#as a vampire no forced cure storyline

[kmze]

Thoughts on 8x09-8x16 remember how the beginning of the season I said it was the most I enjoyed the show, well this is the opposite because wow this was just depressing! Cade fizzled out once he went top-side (his motives seem confusing) and everything feels rushed trying to get to the finish line. Stefan is the most frustrating to watch because going from EVIL > EMO so fast gave me whiplash and it was all for nothing. One and a half seasons of development gone for what exactly? It's not the worst half season as it's very emotional and a lot of good character moments and of course THE WEDDING is beautiful and perfect when it gets to just be a wedding about two characters with the best love story (IMO!!!) on this show. Bonnie and Caroline got to live (!!!) and Kai showed up to make me laugh one last time. Lots and lots and lots of thoughts and bitching below, thank you to everyone who commented or sent me questions it was nice feeling the nostalgia of the old fandom here!

8x09

Damn it’s been a while since the Salvatores were in suits like this they look good!

I love Caroline’s dress (pink like her robe in 1x19) but her hair looks too flat sometimes. Bonnie looks stunning though I love that green.

Vomit inducing love story is a very accurate description of that trainwreck!

CTFU thinking about how Caroline had to watch that insanity unfold with Ripper Stefan staring at her while trying to psychologically damage Damon. She walked down like fuck crisis mode, she was so desperate she’s dancing with Damon!

HA! Violet's date has Stefan's hero hair! This drama queen!

Love the smooth way Ripper Stefan took Caroline’s hand and dragged her away but FOREVER ROBBED we didn’t get dancing dialogue with them! I can even see that Paul is yapping in the scenery shots. I feel like there was something in the script and it got cut, probably that she wanted that striker, he would have known because she said it to Damon right before he grabbed her hand to dance. I love that he brought it to her too, no ulterior motive he just knew she wanted it.

I love the Caroline and Violet scene.

How many gas leaks does this town have!

That last scene is so pretty, it reminds me of beauty and the beast. Note how Ripper Stefan catches the ring flips it and puts it in his pocket meanwhile he made Damon toss the necklace to prove he didn't care. He even “proposes” the next time he sees her.

8x10

BELVAFORE EPISODE

So glad Bonnie is finally decided to join the main plot again this week.

Caroline pulling an Elena getting Matt to do it for her! I feel like if Candice wasn’t pregnant she would have been this involved in the plot last season.

“Nah” CTFU you know what I’m counting that too, he’s got five proposals! Love that Caroline got the “Hello, Caroline” from the current evil brother.

This is something you don’t notice unless you’re looking for it, but Ripper Stefan hasn’t had a ripper binge since the end of 8x08 and it’s because he started drinking to sublimate (like he instructed Lily in 6x20). Even the beginning of 8x09 he’s not drinking bourbon in the bar but when he gets to Miss Mystic Falls he heads straight for the bar. In my completely biased opinion too it’s also because he’s around Caroline, she just naturally keeps him in control because that’s what she promised him. Damon on the other hand always triggers him, he cannot relax around him.

Awww Liz and Caroline!

Caroline forgiving Damon because he was the only one who mourned Liz not Caroline’s Mom is probably not reason enough for most of us to forgive Damon for what he did but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that’s how Caroline feels and I thought this was a great scene for their relationship. Ultimately I’m glad he was turned human though and she’ll never need to be afraid of him again.

Ripper Stefan is such a maniac! The clause he puts in for whether Matt is going to ring that bell is some Jigsaw level mind games. Why doesn’t Peter just put Matt in a choke hold and tie him up? Idiot family.

Poor Tyler, he really thought Bonnie or anyone would care that Damon killed him. Nope Tyler you needed to be a British white vampire who showed up in S5 for anyone to care about your death it seems.

Ripper Stefan’s reaction to Damon telling him he forgives him THE BEST! This whole scene is so good and a great explainer as to why this relationship has and always will be off balance. Also he’s complained three times that Damon ruined his life having him work for Cade so someone’s not as content as they act like they are.

Notice how once Caroline started talking and basically told him she knew exactly what point he was trying to make he shut up. He was acting just like he did in early S6 when he had to push her away the most. The change in his face is so apparent to, it's unfortunate a lot of this ended up going nowhere because they were already planning on making Stefan human, Caroline was breaking through his walls way more than she realized.

THE BAMON LETTER! So good! I love that Damon memorized it and I can’t help it but I feel so much more from this scene than I have every Bonenzo scene this season. Because it’s full of callbacks and I actually believe everything he’s saying because I’ve seen it unfold. I know it was never going to happen but the ending of the show being Defan falling for Elena’s two best friends and then compelling away her memories so she could finally live a safe life would have been such a great twist ending!

8x11

EL OH EL Ripper Stefan made it very clear to Caroline Damon was his trigger last episode yet he’s asking where she is to tell Damon everything he’s doing wrong.

“Quality like Caroline Forbes” my thesis statement!

I’m sorry but whatever with these losers who want to be cured of having superpowers. Why doesn’t Enzo just walk into the sun when Bonnie dies if it’s such a big deal. I also don’t get why ANYONE is so eager to become human with the LITERAL DEVIL walking around.

God shut UP Matt!

“Some of us don’t regret it” IN YOUR FACE MATT

Usually I ignore the wormholes these characters drive through to get places (especially last season oy) but y’all acting like it took two hours to get from Virginia to Upstate New York I cannot allow! Bruh GTFO!

Why is Bonnie so uninterested in trying to become a witch again? I cannot help but notice the entire time romantic BE has been going on Bonnie hasn't had her powers and that don't sit right with me (and as soon as he dies she gets them back)!

Caroline really turned that around on Damon in a fantastic way to guilt him into using the cure on Cade. Bravo. HOWEVER! Damon and Caroline were way too slow putting the pieces together in this episode and it felt like the show dumbing people down on purpose for plot. Why would they not ask Cade right away what task Stefan was on and furthermore why would they not warn everyone he's on the loose since he just tried to burn the town to the ground?

“I’m thinking something symbolic maybe find a bathtub to drown her in, full circle kind of thing” THE PETTINESS I FEEL!

This was really the most evil version of Ripper Stefan. IDK if it was the power of working for Cade or it was like Alaric and the serial killer ring and the more times you shut it off the more evil you get. I do think they made him so evil because they wanted to cure him (because he wasn't the intended death they plotted the whole season but let me wait to bitch about that) and it needed to be forced on him. Because this didn’t really flow with how he acted in S6. Of course that’s because he was distracted by NH!Caro and after he got her to let go too he just sat in the passenger’s seat. As opposed to Damon who hasn't been cooperating since they started this mission and has him way on edge. TBH I don't even understand Cade's motives here but maybe that's because this is Katherine's idea (which UGH) because I could DEFINITELY buy that she'd love watching Ripper Stefan murder Elena.

Welp play stupid games win stupid prizes Stefan!

Very cool how Bonnie created her own psychic world there.

8x12

Look as bad as I feel for Bonnie I cannot help but say how fucking stupid is Enzo that he was standing with his back to the door, I mean how did he not hear Ripper Stefan yapping about drowning Elena in a bathtub!

Cade really fizzled once he went top-side, he was way more intimidating and intriguing before they rang the bell IMO. I will never understand why he let two sirens he had for 2,000 years go for the Salvatores only to be like "oh well give me Stefan's soul" after like two months of working for him. I thought Stefan's soul wouldn't be as tastey and he was much more useful being a menace?

The thing about Stefan turning human storyline is it only exists because he wasn't supposed to die in the finale! Brett Matthews filled in the pieces during one of those podcasts that the death was switched after they planned out the whole season (like literally Damon compelling Stefan was always the plan). KW came back in around 8x11 and made them switch it, and having Stefan human probably made it easier for the writers to not care if he died a la Tyler. They needed the brother who lived to be human so they could do the final Defan scene. So while parts of this are interesting overall I look at as “what’s the point” if he was going to die he should have died a vampire rather than this unbelievably inane cure plot.

Wait actually I’m not done bitching! What was the point of this Ripper Stefan plot too! Felt like they just wanted to make him do something bad like Damon did for the first SEVEN EPISODES OF THIS SEASON. Rather than actually exploring how Stefan said he was a “reformed ripper” in 6x20 and even in 8x08 he says he’s trying to do it right this time because he made the choice to turn it off. Don’t even get me started about how he admitted he’s “both” in 8x04 and it just went nowhere. Stefan’s blood addiction and how that influenced so much of who he was and how he hide parts of himself just dropped for dramatic effect. Stuff like this makes me feel the Stefan stans who complain the show only cares about Damon are right, like Stefan was such a complex character they were afraid to really explore him.

Bonnie and her Mom's scenes are really touching, I love the burial with the petals. The song is beautiful too, this episode has some fantastic music.

I can't believe old timely Matt was a thing!

Caroline saved him just like she said she would!

I know this is a deeply serious scene and it's very nice but I can't help but think Julie put this Matt and Bonnie scene in and being like 'oh 200 years ago we were a thing' because she was plotting them ending up together.

Caroline gave Stefan hope and Damon didn’t take it away from him. Love that.

You know Ric is way too eager to let Stefan die when he’s in this mess because he was protecting his daughters! I hate this motherfucker.

KAI I MISSED YOU!

8x13

Matt ringing the bell was 3 days ago! Why is this show’s timeline insane all the time feels like 800 things have happened since!

If Kai is just a psychic imprint because he was dead and only came because of the bell than how the hell did he survive for like 20 years in that prison world? He came back in S2 of Legacies to be killed off for the third time.

Dorian makes some great points and I do like that the show made a point to be like so what if Stefan feels remorse he still murdered all these people. However he murdered Dorian’s family while working for Klaus to save Damon, it’s always saving Damon that ruins his life.

Omg Kai drawing the heart on the window thinking about Bonnie! I can’t believe how much I like this now!

Very here for Caroline just giving out Stefan’s money as she pleased to clean up his mess.

Okay rant time it’s absolutely RIDICULOUS the amount of times Stefan is hemorrhaging blood as a human! The idea he could dig a grave like that after having stitches is impossible and now he’s been shot and needs a blood transfusion but SOMEHOW the cure is still in his blood. Fucking most annoying plot device ever.

THANK YOU CAROLINE! God shut up Matt! Always whining about vampires and blah blah blah but who keeps fixing everything! The vampires! Even on Legacies all that shit Alaric talks and who always saves the day, the damn supernatural beings!

Endlessly annoyed that now the show decides after stifling Bonnie’s powers constantly since S3 were like “oh actually Bonnie’s super duper powerful” honestly go to hell. Really waited until the end of the damn show to do that…

SUCH A GOOD SCENE! This scene parallels perfectly back to Steroline’s first kiss where Stefan said “if anyone could control death it’s you” because that’s what she did!

Caroline calling out Stefan for his martyrdom was so good, this is why I like them they have real conversations and they don’t put each other on pedestals. Stefan’s motive for going on a spiritual journey makes sense too, even though he chose to live for Caroline because he loves her so much what Cade said still rang true to him. He thinks he’s a burden now because he promised her forever and now he can’t give her that.

