#Astermite

[bookdragonquotes]

[grelleswife]

Too sleepy at the moment to remember if Mochizuki brought this up in previous chapters, but I find it telling that the Church in VnC’s universe—for all its pious rhetoric about the evils of vampirism—has no qualms about trading with them in exchange for high-quality astermite. 🫢 Oh, the hypocrisy.

This page also emphasizes how deeply-rooted the vampires’ fear of the blue moon is. In their eyes, even the innocuous blue light emanating from astermite is tainted with associations to ill fortune, to the point that they’ll foist a potentially valuable resource off on humans who would kill them if sufficiently provoked.

[mirick-vn]

Fleeting Innocence.

[just-some-random-blogger]

i feel like this art was made for me. i am the target audience. thank you

A very angry frog 🐸

[lynnlyrae]

VnC timeline

I’m mostly an artist in this fandom, but sometimes inspiration strikes and leads me in completely weird directions, such as… figuring out dates of every event in VnC!

With the invaluable help of @retracexcviii, who has created timelines for VnC events before (thank you forever and ever💜) and helped me to avoid some really silly mistakes, I’ve done… this monstrosity of a text, which includes every important canon event I could think of.

— All events are distributed by centuries, starting with XVI and finishing with XIX, and after listing all the events of each century I will put screens of the same texts with correlating manga pages. Additionally, there are numbers of chapters for most of the events.

— Some dates are marked with ~, which means that this date could fluctuate a bit (could be a bit earlier or later). 

— Events that I couldn’t put anywhere specifically are in “UNKNOWN MOMENT” category. I still tried to differentiate them between centuries.

Alright, here we go! 

XVI CENTURY

1493-1500 — creation of an engraving; plague, cataclysms, Paracelsius is looking for a way to save humanity.

(7)

~ 1500 — Babel. The awakening of Faustina, who is considered to be the first vampire.

(19)

1500-1550 — the awakening of Teacher and Machina as vampires. Machina might be younger than Teacher. Creation (awakening?) of Luna? The awakening of Teacher and the creation of Luna — probably around the same time?

(19)

~ 1550-1560 — Chloe is born. She becomes a vampire at the age of 4.

(31)

Between 1550-1600 — Ruthven becomes a vampire. He is currently more that 200 years old, and it’s unknown whether he was born as a vampire or awaken or even when exactly his life began. But looks like an adult in 1650, so he was most likely alive in 1600. He is also younger than Chloe: when she calls him a “child”, he doesn’t correct her.

(31)

Presumable order of awakening of the oldest vampires: 

Faustina —> Teacher —> Machina —> Chloe —> Ruthven. 

When exactly was Luna born? Does Kresnik exist in this century?

XVII CENTURY

~ 1650 — the war between humans and vampires. Chloe meets Ruthven.

(31)

~ 1665-1669 — Jeanne awakens in a flask in front of an unknown person. She leaves the flask. Later, she is adopted by Eric and Louise, Ruthven's students.

(39)

~ 1669 — Chloe meets Jeanne. Ruthven tries to establish peace between humans and vampires.

(31, 32)

~ 1672 — (3 years after Chloe and Jeanne met, 30 years before the end of the war) Ruthven loses his students, his eye is injured; Jeanne becomes the Bourreau of the Senate; Chloe meets Machina; Machina tells about the fate of Ruthven and Jeanne. Almost immediately, Naenia appears for the first time (indicating that Faustina is already a cursebearer); Ruthven visits Chloe for the last time, they part as enemies. If Naenia exists, does Charlatan exist as well?

(32, 33)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1672 — Faustina becomes a cursebearer.

(33)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1672 — Luna creates the Books of Vanitas, which are considered to be the reason for the appearance of the Malnomen. Could the books be created to cure the cursebearers in the first place? Most likely, this happened early in the timeline, since there is a whole folklore about it. Even earlier, someone gave Luna the name " Vanitas", which is also reflected in the title of the books.

(48, 49)

XVIII CENTURY

Before 1702 — Ruthven joins the Oriflamme family, becomes one of the Queen's advisors and a senator. The Queen is still alive, but she is also active as Naenia. Luna sees Jeanne in battle.

(33)

1702 — the end of the war. According to the pact, vampires move to Altus and sell Astermite to humans in exchange for other goods.

(33, 59)

1764 — Chloe spends more than 50 years alone. Death of village girl Jeanne, who speculated to be killed by a Beast, but was a victim of radical anti-vampire group. On the same day, she is visited by Naenia and then meets Jean-Jacques. The Beast conspiracy continues.

(36, 33)

1767 — Chloe witnesses one of the murders and reveals her vampiric powers when she defends herself. After that, the general belief is that Chloe is the master of the mysterious nonexistent Beast and both are the culprits. Her human family is killed. A few days later the Chasseurs (Vampire eradication fraction?) and Ruthven come to Gévaudan. Jean-Jacques becomes a Cursebearer to protect Chloe. Jeanne, now the Hellfire Witch, finds Chloe. Chloe tries to jump off a cliff, but Naenia comes to her again. Chloe also becomes the Cursebearer. Jeanne kills other hunters, but Ruthven saves her, makes her give him an oath (she tries to resist) and puts her in deep sleep. The Beast stops attacks. Conspiracy between Ruthven and the Chasseurs presumably continues.

(35, 36, 37, 43, 39)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BETWEEN 1672-1702 — Luna witnesses Jeanne in a fight with vampires. Later, after 1767, Luna also knew about Jeanne’s sleep.

(4)

XIX CENTURY

1861 — Olivier is born. 

1862 — Roland is born.

1868 — Dominique and Louis are born. Teacher takes Louis.

(46)

1869 — Noé is born.

1870 — Vanitas is born; Dante is born.

1873 — Astolfo is born.

~ 1875 — Olivier meets Roland.

