#VAMPIRES

[whereserpentswalk]

Reblog to meet your date! Like to give them a little gift! Tag your freinds to make sure that every monster has somebody to love them! Look under the cut to see what meeting them for the first time is like!

The fallen angel: You see them for the first time, a sexless humanoid with a muscular physique with eyes that reflect broken stars, and wings permanently stained with blood. They wear all black, clothing that looks like they could barely manage to place upon themself. They seem shy at first, like they're worried they'll hurt you just by being there, slowly you extend a hand for them to hold, and cautiously they gently take it, for what's probably the first time in a long time their face shows a smile.

Computer: Slowly the creature is wheeled out by an attendant in a gas mask, an ancient looking monitor surrounded by wires, placed in a wheelchair to make up for the fact that such a creature lacks any limbs. For a few momments you wonder if the stories are true, and if such a being could truly be alive. Then the screen lights up and displays a single red eye, and you understand...

Cyborg: You see them sitting there, nothing to eat, nothing to drink, they didn't even bother wearing clothing. You can see their old flesh and hair on their upper face but everything else looks so very skeletal, even the lower part of their face is like a gas mask, with no mouth or nose. You sit next to them, looking at the parts that hold together their silver body, looking almost like restraints more then they do body parts. You're about to ask them something but a noise reminds them of something and they start to break down, you hold them and tell them they're safe, and you can feel their oddly warm body start to become calm.

Sun and Moon: Two glowing shapes stand before you, each floating and ethereal. One is in the shape of a crescent moon, while the other is in the shape of a sun with rays. You're not sure if it's alive or not or one being or two. Slowly both of them start saying things, wondering what you are and what they're supposed to do to you, sounding more like someone talking tho themself then two beings arguing. Eventually they decide that you're theirs.

Werewolf: for a moment they look entirely human, a slightly chubby grad student with glasses and messy hair looking at you with eyes that aren't a color that human eyes ever are. They looked for a moment to see if you're safe to let their form shift in front of. You can see them change for a moment, cycling through forms, first a humanoid with a few lupine features on their body, then a creature that could pass entirely for an actual wolf, then a mess of fur and claws and jaws and sharp teeth, then a bipedal creature with a wolflike head and fur all over their body. The final form seems to be the one they're most comfortable with, at least around you, at least for this moment.

Fae: They look over you, sitting on the back of their chair instead of sitting on its seat. Their body looks almost human but there is something off about it, like they possess a beauty so perfect its entirely inhuman, almost creepy. They flash you a quick smile, the molecules in the air around their body seemingly terrified by their presence. For a few moments they shift your body, changing your age, your sex, your species, and then putting you back as they were before. They magically remove the worn denims and leathers they were wearing, for a split second showing their naked salmacian body, then they drape themself in a costume of opulent gold and blood red rubies, as they prepare to hold court with you.

Alien: They're massive, like a mantis, with an exoskeleton that shimmers with a thousand colors like bismuth or like starling's feathers. Their crested head looks down at your big golden eyes, that seem weirdly happy. They extend a scythe like arm to touch you with, and you think they're going to attack you, but all they do is gently pet your head. You're very aware of how easily they could hurt you, but they don't, and with them next to you, you feel so safe.

Goblin: The creature walks around you in circles, a blood-stained hoodie on their body, they're far shorter than you but you're very sure that they're stronger, their body skinny not slender but still looking like it could pounce so quickly, like a serpent stalking its prey. Their eyes are so red, like a mouse's, their fangs so sharp, their skin pale white but with thick black veins throughout it. They sniff you for a moment, and then identify you as something safe, and hug you, holding you very tight, as something that's theirs.

Vampire: They're just sitting there, looking at you with their big golden eyes, their inhumanly pale skin contrasted with their long black hair, their completely sexless body wrapped in fancy clothing from hundreds of years prior. Their most inhuman feature is their mouth, massive, snake like, with exposed fangs, and mandibles to help them latch on to prey. You'd expect the sounds they'd make to be like screeches, but they're singing the most beautiful song that you've ever heard, like the sirens of the Odessey. You let them gently pet your head for a few moments, as you do the same for them, then you take out a knife to draw blood from the palm of your hand, and they lap it up so very gently, like a creature eating treats out of your naked hand.

Demon lord: they stand before you, tall and proud, their head many horned and covered in shimmering red scales, their arms muscular and their belly fat, their bottom half quadrupled and reptilian. They look down at you and places something into your hand, it's a food of some sort but it doesn't match the profile of anything you've ever eaten or even seen before in your life, each ingredient entirely alien to your senses. When you take a bite of it they smile and ask if you like it. It tastes better then anything that you've ever eaten before, your tongue filling with eldirch and unknowable things, as your ambitions begin to completely melt away.

