#Rheya Apostolous

[niaerinisms]

One of these is not like the others

[trystcnthorne]

in honour of bb franchise being revived let’s take a moment to appreciate their face cards

[dutifullynuttywitch]

What if Gaius had his moment of payback?

Bloodbound

Gaius Augustine, Rheya Apostolous

688 words

Rating: T (cw: death)

To: @gaiuskamilah

Happy birthday Jam! I’m so glad I met you through this crazy little fandom! Hope you are having a wonderful b-day!!! I’m incapable of drawing or editing, so I thought I’d gift you a little drabble of our favorite former big bad… what if MC lets him have his moment of retribution?

Gaius steps onto the brightly lit stage, his eyes fixed on the figure before him.

He chuckles bitterly to himself. After centuries of mind control, what was one more moment of pretending?

He roughly throws Kamilah, Andrian and Lily at her feet.

“My goddess, I have found your wayward children, as you wished.”

“Well done, my knight. Keep them to the side while I complete my ritual.”

The first vampire hardly spares him a glance, too engrossed in draining the life energy from the mesmerized, adoring crowd.

Gaius takes advantage of her distraction, inching ever closer to her.

Rheya.

His maker.

The one who had controlled his mind for most of his immortal life.

Soon to be nothing but flecks of dust under his boots.

He surreptitiously reaches for the dagger, but she catches the movement. Suddenly, every muscle in his body freezes. He can’t move a finger.

Rheya’s lips curl into a cruel smile.

“Gaius, my dear,” she purrs, her voice dripping with condescension, “you look troubled, standing like a statue with your new friends. Tell me, were you so terribly unhappy by my side?”

Gaius’s jaw clenches, his anger simmering just beneath the surface.

“You took everything from me, Rheya. My freedom, my will, my very soul. I will never forgive you for that.”

Rheya’s laughter echoes beyond the lit stage, cold and mocking.

“Forgive me? Oh, Gaius, you were always so naive. You were nothing before I found you. I gave you power, immortality. You should be grateful. On your hands and knees, revering me with everlasting gratitude.”

“Grateful?” Gaius snaps, his eyes blazing with fury, “You turned me into a monster, a puppet for your twisted games. But no more. Tonight, it all ends.”

“You cannot defy me. I am your maker.”

“You may have created me, but you do not own me. Not anymore.”

“What a tender little speech. You were always one for grandstanding, my sweet Gaius.”

Rheya approaches her former soldier and wayward child. She trails a perfectly manicured finger along his cheek, a mocking glint in her eyes.

Suddenly, Rheya stalls. Her eyes grow wide as she struggles to move.

“Not so fun being frozen in place, is it Rheya?”

Magdalene steps out from the shadows, brow creased in concentration. Droplets of sweat fall from the extreme effort required to immobilize a literal goddess.

“Any time now, Gaius.”

She grinds out, not taking her eyes from the now furious Rheya.

He realizes Magdalene was able to undo Rheya’s mind control.

Gaius smirks at the young vampire, admiring her fearlessness, her strength.

He catches movement. Adrian, Kamilah and Lily prepare to attack, should he fail in his task.

That would not happen.

With a swift motion, he draws a black dagger from his coat. It glints under the spotlight, black blood dripping from its sharp point. Its energy spreads rapidly throughout the theater, significantly weakening all the immortals present.

For the first time, Rheya is fearful.

“That… that cannot be…”

“The blood of your beloved. Sweet retribution, do you not think?”

In a blur of movement, Gaius lunges at Rheya, the dagger plunging into her heart.

The goddess gasps, her eyes filled with shock and pain.

“Gaius… you…”

“It’s over, Rheya,” Gaius whispers, his voice filled with a mix of sorrow and relief. “You will never control me again.”

He stands there, gazing as the lifeless body of his maker turns to dust.

Centuries of mind control, violating the very essence of who he was, avenged at last.

A slow smile spreads across his sharp features.

Whether he lived or died now, it didn’t matter.

It was over.

[vampirkit]

Time Towers Over Me, by VampirKit

[celestial-passions]

My Mc and the Bloodbound characters as anime characters. Couldn't for the life of me get a darker skin tone filters for Kamilah, Lily, Priya, Jax and Rheya. And some of thier names and Surnames changed too bc of this filter.

Bonus, Dracula and The Assho-Err I mean Baron.

Lowkey want a Bloodbound anime series now 🤔👀

Tags: @surrenderronnie1 💙💜💙

[deadcellmate]

Reunification

Or, the brief life of Iola Apostolous Summary: A young woman considers the visions of the Goddess of Blood she's been plagued with. Wordcount: 1,983 Rating: Mature Content notes: Canon-typical violence Read it on AO3

They must have taken her because she was in danger.

There were moments of her mother that Iola remembered. The warmth of an embrace. The smell of crushed sage and ceremonial incense, mixed in with something metallic and raw. Learning how to swim in the ocean. Laying outside, her head resting against her mother’s chest, looking up at the stars. Fingers brushing through her hair. A scolding because she’d run outside to play on her own.

She remembered her father too. A man who could make her laugh, often joining in a lower, booming timbre. A man who would pick her up and swing her in circles until he got tired. A man who would sneak her dates, all don’t tell your mother. A man who would carry her whenever she was tired. A man who loved her unconditionally.

And then, a fire. Screaming agony from burning bodies, the smell of smoky flesh, the pounding boots against the ground, getting carried onto a boat. When she was out on the water, begging the people who claimed they were taking her to safety to bring her back to her mother, she heard a piercing scream, haunted and broken.

