#Also because vampire bats are fascinating creatures

[staticymaticyyourlifeisatravesty]

Since I do have it in Lilith's lore she was fed blood by Sanguinius, I am crossed between the choices before me. There's a bird and a bat way, and then there's the slightly more humane way of just Sanguinius just feeding her his own blood. I am crossed because I like to make Sanguinius just a tinge more animalistic at times, and by god do I love me some weird behaviors that shouldn't exist in humans which brings me to him quite literally regurgitating blood for her. It's entirely possible the Blood Angels french kiss to share blood with their less fortunate brothers, especially in say the Blood Drinkers chapter. However, Flamingos also regurgitate for their young. I know Sanguinius is more bird of prey then the brine shrimp eating Flamingo, but I'm like do I give him that horror? I mean if we go by vampire bats, mothers absolutely will feed their pups regurgitated blood, this behavior even seen in the father and older siblings; what I'm saying is that let's add a bit more Vampiric weirdness to Vampire Birb and let him regurgitate blood for his baby. To be fair vampire ground Finches exist, but their diet isn't entirely made up of blood, it's only in the dry season they do. However, the sight of Sanguinius regurgitating blood for Lilith, and then proceeding to be both concerned and confused over what the fuck he just did is beautiful and majestic. Also because we don't actually see too many vampiric headcanons for Sanguinius so I am giving the same method of feeding offspring as Vampire Bats do their pups.

[absolutely-esme]

Monster!Tim Coraline AU Idea

This idea would not leave me alone.

It’s a cross between a meta!/magic!Tim au and a Coraline au.

Before I get into it, I feel like I should explain.  I was on a bit of an Eldritch!Batfamily and Cryptid!Batfamily kick.  Then I found a collection of supernatural Tim aus.  Then I stumbled across a Coraline au.  There’s probably also some inspiration in there from vampire au fics.

It didn’t really jell until the idea occurred to me of a scene where some frightened villain asks Tim “What kind of monster are you?” and Tim says “The hungry kind.”

...

The idea is that somewhere back along the way, Tim’s family tree includes some kind of supernatural creature which may or may not have been an eldritch entity.

The supernatural heritage allows Tim to acquire abilities from other entities he has defeated, and Gotham is absolutely full of the supernatural if you pay attention.

Of course, Tim’s power isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.  It actually comes packaged with some pretty nasty side effects.

One of those side effects is perpetual Hunger.  Tim is always Hungry.  There is no way to stop it.  He eats enough to stay healthy, but he still feels Hunger at all times.  Increasing his food intake will not help and will screw up his metabolism and cause him to need more for normal function.  If this was allowed to spiral out of control it could eventually reach a point where he was physically unable to eat the amount of food he needed to function and starved to death on a full stomach. 

Fixing it is stupid hard because this particular sort of magical inheritance is really fucking inconvenient.  And, of course, whatever is up with his biology also makes him insanely susceptible to addiction, so no coffee for him unless he wants caffeine withdrawal symptoms all the time for however long it takes to fix that.  The constant Hunger also makes it difficult to get enough sleep.  Have you ever tried to go to sleep on an empty stomach?  Not easy, was it?  Imagine that every night.

The Hunger is fairly central to the nature of the magic.  Whatever supernatural entity he’s descended from, it is the Hungry kind.  The ritual of defeating another supernatural entity, taking a bit of the defeated entity’s power, and incorporating it into himself serves as a sort of metaphorical devouring, (and metaphors matter more to magic than they do to normal biology).  That’s why he’s able to gain power and abilities from defeated foes. 

...

Tim’s relationship with his parents is complicated.  His supernatural heritage comes from his mother’s side of the family.  She did her best to teach him about it and how to cope with it, but a lot of knowledge was lost over the generations due to persecution forcing those like them into hiding more than once.  There may have been a few individuals who spiraled out of control and caused small-scale famines before losing their lives.  It only takes a few cases for people to decide that a specific category of people is simply not worth the risk of having around.  Janet always referred to herself and Tim (as well as anyone else sharing the condition) as “those afflicted with Gluttony.”  This is the closest they have to a name for the condition.

One of the important things Janet Drake teaches her son is to pursue his passions.  It is incredibly important for individuals like them to have things outside the self that they can draw satisfaction and fulfilment from, things that keep them going in the face of the relentless Hunger.  This is what leads Tim to his night-time photography of Gotham, and eventually to his fascination with the Bats. 

Janet’s passions are archeology and travel.  Unfortunately, traveling from dig site to dig site is not a particularly stable or safe environment to raise a child in.  She needs to do these things to remain in good health.  Without her external coping mechanisms, she could start spiraling.  If she starts spiraling, it might trigger her son to start spiraling too because children in their developmental years are delicate, and this type of hereditary magic is fucking inconvenient (there might be ways of managing things that make it easier to live with, but between the knowledge lost and the risks that come with experimentation, they don’t have much info on how anything works).  She comes home as much as she can without the risk of compromising both their health.

She also taught Tim how to calculate appropriate portion sizes based on nutritional data so as not to screw up his metabolism, and how to fix it if he does mess up.  She also stayed and managed the process the first time it happened because the process of returning the metabolism of one afflicted with Gluttony to normal after it’s gotten out of hand is difficult and unpleasant and Tim wasn’t old enough to handle it by himself.  The nanny that had overfed him hadn’t been malicious or unreasonable, she’d just been operating on the assumption that he had standard human biology.  It took months to get Tim healthy again.  It took several hefty bribes to keep things under wraps.  Janet doesn’t know if there are still people out there hunting their kind, but she’s not willing to risk it.

Janet may not know about the aspect of the family magic that lets them gain powers from defeating other entities.  It’s possible that she was holding off on explaining this until he was older and more ready for the responsibility of multiple superpowers.  It’s also possible that the knowledge got lost somewhere along the way and Janet didn’t discover it herself because she didn’t spend her childhood running around Gotham at night and was more the sort of person who would stay home and read when she had trouble sleeping.

...

Tim discovers his ability to gain abilities from defeating other supernatural things fairly early on.  The type of defeat can vary, but it has to be something of significance.  A fight will work for most, but there are other particular challenges that will work for specific cases.

The first things a young Tim is able to beat are these small things, invisible to most, that gain power from learning secrets.  What that power is used for, I couldn’t tell you.  They don’t seem to do much other than sneak around and learn secrets.  Tim doesn’t know if there’s a proper name for these things or not, but he calls them Secret Hunters.  They are absolutely everywhere in Gotham. 

Secret Hunters are invisible to most, but Tim is able to see them.  It might be because of his own supernatural nature, or it might be something else entirely.  If it’s hereditary it must have skipped his parents’ generation.  Neither of them seem to be able to see them.  Tim gains improved stealth and a sense for when something is hidden from catching Secret Hunters until they wise up and start avoiding him.  (Catching them works in place of a fight because secret hunters primarily operate on stealth and evasion.)

He can’t just magically know secrets, but he can tell when there is a secret.  (He still figured out Batman’s and Robin’s secret identities on his own merit.  The most this ability would have done is alert him to the fact that they had secret identities if that hadn’t already been obvious from the fact that they were wearing masks.)

He also gets various other abilities from other things he encounters while scrambling all over Gotham at night.  Nearly doesn’t get out of some of the scrapes he gets himself into.  He gains the ability to cut with his fingernails as if they were razors from something that nearly killed him.  He gains the ability to climb like a goat from a Jersey Devil.  Etc.

...

At some point, Tim is targeted by a beldam.  He doesn’t get the kind of warnings that Coraline does, but his ability to sense secrets lets him know that the Beldam is hiding something, and any child raised in any part of Gotham knows to be suspicious of things that seem too good to be true.  Tim doesn’t have a convenient seeing stone from the neighbor, but he does have the advantage of his own supernatural nature which the Beldam doesn’t know about.

Tim finds a button-eyed doll that looks like him after his parents leave on yet another trip, and thinks it’s a gift they meant to give him before leaving.  They do often bring interesting souvenirs.  It wouldn’t be at all unusual for them to find an artist who sews dolls to look like people and have one made based on pictures of him.  Later on, he discovers the key. 

This Beldam is older and more powerful than the one from Coraline.  She has more power and more past victims to work with, so she’s able to make a larger, more populated world. 

Oh by the way, I head-canon that the Other versions of people in the Other world are actually past victims of the Other Mother, remade and dressed up for whatever role she has them play.  The three ghosts were just the three most recent and not fully processed for use yet.  That’s why the Others are able to act against her sometimes (Other Wybie saving Coraline from the mirror, Other Father tossing the eye to Coraline) or say things she doesn’t want them too (Other Father says “so sharp you won’t feel a thing” and Other Mother kicks him under the table).

The Other Mother doesn’t know all that Tim knows, so the Other World has inconsistencies like Other Batman and Other Robin sitting across the table from Other Bruce and Other Jason.  She doesn’t know they’re the same people.  She just knows that they’re all important to Tim.  She also tries to tell him to “eat as much as he wants” when his real mother was the one to explain the dangers of attempting to eat to fullness for people with their condition.

There isn’t a cat to warn Tim but he doesn’t need it.  He can sense hidden intentions in everything, and he’s fully capable of uncovering the hidden secrets himself. 

Tim doesn’t have a cat, but he does have Other Robin, who might have been made from whatever remained of someone close to one of the people mirrored in the Other World made for Tim.  He doesn’t remember his life, but somehow he feels incredibly motivated to help a boy who cares dearly for whoever and is willing to let him know that they're living a good life out there in the real world.

Tim discovers the nature of the other world and sets out to free the souls trapped there.  He fights the Beldam will all the viciousness and desperation of someone who knows they’ve only got one shot.  He takes everything he can from this fight as he makes sure she won’t ever hurt anyone again.  He doesn’t stop until the beldam is well and truly dead.  Then he unravels Other Gotham and spills all of the souls out into the world where they can move on and rest.

This is how Tim learns to Sew.  He can’t make entire populated worlds like the beldam, but that’s mostly because he refuses to do what she did.  He can control things he’s made (though there’s limits on how much) and even see through buttons he’s sewn (onto cushions and such, he's not the Other Mother).  He also gets some minor illusory powers that let him make things look a bit brighter/nicer/cheerier than they are.  It takes quite some time before he’s comfortable with using these powers.  Trauma is a bitch like that.

Part of the reason this version of Tim was so desperate to do something about Batman losing it out of grief is because he already has Evil Batman trauma from Other Batman, and he doesn’t need that shit happening in real Gotham.

By this point Tim has a collection of powers that allow him to navigate the more dangerous parts of Gotham largely without fear.  Now he has to learn how to manage without using any that he isn’t one hundred percent certain he can sneak past Batman, which means he’ll have to divide his attention between learning from the training and not letting himself do things the supernatural way.  This is going to suck.

It does, in fact, suck.

Oh, it turns out some of the rogues are a bit supernatural.  He gains a bit of an intuitive understanding of the health of plants from Ivy.  He gains the ability to taste emotions from Scarecrow.  (Also, Johnathan Crane is a freaking weirdo, fear tastes like spoiled milk!)  The rogues with supernatural tendencies are freaking terrified of the new Robin because he always seems like he wants to freaking eat them.  The non-supernatural types don’t get it.

Eventually, Red hood breaks into Titan’s tower.  Tim, by this point, is very good at deciphering how supernatural entities work and is packing an extensive inventory of powers.  He realizes quickly that this is some kind of manipulative entity that feeds on rage and pain attached to an unwitting host.  When he realizes that the unknowing (and therefore unconsenting) host is Jason Todd, he tells the Lazarus Entity in no uncertain terms to give Jason back or perish.

Jason, who does not realize he has a malicious, mind-warping, supernatural parasite and believes there to be no one other than himself and Tim present, is understandably confused.

Tim decides that the Lazarus entity has had its chance and springs into action.

Jason is treated to the terrifying sight of just what Tim Drake is like when he’s not expending conscious effort on not being something out of a horror movie.  Suddenly he’s in the middle of a spider’s web and no matter how hard he tries to fight back everything around him is under the control of his opponent.  Furniture flies around on puppet strings.  Getting too close puts him in range of the freaking claws this kid apparently has!?  Trying to get away just leaves him caught in strings and the more he struggles the more entangled he becomes!  The new Robin is skittering and gliding around in a decidedly inhuman way. 

Jason honestly thinks he's going to die when he finds himself bound with Tim standing over him.  He passes out when Tim rips the Lazarus entity away from him and destroys it. 

Tim gains the ability to heal from defeating the Lazarus entity.

Jason is surprised and confused when he wakes up bundled in a handmade quilt with his head in Tim’s lap and a cool compress on his forehead, feeling sore but more well and whole than he has since before he died.

Jason later decides that his memories of the fight at Titans Tower must be some kind of weird fever dream caused by his body purging the last of the Lazarus Water from his system. It goes along with Tim's account of things.

According to Tim, Jason entered the tower, initiated a lock-down, and then collapsed on the floor. Then, Tim moved him closer to a wall where he was less likely to get stepped on than in the middle of the walkway and did his best to take care of him there because Jason was simply too large and heavy for him to carry all the way to the med bay by himself.

This is far more believable and less of a mind screw than what Jason remembers. Obviously this tiny, baby-faced kiddo who played nursemaid for a stranger who broke into the tower and now looks up at him with wide, starry eyes couldn't actually be the terrifying, predatory creature from the nightmare. It was all just a bad dream.

He's honestly glad he collapsed before he had time to do any harm. The poor kid will never have to know what Jason went there to do. Jason knows, though, and he'll do his damned best to make up for it. He may have flubbed first impressions, but he is going to be the best damn big brother that ever big brothered.

...

Tim might or might not go full on feral cryptid when Bruce is lost in the Timestream. I haven't decided. He will probably pick a fight with the Lazarus Pit much to the confusion and alarm of everyone around.

That’s all I’ve got so far.

[yuri-is-online]

Was Lilia more “Oh my thorn fairy I have another child?! I can barely cast a spell as of now and future me wants a fucking KID?! AT THAT AGE?!”

Or more of a

I HAVE ANOTHER SON?! AND IT’S FROM ME!?

If his Yutu tells him he comes from the future? Because it could imply he does regain his remaining years and magic. Idk how you wrote that problem that even rn it’s giving talk about Lilia surviving book 7 or not.

