#anyway i woke up like nosferatu

[voltstone]

I HAVE MORE PROOF VIOLET AND MINNIE WERE NEVER ✨A THING✨ I SWEAR

plus how violentine is better bpd relationship. i mean what? hm?

i dont know what spawn within be woke me up from a dead sleep but here we are.

violet gots bpd (…probably). bpd idealization is not at all a good thing and is actually a sign of a rough connection. also, there's a taste of how identity plays into it.

and stuff. but whatever. nobody likes talking about bpd and i'll just sit here and rot or something.

okay, i'm being dramatic. lol. i'll go work on other essays. this is the one that it coms from btw.

[webbyghost]

Man I had some WEIRD vampire dreams last night

First part's vampires were weird looking, kind of like this but. you know. realistic looking and not whatever this is:

kind of like that but also kind of like the vampires from Blood Red Sky? With these weird appendages under the jaw that acted like pedipalps on a bug. Big weird almost tusk like teeth. ratty clothes, nosferatu vibes.

During the first part (which felt like watching a movie), there was this much bigger 'brood mother' vampire that the others all obeyed or w/e

One of her 'daughters' fucked something up and ended up getting set on fire, and she was cowering before the bigger one with her face all burnt and one of her pedipalps just gone, just going 'better, mama? better?' with the implication that she was a better daughter now that she was all fucked up

the big one leaned down and just went 'yes, better'

another part had me actually taking part in the events, now i was a vampire but the vampires were slightly less monstrous (disappointing) and I was like. taking lessons??? from some dude and his assistant. about spotting fake jewelry and how to tell the quality of stones or something. then one of them said something about judging the quality of a man's child and then disposing of the child if he wasn't perfect enough??

which then led to another part, in some forest at night, late autumn, all the 'daughters' were going through the woods but they were also just. sometimes snakes??? one of them starting talking about how it wasnt fair of 'mama' to treat them like that and there were way more of them than there was of 'mama', some of the others didnt like that and there was a lot of slithering going on. just all over the place.

and then the last part i remember was. i was part of a squad of vampires, it was almost like being back at basic training, because they had us line up at the edge of this sand pit, we knelt down and everybody was either praying or chanting something or idek what. it was a cacophony lmao.

then a whistle blew and we got turned loose in this huge outdoor area, there were trees, fallen logs, small hills, etc. and the way everyone was acting it was more like dogs at a park than vampires getting ready for a hunt exercise, which is what it was supposed to be

anyway they eventually released some children into the enclosure for us to hunt so. we did.

then i woke up

[stormstruck-angel]

so I do believe in dream symbolism but kind of only in a way that makes logical sense, i.e. the "symbolism" will be usually quite personal to the individual and their experiences in order to properly reflect their sleeping mind's processing of events and feelings.

For example, I figured out I often have "stress dreams" about zombies when I'm continually very anxious about a particular thing in my waking life. I really enjoy zombie media, but I guess it is stressful to watch on a very low level bc of concern for chatacters, but I think also they're a "familiar" horror for me - so the problem is something I Know about, and could technically be equipped to deal with, if that makes sense.

So I'm sitting here very baffled as to why I just woke up from a string of dreams that started somewhere in the vicinity of "the Winx club experience the Sailor Moon effect of not being able to tell your magical form is the same person as your civilian form without directly witnessing the transformation" to "horror movie physical violence no that's not a metaphor, ghostface is actually there"

in the dream im apparently sharing a house with several other witches... which is then apparently a bad thing, because someone I'm attached to in the dream comes to kill them and I'm Grateful, but when I ask if they killed Everyone, a nosferatu-esque creature appears to kill my rescuer; they grapple, I think my rescuer does manage to kill the nosferatu, only for ghostface?? to appear?? and stab my rescuer through the front with a large knife. and here's the kicker. I use this as an opportunity to pull the knife out /through/ my now-dead-rescuer, and I nick my forefinger on the blade as I do it - and I feel actual pain, briefly! which is bizarre I almost never have physical sensations like that in dreams! Anyway I pull the knife out and. start stabbing the ghostface. whose actual mask has come off at this point to reveal a kind of attractive guy?? nobody I recognise consciously btw my only takeaway from what little I remember is "good looking" -- anyway I start trying to stab this guy and it just. does nothing. I definitely stab him multiple times and in this all I Have somehow gotten him outside of the house. but he looks more annoyed than dead or wounded, and I, frustrated, ask if he could just give me a break and leave me alone. I think he complies??

and then I segue into... something, I'm a woman whose husband has just come back from? something? maybe jail, maybe a trip, I'm not really sure. and we walk past a television where Christian Bale Patrick Bateman is. presenting something? I thought it might be the weather sjdjdn and my husband expresses some form of. admiration for him, with the idea that everyone knows Bateman is a murderer. so when my husband is not looking. I take a drinking glass and hit him over the head with it. it apparently does not do much damage. my husband insists he should be able to give me a similar injury. I am incredibly resistant to this, as you can imagine. we grapple a bit, I can't seriously injure him apparently but I can fully pick him up like he ways nothing and eject him from the house, locking him out. I then go upstairs to find my phone to call the cops.

and then I wake up, flexing my finger to see if the cut is actually there (of course it's not), and am absolutely bewildered by the sheer amount of physical violence present in my dreams last night.

I tried googling what violent dreams mean bc. I genuinely have no idea what this was pointing to. and opinion seems to point towards some kind of change or upheaval, or actual conflict in someone's life. I don't really think any of those are relevant to me? and no I haven't watched any horror movies lately, either.

no idea what my brain was trying to process, baffled by the outcome regardless

[shebennyonmygecko]

11, 12, 14, 30, and/or 40 for Elara? c:

>0< hiiii

I actually already love this ask game because it's making me think of pieces of lore I never would've thought of before !

I feel like these answers make sense but if not schwoopsie

11. When was their embrace?

January 22nd 1784, ironically enough it was a new moon

12. What happened that lead up to their embrace?

Elara was actually on a visit to her suitor! The two were set to be married the following spring. But unfortunately during the visit, Elara grew ill rather quickly having been a rather sickly child. Travelling must've made her more susceptable.

Her own family couldn't care less about Elara's well being, too enamoured with her soon-to-be husband and their riches.

Despite being a Count and Countess themselves, they had to show themselves off to higher nobility.

Though being quite the spoiled brat, Elara wanted a chance of a life, she was only 19 after all. She wanted to marry and have children, continue the line of succession.. But if no one except a few worrisome servants cared about her wellbeing why should she stay here? She's better off dying in the filthy city.

So that was her plan, to flee.

The moon was nowhere to be seen that night as she escaped the manor. She was too weak and frail, collapsing to her knees just by the garden gates.

Until a man approached her. Though her eyes were fuzzy, Elara could recognise those striking eyes. The two had made eye contact multiple times since she was a child.

A stalker? Who only she seemed to notice? Or was it a mere coincidence.

Tattered clothes, hair with bald patches presumably from being ripped out, skittish, muttering to himself.

Oh great a loony commoner.

But then five words would leave his lips —stuttered and hushed— but would change Elara's life.

"Do you want to live?"

14. How did they initially feel after being embraced? Did they like being reborn into something knew or did it take them a while to cope with their new reality?

After her embrace she didn't really know what she was. She woke up in the evening the next day, all tucked into her bed.

Perhaps the mysterious stranger was all a dream? But she did feel better, her health was almost at an all time high, but there were these nagging voices in the back of her head, all whispering at once.

Maybe she was the insane one and not the stranger in her dreams.

Snippets of sunlight hurt her, she couldn't even stomach looking at food, let alone eating it. When she did, she'd end up puking it right back up.

Now she was completely convinced she was dying.

A seamstress accidentally pricked her finger and the scent of the blood was speaking her name. She quickly left to get some air.

Her first feed was accidental, her own betrothed accidently cut himself one night as the two were fooling around in the gardens.

Well, needless to say her hunger overtook all of her senses and before she knew it, he was completely drained.

Appalled at her own behaviour and monstrosity she fled for good this time, no matter how badly the voices yearned for more.

She had always heard rumours of vampires growing up, creatures of the night who fed on blood..

In that moment she finally knew her fate, and could no longer stomach being around ones she once loved.

30. Do they have a clan that they do particularly like?

She's obsessed with the ventrue and how they're leagues above the other clans, she acts almost like a lapdog for them. A servant.

A stark contrast to the life she once led.

On the other hand, she adores the Nosferatu. Most of them don't make her feel insane, they are a safe space for her.

40. Would they ever commit diablerie if given the chance?

I feel as though a Sire leaves pieces of themselves within their child and Rudolff's inability to kill purposefully is one of those things.

She seems too insignificant to even do such a thing anyways no matter how young the childe is or how disgraced the clan is. Though others may want her dead, and she shares the mutual feelings, absorbing another's soul seems too corrupt. She's already malkavian, she's not herself and it feels like hundreds are already possessing her but to truly have another person's being within them (in the sense of the word), it's something she could never do

[ondigitalwings]

”the idea of this challenge is to make the same sim, but in the colors of the rainbow, using every color as the main theme of the look. use the tag #rainbowsim so everyone can see your creations.” - @hufflepuff-sim

I wasn't tagged by anyone and I'm terribly late to this one, but I wanted to do this one for a long time, and, not being able to sleep, my not-at-all self-conscious Nosferatu girl Mouse woke up in my head like HELLO I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON CLOTHES 🧛‍♀️ So here you go, Mouse. Click through to embiggen. Hopefully Tumblr didn't destroy these.