There were other bits and pieces, things that didn’t always make sense. She remembered a large stone room with a throne, stained with something rust colored. She remembered a spacious courtyard, grand parties full of laughter. The Sons of Ares had rescued her after The Goddess of Blood murdered her mother and father, and the memories of who they were, where they fit into Mydiea began to fade.

Iola always knew there was something different about her. People were wary around her. But she wasn’t sure what made her different until the dreams started.

She was fifteen years old, ten years after her rescue. There were dreams of a striking, willowy woman with dark hair, tawny skin, and full lips, eyes glowing iridescent red. Sometimes, she swam in the ocean, traversing down to the bottom, just as Iola liked to do. She’d sit at the bottom of the sea and scream, the sound muffled by the water. Other times, it was snippets of conversation, between a tall, muscular man with long, dark umber hair and an infectious smile and an increasingly sullen, lanky man with dark curls and dark hair. A soldier and a prince. The woman’s soldier and prince.

They felt familiar somehow. She could swear she’d seen their faces before—the soldier carrying her on his back when she was three years old, the prince trying to mask his obvious discomfort with her.

It was impossible. She was trying to fill in the blanks of her past, trying to understand who she was before she was brought to a village on the Greek coast, adopted by a fisherman and his wife, taught to pray for the downfall of The Goddess of Blood.

But then the dreams began to change. There were visions of violence, of the woman tearing out soldiers’ hearts—Sons of Ares soldiers. Visions of an underground cavern full of women in white. She’d bite into their necks, draining their blood until they died.

The Goddess of Blood. Iola wanted to tell somebody about her visions, but she knew she couldn’t. She didn’t know what it meant. Did the Goddess of Blood have a psychic connection with her? Could she control her? Worst of all, what would happen if Iola told anyone about the things she saw? They’d see her as a liability, tie rocks to her feet and drown her in the ocean. Her lungs would give out eventually. She’d rot at the bottom of the ocean until the end of time, if the creatures that lurked beneath didn’t get to her first.

The most terrifying dream of all wasn’t of carnage and bloodshed. It came to her a year after they started; a dream that began pleasantly. She was playing in the ocean, a child again. Not even a child. A baby. Her father, dark haired and smiling, lifted her up, arms outstretched.

She understood this was a memory. Not hers. She’d seen things through the eyes of the prince or the soldier or the Goddess of Blood in her dreams, things she understood to be memories. This felt like that, like she was simultaneously looking down and viewing the scene, detached from above, and like she was seeing this through her father’s eyes.

And then, she was reaching for somebody, a figure out in the distance, swimming towards them. As the figure got closer, she recognized her: the Goddess of Blood. She was smiling, at ease and happy.

She reached for Iola, scooping her in her arms.

“Did she cry at all?” The Goddess of Blood asked.

“No. She was perfectly happy here.” Her father said. “She’s just like you. She loves the ocean.”

And as The Goddess of Blood took her in her arms, cradling her close to her neck, Iola smelled that familiar scent: crushed sage and incense, something slightly metallic. Blood, she realized.

Her mother was The Goddess of Blood.

They must have taken her because she was in danger, Iola eventually concluded. The Goddess of Blood must have killed her father. She must have killed the other villagers too, feasted on their blood. The Sons of Ares had been lying in wait, and they intervened. The story added up. She’d tried poking holes in it, wondering if she’d been kidnapped or rescued.

The Goddess of Blood may have birthed her, but she wasn’t her mother. Something had to have happened to her, something that twisted her and made her into the monster the Sons of Ares and everybody within a two hundred mile radius of Mydiea fear her, not even dare to utter her given name. Iola was pretty sure was one of the only civilians who knew her true name, who had heard it hundreds of times: Rheya.

There were dreams and memories that altered this perspective; moments of peace, of the sort of domesticity Iola hoped she would have whenever she had children, but they were always starkly juxtaposed against visions of abject horror: a human sacrifice where The Goddess of Blood would rip out a heart, she would bathe in blood, she would terrorize innocent civilians and children. She would urge her soldier to do her bidding, telling him that he would have nothing and nobody if anything happened to her.

Eventually, Iola learned to live with these dreams, viewing them as nightmares. She tried to live a normal life, silently vowing to herself that she would never tell anybody about her connection to The Goddess of Blood, not even Ajax, the soldier she’d found herself falling in love with.

He was the son of a merchant, descended from East Africans who’d ended up in Greece several generations back. She didn’t hesitate to say yes when he asked her to marry him. They were lucky; Iola would be well looked-after with Ajax, and she loved him. She could see herself spending the rest of her life with him. Her parents didn’t have to worry about arranging a marriage.

They had Miranda nine months after their wedding. Iola thought she knew what love was when she met Ajax; she was wrong. She loved Miranda beyond reason.

She feared for her too. She hoped Miranda wouldn’t inherent the same propensity for nightmares that Iola had. She was going to have to tell Miranda the truth at some point, explain what she was to her, where she came from. But until then, she’d enjoy the fact that during the day, when she wasn’t asleep, all was well.

Until it wasn’t.

The Sons of Ares had anticipated this attack, had known that eventually, The Goddess of Blood was going to find them. It was why they’d opted to set up their base of operations in a remote fishing village, far away from Mydiea. The key to their success was the way they were able to keep a low profile.