Ghost: slowly you walk closer to the spirt, ignoring the others warnings, knowing that you're walking into danger. Eventually you can see them, contrasted with the night, their bloodied form ethereal yet very very present. You can see the broken windows around you, you know that it would be very easy for them to take your life if they wanted to. But they don't, at least not for now, and slowly you extend a hand, and watch them slowly come down twords you to take it.

Dragon: You watch as the sea slowly boils with your spell. You wonder if they can really be summoned like this, you worry that you did something wrong, or that you're not far enough out at sea. Then you see the start of their head rise up from the water, larger then any natural beast, they rush up, rearing their head and neck alone as high up as a skyscraper, their body covered in black-green scales as solid as steel but as light as a feather, their neck serpentine but their massive jaws like that of a crocodile, bright red eyes shining agaisnt the sky as bioluminescent patches glow across their body. They look down at you and smile...

[bebs-art-gallery]

Original promotional art for Nosferatu (1922)

[grickle14]

Dark decor. 

[talesfromthecrypts]

Near Dark (1987) dir. Kathryn Biglow

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Vampire Moths: these moths have a specialized proboscis that allows them to pierce the skin on pieces of fruit and feed on the juices within, and some of them use the same tactic to feed on human blood

Moths of the genus Calyptra are often described as "vampire moths," thanks to their unusual feeding habits. All of the moths in this genus are obligate fruit-piercers, meaning that they subsist primarily on fruit, using a specialized proboscis to pierce the skin and then extracting the fluids from within, but at least 10 species of Calyptra (out of 18 in total) also use the same technique to feed on the blood of living vertebrates, including humans.

Vampire moths have been known to feed on pigs, antelope, water buffalo, deer, cattle, elephants, and humans, among other things. In order to feed, the moth must press its proboscis against the host animal's skin and then oscillate its head back and forth until it is able to pierce through the surface.

Then, as this article explains:

As blood from the host animal wells up, it opens hooks on the sides of the proboscis to anchor it firmly. The proboscis has two parts that alternate between anchoring and drilling through host tissue using an “antiparalell” movement. A bite from a Calyptra moth is red and sore, but is believed to pose no danger to human beings. A vampire moth can suck blood for up to 50 minutes. 

Above: this photo shows the tip of a vampire moth's proboscis, which is equipped with hooks that assist in piercing the skin of both ripened fruit and living mammals

Calyptra is a widely distributed genus that can be found on most continents, but blood-feeding only seems to occur in Calyptra populations that inhabit certain parts of Southeast Asia and Northern or Eastern Russia.

Some species have been known to feed on blood only when they're in certain parts of their geographical range, and then feed only on fruit throughout the rest of their habitat. It's widely speculated that differences in elevation, precipitation, and/or other macroclimate conditions may have an effect on those habits.

Blood-feeding seems to be practiced only by the adult males. The biological purpose of this behavior is unclear, but many scientists believe that it may allow the males to supplement their sodium intake as they prepare to transfer nutrients to the female during reproduction, which is a common practice among insects.

Calyptra moths are also excellent leaf mimics; their wing-pattern, color, and resting position all strongly resemble the appearance of a dry, curled-up leaf, which allows them to blend in with their environment.

Note: this is an edited/updated version of a post that I originally published over two years ago; I rewrote most of the original post, swapped out the photos for higher quality images, and added a few more sources

Sources & More Info:

Acts & Facts: Rogue Moths Didn't Start Out that Way

Purdue University: Investigations of the Vampire Moth Genus Calyptra (PDF)

Medical and Veterinary Entomology: Wound-Feeding and Skin-Piercing Moths, p.452 (PDF)

Entomological Society of America: Geographic Distribution and Differential Feeding Behaviors of the Fruit-Piercing and Skin-Piercing Moth, Calyptra thalictri

Entomology Today: Vampire Moths Suck the Blood of Vertebrates, Including Humans

Nikon Small World: Photo of Calyptra thalictri Proboscis

The Daily Garden: Vampire Moths

[bellsmortallts4]

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[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price - The Last Man On Earth (1964)

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

Nosferatu

Sepulcro de la luz

[vampires-official]

official vampire post

For the ones that need it today

[littledevilgirl]

Xx

[grickle14]

Get ready! NEW Vampire greeting cards will SOON be available at gricklemart.com! This Wednesday, Feb. 26th! https://gricklemart.com/cards/

[nuttysaladtree]

This post 🤝 @xekstrin's 2022-11-01 brussel sprouts post (which is nsfw)

warm baked goods are insane. something so beautiful and almost maddening about absolutely tearing into them when they’re fresh. feeling warm all over after. I really do get vampires for real

[vampires-official]

What's everyone's favorite bit of vampire lore? (haha, bit, get it? I'll see myself out) Could be from anywhere; folklore, fiction, just an idea you had- would love to hear your thoughts :)

[annabelle--cane]

okay, time to have some friday fun time and write silly fiction about lesbian vampires [ten minutes pass and I am on wikipedia reading about thirteenth century german abbesses]

[appetite-pen]

"You are my affliction" 🪻