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alpaca-clouds · 26 days ago

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The Horror Of Vampires?!

A friend and I talked about something recently, and frankly it really made me think about this. Officially vampires are creatures associated with horror literature and horror media. However, most people do not really interact with vampires that way? Like, sure Interview with the Vampire and Castlevania for example do get marketed as horror - but... People usually watch horror to get creeped out or spooked. But people usually watch vampire-adjacent media either because "vampires are hot" or because it makes for good action. I mean, I love my vampires - I spoke about it this week. But I (who was afraid of his own shadow as a kid) never once in my life considered vampires as "spooky" or "scary".

And looking back on the history of vampire media... This is not exactly a new development, right?

Lord Ruthven and Varney

We could start whenever with vampire novels, as the vampire genre goes back until the 18th century. However, I am going to start at the beginning of the 19th century wth The Vampyr by Polidori and the Varney Penny Dreadfuls by Rymer. Because these two already quite well show that vampires were not really creatures of horror back then.

Because neither story really was horror even back in the day. The Vampyr was mostly just Polidori poking fun at Byron. While some of the themes we find in Dracula later are present here, ironically it is quite clear that Polidori did not quite think about it the same way that Stoker did. (Or to put it differently: Polidori hung with a very different crowd than Stoker.)

The Varney stories are mostly just... confusing in this regard. The Varney story is most notable for being published as a penny dreadful first - and it seems the writer or rather writers were not quite certain whether Varney was an actual vampire or just a metaphoricial one. One way or another, Varney definitely was portrayed as more and more sympathetical over the run of the novels, and his death in the finale is actually quite tragic.

Dracula and Carmilla

Dracula and Carmilla were probably the one thing that actually was meant to be read as horror. And while we, who definitely would be considered to be "sick bastards" by Victorian standards, would not necessarily consider it this way, it was definitely meant to be read this way back in the day.

Both novels definitely play of the same ideas for horror. A very Victorian kind of horror. Because the horror in both novels is very much based on the idea of "corruption of the innocents" and the "alien who comes to corrupt".

Nobody is gonna argue that both books are extremly queer, which is exactly part of the horror. This was written by Victorians, who were quite appalled by the idea of queerness. Many paragraphs have been written before about Bram Stoker, who very probably was queer himself, writing Dracula with a mixture of xenophobia, antisemitism, and internalized queerphobia. Dracula is all the things that the Victorian society feared. The "stranger from the East" who comes in and corrupts the young people (Johnathan, and Lucy mostly, while Mina is obviously incorruptable).

The same is somewhat true for Carmilla. Carmilla comes in and corrupts a young girl into queerness. The queerness here is the basis of the horror.

Again, we do not quite read it this way these days. But that was what made those novels horror - and maybe it was what kinda made sure that vampires would not stay horror for long?

The Blood of the Vampire

Another book that came out close to the end of the century and already goes very deep into making the vampire sympathetic is The Blood of the Vampire by Marryat. While this story leaves it open (as do many vampire stories of the day) whether it is truly vampires involved here, there is definitely the suggestion... However, we read the entire story from the point of view of the vampire, and the horror is in fact that this young girl does not understand what is happening to her, and that she through her nature accidentally kills people.

I am Legend

Okay, I will admit one thing: Of all the vampire novels released between 1990 and 1970 I have only ever read I am Legend. Now, I am Legend is pretty much somewhere between vampire novel and a zombie apocalypse. Now, if you only know the Will Smith movie, you do not know anything about this story, mind you. Because the twist is completely different.

Now, for the most part the horror of this novel - and this is definitely horror - comes from the decay of society, and how a human being completely isolated will usually use his mind. Sure, part of this are the vampires, but the protagonist's mind is actually a way bigger part of the horror than the vampires.

Especially as the final reveal of the story is: "Vampires are actually quite alright. And they will be the future of humanity."

Salem's Lot

Salem's Lot is another story that definitely features vampires as horror creatures. And to be fair, I am struggling to say much about it because there is just one simple fact: I find King's writing incredibly boring and even kid!me (who, again, was afraid of everything) never found King's stories very spooky or frightening. For the most part I would argue that Salem's Lot has not much horror that is specifically connected to the vampires being vampires. They are just "monsters" that can turn pretty much everyone against you. That is the horror here. The big difference between vampires and zombies would probably be the very specific weaknesses of vampires - and the fact that they are cunning, which zombies usually are not. But generally speaking, the vampires here could be easily replaced with any other kind of monster tht could easily turn other people into "monsters" themselves.

Still, from all vampire media that I have read, Salem's Lot is probably the one example of a story, where the vampires are horror creatures just on the basis of being vampires - and where the book never really bothers even the slightest of humanizing the vampires in any way.

Interview with the Vampire

Just one year after Salem's Lot, though, the novel would release that would very much change vampire literature forever: Interview with the Vampire. Yes, this was officially a horror novel. However, I never read it as horror - and I doubt most folks who read it did. Instead this book and the ones following it, very much is the exploration of the psychology of vampires. Anne Rice's vampires are very sad, very dysfunctional people, who really just want to find some peace and happiness, but are quite unhappy. If anything the thing that is the horror here is not the vampires, but their existence. Because to them existing as vampires becomes a sort of psychological horror to itself. This is obviously especially clear when it comes to Claudia, who is cursed to forever exist as a child in a world that never will respect her and see her as a full person.

As you can see: I am not even arguing that there is no horror in here to be found - but the horror is not "scary vampire", but "being a vampire is fucking scary". Mind you, it is this aspect of the vampire that I found always quite fascinating, and that admittedly got a bit too lost for me on the long run...

So, this was pretty much the point where vampire media changed forever. At this point vampires were hypercharged and suddenly became very omnipresent in media to never go away over the next 50 years. And yes, from the 80s onwards I have read a whole lot more of the vampire media that has been released. However, I will not go much into many details from here on - rather than going into the three distinct types of vampire media that we have now.

Vampire Romance

I am blindly gonna argue that probably the biggest subgenre of vampire literature is vampire romance. Based on the fact that romance is the biggest genre of literature in general, you know? A lot of Urban Fantasy falls into this, too.

Now, generally speaking almost all vampire romances are the same: We have a human main character, most of the times female, who falls in love with a vampire, most of the time male. There are queer variants of this, but very little where a male human falls in love with a female vampire (or the other way around). Sure, I can think of a few novels like that (mostly stuff about non-white vampires, ironically), but generally speaking: Most of this is a tiny female woman or girl, falling in love with daddy dom vampire.

While sometimes the romantic vampires can be dangerous, I can hardly call them horror. Sure, there might be a scene or two - depending on the author - where the vampire goes into a blood frenzy and might be dangerous to their human lover, but in general vampires in this subgenre are depicted as something great, amazing, hot, and desireable. In quite a lot of books the main character ends up becoming a vampire, or at least yearns for it.

So, no. The vampire romance definitely falls out of the horror aspect.

Vampire Hunters

Probably the most varied type of vampire media we have around today is media about vampire hunters. While vampire hunter media was around forever (technically speaking the oldest I have read were from the 1910s and 1920s and published in pulp magazines, featuring usually vampire or general monster hunters - it even seems that this is where the entire "werewolf vs vampire" thing comes from), it really took off in the 90s with Buffy.

Vampire Hunter alligned media usually is more targeted at a male audience, though there are some stories that are more targeted at women. Either way: While the main plot here usually goes about hunting down either one specific vampire or just your average monster/vampire of the week, there is quite a lot of those that have a lot of sideplot focused on romance/sex and a wide cast of side characters. Generally speaking a lot of those stories however will be best described as "action", which is probably why we see this type of vampire story most commonly also in visual media - be it games, shows. comics, or movies.

However, one way or another: Very few of these actually go heavily into horror. While at least some of the games can have some creepy and anxious moments, and a lot of media here goes into splatter and gore... There is rarely a whole lot of actual horror in it. After all, in the end this genre is very much about a power fantasy - which is simply the opposite of horror.

Vampire Horror (?)

Between all the other vampire stories there are some vampire stories, that aim at least to be horror. Del Toro's The Strain definitely falls into this. And in general I have read a total of four books, that actually fall into the genre - while also being completely unable to recall the other three titles, as they do not seem to be in the Wikipedia list.

And this was actually what got me thinking about this the most. Because... out of all those books, only one actually worked for me. And that was a book written from an indigenous perspective doing the same thing that Castlevania Nocturne does: Equating colonialists with vampires.

