vamps, a fan of the vamp vs wolf stories, or a twi-hard, you have something for you in this movie. If you like romance, or the chase, or drama, or comedy, you have something for you here. If you like theater art or music, this movie has lots of special effects, acting tricks, and amazing music. It explores deep themes while never losing the pace of humor. It has adult jokes but not so many you couldn’t show it to your mom. And the credits aren’t boring, filled with more scenes and great jams. Leave a comment, reblog, or send me an ask and tell me; what do you think is overall the best vampire movie ever made. Do you agree with me or do you have something else in mind?
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alstanfordart · 4 years
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Surprise
Story under cut. Usual warnings.
"C'mon, get these," Liam orders as he tosses a bundle of white taper candles and holders at Josh, who fumbles as he catches them. "These will have to do. I ain't driving down to Bangor now. And these are the only ones they got."
They were in the candles and fragrance section of Rite-Aid. Standing beside them is Josh's younger sister Christie, decked out in a dark green crop top, denim jacket and skirt, chewing loudly on Skittles candies she boldly ripped open in front of a store employee sweeping the floor. The gangly young man had simply shrugged and kept moving along the aisle, pushing the wrinkled scraps of wrappers and dirt crumbs along the stained and scratched cream tiles.
It was Halloween night, and everyone else was out trick or treating or partying, so the store was almost empty.
"Shouldn't we use black candles? That's what they usually use, right?" Christie pipes up, tucking a tendril of wavy blonde behind her ear.
"They don't have them here, and I don't think we need them." Josh replies as a spiked-haired young man with a septum piercing and cartoonish-looking tattoos emerges from the snacks aisle with three bags of pretzels piled high in his arms.
"Someone's gettin' high tonight." Liam mutters, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his leather jacket as they watch the young man pay the cashier and exit.
"Hey where's Lucas?" Josh queries. "Thought he was coming?"
"Stuck at his girlfriend's. She goes to church and all that and thinks we're all a bunch of heathens." Liam grins, his neck-length greasy hair tumbling over his dark sunken eyes as he continues to scan the shelf, before blowing a sigh throw his nostrils.
"Hope he don't make that uptight bitch my sister-in-law. Would hate to see her every fucking holiday," he pauses. "Yeah, we're done here." he announces as he gives a quick flick of his hand, scarred with cigarette burns, motioning for Josh and Christie to follow him.
As a song by New Kids On The Block starts blaring over the store speakers, Liam sends a taunting grin at Christie as he begins a comical flailing of his limbs in the aisle, weaving his lanky frame, trying to mimic the dance moves of the boy banders.
"Hey, I'm Joey McIntyre. Ain't you into them Christie?" he says as he starts to snap his fingers as he does a shuffle up to her. With a disgusted visage, Christie sticks her palm out, blocking him from coming closer.
"God no," she says, her face looking as if she'd just taken a whiff of the worst-smelling garbage imaginable. "Fucking Greta Keene listens to that shit. Not me."
Greta had taken to hanging out front of Derry Middle School, waiting for Christie, and along with Sally Mueller, started chucking rolled up paper balls, juice boxes and empty soda cans at her as she passed by. She'd been a target since she'd walked in on them tormenting a girl named Beverly Marsh and promptly cussed them out. They then began targeting her. It had become a ritual at this point.
Liam halts his dancing, his mien dropping to a more serious one. "C'mon man." he says, sniffling loudly, running his left index along the thin black mustache that aged him at least ten years. He didn't look like a young man of eighteen, but rather a thirty year old you might see working Derry's seedy bar scene. Compared to Josh's more boyish, youthful appearance with his short dirty blonde hair, stonewashed jeans and Derry High School jacket, they made an odd match in terms of friends.
The young cashier looks nervous as the three approach, with Liam digging into the back pocket of his trousers, presenting some wrinkled up dollar bills and loose change.
"Hey, got money tonight man," Liam gives a leering grin to the cashier, whose cheeks are now flushed a light pink. He nods rapidly as he quickly takes the money from Liam, snatching it from his palm as if worried he might contract a disease by touch.
"See ya'," Liam continues his lurid grinning as he makes a finger gun with his hand, pointing it at the timid cashier, clicking his tongue. "Later dude."
After all three pile into Liam's red Pontiac Firebird, Josh tosses the plastic bag of candles into the backseat beside Christie. As they cruise along Kansas Street. Josh snaps on the radio, with Liam loudly belting out the lyrics as Josh cranks up the volume.
"You're motoring, what's your price for flight, in finding mister right, you'll be alright tonight!" he sings in an deep, exaggerated intonation, sending glances back at Christie over his shoulder. She loudly groans as she slinks down against the backseat.
"Why do you always have to be such a dick?" she sighs as she gazes out at the street lights blurring past. She huffs, folding her arms as he continues his taunting crooning, turning in his seat to face her, placing a hand dramatically over his heart.
"Babe, you know, you're growing up so fast, and mama's worrying-"
"No she ain't." Christie sternly cuts in, pushing the plastic bag aside as she shuffles in her seat, kicking the empty beer cans along the tacky floor with the toe of her sneakers. The odor inside the car nauseating her with what she suspected was a combination of weed and vomit.
They pass by a bar with patrons loitering outside. She points.
"Ma is probably in there."
Their mother Melanie certainly wasn't worrying about anything or anyone other than her next lay.
"I hate that fucking song." she adds.
Liam abruptly stops his warbling as they come to a stop in front of their destination; 29 Neibolt Street.
"Ah, fuck yeah!" Liam hits the breaks and leaps out, making his way to the trunk. Throwing it open, he removes a large heavy item, wrapped in a grimey brown cloth, along with a couple of flashlights. Slamming the hood, he approaches Josh and Christie.
"Here it is. It's big enough. We're gonna do this, man. And it's gonna be fuckin' cool!" he exclaims excitedly as he pounces towards the front door of the run-down mansion, long rumored to be a haven for every tweaker in town.
As well as ghosts and the occasional Satanist-a crowd that Liam ran with. It was his idea to come to the most infamous house in Derry to perform a seance. They'd let Christie tag along for the ride.
As Josh duly follows. Christie pauses, holding the plastic bag of candles, staring up at the circular attic window. She remains there, her hazel disks focused on the tenebrous just within the foggy and cracked glass.
She gazes over at the police tape draped along the wrought iron fence that had been torn, a sign that others had trespassed along the property.
"What a shithole." she mumbles beneath her breath.
A pair of large hands violently shove her forward. She nearly falls over, catching herself against the wooden beam of the porch, feeling a pinch against her thumb as a splinter pricks her skin.
"Ow, shit." she gasps as she whirls around, certain that asshole Liam or Josh were pranking her.
But no one.
She quickly runs inside, trying to work the splinter from her flesh, a tear of red blood forms, pushing it out.
"Someone just pushed me," she says as she shuts the rickety old door behind her, trading her gaze between her brother and his friend, trying to decide who was the culprit. She drops the plastic bag to her feet as she snatches up a flashlight, shining it on her finger.
"Maybe it was the ghost!" Liam cackles, his jeering grin a hint that maybe it had been him. Christie glowers at him.
"It's not funny. Someone came up behind me-"
"You just tripped," Josh interjects dismissively. "We were both in here. Liam was with me."
"Yeah," Liam agrees as he switches on his flashlight, aiming it at his face. "I told, you it was the ghost. This place is haunted like a motherfucker. You know by that piano teacher."
"Edna Cotton?" Josh inquires.
"Yep, lived here around 1906," Liam continues, "She was banging Joseph Mueller. He wouldn't leave his wife. So, one day, she invited his wife here for tea- and the wife had no clue about the affair- and then she crept up behind her with an axe and pow!" he swings his arms as if holding an invisible weapon. "Blade went into the back of wifey's skull. They found Edna wondering the streets afterwards, covered in blood. They hanged her a week later. They had to do it quick, since they were afraid the Mueller wife's family and friends would get to her first. "
"Wow." Christie says, her arms scissored around her, feeling a stark chill suddenly pulse through her, goosebumps prickling along her skin. The mention of the Mueller name made her think of Sally.
She glances to the front door.
No, no ghost. Just Liam being a douchebag and tying to scare her. Maybe she did trip. Pushing it out of her mind, she moves to stand by Josh.
"Alright, let's do this," Liam positions himself before the cloaked item, yanking away the material to reveal a large oval-shaped mirror. He traces a callused fingertip along its golden frame. "Mirrors are portals. Gateways."
Josh snatches up the bag of candles and pulls out his lighter, igniting each and lining them up around the mirror. Christie lowers herself to sit on the icy floor.
"Think this will work huh?" Josh queries as he stares at his reflection. Liam nods, keeping his eyes glued to his own.
"Legend has it The Brotherhood of Nineteen used to hold seances here," Liam says. "They also used to do mirror gazing, trying to contact the dead. I read one of them went crazy after he stared at a mirror too long and his reflection morphed into something inhuman, a demonic pigman or something. Now close your eyes."
Liam starts to recite an incantation under his breath, but neither Josh nor Christie can decipher what he's saying. The room is quiet, dark, save for the soft light of the candles.
Christie decides to peek, opening her lids and watching, eyes widening as she sees a pitch black fog that resembles liquid start to spread along the mirror, drowning out their reflections. She inhales sharply at the unexpected sight.
The black fog quickly vanishes as she does so. Liam growls, "Hey what the fuck?"
"I saw something. In the mirror-"
"It was working? Dammit! Don't fuckin' talk! Shit!" Liam hisses as he gives her a murderous glare. Josh places a hand on Christie's shoulder.
"It's okay. Just keep them closed." he offers gently as Liam keeps his intense brown irises on her.
"Again." he states coldly as he turns back to face the mirror, and, once again, recites that indiscernible invocation. Christie keeps her lids squeezed shut. For a moment she heeds Liam's order. But something was telling her to open them again. A tension begins to envelope her tiny frame, her chest tightening, heart thumping against the tightness forming in her throat.
And she looks.
What she sees is not an inky fog cloud this time, but...a clown. Clear as day. His round face outlined by the golden of the candlelight. His pupils two flaming smooth yellow rings. His grin is trimmed in dark red stripes that cut across his white cheeks. The most startling thing of all are his teeth; sharp and pointy, like a demon out of the horror movies.
"Oh my God!" Christie shrieks as she scrambles away on her hands and knees, coming to a stop near the staircase.
"Fucking Hell!" Liam roars as he bolts up. "You can't take her anywhere! Fuck!"
"What is it?" Josh crawls over to his terrified sister, her gaze on the mirror, bottom lip trembling as she leans her weight against her palms. The weird clown face has vanished from the glass.
"There was something in the mirror. A face in the mirror. Like...a clown's face." Christie breathes, her voice dripping with panic, her chest heaving rapidly. Liam gives a disgusted scoff, his hands on his hips as he hangs his head, shaking it.
"Can't bring her anywhere," he grumbles. "A fucking clown? What the fuck even?"