It's late and I doubt anyone's actually looking at these but if you are and you want the CC list, please feel free to ask! I may put it up anyway.

[mhdiaries]

Wave 1 Holt Hyde Journal

July 23

Woke up in a moving truck last night - in the cab... this time. But I was totally confused as to how I got there and exactly where I was going. I figured since Moms was driving it meant another new job in another new town - maybe this one will be the last for a while...

July 25

Tried to stay up so I could see what the new town looks like in the daytime but it was no use. Soon as the first ray or sunlight cracked the horizon I was out. Shouldn’t be surprised, since for as long as I can remember, I’ve been trippin’ to the music of the night. I can’t recall the last time I saw the sun... really I can’t. I used to wonder if I was part vampire but so far no fangs and no overwhelming desire to make beat juice my new drink of choice. I must do some serious sleep walking during the day though, cause sometimes when I wake up I am dressed like a complete dork. 

July 27

I put some flyers up at the Maul advertising my DJ biz. Hopefully I’ll get some bites. I know that once I get a few gigs I’ll be busy all the time ‘cause I can definitely spin some scary mixes.

August 1 

Being the new monster in town means I’ve got to figure out who all the players are so I don’t get off on the wrong claw with any of the locals. So I’ve been taking walks at night with Crossfade just to check things out. This is what I’ve peeped so far:

Count Dracula - This ain’t no mopey “Please give me a hug ‘cause I’ma vampire” cry baby. This is the original old school, dark as midnight, bad to the fang Nosferatu. There may be monsters that have been around longer but none of them have Count Dracula’s street cred. He and his daughter live on my street in what is either a gigantic mansion or a small castle. I guess you’d have to go with mansion but only because there isn’t a moat and a drawbridge.

The Mummy - Got to say there’s just something about old school monster royalty. They’re like rock stars or something I’m not the kind of monster that gets star struck but I seriously wanted to ask for his autograph. I didn’t but I thought about it. He and his princess daughter Cleo de Nile live in this palace that looks like a movie set with servants and all. I don’t know Cleo but it seems like she’s wound a little tight.

The Werewolf - There’s one Alpha wolf in his pack and he is it. I heard he could have gone pro in just about any sport he wanted but he was so much stronger and faster than the other players they said it wouldn’t be fair for him to play. He’s got a big family in a not so big house and it always seems like there is some kind of drama going on over there. The way they argue you’d think they don’t like each other but you’d be wrong. They watch out for each other and if you fight one of them you better be ready to take them all. Clawd is the BMOC - Big Monster on Campus and Clawdeen is going to have songs written about her one day. 

Frankenstein and His Bride - Mr. Stein is pretty chill for a dude who’s 8 feet tall and looks like he’s strong enough to tie knots in oak trees. Mrs. Stein on the other hand... well let’s just say Mr. Stein is a lucky monster. They live in a house that looks like a cross between a Swiss chalet and a research lab. I think they’ve got a new baby over there but I haven’t seen her yet.

The Sea Monster - He doesn't’ really live on land, at least I don’t think he does - for sure he’s got a little beach house where Lagoona Blue lives. It’s got this killer dock that goes out over the water. I saw Lagoona sitting out there talking to him one night. He never got out of the water though so I couldn’t tell exactly what he looked like but he churned serious water when he left. I think he mostly just keeps to himself and doesn’t spend a lot of time with surface monsters.

Medusa - Seems like she’s got her hiss together and is in total control of her emotions - good thing too, cause if she ever lost it, your career as a permanent life size paperweight would start right away. I guess that’s why she wears sunglasses outside of her house - even at night. Speaking of her house it looks like a building from one of those pictures at a Greek restaurant the kind with the big columns and everything. I bet the acoustics in that place are awesome. Wonder if she ever lets Deuce have parties up there? 

August 3

Have you ever met someone for the first time and it’s like you’ve known them all your life? Dude this totally happened to me last night. I was doing this bubblegum dance gig, not really my style but sometimes you’ve got to give the monsters what they want - ya know? Anyway, this absolutely smokin’ little vampire was out on the floor doing the Transylvania Trance and there wasn’t another monster in the place who could keep up so I flipped the switch to auto pilot and jumped right in there with her. When the song was over I was like, “Ula D you rock!” Then she said, “How do you know my name because I don’t think we’ve ever met have we?” I couldn’t think of a time when we had but somehow I just knew who she was. Weird huh? 

August 10

Had a date with the lovely and lyrical Operetta. She’s a bit of a diva but what a set of pipes! I took her to see this band I really like and everything was going great until this gargoyle bumps into her and almost knocks her down. I didn’t think his apology was sincere so I got hot and long story short... I got us kicked out. Operetta was embarrassed about it, and asked me to take her home. I sent her a dozen dead roses but she’s still not talking to me. My temper constantly gets me into trouble but never gets me out.

August 11

Mom found out about last night from Operetta’s dad. She says I need to do a better job controlling my temper and stop being such a hot head but it’s not like I can just become a different person. Sometimes I think she wishes I wasn’t a monster at all. Does she think I can just snap my fingers and turn into some dorky human or something? I swear sometimes I just want to ~~~~~~~~~~ ASHES! I melt more pens this way. Maybe mom’s right - wish there was like a potion you could drink to get rid of the bad stuff... oh well.

August 20 

I think I’m going to take some night school classes this year. I heard that Monster High does non-traditional classes for monsters who don’t do daylight and since I seem to fit into that crew I’m gonna sign up. There’s supposed to be this siren that gives voice lessons and Operetta’s dad teaches a keyboard class. 

September 5

I started working on this song that I want to be kinda about my life. Maybe inspiration will hit and I’ll finish it or maybe I haven’t lived long enough to write a song about my life. Anyway I got the first verse:

A twisted road plays out like a rhyme

Revealing itself a little at a time

Turn the corner Leave what’s behind

Outta sight and outta mind

Outta sight and outta mind

Guess I’ll have to see where the road leads.

[rosevanhelsing]

FANFIC. LORD OF CHRISTMASLAND

Chapter 3. Part 2

Back home he spent the whole afternoon and dinner with his head elsewhere, doing calculations. In bed, his wife Cassie hugged him and said:

- Charlie, are you okay? I know you have been paid very little for the harvest, maybe you should find another buyer ...

- Leave me alone, woman. I'm not in the mood…

- Charlie, you have to find another buyer. Jesus, you seem naive sometimes, they always tease you ...

-You shut up!

Cassie took offense, released him and turned her back to him. Charlie settled down and thought about his desired car and dreamed. In the dream he saw a majestic amusement park in front, he had his beloved daughter by the hand and the Wraith was behind. Christmas carols were heard from the radio in the east and the park and there was peace and happiness.

When they got up, Cassie elbowed him in the ribs, and said:

- Charles, go to work and start looking for another job. You don't serve as a farmer and you have to bring money anyway. Remember that you have a wife and a daughter to feed. God, I don't know what I saw in you ...

Charlie got up, got dressed, and when she went to wake her daughter up for school, she went to the dresser, grabbed the jewelry Cassie had inherited from her mother, and put it in her pocket.

- You do not need this at all, instead they will be useful to me. I can pawn it to get the Wraith and in the process I'll go back to work as a driver, which is what I was really good at.

When he went down to the dining room, he gave his daughter a hug and said:

- How is my sugar plum?

- Okay, Dad, I have a geography test today.

- Oh, well ... but you sure get excellent. Good luck darling.

- Bye daddy. Good luck to you too. Mom says you're going to find another job.

- Sure, dear. And when I have it, I promise I will make a lot of money and take you to an amusement park. The best there is. It's called Christmasland.

Cassie looked at him disdainfully, but said nothing in front of her daughter. Charlie went to the van to the nearest town, pawned the jewelry, bought some fancy new clothes suitable for driving the Wraith, and went shopping.

When he arrived, Manx almost had a heart attack when he did not see it displayed outside, he went to the seller and said aggressively:

-Where is?! Tell me you haven't sold it! It had to be mine!

- Calm down, Mr Manx. Haha, I knew he would come for her. I assure you that when I saw you I knew that you were the intended driver for that car. I always guess who gets each of my cars, they all end up with their ideal owner. Come with me to do the papers, the car is in the garage. He had kept it inside to clean and refuel and oil.

Charlie sighed in relief and followed the salesman, from the window he could see his coveted car.Charlie signed the documents and the salesman handed him the keys. Charlie treasured them and headed for the car.

- It's finally mine.

Charlie gently stroked the steering wheel and dash of the Wraith and headed home. Her arrival was well received by her daughter Millie, who was impressed, but not by Cassie who was enraged and gave her the ultimatum that either she would renounce the Wraith or she would have no choice but to go with her daughter to her sister Beatrice's house.

Charlie pretended to regret buying the Wraith and declared that he was selfish and had failed them and that he would at least let him personally take them to Beatrice's house. Cassie accepted at Millie's insistence, but what she didn't know is that Charlie was planning something, something very dark. During the trip, Charlie accused the woman of being a whore just like his mother, ruining his life and to top it off wanting to take his daughter from him. Cassie was terrified and Millie, who seemed to be getting sick, said:

- Look Mom, my teeth are falling out ...