Josie trying to set Lizzie on fire for hurting Caroline LMFAO

8x14

Okay LOL there’s SO MANY scenes of people visiting limbo when they’re on deaths door and I still see posts of “Stefan had no reason to visit Elena instead of Caroline” in the finale and like um yeah he did lol. Literally the only person he could see in limbo, the show is not complicated you’re just in denial.

Finally a real selfie! Stefan is so pathetic, it brings me so much joy lol.

CTFU Lizzie and Josie setting things on fire because Steroline broke up! I can relate!

Truly amazing how much Stefan never learns his lesson! As soon as Damon roped him back into the main plot he’s like REVENGE! He didn’t even pretend to care it was to save Elena.

ONE LAST VERVAIN NEEDLE STAB! This was the funniest thing I noticed during this rewatch, no matter what vervain needle in his pocket.

I like that they brought back the slasher movie scenes with Kai’s return as he’s walking around the Armory to murder the twins. Caroline “for Jo” moment was awesome!

Love the psychic fight between Bonnie and Cade to save Damon’s soul. Then Stefan stabbing Cade and kill him and the whole psychic blast with the ashes falling. Really well shot scene, only thing is it’s endlessly stupid how they brought Damon back to life after he finally did something selfless.

HES SO FUNNY! Stefan doesn’t even let Caroline close the door he’s on his knee saying “Marry me” the man’s got two speeds; careful fear and dead devotion.

I think that was Stefan’s best speech, it’s this or the 6x22 one but this was so beautiful and sincere. A part of me will always be sad he didn’t get that life because him living out a human life helping supernatural kids was a great ending for him. They also spent all that time last season about how he wanted to be a father. And I love that even though he was human and could have children of his own he wanted to raise Caroline’s children with her, like he said he couldn’t imagine doing any of it without her. Both proposals were so great, this one about words the other about actions. I like to believe they’ll have a third one in the afterlife and then they get a wedding with everyone there since Caroline will be the last of the group to find peace (Lizzie might still be alive).

The Armory door becoming one of Steroline’s things was awesome, doors and windows symbolism and both scenes are reunion-esque.

The Bonkai karaoke scene CTFU I’m sorry I enjoy them and the Katherine reveal was great it was so hyped up in a corny way but it worked. The moment kinda needed to break the fourth wall, it sucks she’s such a letdown in the finale.

8x15

The OG Deadbeat Mom returns!

Oh Damon gave Caroline Elena’s necklace to borrow, I could not remember what it was and I akways see gifs of that moment. This is a really great scene.

It would be easier to feel bad about Enzo being dead if he wasn't in every god damn episode since he was murdered! Do Bonnie and Enzo just have this same dancing scene over and over again like what is even the point of this? I totally get why people love this ship because they give them very cute stuff and there's good chemistry but truly they bore me to death.

Poor Valerie LOL probably got excited seeing a call from Stefan only for him to be like “hey Caroline and I are getting a married can you do me a favor” so mean. Valerie would have been a cool guest star on Legacies.

They kept reminding Stefan he was gonna DIE it was cruel! The writers were warning us.

Damn the wedding really is amazing, it just made me feel so many things. The music (like they used a cinematic masterpiece score), the looks, the vows, and the kiss! That might be their best kiss with the petals falling the smiles between kisses and the way Stefan is holding her so tightly! I also love that Stefan called Caroline his "sounding board" because that was one of the best parts of watching them fall in love. How they'd meet by the fireplace and talk about the days current events or Stefan would just spill his guts to Caroline looking for her guidance. God they really were THAT ship.

See now that's how you do a dancing scene with Bamon, the snark, the twirl, the looks they could have been amazing!

That small moment where the camera pans down to Stefan and Caroline dancing and it looks like Stefan mouths “I love you” before kissing her. So important to me. I love how as soon as Damon said they would continue with the ceremony they just stopped worrying about the impending doom of Katherine and it was just about them finally getting this moment, finally getting to be married. And this small dancing scene was so precious to them where they just got to be in love and married and happy and it's taken away from them so suddenly it's good to know they got some joy.

8x16

So Stefan knew Bonnie saw Elena while she was in limbo, and he knows about limbo because he met Cade there in 8x13.

LMFAO Vicki was like “there’s nothing you can do to stop me” and Damon threw her out the clock tower. That was just classic Damon one last time.

Bonnie and Ric basically teamed up to get Caroline out of MF so Stefan would sacrifice himself because they both wanted him dead. No I’m not bitter or anything.

I hate how Stefan died (especially on HIS WEDDING DAY), I just hate that it was basically a suicide because the show decided that’s the only way to find redemption. I do get that Stefan could never let Damon die it’s the optics, I hate it. Stefan was even the one who kept saying he wanted to try and atone for his sins, he wanted to find redemption through that and then suddenly here he's like death is the only way to redemption. This is all KW because this whole episode feels like it was written by someone who hasn't watched this show since S3.

“I love you so much” god this is just heartbreaking, they couldn’t have let them have a day or a week to enjoy being married? Paul and Candice do a great job and I love that the kiss is a reverse parallel to their first kiss, they still deserved better.

WHAT IS THIS WIG

I can’t even listen to Katherine explain her plan that wig killed me.

In all seriousness though what even is the motive of her plan? She wants to burn MF to the ground because why? Just such a waste, they should have killed Cade earlier and had Kai and Katherine be the main villains to end the season, they could have had Katherine possess someone else until Nina came back like Vicki. Maybe throw Silas in there too if Paul felt up to it, just because we know he got dragged to hell too.

Bonnie saving the day with all the witches and controlling the hellfire was the best scene in the finale. Still annoyed they waited until THE LAST EVER EPISODE to make her super duper powerful but this scene was fantastic. Her suddenly knowing how to lift the curse on Elena though RME.

So Legacies S4 kind of enhanced the “tell Caroline I heard her” scene because it established that souls can get stuck in limbo if they have unfinished business with someone still alive. Stefan knew about limbo and knew Elena could be seen there, so he’s clearly looking for her (hence the bumping into him scene). He finds her and tells her everything and then when she hugs him he says “there’s something I have to say” because that was his unfinished business. He needed to make sure Caroline got his message that he’d love her forever too. And I love how it was written that he “heard her” not that he listened to her message. It makes it sound like when he died Caroline’s message was the thing he heard (because he always thought of her before he almost died) and that’s why he goes to limbo first to have Elena relay his message. It was beautiful and I will admit if Stefan didn’t die we never would have got this powerful moment of them promising to love each other forever (still would rather he lived though).

The chin kiss! Gets worse every-time I see it!

I do love Caroline’s ending and that TVD acts as her origin story because the school is the first mark she’s going to leave over her immortal life. However no matter what it’s still heartbreaking that she became a widow the same day she became a wife. I don’t know how that’s not supposed to be tragic.

The funny thing about the KC letter is if Caroline never went to TO you could have totally spun this as a hint-y endgame if you cared enough (which lbr that's what it's all about for shippers on this show). BUT! Because she went there this is just a cliffhanger, the voiceover even says this is the beginning of another story so it's pretty obvious this was just bait and now we know how that story ends. Also forever and ever LOL that Caroline got $3M from Klaus and she ignored his ass for almost a decade until Rebekah was like “please babysit my 1000 year old brother because I can’t physically go near him” such a troll job.

The DE endgame is such a tragedy lol, I'm sorry but the writers did not give a flying fuck about them! I mean yes they got the HEA but really that was just out of default, once they had Stefan die they were the only ship left. And I used to think it was all Ian's fault being unprofessional but he was fine with Nina in their Datherine scenes like this was just that they gave them NOTHING. They didn't even share dialogue, if anything Elena talks about Stefan more and then they just kill them off lol, as opposed to Caroline and Bonnie who the show indicates will have more stories to tell.

Defan last scene is great but I shall never forgive them for not showing Stefan's wedding ring we all know he was wearing because of BTS shots.

Line that made me laugh: (only one, too depressing)

Kai: I think I’m on the waitlist for heaven but they’re not returning my calls (yep that's definitely it Kai LMFAO)

[wombywoo]

Marc's company is funding the taskforce?! Does Quinn know this? Does Liz know this?! How did they let this happen, that guy is evil! He shouldn't be allowed within a million yards of Quinn. I bet Vincent will be so angry when he finds out.

Fig is the best girl and should get to bite Marc. Please tell us more about her?

I also want to hug Vincent now! Knowing his past with the evil vampires, and the voice in his head from his makers, I have a feeling his storyline is going to be filled with almost as much trauma as Quinn. Does Quinn find out about it and decide he needs to personally kill every evil vampire ever? 'Cause I think he should get to, as a treat. XD

YUP!! In fact, the task force probably only exists because of his investment--his company has been very interested in dragon research for a while (their scales are being implemented in new armor/weapons, and certain magical properties are being studied...) (more on that later at some point)...

Liz was sort of aware that Quinn and Marc had a maybe-relationship, but she hadn't known any of the details, so she didn't see an issue in joining forces. In fact, no one really knows all the details, not even Danny... Quinn kept those things very close to the chest...

And Vincent doesn't know anything !!! at least not in the beginning! He just knows there's a bad vibe about the dude when they meet, and eventually he learns he's Quinn's ex, but Quinn doesn't divulge any specific details for a whiiiiile.....

(there might even be reason for Vincent to reluctantly collaborate with Marc...something about a potential cure....hmmm....hoohoeohoo)

But when he finds out....ooof...that does NOT go over well

What can I say--I love drama, I love angst 🤌🤌🤌

Fig!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fig is lovely and smelly and sleeps a lot !!! She's kind of in tune with Quinn's moods and will come over and slump on him if she feels he's looking sad 😭😭😭 She loves to run around in circles and then come waddling back to Quinn to slobber on his shins 🥰

Vincent definitely has drama of his own he'll have to deal with. I've been toying with a few ideas on how his past and these new threats will tie together, but I'm saving that for later 🤫 (ie. I haven't thought of it yet) But! I do have ideas! And I'm quite pleased with everything I've come up with so far!

Quinn already has beef with vampires in general, so I think he'd be fine slaughtering all the evil ones. The only thing is....they might have an interest in him at some point....👀

[musclesandhammering]

Spn Opinions That’ll Have Me Burned at the Stake Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo

I’m back and bitchier than ever. For reference, here’s part 1.

• Season 5 wasn’t that great.

• D*stiel isn’t real, it’s a sucky ship, and that confession scene was just the writers pandering to the rabid deancas fans cause they knew they were the only ones still watching the show lol. And they left it ambiguous enough that they could still say it was meant platonically if they needed to.

• I hate how they watered down both angels and demons post-season 5ish.

• I liked Ruby 1.0 better than Ruby 2.0.

• I hate Honey!Cas. They just did that cause they didn’t know where to take his story from there, needed him out of the way, and thought it would be funny. It was insulting.

• Jack should’ve been played by an actual child so everyone’s abuse of him would resonate with the audience for what it was (casual fans are brain dead and need to be spoon fed).

• Victor Henrikson deserved more time on the show.

• I said it in the last post, but Alex is way more interesting than Claire and should’ve been given the lead role in the wayward sisters storyline instead.

• Dean is canonically straight and for Christ sake if you guys wanted bi rep, there’s about a thousand other characters that are strongly coded or implied to be bisexual (including Sam!) but y’all didn’t focus on them because it wasn’t actually about representation, it was about making it more plausible for your dumb fetishised gay ship to actually happen (spoiler: it didn’t).

