#we all know the superior vampire books and it's this

[causeimanartist]

draw more of what you want, I had literally forgotten about my sister the vampire, you hit me in the nostalgia

Join me in the nostalgia!

#my sister the vampire #Olivia Abbott #Ivy Vega #sienna mercer #my art #causeimanartist #no one I know irl has read these books so the fact anyone on the internet remembers them makes me happy #confession time: I have bought more of these books recently #I had my original 1-5 but I've been tracking down the scholastic versions of the others #specifically the scholastic versions because it's the cover art style I remember and love #I loved the covers so much and I still do #the books are sitting proudly on my bookshelf on top of twilight which is sitting less proudly #we all know the superior vampire books and it's this #a to z #a to z character challenge #a to z challenge #(two for the price of one!)

[panlight]

The other thing about the Renesmee storyline that bothers me (other than it not really making sense that only half of the vampire species retains fertility, or that it rubs motherhood in Esme and Rosalie's face, or I just don't vibe with supernatural pregnancy/creepily smart children stories) is that it sort of invalidates all the cool stuff SM did with found families.

The Cullens are LITERALLY a found family--Carlisle found Edward, Esme and Rosalie; Rosalie found Emmett; Alice found Jasper and then then Cullens; Edward found Bella. They aren't actually related at all, but they created this bond, this family, and that's so interesting to me how they come from different places, different time periods, and still make this work. Fascinating!

And the wolfpack, too! Now some of them are actually related, but generally as like second or third cousins. I don't know about you, but I only really know my first cousins, and even then not all that well. I had a second cousin in my homeroom in high school and even though we had the same last name I didn't know her at all. We just shared great-grandparents that died before we were born. So to me the pack also has that found family vibe. Sam as the pack dad despite being so young himself. Emily as the pack mom, making snacks and giving the boys a place to hang out at her house. The brotherly joking and bickering and fighting between all the guys. You can tell in these scenes that SM grew up with brothers. I did, too, and there are moments that really capture that, even though other than Seth and Leah, none of them are actually siblings.

But then she throws in Renesmee and it sort of feels like, "well, found family is good enough for the others, but Edward and Bella need a REAL family." Esme "makes do with substitutes" but E/B get a REAL child, and that just did not sit well with me. And in the movies Edward even has LINES that reflect that vibe, when he's standing with Alice and Jasper as the wolves attack in BD pt1 and says like "I won't let them hurt my family;" like Alice and Jasper themselves aren't also his family. Or in BD Pt2 when he tells Bella, "You've given me something to fight for: a family." Again, like he hasn't had a family all this time. I get that when you become a spouse and parent your definition of family can change but it still just felt kind of like a slap in the face considering we spent all this time with the other characters and they have all risked their lives so this Edward/Bella/Nessie family can even exist. Including the shifters!! And maybe she didn't mean anything by it, but because Nessie is the only biological child in the Cullen family is does come off that it's superior to the other kinds of bonds somehow.

I don't know, it just sort of feels like biological family is elevated above the found families. For example, in the books, Renesmee doesn't actually call them Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper like in the movie, she only calls them Alice and Jasper. Charlie gets to be Grandpa, but Alice and Jasper aren't Aunt and Uncle.

And I really liked the found family stuff, so this "REAL family now" vibe was . . . not my favorite.

#anti-breaking dawn

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Chapter 105.5 Thoughts: Control, Manipulation and Partnership

Or, how Chuuya is actually the most qualified character to land a victory over Dostoevsky.

I just want to preface this with: I think Chuuya has woken from the brainwashing. We can't see his eyes, he's holding his hat again, and look at the progression of his face and expression from the last few chapters with him (these are in order btw from left to right).

I'm not completely sure how he did this, but I chalk a lot of it up to sheer stubborn determination on Chuuya's part, mostly because it's funny and he was clearly fighting back before Dazai's speech. However, I find it likely the speech did contain some kind of code - others have pointed out how "Goodbye!" might be a reference to the original author's last unfinished book and we know skk's codenames for things generally are based off their real counterparts' works so, maybe he'd already broken out of it, maybe there was something in there that gave him the final push - who knows at this point honestly? Either way, it means Chuuya had the capacity to break out of the vampire curse on his own and that's incredibly funny to me for many reasons but mostly:

Fyodor: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's ability can't overcome flooding."

Dazai: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's personality can't overcome brainwashing."

But really, this highlights something interesting here, both in what Chuuya's role is ultimately intended to be in this arc, and in the way Fyodor and Dazai manipulate and value others in very different ways.

I've said it before but it bears repeating: we already know that Fyodor is an excellent long-term planner, while Dazai is effectively able to counter him because Dazai shifts into thinking like his opponent. They're foil characters for a reason; they're both highly intelligent, manipulative, and willing to play the long game for the sake of winning against their opponent.

Thing is, I also stand by the idea that personality-wise, they're not similar at all - and that has serious implications for the people they are connected with. The build-up to the prison escape arc really highlights this. Some examples:

Chapter 46: Fyodor believes that all people are sinful and foolish and that his goal is to remove sin. Dazai believes that all people are sinful and foolish but asks what's so wrong with that.

Chapter 64: They decide to have a "super-happy chit-chat" about their problems. Dazai's solution to Fyodor's issue with his lazy subordinates is to get them to think lazing around is a bad thing so they will put in effort of their own. Fyodor's solution to Dazai being unable to woo the waitress is to isolate her from her job, house and family so that she can only rely on Dazai.

Chapter 77: Fyodor believes god is perfection and harmony, and thus that the people capable of change are the superior ones with most control. Dazai believes god is the accidental and illogical and believes it is the ordinary people who fight and live in that uncertainty who create the greatest change.

So, what's happening here? Fyodor's manipulation is shown to be very exacting and direct. He leaves no room for error and regards people on a hierarchy - God above all, himself as a servant of God's will, and the sinful and foolish humans he has little regard for. Dazai's manipulation involves manipulation of the situation, and is often indirect. It involves people coming to the conclusion he intends for them to on their own. And from his later dialogue with Sigma, we see he doesn't regard the world in that same kind of hierarchy.

Now, look at the way Fyodor picks an item and Dazai picks a person when starting the game. Look at the way Fyodor refers to Chuuya respectfully but brainwashes him entirely and mocks Dazai for not being worthy of "using" his ability. Look at the way Dazai is a complete ass to Chuuya but ultimately lets him make his own choices (begging people to take note of that moment in Stormbringer where Dazai cuts himself off to correct his referring to Corruption as Arahabaki's true power to Chuuya's true power).

So, the actual strength Dazai has over Dostoevsky then, is not really his strength at all, it's the strength of others and their choice and willpower to act in the way they believe is best. It's the only means of getting a leg up on Dostoevsky, otherwise they will continue to go around and around in circles forever.

And Chuuya is the best candidate for finally throwing Fyodor off his game.

Firstly, let's just establish something: no matter how mad he is at Dazai, he's not going to side with Fyodor, not willingly. Fyodor threatened the Mafia in the Cannibalism arc by attacking Mori, first of all. I doubt he's forgiven him for that. Secondly, Fyodor embodies everything Chuuya can't stand about Dazai, at the very least, younger Dazai - the manipulation, the lack of consideration and connection with others, the callousness and lack of regard for life.

Well, perhaps he's not quite as irritating. +1 point for Dostoevsky I guess?

But lastly, it is more advantageous for Chuuya at this point to help fight against Fyodor, especially since most of the Mafia has been vampirized by his organization. Helping the Agency stop the terrorist plot will help the Mafia by extension by undoing that. And we know from Stormbringer that no matter how much Chuuya is personally hurt, he considers taking out the threat to his people a higher priority. Always.

(You could make the argument that he was told whatever Teruko told Atsushi and decided to join, but not only do I find this wildly out of character, but if that was the case then there would've been no reason to brainwash him.)

That said, I don't think this was preemptive "Dazai's master plan #3057", and in fact, I stand by the idea that Dazai had no idea Chuuya was going to be in the prison. It is very, very important to me that for the rest of this arc, no matter what Chuuya does, that his actions are his own. Not Fyodor's, not Dazai's, but his. And not just because I hate that he's being controlled right now and that freedom of choice has always been important for Chuuya.

But because it makes narrative sense.

The vampires are a bit silly, yes, but they represent the way Fyodor and Fukuchi think - humanity will commit atrocities. They cannot be trusted to make their own decisions. They want to make a world that is free by... mind-controlling people so their plans work without a hitch. In short, they choose, on behalf of others, to sacrifice human autonomy for peace. So, if we are going to turn this arc around, we need to have characters breaking out of that control and thinking for themselves, in spite of the uncertainty of the outcome.

We already see this with Atsushi in the last chapter! He finally takes initiative and makes that choice to leave the room when he doesn't exactly know what the right thing to do is. And this is also why I don't think Teruko is wholly convinced by the DoA either - she lets him go. She gives him the freedom to choose what he does with that information.