(58)

~ 1874-1875 — an elderly couple finds Noé. They live together for some time.

(9)

~ 1876 — Mikhail is born. Luca is probably born around the same time or a bit later.

~ 1876-1877 — Noé is kidnapped and ends up in a black market, gets an eye injury and is bought by Teacher. Noé meets Domi and Louis (their proportions are quite similar to Astolfo in his childhood flashbacks, where he is presumed to be around 8 years old, but Noé looks younger, so here I’m assuming Noé and the twins could be 6-7 or 7-8 years old). // Probably around the same time, Dante is abandoned by unknown woman. He meets Johann and Riche. Absence of his glasses and bandages indicate that there could be at least a few weeks or months between the two events. 

(9, 61, 62)

~ before 1881 — Vanitas is orphaned and placed under the care of the Church as a potential future Chasseur, but is kidnapped by Moreau for secret experiments.

(49)

1881 — sketch of the Tower of the Sun by Amédée Sébillot, electrical engineer. He worked with engineer Jules Bourdais on this project, but in fact the tower was unrealizable. If the monument designed by Sébillot was real, it would have collapsed under its own weight.

Before or early 1881 — Roland and Olivier move to Paris. Roland is injured, but it’s unknown how it happened. Olivier’s hairstyle may indicate that it happened earlier than the time when Roland almost died. 

(46.5)

~ 1881 — Roland (vice-captain) is injured while defending Olivier. Olivier was injured too. // Misha (who looks about 5 years old??) meets Roland, but later ends up in Moreau's laboratory, where Vanitas is already located.

(47)

~ 1881-1882 — Astolfo secretly meets a vampire. When Astolfo befriends Olivier, he tells him about this secret. The death of the Granatum family. Astolfo meets Carl, Roland (his injuries, which were still visible when he met Misha, have already healed) and other Paladins. Olivier definitely had a title of Obsidian by the time of Granatums’ murder, so some time passes between the day Astolfo met a vampire and the day of Granatums’ murder. 

(48, 58) 

~ 1882-1883 1881-1882* — Louis dies. Domi learns the truth about her and Louis being twins. // Luna saves Misha and Vanitas when they destroy Moreau's lab*. Moreau joins the Charlatan. Misha agrees to be bitten by Luna. Later, Luna loses their true name; Misha loses their arm; Luna dies by Vanitas’s hands. Vanitas and Misha inherit the Books, but are separated, and Teacher takes Misha.

*@torterrachampion mentioned in reblog that Noé is officially 12 years old when Louis’s died ang provided an image from a booklet for the Blu-ray of the anime. I completely missed that fact, so thank you for bringing it up! I’ve decided to change the time range for this event to 1881-1882 for better accuracy.

*It is likely that Noé witnessed Louis’s death around the same time Vanitas and Misha were saved by Luna; bonus card features Noé in the same outfit as on the day of Louis’s death together with Vanitas dressed in his lab clothes. 1881 or 1882 is a possible year for Louis’s death and salvation of Vanitas and Misha. In this scenario Luna dies later than Louis.

(9, 46, 51, * bonus card)

1887 — possible start of construction of the Tower of the Sun (in reality, the construction of the Eiffel Tower started on 28 January 1887).

~ 1887-1888 — Astolfo and Roland have a conflict.

(59)

UNKNOWN MOMENT (after 1702?) BEFORE 1888 — Veronica and Loki, along with Machina, become Beastias, and Antoine enters the Senate. How old are Veronica, Antione and Loki?

UNKNOWN MOMENT (not earlier than 12 years?*) BEFORE 1888 — “death” of Faustina at the hands of her Beasts and Rusven. Luka replaces her on the throne, but the Senate controls him. Strangely, he isn’t even officially presented yet. It’s unknown how old he was when he assumed his current position, but it’s unlikely that the Senate and Beastias would “kill” the Queen without choosing a suitable successor first.

*Alternatively, it could happen earlier, if Loki, Luca’s older brother, was supposed to inherit the throne prior to becoming a cursebearer as well, but was replaced with Luca. But this is a pure speculation.

(38, 13)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1874 — Archivists disappear. It’s unknown whether there are any living Archivists other than Machina and Noé in the present. It’s also unknown why Noe thinks about blood when he thinks about his clan.

(57)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BETWEEN 1871-1888 — Vanitas meets Teacher, or Saint—Germain, who at that time had a different appearance. Were Luna alive at that moment?

(55)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1888 — Machina becomes patron of the dhampires and creates her network of information brokers.

(62)

~ 1888 (before current events) — Astolfo and Roland become Paladins. // 6 month before — Teacher goes somewhere. // 1 month before — Jeanne awakens from her sleep.

(13, 4)

1888 — Teacher asks Noé to witness the story of the Book of Vanitas via correspondence. Current events begin.

(1, 52)

Possible future event — The Exposition Universelle of 1889, which was held in Paris, 5 May to 31 October. The Tower of Sun (instead of Eiffel Tower in VnC universe) was created for this fair. However, at least some of the buildings were ruined.

(44, 20.5, 46, 55)

That’s it for now! I think I will update this post in future when we have enough new information to define unclear dates and add new details and whatnot~

[neversetyoufree]

Oh man it just hit me. Mikhail chose the amusement park as the setting for Noé and Vanitas's duel to make it easier for Vanitas to kill Noé.

I'm sure Misha really would like to find out why Vanitas killed Luna, but Noé realizes after the fight that the whole thing was largely just a ploy to make Vanitas kill him, and I'm inclined to think he's right. Noé is an obstacle in the way of Misha's fantasy of reuniting his found family, which means Misha needs him dead ASAP.

I also think Misha may be drawn to the idea of Vanitas killing Noé rather than doing it himself or outsourcing the job because it serves as some sort of twisted vengeance for Vanitas killing Luna (and possibly harming Misha himself). Vanitas killed Luna, who he was supposed to love, so surely he can just kill his new annoying replacement loved one as well, right? Surely Misha can make him dispose of Noé the way he once disposed of Mikhail's father, no?