If it’s the second I already see him passing by Silver’s room really excited and saying “YOU HAVE A BROTHER!” And zooming off, leaving a very confused Silver and thinking he refers to either Malleus or Sebek.

technically anon asked first but this ask is much longer so it was awkward to screenshot for an answer. Here is the link the anon used for reference, I obligated as an elderly hater to let you know it's from SAO. Anon's idea is extremely good and we're going to roll with it for this Yutu's Uniqe Magic because you know he was always going to be a little shit.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here. SPOILERS FOR: Book 7, Lilia's back story, and Silver's unique magic. Please engage with this in mind. For more fyuutre kid au, please check out the series section of my masterlist.

I have a bit of difficult time writing for Lilia given how much older he is than the rest of the cast, so I tend to write his Yuu as being a bit older themselves. Maybe they had an extremely difficult childhood and connected with Lilia over their shared sense of robbed innocence. Whatever it was I think this Yuu has a bit of a fascination with creatures of the night and a lot of their weirdo reputation within their community comes from kids telling each other that Yuu and Yutu are vampires. That makes me tempted to say Lilia! Yutu's real name is Alucard or Sebastian, something vaguely vampire themed.

None of those rumors are helped by Yutu finding himself very lethargic when out in the sunlight or his preference for colder temperatures. From his perspective he can't exactly help being who he is, people should really just get over themselves and let him do his thing. It's not his fault that bats really seem to like him for some reason, the neighbors are exaggerating Mr. Animal Control officer he swears.

Because he prefers to spend his awake hours in the dark, he is waaaaay too comfortable doing things and going places he shouldn't. He's real familiar with all the abandoned buildings and sketchy alleys of your town and has tagged quite a few of them. I like the idea of Lilia! Yutu being really interested in street art and Graffiti. I could see him putting up a bunch of bats everywhere and getting in a bunch of trouble for it. He has very fond memories of Yuu letting him paint murals on portions of their house in an effort to meet him halfway. He might like a good prank but unlike his father Yutu is always pulling his punches with Yuu.

Lilia didn't exactly have a supportive parent while he was growing up, something I feel like Yuu remembers and is very conscious of in their parenting of Yutu. Unfortunately for Lilia they also remember that he had another child and was a lot older than them, something Yutu raises several eyebrows at and causes him to ignore the things Yuu tries to tell him about his "great sense of humor" and "desire for different peoples to learn and grow with one another-" yeah that's great can you back up a bit to where you said he had another family? Yutu goes through life thinking he was the product of an affair Yuu had with a much older, married man who was just trying to feel young again. The amnesia stuff... sometimes he wonders if his dad tried to have Yuu killed. He never says it out loud because something tells him he's wrong, but gut feelings aren't as trustworthy as statistics...

So you can imagine his surprise when he tumbles out of a coffin and is told that his dad was a faerie general bound in service to a family of dragons, veteran of an ancient war, and technically the adoptive father of the Prince of the children of the night and the Prince of the rival human kingdom that killed his best friends. One of which is alive and overwhelmed with joy to meet him. Silver wanted Yutu almost as badly as Lilia and Yuu did so to see him alive and awkwardly squirming in his arms? Silver hasn't cried this much since they lost Lilia and Malleus.

Having a proper older brother, not just the concept, is an extreme change for Yutu. He's used to it just being him and Yuu, and he was sort of expecting Silver to hate him just for existing. Nothing could be further from the truth, Silver wants his younger brother to have the same freedoms he did while attending school but he also respectfully requests that Yutu spend at least some of his free time with him. He tried desperately to find his dreams over the years and was never able to make firm contact, but he doesn't want to pressure Yutu into caring about him. Yutu is didn't realize how badly he wanted other family members until he got to have Silver, he's even willing to take up sword fighting so they can get closer.

Sebek is also overwhelmed with tears upon seeing Lilia! Yutu. He is a bit harsh on him for "not living up to Master Lilia's legacy" because he doesn't know anything about fighting. He does applaud him for his willingness to learn. Yutu thinks Sebek is hilarious and messes with him just as much as Lilia does. Something Sebek is completely willing to let him do because it makes him feel like Lilia never left.

All of the Yutus get to see some of the photographs Yuu left behind, but Lilia! Yutu is especially interested in them. He makes a small photo album of all the ones he can find of his dad, especially ones where he's with Yuu and Silver. He's partially driven by guilt for thinking his father was a terrible person, but really he just wants to feel closer to him. He's half fae, and sure he has Sebek to talk about that with but what he really needs is a connection with his father. Yutu doesn't really care about being a faerie. He just cares about his dad's acceptance, everything else can go hang.

I don't have a name for his unique magic, but going off of anon's idea it allows him to overwhelm his target's mind, forcing them to think about their greatest fears to the point they are convinced they are really going through it. Someone hates spider? All over their face and in their clothes. Crippling fear of failure? Suddenly that emotion is all they can focus on. And if it's a mindless creature like a blot phantom or a monster they become overwhelmed with the sensation that they are unable to breathe and about to die. Yutu can't control the illusion the person experiences so usually he tries not to use it on his classmates.

That changes when he goes into the past. Some rando want to shit talk Yuu? Nightmare. Macho NRC guy wants to rumble? Nightmare. Some random guy jumped out from behind him and yells "BOO!" Nightma-

If Yutu had been just a hair slower he would have been in extreme pain, the dangerous glint in those familiar ruby eyes scream that. The short fae smiles almost cruelly, advancing on him clearly upset even though Yutu has dropped the spell.

"Well now, that's no way to great a senior." Lilia's voice is strangely soothing, it occurs to Yutu that this is probably the first time his father has ever been angry at him and he can't help himself. He laughs,

"Yeah sorry about that." He makes sure to try and be cute about it, which helps to diffuse the tension some what. "You really scared me so it was all I could think to do."

Lilia is very impressed by Yutu's reflexes and control over his unique magic. He is even further impressed by how eager Yutu is to train with Silver. The kid has some real promise and fits into Silver and Sebek's dynamic better than Lilia could have dreamed of. He really hopes the two will benefit from having a relatively normal human friend their age to train with. Maybe he and Yuu will stick around and give him some piece of mind about the kids being in good hands when he's gone.

Yutu hanging around Diasomnia gives him an excuse to chat with Yuu more, not that he exactly needed it. Lilia sort of hates the way he's drawn to you, it feels unfair. Unfair to you to give you hope there could be something more and toy with your affections; unfair to him for life to finally allow him to realize what romantic love is like just in time to have to let it go. There is a bittersweet tone to all of your interactions that his housemates are a bit too socially awkward to pick up on but Cater does.

Yutu is surprised how much he likes Cater, he associates him with a terrifying monster he's had to fight multiple times, not a fun guy who is really determined to help his parents get together. And what's even better he's really chill when Yutu asks for stories about Lilia, he has a lot of them and a completely different perspective than his older brother allowing Yutu to glean some more insight to what his parents might have been thinking in the future.

He finds himself spending a lot of time with the pop music club, not as an official member though he's not great at carrying a tune. Kalim, Cater, and Lilia are glad to have another person to chill with, sometimes they'll play music and Yutu will draw something based off whatever noise they made. Cater wants to talk him into doing album art for them... you know if they ever get around to making a recording.

I think Yutu will only tell Lilia who he is if he has no choice. He wants to mess with the timeline as little as possible, but should a monster from his timeline appear in this one, say like an overblotted Yuu another asker was so nice as to bring up, well it's not like he says who he is. He just addresses the monster as his parent and has a very loud meltdown not wanting to fight them again. Something Malleus is more than willing to assist him with.

"Think nothing of it." Malleus's power is truly terrifying, Yutu is torn between sorrow that he wasn't on their side and relief he didn't overblot a second time. "You are Lilia's son yes? That makes you my subject, and a most precious one at that." Not that Yutu has avoided interacting with Malleus exactly, he's just found talking to him exceptionally awkward because well. He's not Yuu, he's very aware of how important Malleus is supposed to be. But the way he's looking at him now makes him think that maybe he was missing out on interacting with another older brother.

Something that's confirmed when he turns to see how big his father's eyes have gotten, the man is shaking as he stares at his face and flicks between him, Malleus, and Silver like he's staring at the most precious pieces of art in the whole universe.

As you brought up Lilia's survival isn't guaranteed, I did not solve that problem at all. I sort of just... wrote that Lilia would age more or less like a normal human and not really be able to use magic on par with what a fae would consider normal but would still be impressive to a human... so while Lilia might be a bit reluctant to show his face in Briar Valley he would still have enough years to have and raise Yutu. He might have actually died around the same time as Yuu if they had lived a normal life.

He is overwhelmingly excited at the thought of having another baby. Lilia might not know what to do with them but he does really like kids. What's harder for him to accept is his relationship with Yuu. Raising a child is something he's done before, being someone's long term partner is not. He is unused to feeling desirable, and unfamiliar with acting on his own desires. Sure Lilia might seem very free spirited, but much of his life has been dictated by a sense of duty. The thought of having something precious to him that chose him specifically of their own free will is... disarming. He's overwhelmed with how helpless you make him feel and how little he despises it.

Yutu's need to be accepted by his father is met and exceeded almost immediately. Lilia wants to cook a big family dinner for Yuu and all of his boys, something that Malleus politely rejects asking if he can instead show his Culinary Crucible skills off to Yutu (it's really so he can make babiest brother promise to never eat anything Paw Paw makes EVER) and it's all so normal Yutu almost forgets that he's listening to a practical god smugly tell him he knows all about edible weeds as his father flies around him cracking jokes and pinching his cheeks. His older brother is asleep on the couch waiting for the food to be done and his precious parent is helping his Uncle Sebek set the table, listening to him sniffle about how beautiful Master Lilia's family is.

Lilia might be practically retired, but his mind is still sharp. The information Yutu is able to pass on to him lands in good hands. When he tucks Yutu into bed that night, long after the boy has gone to sleep so as not to embarrass him he makes sure to take a good long look at the little miracle. He is beyond grateful Yutu exists, not even the Thorn Fairy could have given him a finer blessing (he'll have to make sure to tease you about that later, that's got to be a good pick up line) He will make sure that this risk his son has taken pays off, Lilia Vanrouge wasn't feared for no reason. Something it seems some foolish mortals need reminding of.

[klausysworld]

would u be down to write Klaus x vampire hunter? I need that forbidden love angst and all that goodness!! I also may have seen a Buffy the vampire slayer post and couldn’t stop thinking about a Klaus x slayer relationship 🤔

Plot twist? She ends up getting pregnant!?!? I just need the juicy stuff loool

(this is gonna be a multiple part story FOR SURE! I can't lie I've had a very similar idea/scenario running through my head for the past few weeks so i'm really glad someone really wanted this too! The only reason it'll be multiple parts is so that it's easier to read and so that i'm able to add the build up how i imagined :))

Love is never simple

(Part 2 here)

Y/n was the first born daughter to Grayson and Miranda Gilbert.

When Y/n was born they had only very recently claimed Elena as their own, passing the two babies off as twins to those they knew. Fraternal of course for they were definitely not similar not for their looks nor their behaviour.

Elena was a mommy’s girl, she wanted to dress up and be the princess: have her hair and nails done, go shopping with her friends Caroline and Bonnie.

Meanwhile Y/n was more curious. She liked to follow her father, learn from his actions. She still spent time with the girls but given the choice to run around a field and swing a bat then she wouldn’t say no.

One day Miranda was unable to pick up the two girls from school, they were only young and couldn’t get a lift home. Grayson came straight from work and took the girls back there with him. Elena did as she was told, stayed in the designated room and wrote in her diary. Y/n decided to sneak after her father, wondering down a cold staircase to a dungeon of sorts. Men were walking with purpose in lab coats and barking orders at weak, pale beings in cells.

She could see card shot glasses filled with a deep red liquid laid out in rows on a tray. She held onto the railing of the stairs and watched as, who she assumed to be sick people, begged for the cups. Eventually they were given the small dosage, dark veins travelled down their eyes to their cheeks and sharp teeth poked into their lower lips.

A hint of fear swirled within her eyes, confusion and fascination. Something was wrong with these people. She peered closer, accidentally drawing the attention of one of the patients. His eyes narrowed before a small, cruel smile formed on his lips. It barely lasted a second before Y/n was harshly grabbed by the upper arm, causing a shriek to leave her as her head whipped round to see her fathers alarmed face staring back at her

“Y/n!” He yelled “you do not come down here!” Grayson hurriedly lifted her up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind him. “Where’s Elena? Is she still in the office?” He questioned in a panic and Y/n nodded quickly

“She stayed- I’m sorry Daddy- i just wanted to see” she whispered and he sighed, placing her down onto her feet and kissed her forehead.

“It’s not safe for you there” he warned

“What was wrong with those people?” She asked quietly and he clenched his jaw

“They’re not people Y/n…” he murmured “they’re…monsters…they just dress up as people”

They both looked at each-other trying to figure out what the other was thinking

“Dressed up?” She questioned curiously and he clicked his tongue

“Yes…see y/n, they aren’t humans. They just want you to believe that they are, they’re dangerous and it’s part of my job to stop them…to help real people be safe” he explained and she nodded

“You cure them?” She tilted her head, she knew her father was a doctor. Perhaps by stopping them he would make them people instead of monsters.

“If only that were a thing my little y/n….these beasts cannot be cured. Do you remember last summer when there was that…mountain lion on the loose?” He asked her and she nodded with a puzzled smile. “Well that creature hurt people, sent them to heaven…and because of that, the lion had to be put to rest” he told her and she nodded, viscous animals were put down, she knew that. “These beasts, they’re just like that lion. They’re viscous and they won’t ever be tame…they won’t ever feel love. They just want to hurt people.” He whispered, his eyes conveying passion as he spoke of the monsters.

“So you put them down?” She murmurs and he nods

“That’s right” he confirmed and she nodded back at him.

“Because they deserve it?” She utters and he smiled

“Exactly y/n, exactly”

And that was the start of a very twisted childhood.

Miranda was furious when she found out that Y/n had seen the Augustine vampires. They yelled all through the night, their angry voices sounding through the house which resulted in a frightened Elena and a crying Jeremy to climb into Y/n’s bed, all huddling together, looking to y/n for protection.

The next morning nobody spoke a word of the previous day. They ate breakfast, Grayson kissed the heads of each of his children and went of to work. Miranda got them all ready for school and dropped them off before going to work.

The system repeated itself until Y/n stepped out of line again. Tyler Lockwood had shoved Jeremy into a wall and called him names, Y/n wasn’t nearly as big as Tyler but threw punches just as hard. By the time the teacher had separated the two, both Grayson and Miranda were at the school beyond worried.