- Charlie, what are you doing to Millie? Stop this damn car! You're killing her! You are becoming a Nosferatu.

Charlie ignored her and accelerating said laughing like a maniac

-Who wants to go to Christmasland?!

Millie said:

- I, I do - And she said to her mother-Don't be scared mommy, give me a kiss.

Cassie watched in horror as Millie had fangs out of her, Millie attacked her and began to devour her while Charlie accelerated the Wraith to the maximum and began to enter  in his inscape

 Charlie woke up after a few minutes, and looked at himself in the rear-view mirror of the car, his face looked less aged, without the marks of having been working in the fields, and his nails were longer and sharper. Millie was fine and excited she said:

- Look, Dad, it's just as you promised

Father and daughter got out of the car, held hands, and drove into Christamasland

[boldly-ho]

Another Life - Chapter 17

Fandom: What We Do in the Shadows 

Pairing: Vladislav x Reader

Series Rating: E

Word Count: 1863

Chapter Summary: Stu finds out.

A/N: I won’t be posting next week, but I’ll be back to my normal schedule the week after. As always, cross-posted to AO3.

You woke up at a decent hour for once. Both exhausted from your nightmare and its accompanying fitful sleep, and out of a desire to avoid Deacon and Viago, you’d actually gone to bed early the previous night. For the first time in a while, you wouldn’t have to choose between eating either breakfast or lunch. Flatting with four vampires led to a lot of late nights.

Checking your phone, you found a number of texts from late last night. Petyr had sent you a loose apology for scaring you half to death when you woke him up. Viago sent a text asking if you were free next Friday for the drinking game night. You shot him a quick reply confirming your availability.

A third text was from an unknown number, received early this morning. You opened the message, reading, ‘Hey Y/N. This is Stu. I got your number from Deacon. Are you free for lunch today? I need to talk to you about something.’

You paused, thumbs hovering over the keyboard. For a brief moment you were filled with anxiety. Was Stu asking you out on a date? Not that there was anything wrong with Stu, of course, he just wasn’t your type, and you really didn’t want things to be weird. But no, that couldn’t be it. Thankfully. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’ That wasn’t a date, but it could be something bad, something serious. Was Stu in trouble? Your anxiety flared anew.

You drafted a reply. ‘Hey Stu. Lunch is fine. Does noon work? What do you need to talk about?’

His response was immediate. He ignored your question but confirmed for noon and sent you the address of a café. You thumbs-upped his text and set the phone aside, chewing on the inside of your lower lip in concern.

~

You struggled with your groceries, one paper bag in each arm. You were nearly running down the sidewalk. The condensation from the thawing ice cream was wearing the structural integrity of one of the bags, and you desperately wanted to make it back to the flat before the bottom inevitably gave out. You’d forgotten your reusable bags at home, and were now at the mercies of paper. And paper, apparently, had few mercies.

You felt the contents shifting, and further picked up your speed, probably looking quite ridiculous as you more or less sprinted down the street, clutching the disintegrating bags to your chest. It was all for naught, though, as the bottom of the bag gave out, spilling a carton of ice cream, a quart of milk, and a boatload of produce onto the pavement.

You let out a loud sigh of exasperation, startling a passerby.

You leaned against a wooden telephone post, surveying the damage before getting to work. You added what you could to the other bag, resigning yourself to cleaning all the produce immediately upon arriving home. You decided to carry the ice cream and milk in your hands, not wanting to damage the other bag with either weight or moisture.

Standing once again, with your groceries balanced somehow even more precariously than before, you resumed your trek home. Or, more accurately, you attempted to resume your trek home. Instead, you took a half a step, but were yanked back to the telephone pole by your pants. Awkwardly turning around with your arms full, you found that your pants were caught on a staple that was holding up one of the many posters covering the post.

You sighed, setting down your groceries again, and taking extra care not to tear your pants, or worse, de-pants yourself. Turning around as best you could, you began working at the staple. After a few minutes, and one near-catastrophe with a would-be splinter, you managed to work the staple loose from the post. Unfortunately, it was still stuck to your pants, now holding a poster to your backside. You tore the sheet of paper from yourself and decided to remove the staple from your clothing at home. You were about to crumple it up and toss it away when something about it grabbed your attention.

It was a missing person poster. A woman named Kura had gone missing over a year ago, and her family was willing to pay a hefty sum of money for any information leading to her safe return. While obviously sad, that hadn’t been what garnered your attention. It was the photograph, large and centered on the poster, that drew you in. The woman in the photo had bright, brown eyes, and a wide, happy smile. You’d never seen her before.

But you recognized her.

Had you known her? You reread the information on the poster. You couldn’t have known her. She was last seen just days after you moved out of your flat with Dawn. Unless you met her in that brief window of time. Would that be enough for you to remember her so viscerally, even now?

Unless, of course, you’d known her after she was ‘last seen.’

That thought chilled you.

What had you been involved in? Had she wound up in something shady? Had you? Or worse, had you been, even just partially, responsible for her having gone missing?

You couldn’t rule that horrifying possibility out.

You felt light-headed.

~

You sat alone at the café, anxiously drumming your fingers against the table. Checking your phone, you saw you there were still six minutes to go before you were supposed to meet. You looked to the door anyway, repeating this pattern for the next four minutes until Stu arrived two minutes early.

“Hi, Y/N,” he greeted, slightly redder than usual. Perhaps he had rushed here? “Have you ordered yet?”

“No. I was a little early, so I thought I’d wait for you.”

Gesturing behind himself towards the counter, he offered, “I can buy. What would you like?”

“No, no, I can buy my own,” you brushed off his generosity.

“I wanted to meet, and at the last minute. I can buy. What are you having?”

“Thank you. I’ll have a smoothie, and I’ve never been here, so whatever you recommend, I guess.”

“Sure thing.” Stu went up to the counter, placing the order and paying, before returning with his coffee, your smoothie, and two caprese melts.

“Thanks, Stu. So what’s up? Is everything alright?”

You bit into the caprese melt. Damn, Stu had good taste.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His tone did little to convince you that this was true. He’s stared down at his yet untouched sandwich. You waited for him to go on. If he was this insistent on meeting, you trusted he’d decide to share his thoughts eventually. When he spoke again, he said, “Nick told me about the whole vampire thing last night.”

You stopped mid-chew, swallowing almost too much sandwich. ‘The whole vampire thing.’ That was certainly a fitting name for it.

You looked up from your plate, eyes searching Stu’s face. What was he looking for here? Did he still need to figure out whether or not this was all actually true, or did he just need the companionship of another human stuck in this bizarre limbo between the real and the supernatural? Until you knew where he was at, there really wasn’t any way to go forward.

“And did you… believe him?”

Stu nodded quickly. “Yeah. He showed me, uh…” He faltered.

You nodded. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” You had only known Nick for a short period of time, but in that time you were able to discern that he’s quite the showboat. So, you were willing to venture a guess that his demonstration of vampirism was a bit less gentle than Vladislav’s. “Are you okay?” you asked Stu.

“Yeah. Just shaken.”

You offered him a small smile. “I can relate.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. You get on with your flatmates so well, and you’ve known about this for longer than me, obviously. I thought it might be easier to talk to another human about this than with a- well, with Nick or one of the guys.”

You smiled wider, ready to play the part of expert even though you didn’t feel it. “What do you want to know?”

“Nick told me most of what I wanted to know. There were a few things I didn’t think of at the time, or just didn’t want to ask.” He paused before continuing. “How often do they have to… drink….?” He asked, struggling to chose the correct word.

“Eat,” you answered.

“Eat, then. How often do they do that?”

“It depends,” you replied, glad you had recently learned the answer to that one. “Nick eats pretty much everyday, but that’s only since he’s such a new vampire. He’ll eat less after a few years. Vladislav, Viago, and Deacon only eat a few times a week.”

Stu looked away, down toward his very vegetarian meal. You could guess how he was feeling.

Continuing, you said, “Petyr eats even less than that, like once or twice a month, though sometimes he eats small animals in between. I don’t know if that’s just due to his age, or what. I think he might be a different kind than the others, but I don’t really know.”

A woman walking past your table threw you an alarmed look, but you ignored her.

“Petyr?” Stu asked, confused.

“Oh, right! You’ve never met Petyr. He flats with us. He’s really old, like 8000 years or more. He looks really freaky, like Nosferatu-esque, but he’s a cool guy.”

“Like Nosferatu?” he repeated. He seemed dumbfounded, but you could hardly hold that against him. “So how old are the others then?”

“I don’t remember exactly.” You realized you should put their birthdays in your phone, and made a mental note to do so. “Vladislav is 800 something. Viago is over three hundred, closer to 400, maybe. And Deacon is 150 or 160 or something like that. And, obviously, you’d know Nick’s age better than me.”

“Right, yeah. How long have you known? About vampires?”

“Not long. I was just looking for a flat. I actually figured they were delusional and thought that they were vampires, but not that they actually were,” you laughed. “It was actually the day Nick got turned that I found out it was all real.”