The whole vanoé fight is orchestrated by Misha to ensure that Noé ends up dead by Vanitas's hand, and the amusement park is the perfect setting to serve that goal, because it's absolutely fucking filled with astermite.

Almost immediately after the fight starts, Vanitas gets far the hell away from Noé and goes after him with automaton after automaton. The whole amusement park is filled with massive astermite-powered robots that Vanitas can use to attack Noé without getting anywhere near him, and he takes advantage of that fact with speed and skill. And Misha knew he would do that! Mikhail has his own Book of Vanitas, and he knows exactly what Vanitas's powers are. He chooses the amusement park as a location for the fight in order to give his brother that advantage.

The more astermite a location has, the more effective Vanitas can be, and I'm willing to bet that almost nowhere in Paris could have offered him more astermite than the amusement park that Misha decided Noé Archiviste would die in.

[sunshine-burnt]

I'm Not Glass, My Dear

Summary:

"Je ne suis pas verre, mon cher."

Or in which Vanitas does not want to be treated like glass. Or or in which Noé ensures his partner that he does not pity him.

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

Vanitas was sharp like the metal of his knives.

He was strong like tungsten and brilliant like silver glinting beneath the sunlight. Moreover, the man was powerful, as powerful as the astermite that ran so much of both the vampiric and human world.

Vanitas was not delicate.

He was not fragile, like porcelain. Did not shatter the way that a ceramic plate did upon hitting the floor. Most certainly was never vulnerable to the elements like copper that oxidized due to exposure to air.

And logically, Noé knew this. Knew that his partner could withstand harsh treatment, knew that he could survive cruel words and even crueler blows. Knew that, despite being a human, Vanitas was strong. Like tempered steel.

It was hard to remember that, though, when the blue eyed man dropped like a stone to the ground. When the swing of the cursebearer's fist made a solid crunch! upon contact with the man's face. When it was his human who lay defenseless at the ill vampire's feet.

Noé saw red. It was with frightening speed that he appeared before his partner's body, raining strikes on the attacker. He snarled, pushing the vampire far enough back that Vanitas would have room to recover. In the back of his mind, he registered quiet groans, a sure sign that the doctor was still kicking. And thank the gods for that.

"Noé!" said vampire quickly comprehended Vanitas' request before the man uttered it, and he swept the cursebearer's legs out from beneath her. He turned, pinning the struggling woman to the ground so that the inverse operation could be started. As usual, the shining light of the Book of Vanitas enchanted him, and Noé listened to his partner's smug declaration of the vampire's true name. He rose, extending a hand to Vanitas' patient.

The white haired vampire gave a brief explanation as to what happened to the newly cured one, keeping an eye on his partner through his peripherals. The man never much liked speaking to his patients when he had finished treating them, and Noé suspected that many of the vampires Vanitas had helped before they met never knew his name. Well, that was the doctor's own choice, albeit a strange one, and it would irritate him if he mettled.

"C'mon, mon cher," Vanitas, ever impatient, called over his shoulder. "I don't want to be here a minute longer."

"Coming, coming," Noé soothed, taking a couple larger steps to catch up to his partner's stride. He couldn't blame the man for wanting to leave - he wasn't exactly welcome in Altus Paris after the stunt he pulled with Lord Ruthven.

As they walked towards the border, the vampire couldn't help but let his violet eyes roam over the human's body. Every time he looked, the contradictions that were ingrained in Vanitas seemed all the more notable.

Noé understood well that humans were weaker than vampires. In fact, when he had first witnessed Vanitas fight, he had been impressed by the man's fortitude. The longer he spent with the doctor, though, the more he wondered just how Vanitas functioned the way he did.

For one thing, the human was very slight. His figure was slim, and he often did not eat. In fact, Noé could probably count the amount of times he had seen Vanitas eat on one hand. While that didn't mean that the man was not dining alone or with others, for that was very much possible, he thought that he should've definitely seen this more. So that was strike one against his health.

Strike two was Vanitas' refusal to let others help him when he was injured. At the moment, his gait was slightly impaired by a limp from the previous fight and bruises had begun to bloom across his cheek. There was a scrape across his forehead that was slowly closing, and the glove that typically concealed his left hand in was torn, which revealed more cuts up his forearm. Noé knew that Vanitas healed quicker than most humans due to the blood of the vampire of the blue moon in him but that didn't mean that he didn't need to care for himself.

That led to strike three. Overall, Noé had concluded that Vanitas was bad at caring for himself. Rejecting help, ignoring food, not sleeping (another thing on Noé's list of Vanitas' irresponsibility), all things that would further lead to the human's demise. And it was not as if accepting such things was absurd. Why could the man not allow someone to tend to him? For being such a brilliant doctor (though he was uncertain as to the validity of the other's credentials regarding human doctoring), Vanitas was certainly thick-headed when it came to his own needs.

And that led Noé back to his earlier thoughts.

Vanitas was not fragile. But, sometimes, it was hard to think otherwise. Especially when he had just seen his partner crumple like a sack of flour. The vampire withheld a sigh. They would talk about this back at the hotel.

~

"Mon cher," Noé turned, noting an edge in the undertones of Vanitas' voice. He hoped they weren't about to fight, but he also wouldn't be shocked if his roommate had come to pick a bone with him. The doctor had disappeared to the rooftop when the two had returned to their current residence, likely done so to escape any concern the vampire might express. Noé had grown use to the routine after the first month or so when he had made the mistake of hovering around the man. Vanitas was skittish like a horse when it came to his wellbeing, and his partner's fawning had overwhelmed him. "Look at me."