Wham! Wham! Wham!
A pounding starts from beneath the floor. Continuous, growing louder. More ominous. Even Liam looks startled at this. Josh eyes the floorboards, eyebrows knotted as he wraps an arm around Christie.
"Sounds like it's coming from the basement." he offers.
"Gee, ya' think so huh?" Liam states sarcastically as he stares downwards for a fleeting moment before he grabs up a flashlight and storms towards the kitchen in the direction of the basement door. "Probably some fuckin' crackhead. If it is, they're going to get their ass beat. I'm not in the mood for this shit."
Josh follows, with Christie close behind, her finger clasping the hem of Josh's black and orange high school jacket. Liam and Josh both charge down the basement steps, flashlight beams searching along the dusty warped steps. They both pause halfway down to glance at the darkness, a runnel of moonlight is cutting through the cracked and stained basement window.
"Who the fuck is here man?" Liam shouts as he keeps the light pointedly on the well, holding his forearm against the lower half of his face to shield against the odor of rotting wood. There is no answer, only the aged pulley that dangles over the well entrance begins to squeak as it swings, ever so slightly.
"What is-" Josh begins before he's cut off by the basement door slamming. He and and Liam bolt back up the steps.
"Hey Christie, the fuck you doing? Open it," Josh pounds on the door. "Hey! Open!"
Then, in between flesh striking the wood, they hear it. A loud bubbling growl emitting from the dark of the basement corner. Josh halts his pounding as he and Liam both turn their attention on the well.
Rising up from beneath is a creature, humanoid in appearance, save for its face. Its features were only somewhat visible in the dim light of the room. The blue-white moonlight gleamed along the tusks protruding out from its snarled and twisted mouth. It gave another growl, a snarl mixed with a squeal.
Like a pig. Its eyes were like two burning balls above its snout, devoid of any pupils, pointedly on both of them. The odd ruby stripes down its cheeks distort as it continues to snarl.
"Shit, the fuck is that?" Josh manages, grabbing Liam's elbow. The young man remains frozen, seemingly hypnotized by the creature's blazing corneas. Josh violently shoves him aside to resume frantically banging on the door.
"Christie! Open it! There's something fuckin' in here man! Open it!" he shouts, not removing his sight from the pig-like monster. "Fuckin' open you little bitch!"
Suddenly, the beast is behind them, moving with lightning speed at the bottom of the steps. Liam screams as it yanks him down by the ankles, he flails backwards, landing with a loud thud and a groan.
The beast then speedily leaps up and tackles Josh, the front of his skull cracks against the door. He falls to the ground, with the beast's demonic swine features becoming more blurry as he's rendered barely conscious, he feels the bopping of his head along the steps as he is dragged down the stairs.
"Hello, goodbye." the monster growls before it tears into Josh's throat, with Liam still knocked cold beside him.
Outside the door, Christie is staring blankly at it, hearing nothing. Just a stark silence. Her mind is hollow. Numb.
Christie.
A maniacal giggle follows.
Christie.
Another giggle.
She slowly turns around, looking up to the second floor balcony. Without giving much thought to what she was doing, she saunters up the steps, still hearing a soft insidious giggling amid the creaks of her soles along the wood. She comes to a halt in front of an open door to a room filled with clown dolls.
In the corner is a dark-haired woman seated on a rocking chair, facing the stained glass windows. On her lap, one of the clown dolls wearing a yellow and blue outift, with orange pom poms down its front. Its large eyes were turned downwards, and for a fleeting moment, Christie could swear she sees it blink.
"He said he loved me." the woman offers quietly. Christie sucks in a deep breath, her mouth becoming dry, a thump thickens in her throat. Her heart races against her rib cage.
"Who?" Christie squeaks as the woman suddenly turns to look at her. Christie's heart now feels as if it could stop beating completely at the sight she sees.
The woman's face is but a half-skeleton, bits of flesh dangling from her chin, her eyelids non-existent, leaving her bloodshot eyeballs exposed like two small moons. Her irises like black holes. As she rises, the front of her dress comes into view, caked in dark dried blood.
"He said he wanted me!" she screams as she presents an axe, splattered with blood streaks. Christie screams hysterically, falling against the door as the woman comes at her. The giggling starts again, and Christie, to her utter shock and horror watches as the clown doll that was sitting on the woman's lap becomes animated, moving on its own. It painted features now drawn into an evil glare.
All the dolls in the room were moving, waving their hands and giggling. A chorus of laughter chases after Christie as she takes off down the hallway, the insane woman following behind. She can hear the axe cutting through the chilly air as the woman swings it at her, barely missing Christie's back.
She bounds down the stairs, almost stumbling, grasping the shoddy railing, cobwebs catching along her fingers. She runs to the front door, jiggling the handle, finding its stuck-or locked.
There's no time to comprehend which, the crazed woman is coming for her. Only now, she has red stripes down her cheeks along the rotted flesh and bone. Christie dodges the swinging axe, making a play back up the stairwell. Still in shock, she holds in another scream, concentrating on finding refuge, running inside a room with a large leather chair, desk with a single lamp that was aglow, vintage record player and coffee table.
Inside, after she has closed the door and locked it. She stands, tears coursing down her beet red cheeks, a headache throbbing through her skull. Her whole body is trembling uncontrollably as she sinks to the floor, holding her knees, rocking.
If she could get to Josh. Or even asshole Liam would do.
Somebody. Anybody.
She remains in the same position for a few minutes, sniffling, tense, as she keeps her attention on the door, until she hears a crackling sound as the old dusty record player begins to play;
'You're motoring, what's your price for flight, in finding mister right, you'll be alright tonight.'
When the verse plays a second time, the needle begins skipping, the phrase, "What's your price" repeating on a loop. Christie tightly covers her ears, tucking her head down.
"What's your price?" the man in the red truck asks Melanie, whose leaning against the door. They're in the driveway of Melanie's house, and it's just after midnight.
"Whatever you got-" Melanie says in between her loud gum chewing. The man then nods behind her.
"Hey, we got company." he mutters. Melanie turns to see Christie in her pale lavender nightgown, clutching her Raggedy Ann doll.
"Mommy...?"
"Get your ass back in bed!" Melanie roars as she stalks towards her, pushing her up the porch steps.
Christie darts up, screaming as she runs at the record player, knocking it to the ground, stomping the shiny black of the record, smashing and cracking it. She continues to angrily pummel it with her soles, kicking the pieces aside. Her fury does nothing to drown out the forest of giggles she hears as she does so.
"Who is there?" she asks forcefully, feeling a new strength come over her. Her anger, her fear, were now colliding, blending, erupting in a powerful adrenaline rush.
She was done with this crap.
"Who the fuck are you?! Where's my brother, you fuckers?!"
The voices quiet, hushing each other, trying to hold in their mocking cackling. The room is dark save for the tiny lamp, and the only thing she can make out are the feet of her assailants moving stealthily along the shadows of the corners of the room. Charily, they begin to present themselves, each clown doll stepping forward, each one different than the last, tall, short, inching out into the weak light. Their giggling starts up again.
"No," Christie gives a small shake of her head. "No, this isn't real. You're just a dream. You're the pizza and ice cream I gorged on last night. I must have fallen asleep in the car. Because this isn't real."
This instantly silences them. They all glance to each other, their worn and aged features almost looking...scared. Or worried.
"I wouldn't say that. You'll make him mad..." offers the one who was perched on the lap of the crazed woman with the axe.
She wasn't real either. Just a ghost. A junk food-induced hallucination.
Christie, the emotionally intelligent girl that she is, now decided to wield her new power.
"You're not real. You're not fucking real." she points a taunting finger. "You're just imaginary. Just stupid dolls. I'm not scared of fucking dolls!" she finishes, almost laughing as she brings her fingers up to her mouth.
The room then starts to rumble, like an earthquake. The dolls all clamor back to the shadows, seemingly disappearing into the ratted and torn wallpaper. One utters an audible, "Uh-oh," as they vanish from sight. Accompanying the thunderous shaking is a raspy roar, echoing around Christie as she runs to the room's door, flinging it open, instantly being met with the axe woman.
"You're not real!" Christie shouts defiantly, the woman shrinks back, lowering her axe. Christie takes the opportunity to then jump down the stairs, the edge of her sneaker catching on a piece of broken railing that is protruding from a step and tumbles, flying down the stairwell, landing at the bottom and rolling to the center of the living room. She remains there, until she opens her lids, feeling the warmth of the sun upon her color drained features. She gradually raises her head, before she pushes herself up and heads to the door. Stepping out in the brightness of daylight, embracing the warmth, she makes her way home, just a block away.
Standing in the bathroom of her bedroom, she observes her tired features.
It had been a dream. A very vivid one. But a dream nonetheless.
Josh and Liam had left her there clearly, not that Josh hadn't abandoned her before. He would normally not have done that, but Liam's influence was strong. Maybe when she passed out during that silly little seance Liam wanted to do. Or maybe in the car ride. But, didn't she see something? She could have sworn she did. In the mirror. Or was that part of the dream too?
Oh well. Whatever happened, she was home now. Josh would turn up sooner or later. He was probably off smoking weed with Liam.
Assholes. Both of them.
She switches on the tap, gently splashing her face with cold water. She opens the medicine cabinet to retrieve the aspirin. She shuts it, and in the reflection, standing right behind her are Josh and Liam. She screams as she takes in their bloody and chewed facial features, Liam grinning his mocking leering grin. Just as the aspirin bottle hits the floor, she jolts awake.
Awake. Cold. Head pounding as she lay on the floor of Neibolt at the bottom of the stairs. She groggily lifts her aching body up, moaning in pain, placing her palm to her forehead. She lets out a defeated whimper as she sits, gazing around as the oval mirror that still sat leaning against the wall begins to roll out in front of her. Christie gasps, keeping her eyes on it as it comes to a halt a few feet away from her. Her heavy breathing is audible as she stares at it.
The surface of the mirror begins to ripple, her reflection fading as a massive white gloved hand emerges from the watery silver, wiry fingers wiggling, deep, rasping chuckles drifting out along with it as the ruffled sleeve of the hand appears. Then a bulbous head topped with fiery orange tufts of hair. Christie's mouth is agape, her eyes bulged as she tries to inch away from Pennywise, who has now pulled his entire upper torso out of the mirror, bells jingling. Leaning on his fists, he grins, those familiar stripes distorting as he sneers,
"Time to float," he growls before his features darken. "You are scared now, aren't you?" he loudly sniffs the air. "Yes, you are. Real, delectable fear."
He crawls out a little further, his visage becoming more irate, saliva strings dangling from his lips. "What a shithole." he says, mimicking Christie's voice.
Crippled with fear, Christie begins to scoot away, a tearful grimace forming, her legs kicking along the floor, before Pennywise's hand shoots out, coiling around her ankle.
Christie shrieks as he drags her towards him as he retreats back into the mirror. With a flash of light, the surface is normal again, save for a few small orange electric bolts shivering along the glass.