Another one of the focus characters here is Sigma. Sigma is a guy who has no past, whose humanity is questioned, who keeps being used by organizations for his valuable ability, who has no home but desperately wants one... oh wait. Remind you of anyone's younger self? This could go one of two ways: Chuuya fails to assert his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from that failure, or, Chuuya succeeds in asserting his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from his success.

I think it, by necessity, has to be the latter. Sigma's at a tipping point right now, and I think seeing someone try to assert their freedom only to fail would damage him greatly. And I think it's a waste of Chuuya's character honestly.

Chuuya needs to assert his autonomy in this arc. Not just for thematic reasons but because I can think of no one else who can effectively break the "super-genius stalemate".

I keep hearing "Dazai knows Chuuya" in response to Fyodor calling their bond shallow, and that is absolutely true! But Chuuya also knows Dazai. Incredibly well. Odasaku knew Dazai's soul, but Chuuya knows Dazai's mind, knows his strategies and ways of thinking without even needing words. What's more, Chuuya has thrown off Dazai before and done what he didn't expect him to.

Which is nifty, because Dazai and Fyodor think a lot alike. Chuuya is in a unique position to thwart Dostoevsky because he may actually be able to predict him to a degree. Chuuya can absolutely land a victory against him, and it's excellent because it would be completely unexpected to Fyodor, who apparently thinks Chuuya's strength lies only in what his ability has to offer and not much else.

But listen. This also can't be skk's plan. I need Chuuya to sideline both of them. Both for the sweet, sweet catharsis of putting those two idiot geniuses in their places and also because I need Dazai to have screwed up. He wasn't wrong about people making their own choices in uncertainty. People need to assert their autonomy to create change. Dazai can't be wrong in this regard.

But with going ahead with the trap to drown Fyodor despite also having to drown Chuuya when he promised not to let him get killed... this needs to have been a mistake, otherwise the value of Dazai's emotional speech to him is diminished.

I want Dazai to try to laugh it off. I want him to say he always knew Chuuya would escape and then for Chuuya to deck him because "no, the fuck you didn't".

I really think Dazai hoped Chuuya would make it. Do remember that Chuuya was one of the first reasons young Dazai decided to try giving life a chance. The fact that he flashbacked to all his key memories with Chuuya says a lot. But his survival was no guarantee and it seemed very unlikely.

So, Chuuya is faced with the fact that Dazai nearly sacrificed him to kill Dostoevsky and save his new Agency friends.

And I hope he finally gets mad. I hope he finally expresses hurt on his own behalf for once. I hope they are forced to break their status quo that they have carefully maintained by not talking about anything ever. I hope they are pushed to uncomfortable places and that it is Chuuya who finally spurs this development.

Let Chuuya break the stalemate between Dazai and Dostoevsky. Let him shatter the status quo that him and Dazai have kept going for year after year.

Autonomous action in the face of uncertainty is necessary for change.

#am i assigning too much narrative importance in the main manga to chuuya? perhaps #will i stop? no #unfortunately this meta doesn't include gogol which is an oversight because he absolutely has to play a role as well #i'm just not quite sure what yet. same as chuuya i suppose #either gogol asserts his autonomy or he... fails. yeah. either he gets dostoevsky killed or... he fails. #i just don't know where he fits in with everyone else is the thing #listen though. it is significant that gogol decided not to play his dying role in the doa's plan though. #gogol is the free spirit of the doa and yet he's closer to sigma and bram in terms of how he is more controlled than controller #anyways sorry this is so long. just my two cents on the matter #bsd #bsd spoilers #bsd chapter 105.5 #bsd chuuya #bsd fyodor #bsd dazai #bsd sigma #bsd meta #i don't even know if this makes sense anymore. here. #storyrambles

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! Love your blog!

We know that made Lestat's abuse of Louis way more prominent in show (decision I still don't agree with but that's not the matter) and we have Jacob saying that s2 is way darker than book. People speculate that it's because they'll include FrankenClaudia who technically wasn't in this particular book but do you think they'll make Loumands relationship more toxic too like they did with Loustat? (I know they added romance to loustat but they also added beating scene that was on way way more smaller scale in book). Do you think they'll add more gaslighting? Emphasize on Armand making Louis turn Madeleine against his will?

Thank you for answering!

Hey nonny!

So glad you like!

I do think that they will heavily lean into that, yes. (And this "interview" is already held with the content of several books, so imho it doesn't really matter where the content comes from... Rolin held 6? or 7 books up to the camera^^). This will be a bit longer^^:

As all things are said to be revisited we will see how s1 will hold up, but of course it will stay correct that they emphasized the abuse vector. And that is a very valid thing for the Vampire Chronicles! There is a LOT in there, especially abuse, but also like... everything else, too. (As the Twitter discourse currently on Marius also... shows.)

So to get back to your actual question: yes I do think they will emphasize this part (though if they add more? We will see.), I think they have already hinted at that in season 1, but the book canon and their chosen promotional posters give us a very poignant hint here as well.

If we look at the "elevator posters" for example, we have Lestat, Louis and Claudia looking sideways at the observer*, in various state of emotions: fear, anger, and aware consternation (maybe), respectively.

And then we have Armand, *the observer, who looks down the length of his nose at them, with an air of superiority and a hint of a smile, clearly the one in charge:

It is also important to note that he is half in shadow but from the front here, not sideways as the others. The other three are almost completely "in the light", visible as it were. Armand... is not.

Now, if you remember the poster of season 1, then this is a direct echo of it, as well as a development from it:

Lestat was only half visible, behind Louis, since we only heard of him through Louis. Now he is in the same "position" as Louis and Claudia, almost fully revealed.

It is interesting that those elevator pictures keep Claudia in this position here, too, but it makes sense when one knows what will revealed only in later books about her and her play (I have talked about the twist from Merrick).

Now the posters sold at SDCC are equally interesting, because they speak their own language:

First off, we have Louis, holding the mask of Lestat in his hand, a mask taken off, and the mask echoes Lestat's "death face". He is looking into space, beyond it, and he seems to be seated in the back of a stage (given that we have a scene photo with Lestat seated on stage that carries ... repercussions^^).

"La mémoire est un monstre". The second half of IWTV is (among other things of course) Louis yearning for Lestat and learning a few... uncomfortable truths. Masks are taken off, and the revelations will be bloody. Louis will be condemned to be a spectator for some of them, and in the book it culminates in a very poignant speech about passivity.

And then there's Claudia. "La famille est un monstre." Dancing as Carmen, the red flamenco dress making her seem older than she is (supposed to be). The dress emulates flames, the audience is dead. She is almost smirking at the beholder, definitely proud of who she is, and her feet are naked.

"Carmen, a searing depiction of a woman who craves love, but creates obsession and jealousy, is one of the most popular operas ever written." (x)

The Carmen reference feels perfect for me, it will be very interesting to see which aspects they take up for the show, who Madeleine will be, given the World War 2 context, and the jealousy of the soldier in the original opera.

Then there is "L'amour est un monstre". Love is a monster. Love is the monster. The lover is the monster. For these vampires all these variations fit, and I do not just mean Loumand here, but generally.

Armand seems to say something to Louis, who is looking into space, with a slight frown.

The movie poster from "Gaslight", a movie about a whirlwind romance and the new husband isolating the wife from the world and "gaslighting" her to make her appear mad and doubt her own sanity to get at what she possesses... now the IWTV people know what they're doing *laughs*

Anyone who has read IWTV and TVA knows that Armand spell-binds Louis on several occasions, and influences him to do things, for example turning Madeleine, as you mentioned.

Interestingly enough there is also a man with a face half in light, half in shadows here - and that is echoed on Louis in the poster, one half is painted red - indicating he doubles with the police officer of the movie, discovering the things that are supposed to be hidden from him.

And, last but definitely not least, the general poster, without caption:

Lestat is "almost" revealed, our "view" of him still restricted somewhat by Louis and Claudia, as well from the theater curtain.

Claudia is engaged with whatever is happening beyond our view, Louis... is not. He is restraining himself, hands in pockets, mouth set and his gaze is dark, somewhere between accusation and anger. Lestat's gaze is open here, carrying a vague challenge, an expectation.

If we take the elevator pictures back into account one could argue they are looking at Armand here - and that would fit with the story:

Lestat will come to Armand hoping for something, expecting something. Louis will come to some very uncomfortable realizations, and events that will make him beyond angry. Claudia will try to move on, leave Armand behind. And even Louis, arguably.

So to wrap this up: I'm not sure they will add more gaslighting. More toxicity.

Because I don't think they actually need to! There is plenty there already. They will however build on what's there, and it has been more than hinted at imho. (Arguably that happened in season 1 as well, as a lot of that ep 5 scene echoes something in later books, and we will know only after season 2 how it will click into place.)