Violet eyes rose to meeting striking blue ones, taking in the dark shadows painting the undereye. There was wariness in that gaze, a silent threat that he could and would run if even one wrong move was made. Vanitas approached the white-haired man's bed and set his medical bag at the foot of it much to Noé's surprise. He noted the other man's state of undress, night clothes covering his thin body. He didn't think he had seen his partner in fewer layers than his just his overcoat off.

"Like what you see?" Vanitas was quiet, the tease in his remark not quite genuine. He was tense, and, if Noé was allowed to note, seemed uncertain. It was a strange look on the human. He didn't know if he liked it.

"Vanitas...?" He trailed off, also keeping his voice low. He thought he saw trace amounts of vulnerability in those blue eyes. The younger man twisted strands of inky hair between fingers. He remained silent a few moments before shoving his medical bag into Noé's arms. The vampire stared at the bundle, startled. He raised a questioning gaze to his partner.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Vanitas scowled, though there was no real malice in it. "You're always pestering me about my health despite it being outside your grasp. If you're so damn insistent, I suppose you can deal with it yourself."

The man glared at the floor, a slight pout on his face. Noé let out a chuckle, a soft smile adorning his own. Vanitas flicked his glance towards the vampire, a faux annoyance creeping into his expression.

"Thank you, Vanitas," he said and began to work.

Noé was not nearly as skilled as Vanitas when it came to this. His fingers tangled the bandages and his nose scrunched at the smell of the rubbing alcohol. He tenderly swabbed at the scratch on the other's forehead and arm. The vampire went about it slowly, methodically, mildly afraid that he would somehow mess it up and make things worse. He kept his touch gentle.

Vanitas' reaction was predictable, but not something Noé had the foresight of considering.

In a second, the cloth was snatched from him by pale hands that immediately doused it in more disinfectant then scrubbed harshly at the cuts. Noé raised his eyes to take in the ire on Vanitas' face as the man hissed at the sting of the hydrogen peroxide. His ministrations were much rougher and faster, yet he still moved about with a grace that the vampire lacked. A particularly sharp inhale noted the treatment of a gash on his shoulder. The wound was no longer bleeding but still needed to be cleaned. Noé grabbed the doctor's wrists, halting him.

"Let me do this," he said, seriously. The look he leveled on the shorter man roused a glare from him. "You said you would let me do this."

"And you proceeded to treat me like porcelain, Noé," Vanitas sneered. There was contempt in that retort. "Je ne suis pas verre, mon cher. Besides, I have no need for your pity."

"It's not pity, Vanitas," the vampire insisted, frustration creeping into his tone. "Treating you nicely isn't done out of pity, Vanitas. Don't you believe that you deserve some gentleness too?"

Dammit, Noé thought, biting his lip. That was sure to push the man to flee, at least for the night. Maybe most of tomorrow as well. Seriously, dammit. The human stared at him, stunned almost. As if that wasn't something Noé would say. He sighed. Well, he hadn't bolted yet, so maybe he could reason with him a little bit.

Carefully, the white-haired man took the cloth from fisted hands. He scooted back on the bed to give him some space.

"Vanitas," Noé said, studying the smaller one carefully. "Kindness isn't born out of pity. The way I tend to your injuries is not born out of pity.

"Et je sais. Je sais que tu n'es pas verre. Je sais.

"Please listen to me, Vanitas. I do not pity you."

The silence was tense. Noé wondered if Vanitas had listened to anything he had just said. He wondered if the human would still run away.

A hand suddenly grabbed the soft material of his nightshirt and yanked him forward. Noé stared into Vanitas' eyes, his own wide with surprise. Something raw and vulnerable rested on his face, and the vampire knew his words had reached him to some extent. Noé let himself be observed and taken apart and put back together by Vanitas' gaze. Stayed quiet as he was examined intently. Then, supposedly satisfied with his analysis, the doctor let him go. Handed him a roll of bandages.

"Je ne suis pas verre," Vanitas muttered.

"Oui, mon chéri," Noé smiled and thanked whatever beings might exist that his stubborn human was finally accepting his help.

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

A/N:

Hello!

So, my French is not great, and I apologize for any and all grammatical, cultural, and spelling errors I made. I am in the process of learning the language, so unfortunately, what I wrote will likely contain inaccuracies. However, I hope you enjoyed this oneshot!

Translations: "Mon cher" = "My dear" "Je ne suis pas verre, mon cher" = "I'm not glass, my dear" "Et je sais" = "And I know" "Je sais que tu n'es pas verre" = "I know that you're not glass" "Oui, mon chéri" = "Yes, my darling"

[noes-pillow]

✨️Vanoé Angst Week: Day 7✨️ better late than never :)

A Memory is Not Enough: Chapter 1

| 2.2k | read on ao3 | more about this story... |

Prompt:

Blood | Major Character Death | “Please don’t leave”

Summary:

“‘You promised.’”

Little did he know it would end like this. Holding the body of his love close as the vampire drove a knife to the hilt into the corrupt human’s heart.

It took weeks for Noé to get the smell out of his clothes. The smell of Vanitas’ blood. The sweet addictive aroma of love.

And now that he was thinking about him more it seemed that smell was once again haunting him.

-or-

Noé is drowning in his grief after killing Vanitas when a package with a very familiar scent finds it way to his door.

...

“Knock Knock! Monsieur Noé?”

“Miss Amelia?” A barely audible voice from inside the hotel room responded to the knock at the door.

“Yes, Monsieur. You have another package. I’ll leave it outside your door. You may open up whenever you are ready.”

“Thank you.” The vampire responded to the maid softly.

“Will you be having dinner delivered to the room again tonight?”

“Yes, please.” Noé felt like a child having given this reply.

“It’ll be taken care of don’t you worry. I’ll have it up by six this evening,” Amelia replied with the usual warmth in her tone.

Noé heard the soft thud of the package hit the floor right before the click of Amelia’s heels receded for a few steps until she paused, walked back to the door and spoke again. Her words were a lot softer this time. There was a painfully obvious damper on her usually bright tone.