Any sense of humor you’d just had quickly disappeared, and you forced down the rising urge to apologize to Stu for what happened to his friend. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t do anything to stop it. Those words were becoming a sort of mantra to you.

“Do you ever…” he trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“Do I ever what?”

“No. Sorry. I shouldn’t pry. It isn’t really my business.”

“It’s fine. Pry away. You’re the only other human I know who’s in a similar situation.”

He smiled at you, and you returned the gesture. You supposed there were worse things to experience camaraderie over.

“Do you ever feel guilty?” he asked. “About the people they kill? Not that it’s your fault, or our faults, of course, I just-“

You interrupted him with your answer.

“Every day.”

[midnight-in-town]

Hi, i'm a bit confused on why skullknight could not sense moonlight child that time they both came in contact with guts and the group, considering it was not to far apart from each other in timing??

Hey! Do you mean in vol 28, Anon? Because if so…

the answer is easy: the boy probably hadn’t arrived yet when Skully was talking to Guts and Schierke. :)

First of all, from a panelling point of view, the SK concludes his speech & disappears before the scene moves on to Casca walking around the beach and meeting the boy. That’s your first hint.

Second thing, I think Skully left before the boy arrived because…

…Guts feels something right as they met with the boy, a.k.a Nosferatu Zodd as we can deduce with the shape. 

So apparently Zodd was witnessing the whole scene (or maybe he’s the one who brought the boy there? since it’s basically confirmed that the boy is linked to Femto and the World Tree wasn’t yet as of vol 28), so I’m sure that if SK was still around at that moment, he would have noticed Zodd too. :)

In other words, if Skully didn’t react to Zodd, it’s most likely because he wasn’t there anymore and that’s why he didn’t sense the boy either. 

Lastly, the boy doesn’t emit an evil OD…

because Schierke said so + mostly the brands didn’t react. So, while magic-wielders like her can feel his OD, Guts (who’s branded) clearly can’t so far and so I have no idea whether Skully can feel the boy’s OD or not in the first place (since we don’t know exactly what kind of being he is yet). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That being said Anon, if you believe that Skully sensed the boy because he’s omniscient or something, we might as well say that he did and said nothing because he thought it was causality for this to happen and so he let it be. 

Haha, it’s quite convoluted, isn’t it (so sorry I’m tired and I’m working 24 hours tomorrow)? Anyway, don’t wreck your brain over this: I personally think Skully left before the boy arrived (brought by Zodd most likely), but if you want to go and say that he knew & didn’t do anything, then that’s probably because the boy meeting his parents was tied to the laws of causality. 

I hope this answers your question, have a nice weekend Anon!

Hello! Oh, not really, no. :) I mean, she just woke up…

…so I want her to catch up and learn to know about the companions that have been hers for so long but who don’t know the real her yet either. :)

We saw a bit of that in the latest chapter already…

and I want this to be a good focus for a while. This includes Guts as well as their son who’s most likely going to show up soon. :)

That’s about it. Have a nice weekend Anon!

[talrayne]

Bloodbag 25

"How did you even get in here?" Jacob asked, lifting Kat over his shoulder. She felt lighter than expected, reminding him of the strength given to him by his undead nature.

"Oh? You thought I'd walk right into a mage trap? I dealt with this guy before. I also took the time to blackmail a tremere on the run afterwards. I knew what to look for and figured when I saw the clues he had the windows trapped as well. So, I used the wall. The mirrors in this place go right through the drywall. Used another talent to silence the cracking. It's also how we're getting out of here. I don't know how long those wards will last and I pity whoever opens the door next."

Before they climbed through the hole where the mirror used to be, Natasha turned to Jacob.

"When we get down into the sewer, be ready. The stench down there will likely hit harder than smelling salts. Whatever happens, don't let her go. I overheard the mage and she heard way too much. She gets away, we'll have to hunt her, and everyone she talks to, down and kill them. Its messy and I don't like doing it."

Jacob nodded. Natasha climbed down first and had Jacob let Kat down gently. They then shimmied between the walls ducking under various cables and pipes until they reached a small door. On the other side of the door was a breaker room in the basement.

The small door closed, the cracks revealing it indistinguishable from the rest of the bricks. The grate to the sewer was close by.

Kat didn't wake up until they were a few turns away from her apartment building.

"Whhhhuut haaaapennnd? Thaaat smelllll..." she trailed off before gagging.

"We're in the sewer escaping a guy who tried to kill you," Natasha responded.

"Naaat? You souund different, aare you okay?"

"I'm fine. We're bringing you to my place so you can rest."

"Who was that guy?" Kat asked, finally regaining the rest of her composure.

"It's complicated. We'll talk about it when we get back. For now, just rest. We'll be back soon."

"I need to talk. Otherwise how am I going to keep my mind off the smell?"

Natasha sighed and pulled a disk-shaped container out of her pocket. She dipped a claw into the pale-green substance and walked over to Kat's face.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPP..." she started before Natasha smeared the goo under Kat's nose.

"Like I said, we'll explain everything once we get back. That should help with the smell until then," Natasha told her before resuming her position, leading Jacob back.

Kat was apparently shocked into silence for the remainder of the journey. As soon as they climbed into the familiar hallway, Natasha told Jacob to bring her into his room while Kat's new room was prepared. Once in his room, Jacob set Kat down onto his bed.

"I suppose it's question time now," Jacob said, pulling his chair to her side.

"I mean, yeah. Who, or what was that guy, what happened to Natty, what was that guy talking about and what did you do? He did shoot me, why doesn't it hurt so much anymore?"

"Well, first, to explain Nat, her real name is Natasha and that's what she really looks like. We're vampires."

"What? Vampires? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth. Hell, it looks like we aren't the only weird things out there either. You remember getting paralyzed by that guy. You may have been too out of it to see him disappear though."

"Wait. You made me drink your blood, didn't you? Oh crap! An I going to become a vampire?"

"From what I've been told, no. You won't be a vampire and you're still alive. Apparently in order to become a vampire, you have to be dead first and then drink vampire blood."

"Wait, I'm confused. How do you drink blood after you've died?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. Apparently I've done it, but I definitely don't remember. I woke up in a morgue less than a month ago. Anyway, apparently there are rules against making vampires. If I made you one, you, me, and Natasha, I mean Nat, would all have been executed."

"What? Who would have executed you?"

"He's called the Prince. He's apparently in charge of all the vampires in the city. Also, Nat has looked like that for over a hundred years. From what I understand, there are a few different kinds of vampires. She's a Nosferatu and they're cursed with looking like that. I'm a Malkavian and from what I've found out, I'm cursed with either going crazy, hearing voices, or both. I don't know much about ghouls though so I don't know what problems you'll have."

Kat, by this time, was sitting up on the edge of the bed, listening intently, when she looked up and cried in surprise.

"You might start going a little crazy," Natasha said, from behind Jacob. "For the most part though, the benefits will outweigh that potential issue. You won't age and you'll recover quickly, evident enough with the fact that you got shot in the stomach and have already recovered enough to sit up. You'll also be a bit stronger and can take a hit better. After you've drank his blood a free times though you'll think you're in love with him." Kat blushed a bit at this part.

"All of that stops if you stop drinking vampire blood though. Even worse, all the years you've lived since your first drink will catch up with you and quick. I've seen ghouls that lived fifty years past their due date lose their vampire sugar momma or daddy and die looking like they ran from an old folks home and had a heart attack.

"The best way to avoid that is by always having a source of blood, and if something happens to your 'donor' to find someone else who'll provide. That's easier said than done though. Biggest thing to keep in mind though out of all of this is we need to maintain the 'Masquerade'. We're already being hunted by people in the church and government. If our existence gets known by the populous, we all get killed. Unlike us, you can still walk under the sun, so I'd appreciate it if you acted like everything was normal.

"Now, we need a cover story for what happened at your apartment and why you won't be at work tomorrow. However, the sun is going to start rising soon and we'll need some sleep. My own ghouls have prepared a room for you down the hall. Oh, and don't leave. Even if you got back to your apartment, that mage left some nasty surprises at your door and windows. If you need anything, just ask my assistants."

Natasha left the room, leaving Jacob and Kat alone again.

"Well, I better get some rest. I've been up long past my own bedtime," Kat said, getting up from the bed. She hesitated at the door. "Have a good... day? I guess? Anyway, I'll see you in the evening."

She paused a moment before exciting the room. The voices just laughed again. Jacob's hunger started reminding him of his own missed meal, so he pulled out the cooler and had a couple of bags before torpor. They tasted hollow, but he still preferred them over the idea of killing again.

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[idreamofinsanity]

Dreams: Aliens and Monsters

I dreamt of aliens feeding on psyches, then I dreamt of a woman becoming a monster to be with the monster she loved.  TW: Gore in the second dream. 

The first dream had started off in some large metropolis. I can’t remember much from the beginning, but vaguely recall something about being a reported looking into something about aliens. I don’t think the beings from another planet were something everyone knew about, either. 