They’d had a plan in place in case they had ever happened: every few months, they’d bring the civilians out of their homes, line them up in the village square, and remind them what they needed to do: run. First and foremost, run. Head to the docks. Get on the boats. Get as far away as possible.

And then, they’d run through it, make everybody go through the motions of what they needed to do if she ever came.

But there were things they failed to take into account: first, her soldier and her prince were quick on their feet and bloodthirsty. Second, there was a difference between running because you were told to and running because you would get your spinal chord ripped out of your body and your heart devoured if you didn’t.

It was chaos. The village streets were strewn with corpses and red with blood when Iola and Ajax came out of their home. Iola told Miranda to close her eyes and keep her head down. She had her face buried in Ajax’s neck. She was only five years old, only a little bit older than Iola when the Sons of Ares had taken her. She didn’t need to see these things.

“No matter what happens, you keep running.” Iola said to Ajax.

“But—”

“Promise me. Miranda is your priority. Not me.”

“I…I promise.”

They began to run, heading towards the fishing docks. They wouldn’t try to get onto the larger boat that had been built for this very situation. They’d take Ajax’s fishing boat. Ajax could navigate the waters, take them to safety. They weren’t going to leave Miranda’s fate in somebody else’s hands.

They made it to the docks. Ajax jumped into the boat, Miranda still in his arms.

Just as Iola was about to get into the boat, she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

“Go!” Iola yelled.

“But—”

“Now!”

She smelled crushed sage and incense, masked under layer upon layer of blood. She knew who grabbed her before they spun her around.

There she was, face to face with The Goddess of Blood. Her face was twisted into a mask of cruelty, her white, flowing dress stained with blood, clumps of flesh and gore clinging to her hair.

Iola froze. She wanted to ask her why she was doing this. She wanted to ask her what happened to her, why she’d killed her uncle and all of those villagers. She wanted to beg her to stop. But her voice was stuck in her throat. She didn’t want to be afraid. She shouldn’t have been afraid of her own mother.

The Goddess of Blood seemed frozen too. She reached out, stroking her thumb along Iola’s jawline, her eyes boring deep into her.

“Pathetic human.” She murmured.

Iola found her voice. ��Wait—”

Things would have played out differently if her mother had found Iola earlier in the night. She would have fed on her, and she would have recognized her own blood, realized how it tasted just like her brother’s. She would have stopped then. She would have ordered her soldier and her prince to retreat. She would have held Iola in her arms. She would have spent eternity atoning for what she’d spent the last twenty years doing.

But it was late in the evening. Her mother had gorged herself on innocent blood, and she’d had enough. She was just killing now, trying to make the humans that occupied this small village feel the pain that she’d had to live with.

It was over before it even began. Her mother swiftly broke her neck, nearly tearing Iola’s head clean off. Iola barely knew what was happening before it was over. She didn’t hear Miranda scream, the sound traveling across the water because at that point, Ajax was a hundred feet from the dock.

It was a quick death. A mother’s final act of unintentional kindness.

[livelaughlovecassie]

Alicent & Aegon is Rheya & Gaius. To me.

[korgbelmont]

Edit of Rheya as an Indigo Lantern

[abelflints]

Rheya's portrait from BB book 2 without the cracks!

[dutifullynuttywitch]

Yes. YES!!! Oh my this analysis blew my mind!! I had fleeting thoughts about the hegemonic nature of the sexual violence in the book - the exemples of Kamilah's nonconsensual turning by Gaius (with the additional layer his representation as the conqueror), and Jax and the clanless. Interesting also the different reactions to that violence. Kamilah's centuries of subordination to Gaius (a mix of fear, intimidation, love/affection(?) for her creator) - even buying into some of his ideas (until he takes it too far in NY and she finally rebels with the other council members - gods I want to study their dynamic under a microscope!!). And Jax, fighting back, becoming the leader of the clanless and ensuring none of the Council's future victims of nonconsensual turning would have to process the trauma alone. (I so very much appreciate that story arc having worked with fantastic community-based organisations working with survivors of GBV -- often with so little support from institutions) LOVE the intersectional feminism lens since it's not just sexual violence against women (we can see it with Jax, with Gaius' and Rheya's mind control of their progeny incl. Adrian) - it's about power and asserting dominance over those considered weaker, inferior and maintaining that damned status quo. Jam i absolutely adore your analysis! I need more!!!

Bloodbound and the Politics of Dominance and Submission, Part 1: Do You Consent?

CONTENT WARNINGS: contains discussions of sexual assault, rape, and imperialism

“You know the money shots in porn films? Well, this was just a different substance: it was red.”

— Roberta Findlay on the relationship between pornography and horror

If you have ever read, watched, or paid the least bit of attention to Fifty Shades of Grey, you would know that the story revolves around the controversial or putting it lightly, questionable, relationship between the 21-year-old college student Anastasia Steele and 27-year-old billionaire CEO, Christian Grey. I watched as Christian led Anastasia into a new world of sexuality she knew little of, presented her with a neat contract outlining the nature of their sexual relationship, and yet constantly violated her boundaries outside of the bedroom. The series was of course met by disdain from people from the BDSM community, as Christian’s behavior was the exact opposite of what BDSM practitioners actually do. Boundaries, and of course consent, are gospel and ensure that all parties involved feel fulfilled. 

In the introduction, I outlined the obvious references to Fifty Shades in Bloodbound. Despite these references, funnily enough, it became seemingly apparent that the eternally 28-year-old Adrian does not actually act like Christian to his 22-year-old assistant. In the first few chapters, the importance of consent—boundaries—are highlighted, at odds with Christian and Anastasia’s story.