Armand uses his spell-gift on Louis even after promising not to do it (in the book, I talked about it here), and given how this show drags things into the light they will definitely hook into this. I think both definitions of "gaslighting" will apply - given the structure of the show they might make Armand the "villain" (that he was in the first books) this time round, though of course this word doesn't quite fit for these vampires.

Armand is the one who tortures Nicki and chops off his hands. We are getting flashbacks to that time, and we know that we will get to see Lestat and Nicki in that time. I would bet money on it that they will explore that part of their history.

Armand is the one who tortures Lestat, and uses him to pull the mock trial off.

Armand is the one who throws Lestat off a tower, challenging him to love him... a scene many book readers expect to at the very least echo, if not replace the ep5 scene, depending on how they spin it.

Armand is the one who influences Louis to do things, and who lies to both Louis and Lestat about the other.

Armand is the one who has Claudia (and Madeleine) killed, because she was in the way.

I know show only viewers see Lestat as the epitome of toxicity right now, but... he's actually not. Jacob put it well in that interview that Louis is "angry at him and presents him as a monster".

The show made choices, and given that it's Lestat (who is just the tiniest bit important for the following seasons/books after all)... this requires other choices to be made.

And going by the posters they have given us - they do.

#Anonymous #asks #ask nalyra #toxicity #gaslighting #gaslight #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat #armand #loumand #claudia de lioncourt #iwtv claudia #posters #iwtv meta #iwtv s2 #monster #poster #elevator

[jb-nonsense]

Okay, so I know everyone loves the joke about pre vampire Astarion judging based on vibes, but I do feel like his more...Foppishly flippant persona is one he put on after being turned and enslaved by Cazador. You see peeks of his previous personality in dialogue, such as this one linked here

I don't think he was a corrupt magistrate in the way people tend to think. Silly, accepting bribes all the time (maybe every now and then, though, don't get me wrong) and just only getting the job due to nepotism.

We've seen Astarion already have prejudices against gnomes, Gur, and other minority groups. It's not far to say that he allowed these to sway his rulings or even have him push for a ruling, such as what he may have done with the ruling that the Gur killed him for. Hell, he might have even refused a bribe from Cazador and that's what put him on Cazador's radar to set him up to kill. (Or something. I do feel like Astarion did a thing that annoyed Cazador and he wanted to "put him in his place.")

I do have this question and this is going to bring some speculative thoughts.

Why is a guy who was probably a high moon elf so prejudice and cut throat? Moon elves aren't known for being prejudice and cruel, in fact they detest cruelty and unfairness. Sun elves were a bit more prejudice and believing in elf superiority, known to act first when dealing with drow and ask questions later, but I hesitate to consider Astarion a sun elf due to the fact we see the other spawn. Their colorations didn't change except their eyes.

The only reason I can think of is if his family wanted to leave behind the free spirited, traveling attitude of their moon elf brethren and wanted to reach for some higher status, and found a way to do that in Baldur's Gate. Astarion does mention a moon elf noble house in Evermeet, so he isn't so disassociated with his people as some might suggest.

"House Nightstar was a moon elf house led in 1367 DR by the twin sisters Halaema Nightstar and Saelihn Nightstar. (x)"

So taking in this guy's possible family ambitions to maybe be up in the high elf pecking order as some of the sun elf houses....

Astarion would have been a serious magistrate, albeit a highly biased one.

He would know the laws like the back of his hand, and yet would bend them to fit what he wanted them to be in his rulings. Yes, this is the law, but wouldn't it be better if we kept the vagrants out? Yes, I know this is the typical standard, but we should be more severe on these people so they know not to step out of line. He would do everything by the book, but some of the rulings would be viewed as severe due to who he was working with.

And would he enjoy the power and influence of the job? Yes. He would have indulged himself outside of the office. But inside the office, he'd be cut throat to gain the next level to build up the family power level.

I welcome other thoughts, because my ADHD just ran out of steam.

#Baldur's Gate 3 #BG3 #astarion ancunin #I miss when I could go on and on in analysis #I need to practice it more apparently #train my focus a little more then you'll all witness the utter ridiculous depths of my analysis #long post cw #cw long post

[moonisneveralone]

This fandom is simply annoying as hell. I can't describe it in any other way. And it's specifically that most of y'all have superiority complex and an addiction to be vindicated by internet randos with no care or wish to be vindicated on an interlectual level.

First of all there have been significant changes made to the source material. Important material changes. And it's quite frankly sad that most of y'all are so used to colorblind casting that you don't realize the significance of making a character black. It quite literally changes everything. And because most of y'all don't know anything about black history, culture, storytelling etc. and don't have black friends, y'all would have engage with that aspect of the series retroactively, but most of y'all don't want to do that. The story had to signigificantly change from the book, because Louis is not a slave owner, but black instead. And Lestat is not broke, but rich. The powerdynamic at the time of their meeting has completely changed, but y'all wanna keep ignoring that. Because that's work and there is no instant gratification from strangers online, so the black people who constantly post detailed analysis are wrong. Not you. Actually they're hysterical and so weak. They couldn't deal with what happens in the book. And you just wait flr season two. That'll show them.

And you aren't weak. You're strong because you're right. Right? They're gonna be so hysterical when they find out their little meow meow isn't all that innocent....but y'all are projecting. Cause y'all couldn't stand even the slightest criticism either.

Cause we watched the same series right? Louis almost ate his nephew, he accelerated a race riot, he turned a child to ease his guilt and then became a homebody, effectively doing nothing to help the black people he supposedly wanted to support. Everything about him screams conservative who is unfortunately a vampire, black and gay. If any of y'all knew anything about the black people in this fandom, you would know that.

Nobody has an issue with Louis being critcised. We criticise him all the time. Y'all just wanna absolve Lestat so bad it's making y'all look stupid as hell. I truely mean that. Louis isn't a perfect victim and neither is Claudia she's literally a serial killer. There are so many things that both of them have actually done, but somehow y'all only remember to mention that to salvage Lestats honor or something. Like you can't stand to have someone see him as anything but a perfect character who would never hurt someone he loves (physically). But black fans are weak though...wait till they find out though?

Right y'all were so strong and patient when episode five came out. I forgot 😒

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv

[theriu]

River Reads Midnight Sun

Well met, traveler! This is the starting post for my experiment, wherein I, who have never read the Twilight books or seen the movies, read Midnight Sun (basically Twilight from Edward's perspective) and commentate for (hopefully) your entertainment! I decided it would be easiest to do this a chapter at a time, and my commentary will essentially be a summary of each chapter so people equally unfamiliar with the story can follow along. You can follow or block this experiment with the tag #river reads midnight sun.

I think that should do it! Let's get started with:

Chapter 1: First Sight

In which Edward finds high schoolers very Boring and Inane, and also nearly goes bonkers over a potential snack.

First things first: Can we talk about how gross pomegranates look? Is the cover art SUPPOSED to resemble an optical illusion between a halved pomegranate and a bleeding heart? Either way, EW.

Right, on to business!

Edward is bored, you guys. He is SO BORED. High school is so boring. Purgatory is mentioned, as well as “tedium” and “monotonous.” He really wants us to know how bored he is, even though the word “boredom” is not used until the sixth paragraph. But trust me, he’s very bored. One begins to wonder why the immortal 100+-year-old vampire is choosing to hang out daily in such a boring place, but I’m sure it will be explained.

Now we learn about his mindreading powers! This is also very boring because most of the minds he has to read are petty high school minds. By the way, the inane sheeple chatter in the school mindscape today is all about the new girl! I wonder who she could be! Ed sure doesn’t care! He can see every angle of her face via peoples’ thoughts, and he is NOT impressed. Half the “sheep-like males” are crushing on her. Edward’s disdain for them is palpable, almost as if it's not totally normal and fine for human teenagers to find new things like a new student exciting. We may be witnessing a smidge of superiority complex, which is shocking, no doubt.

Mind-reading as a way to introduce other relevant characters is handy, I will grant the author that! Of course, Ed tries not to mindread his fellow vampires out of courtesy, but he KNOWS what they are probably thinking, and boy is he ready to tell us!

Rosalie: Is either actually super hot or super thinks she is, and apparently this debate encompasses her every waking moment. She only compares herself to VAMPIRES, of course, because humans could never be comparably hot. Related to a stagnant pool. Wow, Ed.

Emmett: Hyper competitive guy who has no new thoughts because he says EVERYTHING he thinks. Compared to a glass-clear lake. I suppose that means Ed maybe thinks he has depth? Maybe? We'll err on the side of optimism.

Jasper: Suffering. That’s literally the entire description.

Alice (who can see the future) introduces herself by beaming thoughts at Ed asking how Jasper is doing. Jasper is not doing well. Apparently he is so ready to eat people that he has forgotten how to Human and is sitting in a corpse-like rigor, because it seems when you become a vampire you lose quirks like restless leg syndrome and blinking? This feels full of potential hilarity to me, but I fear such hilarity will not be realized in this Very Serious Book.