Mostly everything is fuzzy up until a point were I spot some of the aliens bringing a black, ovular sphere looking thing into a skyscraper. I had a strong idea for one reason or another that it was going to hurt a LOT of people, so I got in contact with some authorities and told them there was a bomb in the building. Now, the part that’s fuzzy is if I really thought it was a bomb or not because it turned out not to be...  Instead, at some point I found out that the thing was actually a device that drained psychic energy from people, and it being higher up would somehow make it more effective. Ultimately, it would force all the humans within a certain radius into a coma, then they’d die. All this was to feed the aliens, being as they were psychics (in an ESP/mental powers kind of way) and needed that kind of energy to survive. If it was before or after it was recovered from the skyscraper, I’m not sure exactly when I figured it out, though...  Whatever the case, my intervention did stop the aliens’ nefarious plans, at least for that time...  Then I kind of woke up and went back to sleep...  My second dream’s beginning is hazy as well. The clearest thing I remember was something about a magic circle and a naked, dark haired woman going into the middle of it willingly. Then, a man stood outside of it, activating its powers, turning the woman into a hideous monster.  The face grew long teeth and generally morphed to look much like an anglerfish’s. Her skin became dark and reddish brown (or perhaps she sprouted fur?), her body bulking taller as her arms and fingers grew eerily long, curling into ripping claws. A long, striking tail grew out of her, and finally, bat-like wings formed, a large wingspan to accommodate her new, larger body.    The next clearest memory is there being two of those monsters, midair and fighting off smaller and more human looking versions of this creature. The pair tore into the creatures, whipping them with their tails and ripping them apart and drinking their insides, long tongues lapping the blood up.  They then landed, killing one more, consuming what they wanted, then tossing it aside. They then looked around the courtyard they had landed in, the scene of dead, human bodies littering the estate.  The first creature’s form shifted until she was once again the woman who’d stepped into the circle, this time wearing a fine, black and red dress of ambiguously “period” fashion (perhaps Victorian?). Next, the second monster shifted into the form of the man who’d been outside the circle when the woman had first changed.  The two discussed at length how disgusted the were by the carnage left behind by the “nosferatu” creatures they had just killed. ((Side note: not only is “nosferatu” the thing they called these things, but they looked like bat-winged, reddish skinned (or furred?) versions of “Nosferatu” himself, too. What’s weird about that is I’ve never watched that movie, and the most recent thing I saw about it was how it was a reference in a new Gorillaz music video, like, months ago...))  “This is what happens when a vampire takes a human mate...” the man said, contempt dripping from his words. “Nosferatues simply act on animal instincts, killing and procreating at the outer edges of civilization until they can swarm larger areas like this...”  “It’s why the only responsible thing to do is turn your lover into a vampire as well,” the woman remarked, a sly smile flashing at him.  He got closer to her, taking her hand and kissing it.  “Of course,” he remarked. “And then at that point, the next responsible step would be to marry said lover.”  “I’m lucky you’re the responsible sort.”  Then there’s something about them talking things over with some humans about this whole mess with the nosferatues (in case it wasn’t clear, these things are vampire-human hybrids). It comes out that the vamp husband (the two vamps are married, in case it wasn’t obvious) has an idea as to whom the irresponsible vamp parent of the hybrids was, perhaps purposely siring them as a way to weaken the human settlements in the area. Apparently the bad vamp is a long time nemesis of the husband vampire.  (I can’t remember anything much more with this specific plot point, though, which is kind of unfortunate...They MIGHT have confronted the guy a bit later, but... I can’t really picture it too well.... Really wanted to see more of this.)  A couple things happened after that, one being something vague about the woman planning to have four vampire children (all at once or one at a time, I’m not sure). (Maybe the vamps have litters? Could be a contributor to why there were so many nosferatues...) Another thing was the vampire couple waking up, sitting in some chairs in the middle of an empty theatre. Weirdly, she was half-transformed, while he was in his human form. For some reason her hand was a paw? Anyway, some other woman was up on stage, but I can’t remember what she was saying or doing... I just remember the vampire guy grabbed his wife’s hand, and he reassured her, but he seemed... angry? I had some idea that the woman on stage had been hunting them, but either in a “stalker ex girlfriend” or “gonna get rid of all monsters” kind of way. If the latter, I’m thinking it would have to be she was trying to “rid them of the vampire curse” or something, seeing as she didn’t kill them right away...  In either case, I woke up before really getting any more out of the dream... 

[btsybrkr]

2020 Vision: What To Expect From The Next Decade (By Someone Who Has No Idea, Obviously.)

Happy New Year, all!! I had planned to do a little run-down last week of everything that happened in the 2010s, but instead succumbed to the existential struggle that comes with the week that follows Christmas Day, in which your time becomes largely swallowed up by asking yourself ‘what day is it?’ and ‘at what point am I supposed to stop living on a diet of alcohol and Quality Street?’. It’s festive purgatory, and you’re literally powerless to do anything other than sleep, eat, and moan that the shops are still playing Christmas music. That’s my excuse, anyway.

So, instead, I thought we’d say a collective “cinnabit, lad” to 2019 and a collective “what is UP, dude?” to the Roaring 20s 2.0, the only sequel that humanity has waited a whole 100 years for. Apart from Avatar 2, which I imagine will come out at some point in the 3020s.  What do we know so far about what the 2020s have in store for us? Obviously, not a lot, but as someone who successfully predicted the outcome of the last election, and the UK’s last four Eurovision losses - two things which I’m sure absolutely nobody ever saw coming - I thought I’d give out my own valuable speculation. Here’s what the 2020s might look like, according to me.

Politics

Let’s get it out of the way - we’re in a terrible state. At this point, every important issue is so divisive, that the nation is divided over everything, including whether we’re actually divided or not. Do I think we’ll become any less divided in the coming years, in a United Kingdom where the conversation is so often dominated by things we can absolutely never seem to agree on? Yes. We will have no choice. Why? 

All-out war.

Yes, I said it. In 2021, there will be all-out war. With America, probably. I don’t know why. Maybe Trump will get into an argument with Boris Johnson over who can manage to effortlessly look the most like a Viz caricature of themselves - they both already do somehow, I’m just saying they might disagree on which one of them is the best at it. Could be that, or possibly a more serious cause, to do with nuclear weapons or something, but I’d rather not think about that, because it’s not as funny as the Viz thing. And it’s more likely. So, we’ll pretend for now that we’re on the verge of the first pantomime, slapstick war the world has ever seen.

Anyway, while Trump and Johnson are beefing up a storm - picture Punch and Judy, except the puppets are in suits and have thinning, bright yellow hair - previously all-encompassing issues like Brexit will fall by the wayside, until Boris Johnson eventually decides to hand his notice in to focus on more important things, like beating Trump with a wooden spoon and chasing after the dog that stole all his sausages. After this, we’ll all come together to realise that if actual elected officials can’t do the job, then maybe we, the people, deserve our chance to test our political metal. Obviously, we can’t let just anybody have a go, but at the end of the year, Cosmopolitan magazine puts the traditional democratic process at number one on its ‘Leave It In 2021’ list, so we have absolutely no choice but to come up with something else, which brings me to...

Television And Film

2022 will start with a bang, with the debut of Simon Cowell’s new talent show format, So You Think You Can Be The Prime Minister?, hosted of course by Ant and Dec, with the aftershow on ITV2 being hosted by Jeremy Paxman. Contestants will line up in huge crowds to give judges Russell Brand, Susanna Reid, and, of course, Jesus S. Cowell himself (forgot to mention, Simon Cowell has been elected as the new Christ in this completely non-hypothetical universe, alright?) their opinions on hot political topics such as Brexit, the NHS, and, of course, whether a Jaffa Cake can really be classed as a biscuit or not. Each episode, contestants will take part in a live debate, themed around a different issue with every passing week. The two least popular contestants after the weekly phone vote will go head-to-head giving their own rendition of Running The World by Jarvis Cocker, with the worst performer being eliminated. I know a sing-off isn’t exactly relevant in a politics programme, but it’s Saturday night primetime so it’s still got to be at least somewhat entertaining, yeah?

Love Island will be back, of course - and not just with a Summer and Winter edition, but with an additional Spring and Autumn one for the 2024 schedule! This will be a win-win situation for the series producers, and for its viewers, as by 2027, ITV will run out of attractive under-35s to appear on the show, and members of the public will begin getting called up to appear - like with jury duty, except that ITV pay for you to have extensive cosmetic surgery first, so that you’re aesthetically pleasing enough for people to want to tune in, and so that you can maintain a successful career selling Bootea on Instagram afterwards. 

Films will also go through a renaissance in the 2020s, as the Hollywood big boys come to a conclusion that everything has just become a little too… blockbuster. To remedy this, they make the joint decision that, 100 years on, we should take ourselves back to the silent film era, which will surely create hundreds of jobs for mute people, therefore solving Hollywood’s problems with a lack of diversity in film. It’ll also give well-known TikTok creators a chance to make the leap into mainstream entertainment, as they’ll have spent so long lip-synching over the years that they’ll now be more qualified to star in these new golden age pictures than actual trained actors. Obviously, that sounds absolutely beyond comprehension, but look at Count Orlok in 1922’s Nosferatu. See his slender limbs, blank stare, gothic dress sense - in a way, he’s the original e-boy, and there’s plenty of them out there on TikTok now that could play the titular vampire just as well in a 100th anniversary remake, just with less neck-biting and more lip-biting. Trust me, it’ll be a hit.