• Season 3 and Season 6 were some of the best ones, you guys just don’t have any taste.

• Claire is not Castiel’s daughter and saying she is erases Jimmy and insults her, and even Cas himself acknowledged that on the show.

• Castiel is canonically NOT gay and Misha constantly saying he is is annoying and airheaded. He’s been attracted to women IN THE SHOW and he’s not even really male, so calling him a Gay Man is reductive and just plain wrong. Also, it’s veeery sus that- given how bi/pan folks are even more underrepresented than gay people- that one of the rare times where the bi/pan label actually fits a character BETTER in CANON……. the allies and monosexuals adamantly reject it. Hm.

• “Curing” vampires or werewolves or demons shouldn’t have been a thing.

• The Winchesters cause most of the bad shit that happens and then they just force supernatural beings to fix it for them- tell me again how they’re Super Special Heroes.

• It shouldn’t be possible to make angels human by removing their grace, because (unlike demons, werewolves, etc) they were never human to start with. If you drained me of all my blood, I wouldn’t magically transform into another species, I’d fucking die.

• Making Billie go crazy was dumb.

• Rowena was one of the most interesting and charismatic characters on the whole show- they just didn’t know what to do with her character.

• The archangels, Lilith, and Azazel should’ve been the biggest threats on the show. No other knights of hell, no god and his sister, no Cain, nothing like that. Having every villain just get progressively more overpowered made the show unbelievable and repetitive and annoying.

• The kernel sanders king of hell guy was hot.

• Dean is misogynistic as HELL, homophobic, likes racist porn, is a narcissist, pervs on teen girls, & thinks all non-human people should be exterminated… and that is all CANON.

• Most of John Winchester’s abuse is fanon.

• Fans portraying Cas as a smol bby who colours in colouring books and has a bee plushie is so fucking annoying.

• Instead of having so many gigantic cosmic storylines with god and his sister and alternate dimensions and even the angel and demon tablets, they should’ve just scrapped those and made the stein family and the bmol and the alpha vampire storylines way bigger than they were. Less cosmic stuff, more earth-based stuff.

• They ruined Lucifer’s character post-season 5. Before that, he was more sympathetic and reasonable than Michael. After, he was a spoiled child hurting people for fun.

• Everything from season 7 on is garbage. All of it. There’s bits of goodness here and there but overall seasons 7-15 are trash.

• How the fuck are there actual people who are deangirls and hate Sam?? The space where your brain should be is empty, I swear to god.

• If there was gonna be any lgbt rep in the Wayward Sisters group, it should’ve been Jody and Donna instead of Claire and Kaia. Those two were boring as hell and had zero chemistry or build-up, but Jody/Donna had plenty of chemistry and was very believable.

• Meg has the best and most realistic redemption arc of anyone on the show.

• Chuck was not likeable or charismatic enough to carry off as big of a villain arc as they gave him. Also that whole thing was stupid and WAY too Out There.

• All the angels should’ve been aroace. All the demons should’ve been pan.

• I stanned Cole so hard up until he changed his mind about hating Dean. That was disappointing.

• Sam went through the same shitty childhood Dean did (plus Bonus Abuse on top of it) and he didn’t turn out Like That.

• I cannot think of a single person that was asking for a spin-off about the Winchester family, like that has to be the most boring thing.

[spagyricqueen]

Thoughts on Dadstarion

Well, here we are, writing random musings on a concept I was only peripherally aware of until recently.

I recently watched the full cast Q&A panel at MCM Comic Con London. One brave soul directly asked Neil Newbon about this concept; what he thinks Astarion would be like as a dad. Don't get me wrong, I'm on the #dadstarion bandwagon, here. But I already knew what his answer would be the moment the question was asked.

So I have some notes.

First of all, asking the actor who played the character wouldn't gain any insight into this. At least, not the kind we're naturally fishing for. As he put it, he did his job, he played the role as written, and he has no head canon for the character, especially not with the same fervor that we - the audience - does. The better person to ask would be the writer, but even then the scope of their answer would be limited to the canon work.

He (and the rest of the cast chimed in as well) followed up with thinking Astarion would make a terrible father. And I have to agree, to an extent. Let me explain:

If we take the character at face value, the man is traumatized and has too many demons to work through. What we see of him throughout the game is a man who is only interested in self-preservation, doesn't understand his own feelings, and cannot allow himself to feel close to others.

This fundamentally changes if you 1) show him kindness and compassion, despite his murderous tendencies and 2) help him deal with his "little problem" of Cazador and setting him free, even if it means cursed as a mere spawn forever. Putting him on the path of healing rewards the player with a satisfying ending for him in the epilogue. This is especially true if you romance him (which, personally, I feel is the most rewarding outcome - if you're into him and all).

He is a dynamic character with the power to change. While, yes, he would be a terrible father on the outset, he has the opportunity to grow and learn to be a better person.

That said, the way I have been crafting my little redemption epic for him is based around the concept of his evolution and healing. Fun fact: the idea was originally meant to just be another dhampir story. But somewhere along the line, as I pondered the general through line for such a story, I felt there needed to be something else before we could get to that point.

So while, yes, he became a little more compassionate at the end of the romance storyline in the epilogue, I inserted a new challenge in his life (I made him blind) to explore how he would handle being forced to depend on kindness of others, learn to trust others (especially Tav), and grow into a stronger person in spite of his condition. To develop empathy, and also find strength in oneself through adversity and great challenges. All while also granting the character's wish of curing his vampirism and returning to a mortal elven life.

That isn't to say this mortality is without consequence, but it is what helps him to learn vulnerability and empathy, and I feel it sets the stage perfectly for the impending fatherhood he is about to be faced with (in my story). Patience, compassion, empathy, and strength - and now I think Astarion will be an absolutely wonderful father. And I can't wait to share it.

[kiss-my-freckle]

Forewarning: If you're a Stelena shipper, probably best not to follow my blog. While I do love Stelena's friendship, I will slam the shit out of their relationship. You will not like my dissections.

Stefan: Elena needed to go on that road trip with Damon. No matter what I go through to get her back; fighting my bloodlust, trying to gain control of my life again...None of that matters if she has feelings for somebody else.

Elena: Listen, Stefan, about Damon... We should probably talk about the trip to Denver. Stefan: I don't need to know, Elena.

When Stefan sent Elena to Denver to figure out her feelings for Damon, then shut her up when she got home, he made it clear that he didn't give a fuck about her feelings. He put his feelings before hers. The point of their parallels, and you can see where they stop. Elena was very much in love with Damon in season 3, and Stefan knew it. Season 4 then pushes Elena to be without her humanity because Stefan didn't want to know. "What heart?" Her heart wasn't at the 20s dance just as it's not there with her humanity off at the prom. It's with Damon, and every bit why Denver mattered. 

"No matter what I go through to get her back..."

Elena viewed these two things separately. How she felt about Damon in season 3 didn't matter, Stefan still needed to fight his bloodlust and try to gain control of his life again. Stefan was the one that combined them because he couldn't handle being friends with her. That's why he cuts Elena off in 3x21. She was there for Stefan in season 3 as a friend. At any rate, Damon's scene where he pulls the wood splinters out of Rebekah... that's written opposite his torture in 3x18. He knows he was wrong, taking advantage of her desperation. They are all the cuts she made in Damon. Then the two sit and talk about Elena, which is written opposite his hallucination in 3x18. When you view these parallels, you see where the cure comes in. Where Esther was planning to rid the world of all vampires, there’s only enough cure for one. Thus, The Murder of One. 

Stefan leaving with Silas in 4x23 shows it was supposed to be him with Rebekah at the storage unit in 3x22. Stefan literally wasted two seasons on Elena. Even the entire cure storyline gets wasted as she forces Katherine to take it. The only thing Stefan ensures is Delena's endgame as they reintroduce the cure in the prison world. Last two gifs are every bit why you should expect Elena's graduation speech. 

Stefan: It's my fault. It's all my fault. I mean, this is all my fault.  I'm talking about the fact that you're also in love with Damon.

Stefan already knew. He pushed her to help him kill Finn just as he pushed her to go after the cure by herself. Her first choice was to save Damon. Because she’s in love with him. Intro Katherine... because Elena wanted to choose Damon in 3x22. "Katherine...." "No, I’m Elena.”

[rosemariad]

Supernatural season 13

I've heard of the widower arc that takes place during the early part of this season but geez

Dean looks so depressed – the desolation, the hopelessness. Poor Dean Bean, lost his angel yet again. You can't help but feel for the poor guy (for now…)

Then the instant 180, uno reverse this man takes in his demeanor. He's so happy Cas is back. AND having a big cowboy adventure! They're spoiling this man after the widower arc. Jack & Sam are not down for it but Dean's been so miserable they shut the fuck up.

Dean swallowing deeply when Cas quotes Tombstone – confirmation they have movie nights together (ALONE??????) if they were alone during these movie nights – they're basically dating w/o clarifying that they are actually dating – and they're coparenting, my goodness! The domestication is real!

We later find out Dean snuck a quick shot of Cas in the little cowboy hat he made him wear for the case. Wow.

But as a side note - I did NOT appreciate how shitty Dean was to Jack. He was basically abusing him verbally like WTF give the kid a damn chance - don’t make death threats to the newborn child that was literally born yesterday like the fuck #jackdefensesquad. Like anything bad that jack actually does, he’ll think back to the moments where Dean was like ‘oh he’s a monster’ ’when you go dark side, I’ll be the one to kill you’ yeah like maybe that’s what pushed him to that point. It’s no surprise Jack chooses to leave. My ass would’ve been gone. Also was Cas made aware of the threats Dean made to Jack???

They’re making it REALLY HARD to like Dean this season. MoC was bad, Demon!Dean too but evil forces were at work. This time he got no excuse — threatening at 16 yr old girl who has no one in her corner. They’re basically forcing her to help them for nothing in return. Unbelievable 🤬 And Sam, wtf? Would it kill you to stand up to your fuckin’ brother!

Anyway - Jack’s power is totally cool though.

Kaia…was killed by an alternate self? Whaaaaaat?

So this was the season they tried for the Wayward Girls? Shame it didn’t work out…like the premise is cool BUT since the main show barely give the women characters the time of day, is it any wonder that a pilot didn’t work? The showrunners only seem good with moments - but no building up of the narrative like the male counterparts AKA main cast. Also - what would be the conflict - give people a reason to keep watching the girls - their storylines seem more or less resolved - Jody has already mourned the loss of her family, its not like she became Batman or something to fight a war against criminality. Claire has also gotten past the loss of her parents (as far as we know but honestly she should’ve been part of the main narrative as her life had been directly affected by Castiel’s actions and we all know why Cas bothers to get up in the morning…anyway), Donna doesn’t seem to have anything going on - she’s divorced but over it, Alex is over her dark past, Patience is just seeming to get a hand of her abilities - like where are the stakes??? Sam and Dean had a whole quest to embark on, then they had to navigate fraternal relationship while fighting monsters all the time, slowly unraveling an overarching narrative that’s taken over their lives. Where’s that for the ladies????