As the mirror tips back over, the faint sounds of giggling begins, filling the rooms of the house.
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valkerymillenia · 4 years
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Umbrella Academy
season 2, episode 4
New episode, new post!
This was the other post I had written out that got accidently deleted so I'm writing it all again.
1993? And Lila was 4? TOO MUCH COINCIDENCE! I still stand by my theory that Lila is one of the 43.
Yes, she has a father but that could just be her mother's husband. It's just too coincidental that the show would make her exactly the same age as the Hargreeves for no reason.
Ah the red heels. Hi Handler. These heels are really pretty though, very wicked witch with the ruby slippers. Even that outfit kind of screams wicked witch meets Cruella de Vil 😏
Kill parents, adopt child. Interesting MO, Handler. Like an evil Bruce Wayne (does this make Handler Owlman? I know, I'm not funny).
Oh, Handler pulling a Reginald with Lila!
Except, you know, she actually gives Lila positive reinforcement and affection, unlike Reggie. But her training seems just as brutal and inhumane for a child (and possibly even more violent) as Reginald's...
It's curious and interesting, a nice foil. Handler succeeds where Reggie fails- creating a loyal and effective soldier will into adulthood- because she was willing to give the kid affection and compassion. Reggie saw himself as some sort of hero creating heros but he failed at the most basic and human thing that even the villain understood.
-The filmography in these training scenes is brilliant.
-Ah, that prom look is the same as half of my classmates when we graduated 🤣 down to the blue makeup.
I'm guessing Lila's "prom"/"graduation" was her first solo assassination?
Wait, Handler wants to protect Five...? What the hell is she up to now?
Talking about killing people like it's a fun hobby 🤨
Oh, so the Swedes are triplets? I suspected but I like the confirmation.
Oh, Handler is lying ~~~~ 🎶
She's definitely following her own agenda here and she's leading Lila into danger. The question is if she's going to undermine the Commission for revenge of if she wants to prove her ability to get promoted back into administrative ranks of the Commission.
Either way, this will not end well for Five.
Lila is going to end up having to choose between Diego and Handler, isn't she?
Five stays in the car to give Luther space... No matter what Five says he actually cares about his siblings' feelings, doesn't he? He's the most overprotective of them all and always has been. It's sweet.
Ah, Luther and Vanya bonding over Five being an asshole. ☺️
"very warm and cuddly father" 🤣
Of course Vanya figured out Five was sparing her feelings, because she's not dumb
Oh, thank you for the honesty, Luther! Gotta love that.
I'm actually really happy to see Luther owning up to his mistakes instead of trying to act like the flawless leader. I think he grew a lot after accepting that Reginald wasnt perfect and I'm glad to see that growth still happening as he learns how to be an independent person. I just hope his guilt doesn't turn into even more self-hatred.
"you had kind of a bad childhood" -understatement of the century, Luther!
Luther, you have pissed off the mobster, you moron. You're on big trouble now.
Dramatic wall punch! 🙄
"when you get angry shit blows up" 😂😂😂
"you're our sister and a member of the umbrella academy" - oh, now you want to include her? The irony of this is that it's the one thing Vanya wanted for the first 29 years of her life and if anyone had said it then, the apocalypse would probably have never happened.
🖕🙊🖕
"I wonder if it's too late to be un-adopted" -ah, you know you love them, Five
Honestly, Allison actually keeps her cool really well, if I went through that phone call I would have broken something.
Why the hell does Klaus want menudo first thing in the morning?? Ew...
Klaus butchering "the frog and the scorpion"... You were doing so well but ended up completely missing the point of that story, dummy.
Diego's stab wound is healing really quickly...
Wait, he's healing quickly and Allison doesn't have a neck scar... Plus Klaus is immortal... Hmm, I wonder if quick healing is an ability they all share? Though that would put Diego's scars (and maybe Ben's death) into perspective...
Does Diego wax his chest? Those pecs are real smooth for someone who spent over two months in a 60s mental institution. 😆
"we've all had the urge" 😂 and Diego's sarcastic laugh 🤣
Who's the 12th of the Magestic 12? Oh, I WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE??? Maybe a certain monocled asshole?
"Mamie pink" is Klaus's new nickname, I don't make the rules.
Klaus, you are freaking the boy out with all this new information...
Oh no, the homophobia 😡😡😡
You know what's more heartbreaking about this homophobic disaster? Dave is likely in the closet and this whole situation here and the hate his uncle is showing must be so painful to him, it would probably bury him even deeper in the closet...
Klaus... The punch... Oh, baby... 😢 Oh no, I'm going to cry 😭😭😭
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Is Raymond really implying that Allison is a spy? Damn...
Just tell him the truth, Allison! How do you marry a person without telling them something so big about yourself??
Oh, so Klaus has been sober for 3 years... Interesting.
No, Klaus! Don't start self-destructing again! 😢😢😢
It must be so painful for Ben to watch this and not be able to stop it...
Oh shoot, the cult found him.
"prophet"? "holy wanderer"? Interesting.
Poor Klaus just wants peace.
They seriously couldn't get a suit for Five too? Is he not allowed to wear anything else?
Five is onto Lila 🎶
Luther, are you stress eating? Well, at least you're not going on a bender again.
Awww, Luther- Allison reunion. Cute. Please don't make it weird.
Oh God, the awkward small talk is back 😩
I'm glad Luther is being so mature about this. I like this dynamic better.
"Vanya is on a farm. And happy" and Allison finds the happy part weird. Diego in the "nuthouse" and Allison doesn't find that weird at all, even does that 'yeah, ok makes sense' face. Klaus "cult leader" and Luther isn't surprised at all, that little "eh" was so funny.
Lord, this family is mess.
"Doomsday" *awkward chuckle* -you guys are getting way too used to this.
"Diego, try not to do anything too stupid" 😆 ah, brothers.
Lila in red heels, like mommy... 😏
Reggie taught them ballroom dancing? And Handler had the same idea?
Um.... Ok, so new theories! Do Handler and Reginald know each other? Could Reginald have been in the Commission? I'm going to be thinking about this for a while...
Just let the girl lead, Diego. Stop being a little bitch.
GRACE?!
So mom!Grace is either a cyborg or she was modeled after this woman... Makes curious about Reggie's relationship with this lady.
Diego going through the universal horror every kid goes through when realizing that mommy and daddy are "together". 🤣🤣🤣 "I can't picture it on my head. That's nasty"
She didn't tell him her name was Grace but apparently it is.
Am I the only one getting weird desperate and co-dependant vibes from Sissy?
Oh no! Save the baby!
Holy shit! HOLY SHIT! Vanya's powers are incredible! The special effects in this scene are unbelievable!
Save the child!
How did his lips get blue so quickly?
THE RETURN OF THE MAGIC ALIEN LIGHTS! AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Ok, I need to pause to gather my thoughts... Ok, things I hope don't happen-please don't magically "fix" the disabled boy, and please don't make the powers transferrable (that's just lazy writing, don't rehash "Misfits").
However, other than that I'm just very curious what those lights will do to Harlan. Will they just save his life? Will he gain powers? Will he have some weird connection to Vanya now? I'm dying to find out!
Anyway, back to the ep.
Baby boy is ok!
Luther, did you think pissing off the mobster would end well?
Elliot just starting up at Luther in awe and visibly fighting not to poke him. 😆
HELL NO, LUTHER! NO DRUGS! DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?? YOU GOT YOUR BROTHER KILLED!
Oh, Sissy... Poor woman.
There going to kiss, aren't they?
Melancholic music kicking in. Sad emotional talk. Sitting way too close. Yeah, they're going to kiss.
Aaaaaand there's the kiss! ☺️
But now I need to pause and digress again...
Yeah, Sissy's feelings for Vanya are not healthy at all. In fact they mirror Vanya's feelings for Leonard- she's unhappy with her life and clinging to the first person that gives her attention. She wants help, she wants to be rescued, she's touch and attention starved. She's co-dependant and emotionally manipulative.
I'm not saying Sissy is a bad person, she's not, she's a sad person stuck in an unhappy marriage, terrified of being abandoned (almost paranoid) and exhausted under a lot of pressure dealing with a disabled child. And then in comes Vanya, who is perfect with Harlan, so loving and kind and has nothing else to pour all her attention towards. Of course Sissy sees salvation in Vanya and is desperate to keep her.
I'm not saying Vanya and Sissy can't have a beautiful healthy relationship, they can, but not like this. Sissy is clinging too tight and using Vanya to make herself feel better and make her life easier. They both deserve better than that and I hope they get it.
I'm starting to think that all relationships in this season might be doomed to fail:
-Sissy and Vanya have a co-dependant and emotionally unhealthy infatuation and Sissy is married to a man that, while not great, still clearly loves her;
-Raymond and Allison have too many secrets between them that are causing a major rift, they can fix it but there's also the chance that Ray might not be able to accept the truth about her;
-Lila is a double agent using Diego to get close to Five, she seems to be developing feelings but the fact that she's lying about who she is and working for Handler is obviously toxic;
-Klaus is pining over a person that Dave has not yet become and while he only wants to save Dave's life, it's obvious there's too big an experience and culture gap between them for a relationship to flourish;
-Luther and Allison have become one-sided and less innocent and puppy-love than before, now it really is just creepy and unhealthy (whereas before it was understandable because they grew up together under an emotionally unavailable father and isolated from the real world, naturally they became attached and confused their feelings, their attachment wasn't healthy but it was justified and almost innocent... Not anymore though);
-we have no concrete proof yet, but it seems Ben MIGHT be pining over a girl that might not even see him, he's dead, it might be an interesting dynamic storywise, but it's not going to happen, it's unhealthy and unfair;
Some of these couples might still survive and become great, it's still really in the season after all, but they have a lot of growing to do before they get there.
Anyway.... Back to the episode.
Oh Klaus... Off the wagon...
Allison being a good sister and taking care of her brother. My heart ❤️
Luther, you idiot... Well, at least you're getting high in a safe environment.
Luther and Klaus are self-destructing, my poor boys.
"you are super weird" - Luther, you have no zero right to call anyone weird, have you looked in the mirror??
"the woman I love loves someone else" -the woman you love is. your. SISTER!
I really like poor Elliot, I hope nothing bad happens to him.
Jesus, that's creepy, Luther.
Didn't I say Reginald was the 12th? 😏
Roswell? Reggie probably has a vested interest in that.
Blink out of there, Five.
I love that Five's main move is always 'teleport onto their backs and go for the throat'.
Wait, why did Five's teleportation glitch???
The music!!!!
Wait, did Diego's aim just glitch too???
Could these power glitches be connected to Vanya's magic lights going into Harlan? Or could it be something about the Swedes? Or about Reginald's presence, seeing as he dodged Diego's power before? Hmm...
Oooh, Lila has to choose between Diego and her mission already? Interesting... Of course she chooses to save Five.
Badass Lila is amazing!