Technology

Throughout the 2010s, there’s been a lot of talk about everyone spending too much time on their bloody phones, so, in 2024, Apple will try to combat this issue when they unveil perhaps their most innovative product to date - the iPhone XZ+, a phone which exists solely in the mind of its users. Not in a Black Mirror, chip-inside-your-brain sort of way, either. It is literally imaginary. It’s a phone that, instead of being a phone, is actually just the concept of a phone. Yes, for the small cost of £1,500 and six units of your own soul, you, too, can block the rest of the world out. How amazing is that? No more wasting hours of your day keeping in touch with friends and family. No more accessing a wealth of information, wherever you are, with a quick Google. No more blocking out the sound of cackling pre-teens on the bus by putting in your earphones and listening to music. These things are bad and must be stopped, before we become an entire species of communicating, bopping, learning zombies.

I think those must be bad things anyway, since you can rarely go a few seconds scrolling through social media without stumbling across a ‘woke’ meme about how the use of smartphones is destroying us, one notification at a time - memes which I’m absolutely sure were created and posted from a book or a potato or something. Otherwise they’d just be hypocritical, wouldn’t they?

Anyway, the iPhone XZ+. It’s the only thing you need inside your head this decade. Apart from a very real ever-growing sense of fear and doom, which you can get for free.

Sport

The next decade will see the Olympics and Paralympics take place in 2020, 2024 and 2028, as well as the Winter equivalents to both in 2022 and 2026. You’d think we’d be all Olympic-ed out with that, but in the absence of anything else that gets people feeling remotely patriotic in a purely nice way, the world will decide to come together to throw scaled-down, low-budget Olympic games in all the off-years this decade. 

Summer 2021 will see the start of the first ever Not-The-Actual-Olympics. Marked by a glamourous opening ceremony in a field in Loughborough, the opening will feature a series of performances from stars such as H from Steps, and will be attended by some people who aren’t the royal family, but really do look like them. Taking place over the 10-week long games will be thumb wars, arm wrestling, staring contests, and an exciting event in which competitors try to eat the most HobNobs they possibly can without the help of a glass of water to combat the extreme dry-mouth they end up with. It might sound underwhelming now, but if there turns out to be any truth in the other predictions I’ve made here, it might be just what you need to restore your faith in the everyday.

Happy New Year, Everyone

In all seriousness - not that the rest of this isn’t serious, because it is, and is definitely all going to happen - whatever the coming years bring, it’s important to remember that we have to take the good with the bad, to look after ourselves and each other, and to enjoy each day as much as we possibly can, even during the bits of life that leave us feeling a little less Gangnam Style than we did way back in 2012. Thanks, everyone, for reading my blog. I’ll be back again in a week or so to talk absolute arse about something else. Until then, I hope you all had a great 2019, and have an even better start to 2020. Cheers!

[snatcherwes]

(Very late...) OCtober 8th: Storm

OCtober Challenge by @oc-growth-and-development!

Author’s notes: Fuck you, prompt. I wrote something for you because I was too stubborn to let you defeat me despite the fact that it’s passed 6 am. I decided to do a slight continuation of the 5th’s prompt with my VTMB OC Valentyn. (You don’t need to have read that though, just know this takes place after clearing the sewers.) And you know? I actually really like this one so yeah. It also has my other VTMB OC Tally who, in Val’s canon, is just an Anarch Malk. I hope I did okay writing a Malkavian character, but who knows! Also, I wrote this on my phone so if things are a bit wonky, that might be why.

Word count: 1,151

When the night came around again, Valentyn pulled himself out of bed and willed himself to get dressed. Before going to sleep, the Tremere had decided that he wouldn’t be doing a single thing once he woke. He still felt much too exhausted to be sent on any errands by any of the city’s elders and despite the existing list of things he knew he had to do, Valentyn was determined to let himself relax.

The one thing he did allow himself to do was check his email simply to make sure that Isaac got his message from the day before, letting him know that Valentyn was, in fact, alive and didn’t need to be avenged by a horde of Anarch soldiers. The Toreador’s reply, laced with his typical snark, made Valentyn smile just a bit, glad that Isaac was relieved to hear from him. He’d have to remember to swing by the jewelry store the next time he visited Hollywood.

As Valentyn stood from his computer desk, a loud rumble of thunder shook the floor beneath his feet. The storm from the night before had continued on throughout the day and into the next night. The Tremere recalled Damsel explaining how vampires could no longer catch human diseases and decided that there would be no harm in getting a good look at the storm outside. Before he was turned, Valentyn loved to watch the storms that would roll over the city from the balcony of his old apartment. Since his downtown apartment had nothing of the sort, he opted to take a climb up to the roof.

Not wanting his clothes to become soaked through, Valentyn threw on his rain coat and brought an umbrella with him. He wasn’t sure how useful it’d be knowing how bad the wind could get, but doing something so human brought him some comfort.

Even obscured by the onslaught of rain, the view of downtown that Valentyn could see from the Skyline Apartments’ roof was pretty stunning. The lights of buildings whose inhabitants payed no mind to the time of night and the blur of cars driving through the flooded streets gave the city a glow unique only to a sleepless metropolis. People still walked the streets despite the storm and late night businesses seemed just as unbothered. At that moment, Valentyn wished he knew nothing of Los Angeles’s dark and clandestine underbelly for, at its surface, the city was rather beautiful. 

In his unfocused watching of the city below, Valentyn hadn’t heard the footsteps approaching behind him until their owner was peeking around his back to grant him with a familiar, cheerful grin.

“Christ, Tally! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Valentyn took a deep breath to calm himself, knowing it not to be necessary but finding comfort in the familiar action. He shot the Malkavian a slightly annoyed look which was pointedly ignored.

Tally laughed, taking a seat beside him on the edge of the building, her back to the glow of downtown’s sleepless streets. Completely unbothered by the rain soaking through her clothes, she leveled a knowing look at the Tremere after her fit of giggles subsided. “Heavy is your unbeating heart. You should unload some of the burden.”

“I’m fine, Tally,” Valentyn sighed, preferring to simply lean on the building’s edge, but scooting closer to her in order to share his umbrella with the Malkavian. “You don’t need to trouble yourself.”

“You can’t trouble me. I am trouble.” With a grin, Tally stretched out her legs and swung them around the side in order to face the streets.

“Right,” Valentyn drawled, pretending not to keep a close eye on the girl in case she got too adventurous. “How did you know I was up here anyway?”

“Your haven was full of despair, but not you,” Tally answered, kicking her feet out and against the brick. “I followed the banging of the doldrums up the staircase.”

Once Valentyn caught her meaning, he snorted humorlessly. “It’s been a shit couple of days. I found the Nosferatu, but...”

“Walls of screaming flesh, the sword of Caine, and bloody sewers crawling with godless horrors forged your path,” the Malkavian helpfully filled in where Valentyn trailed off. As she waded through her visions, flashes of fear and discomfort painted her features before they were replaced with her typical, unbothered smile.

“Yeah. That.”

“You left the golden one’s lair with unanswerable questions. Still they swarm in your mind like angry bees,” Tally continued. “But do not forget, you are their keeper.”

Valentyn didn’t quite understand the last part of what the Malkavian said, but he didn’t miss the sincere concern in her voice. Despite how nonsensical she could be, Valentyn knew that Tally considered him a good friend. And he appreciated her friendship as well. They bonded well over everyone else’s mutual distrust of their bloodlines and where Valentyn couldn’t always understand Tally, he was adamant in not treating her any differently than he would anyone else. The Malkvian never voiced it aloud, but she was grateful for a proper friendship and not simply being dismissed for her ramblings.

“I just don’t know what I’m doing, Tally,” Valentyn sighed, ceding to her roundabout method of prying. He supposed there wouldn’t be too much harm in it. He trusted Tally and knew she’d keep his existential crisis to herself.

“I rarely know what I’m doing,” she responded. Despite the seriousness in her tone, Valentyn couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.

“I mean...with Lacroix, and the Camarilla, and the Anarchs, and my clan, I...I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing,” Valentyn clarified, glancing out across the skyline as several bolts of lightning shined behind Venture Tower.

“Did you try asking Google?” Tally offered.

“You know, I hadn’t,” Valentyn answered, unable to decipher whether or not she was joking. He supposed it didn’t really matter. “Did you need me for something? You came looking for me, right?”

“Damn Sail had told me of your trip to see the stars.” Tally pointed out in the general direction of Hollywood. As she did, a bolt of lighting sparked through the clouds in the same direction at the same moment she gestured. “You soared among them for a while, your shadow not falling on the streets of Downtown.”

“You wanted to check up on me,” Valentyn said, smiling at the realization. “Thanks, Tally.”

“Both myself and the voices enjoy your company.” Tally mirrored Valetyn’s smile, playfully nudging him with her shoulder. “And we rarely agree on anything.”

The Tremere let out a quiet laugh, returning the playful nudge and climbing up onto the building’s side to sit next to Tally. The two of them silently watched the city continue on into the night, and for a little while, Valentyn allowed himself to forget all of his troubles and let the storm and his company keep him safe.

[clown-bait]

A Very Monster Christmas (Monster Roommate AU) PT4

Jesus fuck its been awhile. Believe it or not I actually have 3 whole chapters written including the conclusion to the christmas series so hopefully when I finish one more in between chapter I can actually post weekly again. Think of it like constipation but for writing.