“We miss you in the dining room, Monsieur. Whenever you are ready, you are more than welcome to join us for your next meal.”

“Understood. Thank you again, Miss Amelia. I appreciate your hospitality,” Noé’s monotone voice responded.

Amelia’s heel clicks receded once again.

He knew Amelia could tell his voice lacked its usual contagious enthusiasm. He didn’t intend to make her worry, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave his room since…

        since…

Noé was trying to block his rampant thoughts from entering his mind once again.

        …since Vanitas died.

It wasn’t working.

        Noé you’re lying to yourself.

Since Noé killed him.

        Killed?

Since Noé murdered his… his…

        Say it!

Since Noé murdered his partner.

        Partner!?

Since Noé murdered his best friend.

        Say it, you bloody coward. You never told him, did you?

His closest confidant? Intimate partner? The one person who he would rather sell his true name to Naenia to protect?

Vanitas was the one thing Noé loved so much he agreed to do anything the astermite-eyed human asked of him.

        “‘You promised.’”

Little did he know it would end like this. Holding the body of his love close as the vampire drove a knife to the hilt into the corrupt human’s heart.

It took weeks for Noé to get the smell out of his clothes. The smell of Vanitas’ blood. The sweet addictive aroma of love.

And now that he was thinking about him more it seemed that smell was once again haunting him.

He hated that smell. It reminded him of that terrible day. A day he would rather forget.

But Noé was an Archiviste. And it’s an Archiviste’s duty to remember. To archive. To be the walking library for all of vampire and now humankind.

It was a burden Noé hated from the moment he discovered his ability. But his wishes didn’t matter. Only the duty of his bloodline did.

Noé’s head was killing him. A lingering headache had plagued him since he had started to keep himself locked up in his room.

        Your room?

The room he and Vanitas used to share.

The headache would always get worse when he caught Vanitas’ scent still clinging to the threads of his clothing. However, this headache seemed to grow stronger and more prominent as he laid in bed trying to ignore it.

Not surprising.

Noé was struggling to take care of himself. If it wasn’t for Miss Amelia’s care or Dominique’s less-than-subtle insistence that he needed to “clean his tray” if he didn’t join her for a meal, it was entirely possible that the vampire would forget to eat entirely.

But somehow, amidst the headache, Noé seemed to be developing what he assumed was an appetite.

Odd.

But he didn’t question it. It had been a while since he was able to finish a meal in its entirety. Most of the food ended up being flushed down the toilet.

If Domi found out he wasn’t eating, he’d have another thing coming for him.

Noé decided to peel himself out of bed. Just to the door, he thought. Then the bathroom. He thought he was getting a bit thirsty. He was probably very dehydrated. No surprise there.

He dragged himself across the room, raking a hand through his greasy and matted hair in an attempt to tame it, and opened the door.

Suddenly his headache felt like someone had driven an ice pick up from the inside of his nose and into his brain. He stumbled, holding the door frame to keep himself upright.

Dehydrated. Definitely.

He quickly grabbed the package, set it on his desk, and dragged himself to the bathroom while pinching the bridge of his nose.

He hunched over the sink for minutes drinking glass after glass of cold water. His thirst wasn’t going away.

Hungry then?

No, this wasn’t hunger. Noé looked at himself in the mirror. It was more like the feeling he got when he wanted to…

Noé gasped.

        Are my irises red?

Wait. No. Still purple. He must’ve imagined it.

Well that wasn’t it either.

Noé shook the impossibility from his mind.

He exited the room, stomach sloshing with water, and looked at the package he placed on his desk.

He wondered who it was from. It had been a while since he received a gift. At first, they came in one after another for weeks after Vanitas died. Once people realized how much the death was affecting Noé. But those weeks passed quickly. Soon there were no more gifts. People moved on with their lives while Noé was left …stuck and alone.

Both things of which he’d done to himself.

A month or more may have passed, but the state Noé continued to live in was no different. Except for the fact that people had seemed to forget about Noé. Maybe they trusted he was healing on his own. But more likely they didn’t know how to help. Or they really did just forget.

That was alright. People needed to live.

But not Noé. He needed to remember. That was all he was good for anyway. His ability. His bloodline. His duty.

Thinking about his responsibility made him feel even more sick.

Oh, what Noé wouldn’t give to smile again. Really, genuinely smile.

He remembered the package.

That would get his mind off things for awhile!

It was packed so nicely. A perfect box. The edges of brown paper wrapping folded perfectly and secured tightly with a ribbon of twine. The bow on top was tied with the utmost precision and care.

This person must’ve sent him a special gift.

But there was no return address. Maybe a note inside, then?

Noé couldn’t stop the tiniest bit of excitement creeping into his gut. He wished he wasn’t feeling so terrible, maybe he’d actually enjoy unwrapping it more without this bothersome headache.

He sat on his bed with the gift and untied the twine, tossing it aside. Then he unwrapped the outer layer of packing.

His headache was getting nearly unbearable, but he’d deal with it later. Gift first.

He set the unwrapped box in his lap. Still unmarked, and no note.

Noé resigned himself to the realization he would never know who sent it.

Once the de Sade family spread the word, every important family across the nation had sent him something, even if he only met them once as a child over a decade ago. Just pleasantries. He never really understood the empty acts of the rich.

He opened the lid of the box.

        A jar?

Odd.

Noé removed the jar from the box and observed its contents through the glass. The lid was sealed tight and bound with another ribbon of twine around the neck of the jar.

Did someone send him strawberry preserves? Or possibly jelly? There didn’t appear to be any seeds. Maybe it was cherry instead. That would make sense if there weren’t seeds.

Either way it was expensive fruit this time of year, no doubt.