So she could have helped Diego after helping Five but instead she just walks away? Huh, unexpected.
Diego, you adrenaline junkie. Good moves though.
The ancient Greek is a surprise! I really want to know what Five said to Reginald!!! What did he say? I need to know!!!
Another great chapter!! Very emotional too!
I want more!!!
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rhomsfanfic · 5 years
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BnHA Vampire!AU
Here we go guys, with my own take on a Vampire!AU!!
Feel free to use for your own art/writing, but please link back to this post or @ me because I would love to see what you do with it and also for the original idea
It’s long, so click read more if you are interested! Also, frequent blood mentioning if you guys are sensitive to it, you might not want to read this!
Shouta Aizawa is still a relatively young but because of his human age and incredible body control, already a fully-grown vampire. Used to be a professor at an elite school before getting turned by Hizashi after being involved in a freak accident. Has never believed in the supernatural and even after his turning, refuses to see himself as a vampire. He does not like drinking blood, eventually starving himself for a long time - resulting in dark bags under his eyes and sometimes passing out from hunger - however, he does realize fully that it’s something he has to drink to survive and rather chooses to starve until the very last bit of his sanity vanishes. Is incredibly strict and grumpy, but makes for an amazing teacher if he’s willing. Even after decades being a vampire, he’s still the one that tries the most to go back to his human roots, only ever meeting rejection. He spends his nights reading if he can, always having dry eyes because the mansion is so dark and candles do not suffice as a light source for all the reading he does. If he isn’t reading, he’s most likely outside of the mansion, trying to find new books. The new life bores him extremely, which is why he urges for new knowledge
Hizashi Yamada is the third oldest of the adult vampires, differencing himself in how flashy he is. He wears colors that absolutely stand out even at night and he loves it when people point it out to him, only reassuring him in his choice of clothes. He makes the creature of the night name proud, always up to some form of shenanigans. Hizashi is the most likely to bring “fodder” into the mansion, having his fun before letting someone dispose of the body before he/she wakes up in the mansion the next morning. He can be found in night clubs and opium holes during the night, passed out in his room in the morning. Had absolutely no problem with becoming a vampire and even though he doesn’t hunt for fun - he won’t bite someone if it isn’t absolutely necessary -, is the most seductive and efficient of them all concerning humans. Incredibly loud and annoying but also a good teacher to the young vampires for everything concerning vampire-lessons. Used to be infatuated with Shouta when he was still a human because he was so serious and no fun, eventually turning him into a vampire when he got fatally wounded. He’s almost a century older than Shouta so he claims to not remember his life as a human, hiding the deep scars it left on him with his obnoxious personality
Toshinori Yagi is second oldest of the mansion and next to Lady Midnight the patriarch of the young vampires. Probably the calmest, modest and honest of all of them, even though he keeps secrets from not only the students but also the two adult vampires under him. He just doesn’t see the necessity to tell them certain things that are more than harmful to their living alongside humans, keeping these secrets to himself. Used to be a soldier, centuries ago. Fell in a war, but got resurrected accidentally by a vampire who used to feed off the dead. Got taken under the wing of said vampire and taught all the necessities by them. Follows their teachings to the point but also has since refrained from their old practice of feeding off the death out of his own morals. After living for so long, he still carries great empathy for humans and is the most sorry for drinking blood, but after the long time of being a vampire, he can’t be bothered with starving himself anymore. Spends most of his time teaching the little bats how to be a good vampire and life alongside humans and is the only one who can go outside by day if necessary - though he will eventually start coughing blood and die if he’s out too long - due to the fact that he can transform in a more humanly form at day, looking like an old, weak man, instead of a build soldier as he does by night. Only one to also advise drinking animal blood if there is no other option but staying undercover
Nemuri Kayama - or how she wants to be called: Lady Midnight - is the oldest vampire of the pack, the lady of the house, matriarch to everyone joining them and most of the ones that were turned into vampires, and first teacher to them all. She has lived so long. So incredibly long. Think about a long time, now think longer. Do never ask her for her age or your dead. After being a very primal and instinctive vampire for centuries, she eventually got back in touch with her human roots and chose to live alongside humans as peaceful as possible, giving up her monstrosities of behavior after that long time. She formed one of the few clans of vampires that do not choose the being superior to humans and is one of the main threats to them. Used to be something like royalty as a human and even after all the years still has the same graceful but suppressing aura as she had then. Though it’s only half of her, as sometimes her beastly behavior still shows in the way she talks and relentless she is in her thinking. Could go years without drinking blood without any consequences to her sanity, but drinks it for pleasure. No matter how much she puts into living peacefully next to humans, they still mostly are fodder for her. She is well-respected in human society and attends social events by night or teaches her ways to the little bats. Otherwise, one can find her in high-end clubs or in the mansion’s saloon, where she’ll gladly talk about stories she experienced or heard for hours. Very interesting and also sleep-inducing. Had a word in Shouta’s turning and though she didn’t turn him herself, is still considered to be his matriarch due to the fact she is Hizashi’s. Even though she is the oldest and highest ranking member of the pack, she still gave rights to Toshinori that enables him to have the same place in the hierarchy as her. They never fight and are very much in correspondence with each other, however, their main point in difference is their view on humans and it comes to fragile tension every now and then between them
Izuku Midoriya was a young student in the city’s university, always incredibly curious about the supernatural and considered a little odd for his fanatical researches. However, except for being dedicated to his researches, he was naive at the same time, running right into the vampire’s lair and witnessing something he shouldn’t have. Was turned by Toshinori as a precaution, even though the vampire felt very sorry for young Izuku to have to go through that process and the tragedy that comes with being of the supernatural kind. Relatively quickly adjusted to being a vampire, however, struggles with having to drink blood and his own hunger a lot. Is in a constant fight over his own desires and morals and has a hard time getting used to it like the other students. Very curious about vampires still after becoming one himself and spends most of his time learning more about it, next to being taught by the elders
Katsuki Bakugou was yet again another student curious about the supernatural, though not to the extent of Izuku. Comes from a more prestige family and loved making fun of Izuku for his interest, while keeping his own interest to himself, due to fearing that other people would find him odd too. Used to bully Izuku a lot and when he heard about the other boy going to inspect a so-called vampire lair, he made it his purpose to spook Izuku and make fun of him. Got unwillingly pulled into the whole disaster they had to witness and turned by Toshinori too so they wouldn’t tell on the vampires. After the transformation he’s even more aggressive towards Izuku, blaming him for the procedure they had to go through, though he finds his new strength and power quite alluring. Lady Midnight fears he’s the most likely to fall into the category of vampire that would cause harm to humans just because he thinks he’s better than them, so he’s kept under close watch. Surprisingly, even though he has bad habits and swears like a sailor all the time, he is still pretty respectful towards Toshinori and Shouta. Even though he seems to have quite the superiority complex, he still learns what he’s told and much like Izuku is an example vampire for the clan
GENERAL INFORMATION FOLLOWING
Overall there are two differences in vampires, 1.) the ones that want to live next to humans and with them, accepting their thirst and do drink the blood, mostly hiding it behind sexual play or by biting people who will not cause a scene. They have an undergroup of vampires who drink exclusively from animals and/or the dead. And 2.) the ones that see themselves superior to humans, hunting and killing them with their bites just for the fun or satisfaction of their needs. They are more inhuman than number 1 and can barely stand walking through crowds of humans without attacking them. They also look more like monsters than vampires in disguise, with larger fangs and claw-like fingers, due to their constant consumption of blood and hunting habits. Vampires with a strong will can turn away from being a monstrosity and turn back into a more human-like appearance, still keeping up their inhuman speed and strength. Vampires of type 2 are still capable of conversing like humans and think logical, but are driven by their instincts more and have less reasoning to hold back or overthink situations
Vampires can go a long time without drinking blood, but with every day they starve they lose a bit of sanity and could turn back into their inhuman form at any point. They only die when exposed to the sun too long - lurking in the shadows is an option - and/or are stabbed by a silver knife/hit by a silver bullet. Vampires and other supernatural beings are the only species capable of murdering another vampire with brute force, but it’s not common practice
Vampire bites do not kill - per se. They leave the characteristic marks on the victim's body but No. 1 Vampires do not drink enough to kill the victim or let them bleed out either, their salvia can close up the wounds. They are most likely to get their victim to faint before placing them back somewhere near the village where they can be found. The marks are quite troublesome as they signalizing a vampire’s presence, so they do their best to bite somewhere, where it won’t be noticed too much later on. No. 2 Vampire’s however, kill their victims by ripping out either limbs or biting through their throats which will leave the victim dying. Ultimately a way more efficient method of hiding their presence, but also much crueler and deathly.
Vampire can eat and drink whatever they want, but will be faced with tummy aches and other medical conditions if they overdo it. Some of the main cast prefers human drinks over blood, though it gives them nothing. Lady Midnight likes the taste of red wine, but can never get drunk. Shouta likes coffee but will not get a caffeine rush from it. They simply won’t gain any negative or positive effects of it, and their bodies cannot change except if they have a high intake of blood, since that will trigger the poison in their own blood to rise and turn them into the monster they are if not controlled by their will
Turning does not happen via biting someone, but through intake of the vampire’s DNA. Most efficient are nails or hair, also in form of powder in a drink. But saliva will do just as much, it just takes a whole lot of it to be intaken by the victim to be turned. It is not possible for a human to become a vampire by having sex with them, though the species cannot impregnate each other either. Vampires cannot have children and it’s uncommon to turn a child into a vampire as that is what it will be for the rest of its life. However - though very rare - a human can possibly be turned if a vampire were to lick a very deep wound of them, the vampire’s salvia having a chance to get into the body enough to let out the poison of their being that would turn the human. Dead bodies cannot be turned anymore, as the poison simply cannot circulate through them anymore. The likelihood of a victim of No. 2 Vampires to survive and turn is small, but not impossible and more likely than them surviving.
The main goal of the vampire clan under Lady Midnight is the hiding of what they are, while also protecting the territory she managed to achieve. In the eyes of other vampires, she owns a big university city, the forests next to it and the mansion inside the forest and their mission is to protect the humans in her territory from mostly No. 2 Vampires but also No. 1 who dare to set foot into it. That’s why the clan has patrols every night and even in the day (thanks to Toshinori and eventually maybe some other characters depending on where the AU leads)
It is set in medieval times so yay for carriages, old clothes, and chaise lounges
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ninja-muse · 6 years
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Urban Fantasy Recommendation Masterpost
This is a list of the urban fantasies I’ve enjoyed most over the years, split down a few lines and to be updated as I discover new series. I’m also including contemporary fantasies because the lines often blur. Hope you find something you like on it!
$ for LGBT characters £ for characters of colour € for characters with disabilities * for potentially problematic depictions of the above ! for #ownvoices (all based on my slightly spotty memory, so feel free to correct if I’ve missed something)
World-Focused
or stories that spend most of their time steeping you in the magical world
American Gods - Neil Gaiman £
Shadow Moon gets out of jail and is hired by the cagey Mr. Wednesday to … he’s not really clear, honestly, but it puts him in the path of people who may or may not be gods. Multiple mythologies.