The school recommended Y/n went to a child’s psychologist to catch her anger management issues earlier rather than later. The same message was passed onto the Lockwoods.

But Grayson didn’t see a troubled little girl when he looked at his daughter, he saw someone strong, a fighter, a hunter.

With many disagreements and arguments, Miranda demanded that neither Y/n or Elena and Jeremy would ever be faced with the supernatural life as long as they were alive.

Grayson however didn’t listen. When Miranda took Elena out and Jeremy was at a friends, he would bring Y/n back to the vampires.

He showed her brain scans of a vampires brain vs a humans brain. He showed her a sociopaths and a psychopaths. He taught her what they had learnt, how a vampire thinks. How it behaves and why. He had her taking multiple self defence classes a week as well as personal training where she was allowed to used weapons, stakes.

On her 14th birthday, when everyone was getting ready for bed, Grayson came back into her room and gave her a box. Inside the box was a dagger, a very special dagger. One she had seen drawings of, heard stories of. And with it came the promise that one day she would get to use it.

Y/n was given weekly lessons on vampire history, all the way back to the originals.

By the age of 16 she was searching for them. For him. She wanted to see the one and only Niklaus Mikaelson. Supposedly the most ruthless, most dangerous and most powerful creature to walk the planet? The one who was supposed to kill her very very own sister.

Grayson didn’t approve of her wanting to seek him. He agreed with almost everything she did but not that. He couldn’t risk Klaus. Y/n could fight off a vampire, she was even able to kill a ripper while it was in a frenzy, but an original hybrid? At 16? He couldn’t guarantee that.

So she left in the night. She was gone four full days and nights before she returned. Miranda was in tears and begged her to never leave them again. Elena was angry and Jeremy felt betrayed. But Grayson could tell that Y/n had exactly what she wanted. She knew what Klaus Mikaelson looked like.

And when she placed a photograph of the beasts face on the table beside his glass, he knew he had successfully created a true vampire hunter.

Y/n had boards drawn, hidden from her siblings and mother and only accessible to herself. They held the locations of vampire nests, werewolf packs and witch covens all over the US. She began to form connections with witches. Shiela Bennet, Grams, was aware of Y/n’s involvement and although she wanted nothing more than to stay out of vampire business, she knew Y/n was in too deep to back out and she would protect that girl. She helped her get in touch with other witches, warned her of the witch trials that took place, where a hundred spirits would support her. In return Y/n promised to protect Bonnie, to never take advantage of her and to try her best to keep her away from vampires.

Everything was smooth for a while until that tragic night. One slip in the road and the car was in the water. Y/n had kicked and punched with everything in her to break the windows open, to save Elena, her mother and her father. But she watched as the life drained from their eyes, she watched as Elena tried to tell her how much she loved her. And then, in what she thought would be her last moment, she saw a figure force the door open with a supernatural strength. A vampire, Stefan Salvatore, saved both girls that night.

Y/n didn’t know what to think.

She understood that maybe he saved Elena because of the doppelgänger history that she had learnt of over the years. But she never understood why he would save her too.

Y/n had searched on Stefan before, the ripper. To say she was disgusted was an understatement, but now he was acting as though he was nothing more than a bunny muncher? Lies. There was darkness within him, waiting to be let free. He would kill them all. She was sure of it.

So sure that she broke into his house, only to find his brother Damon already there nursing a glass of bourbon. She observed the two brothers as they through each other from the window and hissed like feral cats. Like a mountain lion.

Damon didn’t even bother to hide his darkness, he was a monster in her eyes. Clear as the moon amongst the stars.

But before she could get her hands on the right stake, Grams was at her door

“Y/n, child, you mustn’t” she warned and Y/n frowned

“I will not have two vampires in our town, ruining my family.” She snapped back and Shiela shook her head

“Child, please” she begged “you have to trust me, trust me that you will need them” she whispered urgently

“Why would anyone need a vampire?” She sneered and Grams grabbed her hand

“Just believe” she uttered “they will not touch you, I can guarantee that not a hair on your head-“

“I don’t care if they hurt me, they will hurt Elena- Jeremy- Jenna-“ she listed, taking a pause before looking Grams in the eye “they will destroy Bonnie”

“You know I wouldn’t put her in danger, they will come and go. The older one of here for one thing, once he has it he will leave and the younger is nothing more than a nuisance” she tried to encourage but Y/n only shook her head

“You know that would be the easiest thing to believe. But they are not made to make friends, they are not here because they feel anything other than hunger. Hunger for blood and hunger for power. Your power, Bonnie’s power.” She threatened

“Y/n, you must trust me just this once. We will rid ourselves of these demons but we must do it right so that we do not become the monsters we fear”

And so with much reluctance, Y/n waited and watched.

She didn’t reveal any of her intentions, she just stayed quiet.

Even when the vampires escaped the tomb, she didn’t make herself known. When Grams died it broke something inside Y/n but it also made her stronger, she knew she had to protect her family, the Gilbert’s, the Bennett’s.

Not even the council knew she was in on it all. Grayson never told a soul outside of the Augustine community so that Miranda never found out. She helped of course, but at the end of the day when she watched Stefan and Elena beg for Bonnie to let them save Damon…Y/n just couldn’t decide where she stood. In that moment she froze, she watched Bonnie Bennet help a vampire and it confused her beyond belief.

And she witnessed it time and time again.

How could this happen? How could everyone in that godforsaken town so easily submit to those animals?

It was Damon who finally caught onto Y/n, noticing the pure disgust on her face when a vampire entered the room. The way she looked at Caroline after she turned, the inner battle she faced when Caroline cried like a child and begged Y/n to tell her everything would be okay.

He eavesdropped on Y/n’s conversation with Caroline’s mother, Liz. It was after Mason had outed the Salvatores and they were waiting for the vervain to leave her system.

“She isn’t my daughter anymore Y/n” she whispered and Y/n just stared back at the wall

“No?” She questioned slightly

“She’s a monster- my little girl is…my little girl is gone” she uttered, tears brimming in her eyes and Y/n’s thoughts stirred

“Gone” she repeated “it’s just a monster…dressed as Caroline?” She mused and Liz let out a sob

“How could this happen? They killed my baby” she cried over and over but Y/n remained emotionless. She wasn’t expecting Damon to be back yet, she wasn’t aware of the way he looked at her. The tilt of his head and the narrowing of his eyes. The shock he felt when he heard the question slip from her mouth

“Will you kill her?”

Liz looked up at Y/n, horrified to an extent as she slowly shook her head “I couldn’t…” she breathed and Y/n nodded in understanding

“Would you…would you have someone else kill her?” She asked quietly and Liz sat up a little straighter, looking at Y/n almost quizzically

“I…don’t know” she whispered “should I?”

That was the biggest question Y/n had. Where was the line drawn? The line between right and wrong, the line between human and monster.

Silence hung over them and Damon watched as Y/n pondered the idea, he could see the way her eyes glistened as she thought over the idea of tearing Caroline’s heart out and then he saw the guilt settle in and the confusion take over again.

“Maybe” she mumbled “maybe Caroline is truly gone. Maybe now she is just a hollow shell of who she is supposed to be and a violent, vicious animal” she stated unfazed “but then what if she’s still your baby girl? What if she’s everything she was and more? What if she’s…better” she whispered, a glint in her eye.

Liz couldn’t give and answer, neither of them could. Neither of them ever would.

By the time Y/n left, Liz was almost asleep.

Damon seized Y/n’s arm as she walked toward the front door and attempted to pin her to the wall only to be knocked off his feet and kicked straight in the gut. His hand automatically grabbed ahold of her ankle and twisted but nothing more than a grunt left her as she grabbed something, a glass, and smashed it against the side of his head. He let out a growl and lunged for her throat but her hand was in his chest in seconds. They both stayed completely still as she held is heart still inside his body, his fangs on display and pain clear in his expression.

A silent stare down happened before Y/n squeezed at his heart and forced a surrender out of him. Once she let go they both crawled away from the other and sat on the floor, facing the other with a contemplating look.

Eventually he spoke, “what are you?” He questioned and she scoffed

“Human” she stated as though he were stupid

“It isn’t human instinct to rip someone’s heart out” he raised a brow and she sighed

“Well maybe not every human but when we have things like you living in our town-“

“Things like me?” He laughed “oh you really aren’t who I thought you were” he grinned a grin of disbelief and stared up at the ceiling. “You think all vampires are monsters?” He murmured, glancing to her

“I’m not sure anymore” she mumbled and he hummed, his brows furrowing

“So…me…Stefan and Caroline are the demons and you? You’re a little angel?” He mocks and she rolls her eyes

“Nobody said or implied that” she sighed and he squinted his eyes

“So then what?”

“I don’t know.” She stated, angrier.

The both went quiet for a moment until Stefan walked in. His eyes were wide and confused. Both Damon and Y/n looked to each other, a look that said they needed to keep this quiet.

“What the-“

“Caroline thought I was gonna hurt Liz, she threatened me by grabbing my heart” Damon lied, a sarcastic smirk on his face which made the situation much more believable. “Y/n stayed to watch Liz, didn’t you?” He glared and she nodded

“Yeah, course, anything to help” she smiled and Stefan slowly nodded. Something wasn’t right but he knew he shouldn’t ask.

And from there stemmed an odd and twisted friendship.

Damon liked to purposefully annoy Y/n, see what made her angry enough to the point where she would hurt him. He wanted to know why she was so strongly against vampires. He wanted to know where she went when she disappeared.

Because disappearing wasn’t uncommon for Y/n, since those days when she hunted down Klaus Mikaelson. The beast who was supposed to be impossible to find but clearly wasn’t trying very hard to hide. Since then she would disappear for a week every couple of months, release her built up anger and hatred for the supernatural by going to a vampire nest and seeing how many she could take on at a time.

Between stakes, wooden bullets and enchanted blades she did very well.

She would return, any wounds wrapped in bandages and nobody would ask, Elena and Jeremy had come accustomed to it. They would hug her, thank her for coming back in one piece and she would promise to never leave without coming back.

Damon however would dance circles around her: “where were you?” “Why do you smell of blood” “what did you do?”

One day she snapped at him and told him she killing of leeches like him. She proceeded to stake him through the stomach and leave him on floor before going up to bed.

That was how Stefan found out. He witnessed the scene and very cautiously raised his hands in surrender when she stomped past him on the stairs.

Damon and Stefan had many conversations on it but nothing ever came of them.

Actually a sort of alliance was formed between the three, nobody tells Elena or anyone for that matter that Y/n is a vampire hunter and Y/n will help behind the scenes when needed.

It worked well.

When Elena and Caroline were taken by the wolves, Y/n killed more of those dogs than Stefan Damon combined.

When Elena was kidnapped by Rose and Trevor for Elijah, she had seen it happen and tracked them before anyone else realised they were missing. She waited patiently in the shadows for Elijah to arrive. She already knew so much about him and it was a dream of sorts to see him so close. She had the dagger of course but she wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. Looking at the situation, his tone and the look in his eyes, he didn’t seem to carry any untoward intentions with Elena and if Y/n were honest she wanted to take Elijah down to Augustine. She wanted to scan the originals brain, test his blood to see if he were different to the others.

But when Elijah continued to smack Trevors head clean off and grab Elena in a painful hold, she couldn’t just stand by. A stake was thrown strain into the top of his spine, temporarily paralysing the original and causing him to let out a sharp cry of pain and anger. Elena turned to face Y/n in shock, confusion and relief. Damon and Stefan moved as soon as Y/n did and tackled Elijah unto the others presumed him dead. Y/n however collected a small sample of his blood before they left.

She returned home with the others, explaining to Elena the best she could about how she got to be who she was. About their father’s secret vampire hunting job, leaving out the Augustine side to the story as she knew Elena would not approve and Damon, Stefan and Caroline would be appalled.

Everything was different from then, Elena seeked more support in Y/n like she used to do when they were younger and Y/n guarded Elena with her life. Even when Elena was determined to sacrifice herself, hand herself over to Klaus, Y/n was there.

Y/n could feel her heart in her throat when Elijah stood in-front of her, two hearts in his hands from the vampires that were here for the doppelgänger. He gave a her a strange looked, confused as to who she was before he noticed the way Elena hid behind her and Damon grabbed at her wrist. He vanished into thin air and Y/n went on edge.

She slept in Elena’s room or had Elena in her own. She dug back through her original’s knowledge and information, pages and pages worth of history and myths. Sketches of Klaus’s face and the daggers. A small figure, hand carved by Klaus himself and made of white oak which she had stolen and kept hidden away. But then she remembered what she had learnt from the witches she had conversed with.

Killing one original would wipe out every vampire of that sireline.

She wasn’t sure what to do. Kill Klaus and the Salvatores, kill Caroline? Her childhood friend? Destroy her bond with her sister and be left alone?

She hid the white oak away and decided on presenting Damon with the mystical dagger and white oak ash. He immediately took to the idea while Stefan was hesitant but after another week of Elijah proving to be nothing but a threat in their eyes, he found himself as close to death as he could be in the cellar of the Salvatore’s.

But then Klaus showed up, we’ll sort of.

He had taken over Alaric and assumed they would all be too stupid to notice.

But Y/n could sense something. And he didn’t like the way she was looking at him, a calculated and curious look. She knew he couldn’t question her, that would be confirming her theory. So she just waited and watched. Klaus couldn’t help but feel a little nervous when she narrowed her eyes and glanced toward Elena.

When he finally revealed himself and attacked the girls in the school, Y/n was already in the cellar and forcing Elijah up the stairs.

“You’re fucked up brother is here, wake the fuck up” she yelled as his fingers slowly twitched to life. She threw blood bags at him, watching him drain them in seconds through coughing and groaning.

Once he came to he tried to have her by the throat only to be smacked back by the invisible force of the doorway. She held the dagger threateningly at him until he calmed down and took a step back to compose himself.

They grabbed Elena ASAP and got to talking.

It was another couple days before she actually saw Klaus in his true form. Y/n had just stepped into the grill, ready to yell at Damon for force feeding her his blood when she noticed the dirty blonde, blue eyed vampire stood with a glass of scotch in his hand and a cruel smirk on his face. She swiftly weaved her way through the grill and to a booth in the corner to watch the interaction.

Klaus finished threatening Damon, walked all the way to the door and paused. He could feel himself being watched, his head turned in her direction, his eyes locked onto hers and his brows pulled together with a hint of confusion. He watched as Damon noticed Y/n and called her name, drawing her attention and beckoning her over. Klaus left with her on his mind.