However, I am not quite sure whether this was because I identified with this perspective, or whether it was because of these books it was the only one not taking place in a semi-modern world.

See, here is the thing: In a modern setting vampire are just not very scary, no matter what you do. And that... Well, it leads me to a theory.

What makes a vampire scary?

So, let me talk for a moment about this. What actually is the horror of the vampire?

From all the novels I have read, I would argue that the general ideas of horror within vampires come from one or more of the following ideas:

Vampires can corrupt anyone into their ways. One horror aspect of this is, that they can turn anyone against you. Even your lover, your family, your friends can fight you on the next day.

Vampires can corrupt you. They can "infect you" and make you live out your darkest desires - be those of sexual or a violent nature.

Vampires can hide in plain sight. They can appear as human for the most part and can hence sneak up on you rather easily.

Vampires usually are incredibly hard to kill (unless you have sunlight).

The last part is the biggest issue.

I will now say it again: Originally vampires could go out into the sunlight. The entire thing with "vampires die in the sunlight" actually goes back to the Nosferatu movie running out of budget for an epic final battle and people ran with it. But it is exactly this that makes vampires so often not work as horror. Because it is a very easy, obvious solution to killing them.

A few days ago I saw a post on my timeline on how monsters that are visible are actually a lot more scary - and I kinda agree. But generally I think that a main issue with vampire horror is, that the "weaknesses" are just too silly and too obvious.

In general I think vampires would work better in a sort of psychological horror, that goes more into the first two aspects of it. Because the vampire as a monster... I am afraid it just does not work anymore these days - if it has ever worked.

And a part of me really would love to write some proper horror with vampires at some point. But I don't know if it can even work. What do you think?

#vampires #vampire literature #vampire #gothic horror #monsters #dracula #dracula daily #carmilla #varney the vampire #the vampyre #bram stoker #salem's lot #interview with the vampire #buffy the vampire slayer #castlevania #vampire hunters

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hazbinhazbinhazbinreblog · 9 months ago

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Because of that drawing now I, another anon, got a weird somewhat wholesome au of mixing secretly married and Dadstaticradio, the Domestic au

Like not only is Vox a husband but also a dad. That would really really change shit around Voxtech like he seems to be more open to toy lines and then one day he and Alastor due to sleepless work nights, xame to the overlord Meeting with their rings on and baby Charlie strapped to Alastor's back.

(Let's just say Charlie was given to Alastor fot her protection, maybe Lucifer fell into a coma rather than being an apathetic shut in during depression and god knows what is Lilith's deal is.) Alastor, being a child without a father during the early 20th century or late 19th century couldn't help but get a bit soft and find himself attached to the baby then love her as his own. Literally brought a baby during his and Vox' anniversary and had to keep Charlie's status a secret til she is old enough.

Let us say there is pandemonium during the Overlord meeting because first:

Vox is married to the Radio Demon?!

Alastor is married to Vox?!

They somehow produce a child?!

Val is weeping, Vox is a married man and a dilf. XD Velvette kept posting, Carmilla is going "how what why when where?!" Zestial is just relax, Rosie is supportive, cooing: I am an aunt now! O7o

The drawing in question for context

The chaos and confusion skyrockets exponentially when having to process both at the same time, also Val crying over that is funnier to me than it should be

#ask #au crossovers #staticradio #domestic au

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duckprintspress · 13 days ago

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Let’s Get Spoopy! 6 Queer Gothic Books for Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! We did a queer horror-themed rec list in August to celebrate Frankenstein Day, so we thought we’d try something a little different: queer gothic stories! Here are our six recommendations for queer gothic works. Five Duck Prints Press folks contributed recommendations to this list.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

In a lonely castle deep in the Styrian forest, Laura leads a solitary life with only her elderly father for company – until a moonlit night brings an unexpected guest to the schloss. At first Laura is glad to finally have a female companion of her own age, but her new friend’s strange habits and eerie nocturnal wanderings quickly become unsettling, and soon a ghastly truth is revealed.

What Manner of Man by St. John Starling

This is What Manner of Man, a queer vampire romance novel about an innocent priest sent to a remote island to exorcise the demons that are allegedly tormenting the villagers — but what happens when the priest begins to suspect his host, the mysterious, nocturnal lord of the local manor, may have invited him another reason entirely? And what happens when the supposedly celibate priest finds he cannot resist his host’s powerful charms?

Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology

Unspeakable contains eighteen Gothic tales with uncanny twists and characters that creep under your skin. Its stories feature sapphic ghosts, terrifying creatures of the sea, and haunted houses concealing their own secrets. Whether you’re looking for your non-binary knight in shining armour or a poly family to murder with, Unspeakable showcases the best contemporary Gothic queer short fiction.

Even dark tales deserve their time in the sun.

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets.

With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past, both the green magic of the woods and the dark things that rest in its heart.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde’s most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.

TELL US MORE QUEER GOTHIC BOOKS!

These books have been added to our queer horror shelf on Goodreads and our affiliate recommendation list on Bookshop.org!

#duck prints press #queer fiction #gothic fiction #halloween #happy halloween

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this-world-of-beautiful-monsters · 2 years ago

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happy lesbian visibility day to all the girls kissing girls with sharp sharp teeth

“From 'Dracula's Daughter' to 'Carmilla,' lesbian vampire depictions prove immortal,” Elaina Patton, 2021 / “Carmilla,” Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872 (art by D.H. Friston) / “A terrifying history of lesbian vampires: From 19th century scares to chilling moral panic,” Patrick Kelleher, 2021 / The Vampire Lovers, 1970 / “Christabel,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1797 / Lesbian Vampire Killers, 2009 / “From 'Dracula's Daughter' to 'Carmilla,' lesbian vampire depictions prove immortal,” Elaina Patton, 2021 / Blood and Roses, 1960 / “Why Are We Still So Obsessed With Lesbian Vampires?,” Michelle Hyun Kim, 2019 / The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez, 1991 (25th Anniversary Edition) / “Carmilla,” Theatres Des Vampires, 2011 / Bit, 2019 / “Lesbian Vampyres From Outer Space,” Scary Bitches, 2005

(terfs and radfems fuck off, lesbian vampires eat terfs and radfems)

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minimag1c · 14 days ago

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Day 6 of Radioapple trick or treat and my favorite so far!

The entity fell in love with a Twink!

Day 6 ----->ᵈᵉᵛⁱˡ ʷᵒʳˢʰⁱᵖ/ˢᵃᶜʳⁱᶠⁱᶜᵉ

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 ✏ 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

Here's my favorite prompt so far because I mixed it with Ouija board yipeeee!!

Anyway spiritual/mystic Alastor with Rosie and Mimzy trying to find out what kind of entity is haunting an abandoned underground factory that is somehow below the ground because I've watched a video about it and wanted to write something about it am I right

Also Vaggie tags along because she's so fucking underrated and I love her

Surprisingly there isn't really a tw or whatsoever just supernatural or horror stuff probably and that's it lol

Also

It's rushed

Oopsie daisy I suppose

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"So is it the place?" Vaggie asked, looking at her phone before looking forward, a flashlight in her other free hand while Rosie stood next to her, putting her hands on her hips while contemplating the view.

"Apparently? I was not even really sure myself but Carmilla was the one who told me that this area was where the townspeople had the most of manifestations and paranormals activities that occurred."

Someone next to Rosie hummed, a shorter and chubbier woman, who looked at the said place with disdain.

"It may be a spot where some shits happened but still, why did it has to be so goddamn ugly." Mimzy complained as Alastor butted in, a small faint smile on his face.

"Well. Those kind of places were never meant to be really pretty in the first place" he explained. Vaggie shrugged.

"Unless if it's some shitty fancy ass buildings like castles or manors."

"Even those are creeepy-" Rosie shuddered but then Alastor interjected

"Bleh! Who cares?? We were called here for a reason. Let's see what is it all about!" The only man of the group said as Rosie nodded thoughtfully, following her queer platonic lover's enthusiasm.

The four carefully slid and climbed down the muddy and slippery hill where the abandoned toy factory was. This place was pretty recent one if they have to be honest about their experience as paranormal investigators and mystics, only being active since the 19th century unlike the old medieval castle on the coast or the mysterious hut like house that was in the middle of the forest. Still, being recent didn't meant activities wouldn't be that much. In case, it was the opposite because it was freshly new thus more prominent energies.

And it was already the case when Alastor felt something brushing his right shoulder.

Instinctively, the man turned his head, not scared but more curious as Rosie immediately stopped her tracks and so did the two others.

Rosie was more concerned however.