Anyway, back to Jasper, who is SUFFERING. Alice asks if there is any danger. Edward signals no. Half a page later, his exposition about Jasper's problem adds, “Jasper was very dangerous right now." Okay, so which is it?! PICK A LANE, ED

(On a genuine note, I already like Alice; she counters Jasper’s fantasies about eating a girl by telling him her name and a few personal facts in a way that shows Alice makes an effort to know her classmates as more than just The Humans. Yay empathy!)

Btw, Ed’s internal monologue indicates they’re hanging out at this school to build their strength and endurance by being around humans and not eating them, and to that I say REALLY??? You chose high school for that?! The one where you’re SUPER BORED?? GO HANG OUT AT A COFFEE SHOP OR SOMETHING

Ope, plot progression! Bella has entered the chat lunchroom. Literally everyone is thinking about Bella, including Jessica, no doubt the requisite catty high school rival who crushed on Edward previously. She has many disgruntled thoughts about Bella, Bella noticing the Cullens, everyone noticing Bella, etc. Ed, who has been doing a great job keeping us up to date on the general thought processes of the student body, takes this moment to assure us once again how much he finds all of this chatter inane AND petty AND trivial, and he’s definitely going to try harder to block them out (again).

Wait, oh my word, was that a line of HUMOROUS BANTER between the Cullens just now?! I have renewed hope for this Very Serious Book!

So Edward is the vampires' mental scout who checks for people suspecting he and his family are inhumanly weird (as opposed to acceptably weird), and naturally he does a brain scan on Bella. Oooo but he’s not hearing anything! And now they have locked eyes! Her eyes are very odd, because of the DEPTH of them! Already, Bella is very Frail and immune to mindreading and somehow has “deeper” eyes than I guess any other human Edward has met in his 100+ years? Ed, I think you need to make eye contact more.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled torrent of inane high schooler thoughts! Amazingly, they are all still focused on Bella and being attracted to or jealous of her, because of course real high schoolers are all Inane and Tedious. (The one exception is Angela, who is busy thinking about homework. I like her, she seems normal.) Jessica is being catty again, and what’s this?! Ed suddenly has this STRANGE URGE to SHIELD Bella from this nasty girl! How very odd and unusual! Especially from a guy who very clearly finds all human teenagers Inane/Petty/Trivial! Bella must be special, except she is also “very unexceptional." Also, Ed is highly frustrated that he can’t read this girl’s mind, despite him constantly reading her like a book and her having “deceptively communicative” eyes.

Rosalie breaks Ed out of his frustration-driven contradictory spiral, and they all go to class, Ed casually mentioning his two medical degrees in an internal dig at his biology teacher (again, why are you hanging out at high school???) Naturally, Bella shows up and the only seat available is the one next to Edward, because Plot everyone is subliminally terrified of him. Ed has a moment of panic wondering if not hearing one girl’s thoughts means he has a vampire disease and is gonna lose all his mindreading, and then he has another moment of empathy for Bella having to sit next to the Scary Vampire.

Then she walks in front of an air duct, and Edward is suddenly overcome with INTENSE BLOODLUST THE LIKES OF WHICH HE HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE!!! He wants to eat her SO BAD, you guys! He spends roughly EIGHT PAGES brooding on how badly he wants to eat her, noticing how delicious she smells, crushing the underside of a desk with his intense self-control grip (but having the presence of mind to “destroy the evidence” by rounding out the finger-shaped hole he just made), analyzing the logistics of eliminating a roomful of witnesses and whether to do so before or after eating her, seeing his monstrous reflection in her eyeballs, angsting over how bad he will feel when he murders a bunch of people, plotting ways of murdering her that WON’T result in collateral damage, questioning Bella’s sanity for daring to SHAKE HER HAIR IN HIS VICINITY, angsting about how disappointed his wonderful adoptive dad Carlisle will be (aww, that’s actually sweet), stubbornly deciding “she can’t make me,” hating Bella with the fury of a thousand suns for daring to smell so delicious, and shutting off his breathing so he has at least some self-control, which does sound uncomfortable but I applaud the effort.

Then class finally ends (for him and for us), and he goes and hides in his car. Which, honestly, relatable.

The car timeout helps restore his sanity, and he determines he does in fact not need to kill her and that hating her guts for smelling like an eight-course dinner probably isn’t fair! He just needs to avoid her as much as possible. Bless your heart for your optimism, Male Lead of a Paranormal Romance Novel.

The solution he comes up with is to charm the poor secretary (who keeps having to remind herself mentally that he’s too young for her, which, augh) into switching him to a different sixth-period course. Bella chooses this opportune moment to walk in, which he doesn’t notice until her DELICIOUS SMELL is blown over him (I question why someone with such advanced senses can only notice powerful smells when he is downwind of them). Edward’s Amazing Vampire Vision kicks in, allowing him to once again see his Monstrous Face in the reflection of her eyes, despite her being over against the wall. He briefly contemplates double homicide, then . . . uh . . . gives up on changing classes so he can walk away. This doesn’t feel like a long-term solution, Ed, but Kudos for the self-control.

The chapter wraps up with him jumping into his car (it’s the end of the day, so the others are waiting for him) and breaking the speed limit out of the parking lot. Alice uses Future Sight (it’s super effective!) to see that Ed is either going to book it out of Forks (the town) or go and murder Bella in her house. I once again have reason to like Alice, who orders him not to do it, adding that it would metaphorically kill Bella’s dad. He drops them off and races away again, not yet sure if he’s going to tell Dad Carlisle that he’s leaving or going to go eat the delicious new girl. And Scene!

Well, that wasn’t as painful as I feared, so huzzah! I kind of appreciate the internal look at his thoughts and how his mindreading lets us see other characters even when they can’t talk. Got a bit long at times, especially with how Inane and Petty and Trivial high schoolers are to Edward! LOTS OF DETAIL about how badly he wanted to eat Bella and possibly murder all bystanders, which I guess does go to show how bad the bloodlust is, because dang! (But why do none of the others have this reaction to her yet? Maybe they just don’t have classes with her. You must be this close to the Bella to ride the maniac vampire train!)

And with that, I have earned a much-deserved break before delving into CHAPTER TWO: OPEN BOOK! I’m sure Edward will totally succeed in his plan to skedaddle out of Forks and never see Bella again! Stay positive, Ed! =Dd

Chapter 2->

#river rambles #river reads midnight sun #twilight #edward cullen #bella swan #alice cullen #vampires #commentary #summary #satire I guess? #Idk #I'm trying to find a line between making funny comments and not being unfairly mean #I don't want to actually be a JERK here #but I'm still going to do a LITTLE mocking #anyhoo please let me know what ya'll think and if this is worth continuing! #and thanks for reading!

[transingthoseformers]

You know what is a really fun thing to contemplate?

Dratchet got together while soul searching and off on adventures following Empire of Stone (they definitely kissed after), but what if they never lost proud Decepticon Grit. Like they've all just had a bonding adevnture and they are slowly making there way back to Cybertron to turn him over but he's basically like a feral cat that hates them and is always around. He is suffering watching these two confess their love ("ABOUT FUCKING TIME BUT HOW ABOUT WE DEAL WITH THE SPACE VAMPIRES FIRST!?!"), he's in the background photos of their fiest date taking shots at the bar, their photo albums all show him in varying stats of "please end me" or getting in fist fights or drowning or having just the wildest shit happen while he remains pretty steady and unbothered in their orbit.

He's the only one at their wedding and has a nice three weeks on a vacation planet in the separate hotel room Drift booked for him because they couldn't just leave him. He's at the spa drinking Engex martinis and complaining on Decepticon social media about high command needing to get their shit together and get some direction and is fully convinced Megatron the Autobot is a cover and has gotten into several fist fights over it.

He's the meme of "me, my captor, and the medic turned conjunx he has been hot for for 4 mil years".

They are getting ready to drop him off but get Rodimus's distress call. They arrive on Necroworld and he helps out. He thinks Tarn is "a fucking idiot" and everyone just sort of goes with it because Drift and Ratchet have a carry on. He goes with Ravage and bodies Tarn to give his superior officer an escape chance. Megatron doesn't see that part because it cuts off and has his own gotta fight moment due to the severity of Ravage’s injuries.

He talks to Megatron and finds out "no I really have defected", nods, and while Drift is rushing forward going "nonono" proceeds to punch him straight on and yell about abandonning them and subpar leadership and everything before stomping off to go sit with Drift, Ravage, and Ratchet and basically ignore him.

Rodimus loves him.

Megatron is awkwardly circling the scoffing disdain.