She was soon forgotten when he completed his ritual, was faced with his brothers betrayal and then set free.

He then left with Stefan, unaware that Y/n knew exactly where they were all of the time. Following them, tracking them, hunting them.

She watched as they moved from the road to motels, to diners to hotels to dodgy alleyways to drain helpless humans, to houses to slaughter petrified people.

And while they slept she would break into their hotel rooms, seeing how long it would take to wake the beast. She rummaged through his duffle bag of clothes and papers. She flipped through his sketch books, seeing what new things he had added since the last time she looked. She made her own copies of his maps, marking the same places as he had to know where he would be going next to find the werewolves. It was amusing to her that the reason he struggled to find them was because she had helped kill a proportion of them over the past few years.

Klaus could always feel like someone was watching him but he wasn’t sure if it was actually there or just his paranoia so he never thought too much of it. She was always hidden when he looked over his shoulder anyway.

What he didn’t know was that sometimes she would slip a concentrated doses of ketamine into his and Stefan’s drinks when he wasn’t looking to ensure he would sleep through the night. What she wasn’t expecting was for him to have a nightmare.

She had been in Klaus’s room, transferring all the data from his phone over to her laptop so she could track is messaged and phone calls when he began muttering. She ignored him and waited for it to load but he began to get louder so she stood up, a little worried he would wake. But when his breathing turned rapid and his mumbled became cries for help in fear she started to understand. He was in the middle of a nightmare and the ketamine refused to let him wake.

Hesitantly she came over to his sleeping form, placing a hand on his shoulder which his shook off.

“Shhh” she hushed quietly, not wanting anyone else in the motel to wake. “It’s okay” she whispered but he wouldn’t shut up. He just wouldn’t stop screaming, begging for the wolves to let go of someone- Henrik.

Y/n pulled the covers off him, leaving him in only his boxers. His skin was covered in sweat as he struggled against his own mind. She gently rubbed her hands over his chest, trying to soothe him with physical touch. She whispered kind words to him as she smoothed her fingers over his skin to his face, petting him gently and calming him back to a more settled sleep. His face turned to press his cheek into her palm and she sighed, relieved.

Carefully she pulled away and grabbed her laptop which now had all of his information. She placed everything back when she found it and left, locking the door and moving into Stefan’s room.

Klaus could faintly remember the feel of hands on his body, such soft skin on his. He could remember her soothing voice as she told him to breath and relax. He could still feel her fingers in his hair when he closed his eyes.

Stefan almost always knew that Y/n had been there, he could always smell her perfume. Plus sometimes she would leave him little notes to let him know she was with him.

What wasn’t planned was for Klaus to actually find Ray. She was torn between staying with Klaus or following Stefan when Stefan promised to get rid of Damon, who was searching for him as he assumed Y/n was glad to be rid of the two monsters.

Y/n only stayed because Stefan had spotted her in the bar and mouthed for her to stay, that he would be back.

So she stayed and observed. Watched as Klaus threw vervain-dipped-darts into the man’s body with a smirk on his face. It was creatures like him that she reminded her of why she killed. Why she was apart of Augustine.

So she ordered a drink for him, had the waiter tell him a girl had gotten payed for it and watched as he grinned, flattered and looked around for her. He didn’t spot her as she hid herself behind the bar, he shrugged anyways and took the drink in one gulp. His eyes went wide instantly as the liquid quite literally burned through his throat, a mixture of vervain and wolvesbane in his system. He angrily looked around for the culprit but she was out the door in seconds and in her car.

Once he came back outside, Stefan was back and Ray was unconscious.

She followed them to the mountains and followed at a safe distance, stakes and wolvesbane grenades ready. She stayed low and far enough away, occasionally climbing into trees to watch as he snapped each wolves neck.

She watched in boredom as he failed, she already knew why he wasn’t successful. The witches had already told her Esther’s plan. The double curse.

Cruel but necessary.

She watched his tantrum and then she watched as they both dragged themselves back down to the car.

Following them to Chicago was a low point for her. She had dozens of cans of red bulls and protein bars in her car and had been listening to the same list of songs for months. Klaus’s messages were dryer than a dessert and Stefan was losing his spark. He was losing what made him special, the reason she began to trust a vampire. He was proving that all vampires were beasts.

Thankfully for Y/n, she had already met Gloria in the past. So when Y/n came into the bar after Klaus and Stefan had left and explained the situation, Gloria was happy to let Y/n stay with her in the apartment above the bar for a few days. Without Klaus’s knowledge of course.

She was also happy to let Y/n sit and watch the security cameras whilst Klaus and Stefan were downstairs. In return Y/n offered Gloria a favour, whether it be an ingredient to a spell or the death of another supernatural. Either way it didn't bother Y/n, she was just as happy to do either. if anything she craved to kill a vampire, it was her release and this trip was nothing but a bore for her so far.

It became slightly more interesting when Klaus woke his sister; Rebekah. watching them whine at each other was somewhat amusing but it also reminded her of Elena and Jeremy. She had never been away from home for more than two weeks and these past few months had been isolating and lonely.

What definitely sparked her attention however was when they began talking of Elena's necklace. She bit at her finger tips as she watched Stefan's dreadful attempt at behaving oblivious and the way Gloria's eyes darkened when she glanced toward him. y/n knew this would not end well. she was 100% certain that Klaus or Rebekah would figure out what was wrong and so she left with a head start.

She had Damon on the phone in minutes, bag packed and on the road.

"They know Elena's alive and by they i mean Klaus and his wacko sister, that's right another crazy original bloodsucker is coming to town! Get Elena, get Bonnie and get out!" she yelled down the phone as she drove way past the limit.

"woah woah woah, what? Y/n is this a joke? I'm not in town!" Damon whisper shouted back, clearly frustrated

"where the fuck are you?" she borderline growled

"I'm.... I'm with Katherine" he sighed, knowing the pissed off expression she would have on her face in that moment

"Well I'm in traffic! So get home, get Elena back ALIVE and then say goodbye to you dick because I'm gonna chop it off!" she screamed down the phone at him before abruptly ending the call and coming to a standstill as dozens of cars in front of her come to a halt. She clicked the radio on only to be told that a crash had happened a few miles ahead of her. Y/n smacked her head against the horn of her car and groaned loudly.

Klaus must've taken a diversion because she returned late into the night, Stefan was home with zero humanity and an angry blonde bitch. klaus was missing again and Elena was crying in her bed. Y/n laid with her until they both fell asleep.

The next morning Y/n, Elena, Jeremy, Caroline and Damon were piled into the Gilbert's kitchen. They figured out Tyler was sired/Y/n told them that it was obvious. Together they agreed that getting Mikael would be a good idea. Y/n didn't want him to kill Klaus, although it would have probably been the best thing for her. However she did want him to scare Klaus away at least for a while.

The problem was getting Rebekah to agree but Y/n already knew just the secret to spill to get her attention. It was pure luck that the creatures from 'the other side' were able to cross the barrier and that mason revealed the symbols. Y/n decided it would be better if Damon thought that Klaus killing his own mother was discovered by him instead of Y/n. And she thought it would be better if Elena spoke to Rebekah over herself. Y/n didn't really want to form any kind of relationship with the originals if they were going to be here any longer. Especially not Rebekah, she was too girly and obnoxious for Y/n.

So she let the plan fall out. She played her part, even let Caroline dress her up for homecoming just to make her happy. Afterall if Mikael did end up killing Klaus then Caroline would die too and Y/n would rather she went out on a high.

Everything was going fine, she even had a conversation with Mikael himself. He was rather impressed with her actually, he could recognise a vampire hunter within miles.

They then went to the gym, got redirected to the Tyler's, weird but whatever. And then Klaus made his appearance, reclaimed homecoming as a wake and effectively ruined everyone's night.

Y/n tried to cruise through the evening, keeping to herself and drinking shitty punch. She was pretty happy with just waiting until Katherine, posing as Elena pulled Y/n aside and let her in on what she and Stefan were gonna do. Well not everything they would do but that they planned to save Klaus because the hybrids would kill Damon. Y/n reluctantly agreed, much to Katherine's surprise if she were honest but she took the win.

Y/n then returned to the 'part' in annoyance and relief, that familiar confusion settling over her as she grabbed a real drink and stood to the side of the crowds.

Unfortunately for her, Klaus had spotted her and taken her loneliness as an invitation to approach her. and what was even more unfortunate was that Stefan was glaring straight at her, warning her not to fuck this up.

So she looked back to Klaus with an awkward smile. She knew her body was tense and she could feel her fingers twitch with the urge to defend herself. His power radiated like heat. She just knew Augustine would kill to have him in their facilities.

"Y/n, isn't it?" Klaus questioned knowingly.

"mhm" she mumbled, unsure how to behave.

"why are you all alone?" he asked, his eyes flicking up and down the length of her body, lingering on her cleavage without shame.

"I don't like people" she stated simply and he let out a chuckle.

"Ah I understand that" he smiled but she shifted a step away from him which he noticed but didn't comment on though his smile did drop, it was common for people to distance themselves from him. "you know things aren't going to end well tonight" he warned, his voice quiet but clear

"I'm aware" she mumbled, glancing to where Tyler was dragging an annoyed Caroline toward the house

"Then you should really make better decisions about who you side with, sweetheart. You're strong, and smart. I could tell that from the first time seeing you, it didn't take you 5 minutes to figure out that I wasn't Alaric" he murmured to her, his tone changing from threatening to proud though his face remained neutral.

She said nothing in response, she didn't know what he wanted her to do so she just stared back at him, watching his jaw clench and unclench as he watched and waited for her to come to some sort of answer. He knew that realistically he wouldn't received one but he hoped that she would be intelligent enough to at least take his words into consideration. Klaus liked her, he liked that she was observant and that she had the common sense that everyone else in the town didn't have, to stay out the way. If he were honest, he would have liked her to have been on his 'team', he imagined that she probably had a lot of untold knowledge just waiting to be put to use.

If he only knew the half of it.

Klaus was too buried in his thoughts to notice how Y/n's eyes focused on someone behind him, Damon, who mouthed that he needed 10 minutes before Mikael to get there and that Klaus needed to be occupied.

Y/n could have smacked him when she gave him a look as if to ask what to do and he acted out a dance scene. Her eyes flicked between Klaus and past his shoulder, and then just as Klaus let out a sigh and took a step back she cleared her throat and mentally stabbed herself

"Dance with me?" she offered, her hand very unwillingly lifting out for him to take. His brows shot up but he accepted with little hesitation.

She bit at her own tongue to keep her expressions at bay. Almost everything in her wanted to shove him off, stab him, stake him, behead him. She could feel the vervain syringe she had brought with her in the hidden pockets of her dress, she so desperately wanted to weaken him, kill him.

But no, instead she had a half vampire/half werewolf with his hand on her waist and the other holding her own. His werewolf side made his touch warm, almost like a human's. Slowly her hand went to his shoulder, lightly touching the expensive material of his suit jacket.

Her eyes found his awaiting blue ones, she didn't like how they seemed so deep, they reminded her of Damons. They were those obvious blue eyes, they could be beautiful some of the time and terrifying other times. They were the sort of eyes you could fall into, the kind you could swim in, the ones you would lose yourself in and never find a way out.

It was for that reason that she looked away from them and instead glanced around, taking in the music and the people. There were so many people, it didn't take a genius to guess that most of them were with Klaus, hybrids. She hoped this would be the last time she would touch him, be this close to him but deep down she knew better.

She could feel him pull her a little closer so that his cologne engulfed her, the scent was rich and her inhale for a second too long. She could sense Klaus's smirk in response but refused to acknowledge it. Hopefully someone would come get him soon.

Until then, however, she was to stay in the arms of the beast.

He wirled and twirled her around, doing whatever he could to entice a smile or a laugh from her. Klaus knew many dances from over the centuries, some slow and some fast. Some much more erotic than others and he took great pleasure and amusement in changing between them until a melodic laugh was buzzing through the air. His arms held her close as he brought them low and high, round and round. He spun her one last time before dipping her. Her breathing calmed and her laughs faded as she because aware of how his body pressed to hers, how his arms supported her and how close his face was to hers. The warm air from his mouth fanned over her face and the words she needed to say got trapped in her throat.

Thankfully a women cleared her throat which gained Klaus's attention.

"What is it, I'm busy?" he huffed as he lifted Y/n to stand by herself. He frowned when her touch left him and she moved away, a look of self disgust scrunching up her pretty face.

"Someone's here for you... he says his names Mikael" She told him, unbothered by his angry tone.

His demeanour changed in a second . That familiar coldness returning, it reminded Y/n of the vampires she'd seen with no humanity though it was a little different. She wasn't sure what was different about it but something was.

Either way she didn't like it.

And so by the time Klaus had turned around to apologise to Y/n for the interruption, she was out of sight. He sighed and shook his head before going to end his father.

Y/n proceeded to go sit in Katherine's car, turning the engine on and the radio as she waited for the inside to heat up. She was patiently waiting for the doppelgänger and Stefan to arrive and as soon as they were in the car, her foot was down and they were speeding into the night.

Ripper Stefan and Katherine Pierce were the two worst vampires for Y/n to be around. She wanted them dead, they deserved to die. She wished Klaus had died to his sireline went too. She really did...until she remembered that Elena would be broken. Family would always be more important than anything else.

So when Katherine and Stefan started talking about a way to get revenge on Klaus, she left. She went home and to bed so that she wasn't on 'the wrong side'.

Y/n didn't want to be on any of their sides. She didn't want to be in support of any supernaturals.

Which is why she hated to admit that she had some sort of weird friendship to Damon Salvatore who had been relentlessly teasing her on what he witnessed at the homecoming.

"Oh you should have seen them Elena, for a moment it was like I was in Spain watching salsa dancing and the next I was back in the 1800s" He laughed and Y/n lobbed a dart at him

"You wanted him distracted" she grumbled and he grinned while Elena rolled her eyes

"There's distracting and there's seducing" Damon chuckled

"Hey! He started the whole-"

"The whole what love?" Klaus's voice sounded from behind the trio. It was cold and sharp like the icy wind of the winter. He didn't appreciate being played with let alone mocked, especially when she had asked him too dance. Whether it were apart of a plan or not, she could have done something else for his attention. Throwing a drink on his would have taken him a good few minutes to rage about before changing his outfit but she chose a dance.