MC first discovers that Adrian is a vampire by the end of chapter one, walking in on him feeding on Nicole. In chapter two, Adrian confronts MC right after—he assures her that everything was consensual, and with her now knowing he is a vampire, then invites her to accompany him through the night as his assistant. He then tells her of the two principles the Council was founded upon: 1) vampires are only allowed to feed off of willing humans, and 2) the creation of new vampires is strictly limited and subject to the approval of the Council. Consent, and how apparently important it is to the Council, is highlighted over and over again in chapters two and three. 

Adrian and MC in B1Ch02

However, as the story continues, it becomes apparent that the opposite—the lack of consent—is a persistent theme throughout the series. Two important beginnings in Bloodbound involve unwanted advances, dismissal of consent, and an overall violation of boundaries: in B1Ch01, MC is subject to unwanted advances from Lester, who continues his sexual propositions throughout the books despite this rejection. Meanwhile, in B2Ch02, it is revealed that Rheya was banished for rejecting King Kaelisus’ advances, an event that leads to her becoming the First Vampire. Both the MC and the final antagonist experience unwanted advances, cementing lack of consent as an important stone in the thematic foundations of Bloodbound. 

B1Ch01 with the narration if the ‘How dare you!’ option is picked

B2Ch02 tapestry scene

While there are more instances of unwanted advances in Bloodbound (for example, Priya’s entire character—how she constantly tries to convince Amy to be her pet, her treatment of her houseboys, her extreme sadism), those explicitly romantic scenes are not the only times where lack of consent is shown. Despite its pact upholding consensual feeding, the Council is the biggest violator of its own principles. It is then followed by Gaius’s own heightened dismissal of bodily autonomy, and taken to further extremes with Rheya. One can argue that these scenes of feeding, Turning, body puppeteering, and mind control are not explicitly romantic nor sexual. Thus I posit a framework to view these as sexual, drawing from staples within the vampire literary genre and how they are portrayed within Bloodbound. 

Vampires have long been linked to sexuality, as authors write:

“The vampire can be a vehicle of or symbol for any desire, in part because it is a symbol for all desire. Noll cites the 1733 Dissertatio de Vampiris Serviensibus, which declares of vampires, “They beset men, women, and children alike, sparing neither age nor sex” (8). The protagonist of “Cinnamon Roses” says almost the same thing about her prospective partners—”straight or gay or female or male body…Age isn’t a biggie either” (Charles 23)—but in that story this diversity is positive, inclusive rather than indiscriminate, as it is sharing rather than predation. In Hodge’s “Alchemy of the Throat,” the vampires are promiscuous and perverse (272-78), but the polymorphous inclination is displaced onto the narrator, a castrato: “alluring to many women and to no few men…We were androgynes whose service to either sex was limited only our inclinations”.  (...) “Sex and horror are intertwined,” Kilpatrick observes, “because they are two taboos in our society”: she sees vampire erotica and pornography as, in part, about “moving beyond limitations,” which can be threatening to some—and satisfying to others. Most of these stories do not only make explicit what was implicit in earlier vampire texts, but also take what was a source of mixed fascination and revulsion and transform it into an image of desire and satisfaction. It seems that vampires function on the margins of sexual discourse, and show that those margins not only have expanded greatly, but are continuing to expand.”  — Bernadette Lynn Bosky, “Making the Implicit, Explicit: Vampire Erotica and Pornography” “...the importance of sucking and biting, and the fact that most acts of vampirism take place in private spaces such as bedrooms and at night, speak for themselves.” — Anna Katharina Schaffner, “Exhaustion: A History”

Choices's vampires are no exception to this use of vampires. Immortal Desires, its latest vampire series, is laden with vampirism as a metaphor for sex, particularly in its second installment. Bloodbound is even more so, with its Fifty Shades inspired cover and opening chapter. In Bloodbound, a vampire piercing through skin and drinking their blood is a not-so-subtle allegory for sex. Drinking blood is constantly described to be a physically pleasurable experience for both the vampire and the human, and scenes are laced with sexual narration. The first time Amy can let someone drink from her is with Jax, where the other vampires look away to give them privacy. Amy letting Lily drink from her in B1Ch11 can lead to a threesome with Lily and Jax—notably the first instance of a threesome in Choices. In some scenes, drinking blood is mixed with sex scenes itself, furthering the connection.

Jax feeding from Amy in B1Ch04

Sex scene with Priya in B2Ch05

Sex scene with Adrian in Bloodbound: Dark Solstice / Threesome with Adrian and Jax in Bloodbound 3

A vampire drinking blood is not the only instance of sexually charged blood metaphors in Bloodbound. The act of being branded is erotic, as the barriers between two people become less definite, and the one receiving a brand takes in the brander’s blood in their body. Being literally bloodbound is a metaphor for sex. MC can first receive a temporary brand in chapter four of book one, and a permanent one in B3Ch01. 

MC receiving Adrian’s temporary brand in B1Ch04

MC receiving Jax’s brand in B3Ch01

Now that the connection between vampirism and sex has been established, I return to the topic of the lack of consent. More often than not, monster stories tend to be a reflection of the fears of the time. Nina Auerbach chronicles this evolution of the vampire as a representation of fear in the Western world in her book, Our Vampires, Ourselves, where she writes: “...vampires blend into the changing cultures they inhabit. They inhere in our most intimate relationships; they are also hideous invaders of the normal.” With regards to fears surrounding gender and sexuality, Le Fanu’s Carmilla can be read as fear of the intimate relations between women, which would undermine the patriarchy’s control over society. In Stoker’s Dracula, it was the inversion of gendered norms, women who took on more “masculine” and active roles, and homosexual relations between two men. 