I spoke too soon - Donna’s niece gets kidnapped and Doug is her boyfriend (wow totally forgot about that guy, certainly didn’t think he’d return) and once he gets turned into a vampire but cured of it, he’s done. Before he leaves Donna, he calls her a hero. Honestly, if I ended up having a partner/lover who killed dangerous supernatural creatures, I wouldn’t leave them. I’d stick by them and have them teach me a few things. Oh well. Maybe Donna will run to Jody to have a shoulder to cry on ;) I know y’all JodyxDonna shippers are out there.

Scoobynatural was fucking legendary! I loved watching Scooby doo as a kid, from when they were literal babies, to the OG episodes, to the revamp from the early 2000s, all the movies! (Zombie Island was the best!). It was a genuine delight watching the Winchesters (and Cas) cross paths with Mystery Inc. makes me wish they met Buffy and Ash from Evil Dead. That would’ve been awesome! Watching Dean say scooby dooby doo was total cringe tho :/ I love that Cas shut him down 🤣🤣

That ascot though? He’s wearing it all wrong, its supposed to be stuffed in, like how Fred wears it. And certainly not worn with plaid. SMH…

But now I totally want Supernatural as a fucking cartoon! Just like Scooby Doo - it would’ve been fucking glorious, Dean’s unhinge-able jaw, the kooky facial expressions, the comedic effects, and who knows, it would’ve given the show-runners the artistic freedom to reveal the true form of angels, namely, Castiel’s. Oh well.

Donatello is…dead? I know they said Brain dead but after Amara sucked out his soul and Cas fucked up his brain, isn’t he better off dead? Par for the course for a prophet though, sucks for him.

Funny how Rowena suddenly wants to be the good mom and try to bring her demon son back after CENTURIES of chances. Sure she may not have known what became of Fergus since she left him, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken much to find out. She just didn’t want to. Now she’s filled with regret. And Sam’s destined to murder her? And she didn’t take him out? Okay, well then I guess it’s only a matter of time until she dies😒 not this season though, she’s too useful with her witchy powers to be killed off until she serves whatever purpose is convenient 😒

Angels are almost extinct :( I know they’re meant to be seen as controlling jerks but so is Dean XD lol anyway that’s a bummer with devastating consequences cuz if there’s no angels - they said all the souls will fall to Earth and become ghosts - billions in number - yeah. If it were me I would’ve just said the souls disappear but it ain’t my show 🤷🏽‍♀️

Naomi is back and I don’t even care - I’m sorry but I just don’t care about Apocalypse world either, I feel like it’s a grand waste of time. The fact that Charlie and Bobby are there doesn’t even matter cuz it’s not them. It’s not the Charlie and Bobby we got to know before. They’re just counterparts of another world, echoes of the fallen. When Dean says I can’t lose you, dude you literally just met her. And they’re expected to what, abandon the world they were born into? The fuck?

And fuck this show for killing Kevin TWICE!!! Kevin you were too precious for this universe/multiverse, whatever.

ketch is the latest (aside from rowena) of former villains/enemies/antagonist in supernatural that's suddenly we're supposed to be sympathetic towards since they switch sides and help the winchesters for a change but what's the reason??? I feel it's a little out there that Dean especially would let ketch live after what he put his mom through but whatever. since the show runners insisted with this whole apocalypse world crap, Dean would have died without ketch's help 😑

Gabriel has returned…only to die…again…awesome. at least he got to fuck rowena before he passed away 🤣😅

Luci got fucked over hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha

Bobby x Mary, oh man John would be roaring in his grave…if he had one 🤣 [got burned to ashes in season 2], Bobby finna take his whole family, first his sons now his wife ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Luci resurrected someone? And nothing bad happened? Now tht’s a twist. I figured since he’s Satan she’d turn into a demon or something, but i guess not cuz we’re definitely not gonna see her again…

You know since I’ve seen The Boys I can see a resemblance between homelander and the devil, they both blow up in anger very similarly. When jack tells Luci, you’re not my father, he raged in a way that was eerily like Homelander would’ve. Just thought I’d point that out…

Dean lets in Alt-Michael - Oh Lord above its the apocalypse all over again (this was a cool shot though) - meanwhile what’s OG Michael doing? Is he still in the Cage with Adam? Really? You had to bring an extra Michael into this nonsense? Ok 🙄 You know if Luci had possessed Sam too, it would’ve been a wrap!

Jack is powerless…for now? This poor kid was gonna kill himself?! Honey why? Ugh I’m blaming Dean for this. He put the seed in that kid’s head he was nothing but trouble and he was going to sacrifice himself, poor baby!

Cas why would you let Dean go?!?! Too sad to follow him into battle after Dean let Alt-Michael in?

Why can’t Sam get a super powerful Big Bad kill huh? Why is it always Dean? Geez.

So the only good things to happen this season were Scooby Doo and Jack meeting Cas. Ugh, their meetup was soo cute ^_^

Welp only 2 seasons left, the last that’s over 20 episodes. Which means we only have 40 episodes to go til the end…goodie 😅

[magicalgirlagency]

I've been following this blog for a while, and is it me,or has your opinion on Madoka seemingly softened over the years? Like I know you still criticize it a lot but although you have a lot of criticisms of it, at first I thought you despised it but now it seems you're more 'eh' about it?

Because I was still learning on how to tumblr at the time, so it was all one huge mess because I'm a major klutz.

Like, I'm a firm believer that there are no bad ideas, only bad executions. And Madoka Magica is a clear case of that.

You COULD create a story about the seedy underbelly of the world as a Magical Girl; like how it's often a thankless job, it makes you feel like an outcast, you can't reveal your identity to anyone in fear that they might be the enemy in disguise waiting for an opportunity to strike, and can most likely drive you to paranoia as your friends and family could be put in danger at any minute, among other things...

But, Madoka Magica didn't do any of that? It just tells us that the driving force of the world is feminine hysteria? That women are pre-disposed to hate eachother and fight to death? And the MC had to DIE in order to alter the system? And even after the change, more innocent girls are STILL dying?! And you're telling me this ending is supposed to be the HOPEFUL one?!?

Are you sure that Madoka Magica's original ending isn't dragging me into a death cult like Midsommar...?!

And I still stand by my argument that this anime is shamelessly sexist. HOWEVER, I will make myself clear that this argument of mine is based on the entirety of the Magical Girl genre; I'm aware that Urobuchi's brand of despair is unisex, but if we see through the point of view of a genre instead of an entire industry, it IS sexist, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Though that's not a fair argument, the anime/manga industry is STILL sexist anyways. I mean, just look at the state of the Shounen genre.

And I can guarantee to you that almost every trope that Madoka Magica utilizes has been done in a past Magical Girl series in some shape or form (mostly in Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure). The only original things that this anime had was its dadaist aesthetics for the Witches and the use of more elaborate weapons like swords and guns.

And also, it has been 10 years already; we all have grown up, and our opinions have changed along with us. Certainly, many of the tropes that Madoka Magica used have aged like milk and wouldn't fly in the 2020's. Are we REALLY going to forget that Urobuchi has once compared Magical Girls to TERRORISTS?! Come on, man!

And don't get me started on Rebellion!

I have promised myself to keep my expectations for Walpurgis no Kaiten as low as possible to avoid disappointment, but there's a small voice deep within my brain telling me that SHAFT will realize that there's a demand for LGBT+ characters in today's market and make Madoka develop Stockholm Syndrome by the end of the fourth movie.

Madoka Magica HAD potential. But in the end, it's just some mindless drivel about how women are horrendous monsters for wanting things for themselves. It only got popular because of how much marketing buzz it has gotten. The Magical Girl genre is no stranger to dark moments (Sailor Moon, OG!Winx Club and Pretty Cure have plenty of those!) and/or darker series (does anyone even remember/has heard of Shamanic Princess, Vampire Princess Miyu and Uta-Kata?), so the boom for darker Magical Girl stories in the future was inevitable.

And even with its hiccups, its spinoff, Magia Record (the game, not the anime) has shown to be much better than its original source, as in while it presents dark storylines as per Puella Magi tradition, it has the heroines atoning for their past mistakes and fighting for a better future... and they succeed!

It's like it's THAT indeed easy to write a serious Magical Girl story and not punish its heroines for wanting things! Crazy! Bonkers, even!

Turns out I have been pavloved into hating this anime by the annoying stans who can't take a criticism without breaking out in hives, and treat the series and its characters as binaries instead of spectrums as if the motherfucking show didn't referenced Goethe's Faust and Nietzsche.

Truth be told, I don't really HATE Madoka Magica; hate is such a strong word, and there are other Magical Girl series that have done much worse and deserve my hatred more, like Mahou Shoujo Site, for example.

Just look at this shit.

Disgusting. Rotten. PUTRID.

[initiumseries]

the post im referencing: https://www.tumblr.com/initiumseries/625934160818847744/what-did-you-think-of-klaus-in-tvd-and-i-know-you?source=share

I don't disagree with the rest but aren't you downplaying what Klaus did to Stefan? like indentured servitude, making him relapse, making him feed on innocent people - the one thing he hates the most, all in return for a cure that cost him nothing is pretty brutal, no? Also like Damon getting bit didn't really cross Klaus, so what would he punish them for? Stefan lying ab Elena could've had more consequences though instead of him just letting them hang out to protect her

Oooh a throwback post. Fun!

Here's the thing, I don't disagree with what you're saying. In *theory*, that should be brutal, Stefan leaving Elena, becoming an indentured servant, relapsing...all of that should have so much weight, and be hard for us, as viewers, to watch. What I would've liked, is to see Elena and Stefan part, sort of like this:

The urgency, the panic, the pain. Inject it into my veins. And follow that up with Stefan's psychic break or whatever, over the indentured servitude, the feeding.

But instead, what we got was boyfriends.

I donno about you, but this doesn't feel like indentured servitude. It doesn't appear like Stefan is suffering all that much at all. Klaus gives him a ton of freedom. He doesn't really control him with force much at all, Stefan just happily complies, sort of, on the surface (we're meant to believe). Part of it is their chemistry, but the biggest problem is the narrative isn't driving home that this is actually hell for Stefan. We don't see many moments where it's *clear* Stefan is drowning. And we don't see enough actual tension between Klaus and Stefan that shows some sort of fight. Stefan being reluctant to do things, Klaus compelling him, or Stefan agreeing to do something, seeing the self disgust right before he executes, etc. More nuance would've elevated this whole storyline.

It's not until this moment, where they rely on dobsley chemistry, to carry that narrative on their backs.

And it was successful, I remember watching this scene like DAMN. Paul's emotion, Nina's earnestness, it works. But this is basically...all we get.

Like I said in that post, Klaus feels like a petty baby vampire, and the actor doesn't have the gravitas to land a vampire that's over a thousand years old. Because they're just sort of...feeding and causing mischief for a summer, there's no plan, the level of destruction feels very contained. They say, oh they're killing people across state lines, but we don't see the cops, who are also supposed to be vampire killers, tracking this, maybe having a network that's hunting them, we don't see the magnitude of the impact, it's all just contained to a few bodies in a house each time. And Klaus is just...

What I want from this moment is more this:

We can argue about whether or not Godric has gravitas, but he has enough, and the narrative, the camera, supports him enough, that it's VERY clear, that old vampires are at the top of the hierarchal pole because they're powerful.