"Are you okay Al?" She asked cautiously as Alastor shook his head slightly, blinking a few times before shrugging nonchalantly.

"It's fine. Just felt something going past me." He admitted. Mimzy couldn't help but groan out, complaining again.

"Great. We've barely entered in and we're already having weirdos pouncing around" she said as Vaggie rolled her eye although it was more of amusement.

"And we should probably keep our mouth shut if we don't want more unwanted manifestations." The brown haired woman responded as they dived deeper into the unknown.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

The whole place was actually a giant cave, with a few constructions made out of old iron using the walls as a support, mushrooms sprouting almost all around with mold. There were no source of lights or whatsoever except the faint white rays of each flashlights on. The smell was a weird mix of moss, humidity and runned up gasoline that instantly flared up in the nostrils.

"Well, without no doubt I can say that this place was completely abandoned." Rosie commented, making sure she wouldn't step on anything that was suspicious even if she wore combat boots.

"Do you feel anything Vaggie?" Alastor asked to the latina who thought for a fraction of second before shaking her head.

"Nothing. Neither something really that energy sucking or another presence aside from you three. Just... The void."

She then frowned slightly as Alastor was the only one who could notice it as she muttered something under her breath.

"A weird void though. As if there's something in this nothing. Weird."

The group continued their exploration, as Alastor couldn't help but cling furthermore on the ouija board in his side bag.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"Do you think they had any possession left here or not?" Mimzy asked, helping Rosie to go through a narrow entrance to a completely ruined shack or what seemed to be a garage judging from the destroyed cars and other engines that lingered like corpses on the ground and at the corners.

"I don't know. It's almost as if the whole place was ran over and they didn't had time to actually take everything they had." Vaggie suggested, feeling a bit weirded out by the fact that barely a few milliseconds ago, this room was okay ish.

But when the group actually arrived, something heavy was put on her before suddenly disappeared.

Rosie also seemed to notice this as a rare frown was visible on her face, looking around while dusting away the dirt on her clothes.

"There's something wrong with this room."

"Wrong like what dear?" Alastor piped in, going closer.

Despite being a mystic too, the man was lean about visions rather feeling energies which was complementary with Rosie who was more of an empathic and developed an hypersensitivity with what surrounded her. Vaggie was kin on the two sides and could communicate with spirits while Mimzy, despite her lack of skills in the spiritual field, was the down to Earth friends the trio needed as to not go entirely crazy.

The latina nodded at Rosie's statement.

"There's a weird energy going around here. I don't even know how to describe it. It's as if... It's apart from what really happened in this room." Vaggie tried to explain, even shivering slightly.

Alastor and Mimzy looked at each other, feeling concerned until the shorter woman shrugged.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's pull up the board at this rate, we didn't had that much activities until now."

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"Hello whoever owns or is in this place-" Vaggie started, crouching on the floor with Rosie and Alastor, hesitant before she continued, knowing there was no turning back as her tone was less scared however more apprehensive.

"-I will introduce myself to you either way. My name is Vaggie and these are my friends: we have Alastor, his queer platonic partner Rosie and Mimzy. Before we begin, I may want to add that we do not mean no harm nor cause disturbance. We just want to communicate with you and be able to reach you in anyway, if you want obviously but aside, if you want to talk with us you may not give us troubles nor hurt us and less forbid us to escape."

She stopped slightly on her explication, biting her lips in slight tense but Rosie nodded, smiling softly as to encourage the other woman to continue. After all small pause, Vaggie continued, her barely touching finger on the board shaking slightly.

"This ouija board is simple: there are letters, numbers alongside with a "yes" and a "no". Depending on our question, you may move the indicator here according to the answer you will communicate. Again, thank you for your patience and we will now ask a first question."

After a few seconds of silence, Alastor spoke up, his tone trying to be affirmative.

"First thing first: Are you with us right now?"

At first, there was nothing until, slowly and actually very slowly, the indicator started to move to the yes, even barely reaching it. The three made sure their fingers wouldn't touch the small instrument.

"Wait I have question for y'all." Mimzy suddenly hushered, probably as to not startle the entity, looking around in discomfort. "If the person- or whatever- actually says no, then isn't that just expose the fact that it's still there?"

"When it says no, it doesn't necessarily means it's an entity." Vaggie whispered back as Rosie continued, careful with her words.

"There are a lot of various energies going around especially in places like this. Other types then respond instead of the the one we actually want to find.

Mimzy just hummed, still sensing something fishy in the whole garage.

When she realized her friend didn't had anymore question, Rosie piped in, her tone gentle as possible.

"Thank you for response. Now, it may seems like a personal question, but what is your name mon cher?"

Again, a pause before the indicator slid shakily to the letter L.

Alastor raised an eyebrow, seeing that the small pod didn't seemed to move.

"L?"

"Maybe it doesn't really want to tell its name?" Mimzy asked, mirroring Alastor's confused expression.

Rosie was a bit disappointed however, before she could thank the shy entity again, it sudden slid fastly to another letter that even Vaggie was taken aback by the sudden determination.

".. Lu?" She asked before the white indicator moved again, now its movements were more fluid as even Mimzy even found herself widening her eyes at the sudden shift.

L U C I.

Then it was calmer now... Except they heard a loud booming sound not from afar but actually outside of the underground garage. The four all turned their head at it before Mimzy suddenly froze, her face showing dread.

Alastor felt his heart suddenly beat rapidly, feeling something conflicting inside before the shorter woman breathed out in an almost exhaustion, her eyes blinking rapidly.

"Something was trying to touch me all around my body. It had an actual weight, not wind nor some other stuff like that." She said, putting her hand on her quickly beating heart.

Vaggie frowned at that before she sighed, looking at Alastor and Rosie before she nodded.

"Alright. Thank you so much for your answers Luci. I hope we didn't disturbed you that much and so we say you goodbye. Have a good rest." She said the last part awkwardly before feeling that the board was calmer again as she removed her hand from it.

Rosie and Alastor obviously did the same thing and, despite the familiar flash of wind who was now on his back and neck coming back, they had a singular thought. Not really that motivating but as investigators, it was a question of matters.

Time to see where this sound was.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"I think it was around here-?" Rosie suggested, looking up and down at the giant yet completely dark part of the cave, the rays of her flashlight not even being able to reach the top.

The rest of the small group followed her, making sure they wouldn't step on a rusty steel nor a destroyed piece of metal that was thrown out like scrap.

Alastor, specifically, was feeling unwell but not, fortunately, in a physical sense.

More like it was as if something was constantly trying to push his insides, pressing his organs with iron, with barely enough space to make him breathe or walk.

Mimzy, who walked next to him, couldn't help but notice her friend's sudden shift of behavior. He was way less energetic and more sluggish, keeping a pace that made the shorter woman judge it was the fastest he could go without fainting. Fuck, even his look seemed distant almost glazed as he blinked profusely.

"Alastor man, you good there?" Her voice rang out, an unusual worried tone in her words.

That seemed to alert both Rosie and Vaggie who stopped on their tracks. Now the three women looked at the man, Rosie being the one to speak up after a small moment, frowning deeper.

"Al, mon cher do you want a break? We can stop for a while if it's too much for you."

Said Alastor immediately snapped from his dizzy trance as he looked around, a drop of sweat running down his forehead before he slowly and shakily nodded his head.

"I-I think I'll sit down a bit."

Vaggie nodded, solemn before she helped Mimzy to make their tall friend lay a bit on what they judged the least infected rock by mushrooms, moss or mold. Alastor took a deep breath, Rosie kept trying to study around the zone, feeling even more frustrated.

"Clearly there's something wrong but I can't even put my finger on where-!" She whispered yelled, making sure to not make the cavern shake because of her voice.

"I feel something yet I can't put my finger where." Vaggie added, leading her ear for any signs or suspicious sounds.

"Don't want to bother the- whatever they are- the entity-?" Mimzy started before she continued, her tone more hushered and careful. "Luci. When they stopped talking with us, we had more manifestations-"

As the three women debated on a few theories or observations there and there, Alastor felt a bit better.

Still, the weightening was still persistent but it was a tad better than just a few minutes ago.

"-But there are chances that Luci is probably a trapped entity, meaning they can't go outside the gar-"

Vaggie didn't had time to finish what she was trying to say that a quite loud sound of water running down, just next to the gargantuan cavern.

The group froze in place, all wide eyes.

"... It can't be a coincidence that the water decided to act up when we mentioned their name." Rosie piped in, gripping her flashlight furthermore.