Grit is suffering and still keeps showing up to Dratchet dates because "they are the only people he knows" which leads to another layer of misunderstanding that the ship has and Grit upon learning this becomes convinced by Swerve's conspiracy board and it makes him feel compelled to awkwardly sit them both down and stiffly formally try and "turn them down" as gently as possible. Ratchet just kind of chokes and Drift is laugh-sobbing too hard to get a word in.

That would be so fucking funny yes

I admit I had to look Grit up on the tfwiki because I was moderately confused

That would be so funny, he's trying he's trying but he's the ultimate unwilling third wheel, and yes yes Rodimus fucking loves the guy and Megs is just VIBING here

#maccadam #transformers #mtmte grit #mtmte drift #mtmte ratchet #dratchet #mtmte megatron #mtmte tarn #mtmte ravage #mtmte rodimus #mtmte swerve

[pininghermit]

Dare I Desire (Chapter 4)

Pairing: Adrian x Male Reader

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5| Chapter 6| Chapter 7|

AN: Introducing a bunch of OCs

“How do you know my name?” Adrian asks you, who sat opposite him. He was still taking in the clean castle and changed surrounding and now this… The plate of food in front of him felt foreign. How long had it been since he had such food and not just alcohol.

“Why yes Adrian, it is nice to meet you too. My name is y/n by the way.” you cross your legs as you rest your head on the chaise’s arm. As if the debacle in the storeroom never happened. Adrian felt a pulse of annoyance the more time he spent with the intruder.

Stormy grey eyes stared back at him in a silent challenge. The suave smile that concealed fangs similar to his was equally infuriating. Anger, rage, wrath Adrian felt them all at once.

“Ai, don’t glare at me like that!” you said in pseudo hurt voice with an extravagant motion of your hands. “Believe me,” with a dramatic hand on your heart you continued. “I will tell you everything but right in sequence. I will reveal to you who I am and my reason for being here but before that we need to go back in time. The story goes like this-

Long ago, maybe decades, maybe centuries or maybe millennia ago there was a world that housed both the evil and the good equally. Elves, men, vampire, dwarves, faerie, even dhampir must I say, lived on the same planes. In those times monsters were not labeled by a kind. It was the deed that labeled right and wrong, not the specie or race.

However, such a world had to come to an end when humans grew. With their growth came the need for land, the need to conquest and conflict. Soon the world that once housed all now fell into the struggle of survival and death. One had to die for the other to live.

Wars raged and monsters came to being. Our kind was not different. Born with unageing bodies that withstood decay our kind wielded the weapon of pride. But that’s just the boring part of history. Do you want the juicy part?” Adrian blinked. He had been too engrossed. Almost enough to forget about the vampire sitting in his study.

“Ahh I must say my story telling skills are quite impeccable.” Ignoring Adrian’s snarl, you continue. “Let’s skip a few years. So, the humans, vampires, elves, fae fought blah blah blah. You know the boring parts.” No. Adrian in fact did not know. None of the books in his father’s study mentioned this. Whatever you were spouting. All his curiosity was shattered by the man child, who probably was way older than anyone he had ever met. Adrian would not grant you any of his curiosity.

Slouched on chaise you spoke of war like a bedtime story. “Whatever my parents were pretty sick of all that and decided to leave the humans alone. They created a veiled world for us magical folk. Of course, superior to the rest.” If obnoxious were a person, it would be you, who sat, in front of him.

“In return they pledged to give up on blood. A bargain made with the spirits of the land that offered them a hidden valley. And so came to be Asor, the kingdom and refuge for the beings of the past world. Humans were given their world and we were given ours.

With peace came time and oh boy did my parents use it well. Now, now no judgement of course but I do have six other siblings.” Well, that was hard not to judge Adrian wondered.

“Eldest are triplets Cenfrith, Estrid, and Rowena. Close knit than any of us. They gave up their right to the throne for the sake of their weird bond. Don’t ask me…I don’t know either. Then came Yorick, the second eldest or fourth if you do the math. He rules now. Being the most responsible of us it made sense.” Despite the light manner of your speech Adrian could sense the tightness in your voice at the mention of Yorick. A weird tension that did not suit you.

“After Yorick is Harold, the artist of our family. A lone soul, very hard to find on any given day. And then comes Saewig ten years older than me and the menace. Brutal with his words and bows Saewig is the hunter who is almost is a beast himself.” You take a deep breath and pause as if to gather your marbles after that long list.

“Last and the most precious is me,” you gesture extravagantly. “Of course, having me made my parents realize that a greater perfection could not exist.” With an unabashed smile you jump up from the chaise.

“And how does this all matter to me,” Adrian mutters his heart beating wildly with an emotion he did not know of.

“You,” you point with a finger that makes Adrian want to snap it. Somehow you are now sprawling on his couch, “have the immense privilege of being the mate to the youngest lord of Asor.”

A second later you crouch on the floor as Adrian’s fist throbs from the impact of his punch. Unfortunately, Vampire bones don’t break easily.

#alucard #castlevania #alucard x male reader #castlevania alucard x reader #mates au #male reader

[schmergo]

I've recently done a little bit of research for some stuff adjacent to the production of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that I'm in right now and, in checking whether certain scientific institutions and inventions would have existed during the time of the play, I discovered something kind of interesting: many of the ones I've looked up were coincidentally established within 5-10 years of the setting.

The first bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories, the source materials for this play, came out between 1887 and 1893. The Natural History Museum? Opened fully in 1883. The Prime Meridian? Officially established in 1884. Tower Bridge? Built between 1886-1894. The Tube running northwest from Baker Street? 1880. London's first electrical power station? 1882. Those are just the ones I happened to look up. Telegrams are common in the Sherlock Holmes tales, and by the later Sherlock Holmes stories, he's using a telephone and even automobiles are mentioned.

Reading the Sherlock Holmes stories with that context of a world full of rapid changes and advancements, I feel like it comes across differently. It seems to say, "There's a scientific answer for everything." His unique detecting style, based on simple observations, made it seem like the age-old problems of crime and criminals could be defeated by logic and reasoning. I think there's a level of idealism, that even the most difficult crimes are solvable and bad actors are no match for modern scientific knowledge.

Reading Sherlock Holmes cases often gives the comfortable feeling of order and justice being served. I think that's the same reason true crime content is so popular today in another age of rapid digital advances-- and if we guess the solution, it's doubly satisfying. It's also why Sherlock Holmes is so easily translated to modern day.

But that also makes me think about another book and another equally iconic character that came out around that same time period: Dracula, published in 1897. And Dracula takes a lot of the same themes and seems to say the exact opposite.

I think one of the biggest things that surprises first-time readers of Dracula is how modern Dracula feels and how much technology is used in the book. Like the Sherlock Holmes stories, it was set in roughly 'modern day' when it was written. The 'good guys' use trains, telephones, typewriters, and even blood transfusions. But when Dracula, an old-world monster, arrives in their modern newfangled city of London, all of that technology is useless against him. And so is any ability of theirs to deduce a simple scientific explanation for what's going on.

When Dracula starts sneaking into their friend’s house and sucking her blood each night, the signs are obvious, right down to the puncture marks on her neck. The reader and audience knows what’s up waaaay before the characters do. It’s infuriating! You want to jump up and down and yell, “A VAMPIRE IS KILLING HER!” But why don’t they see what’s right in front of their faces? Because they’re thoroughly modern upper-middle class British people who live in a scientifically advanced world and believe in reason.

The chaos of true evil is more powerful than logic and reason. To defeat him, they need to get on his level and use superstition and religion and folklore. It's the polar opposite of a story like "The Hounds of the Baskervilles," published five years later.

All that said... I would love to see a Sherlock Holmes and Dracula crossover. How long would it take Holmes to deduce that he had run into a real vampire? Would he make all the correct observations and keep coming to the wrong conclusions? Would he be able to accurately predict the patterns of Dracula's behavior when his opponent has superhuman abilities and can transform into multiple different types of animals?

Or, given Holmes' somewhat addictive and adrenaline-driven personality, his superior attunement to his senses, his surprising revival from the dead, and his innate instinct to 'catch his man' at any cost... would he himself make the most dangerous vampire of all?

#sherlock holmes #dracula #literature #books #mysteries #novels #classic literature #english major

[beevean]

Changing Castlevania from a living Creature of Chaos to Dracula's Castle of Science was so lame

It is, and not just because you have such a cool concept of a castle that is actually an eldritch location that defies the laws of logic and reality, intimately tied with its Lord, and there was nothing done with it. (special shout out to LoS for actually doing something very cool with it)

Reducing Dracula to a "man of science" is a bit... I don't know how to say. My first word is "tasteless"?

One, I noticed the focus the story puts on Dracula's supposed holding on knowledge. Lisa going to him to ask him to teach him older ways to heal people is cute. Isaac wanting to protect him because his knowledge is more important than his own life is ehhh feels reductive IMO (and this is why making Isaac both a worshipper and Dracula's bestie doesn't work), but whatever. Alucard lamenting that with his madness and death the world will lose "a repository of centuries of learning" feels weird at this point. Like. Why is the main concern what Dracula can offer to the world? Why is he only worth something because he's a giant living library? Besides, the castle didn't crumble with his death unlike in the games, so all of his books and inventions or whatever he has still stand. What about him as a person? Don't you care about your damn father, Alucard?