So when he says things like this:

It's backed up because of how he behaves, and carries himself, and how all the other vampires respond to him.

But all we get from Klaus is family bickering over who Rebekah is sleeping with, what the others are doing, and making Stefan come along on his lost weekend. It's...pedestrian. There's just no weight to any of the things that happen while Stefan is gone until Klaus realizes Elena's not dead, and that's....because he unstaked Rebekah so he could make up staking her by giving her Stefan, and she kisses him and says o m g he is still in love with someone else.

Clown shit.

And Stefan gets away with a lot, for an indentured servant.

In Buffy s3, when Mayor Wilkins recruits Mr. Trick to work for him, and Mr. Trick doesn't take him seriously enough, and in Band Candy things fall apart, Mr. Trick tries to play it off like he did the Mayor a favour now that he doesn't have to pay tribute to a dead vampire. And the mayor becomes very serious and says "In the future, I'd be careful how many favours you do for me." And the implication is clear. We don't even get THAT from Klaus. Completely unserious.

Like, again, so Klaus just wanted a buddy for the summer? He had no grand plan? Nothing? Even if that was the case, I would've liked to see Klaus having some kind of cruel focus in pushing Stefan over the edge, and deriving pleasure from watching how much it killed him to be falling into the abyss of bloodlust again. Like Stefan going from this.

to this

to this

And we as the viewer are watching it like, oh maaan, Elena's frantically looking for him, but we've watched him whittle away, under pressure from Klaus, and so when we get to this point:

We actually don't know how he's going to respond to seeing her there. This idea that Stefan had to "pretend" to be full on ripper to keep Klaus happy while he's actually just trying to keep Klaus distracted...isn't risky enough for me? Klaus is a thousand years old, he'd have to figure from the beginning, this is obviously not what Stefan wants to do, so why pretend? Go all the way. Maybe that's how it started, him trying to fool Klaus, but Klaus is also doing his vampire job and forcing Stefan over that cliff, or he goes back and kills everyone in Mystic Falls, including his brother. It's still petty, but there's some scale of the threat.

There are a million ways this could've been handled, but all I wanted from this storyline was real stakes and like I said in my previous post, TVD was really good at building up big bads, only to defang them later, and this was a perfect example of that. If Klaus was so ready to kill people, and was that typical, violent vampire, then I want to SEE that follow through when he forces Stefan onto his side. I want to SEE the *incredible* fall out of Stefan going there mentally and emotionally. Instead, the execution was a little half baked for me.

[whitegoldtower]

My whole concept of Melauriel’s vampire storyline is based on the song Ptolemaea by Ethel Cain

Many people forget that being a vampire is actually a curse, and I feel like there’s no better song to show the sheer betrayal felt by Melauriel - a Nord restoration mage raised by Auriel worshipping Altmer parents (he was brought up with adoration for the sun) - when one of his closest friends (Erik the Slayer) gets turned into a vampire during one of their little Hedge Knight quests by Movarth Piquine, and while he’s attempting to heal him, Erik turns on him.

The love he feels for his childhood best friend, not wanting to fight him or kill him, just letting it happen as he begs Erik to stop, getting weaker, feeling Auriel abandoning him with each trickle of blood from his throat

The final scream of ‘stop’ is just something so viscerally heartbreaking and blood-chilling

The drop in the music afterwards as that scream echoes out conjures up an image then, of Melauriel caked in blood, desperately attempting one last plea to Auriel, one last prayer. Where there was once an answer, now there is only silence.

Melauriel watches himself and his humanity breaking away in pieces, and each time a piece breaks off, he’s there gathering it up and trying to force it back into place, floundering when it no longer fits.

He loves Erik, but this complete violation of his trust and his soul makes him feel truly and utterly damned beyond repair. It wasn’t Erik’s fault, or Melauriel’s. The most despairing thing about it all is that there is nobody to blame, because the vampire who did it to begin with is dead, now, anyway.

All Erik can do is lay back to back with him each day and whisper his apologies, and all Melauriel can do is resent that they ever left Rorikstead.

The pain he feels walking in light that was once warm and comforting, setting foot in temples that once welcomed him, greeting people with hunger instead of kindness, never being able to eat and be satisfied… his entire existence is torture.

Even if he goes to Falion and both of them are cured of their vampirism, and he makes his peace with Auriel again, the trauma of what has happened to them is something neither of them will forget.

He won’t forget how in a fit of starvation they both took down an innocent woman and fought over her blood like savage rabid animals, all teeth and claws, with no shred of empathy until they sat there in the aftermath, contemplating what they had just done in absolute horror.

He won’t forget being hunted by the Dawnguard, trying to plead, trying to reason with them when all they want to do is kill him for the greater good. For someone who has only ever known love, he won’t forget the feeling of being hated. Terror has made him jaded, and he is no longer perfect.

“Please stop” has become one of the most used phrases in his vocabulary.

I have extremely strong feelings about this particular OC; there’s just something so fucking horrible about the fact that he was just so perfect, a child of Auriel, a young boy loved by everyone who ever met him, cherished by family and strangers alike, not a single violent bone in his body, someone who just wanted to help and heal others, and then he just gets utterly destroyed and corrupted by vampirism until all that’s left is this hollow shell of a man with only fragmented memories of what it was like to be innocent.

I can easily see him and Serana (this song also fits her, being a Daughter of Coldharbour) trauma-bonding. Him and all of the vampires trauma bonding over that one profound experience of losing humanity, all screaming in unison, holding one another like that one scene in Midsommar.

Perhaps, if the story goes that way and Melauriel truly loses it, he’ll stand with Serana and Erik and all the others under the blood-hallowed sun and smile with newfound faux righteousness as the world burns.

Blessed are the children of coldharbour.

“Each and every one come to know their god through some senseless act of violence.”

He’s made a flagellant of himself.

[pearl484-blog]

An Ace take on Vampires

So, I was reading It Came From the Closet, which is a good book, except it lacks points of views from the intersex and Aro/ace communities. Now I am not intersex, and I'm not sure if I'm aro, but I am most certainly ace, so allow me to take a crack at what I think one of our entries might look like. For any of you who are also LGBTQ+, especially those in the a-spec or intersex communities, if you would like to join in and post your own version, please do. I know we have things to say. I know people would love to hear it.

Alright, so from a young age, vampires were my only connection to understanding lust, which in a way makes a lot of sense.

Vampires are usually once normal humans who undergo a transformation and start experiencing a hunger that those who have not transformed simply cannot understand.

This hunger is immoral, despised by the church, and the satisfaction of it is often depicted as sensual or animalistic depending on the genre of the vampire and how willing the participant is supposed to be. The more willing, the more sensual, the less willing the more brutal, animalistic. This of course leads to the obvious analogy about sex, which of course it does. In a world where you are ace, it always, inevitably leads to sex. The interesting thing I want to talk about though is the conversion.

See, vampires are a type of monster that often transforms others into one of them by feeding. Either by feeding on the victim or having the victim feed on them. In this way, I read a sort of ace conversion story. In which a vampire performs a sensual act on a person who may or may not be willing to turn them into another vampire and become grateful and engage in a relationship with them, usually a submissive role with a desire to perform the same wrongs committed by their aggressor to others. I see, from an ace perspective, a retelling of the story of conversion rape story, in which a person is coerced or forced into having sex in order to cure them of their sexuality and awaken a previously unknown desire in them. After this, the perpetrator often hopes the victim will look to them as a teacher and engage in a relationship with them, becoming hopeless infatuated with them. However, this is often times a fantasy in the eyes of the perpetrator, and it can be a nightmare in the eyes of many in not just the ace community, but the queer community in general. Let me be clear. This does not work. Ace people are not people who just haven't tried sex and need to have a good time, but often times people think that way, and I can see an accidental storyline of people being forced to give up their identities and transform themselves for the sake of those who wish to change them and give them a new appetitie.

[cosmicjellies]

long and disorganised dark shadows update

once again spoilers for this 50 yo show//

first of all i am stupid and got the last episode for the dream curse storyline wrong. i think i wrote down 563 and it is actually 536? and it took me a minute to notice. decided to stop at 560 bc its a good number. the adam storyline is very long which i find daunting, so it's good that there is also that to break it up. i have been watching it fairly slowly but i will still take a medium-sized break before continuing.

i have been thinking about what the best way to watch this show in 2023 is, and how the ways we watch tv have changed over the years. i usually am kind of anti-bingeing but i feel like this weirdly benefits from it? for me at least. maybe because it was daily and not weekly. that said its funny how repetitive it is. was thinking about this especially this time around- they reaallly dragged out that dream and that tape by dr lang, i feel like they repeated each of them about 100 times i could probably recite them. luckily i like repetition but i imagine it would drive some other people (esp modern day viewers who might be bingeing this) crazy.

anyway some scattered thoughts under the break-

i love cursed paintings/art-based horror so i liked that there was a bit of that, but maybe they could have spent more time with it. was very happy to see my good friend rev trask come back as a ghost like i specifically said i wanted him to last time. please come back again! angelique magically forcing tony to be in love with her was very fucked up! again i wish we had spent more time exploring how fucked up it was. elizabeth turning into naomi was obviously great i esp loved when it got kind of incestuous with her mistaking roger for joshua- there was already an uncomfortable subtext there esp after the casting choices for 1795 it makes perfect sense to bring that out. i am not super into nicholas as a character yet- he seems mostly instrumental, to make angelique go from villain to victim, which admittedly is fun.

excited for vampire angelique and it does make sense to go there. excited for non-barnabas vampires in general. speaking of, how do vampires work, actually? barnabas is suddenly worried about the guy she attacked turning into a vampire- but has this been a problem before? barnabas has attacked many people, who just died unceremoniously. when he was feeding off maggie it did seem like she was turning, but then it stopped. and obviously biting people does have an effect on them, but so far it's been used to enslave them/make them familiars, not fully turn them (something i really liked in previous storylines). either an inconsistency or something that needs to be elaborated on.

i dont have any full thoughts on the adam storyline as a frankenstein adaptation, since it hasnt finished yet. obv the way it was tied into curing vampirism was extremely silly and nonsensical but thats great i love that. didnt really care for sam going blind but it was fun when i made the connection to the book, in which frankenstein's creature befriends a blind man. leonardo dicaprio pointing meme. found myself thinking a lot of about adam's language development, and the ways in which it is probably not realistic, and wouldn't it be cool if someone did tell a similar story but had read up on language acquisition and made an effort to model the different stages etc etc. but i realise this is actually not something anyone cares about at all.

obv adams crush on carolyn is extremely uncomfortable, and it has now gotten to the point in frankenstein where the creature kind of turns into an incel. rip. was going insane whenever matthew talked to adam about women- first carolyn and then vicky. all that stuff about "imagine if someone took away caroline wouldnt you feel bad, think about how kidnapping women makes men who love them feel :/" when you could perhaps just explain to him that vicky and carolyn are people and what about how they themselves feel. blah blah this is from the 60s.

anyway stay tuned after my break for more disorganised thoughts! i will be finishing the adam storyline next

[mydarlingklaus]

Klaroline Family Drabble: The Second Chance

Two years later and guess who was finally inspired to write a new klaroline family drabble! *points a proud finger at myself* I have missed writing about my tiny blonde vampire family.