"What?" Mimzy inquired, titling her head as she raised an eyebrow. "Luci-?"

Another suspicious sound echoed, almost startling the latter as Vaggie shivered.

"Maybe Lu- they are not that restricted as we think"

"I can try and find them" Alastor suddenly spoke, Rosie widening her eyes at the suggestion before she got even more worried.

"Alastor, mon cher, don't tell me you're gonna-"

"-try and see or communicate with them."

Everyone went silent for a moment until Mimzy interjected, her tone unsure and wary, feeling tense for her friend.

"Alastor, you're still recovering and not able to really do severe efforts. Are you even sure you want to do that-?"

The concerned man took a small breath as to calm down the chaos that lingered on his energies before he nodded slightly.

"Better try than be on suspension. I'll try."

"In that case then I'll go with you" Vaggie suggested, getting up, putting her hands on her hips as a determined look was on her face.

"If this ever got out of hand, we still need a backup."

Alastor, at first, was a bit taken aback but, after hindsight, judged it wise.

It wasn't everyday after all he would communicate with something that seemed to have the same signs close to a demon.

What a strange sparring demon though.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"Holy-" Vaggie breathed out in disbelief and almost dread as her own flashlight pointed at the spot she was staring as Alastor stood next to her, his eyes wide as a plate.

"... Holy shit indeed." He finished after her, viewing the same sight as her.

The stone wall in front of them were just as enormous and imposingly gran like the others only the crater of water that was just a stew of chemicals or infected plants made it noticeable...

... And the gooey black liquid that was running down from the very top of the carven to the bottom, on the dirty burned down floor and almost below the two's feet.

It was still running and fresh. That's what struck them the most.

"What the fuck is that-?" Vaggie whispered yelled as she couldn't help herself but crouch down a bit, inspecting more the substance, curious but then she just stopped at getting closer, not really wanting to meddle herself with it.

Alastor also got closer but not that unlike Vaggie as he observed, cautious.

It wasn't like mud for the texture was smoother but not gasoline nor oil leaking from whatever holes or something similar in particular since the color was actually pitch black, not hue, nuance or anything else that would ressemble.

Then something else hit Alastor in his mind.

The gushy and oppressive feeling he had earlier.

It was gone but instead, the uncanny feeling was replacing with another variant of it, as if something or someone wanted to be able to reach him out or feel his own physical energy in any ways.

Just like the two time he felt wind brushing past him.

"This zone tastes weird."

"How so?" Alastor inquired. Vaggie frowned furthermore.

"I don't even know how to describe it precisely or in- normal words let's say to be honest. It's like- it's obvious something is here and it's not even supposed to be here. And yet, it's... Sweet. Almost a sugary scent." She then grumbled, massaging her forehead. "I know it's a very weird thing to say especially out of context but- I don't know!"

Alastor looked at her, patient. Honestly, she had a point. In that specific spot, who wasn't even not that far away from Rosie and Mimzy who were just a few meters away, the two weren't alone. However, unlike the usual disturbed energy or the unsatisfied weeping ghost who couldn't find an afterlife, it was more like an entity that... Was just there. Meaning no harm or whatsoever. The thing was just there, not really existing literacy speaking but you get it.

"Do you still want to try and communicate with them or not? We can still go back" Vaggie warned one last time, wanting to make sure Alastor would scale his choices well.

This time, however, he didn't hesitated that much anymore as he nodded.

Vaggie sighed a bit before backing away, giving the man space as he sat on the ground, barely touching the black liquid, crossing his legs before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

The last thing he could discern before completely dissociating was a vague red but small figure standing in front of him.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"D...e....d..r"

Alastor was already out of his body as he already felt another presence either behind on next to him. A new voice then rang out in his ears, completely unknown as he started to feel the warmth spreading out all over his body and the wind blowing almost all around.

"Hello?" He called out, moving slightly as to not startle whoever was with him.

Even if, judging by the sound and the tone of the blurred voice he could discern, they didn't seemed to be that sacred of him.

Well. He was lucky.

"I don't think I presented myself and I do apologize for that. My name is Alastor and I am here as a mediator. I just want to be able to communicate with whoever you are. I mean no harm nor cause disturbance here. If I am ever bothering you, I am deeply sorry and if are not willing to partake in I will not force you."

He took a small pause before he continued.

"However, we do engage each other with this, I have conditions. No harming or hurting either me or anyone in the underground."

Then Alastor stopped as he widened his eyes in surprise furthermore, seeing the bright although blurry orb just in front of him.

The entity's energy.

But it was weird yet they didn't seemed to be angry.

Without that much hesitation, he got closer to it and then the word that he vaguely heard a few moments ago was clearer now.

"Oh! Chadine!"

When he cleared his internal vision more, in front of him stood a short man, blonde hair and pale skin, almost similar to Mimzy. He was smiling brightly at Alastor, even slightly bouncing before waving at the taller.

"Hello!" He greeted as Alastor have founded himself dumbfounded.

"Uhm- hi-?" He reculantly greeted back while the other man smiled even more. Even the taller man felt a bit unnerved by this mysterious person's behavior, finding his smile a bit too much.

And the fact that this is the in quote demonic entity they have found down here-? How the fuck-

"Your hair."

Alastor couldn't help but be startled by the sudden words spoken by the individual.

"... Excuse me-?"

"You hair!" The blonde man insisted, pointing at the brunette's head before he added, with tone sweeter. "Really pretty."

Oooookay. Alastor wouldn't lie if it was probably getting a bit creepy.

"Uh thanks- I guess?" He awkwardly thanked as the other beamed furthermore.

"Luci." He spoke again pointing at himself before Alastor could connect the dots as his heart almost gave up.

"You're- you're Luci-"

"-fer."

"What?"

"Lucifer."

He pointed at himself, his smile going softer as to not startle the human.

"Name is Lucifer. You Alastor?" He asked, curious.

Without paying that much mind to the full name revealed, Alastor didn't say a word before he nodded, still wary but less tense than a few moments ago. Lucifer seemed to get that the taller man was still suspicious of him. The entity couldn't help but chuckles just slightly, raising his hands out.

"Not harm. Only curious." He tried to reassure which, unfortunately, wasn't that helpful that Alastor could only grasp a few comprehensive words there and there who weren't clear enough without context. The devil then continued, his tone slower as to articulate.

"Me no harm. I'm here wondering. Like new things. No hurt" Lucifer tried to explain as Alastor stared at him, still disoriented and deadpan.

However, the entity suddenly frowned as he looked at the human and the latter almost got scared, thinking that it- he would change his mind.

"You. Hurt. You not okay." Lucifer then brought as Alastor frowned in turn.

"Wait what do you mean? I'm fine." He argued back but Lucifer vividly shook his head.

"You sick. Ill. Need rest." He insisted as Alastor couldn't help but no trusting even more whoever this Lucifer was.

"I can assure I am not. Only... Tired."

But Lucifer wasn't having it.

"Like you but you need aid. Not tired. Burning hot. Shaking. Not feeling well." The blonde was persistent before shrugging, his tone less cheery although it was more caring. "Need to stop. Tell your friends. Will follow you. Make sure you're fine"

Alastor blinked rapidly for a few seconds before he realized what Lucifer meant as he was filled with dread.

"Wait Lucifer-!"

But just like that everything was gone and he almost choked out on his saliva when he came back on the physical world.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

"Alastor! Are you okay??" Vaggie's worried voice rang out as the concerned one almost collapsed on the disgustingly filthy concrete ground, not even caring that the black gooey liquid was starting to stick on his hands and pants as he put an hand on his chest to calm down his fast beating heart.

"Alastor? Al?" Vaggie kept asking, taking the man's shoulders firmly as her frown deepen. "Alastor look at me." She asked firmly. "Alastor please-"

"I-I'm fine Vaggie I'm fine-" he finally managed to croak out after what felt like an eternity, rubbing his face in tiredness and exhaustion.

Said Vaggie was still gripping onto him almost like for dear life but then loosened a bit as she sighed in relief. "Thanks Atzi you're still with us. What happened? You seemed really shaken up." She inquired, her tone still concerned. Alastor shook his head.

"It's not- well-" he groaned out in frustration before he couldn't just keep it for himself. "I was able to be in contact with them- well him in that case"

Vaggie perked up at the statement.

"Luci??"

"Actually Luci is not his full name. It's almost like a nickname let's say. His name is Lucifer-"

"Guys."

Mimzy's voice suddenly rang out as the two immediately snapped their heads at it, seeing the short woman with Rosie, going towards them. Vaggie realized that the two didn't seemed that happy and her heart sped up when Rosie spoke up, her tone unusually unsure.