Among Others - Jo Walton €!
A 1980s teen flees her troubled home in Wales to get to know her birth father and attend an English boarding school. Is her mother’s family able to work magic or is it just wishful thinking? Reading science fiction might give her the answers. British folklore and faeries, and a very interesting take on magic.
The Boggart - Susan Cooper
A Canadian family inherits a Scottish castle inhabited by a mischievous boggart—who then stows away and finds himself in Toronto. Scottish folklore.
The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell £
The life of a woman from teen-hood to old age as she lives her life and occasionally intersects with an ancient war between good and evil, fought with telepathy and other things that look a lot like magic.
The Changeling - Victor Lavalle £ !
After his infant son is violently attacked, Apollo Kagwa, used bookseller, descends into the hidden world of New York in search of his vanished wife.
The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - $ £ ! for race
New York City, newly alive, is being attacked, and six humans, no longer quite human, must do everything in their power to save their city.
the Dark is Rising series - Susan Cooper €*
A group of English kids—four siblings, a seventh son, and a boy who might be a reincarnated Arthur—versus the forces of darkness. Five books, only the last of which includes all the kids. Cornish and English folklores, Arthuriana.
Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips
The Greek pantheon now lives in North London and is as dysfunctional as ever. Artemis walks dogs. Aphrodite does phone sex. Apollo is a washed-out TV psychic who’s just fallen, via Eros, for the cleaning lady—who’s trying to date someone else, thank you very much. Greek mythology.
The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker £
A golem and a jinni both find themselves in turn-of-the-century New York, both literally and figuratively. A beautiful exploration of the immigrant experience, friendship, and identity. Jewish and Arabic folklore.
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
A mostly-good angel and mostly-wicked demon discover they’ve been training the wrong Antichrist days before the scheduled apocalypse. The real Antichrist wants a dog and to save the whales. Also features a legacy witch, a rookie witch-finder, the Four Horsemen, the Four Other Horsemen, Satanic nuns, and a Queen soundtrack. Christian mythology.
The Hunter’s Moon - O.R. Melling
A Canadian teen visiting her Irish cousin ends up mounting a cross-country road trip to retrieve her cousin who’s run off with the faeries. Irish mythology.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix $£
In the summer of 1983, Susan Arkshaw travels to London to find her birth father. What she discovers is a family of magical booksellers, and an Old World that’s very much alive.
Middlegame - Seanan McGuire
Roger and Dodger are exceptionally gifted, telepathically linked, and a little more than natural. James Reed will stop at nothing to use them, or people like them, to get ultimate power. Alchemy, time travel, and portal fantasies are involved.
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman £
Richard Mayhew has it all: a good job, a hot fiancée, a nice flat. Then he helps an apparently homeless girl with the power to create doors and is pulled into the magical community below London. Nothing will ever be the same.
Of Blood and Honey and And Blue Skies From Pain - Stina Leicht
It’s tough, living in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and Liam finds it harder than most. No one trusts him, he can’t find work, everyone wants him to choose a side, and to cap it off, he feels like a monster is inside him and knows something inhuman is stalking him and his. The war between the Fey and the Fallen is heating up, and the only people keeping peace are an order of priests—who also, surprise, want Liam’s help. Irish and Christian mythology.
The Sixth World series - Rebecca Roanhorse $£€ ! 
Maggie Hoskie is a Monsterslayer of Dinétah, but she’d rather not be. Even rescuing a kidnapped girl is supposed to be a one-shot deal. But the monster’s a new one, an apprentice medicine man’s attached himself to her, and Coyote’s around, so of course it’s not that simple. Navajo mythology.
Son of a Trickster - Eden Robinson £€ !
Jared’s life sucks. He’s sixteen, living in a crap house in a crap town with crap prospects. He’s paying his dad’s rent with weed money. His mom’s more interested in parties than holding down a job. His only friend’s a pit bull. And just when he thinks that’s as low as it gets, a raven shows up and say he’s Jared’s real dad. Heiltsuk (and other First Nations) mythology and folklore.
Sparrow Hill Road - Seanan McGuire
Rose Marshall, the Phantom Prom Date, the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road, hitches her way from coast to coast while dealing with paranormal problems and route witches—and avoiding Bobby Cross, the immortal who killed her.
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Rae is a baker. Tough and practical and smart, but a baker. Who’s just rescued herself and a vampire from captivity using magic she’d half-forgotten she had. Unfortunately, the master vampire’s still after them, the magical police know something’s up, and she just wants to keep being normal. Includes mild, realistic PTSD and a whole lot of delicious desserts.
An Unkindness of Magicians - Kat Howard
The Turning has started in New York and every magician in the city has their own reason for entering the tournament—power, status, acknowledgement, revenge, revolution. The high stakes would be enough for anyone, but it’s starting to look like there’s something suddenly wrong with magic, too.
Witches of Ash and Ruin - E. Latimer - $ £ € *
Dayna wants to be a witch, live her life, and block her OCD thoughts so she doesn’t have to deal with them. Then scary but gorgeous Meiner and her coven roll into town prophesying Bad Things, and a serial killer reappears who seems to target witches and shit. Meet. Fan. Themes of family and abuse.
Ysabel - Guy Gavriel Kay
Ned Marriner’s tagging along with his photographer dad to Provence when he begins to notice magic awakening around him. There’s an ancient love triangle that‘s repeated throughout history, using contemporary locals as proxies—and it’s very interested in Ned, his new friend Kate, and his father’s entourage.
Mystery-Focused
or stories that spend most of their time solving a magical crime
The Arcadia Project series - Mishell Baker $£€ !
Millie’s nearly broke, scarred, a double amputee, mentally ill, and Done with all the BS around that. She’s also despairing of ever resuming her directing career, so when a mysterious woman offers her a job with her temp agency, she’s intrigued. What wasn’t mentioned? She’ll actually be an immigration agent working with the Fae of Hollywood, and one of them’s just gone missing.
the Blood series - Tanya Huff $£€
Vicky Nelson is the pinnacle of the tough, no-nonsense PI—which poses a bit of a problem when she’s hired to catch a “vampire” on the streets of Toronto and then actually meets one. (He writes romance novels.)
the Felix Castor series - Mike Carey $*
Felix Castor is an exorcist. A hard-drinking, down-at-the-heels exorcist in a London brimming with ghosts and demons. Unfortunately, he never seems to get the easy cases where he can just waltz in and play a tune—and his past mistakes might be coming back to haunt him.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently solves mysteries by wandering around, getting into strange situations, and then connecting dots no one believes even exist. Like time traveling robots and Romantic poets, or rampaging eagles and mold-ridden refrigerators.
The Grendel Affair - Lisa Shearin £
Makenna Fraser is a seer working for Supernatural Protection and Investigations in New York. “Seer” meaning she can spot the ghoulies and ghosties few people can, including her coworkers. When an off-the-books gnome removal turns into a blood-soaked crime scene, she and her partner are handed the case—but will her eagerness to prove herself just land her in hotter water?
the Greta Helsing series - Vivian Shaw $£
Dr. Greta Helsing serves the undead of London. Her best friends are vampires and demons. The boundaries between worlds are thinning, causing all manner of metaphysical trouble. Plays with 1800s horror classics; equal parts sensible, disturbing, and funny.
the Greywalker series - Kat Richardson $£
Harper Blaine prides herself on rationality and unflappability, but after briefly dying on a case, she’s suddenly wrong-footed and seeing ghosts everywhere. In the middle of all that, she’s hired by a mysterious voice to track down an organ that’s more than it seems, and suddenly haunted street corners are the least of her problems.
the Incryptid series - Seanan McGuire $£
Meet the Price family, a close-knit group of cryptozoologists whose mission is to protect and preserve endangered cryptids like dragons, gorgons, and the religious Aeslin mice from humans. They’re also hiding from the Covenant of St. George, a.k.a. why the cryptids are endangered in the first place. Technically paranormal romance.
the Iron Druid series - Kevin Hearne £
Atticus O’Sullivan is a herbalist and seller of New Age paraphernalia by day, two-thousand-year-old druid by night. He thought moving to Arizona would keep him safe from gods bent on revenge. He thought wrong. Multiple mythologies.
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge - Paul Krueger $£€ !
Bailey Chen is fresh out of business school, broke, and living with her parents. When a childhood friend offers her a job as a barback, she takes it as a stopgap—but then she discovers the secret cabal of bartenders who fight demons using magical cocktails and after that, there’s no looking back.
Moonshine - Alaya Johnson £
Zephyr Hollis, a charity worker and ESL teacher in 1920s New York, and therefore flat broke, takes a side job from a student, Amir, without asking questions. But will the vampire mob, the drug-crazed vamps, Amir’s literal smoking hotness, or her family history do her in first?
Night Owls - Lauren M. Roy $
Valerie is a vampire with a successful campus bookstore. Elly grew up fighting monsters and fearing for her life. When their paths collide via a book in Elly’s keeping, they must unite to prevent said monsters from unleashing hell and then some.
the October Daye series - Seanan McGuire $£€
Toby Daye wants sleep, coffee, and for everyone to leave her alone already—not necessarily in that order. Unfortunately, as a changeling Knight and PI with a knack of finding people and solving problems with maximum chaos, none of those things will ever be easy to come by. Multiple folklores.
the Olympus Bound series - Jordanna Max Brodsky $£
Selene di Silva’s been keeping her head down for a long time, shutting herself off not just from New York, but from the world. (Being a former goddess will do that.) But then she stumbles on the body of a woman who’s been ritually sacrificed and her past as Artemis comes rising up again. Greek and Roman mythology
the Rivers of London series - Ben Aaronovitch $£€
When Constable Peter Grant meets a ghost at a crime scene, it’s only logical for him to take a witness statement. When DCI Thomas Nightingale learns of this, he offers him a job as an auror the sorcerer’s apprentice a valued member of a magically-focused police unit. London, its river goddesses, various magic workers, assorted Fae, and the Metropolitan Police will never be the same.
the Shadow Police series - Paul Cornell $£
Following the mysterious death of a suspect, four Metropolitan Police officers are drawn into London’s sinister magical underworld in their hunt for a killer.
the Smoke series - Tanya Huff $*£
Tony Foster’s found his footing as a PA on a Vancouver-shot vampire show. Unfortunately, the paranormal weirdness that is his life continues and it’s somehow up to him to save the day.
Unholy Ghosts (and following) - Stacia Kane £*
Chess Putnam works as a Church exorcist, partly out of obligation and partly for the pay, which goes to fuel her drug addiction. Unfortunately, no ghosts are nice ghosts and her private life keeps intruding on her cases.
the Watch novels - Terry Pratchett
Ankh-Morpork is the citiest of fantasy cities. Its City Watch is a bunch of misfits. Sam Vimes isn’t putting up with any nonsense. Somehow, they fight crime.