"Nothing" she answered, standing and walking away from them all, over to the farthest point of the bar so that she couldn't here what they were saying. 'No involvement' she would warm herself.

She knew they were talking about Stefan from the defensive stances the pair were taking but she didn't want to know why, not even for a second.

And she hoped and hoped that Klaus would just leave after his little threats but of course he had to hover.

A drink was placed infront of her and a hand spun her round on the bar stool forcing her to face the beast once again. "Afternoon sweetheart, lovely to see you again after our little moment. You could even call it a date" the sarcasm was clear but the words alone made her nose wrinkle up.

"I'd prefer you didn't" she mumbled and he hummed

"well I'd prefer a lot of things so I suppose we're all unhappy. Now, where's Stefan hm? I know you had something to do with last night, I witnessed you talking suspiciously quietly with Katerina." He placed a threatening hand on her upper arm and both Damon and Elena stood from their places, worry on their faces as they saw a darkness swirl inside Y/n's eyes. "Where is Stefan, and where had he put my family?"

Y/n let out a laugh, she couldn't help it.

"He took the originals?" she questioned, covering her mouth as hiccups of laughter threatened to escape. Damon headed over fast, muttering to Elena to get it the car. He quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and let out a nervous chuckle, looking to Y/n with wide eyes but she couldn't stop giggling.

"She's just...going through something right now" He smiled fakely and pulled her out of her seat, holding his own hand over her mouth making her shove him off out of reflex, her voice aggressive as she began to yell

"Get the fuck off you filthy-" she cut herself off when she noticed multiple people staring at her with surprised expressions. Damon simply chuckled and grabbed her elbow, pulling her toward the door

"don't hit me" he whispered quietly as he pushed her through the door and toward the car.

Klaus watched the two in confusion and interest. He certainly hadn't expected her to switch up so fast and he definitely wanted to know what the end of her insult was supposed to be.

His curiosity grew when he went to the Salvatore's to try and see if maybe Stefan was there only to find Damon and Y/n with a supernatural board, pictures and names written with strings running from the to different information.

"God if you and your fucked up brother just pissed off instead of following Elena around like the hungry mosquitoes you are then everything would be sunshine and daisies" Y/n complained and Damon rolled his eyes as he linked Stefan to the originals via some red wool.

"What and you would have carried on hunting and slaughtering vampires while Jeremy, Elena and Jenna would obliviously move on with their lives and eventually Elena would have settled down with good ol' Matt Donovon?" he mocked and Klaus's brows furrowed.

"Sounds better than my life right now" she mumbled and Damon rolled his eyes

"Surely this is every crazy vampire hunters dream?" he questioned "cmon think about it, you're surrounded by the oldest vampires, a famous ripper, hybrids and best of all...you got me?" he grinned and she groaned, dropping onto the couch.

"I know and it just makes me feel murderous all the time" she whined "and gross and contaminated" she gagged and he dramatically huffed.

"Come on, you can attack me" he offered with a playful glint and she let out a mocking 'ha ha'. "hey no come on, how about you get to stab me a few times and I get a shot of your blood?"

"Damon?"

"yes?"

"I would rather rip my own heart out then let a soulless , leech anywhere near my blood" she sneered and he laughed with a clap.

"How did it take me so long to realise you undying hatred for what was it?-my kind?" he raised his brows and she glared at him

"These past few months have done nothing but confirm my every belief. You and everyone like you are monsters" she whispered, enjoying how his expression faltered "unsavable, unloveable-"

"shut up" he uttered, veins appearing under his eyes making her lips curve up

"see? you can't even control yourself"

"says the girl who nearly lost it in the middle of the grill" he quipped before walking out and leaving her alone.

Klaus's mind was spinning with new knowledge. It made sense to him but he still wasn't exactly expecting it. Either way, he would find a way to put this to his advantage.

(Okay I'm going to make this part one and then from here Klaus and Y/n will have more time together and start to fall for one-another. I know this is a little different to my usual stories as I never usually give so much build up/back story but I had a lot of ideas and wanted to share those with you. So thanks for reading and I hope you loo forward to the next part/parts)

[silkentine]

Indeed I DO want to ask you about your OCs, what are their personalities like? How did they confuse eachother as human and vampire respectively? Is Camille just good at adapting to the new nuances of culture or is Bat just archaic enough to pass as a couple centuries old? Or do they just recognize each other's different behaviors and assume the other is just Like That? Can Camille turn into a bat. Your freaks have fascinated me. 10/10 creatures.

To answer your first question: they got mixed up because Bat straight up called himself a vampire and Camille didn't have any reason to believe he was lying. In fact, she assumes he's an inexperienced, newly-turned vampire who desperately needs her ancient wisdom. Bat thinks he's just made a friend who's as committed to the bit as he is. He's not-so-secretly obsessed with a trashy vampire romance series called The Crepuscular Saga and decided to take a risk by moving to the city that the books take place in.

Here's an illustration I made last year (before Camille got a haircut, lol), which hints at their relationship after they find out the truth:

Lots of biting... gulp

Also, yes! She DOES turn into a bat. I decided this right after I got your ask and quickly spent all day drawing her bat forms!!

For your viewing pleasure, here is some art I made of them many moons ago (like 2020-2023):

Thank you for your interest!!! It really helps me solidify their story by actually having to write it out rather than only playing puppet theater in my mind.

[bots-and-cons]

heyyy uh since requests are open again I thought this might be a good idea to explain what I meant in my last request cuz I realized I didn't really explain it right sorry, what I was requesting was kinda for an anthro fruit or vampire bat reader (kinda like a furry I guess but biologically a bat but I understand the mix up and I still enjoyed reading what you made

I'd really appreciate it if you could maybe make another one this way, I understand if you don't feel like it and I know it was because of a mistake on my end so uh yeah 😅

A/N: I did the same characters as last time, that post can be found here. Idk if I understood it correctly this time either, but like a bat with some human characteristics? I purposefully left the physical description pretty vague, so there’s room to interpret it how you want. This is more based on fruit bats, and general bat characteristics

~Shockwave~

•Shockwave finds the variety of creatures on earth quite fascinating

•You’re not quite human, but you’re not really an animal either? Not according to his understanding anyway

•He wants to study you, surprise surprise

•Your eyesight is kinda bad, but it can be fixed by wearing classes, that can give you a bit of a headache if you wear them all the time though

•You do sometimes use echolocation on the Nemesis, but you’ve noticed Shockwave doesn’t seem to like the sound you have to make, so you kinda avoid it

•Even though humans can’t pick up the ultrasounds you produce, cybertronians seem to be a different case

•You’re much more active during the nighttime hours, which Shockwave honestly hasn’t even really noticed, because he just works without caring about the day-night-cycle and rest when he has to

•You eat a variety of fruits, and some insects sometimes too

•Shockwave is fascinated by your more animal like characteristics, and honestly the human ones too, because he doesn’t really know anything about either, so you’re an interesting specimen

~Knockout~

•Knockout doesn’t really find your diet weird, like maybe some humans could, because you only eat fruit and some insects

•He doesn’t really have a reference point for what humans normally eat so he doesn’t find it odd

•Knockout has a very bad recharge schedule, as in while he doesn’t need rest as often as humans, he doesn’t rest as often as a cybertronian should either

•He does notice you seem to be awake much more during the night than day though

•He loves how furry and soft and warm you are

•Knockout likes caressing your wings, and you also enjoy it because they’re pretty sensitive and he’s so gentle

•You’re very careful when touching him, because you’ve got some sharp ass claws and you don’t want to ruin his paint job

•He’s also very careful about it, but he doesn’t really mind that much if it’s you, since the marks are extremely small if they do happen

•Your ears always seem to mirror your emotions, and he’s gotten very good at reading you by just the way your ears move

[courtingchaos]

There’s a Devil Inside of Me and You

Kas!Eddie Munson x Vampire!Fem Reader

Pt.2 of At the End of the World

Warnings: Blood drinking, animal death, human death

A/N: Ope, more of this I suppose. I have no idea what I’m doing with this sometimes the urge just strikes, you know? Also just call me the comma queen because god damn there’s too many in this.

18+ NSFW No Minors

He speaks nonsense sometimes when his eyes go black. Deep pools of obsidian that seem to take his sense away.

“Why me?” You ask him when he crawls back into the boathouse you two hide away in.

“That hand that sneaks through the cracks, it found you.” He brings a new thing each time. A deer he found wandering too close to the lakes edge, a cooler of blood left unattended at the gym-turned-first aid center. “It pointed you out in the dark.” His own spindly finger points at you, tip of an elongated nail grazing your cheek. “It showed me where to find you.”

“Then why you?”

Tonight he clutches a den of foxes in his hands, necks broken, Eddie’s sympathy bleeding through into this creature. He shifts those dark eyes to the rotting slats of wood under you, a deep frown forming between his brows.

“He played at being the hero.” The frown turns melancholic before his face hardens into a grimace and he shakes a limp body at you. “He thought he could win.”

“Against what?”

“The vines. The rot. The bats.”

The sound is always around you now, the beating of thick wings. A muffled din during the night and silent when the sun hits its peak and you fall asleep in the shade of a corner of this dilapidated shack. He huddles you into the depths first, makes sure to tuck your legs up before he pulls the blue tarp and heavy boat cover over the two of you so you’re encased in darkness and the smell of lake water.

That first morning he’d been there, all Eddie all brown eyes all sense, and he’d told you what the sun would do to you. He’d darted his hand out into a pillar of dusty light and had started burning. You understood and said nothing while he arranged the corner for two bodies now, remaining silent when he pulled you along with him.

You were hungry like you hadn’t been before, hungry for his wrist and something wet. He knew what you needed but it was too early. A promise for dusk, a whispered ‘thank you’ and his head found a home on your shoulder, dirty hair pressed to your cheek where you watched him drift off. A moment of panic however when he stilled completely and no more breath came from him.

“Eddie?” You shake his shoulder and he doesn’t react. A firmer shake and his head lolls off it’s perch. You can see a sliver of his eyes now and they sit milky white and dead. A deep feeling of dread, something you should have been feeling a few hours ago settles in your stomach next to your hunger. It twists in the endless growling ache and you can feel it pull at your eyelids. This isn’t sleep though, not in the sense you know it. Whatever this feeling is weighs you down abruptly and it creeps through your body, stilling your movements as it makes it’s way up your spine until it hits your head and the darkness takes you.

Today it’s this other being that brings you dinner. Foxes to keep you for a few days, enough to get those brown eyes back in his skull. You find yourself missing Eddie when he’s gone, replaced by this other who can’t tell you the why of it all. You’ve yet to become accustom to feeding in this new way but instinct takes over and stamps down any apprehension. Long teeth pierce cooling flesh and you have to suck deep to draw the blood to the surface. A fresh kill but still dead, something you have to work hard for to stay alive.

He watches you with unblinking black that burns holes in you. Waits for you to finish your meal before he steals back a limp body from the mound in front of you. It’s day and night with him before and after feedings. This other watches you with rapt fascination and suddenly Eddie is there with fidgeting fingers and darting eyes, small grin forming a dimple on his cheek.

“Who is that?” The blood sticks in your throat, a thick coating that makes a click when you swallow around it.

“Who?” Eddie asks, lips smeared in gore.

“When you’re not here.” You gesture at your own eyes. “When your eyes are different.”

He hums and twists one of his rings around his knuckle. “No I’m…I’m here.”

“What is it then? Am I also gonna start speaking in riddles?”

“No.” He almost laughs at that. “No I-I’m special unfortunately.”

“Special?” You finally unfold from the corner and stand eye level with him, warmth creeping from your belly out towards your limbs.

“I got bit by something else.” He rakes a hand through his matted hair and it catches. He pulls until it rips free and he hisses from the pain and there you are, reaching out a hand to help soothe. There’s a draw to his pain deep in your head, an urge to fix. It propels you forward a few steps and you reach your hand towards his flinching face.

“You need to bathe.” Your fingers rub against his scalp and he shoots you a dubious look from the corner of his eye.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re disgusting.” Your gaze drops to his shirt, front stained with blood and dirt, and then down at yourself where the sight isn’t much better. “We both are.”

He pushes at your hand on his head and you stop trying to comfort him. He’s not meeting your eyes again, instead looking past you and out the window that looks into the woods. Overgrown ivy blankets the brush and walkway to the caved in house up the way. “And where do you suggest we clean up?”

There’s no soap and it’s lake water but it’s better than nothing. The wakes sway you gently where you sit waist deep and scrub your shirt under the water in a vain attempt to get the blood out. Eddie had averted his eyes when you’d started stripping out of your clothes, a move that you’d laughed at.

“You bit my neck and fed me your blood, I don’t think this matters.”

“Still.” He mutters before pulling his shirt over his head and kicking off his shoes.

Now though he floats a few feet in front of you in just his underwear, his clothes draped over your knee to soak in the muddy water.

“Next time you go out, find us a bar of soap or something.”

“Next on my list next to ‘nourishment’.”

“I’m tired of smelling like a lake.”

“It’s a been a week, how do you think I feel?”

A week. Already? Seven days of monstrous appetite and a deadly aversion to the sun.

“A week?”

“Yeah. They’ve got your posters up at the gym.” You hear his head turn in the water and his arms splash when he sits up, the water sitting just under his chin when he crouches. “I haven’t seen your parents though.” Not cold or uncaring but pragmatic.

You can’t go home. They won’t find you.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” You stare through the murky water lit dimly by a crescent moon, down to your legs sitting in the silt. “I’m not mad.”

“You should be. I was.”

When Eddie stares it doesn’t burn like the glossy black does. His warm brown is almost a comfort where it flicks over you from head to hands still absentmindedly scrubbing your shirt. In another life from a week ago this could have been a normal thing to do, going for a dip in the lake. Maybe not during October but the cold doesn’t reach you the same now. You can feel it but it doesn’t get into your muscles and lock you up in a shiver.

“It’s not like you took anything of value.”

Eddie stills the back and forth swaying of his hands under the surface. “What?”

“It’s just like…it’s not a big deal. You said you needed help and I can help like this, I guess. It’s whatever.”

Silence between you two, just the splashing of water against the lake shore and the heavy sense of spilled feelings. He creeps close enough that he ends up on all fours just over your legs. “It’s not whatever, I took your life from you.”

“It wasn’t much of a life Eddie.”

“You can’t see your family again. You can’t go home.”

“I know.” You stop scrubbing and clutch your stained work shirt in your fists. His face is crumpled in pained confusion as he tries to get you to understand.