"Alastor? Mon cher, are you alright?"

"I'm fine dear." The man quickly responded before he swiftly changed the subject. "What happened to you twẞo? I thought you would stay next to the garage?" He asked.

The two concerned women looked at each other, unsure if they should share to the other duo what they have found.

But then again, their goals were to inspect and sees what kind of entities was floating around this uncanny place thus it was a crucial part of their findings.

Mimzy took out her phone as she searched for something in her gallery. Meanwhile Rosie explained, feeling even oppressed than the first time they entered underground.

"Technically me and Mim were actually waiting for you two to finish the communication thing but then I felt an energy, not stronger than when we did the ouija board but it was still prominent, going past me as I heard a voice following it. Mimzy didn't seemed fazed but felt a sudden shift of atmosphere as we decided to follow whatever this was, preparing ourselves..."

"Alright I've found it." Mimzy interrupted as she landed her phone to Vaggie, knowing Alastor wasn't fond on her own, who brought the phone closer as to watch was she tried to show until she instantly backed away, her expression dreadful as she processed what she saw.

"Wh-what- what the fuck???"

Rosie only nodded.

"The voice and its energy was masculine. I don't know if it's linked with Luci but- whatever that specific spot in here-"

She said, showing to Alastor the photo of what seemed to be a bedroom who had a ruined altar dedicated to the half destroyed statue of a naked woman with goat esque attributes, numerous words written on the walls and candles scattered all around.

The man couldn't help but shiver.

"The liquid we have found splattered all around the altar was not blood, fortunately but we did found bones and it was rather a sticky muddy weird mix of black-"

"-Just like this one." Alastor finished, raising his now dirty hand soaked with the same substance as Mimzy was definitely taken aback by it. Vaggie continued after she judged the two didn't had anything else to say.

"Alastor was able to be in contact with the entity that resides here."

"So it was indeed just one who was responsible of all of this?" Rosie asked as Vaggie nodded, continuing.

"Luci is not his full name. It's Lucifer." Alastor added, surprisingly nonchalant as the group all fell silent, the new information keeping them on edge.

After a while, Mimzy was the first to speak up, her words completely betraying her need to leave this place as fast as possible.

"Well?? What are we waiting for? This place is haunted by a fucking demon. Let's just get out of here as possible."

The rest couldn't agree more.

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

After a few cleansing and procedures that would make sure they didn't forgot anything else , the four finally made it out of the underground factory. The exit they have found was way smaller than the spot where they entered but the ground wasn't as slippery as the other and, after dragging and crawling their bodies out of the dirt, they were all out, in the middle of afternoon as Mimzy grunted in pain upon having the sun flashing at her face after hours being inside something dark.

"Well at least it's not night. I hate going to a forest when it's completely devoid of lights." Rosie cheered up as Alastor nodded, agreeing with her while smiling at his queer platonic lover. Vaggie added.

"Yeah. Plus, we have more chances of getting lost when it's night."

"Ugh whatever. As long as we're out of this mad place I'm glad." Mimzy piped in before she smirked at the group. "Come on guys! Our tips is at Carmilla's house!"

Thus the shorter woman was the first to immediately lead the way, Vaggie shrugging and following her. Rosie carefully took Alastor's hand as she smiled at him before the two followed Mimzy, discussing other topics than what happened.

"Let's go guys!"

Alastor was about to bleat, feeling a sudden wave of stress coming back as his eyes widened in terror. Rosie didn't seemed to realize what was going on as she kept discussing with the others, smiling all the way.

And Alastor didn't know if he should bring it up the fact that he heard Lucifer's voice next to his ear, a sudden presence following close.

Shit-!

•• <<────≪•◦⚜◦•≫────>> ••

I didn't know if any of this shit made senses but I'm happy I wrote and finished this.

Anyway do you want it to be a small series or not? Because I would like to write about it too after the week will be finished and the following chapters/requests of my other stories!

See ya!

[30/10/2024]

(4806 words)

----

Wattpad version

Archive of our own version

#radioapple trick or treat #Hazbin Hotel #Hazbin Hotel au #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel rosie #hazbin hotel mimzy #hazbin hotel vaggie #hazbin hotel lucifer #lucifer magne #lucifer morningstar #radiorose #radioapple #appleradio #deerduck #duckiedeer

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whatthecrowtold · 2 years ago

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#unhallowedarts - "I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side" - Bram Stoker's Dracula

“You reason well, and your wit is bold, but you are too prejudiced. You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are, that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men's eyes, because they know, or think they know, some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all, and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain. But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new, and which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young, like the fine ladies at the opera.“

(Bram Stoker “Dracula”)

It was a indeed a dark and stormy night, the one in the year without Summer back in 1816, when the Shelleys, Byron and his physician John Polidori sat down to make pop culture history. Cut off from the world, bored witless and full to the brim with laudanum, his lordship challenged the gathered Romantic enfants perdu to lift the burden of ennui with telling ghost stories in the German fashion. And while both Byron and Shelley brought off rather nothing except consuming more narcotics that night, Mary famously began to write “Frankenstein” and Polidori engendered the other treasured dread, the aristocratic, suave, blood sucking king of the undead, the vampire. The myth itself was, of course, centuries old and only two generations before, a downright mass hysteria ran through Europe when repeated cases of vampirism were reported in the Balkans along the Austro-Turkish military border.

Polidori though took the revenant peasant prowling around his former home and sucking the blood of his family, clad him in evening attire and modelled him after the pattern of his employer into a Byronic hero. Polidori’s Lord Ruthven became the ancestor of the 19th and 20th century’s vampires that haunted the imaginations of countless readers and the pages of Gothic literature from the likes of Gogol and Merimee to the infamous penny dreadfuls. One of these featured a creature called “Varney the Vampire” who brought in the fangs and the tell-tale bite marks and Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” from 1872 gave the myth the structure of a long dead noble á la Coleridge’s “Christabel” haunting a damsel in distress and a group of heroes bringing the creature to bay with the help of ancient lore and occult paraphernalia. The groundwork was laid and along came Bram Stoker.

As a child, Stoker was bedridden until the age of seven, rose as from the dead after his mysterious illness all of a sudden ceased, became a football star at college, graduated in mathematics and ended up a pen-pusher in Dublin Castle. Not satisfied with his lot, naturally, Stoker changed his career to theatre critic at the Dublin Evening Mail, owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, and attracted the attention of the famous actor Sir Henry Irving with a favourable review, the two became friends and Stoker followed Irving to become his manager. Meanwhile he had won the hand of Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty, courted by Stoker’s acquaintance form Trinity College Oscar Wilde as well as a host of other suitors. Stoker would bring these experiences into a literary form in his opus magnum “Dracula” with Sir Henry Irving acting as model for the undead count as Byron did for Polidori 80 years before.

Stoker had never been to Romania, during the 1890s a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he did a thorough research on his subjects that he would add with iconic effects to the imagery of the literary Gothic, from local legends of the 1750s, the late 15th century Wallachian Prince Vlad III. Drăculea who was famed in western European sources for his cruelty and other inspirations from Central Europe like Princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg, rumoured to be a vampire during her lifetime at the beginning of the 18th century and already an inspiration for German poet Gottfried August Bürger to his poem “Leonore”. Well-known enough known to Stoker and everyone else who read and wrote Gothic literature.

Pitting his research-wise well founded mythical Count and his ancient evil that bears strong resemblances to the feared syphilis as well as despicable moral liberties against the forces of the modern age, trains, the telegraph, typewriters, repeating rifles and established processes and organised teamwork, based on thorough research. Published in 1897, “Dracula” became an instant success and the standard followed to this day, even if Stoker and “Dracula” act only as powers behind the throne of “Urban Fantasy”.