Zoo City - Lauren Beukes £
Zinzi December is a con artist and occasional finder of lost things who lives in the Johannesburg slums with her sloth familiar. Her latest case? Find a pair of missing teen pop stars—before the apparent assassins do.
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dc-x-readers · 7 years
Text
Robin Replacement (Dick Grayson x Reader)
Request: Are you still taking requests. If so can you please do something like reader and Jason Todd used to date but after his death she moved on to Dick but once seeing Jason again reader just runs to him and kisses him??
A/N: Didn’t do what you wanted at all. Cause I think you wanted reader to end back up with Jason… but??? felt like cheating?
Trigger Warnings: Abuse, Violenace, Night Terrors, Mentions of Death
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“Jason!” You screamed, as another hit to the torso came.
The Joker had him, the Joker was beating your boyfriend to death. All you could do was watch in horror, scream every time a connection was made with his the crowbar came. It was awful to watch. Jason sweat slicked hair stuck to his face, and his body a map of bruises and scars. The crimson blood leaked from many bashes and cuts, staining the concrete floor russet. He still wore his Robin uniform, even though it was merely tattered shreds at this point.
Tears streamed from Jason’s eyes, and his hand reached out for something you couldn’t see. You wanted to comfort him, to say it would be okay, but you knew it wouldn’t.
Another hit came.
Jason coughed blood, tears streaming down his face.
You screamed.
Suddenly a hand was on your shoulder, and you realised that you were safe, in bed, far away from the horrors of Jason Todd’s finals moments.
Dick’s warm hand was on your shoulder, trying to comfort you after such a nightmare. You felt awful, sometimes when you were with Dick it felt like you were using him, you knew you really loved the man after about six months of dating, but sometimes you still worried that you saw him as a replacement, a trade in for the boyfriend you lost.
“It’s okay.” Dick whispered into your shoulder, pulling you into a tight embrace. His hand rubbing soothing circles down your back was warm, and safe, and you wanted to cry into him forever, “It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re safe. I love you.” Dick continued to murmur.
You sobbed for a half hour, and Dick waited patiently as you cried yourself out, this in itself was a miracle, because Dick never wanted to sit still saying nothing. He was always going off a mile a minute about his newest thing.
“It was about Jason wasn’t it?” Dick asked in a quiet tone after your sobs had subsided and you were left a shivering hiccuping mess.
“Dick, we don’t have to talk about it.” You whispered, voice hoarse from crying, head pounding from the nightmare.
“He was your first love.” Dick countered. You and Dick had a very open relationship, he talked to you about his relationships with both Kori and Barbara. Yet you usually stayed quiet about this particular subject. You never wanted to speak about Jason, not with Dick anyway.
“He was your brother.” You countered.
No one wanted to hear about the romantic exploits between your current significant other and the your brother. That’s why you chose never to speak about Jason with Dick. He didn’t need to hear it, no matter how his death tortured you, you would not spill a word of your exploits with Dick.
“Okay, Y/N. But I’m here. Whenever you are ready.” Dick said, before pulling your back against his chest and laying the two of you down.
You nerves were alive with adrenaline from the nightmare, and you didn’t want to sleep in fear of seeing that awful scene again, but Dick rubbed your stomach gently, lulling you back to sleep carefully. Slowly your eyes began to drift shut, and you were welcomed by the warm hands of sleep.
It was a week later that the mysterious deaths began. A criminal in a red helmet began systematically annihilate every crime lord that had plagued Gotham. It was terrifying, each day Dick and Bruce would go out attempting to hunt the vigilante, and every night you hoped that Dick would return to your apartment safely.  
Dick was out another night, and you sat up watching the news hoping to see nothing. All you wanted was your boyfriend safe and sound at home. Preferably in your arms.
The window creaked, your gaze snapped over to it.
A shadow loomed in your window, a black gloved hand pulling the pane up so a mel figure could shimmy through. For a moment you heart soared, thinking it was Dick, who had come back to say he was safe, he was okay.
Instead of the lovable, loudmouthed idiot climbing through your window, the new villain; the Red Hood appeared in your apartment. You didn’t know what to do, Dick and Jason both taught you self defence, but in the heat of the moment you barely remembered how to say your own name.
The world shrank away as you were face to face with a murderer.
Instead of doing something cool, like punching or kicking, you let your mouth unhinge and let out a terrified scream. The wail caught the Red Hood off guard, and he clasped his hands over his helmet clad ears, “Sh, Y/N, shh.” His voice was rough.
“Oh My God! How do you know my name?” You screamed, taking a terrified step back as the Red Hood took a step forward.
Slowly, as if not to scare you, the Red Hood reached his hands up to his head, pulling his helmet off and letting his face be seen by yours, and in that moment you wanted to scream again. Because you recognized that face, it was the face of your first love.
Sure Jason had aged, and grew a white tuft of hair in the center of his head, but you could still see all the facial structures that were so uniquely Jason.
The world was thrown upwards, or maybe you sank to your knees. You didn’t really know what was going on, all you really knew was Jason was here.
Suddenly Jason was by your side, holding you up. His smell enveloped you, and you found yourself sinking into his embrace, even though he is a killer, and should be dead.
“Y/N…” Jason started, his voice trailing off. He didn’t know what to say, which was fair, because neither did you. It has been two and a half years since he ‘died’ and you had moved on. You felt terrible, as if you should have waited for this, like you should have known.
Jason leaned in, and placed a kiss on your lips. You parted your mouth slightly, letting his tongue enter yours. It had been a long time since you kissed him, but you still knew his mouth better that you could imagine. He tasted so sweet, but with an underlying tang of danger.
That danger is what snapped you out of your delirium, you pushed Jason away harshly. He is a criminal now, not to mention you are happily with Dick. You couldn’t be doing this, you couldn’t be kissing him.
“Y/N?” Jason asked, looking into your eyes. His emerald orbs were watery, and you wanted to pull him into a hug and never let go.
Instead you turned away so he couldn’t see your face.
It was then that Jason began looking around the apartment which you called home. There were pictures everywhere; some were of you and your family, others of Dick and his family but most of them were of you and Dick. It was impossible not to notice the two of you were together, because Dick was a total sap when it comes to relationships, he wants to document every moment so he can remember how utterly in love he is.
“You replaced me to?” Jason asked, his voice cracked.
“Jason, it wasn’t like that. You were dead.” You tried to reason, but your words fell flat.
“So you moved on to my brother? You are fucking my brother?” The roar from Jason’s mouth sounded almost inhuman, and you quivered away from the seething man.
Tears rolled down your cheeks, “It isn’t like that Jay. I- I loved you, and he does too. We needed someone who could understand our pain.” You tried to explain, but it felt dirty, wrong to talk about this.
“No!” Jason yelled, and stormed out of the apartment, only throwing one photo of Dick and Yourself, smiling and laughing on the floor.
It was an hour later that Dick found you curled onto the ground, still bawling like a child. He rushed to you and wrapped his arms around your waist.
“It’s Jason.” You sobbed, holding Dick closer, “The Red Hood is Jason.”
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sowha70-blog · 6 years
Text
Chapter Three
Days have passed since their meetings about what happened to her. Dawn had wished this were all a mistake, or even a dream. About everything that Young said, her being one of the many experimental biological weapons. That she were captured in a facility island located nowhere in the middle of the sea.
It was like yesterday when Young pulled the curtain behind, revealing below what she could describe as a tropical island surrounded in both blue sea and sky. Saying things that there were military marines and air forces ready to kill ‘anything’ in or out without permission.
“I don’t get it,” to her surprise, Dawn remained calm that day, “why did you tell me all this? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll escape?”
“That’s the point!” He exclaimed, “I want to help you, and those who are treated wrongly here to escape. This is why I took this job, this is what she had wanted me to do.”
“’She’ as in your daughter?”
“It’s a long story,” Prof. Young brushed his silverfish hair, looking away. For a moment there he looked really old and tired, Dawn could imagine the older version of him from the picture. “ I’ll tell you when we have the time.”
But it’s been almost a week and there was nothing regarding to this ‘escape plan’. All she was told before Stone and his people burst in was that she was to be very observant on every staffs, tests schedules, free times and the tours with Prof. Young, and to wait for him before doing anything by herself.
Everything felt like a dream. Things like brain transplantation, human experiments, X-men. Those were supposed to be mere science fiction only.
Dawn learned that not everyone liked what Young was doing, being close with the ‘specimen’ but some had their styles, like Professor Pete, he always had his two-headed snakes a playtime inside their cage. Even the two-headed dogs and whatever creatures with two heads in God knows what lives in this forsaken place. These people with ‘professor’ as their title were people who had authorities to do things, such as experiments, to such like Dawn. Others, such as the woman with the grey skirt that always came to her room, were the ‘team members’. In this case, Young’s team members were all his students, who among the four, only one was from the facility.
They learned that Dawn was, undoubtedly, human for the past weeks. She didn’t show any of her inhuman states other than her radiant red eyes that could’ve been a result of the tests. She was perfectly normal.
The fact that she also recalled bits of her memories, like an album full of childhood pictures being flipped through every page each day, meant things for her that she might be underdoing something which made her went through an amnesia phase before. Young and his team tried to look for clues from the tests but there were nothing out of ordinary from her body.  
Each day passed with the feeling of missing home. Missing Nate. Missing mom and home. Drifted by the memories, she started to get teary. She have always been a crybaby, every sad scenes on the movies she watch with Nate she would cry so much. She remembered hating the fact that she never be able to really handle the urge to bawl.
“This is outrageous!” Dawn heard her door slid open with Stone yelling things on Young. “I cannot believe they are letting you like this!”
Young raised his hand idly. “I don’t blame you to not knowing that they owe me big time. Now, aren’t you having too much of a free time to be meddling with someone else’s work? The archive section are always in need of free pairs of hand.”
The bed made a ridiculous creaking sound when Dawn tried to put herself up. It distracted Stone. Rather than the lab gown, she was wearing a different shirt and pants that let her move much comfortably. “Fine!” he said, glaring at Dawn, “I’m done with this bullshit anyway.” He shoved the guards out of his way and left the room.
“Don’t mind him, Dawn, he’s just too passionate on his work. Are you crying?”
Dawn felt the urge to bail, to pull her feet up and dash away from this personal cell and hide. She didn’t, though she did hide her face with her long dark hair form Young. “I miss my home,” Dawn said under her snot.
Young exhaled sympathetically, “of course you are.”
“I don’t understand,” said Dawn, “there is nothing wrong with me. I have proven human multiple of times. There’s nothing out of ordinary from my body, outside of my eye color and that I suffer low blood pressure, I am normal. One thing that should be done is that I need medical attention on my brain damages, or psychiatrist to have my personal memories back to me.”