“I can’t fix this.” There’s layers to those words. “There’s no end to this, whatever this is.” He gestures between the two of you. “I-I can’t make you human again.” Panic lays under his tongue and he inches forward. “When this is all over? All the cracks and-and the monsters and him? I don’t know what happens. What’s supposed to happen.”

Eddie stands abruptly, bringing streams of water up with him that pull on his boxers. The thin fabric clings to his hips and you drop your gaze quickly. “I don’t-I didn’t think-fuck!” The echo of his voice bounces off the trees when he yells and buries his face in his hands. His distress worries at your brain again, a tether pulled taught between you and you wonder if he’d feel a reaction to your more volatile emotions. Before you can stop him he makes for the shore and leaves you staring into the glittering water.

Another week goes by and Eddie spends most of it in that other state. He makes sure you’re fed but he doesn’t stick around, just disappears until sunrise when he tucks you both in for the morning.

“Eddie?” You whisper at him under the tarp. He isn’t pressed close today and that bond you’ve felt growing in the amorphous background of your mind feels stretched. It’s a new kind of ache, one that rivals the way your stomach burns between feedings, and you pull yourself over. Shoulder to shoulder, forehead almost pressed to his cheek you ask. “What is it that found me?”

“The black hand.” He doesn’t open his eyes, breathing even and slow.

“What is it?”

“A monster.”

“Is that what destroyed Hawkins?”

“No.” He shakes his head, crown of his curls rolling against the wall. “That was Henry.”

“Henry? A man did this?”

“He’s not a man anymore. He’s vines and a hive mind.” The tarp crinkles against his hair when he shifts his head, rolling it toward you so your forehead does press into his face. “When a portal opens up I can show you where he hides.”

“A portal?”

“It’s…he can explain later.” A dismissal but he doesn’t move away from you. He drops his knees so your bodies touch from ankles to faces and you feel that tug again deep in your guts.

“You need to eat.” You whisper into the collar of his shirt, stiffened by lake water and grime half scrubbed away. “You look terrible.” His cheekbone is too prominent against you and his hands boney when he pulled your wrist to bring you under the makeshift blankets. You just need to help, you want to help. It’s why he found you right? A purpose finally for your small, now inhuman, life.

Your teeth bite through the thin skin of your wrist easily and the smell of blood floods your senses. Eddie’s eyes fly open, the all black dull when he finds your wrist held in front of him. “Eat.”

“It’s not the same.” He swallows thick and doesn’t tear his eyes away even as he tries to brush you off again.

“But it’s something.” Behind your words you feel a ripple in your intention. An urging for him to take. Not anger but intense persuasion. You picture him reaching out for you like you had to him in that alleyway. A clear snapshot and it’s gone, that small reverb in your voice diminished when that tether to your spine has an answering pull.

His palm is cold when he pulls at your wrist to bring it to his dry lips but you don’t flinch. The red pumps sluggishly from the wound against his mouth and you get to watch him take that first tentative lick. Something human in the crease of his brows, a small noise from the back of his throat. His lips wrap around to suck at the wound and you’re matching his whine. The pull of blood makes your eyes flutter, the grip of his fingers on your elbow send a shiver through you that has nothing to do with the cold. Eddie knows when to stop so you don’t worry but the slow turn to sluggishness makes you droop into him.

He breaks with a soft gasp, tongue rough against the thin skin of your wrist. “Thank you.” He runs a thumb over the bite you inflicted and it stings before it starts to close slowly. You can’t make out anything in the dark now but you can picture those brown eyes flicking between your own just like his thumb that soothes over your wrist. Your sleep catches up to you faster than normal and you can feel yourself fading when Eddie shifts you so he can bury his face under your jaw.

“We’ll go out at dusk okay?” His lips brush against your neck. “I’ll show you how to hunt, in case anything happens.” His hand snakes into your limp one while you hang on to the threads of your consciousness. He isn’t warm or cold against you, he isn’t anything really, but the tension in your belly loosens when you feel him relax into you and you can see the faint line of the sunrise along the far edge of the tarp.

Eddie expects to wake to your rising pulse against his lips as you stir back to life next to him. He’d fallen asleep pressed into you to help quell the growing gulf of pain he’d created by finding you. No food and distance from you proved to be a hindrance so it felt safer to hide in the dark behind beetle shell eyes, right until you’d forced him to eat. It felt different from the other commanding voice in his head, this one softer, no invisible hand on his neck to force his head down into blood. You gave him an offering that he could take willingly. One he could have gently.

So when he comes to with his face in the splintering floorboards he’s confused before he jolts up and has to fight his way out of the tangle of tarp. The sun leaves only a strip of gold and pink on the horizon and the trees are nothing but a black silhouette against the sky.

“Fuck.” He snaps his gaze around and up into the sagging roof. He peers into corners and finally out the window to try to find a scrap of you. Vines are trampled into a path and he’s outside before he notices the stench of copper on the breeze. Instinct draws his nose up to find the source and he knows exactly where he’ll find you.

He’s into the brush before the last bit of sunset disappears, hoping that this isn’t anyone he might have known previously. Any one of his friends who could be injured out here in the wild overgrowth about to meet his newest creation. In a deep part of his mind he laughs at the flicker of a thought that Vecna was his last played villain and here he is, accidentally siccing his companion on the unsuspecting.

There’s no sounds of struggle, just hushed words whispered harshly at each other as he makes his way through broken brush.

“There’s a curfew.”

“I know! I fucking know okay?!”

“Just get up and we can make it back to the car okay?”

“Just get up?! Just get up?!”

The voices have no body yet but a strong scent, one bleeding while the other exudes distress. The sour tang of fear sits in the back of Eddie’s throat and mingles with his own. He’d meant to show you how to hunt the animals out here, not the stray humans that still wandered too close to the lake. Past their boundaries set by intruding agents and into the woods to find whatever beasts had broken through the earth and wrecked havoc on their town.

There’s a scuff of metal and wood hitting the ground, a rifle dropped by one man to help the other stand, and a ruffling of leaves that only Eddie can hear. You stand a few feet from him, stock still except for your fingers that seem to dance along invisible strings. A flexing of your fists against your new instinct to lunge.

His appetite isn’t as new as yours, the voraciousness of it suppressed while yours beats against your teeth. He can see how you stand poised to pounce, muscles tense under your dirty shirt. He doesn’t need to call your name for you to realize he’s there, but he’s startled all the same when you look over your shoulder at him, eyes wild and deep. The black of your pupils bleeds through the color, veins of ink that creep across into the bloodshot whites of your eyes and Eddie realizes his mistake with the tilt of your head. You’d held yourself back until he’d made himself known, predator competition for a prize kill.

From his perspective your movements slow when you turn back to lunge at the two men and one of them finally notices you. He jumps when you come into focus and he jolts again when Eddie comes into view just as quick, hot on your heels to stop a slaughter. He grabs the back of your shirt and a snarl rips out of your chest, alerting the humans to your monstrousness. They freeze together, crouched on the ground surrounded by drops of blood. Even with his bearings Eddie finds it hard to focus on you, his own need clawing up his throat when the metal in the air seems to coat his mouth. He breaths heavy, panting as his ignored hunger makes its presence known and his grip on you loosens. These are not his friends, not family or even familiar in a sense.

These men have been staring for too long.

They’ll recognize his face soon, maybe even yours too.

They’ll run into town and ruin his plan, telling everyone the freak was alive and well with the newest missing girl in town.

“Eddie…” You moan and his attention breaks from the cowering men to you and the want laced in your voice. “Eddie, I’m hungry.”

You don’t need his permission, not now anyways, but you wait until he nods softly. Two screams erupt off the surrounding trees and one cuts off short into a wet gurgling when your teeth find purchase at the base of their neck. It’s a slow drag to the forest floor, your mouth anchored to this man’s juglar. His knees hit the hard ground while your fingers dig into his shoulders and you let yourself fall on top of him, his hands weakly beating at your arms. The other man only whimpers now while he tries in vain to drag himself away, gouged calf leaving a bleeding line behind him.

Eddie doesn’t find delight in this hunt. He hasn’t enjoyed any human life he’s taken thus far but he won’t lie to himself. This blood is sweeter, thicker and richer than the surrounding fauna. It fills his belly longer and sharpens his senses to fine points, sharp enough to hear the vines creeping beneath the town.

“I want you to know this isn’t personal.” Eddie says lowly and the man in front of him bables through the tears. “I can’t let you go though, not when there’s so much to finish.” He descends before this human can let out another yell, Eddie’s eyes rolling back in his skull when blood floods his mouth. He remembers that first kill and quietly wishes he’d waited so he could watch your reaction. Hot copper fills him and he works quickly, too scared of getting lost in the sensation of feeding.

You’ve stilled in his periphery, stuck staring down at the unmoving man between your knees. Your shirt is bloodied again and so soon after you’d scrubbed it ‘clean’.

“Hey.” Blood drips from his lips back down onto its previous vessel and he wipes his hand over his mouth messily. “It’s a lot, I know but you’ll see-” He really hasn’t learned as much as he thought. Your head turns to him and his sympathetic words but your eyes hold no color. Black pools stare back at him and you hiss under your breath at his outstretched hand. It’s his turn to jerk away from you but you follow him back, your victim already forgotten in the leaves.

Eddie can’t find his footing before you reach him in your crawling, crowding him down next to his own murder. He isn’t afraid but he has no idea what you’ll do. He’d really thought there wouldn’t be an other you if there was no alternate dimension, not bats or vines present but again he’s proven wrong.

You hover over him and your eyes dance across his mouth where the blood is smeared. The sudden dip of your head makes him flinch and your tongue pointing into a fine v draws his attention. You run the tip of it along the corner of his lip, through the left over blood and over his skin. A deep hum rattles through you and Eddie has to fight his baser instincts. Your tongue roves again along his cupids bow and when his eyelids flutter to close he puts a stop to it. Holds up his arm to push you back slowly but you don’t take kindly to the denial. A snap of your jaws and you’re clamped to his forearm, fangs buried deep in the muscles.

The tussle only lasts a few moments but you get him good, his arm peppered in fanged kisses and the fingers of his other hand bloody. He wedges them in your mouth at the joint of your jaw and pries you open to shake his arm loose.

“Listen to me!” Deep layers bid you to still. He doesn’t like using it with you like your a meal to be lured but his arm aches. You still, breathing heavy, mouth red with his and the strangers blood. There’s a shift in your eyes and before he can blink the black seeps away leaving your bright eyes shining and wet in the waning light.

A sharp gasp when you realize what you’ve done to his arm. He keeps you pushed away but your hands grazing over the punctures make him less tense. Worry furrows your brow and the tether anchoring you two draws closer.

“Oh…Eddie I’m sorry. I didn’t-I couldn’t see you.” Your eyes screw shut while your hands grip around your bites.

“It’s okay.” He tries to placate you, long arms pulling out of your grip to draw you down for a hug. It only feels strange for a moment before he feels you shudder and his grip tightens.

“He’s everywhere.” You sob into his chest, hands wound up in his shirt. “I can hear him winding through my skull. I hear their wings all night, the screams.”

His hands rest on your back while you try to climb into his neck. A low whine escapes from your chest and he shushes you. He won’t think about the consequences of this yet, not when you’re dealing with this intrusion. The two bodies next you can wait, the new questions he has can too. Under his back the vines inch along and the beating of wings on their search for him vibrate the earth.

[evolutionsvoid]

I should start this entry by immediately clarifying what we are talking about here. This is because saying the word "penanggalan" brings up a very different being to most folks' minds. The usual image is of a severed woman's head flying around, dragging her entrails with her. A rather bizarre form for a vampire, but that isn't what I am discussing in this entry. Would be hard for me to talk about it, because magic is heavily involved in the creation of a "human penanggalan." That is what I am going to call it to differentiate it from the subject of this entry. Those born of dark magic and feasting on human blood are the "human penanggalan," while the species I am writing about is just the "penanggalan." Now I know other researchers often refer to this species as the "false penanggalan" or "pseudo penanggalan," which is indeed a decent name, but it always makes me feel a little bad. It is a fascinating species, and then it gets labeled as a fake, a phony? I don't know, feels a bit unfair, and like we are undermining the poor thing. So keep in mind that those names above are ones attributed to this species, but for the rest of the entry I will simply refer to it as the "penanggalan." It deserves it!

So what is a penanggalan? Well, it is when a dark ritual is used to allow one to sever their own head and- NO! That is the human penanggalan, you fool! What the penanggalan species is is a colonial organism, one made of dozens of smaller parts and pieces! Every sac, tendril and bulb on the penanggalan is its own creature, but they grow and clump together to form this mobile colony. There are different castes among the colony, with some used for creating the gases need for floating, others for collecting food and then ones specialized to digest said food! They need one another to make the whole colony function, and when they are together in one form, they work together so seamlessly that most folk assume it is just a singular organism! These colonies live in the forests and jungles of their home region, silently floating through the air. They are a nocturnal species, hunting and traveling during the night, while hiding in the shadows and branches when the sun is out. Despite the constant comparison to the vampire, the penanggalan is not harmed by sunlight, they just prefer the cover of night. However, they have been seen out during the day on rare occasions, if hunger or any other disturbance forces them from their hiding place. It is believed that their dark tangle of tendrils atop their "heads" helps protect them from the harsh rays of the sun when forced to travel by day. These colonies produce a gas that lets them float, and changes in concentration can allow them to rise and fall as needed. Releases of gas and trapped air propels them, and the use of their tendrils can also pull them along or anchor down if the weather is rough.

While the species can seem to drift about aimlessly, they are carnivores and they don't rely on blind luck to score them a meal. The penanggalan has sensory tendrils that help it "taste" the air around it, to locate the signs of prey. It isn't as in depth as like a snake or wolf, rather they use these senses to find places where prey populations are the densest. Areas where food can commonly be found, where their chances at snaring prey is higher. Despite their scary appearance, the penanggalan typically eats smaller animals, usually aerial or arboreal critters. Birds, bats, monkeys and snakes can be on the list, and they don't stand a chance if a colony gets a hold of them. The red fuzzy looking tendrils that dangle from its "body" are actually loaded with venomous stingers, which inject a high powered paralytic in those it touches. These tentacles may seem slow and lazy, but when prey is detected, they lash out with frightening speed. That is their typical deception, as the penanggalan moves so silently and slowly that other animals don't pay them mind or think they are an easy threat to escape. When the colony gets within a certain distance, a rapid blast of air and the quick swipe of its tentacles quickly closes the gap and tangles the prey in stinging tendrils. The venom typically kills smaller prey instantly, as the powerful neurotoxin shuts down their whole body. Even if some are alive and frozen, the tendrils will pull its body upward, where the polyps and smaller tentacles will bathe it in digestive fluids. Prey is swallowed up in its membranes and melted down, the nutrients later shared amongst the individuals. While their acid is powerful, the penanggalan typically spits out bones and harden pellets of tough materials. Given time, its enzymes would break these down, however, the colony doesn't want to sit around and wait for that while these waste products weigh them down.