All artwork above is by John Coulthart from his 2018 take on "Dracula" and nicked from his blog linked below

#unhallowedarts #dark art #dark literature #dark academia #gothicliterature #gothic art #victorian gothic #gothic aesthetic #bram stoker #bram stocker's dracula #dracula novel #vampire art

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idv-news-boi · 2 years ago

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-> IDV OCs and Canons’ Birthdays

January

{ @/the-oletus-parlor } Yami Kazuichi// January 1st

{ @/idv-sinful-deities } Tae Collins// January 3rd

{ @/askidvcerealist } Samuel// January 5th

{ @/asktheforensicpathologistidv } Louise Harris// January 18th

{ @/idv-ask-optometrist } Rue Leogan// January 27th

{ @/avatar-idv } Brendan// January 28th

February

{ @/idv-sinful-deities } K. Sewford// February 2nd

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Sonny Latte // February 11th (National Latte Day ☕) *

{ @/idv-intellectuals } Edward Blackwell// February 11th (National Inventor’s Day ⚙️) *

Andrew Kress// February 13th

{ @/experimental-blueprints} Bianca HighTower// February 14th

{ @/voidproject } Rue// February 28th

March

{ @/idv-intellectuals } Axel Fontaine// March 6th (National Dentist’s Day 🦷)

{ @/idv-sinful-deities} Damien Hardwick// March 7th

{ @/idv-sinful-deities} “Ellis”//March 11th

White Day - March 14th

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Rosalyn Darling// March 21st (World Puppetry Day 🌸)

{ @/manor-tea-time } Sally Day// March 25th

April

{ @/ask-the-idv-jazz-singer } Harriet Mayweather// April 2nd *

{ @/ask-idv-shepherd } Pearce Whittaker// April 2nd *

{ @/hypnotic-melody} Basil// April 14th (National Gardening Day 🪴)

{ @/hypnotic-melody } Allison Hailey //April 22nd (National Baseball Day ⚾️ )

{ @/voidproject } Phil// April 23rd *

Edgar Valden// April 23rd *

{ @/ask-idv-gas-specialist } Ameillia Thomson// April 29th

May

{ @/idv-ask-governess } Ellen Wilson// May 1st

{ @/voidproject } Exe Day// May 2nd

Aesop Carl// May 11th

{ @/idv-ask-the-showman } Flynn Smith// May 30th

{ @/ask-archer-idv } Archer & Wendigo// May 31st

June

Mike Morton// June 1st

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Angel Drew// June 2nd (National Tailors Day 🪡)

{ @/tatya-time } Tatiana Baudelair// June 7th

{ @/idv-intellectuals } Mira Morgan// June 8th (World Ocean Day 🌊)

{ @/manor-tea-time } Wayne Louis Strickland// June 13th

{ @/idv-ask-the-showman } Phineas Smith// June 14th

{ @/idv-sinful-deities} Cole Straub// June 19th

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Eiji Narukami// June 22nd (Dragon Boat Festival🏮)

{ @/idv-asktheconsigliere } Melissa Fair - June 30th

July

{ @/ask-wraithandmedium } Winifred Abbott// July 1st

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Kitty Nutella// July 7th (World Chocolate Day🍫)

Luca Balsa// July 10th

{ @/ask-idv-thrillseeker} Cleo Day// July 15th

{ @/the-oletus-parlor} Mari Day// July 16th

August

{ @/ask-wraithandmedium } Cecil Delestre// August 4th

{ @/idv-intellectuals } Peterson ‘August’ Drew// August 12th

{ @/ask-idv-outcast } Carmilla Blackwood// August 13th

{ @/manor-tea-time } Shadowed Man Day// August 19th

{ @/idv-sinful-deities} Amanda MacGurk// August 30th

September

{ @/manor-tea-time } Ivy Madison Nettle// September 5th

{ @/manor-tea-time } LeRoy Fredrick Smith// September 12th

{ @/the-oletus-parlor } Ellie Day// September 20th

{ @/the-oletus-parlor } Amy Kazuichi// September 23rd

{ @/hypnotic-melody } Heath// September 25th (National Cooking Day 🍳)

October

{ @/idv-artists-trio } Darcy Daytona// October 14th (Graffiti Apreciation Day 🎨)

{ @/hypnotic-melody } Sam Day// October 20th (National Writing Day ✏️)

{ @/idv-sinful-deities} Jamel Shervet// October 25th

November

{ @/snow-capped-graphics } Chiaki// November 6th

{ @/ask-idv-baker } Beth Anastazja// November 8th

{ @/ask-idv-philosopher } Theodore Cromwell// November 16th

{ @/snow-capped-graphics } Blake// November 30th

December

{ @/hypnotic-melody } Jamie// December 2nd (National Basketball Day 🏀) *

{ @/hypnotic-melody} Basil Day// December 2nd *

{ @/hypnotic-melody } Mari// December 4th (National Ice Skating Day ⛸️)

{ @/manor-tea-time } Eleanor Day// December 15th

{ @/askthepianist } Angeline Bianchi// December 16th

{ @/the-oletus-parlor } Zachary// December 25th *

Victor Grantz// December 25th *

{ @/traditional-dancer-idv } Beatriz Fernández// December 29th

{ @/askidv-thesurgeon} James// December 31st

———

* with color = event buddies!!!

// Laurence’s Birthday? His birthday is everyday :) *dances* Real spawn day? that will be remained as confidential for now- Kinda goes the same for Akihiko- sowwy (nwn

#📰// intro post

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nancydrewwouldnever · 1 year ago

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It's funny you mentioned reading The Haunting of Hill House yesterday? I just read it for the first time a few months ago. It's solid. I liked the TV show too; it was a very different take on the book. I've ordered Shirley Jackson's short stories now. Ghost stories are just doing it for me these days.

Before this, I was on a Daphne du Maurier kick. I read all her stuff. Nothing can top Rebecca for me. And the Hitchcock film was a perfect adaptation of the book. Doubt any remake can touch it.

You might want to try some of the older originators of "ghost stories" and horror writings: Sheridan Le Fanu and Wilkie Collins from the 19th century. "The Moonstone" by Collins is fun, and Le Fanu is best known for his novella "Carmilla," an early vampire story.

And you're absolutely right about Rebecca.

#ask

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susandsnell · 1 year ago

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Hey love, hope you can get some sunshine in today! Was wondering if u'd seen the lovecraft batman animated movie and if u had any thoughts for how a similar (but better lmao) au narrative would be crafted for a gotham-based dracula retelling? Also I think we got a Battinson sequel confirmed--ignoring the obligatory postcredits joker, what would you want to see from the next film?

Hi dear!!! There was some sun (albeit humidity + quickly turned to rain), but I did have a nice walk today, thank you. <3 I haven't had the chance to see the Lovecraft animated Batman flick (I'm quite behind on the animated movies, on the basis of having a love/hate relationship with DC Animation...Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker absolutely rock but between the animated Killing Joke, Batman: Year One and Gott im Himmel, that horrendous 2009 Wonder Woman flick, I have my reservations about a lot of them.) I do know of a Batman vs Dracula story that happened but had?? Carmilla Karnstein??? Of all people??? As Drac's lost love/wife??? And I couldn't overlook it lol. I actually have, in my shit billion Batfic WIPs, a Gothic thriller retelling of The Batman 2022 set in the late 19th century and based very heavily around the style/structure of Dracula since Battinson even has the diary entries that lend themselves well to the epistolary style! It's still very WIP, but it's there! Likewise, for a proper crossover, I think the best way to craft the narrative would be to have Bruce more in detective mode investigating the newcomer to Gotham City. The docks feature quite prominently as a location, so perhaps some iteration of the Demeter would wash up there, and Bruce could make use of both being Bruce Wayne and Batman to help solve the mystery of some of Gotham's socialites being drained. I'd love to involve Andrea Beaumont somehow, and some of Gotham's lawyer characters, but there have been some neat discussions on here otherwise on how Jack Seward's subplot could map neatly onto Arkham Asylum and its various suspect staff members (fun could be had with Crane, Strange, or any of the Arkham heirs alternating in this role!). I feel as though more than one Renfield might be found in the ranks of Gotham's rogues and civilians alike, which could make for some tragic intrigue. And of course, lots of fun could be had with the obvious bat imagery/vampiric parallels to Bruce's lifestyle and manner of dress. And I'd actually like to see Leslie Thompkins or Dr. Leland in the Van Helsing role! Do forgive me if this isn't quite so fleshed out as I'm kind of worn out today, but there are a lot of opportunities! And yes, I'm very aware and glad the Reevesverse is (for now) safe! I recall Matt Reeves outright said he probably won't focus on the Joker as the primary villain for the mainverse sequels, which led to some amusing speculation that he'll just show up to befriend every other Rogue and not do much else. I believe Clayface is announced, but I would absolutely love to see another tragic Harvey Dent take, and my fingers are forever crossed for the Scarecrow spinoff we've been promised. There's also rumours of Poison Ivy getting a Rappacini's Daughter-inspired entry into this universe which. Good gravy. Yes please, and let's have her be as canonically and openly queer as possible while we're at it.

Thanks so much for sending this along! <3 I hope you had a great day/evening.