I argue then that sexual violence is one of the many fears in Bloodbound. Putting it in context, Bloodbound was released on March 30, 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, where numerous instances of sexual violence perpetrated by powerful people in industries worldwide were brought to light. Bloodbound is full of instances of metaphorical rape and sexual assault, and these instances are made possible by societal structures and the power dynamics that both result from and sustain these structures. This invasive violation of bodily autonomy both sustains political hegemony and allows for it to happen. This idea will further be elaborated upon; for now, I want to highlight a few moments in the series where this metaphor is most prevalent.

The first instance that I want to bring up is Kamilah’s turning scene. Gaius holds her down on the desk, he penetrates through her skin with his teeth, drinks from her without her consent, and binds her to him by forcibly turning her, a process that involves making her drink his blood. The scene can be read as a metaphorical rape.

Kamilah's Turning scene in B1Ch12

The second instance I want to highlight is Jax’s Turning, more emphasis put on the events leading up to his Turning rather than the Turning itself. Jax was led on by Margot, a member of Priya’s Clan, to believe that they were going to have consensual sex. Instead, she bit and drank from him without his consent, and left him to die. I posit an understanding of this within the blood drinking-as-sex framework (for lack of better term), where she went too far and engaged in sexual acts without his consent. Coincidentally, though I assume it is not by coincidence, this scene is sandwiched between a scene with Amy and Lester and one with Amy and Priya, both scenes with the Council vampires sexually propositioning Amy. 

Jax and Margot in B2Ch05

The third instance to be highlighted is that of Liv Denara’s. Like Kamilah, she was Turned without her consent, and like Jax, she was preyed upon by a member of Priya’s Clan. It does not go unnoticed to me that Jax and Liv’s assaulters were both from Priya’s Clan, led of course by Priya, who is known for her extreme hedonism and sadism. When Liv refused the advances of a Clan vampire, he Turned her against her will and left her alone to go feral. Viewing feeding and Turning as a sex act, him leaving her to go feral is akin to denying your partner aftercare or leaving them with no support system after an assault. Much like how rape is used as punishment for people who resist, Turning, and specifically the abandonment of a person newly Turned, can be seen as a form of punishment. Liv’s case is one of revenge rape.

Jax explaining the circumstances of Liv’s turning in B1Ch11

This lack of consent, of course, is a recurring theme for the Clanless. Majority of them were Turned without their consent, and most importantly, were isolated from systems that could help them better adjust to their new situation.

Jax in B1Ch04

The next few examples will explore an even more metaphorical expression of sexual assault, but none the less is one of bodily violation, a non-consensual blurring of boundaries for purposes that only benefit the perpetrator. 

First is Gaius’s ability to control the bodies of younger vampires. He typically employs this to subjugate vampires who turn against him. His blood being purer makes him stronger than his progeny, and it is this in part that he is able to exercise power.

Gaius controls Banner in B1Ch10 / Gaius controls Adrian in B1Ch16 / Gaius controls Adrian, Kamilah, Lily, and Jax in B2Ch16

The second example is Rheya and her level of control over other vampires’ bodies. Being The First, she has blood purer than Gaius’s, and as a result can control their bodies and minds on a level that Gaius cannot. The deliberate choice to describe her controlling their minds as them being “violated” not once but thrice by three different characters, as well as the overarching erotic themes of the series, leads me to read it as a metaphorical rape.

Kamilah in B3Ch08 / Gaius in B3Ch13 / MC in B3Ch12

Of course, a case can be made for mindreading and warping not necessarily being a sexual act, but within the themes of Bloodbound, I choose to read it as such. There are also cases where MC’s psychic abilities come into play during intimate scenes. In B3Ch01, if you choose to kiss your LI in the diamond scene, a vision from their past emerges while they and MC make out. Meanwhile, if you choose to sleep with Jax in B3Ch04, you have the choice to access his mind while having sex.

Vision of Lily's past in B3Ch01

Sex scene with Jax in B3Ch04

Bloodbound is arguably Choices’s first smut book. It pushed the boundaries on what exactly they could portray on the app. Books preceding Bloodbound had sex scenes, but no story as sexually overt and charged as Bloodbound. But beyond the explicit playable sex scenes, the charged narration, and the use of the vampiric metaphor, to what end is this use of sex, particularly one that lends itself to be read as rape? The crux of my argument is this: Bloodbound uses vampirism to allude to sexual violence as a natural result of oppressive political structures, as a tool for political hegemony to continue, and as metonymy for other kinds of social violence that allow for imperialism to function.