This is about klaroline handling the new reality of heretic!Lizzie, in continuation of my version of the merge storyline (do not compare it to canon becasue I have no idea what they’re doing over at legacies). Link to my ff page to read the full chapter can be found here. PLEASE leave a review.

Happy Reading! 

"How is she?" Klaus muttered as he poured two glasses of scotch.

"She's asleep, finally." Caroline replied as she made her way down the stairs, sighing when accepting the drink. "After being hyper-fixated on every moving particle and accidentally running into doors with her vamp speed, you'd think that would've exhausted her before night time."

"She's eager. All baby vampires are."

"I know." Caroline said with the glass rim pressed against her lips, pinching her eyes shut as the bitter drink fell down her throat. "God, this is crazy, isn't it? One day she's asking about prom dresses then the next she's asking for O negative blood."

Klaus winced at her attempt of trying to shine light on a not-so light-hearted situation, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed.

"No, it's not crazy. It's life as a vampire. Which Lizzie now is." Klaus said matter-of-factly.

The glass rim barely touched her lips, taking note of his rude and cold tone.

"I know that too, Klaus."

He shrugged in response before turning to pour himself another drink. His body physically flinched when Caroline's arms were suddenly wrapped around his torso from behind. Her drink forgotten on the countertop. Lips hovering the nape of his neck, leaving a kiss there.

"Guess what? I was able to convince my dealer at the hospital to donate a fresh batch of blood bags."

Klaus cleared his throat, choking out the words, "Given that said dealer is an old flame of Alaric Saltzman's I hardly see the chore. Besides, don't you have enough for yourself?"

"They're not for me silly, they're for Lizzie. We can heat one up for her before she wakes up. I even bought her own special mug." Caroline giggled with another kiss that Klaus was unresponsive to.

She was holding onto him for dear life while his arms didn't even twitch to embrace her.

"Hm, well if you would have discussed this with me first you would've known I already got enough blood for her to last a week. And it isn't the cheap hospital stuff either." He coldly dismissed while detangling her body from his as he walked to the other side.

Eyes burning with potential tears, her lips parted—confused and hurt—Caroline stood there covering her body with her arms while watching Klaus gulp down another drink.

They were never dismissive towards each other, ever.

Never cold.

After such an extensive and trying period of working on their communication during the early days of their relationship, they were no longer distant towards each other either. Even the rough patches were cured within the same day.

The past couple of weeks have been their most challenging and negated all their progress. Caroline never felt more far away from him. The comfort that once united them was fleeting.

Physically, Klaus was there but mentally and emotionally he may as well been in New Orleans.

Straightening her posture, Caroline cautiously made her way over to him. Her apprehensive lip trapped between her lips the closer she came to her hybrid, who seemed to be ignoring her approach as he casually poured another full glass.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked, now sandwiching him between the counter to force him to look at her.

He finally did, but she wish he hadn't.

His facial expression was blank but his eyes told another story. Those lively and promising blue eyes that intrigued her over a decade ago were now glossed over with anger and grief.

He lifted his hands nonchalantly. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Wanna know what happens next? Click the link ;)

[onlythebrave-91]

Buffy and Peaky Blinders season six comparison

I don’t think anyone but me would feel the need to write a sloppy mini-essay comparing season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Peaky Blinders. 

In the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and  Peaky Blinders, the protagonists, Buffy and Tommy are faced with mortality more than ever before. In season five, Buffy loses her mom to a stroke; a human cause Buffy could do nothing to cure. In the season five finale, Buffy sacrifices herself to save her sister (and the world). In season six of Peaky, Ruby and Polly die and Tommy believes he’s mortally ill. Tommy and Buffy feel like they’ve failed to be the heroes and leaders they try so hard to be. No matter how hard they try, mortality is something they cannot beat. In the beginning of the sixth season, Buffy is resurrected; pulled from heaven by her friends. For Tommy, this “resurrection” is less literal; his season six starts after a huge personal failure and a suicide attempt. They are pulled into life by forces out of their control and by people who love them: Arthur takes the bullets out of Tommy’s gun and Buffy’s friends cast a spell to bring her back. 

Once they’re brought back to life, they exist in a middle ground between life and death. Buffy misses heaven and being at peace. On Earth, though she is surrounded by loved ones, she has to constantly fight. Constantly be the hero. She puts a smile on for her friends, she fights the monsters when they come but secretly she wishes she were still dead. Tommy recognizes the fascists as more evil than he is. He truly believes in socialism and justice. The fascists are the last, and most important enemy he needs to take down before he can rest. Before he can die. With this goal in mind, he distances himself from the world and from his family. It’s Lizzie who feels and acknowledges this distance the most. She says “it feels like you’re checking off boxes”. Both characters have a decision to make: live fully or continue to sleepwalk though life, headed towards an imagined end of the road. When it comes time to make the decision, both characters are tricked. Buffy is poisoned by a monster and hallucinates a reality where she is a “normal” girl who wound up in a mental hospital because she believes demons and vampires are real. Rather than passively existing in a world she was forced back into, she has to make a conscious decision to be with her friends and keep fighting. She can live alone, peacefully in blissful ignorance as a "normal" girl or she can live fully, in a dangerous world surrounded by chosen family and love. Tommy is tricked into believing he has Tuberculosis and will soon die. He doesn’t bother to fight it or tell his family about it. He resolves to kill himself before he can become a burden to anyone else. 

Both characters ultimately choose life but their motivations for that choice are different. In the moment, Buffy doesn’t know which version of the world is real. Her decision to choose life is fueled by her love of her friends and Dawn. Tommy’s decision is made by realizing the truth; he sees Ruby and she helps him find the newspaper that proves he isn’t really sick. Buffy is pulled into life where as Tommy is pushed away by death.

Another difference is that Buffy’s choice comes half way through the second last season of the series. Tommy’s decision comes at the end of the series finale. Something that’s seriously missing from the show is the aftermath of Tommy’s decision. I read a great fanfic that explored how Tommy might reconcile things with Lizzie and Charles but unfortunately, we will never have a (detailed) canon understanding of how Tommy changes after choosing life. In Buffy’s storyline, it takes a long time for her to fully embrace life. Even well into season 7 she feels lonely and isolates herself. The choice to live is the first step in a long character arc which is why Peaky's ending bothers me so much. There are so many unanswered questions. Do Tommy and Lizzie get back together? Does Tommy become a better father? How does Tommy continue to fight fascism? How does he process killing Michael (especially now that he knows he'll have to live with that for the rest of his life)? How does his family feel about him killing Michael? Is there a moral line they can't look past? I think especially of Ada who from season 1 had a very strong connection to Polly as the original women of the family.

[spacebarbarianweird]

Good morning to me and the new review from you! Waiting for them every time!

I think if Tiriel hadn't found him, he would have wandered those tunnels for years. Sooner or later he would have encountered a source of blood and it would have restored his memory. I had an old Alethaine's concept which was much darker and explored this concept.

Astarion and Tiriel decided to leave the town because their family attracted unncessary attention. As they traveled to their new place of living, they were ambushed my monster hunters. Both Alethaine and Astarion were heavily wounded - and it all happened close the dawn. Astarion ended up in those tunnels completely mindless and feral. Alethaine was unconsciouss for many months stuck in some space in-between (as if dhampirs' souls just don't have anywhere to after death) and she enconutered some dark force that made her a warlock giving her necromantic abilities). Tiriel was looking for the cure (she was sure Astarion was dead) and someone told her dhampirs needed vampire blood for healing. She found a vampire woman, saved her from monster hunters and brought her to Alethaine. Alethaine got back to normal but with those creepy skills and a pact with something dark and evil. In this scenario, Alethaine grew up "on the road" as Tiriel didn't want to stay in one place for too long. When she was 19, she met a group of dhampirs and Tiriel let her go with them. Later, Alethaine fell out with other dhampirs and went to the east to find answers for her questions including "who is my patron" and "what do I owe it" There were basically three storylines. Alethaine looking for her own answers, Tiriel handling her own adventuring group on the Sword Coast and hoping her daughter will come back to her and Astarion who has finally got to his senses and now desperately search for his family.

But I decided it was too dark XD

Lost and Found

Synopsis: Astarion dissapears, and Tiriel goes looking for him.

Tags: dadstarion, dhampirs, hurt/comfort

Alethaine's age: 6 years old

Thanks @themadlu for beta-reading!

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons This one is more Tiriel x Astarion centered but Alethaine has her role, too

Astarion can’t move - his regeneration doesn’t catch up with the damage he received. His ribs are broken and so are his hands. There is nothing left of his renowned vampiric strengths - he is helpless in front of those warriors.

Kill the vampire. Kill the vampire. Kill the vampire.

He feels  dawn is close. His body stirs, and a wave of panic floods his mind. The sun will kill him. The sun will burn him.

Astarion tries to stand up but a strong blow knocks him down.

The first rays of the sun cut him like blades.

The last coherent thought comes to his mind.

Tiriel was right. He should have listened to his wife.

**

Tiriel is worried sick.

Astarion left a month ago with those men from Tunland - promising it would take only a dozen days and she wouldn't be stuck home with their daughter all alone.

But it’s been four weeks and he still hasn’t returned.

Alethaine sits on the ceiling with a book. Her adorable little face looks so serious that Tiriel can’t resist smiling every time she glances at her daughter. 

Like every elven child Tiriel has seen, Alethaine looks a bit like a perfect doll - a bit smaller than human children, with soft silver hair, and pointy ears that twitch, reacting to sounds. The quarter of human ancestry doesn’t manifest at all in her. She could pass for a high elf if it wasn’t for her vampire fangs, skin too pale for a living girl, and the fact she barely breathes. Sometimes Tiriel can’t resist  waking Alethaine up just to make sure she hasn’t died in her sleep. Just motherly anxiety, besides, nothing could have prepared Tiriel to be the mother of a dhampir.

Well, what did she expect, taking a vampire as a husband - but she had no idea dhampirs were anything but a myth.

“Mum.”

“What is it, Kitten?”

“When will Dad come back?”

“I don’t know”, Tiriel says.

The six-year-old flips the page. Tiriel notices elven letters, Espruar. Meanwhile, she is barely capable of reading a page in Common without having a headache, Alethaine easily reads books in both of her mother tongues. 

She is smart, her daughter. Just like Astarion.

Who disappeared without a trace.

It’s not like him. Of course, dealing with pacts and contracts isn't a fast job. It often takes Astarion days just to understand what exactly happened between his client and whatever force they’ve decided to sign papers with (because no one wants to admit to their mistakes). 

But Astarion doesn’t like to be away for too long. Tiriel knows it too well. They have been together for twenty-six years but what is it in comparison with two centuries of slavery, considering his previous life is completely erased from his memories? Astarion still has nightmares, he is still haunted. He needs her as much as she needs him. 

He would have come back already - to her, to their daughter, to their home. 

Tiriel is sure something bad has happened.

Vampires are vulnerable to the sun. To silver. Astarion could have been killed and she would never know about it. 

Tiriel didn’t like Astarion’s last client at first sight—an obnoxious chieftain from the Tunland who was so similar to Tiriel’s abusive drunkard of a stepfather that she almost had a panic attack. He even spoke with the same shitty dialect native to Tiriel’s human relatives.