#anon ask #so lovely!#bat-tag

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thiefbird · 7 months ago

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R! "Which writers (fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on you and your writing?"

I don't want to tag his tumblr bc I am terrified of Annoying People, but in terms of fanfiction the author of Accursed Ones is a massive influence on both my writing style in general and my mental Anders!

More generally, a lot of early-mid 19th century authors really helped build my love of words, especially Austen, Shelley, and Byron, and Irish authors Sheridan Le Fanu(Carmilla, the sapphic-vampire precurser to Dracula) and Oscar Wilde inspired my love of period queer writing. Patrick O'Brian, too, is a big recent influence; the way he writes relationships - be they romantic, platonic, or wonderfully confusing - is something I hope to one day be able to accomplish even half so well.

Thank you for the question, nonny!

#thiefbird speaks #ask game

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wyrmhaven · 8 months ago

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Session #28

Sep 19th, 2023

Zoey spends the last few days of Summer Vacation in the Plane of Fire She only sees glimpses of Anji's dad She sees a lot of Anji's stepmoms though, who Anji hates The Angels press Zoey for gossip, particularly about Carmilla They tell her that she owes them, and has to spend more time with them next vacation Zoey agrees Summer Vacation ends, and the students of Wyrm Academy return to campus Carmilla nearly tackles Aurora out of excitement Aurora assures Carmilla that she did not forget the gift, and pulls out a plague doctor mask Carmilla is moved to tears Aurora tells her to put it on Carmilla thought it was just for decoration, but agrees Carmilla goes to ask Doya to take a picture of her Carmilla accidentally terrifies Doya Rin asks Vladimir how his summer was Vladimir complains about the heat and humidity Zoey and Larksann catch up on what happened Larksann mentioned that she was working on something, but didn't finish it, and so brought the piece to school Urzmaktok asks White how campus was while he was gone He tells White that his home was also hot, but with a different type of heat Greta rambles about her family to Doya Rin remembers the souvenirs he got from Valtahost, and begins to deliver them to our group He gives Aurora and Carmilla sunglasses to help with Lux Concordia's lights Carmilla excuses herself in a suspicious way Aurora wonders why Rin suggests that it's related to his blood Aurora is horrified, and asks who all knows about it Rin admits that it was just his immediate friends He adds that Doya thinks that Aurora has a crush on him Aurora is disgusted, and apologizes for it She asks Rin for peanut butter, and explains that she wants to put it on Carmilla's pillow as a revenge prank Rin supplies the peanut butter, but is hesitant to help her Meanwhile, Carmilla goes to Nicollin's dorm and asks him how his summer was Nicollin describes the seminars about seminars that he attended He asks if Carmilla did vampire things over the summer Carmilla doesn't answer, and asks to speak to Nicollin Nicollin offers to take a message Carmilla tries to slip by to talk to him directly Sunny notices, and tells Carmilla that he didn't do much during that time Classes begin, and all the first assignments are to just write about what happened over Summer Vacation Throughout the day, our group hear rumors that Anji and Zanther broke up Our group, except Zoey, are targeted by their usual bullies Rin goes to speak to Doya He explains that he struggled to decide what to get her from Valtahost, and shows her a pen Doya clicks on the pen, and a red dot appears where it is pointing Next, Rin goes to talk to Larksann and Zoey in their dorm He shows them his gift for them - a mechanical puppy toy Larksann and Zoey are ecstatic Zoey asks what she owes Rin for it Rin assures her that these type of things are normal in Valtahost The two discuss Valtahost's oddities

Next, Rin goes to talk to White He is stopped when Chadriz exits his room Chadriz demands to know what Rin is looking at, before storming away Rin reaches White's room He explains to Urzmaktok and White that he got toys for the others, but thought that they would appreciate more practical items He gives them devices that clean dust from an area White expresses his gratitude, saying that gifts from a friend are always appreciated The students of Wyrm Academy's first year students return to their normal boring standard, leaving some wishing for the return of adventure Our group hears about the upper classman's fashion shows and masquerade dances They also hear about the Dragon House Mage Tower games They overhear students talking about the Dragon Houses, and how Laelia was retired as a mascot and replaced with another more terrifying mascot Laelia tries to convince Doya to join the Mage Tower team Doya refuses, telling Laelia that she hates sports Laelia insists, claiming that sports will make her cool Doya counters that she prefers her free time, and isn’t a mage anyway Laelia points out that Mage Tower doesn't require its players to be mages Doya is unmoved

While nothing major occurs in the later half of the year, there is still some excitement During Inkomancy class, Carmilla is surprised by a pop quiz in her She panics, but goes on to ace it After class, she is approached by a student who offers a necklace Carmilla drops it and hisses when she learns it's made out of silver Nandor wonders why the student gave her that, and comments that fiends don't live silver either During the Arcano-botany class, Puffcap accidentally creates a mushroom that explodes into vines Zoey dodges the vines, and receives praise for it During a trip into the Sedgemoor, Doya saves Zanther from falling into the mud Zanther is grateful Doya jokes that she was worried that Zanther would be extinguished by the water She asks why he and Anji broke up Zanther explains that Anji simply got bored of their relationship During Physical Education, White spots a giant rat fighting off some creatures while sparring with Quentillius Antiphiun Melentor III The two go to investigate White notices some goo in the rat's hair The two hear screeches as two stirges descend and attack! FIGHT! White incinerates them with burning sand, Quentillius congratulates his hard work VICTORY! As Magical Physiologies begins, the students enter to see Professor Sharpbeak feeding a hippogriff Professor Sharpbeak asks the class about it Angelique gives a dictionary definition about it Sharpbeak tells the class that this hippogriff is named Goldfeather, and that she has worked with it a lot Sharpbeak explains that the class is to use their knowledge about hippogriffs and try to pet it The Angels are able to pet it Carmilla and White are able to as well Doya and Zoey get snapped at Rin is afraid, but is able to eventually approach and pet it That night, Doya walks home from her job and sees a line of students confessing their feelings to Anji and giving her gifts She spots Rin, who thinks there's food at the front, in the line too

Rin reaches the front of the line Anji asks him what he wants She's baffled when he has no idea what's happening She admits that she finds all of this annoying, and would rather not deal with all of this Rin offers to help her reject all of the students Anji is grateful, and leaves as her familiar and Rin start rejecting students for her Doya approaches Anji when she is alone Anji tells Doya to go to the line if she wants to confess Doya assures her that she doesn't want to confess She wonders if people liking Anji like that was a curse Anji tells her no Doya offers her a sandwich Anji hesitates, and takes it Doya tries to ask Anji about the party and the theater She asks Anji about magic instead Doya rambles about how she can't do magic The two discuss whether her aasimar traits are magic or not Doya asks to see Anji cast magic Anji refuses, but relents when Doya offers to give Anji a picture of herself Anji throws the sandwich, and retrieves it via magic She explains that it is her favorite spell since allows her to be lazy Doya honors the agreement, and takes two pictures of Anji - one for Anji, and one for herself Anji admires her picture for a little too long Anji then leaves, and takes some of the presents that Rin had harvested from the rejected students as she goes