Two, it's just another way to CHURCH BAD. See? Humans are stupid because they have the CHURCH BAD that holds them back! Vampires don't, so they get to have electricity in the 15th century! Ohhh, ahhh! And Lisa doesn't get to escape this, ofc, because she was the one who was offended at the idea of being seen as a witch - no no she wants to learn real science, thank you very much!

And three, tied to the above, it's yet another piece that adds to the elvification of vampires. I'm reminded of this scene:

Lenore: Mm. It's a lovely night, don't you think? Hector: It's a bloody chilly night. It was warmer in my cell. Lenore: That's because we channel waste heat around the castle with pipes. Hector: Really? Even to the cells? Lenore: I keep telling you. We're not monsters. Hector: Dracula's castle moved heat around with pipes. Is that vampire magic? Lenore: Actually, just science. Centuries old. The thing is, Hector, humans forget things and vampires don't. You have a lot to learn.

(yeah sure you're not monsters because you keep the cell warm, that's why you guys stripped hector naked and doused him in icy water, lenore you are such a bad liar and you're lucky hector was lobotomized after s2)

And this scene, where Alucard lights the lamps in the Belmont Hold and the Japanese not-twins are all amazed:

Sumi: Magic lanterns! Alucard: Lightning. Not magic. Taka: You put lightning into lamps and you tell us it's not magic? Alucard: It's really not. The Parthians were storing lightning in jars two hundred years before Christ.

Again, vampires are soooo cool because they have advanced technology to dazzle the inferior rac-- I mean, humans with. They have their own culture, their own books with their own "vampire philosophy", untampered by the stupid CHURCH BAD. That's what makes them worthy of being protected :) and that's why the Belmonts are mean when they kill them and their mysterious children :)

In some aspects, NFCV really reminds me of Twilight - and in this case, it's the insistence on both making vampires "creatures of science" (something something crosses freak them out because amazing predator vision) and elevating them to a noble, smarter race that is nothing but superior to the stupid humans. The only thing missing was Hector or Isaac going all Bella Swan and begging to be turned by Lenore or Dracula to become a superior creature.

#anti netflixvania

[sleepychailatte-blog]

When I was in school, there seem to be a camp of two types of girls when it came to literary choices. You had the Twilight/vampire romance girlies and the Hunger Games/dystopian gals, and you would have thought these two groups were the two families from Romeo and Juliet. Yours truly was part of the Hunger Games camp, and middle-school me was obsessed. I’m talking book and movie premieres, Team Peeta shirts from Hot Topic, wearing a mocking jay pin publicly, the whole gambit. God forbid if you read Twilight, that poorly written, low-brow, dumb, vampire romance. We were the readers of dystopian fiction, which was superior because it made you FEEL things about capitalism, broken societies, being true to yourself, etc. etc. etc.

It’s been over a decade since 2008. To all my Twilight girlies, I would like to offer you my most sincere apologies. I should not have judged you so harshly.

Recently I watched Twilight for the very first time as an adult. A friend of mine came over for a painting/movie night, and Twilight was our featured film. I knew the memes, I knew roughly what the plot was, but I wasn’t ready for the experience that was to come.

So without further ado, I’d like to offer my thoughts and review on the 2008 masterpiece, Twilight. If you aren’t familiar with the Twilight story, go read a quick synopsis and then come back.

🌘So, did you like it?

I had an absolute blast watching this movie. Would I say it’s a good movie? Probably not. Did it age well? Nope. But it was delightfully cringey, as you had to suspend all believe of realism. You couldn’t take this movie too seriously, because this movie took ITSELF way too seriously. It’s like they cranked the drama/teen angst meter up to 100 and everything seems so life-or-death…even though the main characters, Bella and Edward, are 17 year old juniors (ok so Edward actually isn’t 17 because he’s an old vampire but you get what I’m saying). It was very much that kind of relationship where “they can’t even bear to be apart or they will DIE” oh no how tragic (I think we now call that co-dependency).

When I was 17, I sure as heck didn’t know what love was. But again, this story is based in absolute fantasy, not realism, and that’s the fun part. Oh to be swept off your feet by a mysterious, handsome, brooding vampire that you met in your biology class!

🌓Favorite part of the film?

The script for this movie is pretty bad, I’m not gonna lie, and that’s part of the charm. It’s so bad, that it’s kinda good. Here’s some of my favorite quotes:

“You better hold on tight, spider monkey." -Edward to Bella because he can jump really high and run really fast. I about peed my pants from laughing when Edward said this.

“This is the skin of a killer, Bella." -Edward to Bella because vampire skin *literally sparkles* in direct sunlight. Again, almost peed my pants.

I will say that I love Edward’s family, the Cullens, as a whole. This vampire family tries to cook a regular meal for Bella, Edward’s human girlfriend, and oh my heart. Vampires don’t cook because they don’t eat normal food; the Cullen family had never used the kitchen in their house. The fact that they would go out of their way and attempt to do something so foreign to them in order to make the human girlfriend feel comfortable? Um, wow that’s actually really sweet.

Also, shout out to Bella‘s dad, Charlie for actually trying to connect with his daughter. Bella and Charlie have a bit of an awkward and tense relationship but this doesn’t stop Charlie from trying to be a good dad. I will say that one of my other favorite scenes was when Bella asked her dad if he wanted to meet her boyfriend Edward… while he was cleaning his shotgun. When he said, “sure, send (your boyfriend) in” and loudly snapped his shotgun shut, I about lost it. What a dad move! A national treasure.

🌒Would you watch it again?

Under the right circumstances. I would need either anesthesia or a large sangria. If I ever showed this film to my children, it would be for a study of what not to do in a relationship. If your significant other says “I can’t live without you” when you’re 17…that’s some big creepy co-decency energy.

🌑Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Um Team Charlie all the way. Hands down the best and most sane character in this whole film. We love to see a dad do his best and love his daughter…even when she starts dating a super weird pale dude.

🌘Conclusion

Watching this film made me think about guilty pleasures. We all have them, and they all look different at unique stages of our life. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is watching Judge Judy. My 70 year-old grandmother used to watch the Bachelor. For a friend of mine, it’s those cheesy Hallmark Channel movies. Others enjoy vampire romance novels. Are these things high-quality and sophisticated? No. Are they of good taste? Meh. But they are meant to be enjoyed, and that’s the whole point.

Twilight is the same way. Is it good? Not really. But that doesn’t matter, because it’s a cringey/angsty teen fantasy that’s meant to be enjoyed.

You can be both a Twilight girlie and a Hunger Games gal, and still have a pretty darn good time 🖤

#twilight saga #twilight meme #edward cullen #bella swan #movie review #twilight movies #spider monkey

[ladyhindsight]

We are half-way through the book, and it feels like going nowhere. Team Good is trying to find a way to help Jace, sure, while doing some side quests. Sebastian and Jace are progressing with their own plan as well, and Clary just hangs along not really actively trying to find out anything but to build rapport with Sebastian and make out with Jace. It all seems so aimless at the moment.

Chapter opens up with Alec returning to Magnus’ place after the meet-up with Camille.

A way to make your character to look more dumb than probably intended is to do this. Because what purpose does it serve how long does it take for Alec to realize this insignificant thing?

→ “but the living room was glowing with the blue-white flame coming from the pentagram.”

Alec goes to sleep next to Magnus who had different ideas than sleeping, and we cut to Simon and Isabelle having difficulties cuddling.

Astute observation. Also, it’s always childhood and nostalgia when Simon thinks of Clary. Isabelle will later in this book make a great point about this, but Simon never really gives up that aspect of Clary and his relationship to move forward and grow up, does he.

Just in the previous chapter I said that it’s such an outlandish take for any Shadowhunter to be inclined to think like this. Obviously individual opinions exist and not everyone necessarily likes them, but the fact that it’s one cause of the whole point that makes them Nephilim in the first place, it’s ridiculous that the scars are made such a point of beauty/ugliness in this book.

More so is the opinion that Isabelle presents here, that girls aren’t supposed to be covered in scars. Who thinks that? Where does he get that? What is the influence behind this idea that girls specifically are supposed to be unscarred? Warrior women and daughters of Raziel aren’t supposed to be scarred when they too use runes?

This is so idiotic and more a mundane issue, which for all the superiority the Nephilim feel towards them should make them think it all stupid.

Simon is also hungry and Isabelle tries to seduce him to drink from her. Simon resist but Isabelle is insistent, from which we could draw some parallel points that no means no, but:

This is unintentionally hilarious.

Simon is worried that he drank too much.