But the consistency was off. It wasn’t gelatinous. It was more like a thick syrup. Ah, that’s what it must’ve been. Some expensive fruit syrup from overseas. Possibly with medicinal properties? Unlikely. The color was off. It wasn’t quite purple enough to be elderberries. Noé would know.

This was more likely to be some immune system garbage that tasted worse than it smelled.

And what was that smell?

The jar maybe? Whatever was inside of it could’ve been the cause of Noé’s headache.

So he untied the twine, gripped the lid, and twisted…

Pop!

The air seal broke.

An aroma exploded from the seam of the jar lid making Noé fumble with the glass and nearly drop its entire contents.

He felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him.

That smell. It was so powerful. His head felt like it was about to burst. But why couldn’t he place the scent? It was so familiar. It made Noé want to…

Want to…

        want…

Impossible.

No.

Noé ran to the bathroom once again, careful not to spill the contents of the jar as he removed the lid entirely.

He looked in the mirror. This time his eyes did indeed show a bright red. Two vibrant rubies stared back at him.

Noé stared back down at the jar. There was no way. How? He had to be mistaken. Hallucinating or something? Was there a airborne psychedelic laced in the contents of the jar making him hallucinate?

He put the jar in the bathroom, closed its lid, then the door, and buried himself in his bed under sheets.

There was no mistaking it.

The jar.

Its scent.

It smelled exactly like Vanitas.

Or rather, it smelled like the sweet aroma of Vanitas’s blood.

Noé tossed around in bed, twisting and tangling himself hopelessly in unwashed sheets and trying to convince himself his nose was wrong.

But he had never been wrong about this before.

Vanitas’ blood was the one scent he could never mistake. He could easily pick out the aroma from a crowd. He had attuned himself to the smell so he could determine when the human was injured.

Or at least that’s what he told himself.

It was definitely not because the human’s blood was the sweetest thing he had ever smelled in his life.

Even more so than tarte tatin.

Just the aroma would make Noé sick with bloodlust, though he eventually learned to control the urge, as he always did as an Archiviste.

An idea popped into Noé’s head. There was only one way to know for sure.

He dragged himself back to the bathroom and slowly opened the door, peeking his eyes around the doorframe to hide as if the jar of mystery liquid could become sentient and attack him at any moment.

Noé dipped his little finger into the jar, before lifting his hand to his face, eyes nearly rolling back into his head from the punishingly sharp scent.

A scent now so very close to his lips.

He stared at the liquid on his finger as it began to drip.

        Only one way to know for sure.

Noé brought his finger to his mouth and licked it. The taste was pure bliss. As if someone had made pure extract from the feeling of euphoria.

Eagerly, Noé splashed into a memory…

***

The blue moon shone brightly through the windows in a room of stained glass.

A white-haired figure stood a fair distance away.

Noé paused.

And contemplated.

He had seen this memory before. Just not through these eyes.

Before he could look for any other details, Noé felt the body that housed his own consciousness speak.

“I am called Vanitas. The Vampire of the Blue Moon passed on to me his name and his book. Yet I am but a human.”

Impossible, Noé thought.

“Lend me your strength, Noé. With your great fighting ability and sturdy body, I’ve no doubt you’d make a fine shield.”

Noé then heard his own voice.

“That’s a hard pass.”

Noé saw himself through another’s eyes. Through Vanitas’ eyes. In the cathedral where the two of them fell from the airship that long time ago.

He saw the look of bewilderment on his past face. The expression greatly reflected what he was feeling now presently.

***

Noé forced himself to resurface back in reality. He was still standing in the bathroom with a finger in his mouth.

        Oh no.

        Oh no… no no no.

He looked at the jar.

This blood. This was indeed Vanitas’ blood. There was no denying it now.

A swarm of questions flooded his mind. None of them fully thought out, but the shapes of the questions were there. He couldn’t seem to focus long enough on one worrisome concept before the next idea shoved its way to the forefront of his thoughts.

This was bad. And for so many reasons he couldn’t pinpoint each in particular.

Noé panicked.

The jar seemed to stare at him with an alluring aura.

He had promised Vanitas that he would never look into his memories.

He never had.

He swore not to.

At least when he was alive.

But the scent of his blood was so…

Addictive.

Noé bargained.

A sip.

Just a sip.

He went to reach for the glass jar.

But his hesitant motion was interrupted by a sudden loud rapping on the front door.

“Noé! I’ve brought your dinner. Open up!”

| NEXT CHAPTER | -> coming soon

[anonymcitrine]

I was listening to It's been a long, long time

And suddenly a Vanoé headcanon appeared

Sometime in the early 1950's, Noé is still living in Paris and now owning his own bookshop.

Closing for the day, Noé puts on his favourite vinyl record, outside the rain has scared away the pedestrians. He hums along to familiar tunes when the bell signalling someone entering rings, he must have forgotten to turn the closed/open sign.

"Ah, I'm sorry but we have closed for the da-"

"The lights were still on, everything else around the area is closed so I figured this would be my only chance of refuge from the rain."

Noé froze where he stood, that voice, a voice he hadn't heard in many years. A voice he was sure to never hear ever again.

Yet there by the entrance a young man no more than 20 was standing before him, black coat drenched from the rain. Face covered by an ungloved hand reaching for his hat, a hand no longer covered in blue marks. Under it presented ebony hair slicked back, no longer the messy locks that would so dramatically flow in the wind. And then, their eyes met. A pair of eyes that were no longer Astermite blue, yet held everything Noé had ever loved. This very being was still very much him. And the Vampire felt every emotion at once arise, yet every word leave.

Never thought that you would be

Standing here so close to me

There's so much I feel that I should say

But words can wait until some other day

Kiss me once and kiss me twice, then kiss once again

It's been a long, long time

Haven’t felt like this my dear since can’t remember when

It’s been a long, long time

You’ll never know how many dreams I dream about you

Or just how empty they all seemed without you

So kiss me one and kiss me twice, then kiss me once again

It’s been a long, long time

[seoafin]

seoafin commissions info (as of 12/3, 3/3 slots filled)

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[goldenworldsabound]

astermite, paris, and atlus for shiroe!