Carmilla is awakened by the sounds of Aurora doing her morning preparations and opening the window Carmilla is annoyed, and asks Aurora why the windows was opened She sees Aurora in surprisingly bright colors, with her hair in a ponytail Carmilla is concerned, and asks Aurora what's happening Aurora doesn't know what's wrong, and asks Carmilla if they're good to hang out later She tells Carmilla to take some medication to calm herself down Carmilla starts to freak out, and goes to Doya's dorm She is greeted by a skinny and weak Greta Doya, whose hair is not messy and whose halo is floating, then approaches Carmilla freaks out She then goes to Rin's room A confident and suave Vladimir opens the door, and tells Rin that Carmilla is there An equally confident yet messy Rin says hello to Carmilla Carmilla freaks out anymore, and goes to find White She goes to his dorm and encounters Urzmaktok, who threatens her but eventually lets her pass She finds White, who is out of sorts and slow to respond to anything Desperate to find anyone sane, Carmilla goes to Zoey's dorm Along the way she encounters Dismay and Violence, who are peppy and wearing bright colors She reaches Zoey's dorm, and is greeted by Larksann who casually swears at Carmilla Carmilla is scandalized Zoey speaks up, and coldly tells Carmilla to leave Carmilla stops, and realizes that everyone is the opposite of who they should be She realizes that she needs to find the worst person imaginable She goes to find Chadriz She finds him, and asks to speak to him alone Chadriz asks if she is okay Carmilla admits that she is not, and is freaking out She asks what she is normally like Chadriz tells her that she's normally more distant, and a cheerleader Carmilla enters a panic She decides to try to speak to her patron As she and Chadriz heads to her dorm, Chadriz pulls her into his dorm Carmilla sees why, as a Drazhomir walks by and beats another students senseless The two resume their journey, but are stopped by Doya Doya asks Carmilla where Carmilla is taking her boyfriend Carmilla insults Doya Doya breaks into tears Chadriz comforts Doya The three gather the rest of our group, and head towards Carmilla's dorm They have to dodge a chicken, and Max tries get them with a prank Carmilla makes a detour at Nicollin and Sunny's room The door is opened by another halfling, who asks why Carmilla wants to speak with the boss Carmilla assures the halfling that she's there for Nicollin, not Sunny Sunny demands tribute for even being tangentially bothered Carmilla offers the silver necklace, and speaks to Nicollin Nicollin is quiet He springs into activity though, and tells Carmilla that he was just sleepy Our group, Chadriz, and Nicollin gather in Carmilla's room Carmilla tries to contact her patron, and fails She asks the rest of the group who they think her patron is They tell her that she's not a warlock, but a cleric of the Tabaxi God Carmilla does her best to hold off a meltdown Doya suggests that she talk to Rika, since Rika is smart After a moment, Carmilla realizes that Rika is the inverse nickname for Anjarika She goes to where Anji's room should be, and finds Mailu and the rest of Missing Peace in prayer Mailu calmly tells Carmilla that Rika is with her two friends Carmilla is nearly hit by a skateboarding Rampart She goes to Angelika's dorm The door is opened by a meek and bespectacled Anjarika Carmilla explains that she needs help, and Rika is the only one that can help her Rika lets her in Carmilla enters to see a lazy Angelique, and a quiet Angelika in the corner Carmilla discusses the possibility of alternate timelines with Doya, Rika, and an annoyed Zoey Carmilla pleads with the group, explaining that everyone is wrong Rika offers to help Carmilla figure out what is wrong

Angelique and Rin scheme on how to get to Carmilla world, since they're smart there Carmilla realizes that an inverted Yasha would be willing to help Rika informs Carmilla that Yasha is a Spring Eladrin Carmilla, along with the rest of our group and the Angels, go to find an elevator They pass by a pathetic and ugly Zanther Carmilla is stopped Quentillius, who insists on helping Carmilla and being called Quentin They pass by Johrel and Vhalshera, who are smoking They are stopped by Nadia, who scolds them for running Dean Kol, who is a deva, rescues them When Carmilla calls him dad, Kol assures her that he is not her guardian but thinks that it would be nice The group find the elevator, and file into it The elevator begins to descend down the Hexpiral Pit Carmilla comments on how nice the Angels are here The elevator reaches the bottom, and after a little bit of walking the group finds themselves at Yasha's office They see Yasha dancing to music, but she stops when she sees the students

She asks the students to sit, and offers to help with whatever problems they are having Carmilla desperately explains the situation Yashs suggests that it is a dream, and that maybe being pinched or slapped would help Angelique happily obliges, but nothing changes Yasha suggests maybe the sensation of falling would help She asks Carmilla to close her eyes, and then tips over Carmilla's chair Carmilla opens her eyes, and sees the inside of her coffin She bolts up, and checks that her birds are there They are, as Carmilla has returned to the waking world! She is pleasantly surprised to a normally goth Aurora Carmilla rapidly explains what happened Aurora suggests that Carmilla calm down and take a shower Carmilla goes to check if Rin is normal She finds him, and Rin is back to his usual self Carmilla hugs Rin Rin notices peanut butter on the back of her head Carmilla leaves to go check on the other members of our group

#sessions #28 #dnd #strixhaven

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arg-machine · 1 year ago

Text

Comics at machine HQ

It’s been a while since the last Comics post was published. This week, therefore, arg decided to publish another installment featuring some of the comic books and graphic novels he has read since that post.

Of course, a lot happened between these posts: both machine HQ and The Apocalypse Project found second homes over at Mastodon, arg finally crossed the 100 posts mark at Instagram and even published some new music!

One thing remained unchanged, though: he read a lot: not just fiction, but a bunch of graphic novels and comics as well. In this post, he’ll list some of these…

Comics and graphic novels read recently Well, here are the comics/graphic novels arg has read and enjoyed in the last few months. All titles are arranged alphabetically, and related titles – or titles from same/similar genres – are listed in the Also recommended sections. Keep in mind that many – not all, though – of these titles are suitable for mature readers only.

“Far from the auction halls of the elite, The Collector seeks out rare and mysterious artifacts across the world. He is as at home in the salons of Paris as he is in the jungles of Borneo. Set against the backdrop of late 19th-century colonialism, this collection of short stories and swashbuckling adventures is full of surprises and twists, as Toppi is well known for!” Terrific art and exciting stories, books like The Collector truly demonstrate the beauty and power of this medium.

Also recommended: Judegement Day & Other Stories, Navigator, Everyday Hero Machine Boy, MFK, Gurvan - A Dream of Earth, Joyama and Rocketeer - The Great Race.

“BLAB! – the Harvey Award-winning anthology of cutting-edge comics, art, and culture – has returned to its comics roots with a stellar lineup of contributors. Noah Van Sciver depicts the tragic demise of Crime Does Not Pay editor Robert Wood. Sasha Velour portrays the making of film director F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Children's book illustrator Giselle Potter examines Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter's passion as a naturalist. Illustrated articles include the history of the gorilla and a report on UFOs. All this and much more in Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB!” A superb collection!

Also recommended: Gnartoons, Be Your Own Backing Band, Alison, Eight Limbs, Sports is Hell, Art Brut, Public Domain and Unretouchable.

“From creatures of the night to even more terrifying creatures of the day, HAUNTHOLOGY is an anxiety-inducing collection of 28 short stories and vignettes from the mind of Jeremy Haun, the writer and artist behind many acclaimed nightmarish mindscapes. Whether exploring a claustrophobic old house full of nefarious entities or the heavy thoughts one has during the pending end of the world, this very personal project was written and drawn entirely during the COVID lockdowns.” Highly recommended!

Also recommended: Essential Judge Dredd - Dredd Vs. Death, House, Death of the Horror Anthology, Carmilla - The First Vampire, The Keeper and Hell Phone.

“Who are you, really? Are you the things you do, or are you the person inside your mind? In Europe on a business trip, Jonathan Webb can’t sleep. Instead, he finds himself wandering the night in a strange foreign city with his new friend, the mysterious and violent Rainer, as his guide. Rainer shows Jonathan the hidden world of the night, a world without rules or limits. But when the fun turns dangerous, Jonathan may find himself trapped in the dark – the question is, what will he do to get home? Night Fever – the gripping new original graphic novel from best-selling creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips – is a pulse-pounding Jekyll-and-Hyde noir thriller about a man facing the darkness inside himself.”

Also recommended: Zaroff's Revenge, Cover, The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book and The Killer: Affairs of The State.

“This heartbreaking manga, by an award-winning cartoonist, examines the history of Okinawa and its military occupation. An essential manga classic presented in English for the first time. Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island's pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on this difficult history and pull together traditional Okinawan spirituality and the senselessness of the War.”

Also recommended: Battle Action, The Witches of World War II and Dead Romans.

machine HQ’s Retro Pick! “First the headaches, then the nightmares of mass murderers who must die – by his hand, the hand that wields the energy of a living sun, the hand of Nexus!

Possessing limitless power, Nexus is the greatest avenger in history, but his power and purpose come from an alien race with their own agenda. Is Nexus a hero or pawn? Deliverer or destroyer? God or devil?” What is for certain is that Nexus, created by Mike Baron and Steve Rude,is a science-fiction superhero masterpiece!

And that, good reader, brings us to the end of this short list! Visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, on twitter and on tumblr], and stay tuned to machine HQ blog…

Header image features artwork from Vann Nath - Painting the Khmer Rouge and from John Carpenter's Asylum.

The busy boys! Over at Mastodon, arg and Marvin were pleasantly surprised to find the boys from Copiers of Hindustan already there! And from what arg has been able to gather, they’ve been putting the pedal to the metal with their posts!

So, if y’all wish to enlighten yourselves about how plagiarism has reached alarming, pandemic proportions in a certain entertainment industry [wink, wink!] and have an eye-opening experience in general then… go ahead and visit the boys! They’ll be delighted by your presence, or so they tell arg and Melvin.

#comics #reviews

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