The unfortunate part to mention is that while the penanggalan often goes after smaller animals, they may try to eat larger prey. Even if they don't succeed in that, coming in contact with one of these colonies is a pretty big danger. In some cases, the penanggalan may target a deer, or even a human, creeping up with its stealthy floating. It will lash out with its paralytic tendrils, but when prey is immobilized, it cannot swallow them. The food is simply too big to gulp down, so the colony essentially latches on and lets its acid slowly eat away at them bit by bit. The tendrils will pull up softened chunks, eating what it can before it will inevitably have to abandon the body. Though they sport a nasty venom, penanggalan can be vulnerable to predators and parasites. Sitting in one spot and eating a corpse over the course of days leaves it wide open, so sooner or later it will let go of the unfinished meal and vanish. Typically, scavengers or other predators get a whiff of the dead flesh and come snooping around for a free meal. Their presence is often enough for the colony to abandon their claim. However, the penanggalan can be a danger even if it doesn't want to eat you. The stingers on its tendrils activate instantly on contact with living flesh, they have no say when they go off. So accidentally blundering into one will get you stung, and getting too much venom in you is a death sentence. Small doses are extremely painful and can freeze your limbs, but if there is help close by, they can administer an antidote and carry you off somewhere safe. If you are alone and get stung, you are kind of done for. The jungle is no place to be left frozen and defenseless. If you get multiple stings, the higher amount of venom will straight up shut down your organs and you will asphyxiate. So this is a species that just screams "DO NOT TOUCH!"

Obviously, with their connections to the vampire and their venom coated tendrils, the penanggalan is a feared species. Folks are always warned about traveling the wilds at dark, as these colonies are out and about. Their deadly reputation has certainly caused them to be hyped up in local legends, often given powers and abilities that the species doesn't have. Some folk say they can lift a grown man and carry him away, but that isn't true. They are not nearly that strong. If they grabbed a human and the person could still move and run, the penanggalan would just be a helpless balloon bouncing and bobbing as it desperately held on to the flailing victim. The species has been rumored to have the power of hypnosis, which is often attributed to the "eye" that can be seen peeking out from the dark tendrils from time to time. This isn't an eye, more of an organ within the floating bell, and they do not hypnotize prey. The stories of prey freezing in their tracks and the penanggalan descending upon their helpless unmoving form is probably due to them getting dosed by the venom. Legends say they go after small children, which may have some weight to it. I guess the better way to say it is that children are more likely to fall victim to the penanggalan, as they are both a smaller prey item they target and children can sometimes be unwary of the dangers before them. I have heard of a tale where a group of youngsters found a drifting penanggalan out during the day, and they decided to have some fun with it. Throwing rocks, poking it with sticks and of course the favorite event of "who can stand closest to the weird creature?" So caught up in their games and impressing their friends, they will be caught by surprise when the colony surges forth with previously unknown speed and smothers one of their buddies in its deadly embrace. This is why educating our children about nature and the wonders and dangers it brings is vital! Let them know how amazing the natural world is, while also knowing it is not something to mess around with!  

Now of course this brings up the ever looming question of which came first: the species or the vampire? Some argue that the monster had to have come first, in order for the name to come around to apply to the species that shared the image. After all, who would see this floating squishy animal that brought to mind a head and organs then just call it "penanggalan" out of nowhere? But then folk have pointed out the bizarre coincidence that would have to go down in order for a flesh monstrosity to be birthed, only to later find that there is this species out there that shares a frighteningly similar look. I, for one, go with the idea that this species came around first, but perhaps there was a different name given to it. Later down the road, some twisted individual came up with the ritual to become a penanggalan, and this new creation had its name granted to the species after. I mainly say that because I cannot imagine this animal would see a human penanggalan and decide to mimic that appearance, doesn't make much sense. But obviously my own idea has its own holes and questions risen, showing that this debate will probably be unending.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Penanggalan"

The perfect fit for the spooky season! Also, I have to say I really like penanggalans, I find them both cool and charming. Might just be my style, but I think every one I draw comes out kind of cute.

[definitelynotshouting]

Are we talking about vampires? Have some vampire thoughts! Mostly vampire bat related.

Given that real life human beings can taste the stress hormones in meat (and find animals that were less stressed to be tastier), and vampires are often portrayed as being able to taste different blood types and stuff, it would make sense for vampires to be able to taste the difference between various hormone balances especially high vs low stress hormones!

Such as, e.g. someone who doesnt want to be fed on vs someone who is enjoying the process. Vampire Grian would probably also be able to tell if Scar had, e.g., forgotten to eat or whatever.

Also blood, while not particularly nutritious, is basically water and proteins so real life vampire bats are jacked (and also utterly dependent, as a species, upon altruism between random unrelated bats since they have such razor-thin energy margins). Though this is Minecraft and the Saturation status effect exists and conservation of energy doesnt so minecraft vampires probably don't have to deal with all the logistical awkwardness of feeding on a low-calorie-density high-protein liquid.

(Vampire bats can only live in humid environments because they're at risk of dehydration because of how rapidly they need to get rid of all the excess water from their blood meals.)

Real-life vampire bats have local anesthetic (painkiller) and anticoagulant (stops blood clotting) saliva. You could probably do something with this. I am picturing him being asked to kiss someone's minor injury better and he licks his lips first so it actually numbs the area a little. Maybe minecraft vampires can control the presence and concentration of anesthetic in their saliva? Have a choice about the amount of numbing, especially if their targets tend to have varying sensitivities to the anesthetic or are prone to being masochists who like being bitten :p

They also have gouge-tool teeth to make bigger wounds that don't heal as well! These wounds are generally on the limbs, face, or uh, sensitive areas. Places with lots of blood vessels near the surface. The neck is generally avoided because it's just awkward to get blood from there.

Anyways vampire Grian mixing in feeding from Scar in with collarbone kisses would make perfect sense and probably be enjoyable for both of them.

I love learning abt Creatures this is so fascinating, i did not know about the dependence thing thats SO COOL...... why are bats just the coolest animals on the planet im obsessed w them

Genuinely wish more mainstream vampirism involved the stuff ur mentioning here bc this actually makes me more interested in it, also the gouge-tool teeth thing makes me offhand think of cookie cutter sharks which would also be so neat to potentially incorporate.... ough i LOVE that, the scarian collarbone kisses + feeding is so choice actually<3

[axl-ul]

Happy WBW! What are the sacred professions in your world? I don't necessarily mean religious-- but of course they can be. Just what are the high ranking, prestigious, and/or powerful jobs?

Hi and thanks for the WBW ask, @toribookworm22^^ Happy WBW to you too!

When it comes to sacred professions there's a few to name, such as seers and becoming one of the officials or “assistants“ for the deities. However, there's one prefossions I'd like to point out. Mainly because I became pretty obssessed with the lore behind it, hehe, and I can't shut up about it.

They're called Embalmers and they're (very roughly said) a combination of mortuary assistants, pathologists, exorcists, embalmers and witch doctors trained also for a combat. I've talked about them a bit as @kainablue asked about them (the post also talks about the vampires a bit). I still plan on making an episode of Lore Corner, I'm just not sure when this episode shall be released.

To say more about them in THIS post, however, Embalmers are 99% of the time bat demons (a.k.a. vampires since they are vulnerable to the sunlight and other typical vampire stuff except they're not dead; vampires here are fully living creatures as they're literally animal demons who managed to cultivate themselves, learnt magic and received a certain level of comprehension of their surroundings; they have a soul and they're part of one of the Three Great Fractions - the Demon Fraction).

Embalmers are responsible for carrying out an examination of the deceased (both spiritual/religious and medical), a proper burial for the body and if needed, they ward off spirits, other demons or maybe something else that may still reside within the body. The thing is that embalmers are one of the few who are also highly trained and skilled for hunting down the Soulless, creatures that don't have souls yet still somehow function as they tend to mimic the living ones (gods, humans, demons) to get into their planes from the Blackworld.

Bat demons don't have the best reputation among other demon clans as they usually seperate themselves to live in their own colonies in caves, underground labyrinths and mountains, interacting mostly with only other bat colonies. Additionally, vampires are pretty stoic and don't show emotions easily. To count in their fascination with life and death, not only humans but other demons as well don't feel much comfortable in their presence. That's why the Embalmers are highly valued as notorious professionals with a strong discipline but cold manner. At the same time, they're also rather feared and expected to depart as soon as the case is over.

[thenecropolix]

I see I've garnered some interest on my last post regarding vampires and speculative biology, therefore I'm happy to share my thoughts and the conclusion I've reached in terms of vampire anatomy

So to preface this, I actually am not a huge fan of vampires in terms of how modern media has portrayed them; compared to more fascinating yet gruesome concept of lycanthropy and its metaphorical parallels to humanity, identity, and horrific transformation, Vampires just... lacked that appeal to me with the simplicity of an otherwise abnormal human with pointy ears and having a thirst for blood.

When you look at it from the biological lens in regards to actual vampire bats, it's fascimating but incredibly ridiculous to think that a creature could subsist entirely on blood; it's an extreme specialization that only works in oh so many critters due to how unsustainable it to just live off of a liquid diet.

There's also the matter of just the overall appearance; as fun as it is drawing winged humanoids that still retain human limbs, a quick descent into anatomy made me realize how heavily modified the skeleton had to be to accommodate for a naturally mult-limbed vertebrate because at the end of the day, bat wings (and bird wings as another reference) are modified arms and hands that, with the addition of normal arms/hands, would be an anatomical nightmare.

In trying to come up with a plausible explanation as to how a living vampire would anatomically work, I came to 2 separate conclusions: the vampire would either have a modified keel (an expanded sternum in birds) that would allow for the place of grasping limbs positioned lower along the body in addition to a pair of wings (thus making them 4 limbed), OR (the more plausible idea in my mind) they would be more anatomically similar to a pterosaur in which only 1 finger is modified to act as the wing, allowing the other 4 fingers to be free at the cost of reduced strength (but which is then made up for in the back limbs, which would be anatomically similar to that of a primate with the bonus of human hand flexibility).

There's also the matter of sociability and behavior in vampires that I think is rather ironic; often, older media portrays them as brooding figures that live solitary lives and compete with another, but funnily enough vampire bats are highly social (well the females are at least) and have been documented sharing food and participating in allogrooming; ergo, I like to think they'd be more sociable, perhaps even on par with the modern wolf in terms of social dynamics (albeit modified).

Lastly, the food issue came to my attention and it occurred to me that perhaps rather than being obligatory sanguivores, vampires are instead facultative sanguivores and live more akin to scavengers or carrion eaters like vultures; that is, they stalk prey that's injured or on the verge of death. The prey in question I imagine would consist of medium to large ungulates like wild boar, deer, and elk as opposed to humans (I think "attacks" would be misinterpreted much like those of other apex predators e.g. perhaps the vampire was feasting on a human that was already dead or was extremely desperate for food); regarding their hunting hours, naturally they are nocturnal, but I think moreso cause they're sensitive to sunlight in the way any nocturnal critter is: the eyes are better suited for the night (light won't kill them, it's just not easy on the vision nor, perhaps, sensitive skin).

For a more modern interpretation regarding the whole thing with blood, I had the thought that as opposed to vampire bats who go for fresh blood, I thought that perhaps they could consume coagulated blood as it's a common ingredient in blood sausage and soups in other countries (contrary to American media). This actually then made me realize it seems no one's thought of the word building concept of vampire farmers who raise their own livestock for personal consumption (imagine if you will, a vampire farmer hiring human farmhands with livestock maintenance cause you can only do so much with hands on your legs and only 4 working fingers attached to a wing). Alternatively there are those with hunting licenses permitted to stalk the environment for prey around certain times of the year).

I think... I think I've gotten most of what I had in mind out of my head (although knowing me, I most likely forgot to note a thing or 2), jumbled as it is; if anyone is further interested in the anatomical concepts, I'd be happy to post them on my other blog where I mostly post conceptual work

[damientheionandroid]

Damien's 20 Favorite Pokémon

18. Gliscor

One of my favorite things about the Pokémon games is when an underwhelming or even terrible Pokémon gets a stronger, cooler evolution after the generation that they debuted in. In what is unanimously the generation with the weakest roster of Pokémon (Gen 2), two Pokémon get a much deserving evolution that requires evolving while holding a specific item during nighttime. And while it's really pressing to talk about Weavile; let's be honest, who doesn't think a scorpion/vampire bat hybrid is cool?

Gliscor is one of those Pokémon that I have some personal history with as it was on my Platinum team.

Something about this creature just fascinated me. Vampires are my favorite classic movie monster, bloodsucking beasts that prey on the innocent; something Gliscor is known for in the Pokémon universe.

Its design just screams "DANGER"; the reds on parts of its body akin to blood; the pincers at the tip of its tail; and of course: its BIG! MEATY!! CLAWS!!!

But that's not what Gliscor is known for, and to elaborate on that, we need to go to Generation 5 to discuss Hidden Abilities. Usually, Pokémon have a maximum of 2 Abilities but in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Pokémon may obtain a special Ability in the Dream World. And while Gliscor's default Abilities of Hyper Cutter (Attack Drop Immunity) and Sand Veil (Increased Evasion During Sandstorm) is situationional, its Hidden Ability immediately skyrocketed it to OU viability: Poison Heal!

Instead of taking 1/8th of its health when poisoned, Gliscor will gain 1/8th of its health instead! This will turn what is likely an annoyance into an advantage, and is also why Gliscor always holds the Toxic Orb instead of the Leftovers; not only because of the increase in health recovery, but because Gliscor is technically immune to all status ailments since it's already suffering from one.

Looking at Gliscor's stats let's you know that this is a very tanky Pokémon: 125 base Defense is one thing, but 75 base HP and Special Defense allows it to survive a few neutral hits if invested. Gliscor isn't just a wall; base 95 on both Attack and Speed allows it to be a fast wallbreaker with STAB Earthquake assuming those stats were invested to begin with. And don't even get me started on its typing. Ground/Flying may have an exploitable double weakness to Ice, it makes up for with an Electric immunity as well as hitting common types such as Steel and Fire for super effective damage.