PT4 The Weather Outside is Frightful

“No.”

“Penny please I'm so bored and you could use the babysitting practice.” Leech bravely took her eldritch's gloved hands in her own. The clown was not moved.

“I just saved you three days ago. You are not to leave.”

The nosferatu frowned and dropped his hands. “You know I'm just going to find a way out anyway.” she grinned at him smugly while Pennywise's upper lip twitched over his fangs in annoyance.

“You try my patience little thing” he growled and moved closer to her till she could feel hot puffs of air on her cold cheeks.

“I'm not going alone anyway Fred, Chucky and Drac are coming with me.”

The clown’s eyes narrowed into slits “That makes it worse.”

“Junior let the blood sucker get some fresh air for crying out loud.” Uncle Penny groaned as he turned to Leech’s mom. “I swear he is the biggest drama queen you should have seen him when he woke up the guy put on the biggest tantrum.”

Pennywise snarled and turned to his elder half baring his fangs in warning.

“If you want me to stop then cut the theatrics kiddo.” the elder clown huffed and quickly motioned for the group to leave.

Leech was mostly out the door by the time Pennywise registered she had slipped out “Bye Love don't eat Chucky’s kids!” she called out to him as the old door slammed behind her. The clown’s eyes were alarming red and yellow facing completely different directions. Before he could react to being tricked he felt a harsh tug on the puff of his pantaloons.

“All right Jingles, your baby mama asked me to give you a crash course on how to not completely fuck up your family and my mother always said the best way to learn is to try it yourself.” Tiff began as she pulled the massive creature back into the living room. “Now I want you to sit down with Glen and Glenda and have a nice little chat with them.”

“Oh this ought to be amazing!” Uncle Penny laughed and got comfortable in his seat to watch the show.

-----

“So what's the plan boys local bar? Convenience store? I'm partial to crashing a house party myself.” The vampire said turning around to her ghoulish companions.

“I dunno Fangs whatevers closest its fuckin freezing out here” Freddy pulled his trench coat tighter. Dracula lagged behind slightly uncomfortable with the implications of their outing. Chucky who was being generously carried by Leech called out to him.

“Come on Drac you're lagging behind and getting laid takes time. We ain't got all night!”

“This is very generous of all of you but I do not need-”

“Yeah 200 years is a long enough of a dry spell dude, come on you helped me get my man I'm gonna help you.” Leech shouted over him as she pushed through some deeper snow.

“Woah there fangs let's not push through the deep stuff in a snow storm.” The doll gripped his friend tighter

“I'm leading this hunting party dont like it you can walk.” The vampire stated simply and pushed onward through the field.

“Yeah great idea to take a short cut into town through deep snow Fangs!” Freddy huffed.

“Well the three of you wouldnt let me take the trees and roof tops.” Leech grumbled and continued to push onward.

“Fangs do I look like I was built to Spiderman around? Good Guy dolls are made for hugs not acrobatics and you're too clumsy anyway.” Chucky grumbled while clinging to his friend.

“I've gotten better!” Leech shouted and Dracula coughed.

“Eh debatable apprentice.”

“Oh yeah and when's the last time you actually instructed me on anything” the younger vampire growled.

“Well after you cancelled the last three times to as you so artfully put it, marathon with your lover, I assumed you were far too busy for things like learning to survive.” a dark color tinted the nosferatu's cheeks as she nearly tripped in the deep snow.

“One of those times was for a legitimate movie marathon ok!”

“Yeah that ended in the other kind.” Freddy added.

“So what if my sex life is healthy.”

“Excessive is a bit more like it.” the doll grumbled.

“Ok Pen and I both have big appetites it works out.” Leech led her friends out of the deep snow as Freddy snorted.

“Yeah I'll say! Vampires man you all are in a constant state of horny I swear.”

“Excuse you flatmate!” the elder vampire called out in offense.

“Yeah you're not one to talk you told me all about your adventures before the “Mina” incident. Didn't you bang her friend in the form of a wolf or something?”

“DO NOT SPEAK OF HER NAME”

“Do you need to hold Chucky again Drac? He said it himself he's good for hugs.” Leech sneered holding her friend out as he thrashed angrily.

“Hug me and I'll remove your eyeballs!”

“Hey if I squeeze you tight enough will you say the catch phrase?” the vampire hugged the enraged doll despite his warning. Chucky went eerily still.

“Fangs if you weren't filled with a murderous fear God’s kids you'd be dead right now” he snarled. Leech laughed at the empty threat and patted her belly.

“Gotta love my little security blankets! I wonder how he's doing.”

“My guess is terribly.” the dream demon chuckled.

“I want to say I have faith in my mate but seeing how they're Chucky's kids...you're probably right.” leech sighed and stretched as they finally walked into town. Chucky straightened himself back out as his feet touched the ground.

“Just an fyi fangs you're paying for the therapy.”

------

“Whys your head so big?”

Pennywise grunted in response. He sat cross legged on the floor in front of two children who stared up at their natural predator with wide eyes. The little boy crawled forward.

“Are you an oni?”

“A what?”

“An oni”

“Kid wants to know if you're a demon junior.” the senior Pennywise shouted.

“I am much more than a simple demon child!” the clown snarled with malice

“Yeah yeah eater of worlds, be nice Jingles or I'll make sure you can't have any more kids” Tiffany growed as she sharpened a knife.

“You cant possibly kill me doll.”

“Wasnt talking about killing you” the dolls mother slammed the blade into the coffee table. The clown's golden eyes grew wide for a moment as Leech's mom gently spoke up.

“Pennywise try a more friendly approach with them!”

“HAHAHAHAH Sally baby I've been telling him that for 200 years. It's like menacing asshole is in his DNA.” his older self cackled nearly falling out of his seat.

“Thanks for making me a hit with the in law.” The younger clown grumbled under his breath.

“Why is your eye messed up?” glenda leaned forward crossing her eyes to imitate the clown who began to growl low as red tinted his irises.

“You're lucky I'm dieting”

“And Fangs is lucky you still have a functioning dick right now.” Tiffany warned as Sally cringed.

“Can we not talk about my daughter like that”

“Yeah uh how much do you know about your daughter dollface” Uncle Penny's fingers wrapped around the witch as he pulled his cigar out of his mouth.

“She takes after her father”

“I'm tempted to ask but I think Jingles is about to have a major breakthrough in positive child interaction”

“Mister Pennywise can I touch your nose?” Glen asked eyes wide

“Uh…” the clown glanced up at his companions who all enthusiastically motioned for him to agree. “All right child.” the clown craned his body close to what he usually considered an appetizer. Glen reached forward his small hand touching first the clowns nose then his cheek running his thumb on the smooth clay like skin.

“Its not paint?”

Penny blinked at the question. “No. It is not.”

“It feels like paint though how are you doing that?”

“I can do many things child.” the corner of the monsters lips tugged up with a ghost of a warm smile. This one wasn't so bad, it asked many questions but he could tolerate it. He could tolerate it till its sister began to speak.

“Can you make a balloon animal?”

“Oh course I can” Pennywise smiled wide and reached behind his back pulling out a giraffe

“Not with your tricks do it for real”

Pennywise stared at the little girl completely motionless. He didn't actually know how to make a balloon animal. His his uncle elbowed what be considered to be his mother-in-law with wicked excitement.

“Well? Can you do it or not?” the child asked impatiently.

“I..”

“Jeeze what kind of clown doesn't know how to make a balloon animal.”

Pennywise lunged forward teeth first “NO! I mean I can. I can do anything, I am all powerful and I can easily entertain two little brats.”

“Yeah right you're boring I can do better tricks than you!” Glenda sneered right back in the predators face.

“Oh boy here we go.” Tiff sighed and handed her son to Leatherface while moving to grab her daughter. “Glenda sweetie leave the clown alone.”

Pennywise glared at the child and snarled “Like what.”

“Like this.” Glenda shouted pulling a small knife from her pocket and stabbed the clown in the eye. Pennywise let out a horrible roar muffling the cackling from his older self as Tiffany dragged her daughter out of the grasp of the rampaging clown.

“I'm not paying for therapy.” she sighed as she dragged her kid out of the room.

---

The four monsters pressed onward into town the rising wind kept the wiser safe in their homes. These four were not among that category. Freddy wiped some frozen ice off his scarred skin and paused outside of the general store after seeing the “closed” sign hanging in the doorway. Up ahead of him Chucky groaned.

“Ugh this trip was pointless we're not gonna find anything open.”

“Then let's break in somewhere Drac can do a hypnosis trick or something.” Leech growled a bit her hunger getting to her as her mentor rolled his eyes.

“You could too if you practiced more.”

“Do you want me to help you get your dick wet or not Dracula.” the younger vampire hissed.

“Are you implying that I need help? My dear you realize I have seduced thousands of women.”

“And yet none of them stuck around.” the dream demon chuckled while elbowing his companions.

Dracula swore loudly in his mother tongue as his companions turned heel down an alley.

“Some of them were murdered!” he called after them then pulled his coat tighter hiding his dark cheeks. Dracula breathed in deep to sigh before proceeding forward when something caught his nose. It was musty, damp and beastial with a hint of the forest. The realization hit him too late….They had been followed.