“I always thought that you are too calm for these past days,” Young stepped closer to her. He brushed his hand to her long bangs like drawing a curtain open to see her face better. “But sooner or later the emotions started to kick in. It is understandable. You know what? Good news is, the Central have agreed to have you moved to a better section.”
Dawn raised her head so Young didn’t have to keep holding her overgrown bangs. “The Central?”
“They practically own this place,” Young sighed, “I’ve been telling them that you are harmless—“
“And Human,” Dawn snapped.
“That too,” Young went on, “which is why today I’m going to show you your new room. I promise you it will be better there than here.”
“How can it be better? I don’t want another room, I want to be released!” Desperation chocked Dawn’s throat. Her voice was shaking. She remembered the day when her mom grounded her for coming home late after her best friend’s birthday party. The temptation of running away from home that day felt like the same, the difference was that it’s the other way around.
Young drifted back towards the mirror, touching it as he spoke gently, “there won’t be any of these mirrors and cameras. I understand that it’s not any better than what it is now. But why don’t we try it out first and see what happen.”
“It won’t change anything. You will still find nothing!” Dawn raised her voice.
“Then we will prove them about it.”
Dawn groaned. She didn’t have any other option but to comply. Unwillingly, she pulled herself up away from the bed. “Good,” Young said, sounded relieved, “follow Sage, I’ll be right behind you.”
Sage, the only woman who was in Young’s team, slender and stiff. Girls with her posture always succeed to envy Dawn in the younger days. She realized rather than jealousy, she was intimidated by her cold stares behind her glasses and stiff expression. Dawn guessed that Sage couldn’t be more than 25.
“This way,” Sage started to walk. She didn’t look back to make sure Dawn followed.
 --
For somewhat reason, the hallway of the facility was built without any sharp corners like hospitals or schools generally made. Was it so that there will be no blind spots on the camera? Dawn wondered.
The air smelled salty but nice, it was the first time she went outside after she had woken up. Even though she wasn’t literally outside since they were actually walking through an open corridor that connects two different building. The sound of the shores felt pleasant. Even though it lasted only seconds but it calmed her.
Dawn wanted to slow her pace but the guard behind her would never let her. Young were not to be seen anywhere behind. She wondered if he was not really coming.
“He had things to do first. I assure you professor Young will be joining us before sunset,” Sage slid to Dawn’s range of vision on her peep-toe D’Orsay. “You can stop glancing back every second, it will damage your backbone.”
“I wasn’t looking for him.” Sage was actually right on the bull’s eye but Dawn was not going to admit it out loud. “I was just wondering why is this place so dead.”
“I heard from professor Young that you’re a full of curiosity,” Sage landed her palm on Dawn’s back, half pushing her to walk forward. It was clear for Dawn to see a scar just below her left brow. Imperfection on the perfect skin. “Curiosity kills even to cats, as one may say.” Her bun dangled a little as she walked just half step ahead of Dawn, with her palm stuck on the other girl’s back still.  
The interior of the other building was different as well as the smell, very less dead. Everything reminded Dawn one of her cousin’s dorm she once visited. She heard faint laughter and chatter across the hallway just like what she remembered the day she strolled down looking for her cousin. The deeper they went in the more people with uniforms were seen busying themselves. Only one person, a boy not much older than Dawn was, or what she assumed her age was, paused his steps and greeted Sage. “Sage,” Dawn caught him gazing up and down on her. He reminded her of the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but with specs. They didn’t halt while the boy tailed Sage as he talked to her, “I was informed that she would arrive after dinner, not before lunch.”
Sage didn’t even flinch. She ignored the boy like he wasn’t there. Dawn pitied him. Now that she remembered that the boy was one of Young’s team member who, most of the time, worked behind the tablets.
“Oh now you’re ignoring me?” Maybe the boy had pushed his luck too much, with Sage glaring at him he looked intimidated, he stumbled on his feet as he tried to follow them.
The three of them, and the guards, who then left them seconds ago, finally found themselves in the threshold of what Dawn could refer as a school cafeteria. Girls and boys in various range of age swarmed with trays of food. Most of them were teenagers, wearing the same shade of gray shirt and pants. None of this made sense for Dawn. To be fair, the days she spent here had never made any sense at all. Why would it be not? Not an hour ago she was inside of what it she pictured as a mental ward and now she was in some kind of school cafeteria?
The chattering soon fell into murmurs, as Sage, followed by Dawn and uniformed boy, entered. Among them there was a dark-haired tall boy left his chair and stood there, his gaze met Dawn’s. Up close his eyes had the same color of the sky she saw earlier that day, the tone of blue and clouds, and freedom. Dawn’s heart fluttered even if she didn’t want to. She reminded herself of Nate.
“Dawn, this is Jesse. He’s one of the eldest among here,” Sage leaded Dawn closer to Jesse. Everyone went back into their original chattering. “Jesse this is Dawn.”
“Hi,” Jesse curled a polite smile.
“Hey,” Dawn returned his smile.
“Jesse will look out for you and teaches you things around here,” Sage said, then inquired to the tablet boy, “and Alex over here will be watching out for you. Think of him as your personal babysitter.”
Alex had a surprised and disapproval look as he followed Sage, who ignored him most of the time, out of the cafeteria. “I didn’t hear that I should—hey Sage!” Dawn watched them disappear while arguing before she felt a grab on her shoulder. It was Jesse.
“We’ve heard about you,” Jesse’s voice rang beautifully in her ears. “Let’s have you meet the other,” He reached out for his tray and offered it to dawn. “But before that, have you eaten yet? It will be pleasant if we can have our introductions while eating.”
“Oh. No, I’m fine.”
“It won’t hurt to have just one cup of pudding. I never really fancy sweets so help me out here.” He grinned, took the pudding off his tray and pushed it to Dawn’s hand.
“Thanks.” Dawn cupped the pudding with both of her hands, tailed Jesse. She hesitated but decided to take the seat beside him anyway.
The table Dawn was sitting was long and full of identical trays of sandwiches, milk cupboards, cups of chocolate pudding and salads. An odd set of triplet of around seven year-old girls sat across facing her, a group of boys beside Jesse and some girls beside the triplet and her. One of the girls in particular caught Dawn’s attention. She had a perfect brown butterscotch hair braided messily behind her back that hung just halfway through, with freckles sprinkled like stars across the bridge of her nose, a girl who Dawn had thought could only be seen in movies with fairies in it. She was right next to the triplet, staring at her in a curious way while poking her fork on her salad. Dawn knew that Jesse realized that both of the girls were staring on each other awkwardly because he then spoke, “She’s Mars,” pointing the braided girl with his fork and added, “or that’s what she wants us to call her. Her actual name is Mary Rose.”
“You don’t have to point that out for her, Jesse.” The girl leaned closer to Dawn. Her eyebrow went up. “I hate to say, but I really envied that eye-color. You’re not wearing any contacts, are you? You know, that tiny cylindrical thing that you stick to your eyeballs, some of the caretaker wear those.”
“I know what contacts means and no, I’m not wearing any,” answered Dawn.
Mars stuffed herself back to her seat as if she had lost her interest and started eating her salad. Dawn tried not to notice how Mars had forgotten on asking her name. “Uh, I believe I heard something about ‘caretaker’?” She turned to Jesse who was prying the tomatoes out of his sandwiches.
“Ah, right. Caretakers are those people who wear the uniforms and tags. They are the ones who teach us things and tell us what to do. I was told that you came from the outside of—“
“Outside?” Jesse’s sentence was interrupted by one of the triplets exclaiming with their mouth full. “You came from the outside?”
“Tell us about the outside.”
“Have you seen snow?”
“What does outside look like?”
More questions were shooting out from the girls like rifles, Dawn was left confounded by what the girls were asking. Does that mean that they were raised here in the facility? She found herself feeling sorry for them. At least Mars began to look interested again and shushed them down. “Is that true?” Mars asked in disbelief.
Before she could answer, the boy beside her started to talk on behalf of her, “Look girls, what I meant is that she was not from our section. She just came out form the Lab, just outside from our facility.”
Mars gave out a disappointed look. “Another sister,” Dawn could hear her mumble under her breath.
An orchestra of disappointment was heard. It was like as if most of the people were secretly listening to them while eating and chatting themselves. It was always like this when the teacher on her school back then joked about the cancelled exams and revealed their jokes afterward.
Dawn didn’t even try to deny Jesse. There was something on his gaze to her that made her decide to bury some of the truths for her own.
“Now, before questions or any more interruptions,” Jesse, hadn’t had his sandwich bit, waved his sandwich-holding-hand towards the triplets who wore longer sleeves and odd gloves, “meet June, July and April. Since you’ve met Mars already I suppose we could skip to Am.” Am waved cheerfully beside April. Dawn wondered, why would she be called April and not August while the other sisters were called June and July. August came after the other two, not April. She considered on asking after Jesse finished. “The guy beside me here, his name is Peter. But since he never looked as old as he is, we all decided to call him Pan as in ‘Peter Pan’”
“Hey!” A voice protested. It was an Asian boy who looked so much younger than Jesse, which probably might not be the case, and since he had his hair cut into a shape of a flipped bowl.
Jesse chuckled before taking a mouthful bite of his sandwich. He turned from his grumbling friend to Dawn, who now was also taking some bite out of the chocolate pudding. “You thirsty? We can share the milk if you want to,” said Jesse with a grin.  
“No, you don’t have to. It would be disgusting.” Mars pushed her cupboard of milk to the other side of the table, saving Dawn from having to face Jesse’s charming jest. “Dairy products aren’t my favorite. You can have mine, Umm…”
“Dawn, but I’m fine without it, thanks,” said Dawn, unwillingly. It was like that she admitted her name was Dawn, having it to be spoken by her own tongue. Giving a terrible pang in her stomach on how it reminded her that she still had not recalled her own name.
Jesse was about to say something but as soon as he opened his mouth, a figure loomed behind him. It was Young.
“So you’ve made new friends now,” said Young impressed. “You have even met your roommate already.”
“Jesse is her roommate?” said Pan, choking on his milk.
Young gave out a muffled laugh under his mask, “no, silly! Not him, but Mary.”
“Of course,”
“I’ve never seen you before,” Am pointed out, her pigtails dangling just above her shoulders. Young had caught more attention. Some of the children watched, the others just didn’t really care.
“He is professor Young, he’s new in this section and he will be in charge of us for a while,” answered Jesse, licking the sauce from his fingers uninterested.
“What happen to professor Hunt?” One of the triplets asked.
“She had to take care of some problems so he was discharged. But I assure you that I will take care of you guys better than she does.” Young gave Jesse a big pat oh his back, the boy tried to ignore it. “By the way, where’s Alex? He was supposed to be with you today, Dawn.” He gave out a big disappointed sigh. “Anyway, come with me after you finish your desert.”    
It was bothering Dawn that she could not read what Young probably think since the mask was between the way to every expressions Young might be having. But there was no one she could trust more than Young so far. Dawn chugged her pudding whole, half realizing how un-lady like she was in front of the boy beside her, half trying to not care how fast her heart beat every time she caught a glimpse of his elegant features. “We can go right away,” Dawn put the empty plastic cup to the table and pulled herself up.