Earthquake isn't the only move Gliscor has on its toolkit; its Flying STAB in Dual Wingbeat breaks Focus Sash user; Façade makes for a great combo with Poison Heal; Fire Fang for coverage, U-Turn for pivoting, amazing utility options in the form of Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and (as of Gen 9) Toxic Spikes; Swords Dance as a boosting move; and that's not even the full list!

Whenever an evolution is given to a forgettable Pokémon, there is a chance for that Pokémon to become cooler and stronger (most of the time). For me, Gliscor is one of many; turning a Pokémon that I would never consider adding to one that I will go out of my way to catch. Because if there is one thing clear here, is that being a top tier pick since your debut generation, getting a meta-defining Ability that completely changes the way you play, and avoid falling off despite recently losing two of your best utility options (Defog for hazard clearing and Roost for recovery) is no easy feat.

And I respect that.

[xxstarl1ghtxx]

ok so i may make a sideblog dedicated to posting about bats bc i just think they are neat. my interest in bats was an accident. i was researching for a story i was writing about vampires and accidentally kept getting distracted because bats are just genuinely fascinating creatures. like seriously!!

but i also dont want this blog to become too much batposting lol

[dryadologist]

Wendell can sympathize with the romanticism aspect. Modern writers have been none too helpful with their portrayal of fae and the certain benefits that may or may not come along with courting them. The result is humans seeking out creatures who would more likely kidnap them and torment them for their own entertainment than fall in love with them. Even the dryadologists oftentimes get overzealous and find themselves lost in Faerie indefinitely. It's dangerous work.

"I'd never wish certain death on my worst performing student. He's only that way because he's unused to the freedom that comes with living away at university and away from home for the first time in his life. If he wishes to use my class to nap off a hangover, then that's his choice. At least he's having fun." Dr. Bambleby's colleagues would surely disagree with this approach, but he's not about to get in a tizzy because the young man in the back row is snoring.

That would depend entirely on the type of Folk being encountered, of course. "Faeries are very much elemental in nature, so I do often encounter manipulation of weather. Illusion and enchantment are also fairly common powers, though I cannot say I've ever seen a faerie turn into a bat. I've seen faeries that look like bats. Resembling animals is not uncommon for the little ones." He could have gone on and on about the abilities of the Folk, but there were far more interesting matters to discuss.

As soon as Armand reveals his fangs, Wendell finds himself at the edge of his seat. "Fascinating," he muses, a glimmer appearing in his dark green eyes as he studies those elongated canines with intense interest. "They do certainly look sharp," he concedes, sliding back into his seat and throwing an arm over the headrest, seeming just as relaxed as before. "Where do they go when you want to appear mortal? Do they disappear into your gums or do they physically shift?"

"Back to abilities, though - Am I to assume you're capable of more than just setting rubbish on fire?" He's full of questions now, the academic that he is at heart. "I'm expecting your 'I told you so' moment at any time, Armand. You'd better relish in your victory quickly, lest I go back to pretending vampires don't exist."

typically, telling a human that he was a vampire came with a promise of death. not all humans could handle the knowledge — either too drawn in by the idea of immortality or too weak to come to terms with the truth of what monsters lurked in the dark and the death that they brought with them. vampires always looked far more romantic when you didn't think about the mass graves they could fill. but wendell already had otherworldly knowledge. and the fact that he didn't seem to buy into the idea of vampires made it all the more amusing to talk to him.

he dips his head, a smile playing over his lips as he thinks about becoming the phantom that stalked him, that lounged in the back of his classroom.

❝ what about your worst performing student? ❞ he asks, the mischief lighting his eyes, though, he has no intention of killing his students. at least, not because they were his students.

❝ are these powers you typically encounter? ❞ time wouldn't change the possibilities for him. though, the way he says it is curious enough that armand's brow raises as he briefly considers it and then moves onto the next point. ❝ i suppose it would be a little messy, ❞ he muses, regarding the garbage bin. he pauses, ❝ you tell me, are they impressively sharp? ❞ he asks, smile broadening, fangs extracting visibly in front of him, then as the smile fades, he allows his teeth to return to their blunt shape.

❝ verdict? ❞

[pre1ude]

@comicbookcreature , sent 👫 for four headcanons about our muses' relationship.

i'm gonna do this for LBM/main verse. they're just.. on my mind <33 and at this point i'll be putting a read more on these hc posts... They get long.

1.

To start off with, combine the fact that we haven't figured out a solid meeting point for these two with my general penchant for dramatics. Consider: they try to off each other first thing. Danny's out and about around the unfortunate time Mr Big Bad Bat prowls around for a snack, and push happens to come to shove. There's something about our leather-bound posturing biker that sets Daniel's tongue on edge and his snub stings a bit too much for Michael to turn a deaf ear. One thing, then another, then the human sonar and vampire at at each other's throats. For no good reason other than 1. I just think it fits this dynamic of theirs wonderfully. 2. Daniel can canonically use his sonomancy to defibrillate someone to death, but with sound vibrations rather than electric pulses, and I'd love to see his face when that backfires because Michael does not have a working heart for him to squish. It's just.. thematic and also my favourite type of neat, tropey interaction that very quickly clues them in that they've both simultaneously fucked with the wrong guy. And no, it may not kill Mikey, but a sonic gut punch probably hurts a lot, even if you're already dead.

2.

Suffice to say it's ardent dislike at first sight. But this whole verse is the story of how Dan meets a vampire in possibly the only verse we have where he's unaware they exist. So colour him fascinated. And horribly affronted at the idea of almost becoming something as plebeian as 'a snack' to the creature. He keeps his click-clacky metal lighter handy and an eye on Michael at all times, but he ventures to explore the mysteries of the supernatural regardless, precautions at the ready. Turns out not all vampires are from the 1800s and Mikey's less of a Bela Lugosi and more of a Marlon Brando (be still his beating heart). Maybe Dan likes the motorbike. He'll never admit it and he only gets on once out of sheer necessity. Those things are dangerous and he is neither immortal nor stupid. And don't call him 'babe' unless you're cruising for a disembodied smack over the head.

3.

It takes a whole long while for them to warm up beyond snipping at each other's heels with varying levels of severity (and vitriol in Danny's case, no he doesn't catch on to Michael's flirting at all, good luck buddy). Dan can never let a jab go and oddly enough I think that helps a whole lot to push first them forward and toward communication. He asks questions, he holds Michael accountable, he doesn't turn a blind eye and most importantly he isn't afraid. He can unflinchingly match Mikey's snarling and hold his own and you bet he doesn't let the vampire walk out of a fight; sure, there's probably a certain comfort and luxury in negligent hedonism, and Daniel imagines it would be blissfully preferable to facing his own problems, but he doesn't indulge in it and refuses to let Michael do it either. Not in his presence. The city they live in is in shambles at the time and, damn it, Danny isn't sitting idle about it, so neither is Michael. It's a mostly thankless venture, but at least no progress goes unrewarded between them. Daniel's default is sweet and gentle, which is what he is when Mikey allows him to be. I can imagine quiet talks by a crackling bonfire on a calm night, indoor voices outside. A standstill in all the havoc. If trusting each other in a pinch or coming to one another's aid builds the bridge between them, then I like to think little moments of conversation between the humans behind the sonar and the vampire would be the very founding pillars. They are opposites, but they do have points of similarity at their fundamental core and that's the very human need to belong. Michael thinks that's best achieved with rampant chaos and Danny - with frigid order, together they achieve a good, solid balance. (Because yes, Danny does in fact learn to have a little bit of fun. He will begrudge Mikey the fact. One day.)

4.

In the end, Daniel likes the relationship they have. Self-indulgently, he likes having the affections of a man who doesn't give them easily, to just about anyone. He likes a puzzle and a mystery and he likes reading between the tough, growly lines. Sometimes he overindulges in it, maybe even shows off.. Listen. He likes having a frowny bulk of indomitable muscle, curls and fangs in his lap and knowing which gears to press to make it release its pressure, it feels a whole lot like he's done well by his partner. Michael wouldn't have it easy either; just like Dan consciously picked him, tough shell and all, he'd have saddled himself up with the prim proper priss who's impossible to please, with an equally as molten middle to reward his efforts. It would be a bumpy road for them both. They'll have been through a lot by then: breaks and wounds and awful revelations and brushes with death, aging and not aging, and still a sizeable chunk of caution towards anyone who isn't them, but what's love if not tough work and building it all together, brick by brick of trust? They're still harsh-lined, mean-mugged and haughty-eyed apart but so very soft together. I love them very much.

+ 1

So. Listen. Daniel can feel sound waves like a physical sensation, with its own texture and hardness and even temperature, and that very much applies to certain distinct or familiar voices. It's an odd little detail he very rarely and giddily shares, only with those curious and not in danger of offense (sometimes people sound like broken glass, he can't tell them that). The point is, Dan adores Michael's voice. It's full, textured and warm, like inverted leather or thick oldschool denim, heated by recent wear. Listening to him speak is like shoving your hand in the denim pocket of someone else's jacket, or placing it over a jean-clad thigh. Cosy, sturdy, a little bit frayed at the edges. Dan keeps an ever-growing collection of songs and music that has the exact same texture; they remind him of Michael in more than one way and he listens to them whenever he misses him. He confesses as much one darling, tipsy night far, far into their relationship and makes him dance to the slower songs of that particular playlist.

(There's a half-finished violin arrangement that captures the essence of Michael's voice shoved in a drawer somewhere and named something ridiculous and embarassing like Hymne Angelique. The only way it's ever seeing the light of day is if Michael happens to find it by accident. (Or if First Love does, since that applies to our dream verse more than this one).)

[aceredshirt13]

everybody out here with their vampire Barok AUs. listen. I like vampires as much as the rest of y���all. but having the huge spooky guy with the pale skin and goth clothes and bat friends and endless supply of red wine be a vampire is just too on the nose. too obvious. too passé.

my pitch: vampire AU where Barok is just a regular human guy who is Like That.

Albert is the vampire.

(more excessive details under the cut)

Albert wasn’t a vampire yet when they met in college. In fact, their whole college experience and Barok’s entire traumatic post-college experience is identical to canon. But Albert got bitten while in Germany, and when he comes back to London and sees Barok’s new look he’s like “wow! I guess my old friend has ALSO become a vampire! what a spectacular coincidence!” Unaware that these are just Barok’s vibes now that his brother is dead and he’s lost faith in humanity.

No one’s figured it out because Albert has never had many friends, and his class load as a professor was never high in the first place, so what would be strange about him only teaching night classes all of a sudden? Or only venturing out of his research lab after dark? The man is so exuberant and so thoroughly unintimidating that no one would ever suspect him of such a thing. In fact, Albert looks exactly the same as he does in the game, but if you look closely, you’ll see he’s got little fangs when he smiles. The only thing that clues in Barok is when he’s taking Albert to Dover after the trial - that he seems extraordinarily wary of sunlight, and that he always seems hungry no matter how much food Barok buys for the pair of them, and that when Albert hugs him goodbye, he’s terribly cold to the touch.

So how is Albert taking this transformation? Well, truthfully, he’s fascinated, and adds his own nature to his long list of scientific subjects to study; but he despises having to hurt people to feed himself, and keeps trying to invent viable blood substitutes that always end up being rather poor in the departments of both nutrition and taste - just enough to keep him alive. (Theoretically, he could buy blood from the butcher shop, but much like trying to give a newborn baby the milk of another animal, animal blood isn’t great for vampires - and buying large quantities of animal blood is both a strain on the wallet and tends to draw the suspicion of the butcher.). It’s really just a more dramatic version of how he behaves in canon - how much he puts his work and his studies above his own health and well-being.

Of course, once Albert realizes Barok is just a regular human, he doesn’t want to tell him because of the (admittedly rather warranted) stigma against his kind, especially with Barok being from a powerful family that undoubtedly has ties with the Church of England - and Christianity does not exactly have a great relationship with creatures seen as demonic. But of course, Barok ends up discovering the truth anyway - and though it is obviously rather a shock, the man’s fondness for his old friend is far more important to him than the fact that he now survives upon drinking the blood of the living. Afterwards, whenever they go out, Barok holds his cape over Albert when the sun is bright enough to risk burning him - and though Albert has been a vampire for long enough to avoid garlic in his meals (vampires can eat human food, but it’s all of the enjoyment with none of the nutritional value, so they can’t survive on it), Barok always insists on double-checking for him, just to make sure. (And by virtue of Barok looking and dressing the way he does, when they’re together, any suspicion of Albert’s vampirism is very quickly deflected onto Barok. Quite literally everyone thinks Barok is the vampire. They just think Albert only comes out at night because he’s weird.)

As for, er, my less than platonic leanings toward the relationship between these two… well. If Albert’s trying to survive solely on a combination of animal blood and these bad blood substitutes to avoid hurting people, then I imagine he’s not always doing very well - he might have trouble functioning, or sleeping, or feeling faint/having low energy even when he’s excited about something. Barok, worrywart that he is, is incredibly concerned about him, but also knows he can hardly force Albert to start accosting people on the street for their blood just for his own health. So, Barok offers an alternative; he slowly lowers the collar of his shirt, revealing his neck.

Albert protests at first, naturally being even less willing to hurt his dearest friend than a stranger, but Barok insists it’s all right - and a combination of his friend’s visible concern and his own stomach growling manages to convince him at least to try. Frantically, he assures him that it’ll only hurt for a moment - after all, he says, when applied carefully, vampire venom has a numbing agent more advanced than that of mosquitoes or fleas, with none of the itchy after-effects! - before biting him, very, very gently.

It does hurt, for a moment, but that fades fast, and soon it’s replaced by a rather pleasant feeling - for Albert, that of being able to enjoy something he’d always thought monstrous; for Barok, the intimate physical contact he’d forgotten and missed. After Albert is done, having made sure not to take too much, they end up in each other’s arms, just… lying there, for quite a while, and then spend the next week and a half trying to convince themselves that was a very normal and heterosexual thing to do between a vampire and his human bestie. (And then, of course, they do it all over again.)

For the record, Albert figures out his feelings for Barok first, but tries to push them down - until another vampire he meets points out that, well, he’s already a vampire. A creature viewed as demonic. So what if he loves another man? At best, it doesn’t matter anyway, and at worst, what’ll he be, more damned?