Thank you, Avil.

Ask Game!

Astermite - gush about a favorite quality of your partner.

Void is very cute. Embarrassingly, I've talked about their smile at length this month, so I'll choose something else.

Void is so thoughtful towards the people they care about, and to me, they express it so easily. It's hard not to feel loved when I'm around them, because they're always being thoughtful, not necessarily in big gestures, but the little things. In making sure to offer Tohya the last serving of his favorite dish, or helping Isuzu workshop new songs...they engage a lot with everyone around them.

Paris - do you and your partner travel? Tell us about a time you went somewhere together. Or, tell us about somewhere you want to or plan to go with your partner one day!

You know, one day I do hope we can show each other our respective homes in the other world. Honestly, I was quite a recluse before coming here, but if it's with them, I think I wouldn't mind traveling a bit. Seeing America would be quite the experience, and normally one I would find too overwhelming to even consider. But if it's with them, and their favorite places...it would be fun, I think. And I would enjoy seeing Japan through their eyes, too.

Altus - what is your home life with your partner like? Do you two live together? If so, where? How do you split up chores? What is an ordinary day in your home like? If you don't live together, do you want to?

We both live in the Log Horizon guild building, of course. We have our own rooms, but we do tend to sleep together. Er, I mean, as in share the same bed! A-anyway...

Chores are split up amongst all the guild members. We all pitch in and do our part. Most days I'm stuck doing a mountain of paperwork or rushing out to the Round Table...Void will pop in and out throughout the day, depending on their own schedule. I'm glad to be able to see them, even if it's just for a moment in the middle of the day.

[bookdragonquotes]

[acediathemelancholy]

Hmm... this one panel explains so much about the economic structure of both human and vampire society. And once again, it goes back to the event that created vampires (and astermite) and the vampires’ fear of the Vampire of the Blue Moon. 

The vampires want astermite out of their realm because of its alleged connection to the Vampire of the Blue Moon. The humans take the astermite in exchange for yet unknown goods. The humans became reliant on astermite as a power source, which only comes from areas where humans cannot enter alone. The vampires are also likely reliant on this trade with the humans. It would also explain why the vampires in the most recent chapters were offering work to humans and the vampire slave traders that ended up picking up Noé despite their overall disdain for humans: because they need humans to mine the astermite for them.  

It also explains why even a group as fanatical about slaying vampires as the Church has at least until recently mostly at least pretended to comply with the treaty. After all, money talks. And Noé and Vanitas’ little excursion in the chasseurs lair proved that even they are heavily reliant on devices powered by astermite. 

Tl:dr: Vampire society likely has the resource curse (à la the real life Gulf States that likely doesn’t produce anything of note other than energy and relies on outsourced labor to even produce that) and human society is completely dependent on an energy source they have no control over. And it’s a recipe for disaster

[vanitinhas]

Paracelsus, Vanitas' parents and Babel

[Note: English is not my first language. Sorry for any mistakes.]

The character of Paracelsus in VnC is probably based on the famous physician and alchemist of the same name.

Although the series focused on his role as an alchemist so far, historically Paracelsus is also well-known for his medical work (some consider him to be Father of Toxicology).

Now, as I was researching about his life, one thing caught my attention on the Britannica page about him (CW: anti-romanyism - g-slur):

“The universities do not teach all things,” he wrote, “so a doctor must seek out old wives, gipsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. A doctor must be a traveller.…Knowledge is experience.” Paracelsus held that the crude language of the innkeeper, the barber, and the teamster had more real dignity and common sense than the dry Scholasticism of Aristotle, Galen of Pergamum, and Avicenna, some of the recognized medical authorities of his day.

This really reminded me of Vanitas' father, who, according to Vanitas, was a doctor who left his old life behind to join Vanitas' mother and her band of traveling players.

With that in mind, I have two main suspicions:

First: Paracelsus is Vanitas' father. This theory does arise some problems in the timeline. Either Vanitas' father was almost imortal (or fully imortal. Who knows, maybe the guy is alive) and really old, or we're dealing with time travel/distortion here (due to Babel?)

Second: Paracelsus is Vanitas' mother. Perhaps, she was a doctor as well and held onto the belief that "A doctor must be a traveller". Vanitas' father tried to follow the same principle (for her), but was not that convinced by it (which might explain why, according to Vanitas, he didn't seem to like the traveling band that much).

Do you remember chapter 21? When Vanitas is looking at the Tower of the Sun, he says with a gloomy expression:

It's a tasteless building. I assumed they'd adopt Gustave Eiffel's proposal, but... It's just like... the Tower of Babel.

We know that in VnC's universe, Babel is a major incident that happened as a consequence of Paracelsus work. It's what created vampires and astermite.

Until now I assumed that Vanitas reaction was related to something that happened in his past with Luna. But perhaps it's actually related with his past with his biological family.

What y'all think?

[ranaitsan]

i had to call him sensei!-chp 3

Today is a normal day like all other days. I was working on a special order for me. It is a gun that works on astermite stone instead of gunpowder. It fires bullets of electromagnetic waves instead of bullets of fire, and also with a trigger that is easy to pull and light in weight... I was working on it secretly as usual in The cellar, or rather, in the secret laboratory that the inventor and I built so that the hired thieves would not reach it, who became flocking to us more than the number of customers, so after we had a well-known reputation and also rumors about the extent of the ingenuity of our weapons and their lack of availability in the market, we have enemies who send thieves To steal inventions with special abilities, some of them are enemies of our customers who want to get rid of or take possession of the inventions of their enemies, and others just collect everything that is valuable and valuable that they have heard about...