It was during the feminist movement in the 20th century that conversations around sexual assault started seeing rape as an act of violence. Numerous strains of feminist thought surrounding sexual assault have emerged since then, with my own personal preference being that of intersectional feminism. Intersectional feminism takes cues from radical feminism (not to be confused with the trans-exclusionary brand of “radical feminism” popular amongst “radfems”) and Marxist feminism, where the former acknowledges sexual assault as a form of violence under patriarchy and the latter supplements feminist thought with that of class analysis, where sexual violence is seen as an extension of class inequality. Intersectional feminism addresses the shortcomings of radical and Marxist feminism, with Canan and Levand calling for an “intersectional imperative” to viewing sexual assault, where factors such as gender, race, class, and politics are taken into account in the conversation:

“Our first and foremost recommendation is that it is imperative to see sexual assault as intersectional. (...)  Perpetuating a belief about where or how sexual assaults happen while overlooking evidence contrary to this belief, holding a single group of people responsible for perpetration while ignoring other types of perpetrators, or believing that sex and power are the only dynamics that exist in a sexual assault are all examples of nonintersectional ways of working around sexual assault. We must first break free of the narratives ruling the sexual assault discourse that prevent us from seeing oppression in all forms caused by sexual assault—oppression of all genders, racial oppression, economic disparities, oppression of victims through legal channels, overlooking perpetrators, false accusations, or allowing sexual assault to be tolerated in society.” — Sasha N. Canan and Mark A. Levand, "A Feminist Perspective on Sexual Assault"

It is with this framework that I return to the topic of rape and sexual assault in Bloodbound. When looking at the instances of assault in the series, one common denominator stands out: the perpetrators are people with power, whose privileged positions allow them to carry out assault and delay or even evade negative fallout for their actions. 

This is most overt in book one, where the Clans hold power in almost all sectors of the city. Their material and political advantages allow them to carry out assault with impunity, their principle of only feeding and Turning people with consent nothing more than an ideal with them being the biggest violator of it. Clan vampires admitting their hand at this violation of bodily autonomy would also be admitting the flaws in their system, which would eventually lead to either a reformation or toppling of the said system, forcing Clan vampires to give up a significant portion of the power they have. This is why their policy with Clanless vampires is to oppress, silence, and eventually kill them.

Jax in B1Ch04

Apart from institutional mandates allowing Clan vampires to assault with impunity, assault and the violation of bodily autonomy itself is also the currency on which power is maintained and gained. Book one’s most obvious example of this is Senator Vega—who Adrian describes as someone who “craves power” and hates the Clanless the most—and his use of the Feral crisis to further consolidate power. He took advantage of the Feral crisis, Turned numerous people without their consent, and unleashed them at the Awakening Ball. He pinned the blame on Adrian, the Council member most sympathetic to the Clanless cause. Additionally, Vega also unleashed a truckload of Ferals onto Adrian and Kamilah, using what he sees as expendable, assaulted bodies to eliminate his political rivals.

Vega in B1Ch15

A similar trend can be seen with Gaius, where his physical power and political posturing of himself as King provides in-universe justification for his violation of bodily autonomy. He is King, the domineering patriarch from which his descent from the goddess-figure of the First Vampire provides divine right for his rule. Gaius is also Roman, and the story has postured him more than once as an imperialist using Greco-Roman aesthetics, and throughout history romanticized Greco-Roman ideals, philosophies, and aesthetics have been tools for oppression and fascism. I cite two examples of Roman aesthetics in Gaius’s posturing as an imperial patriarch: first is that he was a soldier in Octavian’s army during the War of Actium, where his Turning of the then-nomarch Kamilah symbolizes Rome’s imperial annexation of Egypt (more on this here). Second is the Council’s coup in the 1920s, which draws comparisons to the assassination of Julius Caesar, with Gaius as the dictator Caesar and the Council members being the Roman Senate (comparisons with Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar here).

Because he is King, he can violate with impunity, as seen with him puppeteering the bodies of younger vampires. He forces into submission via bodily violation those who stand against him—Banner in B1Ch10, the Council members (sans Kamilah) in B1Ch16, and Adrian, Kamilah, Lily, and Jax in B2Ch16. When this ability is first portrayed in-game, Kamilah, his Queen and right hand, did nothing to stop him from violating Banner after Banner turned his back on Gaius. He is “the only vampire [Kamilah] ever feared” and no doubt his ability to control and violate people the way he can has fuelled that fear. Her fear keeps her subservient, and his rule unchallenged.

There also existed Gaius’s plan to turn humankind into cattle, taking them only for the pleasure and sustainment of vampire political hegemony. Like with Vega and ferals, the lack of regard for the autonomy of others is the foundation of his empire. When put within the framework of vampirism and sexuality as previously detailed, this disregard for life becomes both a metonymy for and enabling of sexual violence.

Gaius in the B1Ch13 tapestry scene

Vampirism, sex, and violence become even more intertwined with Rheya, whose villainous reveal happens at a Bacchanalia. She lies in bed with multiple dead partners, whose blood she consumed. It is later revealed that she, a goddess-figure set on imposing her empire, consumes blood to gain power. Like Vega and Gaius, it is through metonymic sexual violence—the desecration and cannibalization of others’ bodies for her own sake—does she gain power. It is also through violation of her progeny’s minds that she sustains political power, as Kamilah, Gaius, and Amy all describe Rheya’s intrusion as having “violated” them.

Rheya in B3Ch08

Truthfully, one does not even have to go so far into the story to see this intrusion of body and mind as a way to preserve the status quo. In B1Ch03, after learning of Adrian’s vampire nature and spending the night as his assistant, Adrian takes MC to Scholar Jameson to be “debriefed” i.e. have her memories erased. He does this without informing of what the procedure entails until Jameson has his hands on MC’s head, and only when she demands an explanation does he answer and ask her: “Do you consent?” (this is not even the last time Jameson is called to infiltrate Amy’s mind for political purposes; book two opens with him using his abilities on her for Gaius’s political machinations)

Adrian in B1Ch03

The more I look at the series as a whole, the more I come to appreciate the first few chapters of the first book. Amy’s decline of a debriefing, choosing to remember and face the truth, is such an important part of the series’ themes, especially adding to her role as the Bloodkeeper. It lends itself to the overall theme of destroying the cycle of violence, of doing away with systems that only perpetuated harm.