[dravencroft]

Summary of today's VTM session: bad life decisions in a BDSM dungeon with a crazy Giovanni woman and a hidden but equally crazy Nosferatu... er, individual of unspecified gender. Highlights and weird stuff under the cut!

So today is the first time we played after five whole months of inactivity (okay, “of no sessions”, since there was a lot of activity anyway). One of the usual players couldn’t make it for the session, so we played by ourselves - and with a special guest, our GM’s original GM! Who basically debuted as a player and he’s a super nice person ^ ^

His character is an awfully OP Nosferatu of unspecified gender who is constantly wearing a creepy leather mask that covers their whole face, with a small window for the eyes and one for the mouth that can be opened when needed. They’re creepy, extremely faithful to the Sabbat and they managed to get run over by a car in the first ten minutes of the session because they forgot to look both ways before crossing the road and our GM is delightfully petty with these things. After that, they proceeded to carefully and comically look both ways every single time they had to cross some road.

We had to find some info about a meeting between the local Anarchs and the Camarilla representatives, so we split the party (bad idea, obviously) to check different places: our Ravnos managed not to create too many problems, she killed a man who was following her but she didn’t manage to find out much. Our Gangrel tried to scout the place where the meeting was going to happen but she was found out and forced to run for dear life.

My Ventrue and the Nosferatu went to a night club run by the local Anarchs. While the Nosferatu was talking with the Brujah owner, I had the brilliant idea of trying to hit on a nice lady who seemed really happy to humour me and proceeded to drag me to a LITERAL UNDERGROUND BDSM PRIVATE DUNGEON with a poor Dominated mortal woman and a lot of creepy torture devices and stuff I don’t even want to think about oh dear Cain

The next few hours saw my character’s attempts at flirting and gathering information at the same time, sometimes with good results, sometimes with awful critical failures, implying a lot of blood smeared everywhere and my poor but somehow successful flirting techniques. At the end the lady got bored and was about to kick me out, so I decided to go for a steamy kiss (with my fellow players screaming “TONGUE KISS!!!” at the top of their lungs, it was so embarrassing). In that moment the Nosferatu, who had followed us while making themself invisible, decided to jump out of nowhere and stake the woman’s heart. You can imagine how freaking creeped out my Ventrue was when a French kiss turned into a hot lady coughing up blood.

The Nosferatu then proceeded to grab the immobilized woman, saw off her hands with an electric saw (?????), tie her upside-down to her SM manacles on the wall, take the stake out and hit her until she woke up. He then kept hitting her until the poor thing broke down and revealed everything she knew (she was a freaking GIOVANNI OH GOD I KISSED A GIOVANNI WHY UGH I THOUGHT SHE WAS A TOREADOR ANTITRIBU but the human bones in the dungeon should have rung a bell, uh). Then they had my Ventrue erase her memories of the night. My Ryan is scarred for life. Traumatized. He had never seen anything like that and now he’s terrified of the Nosferatu, who seemed extremely calm and happy about all this. But he also admires them a lot now.

Unrelated but funny: at some point the Gangrel tried to use the Internet from her phone, rolled miserably and proceeded to get a bad porn virus on her phone. She accidentally sent a porn gif to her Mentor. My character fixed everything in two seconds and laughed about it for the following five minutes. Perks of playing a Millennial tech geek vampire.

Unrelated but funny part two: despite the fact that they had to do literally everything by themself, the Nosferatu was actually quite impressed by what we all did. They told my Ventrue that he can become a real “hunter” if he keeps trying. As you can imagine, Ryan is not happy at all. 

In conclusion, I want the next session to be like NOW

[mhdiaries]

Journal of Holt Hyde

It’ll burn me up if you read without asking.

July 23

Woke up in a moving truck last night - in the cab... this time. But I was totally confused as to how I got there and exactly where I was going. I figured since Moms was driving it meant another new job in another new town - maybe this one will be the last for a while...

July 25

Tried to stay up so I could see what the new town looks like in the daytime but it was no use. Soon as the first ray or sunlight cracked the horizon I was out. Shouldn’t be surprised, since for as long as I can remember, I’ve been trippin’ to the music of the night. I can’t recall the last time I saw the sun... really I can’t. I used to wonder if I was part vampire but so far no fangs and no overwhelming desire to make beat juice my new drink of choice. I must do some serious sleep walking during the day though, cause sometimes when I wake up I am dressed like a complete dork.

July 27

I put some flyers up at the Maul advertising my DJ biz. Hopefully I’ll get some bites. I know that once I get a few gigs I’ll be busy all the time ‘cause I can definitely spin some scary mixes.

August 1

Being the new monster in town means I’ve got to figure out who all the players are so I don’t get off on the wrong claw with any of the locals. So I’ve been taking walks at night with Crossfade just to check things out. This is what I’ve peeped so far:

Count Dracula - This ain’t no mopey “Please give me a hug ‘cause I’ma vampire” cry baby. This is the original old school, dark as midnight, bad to the fang Nosferatu. There may be monsters that have been around longer but none of them have Count Dracula’s street cred. He and his daughter live on my street in what is either a gigantic mansion or a small castle. I guess you’d have to go with mansion but only because there isn’t a moat and a drawbridge.

The Mummy - Got to say there’s just something about old school monster royalty. They’re like rock stars or something I’m not the kind of monster that gets star struck but I seriously wanted to ask for his autograph. I didn’t but I thought about it. He and his princess daughter Cleo de Nile live in this palace that looks like a movie set with servants and all. I don’t know Cleo but it seems like she’s wound a little tight.

The Werewolf - There’s one Alpha wolf in his pack and he is it. I heard he could have gone pro in just about any sport he wanted but he was so much stronger and faster than the other players they said it wouldn’t be fair for him to play. He’s got a big family in a not so big house and it always seems like there is some kind of drama going on over there. The way they argue you’d think they don’t like each other but you’d be wrong. They watch out for each other and if you fight one of them you better be ready to take them all. Clawd is the BMOC - Big Monster on Campus and Clawdeen is going to have songs written about her one day.

Frankenstein and His Bride - Mr. Stein is pretty chill for a dude who’s 8 feet tall and looks like he’s strong enough to tie knots in oak trees. Mrs. Stein on the other hand... well let’s just say Mr. Stein is a lucky monster. They live in a house that looks like a cross between a Swiss chalet and a research lab. I think they’ve got a new baby over there but I haven’t seen her yet.

The Sea Monster - He doesn't’ really live on land, at least I don’t think he does - for sure he’s got a little beach house where Lagoona Blue lives. It’s got this killer dock that goes out over the water. I saw Lagoona sitting out there talking to him one night. He never got out of the water though so I couldn’t tell exactly what he looked like but he churned serious water when he left. I think he mostly just keeps to himself and doesn’t spend a lot of time with surface monsters.

Medusa - Seems like she’s got her hiss together and is in total control of her emotions - good thing too, cause if she ever lost it, your career as a permanent life size paperweight would start right away. I guess that’s why she wears sunglasses outside of her house - even at night. Speaking of her house it looks like a building from one of those pictures at a Greek restaurant the kind with the big columns and everything. I bet the acoustics in that place are awesome. Wonder if she ever lets Deuce have parties up there?

August 3

Have you ever met someone for the first time and it’s like you’ve known them all your life? Dude this totally happened to me last night. I was doing this bubblegum dance gig, not really my style but sometimes you’ve got to give the monsters what they want - ya know? Anyway, this absolutely smokin’ little vampire was out on the floor doing the Transylvania Trance and there wasn’t another monster in the place who could keep up so I flipped the switch to auto pilot and jumped right in there with her. When the song was over I was like, “Ula D you rock!” Then she said, “How do you know my name because I don’t think we’ve ever met have we?” I couldn’t think of a time when we had but somehow I just knew who she was. Weird huh?

August 10

Had a date with the lovely and lyrical Operetta. She’s a bit of a diva but what a set of pipes! I took her to see this band I really like and everything was going great until this gargoyle bumps into her and almost knocks her down. I didn’t think his apology was sincere so I got hot and long story short... I got us kicked out. Operetta was embarrassed about it, and asked me to take her home. I sent her a dozen dead roses but she’s still not talking to me. My temper constantly gets me into trouble but never gets me out.

August 11

Mom found out about last night from Operetta’s dad. She says I need to do a better job controlling my temper and stop being such a hot head but it’s not like I can just become a different person. Sometimes I think she wishes I wasn’t a monster at all. Does she think I can just snap my fingers and turn into some dorky human or something? I swear sometimes I just want to ~~~~~~~~~~ ASHES! I melt more pens this way. Maybe mom’s right - wish there was like a potion you could drink to get rid of the bad stuff... oh well.

August 20

I think I’m going to take some night school classes this year. I heard that Monster High does non-traditional classes for monsters who don’t do daylight and since I seem to fit into that crew I’m gonna sign up. There’s supposed to be this siren that gives voice lessons and Operetta’s dad teaches a keyboard class.

September 5

I started working on this song that I want to be kinda about my life. Maybe inspiration will hit and I’ll finish it or maybe I haven’t lived long enough to write a song about my life. Anyway I got the first verse:

A twisted road plays out like a rhyme

Revealing itself a little at a time

Turn the corner Leave what’s behind

Outta sight and outta mind

Outta sight and outta mind

Guess I’ll have to see where the road leads.