Of course, we are the inventors. This is not a problem. We are the ones who create solutions to problems. Therefore, we have developed the security system for our laboratory and store. You cannot easily access the laboratory without knowing the secrets of our traps and how to enter the laboratory, otherwise the results will be dire. Also, the inventor has worked to apply to the government. By providing him with protection or special police services, by arresting every thief we caught and verifying who is behind his transmission, but it is still just a request. But the problem is that as we continue to be robbed, our traps are evolving, as well as the thieves' theft methods. Every time a more talented thief than the one before him comes, the matter becomes difficult for us. We do not want to invent a deadly security system that kills thieves. We just want to stop them, so we also resorted to drugs. And sometimes non-lethal poisons that actually have an antidote...

And so when I was working on that gun, the sauce sensor that we invented moved, and I knew there was another thief, and while I was hiding the new invention in safety, I realized I was late because that thief attacked me from behind with an electric weapon. I don't know if that was an electric dagger or what it is, but luckily I wear the protective armor against stab wounds, electric waves, and bullets. It is a costume of my design, but it was not made by me. Rather, it is a special request that I submitted to a fashion designer who works on strange orders like us...

Because of that armor, I was able to survive and I attacked him too using the crossbow that shoots magnetic arrows under you with the bow to form shocking electromagnetic waves, but he is a professional thief who confronted two out of three and while avoiding it turned the tables on me and escaped with the gun. It came at the perfect time, there must have been spies who knew when I started this invention so they could anticipate how long I could finish it, they've been watching me for a while to anticipate my production capabilities, I was about to finish it, only a few details left, I think Whoever sent it will present it to another inventor who works for him to complete it, since the final form is almost clear...

Agile, he can dodge all bullets and run between obstacles easily, but that's okay, since I woke up in this body, I realized that it's not like what I'm used to, it's super fast and very agile, and my sense of smell is now so strong that I feel Nauseous at times (this super sense awoke two days ago after I woke up in this body), so I could catch up with him and his scent, even doing moves I never dreamed I'd do (I guess the only acrobatic I still haven't done) She's standing on the ceiling...ha-ha). I continued chasing him through the alleys, and my breath began to break until he entered the Museum of Tire. The museum was full of visitors, which made it difficult to run and catch up with him, but I could still see him. I would not allow him to take my invention from me... That thief entered a dark and empty hallway. Then I followed him to him as hard as I could, so that his trace would not disappear from my sight, until I saw him entering a door that came at the end of the hallway, covered with a dark curtain.

A strange shape, as if the earth was moving or everything around me was moving, but I could not see anything. The situation continued in this way for a few moments, and I was slowly moving forward without knowing where I was going, until the vision suddenly became clear. The darkness suddenly cleared and the light blinded my sight. That's a big hall full of weird and interesting artifacts...but where is that thief!? where am I!? What happened!? Until I saw a shadow fleeing from behind one of the antiques, I followed him quickly, and then I was in another hallway full of doors. I did not know which door that thief entered, so I chose the door that had the smell of that thief. The people here are dressed in disguises and they look angry and they are screaming like they are crazy and there is also annoying music as if it is screaming what is that sound but...why is everyone here attacking others, wait a minute these people are not human they are vampires and they are all revolting. I ran away from that scene because it was too dangerous for me, so the thief kept running again before my eyes.

I caught up with him, and he disappeared again, damn him!! He keeps hiding from sight... While I was searching for him, someone fell in front of me, all covered in blood. He was injured!? Who hit him!? Is he a vampire?! And while I was amazed, the events did not stop developing quickly, one of them attacked me with a sharp weapon, I did not know what it was, but my body moved on its own and avoided it. ! I've never felt this way when I'm endangered by a vampire, a thief, or someone else... This person is dangerous! But the question that repeats itself, why am I so graceful and my body moves on its own? Is this the secret of the original owner of this body? Also, this person has the same smell as that thief! Is it personally I am now facing for the first time face to face !?

That person kept attacking me and my body avoided it until I scratched, what is wrong with this man!? Why is he targeting me!? Also not a rampaging vampire! His movements are deliberate and not barbaric! Was he really a vampire?! Because he's not like the vampires I've met! I got tired of this defensive position, I have to create a distance between us, or the blades of his claws will penetrate me, so I tried to find a loophole in his attack, so I hit him directly with his weapon, but I failed. Also, my sense of smell is now unique, I can even remember the smell of people). That person stepped back, and there were two other people, so they became three huge people dressed in black, he and the thief, and I think that thief was the one who killed that person, and the third was a confused person as if he was surrounded by a black mist and dark darkness, I could not distinguish his appearance, he was smiling a strange smile … It wasn't just the three of you in the hallway, there were two other people, a child and a dark man, but they weren't wearing black and they also looked worried about them, as if they were taking care!

What is this situation!? Can I escape!? But the boy and the man seem to be in trouble!? Also, I don't think that thief will leave me alone now! What would the person I sent gain from killing me? I have to find a way to get back, why did he lure me all the way here in the first place? And while I was at a loss, the shadow laughed and said: This is fun! I long to possess your real name..

real name? what is this! But the child and the man did not seem as perplexed as me, they knew what he meant. That shadow approached the brown man to whisper in his ear words that I could not hear, so the man shivered and started screaming suddenly, what did he say to him that made him panic!? And that shadow added, "What do you think I should take you where Louis is?" You will never feel lonely! And you'll get rid of your regrets, but in return I want your real name!

What is this name? And soon that man collapsed, the child remained motionless, and fear invaded his features and paralyzed his movement, so one of those two black men attacked the child!!! What do I do? Should I take advantage of the situation and run away? But that child will be cut to pieces! What do I do!? Although I was immersed in thinking, my body moved on its own to save that child, it is not in my favor and I have nothing to do with it, but I could not let him die and leave...

[exilley]

Astermite the universal subdtance keeping everything in one piece. No Symbolic Importance Surely