But before fully diving into the discussion of ending the cycle of violence, the machinations of the wheel need to be established. So far, I have discussed the connection between vampirism, sex, and sexual violence as a tool of political hegemony and empire, and the context which allows the said violence to happen. However, I do not think Bloodbound limits the conversation to only that. I believe Bloodbound correctly identifies the beginning of unequal submission in a unit frequently relegated to an untouchable status: the family. This exploration of vampirism and the family unit will be discussed in the following entry into this series, Your Blood is Mine.

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references:

Alexander Heller-Nicholas, What’s Inside a Girl?: Porn, Horror and the Films of Roberta Findlay. https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/american-extreme/porn-horror-roberta-findlay/.

Anna Katharina Schaffner, Exhaustion: A History.

Bernadette Lynn Bosky, Making the Implicit, Explicit: Vampire Erotica and Pornography in The Blood Is The Life: Vampires in Literature, edited by Leonard G. Heldreth and Mary Pharr.

Nina Auerbach, Our Vampires, Ourselves.

Sasha N. Canan and Mark A. Levand, A Feminist Perspective on Sexual Assault in Handbook of Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault Prevention, edited by William T. O’Donohue and Paul A. Schewe.

tags | @kainebell @itlovesinthewoods @peonyblossom @dutifullynuttywitch @icanmakewords

@sharpstake @bedtimegiraffe

(let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from this series!)

[zathra]

this is such a rheya song

[lilyspencerappreciationweek]

(This awesome Halloween-themed poster is the handiwork of @sazanes!)

Welcome to our first ever Lily Spencer Appreciation Week!!

She's a tech-savvy gamer, the best friend you could ask for, amazingly funny, and often uses her humour to cope with extremely stressful situations. She loves everything supernatural - even writing werewolf fanfic.

Bloodbound has seen her grow from an ordinary woman just navigating a world she thinks is normal, to a baby vampire, to someone confident in her skills and powers and ready to join the fight against forces like Gaius Augustine and Rheya Apostolous.

This week is about celebrating every aspect that makes Lily the fantastic character she is! We will be beginning at Halloween, then spending some of the first week of November celebrating her as a character! Hope you will join us!!

Here's what that schedule will look like:

31st October - Happy Halloween!! 🎃

1st November - Lily the Gamer

2nd November - Lily from Wisconsin/Throwback

3rd November - Lily the Baby Vampire

4th November - Lily's Friendships/Relationships/Family

Any and all content is welcome!! Fic, art, edits, moodboards, gifs, meta, headcanons... everything goes! Our only requirement is that the pieces should be centered around Lily, and feature her in a positive way. WIPs and Throwback pieces are also welcome.

Be sure to tag @lilyspencerappreciationweek, and hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes in your posts. Also make sure that you tag your posts with #lilyspencerappreciationweek and #LSAW! This is to make sure we don't miss any of your posts!

A lot of fan content blogs will be running some great events around this time, and we highly encourage you to check them out! @choicesficwriterscreations, @choicesmonthlychallenge, @choicesoctober, @choicesnovchallenge, @choicesholidays, @choicesprompts, @choicespride, @choicesflashfics. If there are any other Choices fan content blogs you would like us to tag, let us know!

See you all at Halloween!! 🎃 👻 🦇 🎃 👻 🦇 🎃 👻 🦇

✅✅signal boosts are always appreciated!✅✅

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

AAAAAAAH OMG I LOVE THIS SM <3 I have a lot of MCs/OCs in mind so maybe I'll be organized and just reblog this post with them separately, starting with:

Cerise Hexley (ILW MC/OC)

She's a scrap OC that I turned into an MC!

She's the successful result of a genetic experiment blending human embryos with rare vampiric DNA from the First Vampire (Rheya Apostolous)

She was specifically created to be a weapon. This failed when a loyal member rebelled and died to save her. They eventually found her years later and killed her alongside her family. Loha resurrected her with the Power, enhancing her pre-existing vampire & superhuman traits

After the events of ILW she finishes school and becomes a Prosecutor

Pinterest Profile

Photo Dump | Vol. 1

Do you have a million pictures of your MC/ OCs saved up? Do you spend hours upon hours searching the internet for those perfect pictures all while lamenting the fact that you probably won't end up using them for anything? Well, now you can! You can dump them in a reblog here! Every week, we will dump random pictures of our characters just for the sake of telling the world (or the twenty people left in the fandom) all about your baby. You can dump the pictures and go OR you can add HCs/comments about each picture (OR a third secret thing). The rules are: 1) Have fun. 2) Be kind to each other. 3) Maybe consider supporting/hyping others who share their pics?

Let's begin! This week, reblog with 6 pictures you saved of your MC/ OC!