“NO!”
To everyone surprise, Jesse sprang off from his chair to his feet and had himself turned facing Young. He had a challenging expression. Even Mars was left agape. “Take me instead. It will be my turn tomorrow anyway. I will have her turn so give her some break,” Jesse spoke as if defending Dawn from something bad she had done.
“Jesse, get back to your seat,” now Mars too was on her feet. “Jesse had already taken two of the little one’s turn this week. He barely could even stand this morning and he only just stopped coughing blood last night. If he had to take another test today,” she laid her eyes to the boy’s back, with a grim look she added, “he could die.”
“I won’t die that easily,” Jesse insisted.
Dawn was unable to understand a single thing. Young on the other hand, after drawing his attention from Mars to Jesse, finally realized what the two of them meant. “Ah. You don’t need to worry, I just wanted to have a little chat with her that’s all.” Relieved, Mars went back to sit.
“I’ll be seeing you soon, Jesse.” Dawn could not help to smile.
She could see his ears gone red as she left with Young, who leaded her to what he claimed to be his new personal bureau. It was smaller but tidier than the last one. Such a shame that, unlike the previous one he had, it was lacking of windows, just like almost every part of this entire building. “He likes you,” Young said finally after he closed the door behind him.
“What? Who?”
“That boy with the blue eyes. John—“
“Jesse,” Dawn corrected him unconsciously. “Is that why you brought me here? To find out whether someone will like me? How thoughtful are you, professor.”
“I see you’re getting more honest on yourself,” said Young, flipping out some papers out of a box with a word ‘classified’ written on the lid, he was looking for something. “I brought you here because I think that meeting people and doing more activities will help us to find out more about you that even yourself do not know,” he added, “or forgotten.”
“I thought you’re going to get me away from here,” she demanded.
Young raised his head; his dead-goggled eyes reflected Dawn’s face like two round dusty mirror. “I am. But we actually found something from your cells that is, um, inhuman.”
The word inhuman stung her ears. “You’re lying! I AM human! I’m a normal person who just lost a part of her memories.” Desperation was heard from her voice.
“Calm down, Dawn. My team was actually keeping your test results clean all this time along. It was so that we can have you transferred here. They thought by that they could, at least, have you be useful for them. We have plans,” Young tried to reassure Dawn. It still bothered her, however, having to be told that she was not what she thought she was, or supposed to be.
“Useful,” Dawn began, “as in turning into their test-subjects like a lab bunny, or mice.” It sounded more like a statement than a question she originally intended to. She came to realize every of her own words before, and gasped, “is that what those people are? Test-subjects?”
“Almost every one of them was raised here, even born here.” Young answered reluctantly. “There are so many desperate mothers out there who are willing to sell their babies for better lifestyles. And these guys are also good at creating life inside tubes, as you can see they are indeed very advanced.” He paused. “You can say that these guys own the children’s life.” Dawn was dumbfounded, she felt pity for them but also terrified for herself.
“Why do this to them? Isn’t it enough already with the poor lab animals?”
“It is never enough for science and human curiosity. Besides, the governments around the globe are willing to pay a big sum of money for new inventions of cures, disposable candidates for agents and spies, and even biological weapons.”
Dawn had to lean on one of the shelf. She could smell the odor of paper and dust filling her nose. All of the information that was given to her sounded crazy, even crazier when it came out from some person with cracking, muffled voice, gas-masked face wearing an identical sickening white lab robe everyday. Ironically, mysteries and science fiction were always her favorite genre before all of this happened. There was a time when she once wanted to have an unusual life, like what the books told her. Magical lands, peculiar creatures, but never imagined how horrifying it was to be facing things she had never understood.
She was lost in her thoughts when Young suddenly slammed the piles of papers back to its box. “For the sake of God, it’s supposed to be here somewhere. It should be here. Where the hell is Alex anyway,” Young sounded frustrated.
As if he heard Young calling out his name, Alex came throwing himself inside slamming the door ajar, breathing hard like he just had a marathon.
“Nice timing, Alex,” Alex toppled some stacks of boxes but didn’t stop to look, Young seemed to ignore it and continued, “where did you put UOR09 file I gave you yesterday morning?”
Dawn just realized that something wasn’t right with him. His face were red and sweaty, he did not wear his glasses and his usual coat. Between his heavy breath, he struggled to speak, “I… The files… Professor… I… She… It was an accident.” He looked really fragile, like he could break from just a single touch. His voice was shaking as if he forced to keep himself from crying.
“You look Dreadful, Alex. What the hell happened to you?”
Alex threw his head down and buried it with his hands, covering his face. “I think,” he hesitated for a while. He took a deep, shaking breath, and said with a much clear tone, “I think I killed Sage.”
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unholyhelbiglinked · 7 years
Text
It’s Grave|Chapter Thirteen|2015
The steady fun of a forgotten night was interrupted by a shrill scream. It pieced the eardrums, causing me too press my palm to the side of my face. Mamrie glanced over at me from her spot at the bar.
She was steadily working a free round of drinks out of a bartender with her southern charm. But it looked like he had even more than she did. He smirked at her before his gaze wondered to me.
"What's wrong?" Ingrid whispered to me, she was keeping a close tab on Hannah tonight, who admittedly had a little too much to drink. We were just lucky that it was a steady drunk opposed to her usual hard liquor intoxication.
"You didn't hear that?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.
"The jazz music? Yeah, it's a little hard to ignore."
"No," I knit my eyebrows together. "someone screamed," I stood from the bar stool I sat in, Ingrid made a move to follow, but I shook my head no. I needed her to stay here and watch out for Hannah and Mamrie. If something really was wrong, I needed her to get them out of here as fast as possible.
Ingrid was still wary around me. The silence that had followed our conversation in the Graveyard was overwhelming and she eventually relented. Agreeing to do anything that needed to be done in order to keep Hannah safe. At one point, I would have done exactly the same for Rose- but now we couldn't be in the same room as each other without starting a fist fight.
I slid my jacket on as Ingrid tried to distract Mamrie from my departure. A brisk chill bit at my fingertips. The French quarter was silent other than the lull of the muffled jazz music from the only open bar this late at night.
The ones that lived in New Orleans knew that curfew was at 12 am. Those who didn't were either scarred for life, or brutally murdered by the many things that lurked around the area. My boots echoed off of the cement buildings. Fairy lights were strung above my head, illuminating the corridors.
I inadvertently dug my fingers into the palm of my hand as I waited for a sign as the where the scream came from. There was none, other than a soft patter of footsteps from behind me. I clenched my jaw, turning slightly.
"Ingrid," I scolded as she walked up next to me, she shrugged, obviously curious.
"I want to see this stuff first hand if I have to help you stop it." She explained. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. It wasn't as glamorous as she would think.
"Help!" a sharp scream caught both of our attention once again. I didn't have time to hurry Ingrid back indoors, so I took off in a sprint instead, her trailing not far behind. I skidded to a stop as we rounded a corner, my shoes slipping on the wet pavement.
There were six of them in total. Each a sickly shade of grey, their red eyes darting over to us with a single fluid movement. I could smell the death on each one of them as a girl that looked to be my age let out a loud hiss, showing her yellowing fangs. Her greasy hair fell into her gaze as two more followed her process.
They moved in a clumsy fashion, it was obvious that they were pretty low class. Kids turned before they were ready. People that once had a life now lurked the allies feeding on rats and other vermin.
"Grace," Ingrid whispered. I clenched my jaw as I glanced at the top of my hand. The mark began to glow a sharp green, signaling to both me and the vampires that one of us would die here tonight- and I wasn't planning on it being me.
"Gracceee," The girl that lead the pack of hissed, sending shivers down my spine. She knew who I was by the look on her face. She cocked her head to the side, glancing at Ingrid with her garnet irises.
"Taryn..." the man behind the lanky girl put his shaky hand on her shoulder. "Let's just go."
"No," She held up a hand in his face to dismiss his protest. "if we kill her-"
"Then what?" I shouted, feeling the pent up adrenaline work its way through my veins. "Then you won't be at your lowest?" Taryn clenched her jaw, licking her gums for a moment. "Once they have my head they'll have no use for yours."
"Well," she scoffed "then at least I'll get a great meal out of it."
She let out a loud scream, a sharp anger filling her features as she rushed towards me with inhuman speed. Ingrid flinched as the girl tried to knock me off of my feet. Her sour smell filled my nose as she stepped shoved her shoulder into my chest. I grunted sliding slightly aback on the asphalt as she finally let out a thick yell.
I could hear the crunch of her sternum as my hand entered her chest, the feeling of warm blood coating my hand. Her eyes went wide as I grasped onto her slow pulsing heart, squeezing it as I ripped it from her cold, dead chest. Her body crumpled to the ground as she fell in a pile of her own dust and ashes. Her heart grew cold in my palm as I let it drop to the ground with a low thud. Thick scarlet gore ran down my fingertips and the majority of my arm.
I hadn't done that in years, a surge of power moved through my as I breathed out, looking up at the remaining five vampires. Their faces aghast in the pale moonlight; their mouths agape.
"anyone else?" I panted, raising my eyebrows. I didn't have the heart to glance over at Ingrid, but I could hear her shallow breath.
Half of the vermin rushed off into the night, running as fast as they could away from the scene that folded out in front of them. There were only two left. The two that stood behind Taryn in the first place. They held their stances as I looked around me for any type of weapon.
The ally didn't have anything to offer, so I just squared my shoulders and took off towards them. They both changed their stances, ready to fight as one of their fists came my way. I ducked effectively, shoving my shoulder into the stomach of one as I knocked him to the ground. His long blonde hair catching the muddy aftermath of a puddle.
Another punch came my way, hitting me in the upper jaw with resilient force. The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue. I shook my head, dazed for a moment as the blonde haired man got back to his feet.
He grasped my hair from behind, pulling my away from his brawny friend as He pinned my arms behind my back. "Not so strong now, are we hunter?" I could smell his rancid breath.
The larger one began to plow his fist into my stomach, knocking air I didn't have from my lungs with each jab. I was out of touch with my skills. It had been years since I fought more than one vampire at a time. In fact... Taryn was the first one I had killed in the last five.
The one that had rapidly threw punches suddenly lowered his hands and fell to the ground in pain. He let out a deep grunt as He rolled over on his stomach, his face twisted in pain. Little Ingrid stood in his shadow, an angry look across her features.
"When all else fails, kick him in the nuts." She panted.
I smirked, as the distracted blonde man loosened his hold on me. I flipped him around, slamming him the floor next to his buddy in one fluid movement. Consciousness lost his eyes as his head banged against the pavement once again with force.
I swallowed, breathing hard as I wiped the blood from under the base of my nose. "Still interested in seeing this kind of thing close up?" I asked, Ingrid jokingly.
"I am if you are," she placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
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