I’m going to need some peer-reviewed studies on this. Sure, blood volume as in plasma is replaced and can be replaced quickly, which means even quicker for the Shadowhunters. But even with Shadowhunters and they hyper blood, hemoglobin will take weeks, so does it really help if you’re going to be anemic? No.

Cut to Jace and Clary, and Clary is surprised that Sebastian told her the truth, that he didn’t feed the human girl to the vampire girl.

The writing does it utmost to teeter the edge of maybe we can trust Sebastian and give him a chance, but it doesn’t really work when you have child murder on your tally. Doesn’t need feverish mulling-over when you've witnessed firsthand and secondhand the evil Sebastian is capable of. Clary is neither that worried about the human girl Sebastian dragged along, she just wonders whether Sebastian lied about her fate and is to be trusted.

I don’t know where the jeans appeared because it was told in the chapter 8 that: “The drawers held camisoles and underwear, tops in cotton and silk, skirts but no jeans or pants.” And this is the only wardrobe that Clary utilizes in the moving house of Sebastian. Though obviously Sebastian or Jace could’ve gone and bought her some.

They truly know each other so well.

I'm just taking a dig, they don't have to know or can't know each little thing about each other, but it's funny because otherwise the writing really likes to tell you just that.

Again, the em dashes function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, and here they are intended as a colon but used like parenthesis. Without the em dashes the sentence here in the excerpt would go like this:

She looked away from him and busied herself putting together a breakfast plate from what was on the table, the chewy, round kind.

→ and sliced bacon that was the chewy, round kind.

Or something.

Much like me with all of Clare's writing. Why, why, why...

The motion he is doing is still running, not floating.

→ making it look like he was running in the air.

Clary doesn’t know Jace can cook eggs, and Jace doesn’t know Clary doesn’t like eggs. Also Clary doesn’t know how to tell Jace she doesn’t like eggs.

Imagine not being able to voice your dislikes because the other one might get disappointed. Imagine just answering Jace’s question: “Neither, I don’t like eggs.” But no, we needed a stupid segue to relationship wisdom from Sebastian, since Clare doesn’t realize that even these tiniest of things and inconsistencies eat away the actual consistency of her narrative she sometimes manages.

Why does he need to strip at all?

Oh, right. For another character-defining moment.

There will be another point also in the book that refers to this same point. Why does it matter where to rune is placed? Because the series has barely told us anything about the workings of runes, it has barely made any sense with the use of them.

You can infer that it matters where the rune is placed. But what runes work best and placed where? Maybe this is not necessary knowledge for the story to work, and maybe I'm just too pendantic about it, but since it is made a point that each rune is placed on a specific place here, I'd personally like to know why those places exactly.

Maryse then gets her one and only PoV.

Jem is so insistent on separating Jace as Herondale that it isn’t even subtle. “Your son” would suffice. (he does say that after though)

Case in point. Also there is no consistency as to what names the Silent Brothers even use.

I just love this exchange because Maryse tells Jem what’s what! And yes, Jem, you did, with your obsession of Jace's Herondale-ness.

YES, HE WAS. And the mentality like you are the reason he did not get to be! Also, what does this even meeeeean???

Cut back to Team Evil. They are on a mission to do something, after hanging around the town for ages, but Clary doesn’t know what they are after. (A chunk of adamas)

This book just loves “subtly” incorporating the incest theme. The sibling love theme just continues and continues, and I am tired and sickened at the “subtlety” under which Clare thinks she operates, though I get why Sebastian phrases it like this.

Why was it so difficult to leave Jace and Clary to wait outside somewhere? Because plot couldn’t happen.

Truly the peak of Jace’s training.

We end the chapter with this cliffhanger but no worries, Clary will experience her warrior awakening in the next chapter, which was actually kind of nice. All the other stuff in this chapter, not so much, which is not a good fanfare for what is coming next.

#Clary Fray #Jace Herondale #Sebastian Morgenstern #Isabelle Lightwood #Simon Lewis #Maryse Lightwood #Jem Carstairs #CoLS Chapter 12 #City of Lost Souls

[murfeelee]

IWTV 2022 INSP - The Odyssey of Recollection

Daniel: Yeah, you know, I gotta say, it's not so much the minute details, Louis; rather the total rewrite that's giving me pause here! (Recorder, 1973!Louis): [Lestat] was a sow's ear, out of which nothing fine could be made. I was his complete superior, and I had been sadly cheated in having him for a teacher. (Recorder, 2022!Louis): It was a cold winter that year, and Lestat was my coal fire. And I found myself, for the very first time... confiding my struggles to another man. (Recorder, 1973!Louis): He appeared frail and stupid to me, a man made of dried twigs with a thin, carping voice. (Recorder, 2022!Louis): I never allowed myself to feel emotionally close to anyone, much less a man. Lestat had surrounded me. Louis: The version we speak of now is the more nuanced portrait. Daniel: Mmhm. Or the more rehearsed. It's the abused-abuser psychological relationship I'm talking about! Louis: I do not consider myself abused. Daniel: I mean, usually when you're a little too close to it, the abused still loves the abuser--but you flipped it completely on its head! Louis: I'm not a victim. Daniel: 50 years later, you talk like he was your soulmate! Like you were locked in some f**ked up gothic romance! Why? Louis (reading Dan's memoir): "I am in my Buick, staring in the rearview mirror at my daughter in the car seat, an hour after I gave Derek, a guy I don't know, the last bucks I had. My editor reminds me: it's seven years before car seats are mandatory. My ex-wife reminds me: I never owned a Buick. This is the odyssey of recollection." Daniel: ..... Louis: The tapes are an admitted performance. This is the premise of our interview! Half a century later, allow me my odyssey. Daniel: *trashes the tapes* Louis: *sets the tapes on fire with the Fire Gift*

– Interview with the Vampire, S01E03

MY THOUGHTS

Another contribution to @iwtvfanevents' Vampterview/Rewind the Tape rewatch of IWTV Season 1! \(^0^)/

This time I picked one of the most mind-blowing scenes in Ep3, where Louis shows off that he has the Fire Gift. I've talked about this at length, as it's all wrapped up in the changes AMC's making with how strong Louis really is; where we even are in the books' timeline; and building hype for his most iconic book/film scene when he sets the Theatre of Vampires on fire.

But the scene's also important for highlighting the main theme of the show: Memory is a monster--as BOTH Louis AND Daniel struggle to piece together the missing events/memories in their long lives. "Truth and reconciliation."

#sims 3 loustat #loustat #interview with the vampire #vampterview #sims 3 vampires #sims 3 gameplay

[hammerhead-jpg]

Rewatching the begining of the house of Solaire series as a redacted fan, three years after it's release, as someone who honestly didn't really like it

Summit live reaction esque post alright

Warning: I luuuv redacted okay I just don't like the start of this particular series alrightttt I'm not a hater okay don't come at me (also this isn't some serious critique/analysis dw we're just messing around)

First off: Audio RP | found by a flirty vampire

The best part of the first video is the beginning with the video tape being played that's honestly such a slay move

CRINGING RIGHT AWAYYY EUGG

I honestly hate beginning Vincent I wish a piano would fall on him

WHY IS HE FLIRTING SO AGGRESSIVELY AN INCUBUS TRYING TO FIND A CHARGE WOULD BE MORE CLASSY

And this is an old video (the first one to be exact) so he's doing that weird half whispering thing and there's no sound effects

Idk why y'all headcannon Lovely to be a woman this creature is completely fine with some stranger coming up to them in a dark creepy abandoned theme park and hitting on them aggressively they have the preservation skills of a dodo bird

"just what kind of things have you heard? Maybe that uh... devilishly handsome men with pale skin and silver eyes prowl the grounds?"

"demons are very much real"

William and the other clan members listening to Vincent break covert for some they/them bussy: 😐😐😐😐

"Oh I know I'm very close, you're welcome!" KILL YOURSELF!!!!!

I HATE when he calls them "little one" YOU'RE WEIRD are you 20 or 40 PICK ONE YOU CAN'T BOUNCE BETWEEN BOTH YOU'RE WEIRD

"Oh hush I'm not touching" STOOPPP STOPP ITTTT IF YOU PULL THIS SHIT WITH THE WRONG PERSON YOU'RE GETTING TAZED

"do you work out?" YOU ARE GAAAYYY🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

"And a blush! Oh how cute" WHITE MAN MOMENT!!! WHITE MAN MOMENT ERIK YOU ARE A WHITE MAN!!!!

First "Lovely" drop how we feelin

Adam is getting cucked HARD at that meeting rn send a prayer for him

"You should be very grateful that I found you before one of my counterparts did." WHY ARE YOU JUST STRAIGHT UP ADMITTING THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN YOUR CLAN THAT WOULD HURT AN UNEMPOWERED HUMAN THAT WONDERED ONTO WONDERWORLD GROUNDS??? KICK THEM OUT????