[dutifullynuttywitch]

Avatar: art by the wonderful @lilyoffandoms

Header: created by the amazing @aallotarenunelma gifted by my lovely friend @thosehallowedhalls 💛

Masterlist

Meet my MC: Autumn Nightbloom

Things left unsaid Mal Volari x f!mc Autumn Nightbloom (Ⓜ️🔥 Angst, Explicit/NSFW)

Reflections on the eve of battle Mal Volari x f!mc Autumn Nightbloom (Teen, angst)

A Thief's Oath Mal Volari x f!mc Autumn Nightbloom (Teen, fluff)

Pancake mornings Mal Volari x f!mc Autumn Nightbloom (Teen, fluff)

A Whitetower Festival Mal Volari x f!mc Autumn Nightbloom (Teen, fluff)

Mal and Autumn Picrew 🎨

Gifts & commissions

Bumbling adversaries 🐝 A gift for the lovely Dani

Untitled Birthday Lovely gifts by the amazing @thosehallowedhalls 💛

In the arms of night A wonderful gift from Dani @storyofmychoices

Autumn nightbloom portrait 🎨A gift by the incredibly talented @lilyoffandoms

Mal and Autumn waltz 🎨A beautiful art commission by @hydn-jpg.

Pancake mornings 🎨Gorgeous art commission by Artbyainna (IG), gift from the @choicesficwriterscreations January 2024 reading event. Post blades 2.

Meet my MC: Eva Archer ✒️🎨

Starlit night ✒️🎨Troy Hassan x f!mc Eva Archer (teen, fluff)  

Sisterly advice Eva Archer and Brynn Archer (teen)

Close call Troy Hassan x f!mc Eva Archer (teen)

Gifts

Happy birthday Eva Troy Hassan x Eva Archer f!mc drabble by the wonderful @inlocusmads 💛

Heaven's Secret 1 Revisited Dino x f!mc, Lucifer x f!mc, Sammy x Adi, other pairings

Mature / explicit content Ⓜ️🔥

A self-indulgent rewrite of Heaven’s Secret 1. It stays mostly true to the original story, delving into some of the main characters’ motivations and POVs, and a little more world-building. Dino-Lucifer-MC love triangle, and explorations of Vicky's relationship with Malbonte. Other pairings to come up.

Daddy Luci Lucifer x Vicky and Levvy (daughter) (G: domestic fluff)

Art of Lucifer and Vicky 🎨commission by the very talented @bayleedraws-sometimesx

Lucifer moodboard

Meet my MC: Aurélie Bajolière

Dance féerique Cal Lowell x Aurélie Bajolière (f!mc) (general fluff)

Meet my MC: Geneviève of Carmelide

Redemption is a perpetual journey Kamilah Sayeed x Gaius Augustine (m angst)

What if Gaius had his moment of retribution? Gaius Augustine, Rheya Apostolous (t angst)

A Pact with Lucifer Lucifer x f!mc 🔥 (E: NSFW smut)

Wounded Pride Lucifer x f!mc 🔥 (E: NSFW smut)

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC F/Aot Week - Dec 3 - 9, 2023

✒️= Fanfic | 📱= Text Fics/Edits | 🎨= Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🏳️‍🌈 = LGBTQIA | 🌟= Holidays 2023

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

BLOODBOUND

Reunification ✒️Ⓜ️| Rheya Apostolous - @deadcellmate

CRIMES OF PASSION

Fourth Wall ✒️🌟| Trystan Thorne x F!MC - @inlocusmads

The Haunting, Part 1 ✒️| Trystan Thorne x F!MC - @moominofthevalley

HIGH SCHOOL STORY

HSS Fanart 🎨| Emma Hawkins x Michael Harrison - @randomadamadam

IMMORTAL DESIRES

This Pretty, Poisoned Chalice ✒️Ⓜ️🏳️‍🌈| m!Cas Harlow x m!Gabe Adalhard - @aria-ashryver

More below...

IT LIVES ANTHOLOGY

He Would Have Won ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Lincoln McQuiod x MC - @linkysmommy (for @abelflints)

MOTHER OF THE YEAR

Flickers of Hope ✒️🎨🌟| Levi Schuler x MC art by @/artbyainna (IG) fic by @storyofmychoices

OPEN HEART

PERFECT MATCH

Christmas Tree Dilemma ✒️🌟| m!Hayden Young x F!MC - @rosepetals1

RED CARPET DIARIES

Always and Whatever Comes Next ✒️🎨🌟| Thomas Hunt x F!OC - art by @weetlebeetle fic by @theartoflovingthomashunt

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

All I Want for Christmas - Part 1 ✒️🏳️‍🌈🌟| Drake Walker x MC, Liam Rys x Maxwell Beaumont - @angelasscribbles

Commoner ✒️Ⓜ️| Savannah Walker x Leo Rys, Savannah Walker x Bertrand Beaumont - @dcbbw

Commoner - Part 2: Secret ✒️Ⓜ️| Savannah Walker x Leo Rys, Savannah Walker x Bertrand Beaumont - @dcbbw

Here Comes the Sun (Series) ✒️| Liam Rys x F!OC, Drake Walker x MC - @kristinamae093 Part Seven

Merry Christmas 🎨🌟| Liam Rys x MC by @bayleedraws-sometimesx (C: @tessa-liam)

Royal Birthday ✒️| Liam Rys x MC - @eadanga

Turning the Page (Series) ✒️| Liam Rys x F!OC - @tessa-liam Chapter 7: Because I Love You Ⓜ️

CROSSOVER

Bloodbound/Nightbound

Disembodied - Part 6/8 ✒️| Adrian Raines x MC, Nik Ryder x MC - @mynotsohealthyobsession

The Nanny Affair/Open Heart

Once (Series) ✒️| Sam Dalton, TNA F!MC, Ethan Ramsey by @peonierose Part 5