Tiriel even suggested finding someone in town to look after Alethaine in her absence. Hells she was going to let him go alone! But Astarion talked her out.

I love having you as my bodyguard, but let’s not leave Alethaine without both of her parents.

Tiriel feels a gentle touch of fingers on her hair.

“Mum.”

“Hm?”

“Your mum and dad were half-elves like you? Or one of them was an elf like me and Dad?”

Tiriel looks up. Well, sooner or later she would have asked. For some reason the absence of Astarion’s family doesn’t bother Alethaine (at least now), maybe because she understands the concept that “dad was killed and resurrected and it was so long ago it was all forgotten”—but the  fact that Tiriel doesn't have anyone except for her husband probably surprises her.

“My mother was a human and my father was an elf.”

“But where are they? Is grandma dead?”

Tiriel is quiet for a second. Grandma. Well, sure. Tiriel did have a mother. A woman who gave birth to her. And hated her so much didn’t even bother to give her a name. 

Tiriel does mental math. She has no idea how old her mother was when they last saw each other but considering some of Tiriel’s brothers had already had children,the old hag must be around ninety. If she is alive, which is dubious considering the living conditions in the Tunland and, especially, in the Sunset Mountains.

“And grandpa? If he is an elf, he is still somewhere!”

“Alethaine, I don’t know who my father was or is. I don’t know his name, I don’t know where he was from. And as for my mother… she wasn’t a good person.”

Alethaine winces her nose. 

“But she was your mum!”

“She was a woman who gave birth to me. But she was never my mum. Alethaine, sometimes it happens. Sometimes mothers don’t love their children. And sometimes fathers just disappear without a trace. There are plenty of adults who shouldn't become parents at all.”

Alethaine shakes her head. 

“What if Dad has disappeared too?”

“No,” Tiriel says firmly. “Your dad will come back.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am. Because he loves us.”

Alethaine squeezes her lips.

“Mum.”

Tiriel smiles. Once Aletaine starts asking, she doesn’t stop.

“Were you happy when I was born?”

“Of course! We were very happy to have you!”

Tiriel feels tears pricking her eyes. Of course, she can't know it but she is sure her own birth was met with curses and insults once her bitch of a mother and the midwife saw that the newborn had pointy ears. 

Elven bastard. Dirty blood. Pixie. 

Holding her own daughter in her arms for the first time, Tiriel couldn't understand how anyone could carry a child in their own body, experience childbirth, and still hate such an innocent human being.

“When I have a daughter, I will love her very-very much, just like you love me”

“Well, then she will be lucky to have both a mother and grandmother.”

Tiriel looks outside as if hoping to see a familiar figure approaching the house.

Nothing. 

There is only one thing Tiriel can do about it except for waiting.  

“Alethaine, I need to go away for a few days. You will live with the innkeeper's family.”

“You will go looking for dad?”

“Yes. And, please, don’t make me feel sorry I’ve left you with them.”

Alethaine nods. The innkeeper, his husband, and their five children are the only dwarves in Daggerlake - and almost the same “weirdos” as the Ancunins. Besides, the innkeeper is a retired adventurer and brews the best ale Tiriel has ever drunk. 

“And promise me you won’t crawl on the ceilings. Even if you are asked to.”

“But it’s fun!”

“Yes, but people usually don’t like it when the child they are asked to look after can run away from them to the ceiling.”

“Bu muum…”

“ALETHAINE.”

Tiriel rarely uses her “rage” voice on Alethaine but it always works. Anethaine flinches, her eyes wide open and the book drops to the floor.

“Alright! I won't crawl on the ceiling!”

“Good girl. Now, get dressed and take what you need”

Tiriel hopes it will take her less than a week to find Astarion.

She is even ready to provide an offering to some deity to ensure she won’t coming back home  a widow.

**

It’s hunger. Pain. Desperation.

Astarion wanders through narrow stone halls looking for prey. Nothing. There is nothing. This place is lifeless. 

He is still there, in the dungeons, isn’t he?

Still locked somewhere under his master’s mansion. Starved, beaten, tortured.

It was all a dream

The sun. The warmth of a mortal body. The kisses, the hugs. Home, wife, daughter. It was just a mind trick.

The memories fade so does his consciousness.

A red-haired woman. Freckles on her back. She is saying something to him. Who is she? He can't remember.

A little girl. Cold pale skin, no breathing, blood with a bitter scent of wormwood. Dhampir? Or just an unfortunate child turned into a spawn?

No, they are not real. He is going to hear HIS voice. Humiliating orders. Astarions waiting for it like a lash.

Boy, don’t slouch before me.

Astarion lies on the cold stone. His body is paralyzed. Vampires can spend decades like that - they can’t die of hunger, they just freeze in a neverending torture.

The woman. She keeps invading his thoughts. Who is she? The vision slips away.

You’ve brought cattle, boy.

Yes, the master is here. He is disappointed. He will flay Astarion’s skin and chain him to the wall. But what did astarion do? Did he run away? Did he fail to bring the food? Did he break one of the unwritten rules he couldn’t possibly remember?

The night vale, the stars in the skies, the mountains in the distance. A bunch of red-haired warriors. Kill the vampire. Kill the vampire.

Sun is burning Astarion’s skin.

Did they just return him to his master?

Astarion doesn’t move. Soon there is no name, no reason. Just an empty starving shell.

BLOOD.

Astarion’s body stirs up. Someone alive is close, close enough for his vampiric senses to catch them.

HEART BEATING.

So loud he hears it from a distance.

He jumps on his feet and walks toward his prey.

A woman. Probably, a half-elf. He catches her mixed scent. She is armored with a two-handed ax.

And she is alone.

“Who is there?” she asks, ready to thrust her skull-crushing weapon. Too bad the prey has  dark vision. It gives her some advantages. But she will be dead soon anyway, once she satiates his starving body. 

He bares his fangs and almost physically senses her fear. The blood of a scared creature is the sweetest.

“Astarion?” her voice trembles. She takes a step back.

And drops her weapon.

He rushes toward her and knocks her to the ground. She doesn’t resist for some reason but the vampire doesn’t pay attention to that.

Astarion pierces her neck. Blood streams down his throat. 

So sweet, so delicious. He can’t stop - he won’t stop. Every drop of this woman’s body is going to be his, he is going to satiate himself and then he will go hunting for someone else…

His body slowly gets warmer and his sanity slowly returns.

Astarion. My name is Astarion.

He doesn’t have a master.

He can… feed… on mortals…

Freedom. Sunlight.

Tiriel.

He pulls away and the woman falls on the stone floor, unable to move and barely breathing.

“Oh no…” he mutters observing what he has done. “Tiriel…”

Astarion crawls back to his beloved. Her eyelids are half open, and her skin is almost as pale as his.

“Tiriel!” he slaps her cheek. “Tirel! Stay awake! Look at me, look at me! Oh gods!”

He presses her weak body to his chest, cradling her in his arms. His darling Tiriel, his wife, his thiramin… 

“M-my bag… There is… a… potion” she whispers.

Astarion opens it and finds a small bottle. He unclenches Tiriel’s jaw with his strong hands and pours the liquid into her mouth.

The color returns to her cheeks and her heart stops beating so fast. Her eyes are still full of fear and it hurts Astarion even more.

“Tiriel… I…” Astarion mutters but he can’t say anything else.

What is he going to say, after all?

“Astarion, what the hells happened to you?” she finally says. “You looked like a fucking ghoul! Well you still do… a bit”

Astarion gulps. His throat hurts. He needs more. He is too weak, too exhausted. Astarion looks at his hands to avoid Tirilel’s eyes and horror pierces him once again.

His hands are all covered in burns. Nail plates are broken, and the skin hangs in shreds. 

“Hey! Astarion, look at me!” Tiriel finally makes herself sit up and grabs his mutilated hands. “Hush, I am here, I am here!”

She hugs him and he feels how weak she is. His body trembles, the panic crushes his mind with boiling hot waters, tears stream down his face and his mouth is open in a silent scream.

“Hush, my love, it’s going to be alright. We are going home. Alethaine misses you”

Alethaine. His daughter.

He is safe. His master is dead. He has it all.

And he’s almost lost it.

Tiriel cups his face. “Astarion, I shouldn’t have let you go. I knew something was wrong. Did they try to kill you?”

“I don't remember.”

“Where are your things? Daggers? The armor?”

Astarion looks down - his feet are bare, the trousers and the shirt are all in rags. He does look like he just emerged from a tomb.

“Damn. Well, let’s hope no one will attack us on the way back. Come on, let’s go outside and get you more blood. And then we are going home and the fuck I am letting you go alone next time!”

**

Tiriel lies on the bedroll. She’s set up the tent in the cave—close enough to the surface but with access to the underground tunnels.

She didn’t manage to understand what exactly happened to Astarion and why he was that feral when she found him. But the burns on his skin betrayed the only reason—the sun.

It seems like whoever did this managed to overcome Astarion in a fight and then let him burn in the sun. Astarion managed to get into the tunnels but lost his way. And since the tunnels were completely empty the hunger didn’t let him heal.

She knew they couldn't trust those bastards from Tunland! She has a good intuition after all. Next time Astarion had better listen to his wife!

Her whole body hurts, especially her neck. Astarion rarely feeds on Tiriel—her blood is more like a medicine to him rather than food but when he does he is always gentle, making sure the process doesn’t hurt her. But this—this was a full-fledged assault. He ripped her throat with his fangs and she is alive only thanks to the fact he returned to his senses before it was too late.

She hears light footsteps.

Astarion is back. His hands are healed and he looks like himself, not the starved monster she encountered in the tunnels.

She elbows up, but Astarion pulls away in embarrassment.

“Astarion, come here,” Tiriel asks. “I’ve spent a month in an empty bed. Don’t deprive me of your presence,” she takes his hand in hers.

Together they sit on the bedroll and Tiriel hugs him nuzzling the crook of his neck.

“I am sorry,” he says.

“Don’t.”

“I’ve almost killed you.”

“But you didn't. Astarion, please, you’ve lost yourself because of hunger. I won’t deny I was scared,but it doesn’t mean it has to change anything about us.”

“I almost killed you,” he repeats. “I would have stepped in the sun if I had done it.”

“Hm, and left our daughter an orphan? I don’t think there are many people ready to raise a dhampir.”

“Where is she?”

“I left with the innkeeper’s family. Good thing I went out looking for you. Who knows where the darkness would have taken you.”

He nods and presses his legs to his chest. Tiriel hugs him from behind. When they just started being together she did it daily—a ritual to console him. But it’s been a while since he needed it.

She kisses the nape of his neck. Then she kisses his cheek. Caress his ears. Plays with his curls.

“I love you,” she whispers. “You are the best thing that happened to me.”

Astarion weeps and Tiriel tugs him closer.

“You need to meditate, love” She kisses his forehead. “Think about something good. Remember how we left Baldur’s Gate twenty-six years ago? We hit the road at sunset and just walked hand in hand. Or when we were stuck in some shitty northern town for the whole winter? I couldn’t make myself leave the room and one night you came back with a pair of rings. You just put one on my finger and kept staring at me as if you saw me for the first time.”