"I'm old enough to keep my hunger in check. Some of them are still... learning." Now Adam is not only getting cucked but getting dissed also pray for that man

"Your blood practically sings to me, you know that?" This is a good time to remind the audience that Lovely at this point still thinks that Vincent is pretending to be a vampire and still hasn't booked tf out of there

7:18 tummy rumble #1

"it isn't safe here at night." Why??? Again if there are legitimately clan members that you think would harm a human beyond what is allowed by law you shouldn't keep them in the clan??? I get that this is supposed to foreshadow Adam but isn't Vincent at this point supposed to believe that Adam is just a newborn asshole who doesn't like following the rules? IF YOU THINK HE'S CAPABLE OF INJURING OR EVEN KILLING A UNEMPOWERED HUMAN FOR FUNZIES TELL THE DEPARTMENT ABOUT IT???

"You'd barely be able to walk by the time I'm done with you" RUN LOVELY RUN

WILLIAM AND ALEXIS AND SAM ARE LISTENING TO THIS BTW.

8:40 tummy rumble #2

"all you have to do is call my name" okay I get that vampires have superior hearing but are we supposed to believe he's going to be able to hear them calling out for him across the city? How is my man not constantly overwhelmed?

Vincent going back to the meeting like "what did I miss lmao"

Honestly congratulations on Erik because people saw this video and went "you know what, I'm gonna subscribe to this guy"

Thank God this isn't the first video I saw because if it was I would be doing my impression of what Lovely should've done as soon as Vincent approached them and sprinting away at full speed

Next vid:

Audio RP | Finding a flirty vampire in your bed

LOVELY RUN A STRANGE MAN THAT PRETENDS HE'S A VAMPIRE JUST APPEARED IN YOUR HOME CALL THE POLICE!!!

He just called himself a hunk I'm killing myself

Vincent you are no hunk half the fandom headcannons you to have the sluttiest waist and aesthetic skinny Pinterest fingers you are a twink

I saw the imperium AU alright. I was THERE

And I'm not just talking about imp Adam, I'm talking about Imp! ASHER. You think I didn't see that shit?

"What's the matter Lovely? Weren't expecting to come home to find a man on your bed?' YES.

"These sheets are heavenly by the way. I'm sure they must feel good balled up in your fists."

The sheets in question:

"So many questions, don't you ever go with the flow?"

Vincent really just said "when I'm waiting for you in your bed after a long day I want appreciation! Not this "Who are you?" "How did you get into my house?" "What are you doing here?""

DON'T YOU GIGGLE AT ME LIKE YOU'RE CURRENT VINCENT I STILL DON'T LIKE YOU

AND YOU LOVELY DON'T YOU HIT HIM ALL PLAYFULLY LIKE HE ISN'T A STRANGE MAN THAT BROKE INTO YOUR APARTMENT!! YOUR ASS IS NOT HONEY SIT DOWN.

"Where exactly are we standing in terms of your beliefs?" Now he's talking like a therapist great.

3:21 tummy rumble #3

"Alright I'm serious. This is my serious voice. Can't you tell?"

Eugghhhhhhhhhhh

Senorita awesome everybody

"are you afraid I might put you in some kind of trans?" Too late 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳��‍⚧️

"bend your will to mine? Make your body and mind my playground?" Literally leave this shit to Adam. I don't need both of y'all pulling this noncon fantasy bullshit

"they gotta be contacts" wait til this mf find out some people have gray eyes naturally

My ass was so disappointed when I found out their eyes weren't red listening to this for the first time

"see? *tap tap tap* fangs" you can get fangs implanted by a dentist. Like I get you really are a vampire but like you're making this game extremely easy

7:33 tummy rumble #4

7:47 tummy rumble #5

Listen, if a strange man pins me down onto my bed to prove he has special abilities, super strength or not, I'm kicking him in the ballz to prove a point

"I wanted to take you right there." IN FRONT OF YOUR WHOLE CLAN??!?!?

Current Vincent: the Solaire clan doesn't need to kill to get what they want. I only killed Adam because I had to

Ep2 Vincent: I would've killed anyone who got close to you lmao ♥️

I want to focus at the matter at hand but all I can hear is Erik's chair rattling

"that was too close... I almost lost it" Vincent is turning into Lasko yay

"I won't loose control"- Vincent an episode before he looses control

And there he goes

Next vid:

Audio RP | Flirty vampire looses control

Time to get reminded that I actually hate Adam and that he's not just a silly little fact got vamp

HIS VOICE SOUNDED SO DIFFERENT EUGHHH

WHY HASN'T HE HIT PUBERTY YET ☹️

"What's the matter? Your little boyfriend never transed you before?" Well somebody's jealous

"I never would've pegged Vincent as the uh... sentimental type?" Believe me there is no universe where you're pegging Vincent in any way shape or form

1:09 tummy rumble #6

"We could all hear the conversation you two were having ya know." Yeah and you were edging yourself the whole time

"Oh relax I'm just touching you." Adam.

"Is a vampire toying with you a lot less fun when he's not a self conscious little coward?" ADAM😨

"Vincent isn't anything in this clan, I hope you know that." BOOO BOOO🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅CRINGE

For the love of god stop squealing you fruity piece of shit

This fucker is so gay why are you standing there fantasizing about what sort of intimate acts your nemesis was doing to this person

4:34 tummy rumble #7

Also someone please tell him to stop doing that weird ass high pitched wheeze laugh it's getting annoying

EWWW I DON'T LIKE TONGUE NOISES NO NO NOT LIKE THIS

How I imagine Vincent slapped Adam:

"Evening Vincent 💞😋" this fucker so gay

Him saying "oh fuck" with his voice all quivery and shit wasn't because he was scared it was cut he was hard I know Erik told me personally

The way Vincent doesn't sound intimidating at ALL LMAO

Imagine just getting practically assaulted and the guy who saved you starts growling "mine" I'd kms personally

"He, Adam, got my predator instincts going." SHUT UP OMGGGG

9:33 tummy rumble #8 ERIK EAT SOMETHING BEFORE FILMING GOTDAYM

"Why did you have to come here? I told you to stay away." You see it is because they are stupid. Hope that helps!

UGGG I HATE HIM "When Adam tries to bite you it's weird and fucked up but when I do it it's hawt🤪"

Vampire slurping noises yay

I like how in the desc he clarifies that Adam and Vincent are two different people and that it's not a Jekyll and Hyde situation

What he thought we were gonna think happened fr:

I'll probably do more videos later but I'm tiered now

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted vincent solaire #redacted lovely #redacted adam #redacted solaire clan

[vickyvicarious]

Jonathan and Dr Seward's "voices" are so different so far. His recorded observations had me thinking that it'd be interesting to see Dracula's thoughts while observing, studying and "pushing" Jonathan from his perspective about the Everything of the messed up thing these two have got going on.

God, yeah. I actually love that we don't get Dracula's perspective in the book itself, because it feeds really well into themes of him denying the spread of truth. He tries to refuse to be pinned down on paper, because fear spreads better for something at least partially unknown. If he's mysterious and makes you doubt your own mind it's much harder to fight against him, and clear facts about his abilities/weaknesses are not something he wants ever getting out. So thematically, it makes sense to never hear from him on paper; even when we know he has written letters Jonathan at best can paraphrase them. *

That said, I definitely think you're right to say we can see some echoes of what a Dracula perspective might be like when looking at Seward's observations on Renfield. It's something about the element of self-indulgence to it, the curiosity on what they will do next, the urge to either entice or force them into doing something else, the superiority/edge of contempt or disdain for them as lesser in some way... All kinds of Stuff going on there. There's even more direct parallels to come. And while Seward tries to curb those impulses when he notices them in himself, a Dracula POV would not be interested in restraining anything... Except of course, holding back on biting/killing Jonathan in order to extend his own anticipation during the 'study' beforehand.

Spoiler-heavy tangent below the cut:

* This theme really ramps up as soon as Dracula leaves the castle. He's out of the place where he is known and suddenly he begins to vanish from the narrative. He only appears in dreams, in brief snatches of horrific encounters, or in other shapes. No one knows him, no one speaks to him, no one is able to fight back against him. The absolute best they can do is try to stave him off temporarily, and even that is only after spending tons of time researching to seek out the kind of knowledge he counts on people in England not having. It feels hugely significant that Dracula doesn't have any direct dialogue between June 29 and September 18, and not to a main character until October 3. He leaves behind the person who has gotten to know him, and becomes an invisible monster haunting the edges of the story... until someone gathers enough knowledge to become a threat to him once again. And then he tries to force her into silence, into joining him.

It's all another factor of the importance of documents! Because Dracula (and by extension, other vampires too, though to a lesser degree) is the antithesis of all they represent.

#dracula daily #count dracula #dracula documents #dracula daily spoilers #below the cut only #jack seward #anonymous #replies