“I prepared the whole wedding speech but forgot it all,” Astarion says, not even trying to get into reverie.

“Or remember how we were both freaking out because of the pregnancy? One day you just knelt in front of me, placed your hand on my belly and burst into tears because your vampire hearing allowed you to hear Alethaine’s heartbeat.”

“We need to go home, Astarion, and you need to rest. Then we can talk about anything that bothers you.”

**

Alethaine flips the page of the book. Thanks to dark vision she can read in complete darkness. The story catches her mind—it is a story of old times when elves ruled Faerun. Thousands and thousands of years before the Age of Humanity, her ancestors walked those lands, building the towers and castles and practicing the ways of long-forgotten magic.

But the intrusive thoughts keep getting into her young mind. First, Dad disappeared without a trace and Mum was so worried she could barely do anything. Then, Mum left town and Alethaine was all alone. Sure, the dwarven family is friendly and they don’t mind taking care of one more child (it’s not a big deal if there are five or six of them), but with every passing day Alethaine was getting more anxious.

What if both of her parents had died? What if she was already an orphan? 

Two months passed like this. And then, she was woken up by familiar voices, and her tiny world was restored.

The dhampir puts the book away and takes her plushie. It’s nice to sleep in her own bed for once, but she feels so lonely it cripples her.

Alethaine walks to her parents’ room. Mum and Dad lie in each other’s arms. They discuss something she can’t understand.

“I think we have a visitor,” Astarion chuckles. “What is it, princess?”

“Can I sleep with you?” Alethaine asks, pressing the plushie to her chest.

“Sure, come here!” Astarion opens the blanket up inviting Alethaine in. The dhampir immediately nestles between her parents.

Tiriel hugs her and kisses the crown of her head and Astarion adjusts a bit so he can see both of his girls.

Alethaine relaxes. Her mother’s heartbeat is so loud it’s basically the only thing she can hear. Dad doesn’t breathe and his heart doesn’t beat, but she finds special comfort when he holds her—there is something more natural about his cold hands than her mother’s warmth.

“Did something scare you, princess?” Astarion asks, intertwining his fingers in Alethain’s long soft hair.

Alethaine feels a wave of sadness and fear rising up in her body. Before she manages to say anything coherent she bursts in tears causing both of her parents to immediately rush to comfort her.

“Were you afraid we were absent for so long?” Tiriel asks, placing Alethaine in her lap. Her motherly kisses are so tender the dhampir cries louder and more desperate.

Astarion sits up and wraps his hands around them both.

“I am sorry, princess. We aren’t going to leave you anymore, we promise.”

Alethaine sniffs, pressing her nose into Tiriel’s chest. 

And then she hears a quiet lullaby.

Astarion hums it in Elven. Alethaine can’t decipher words but the song soothes her as Tiriel sways her a bit in her arms as if the dhampir was still a baby. 

Both her mother’s warmth and her father’s undead coldness weave a perfect sense of comfort for her. 

Of course, they were going to come back. They are her parents. They can’t disappear, they can’t die.

As Alethaine drifts into sleep, she notices the way her parents look at each other. 

This image is being engraved in her mind and Alethaine will remember this even years later.

Even centuries later Alethaine Ancunin will remember the way her mother smiled to her father and the way Astarion held Tiriel’s hand. The way they talked to each other, the way they saw the world in their lover’s eyes.

Three centuries later, when Alethaine takes her own daughter in her pale hands, this image will flee into the dhampir’s mind, and she will weep, mourning her long-dead mother.

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati @lynnlovesthestars @marina-and-the-memes @waking-electric @ayselluna @connorsui @asterordinary @darkarchangel96 @locallegume @brainfullofhotsauce @coffeeanddonutscafe @my-queen-rhaenyra-targaryen @queenofthespacesquids

[kiss-my-freckle]

Stefan and Elena are written in a huge season to season parallel. Season three Stefan is written alongside season two Elena. The only thing Stefan does over the summer is give Elena time to fall in love with Damon. That's why season three ends up back where they left off in 2x21. These are the parallels...

Elena makes a deal with Elijah. Elena daggers Elijah.  Elena un-daggers Elijah. Elena reestablishes her deal with Elijah. 

Damon & Stefan prepare to war against Klaus. Stefan makes a deal with Klaus.  Stefan is free from Klaus. Damon & Stefan prepare to war against Klaus.

Stefan's entire summer spent with Klaus is written alongside Elijah's time in the Salvatore cellar. That's why he's ripping up and down the eastern seaboard. He should've taken Klaus' deal, got Damon the cure, then broke the deal and prepared for war. When Rose spoke to Elena about her deal with Elijah, about her giving up instead of choosing to fight, that’s exactly what Elena did. But that’s also exactly what Stefan did. 

Because Stefan chose to honor his deal with Klaus, Elena becomes a vampire in 3x22 opposite her remaining human in 2x21. The sire bond is specific in the fact that relationships take two people. So while Elena spent the second season demanding both brothers do things her way, she has to do the same in the fourth season. Stefan has no problem being her lapdog, Damon prefers an actual relationship. The difference between one making the choice for both, and both making the choice together. Stefan and Elena choose for each other rather than choose together, which is the reason they don't work. Elena chose for Stefan in season two, Stefan chose for Elena in season three. Damon didn't get her respect by respecting all of her choices, but by being an equal partner. Anyway, that’s one of the pros of the sire bond. 

Fans believing Stefan left town with Klaus to save Damon are kidding themselves. He left town because he thought he could stop Klaus from finding out Elena survived the ritual. The point of Elena’s text to Stefan in 2x22. Damon is okay because he was meant to be given the cure. Elena is not because she was meant to die in the ritual. Stefan drank blood bags to save Damon, then left town to protect Elena. Because he chose to play martyr for both, and without allowing them a choice in the matter, he chose to give them a future together. 

Make no mistake, the final season justifies the past. Stefan dies for his brother as he should've done in 1864 instead of forcing him to turn. It was supposed to be just Stefan becoming a vampire, it will be just Stefan who takes Katherine to Hell. It was supposed to be just Damon with Elena, but Stefan had a problem letting her go. Because he had a problem letting her go, he set everything in motion in the third season. From Elena becoming a vampire straight through Silas’ storyline. Silas’ storyline merely picks up where Klaus left off. In order for him to be a witch, he’d have to drain Elena just as Klaus did during his ritual. But Katherine gets force-fed the cure because she skated on her role in Klaus’ ritual. It’s all fate and circumstance. 

Fans can say Stefan deserved this or Stefan didn’t deserve that, but that’s not how life works. Men aren’t actually entitled to the women they save, and sometimes love happens even when you don’t want it to. Elena could’ve fought her feelings for Damon for the rest of her life. Wouldn’t stop her from being in love with him. According to fans, Elena was supposed to stay with Stefan all the while being in love with Damon simply because she was terrified of losing her best friend. And I’m quite sure Damon didn't just wake up and say, “Hey, I think I’ll fall in love with Elena today.” He fell in love with Elena because he’s just as “human” as Stefan, and girl has all the right qualities. 

[bulkyphrase]

Halloween Fic Recs Part 1: Novel-length Stories

Happy October! Here are some scary and/or supernatural stories for your Halloween reading pleasure! This year the stories will be grouped by length, starting with the longest ones - that way you have plenty of time to read them before the end of the month!

Next week - novella-length

Liberate Tutemet Ex Inferis (Save yourself from hell)

words by Terrenis, art by Queerily_kai (@kaiwrites) (Explicit | James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson | Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death | 55,989 words)

Summary: In the Year 2060, Stark Aeronautics and Space Administration's prestige project, the “Event Horizon”, was on its maiden voyage with the newly developed Arc Reactor Gravity Drive, only to disappear beyond Neptune’s orbit without a trace. Now, seven years later, a transmission from the eighth planet is received, along with a very disturbing audio record. Tony Stark, who not only wants to redeem his reputation, but also needs to know what happened on the ship, goes on a mission with the enhanced Inhuman ragtag crew of the Singularity to salvage his baby. Little do they know that this is literally going to be a trip to hell… Or that totally unnecessary Event Horizon AU that no one asked for. But I’m going to write it anyway.

Dying for a Drink

by tsukinofaerii (Explicit | Steve Rogers/Tony Stark | Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death | 61,836 words)

Summary: Tony takes up an offer that has tragic effects, and Steve is forced to handle the outcome. But Tony's business isn't done yet, and so Steve finds himself struggling with vampire politics and his own sexuality.

Everything else below the cut!

Blood and Other Drugs

by WilmaKins (@wilmakins) (Explicit | Steve Rogers/Tony Stark | No Archive Warnings Apply | 175,010 words)

Summary: Tony Stark disappeared from public life twenty years ago. He exists as a name without a face, the anonymous director of the Avengers and the inventor of the worlds best tech - all done from the workshop that he never leaves. Or so they say.Steve isn't interested in the rumours. He doesn't care why Stark hid himself away. He *only* wants to meet with Stark so that he can get Bucky's arm fixed. Well, until he meets Tony Stark. Then maybe he cares... Vampire!Tony Stark AU.

I haven't been able to read as many long spooky stories this year, so here are some of my favorites from last year

Demon Seed

by SucculentHyena (Mature | James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | 92,478 words)

Note: ❤️Sci-fi body horror masterpiece my beloved❤️

Summary: [Transcript 00:11:48] MS: You were with him the most throughout the course of events, both before and after. Your account could shed light on something we may have missed. JB: What difference will that make? MS: It could make all the difference. Captain Rogers’ case is unprecedented, he’s the most intact victim we’ve ever recovered- JB: [laughing] You call that intact? -Excerpt of Interview with Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes regarding the Incident.

For Whose Love I Rise and Fall

by Yeetmeaway (Mature | Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | 195,570 words)

Note: ❤️Post-apocalyptic vampire romance novel my beloved❤️

Summary: In 1943 Hydra unleashes a deadly virus in its quest to create a new world order-- one that turns its hosts into vampire-like creatures. 75 years later, humanity is on the brink of extinction, protected only by the hunters of SHIELD. Natasha has already lost so much to this-- they are fighting a losing battle and everyone can feel it. But, for the first time in years SHIELD has hope, the possibility of a cure. What else will she give to bring an end to this nightmare?

Dragging You Down

by AraniaArt, Kamiki (@araniaart, @shipperhipster) (Explicit | James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | 81,016 words)

Note: ❤️Involuntary demonic transformation my beloved❤️

Summary: In a divergence from the canon storyline, Hydra experiments with occult legends of a more demonic bent. When Bucky is captured at Azzano, something more insidious than a knock-off super soldier serum is done to him, but the full effects take some time to completely set in. Bucky struggles with building impulses and an increased libido while trying to keep his interest in Steve from boiling over and ruining Steve’s chance at the life he deserves.

A Long, Lonely Time

by asktheravens (Mature | Steve Rogers/Tony Stark | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death | 58,567 words)

Note: ❤️Spooky ghost murder mystery my beloved❤️

Summary: Steve returned from the war injured in body and mind- and able to see the dead. At loose ends and desperate to get out of New York City, he accepts a fellowship through the Stark Foundation and retreats to a quiet lake house on the grounds of the Stark Mansion. He's supposed to be there to paint, but he quickly realizes that the house is more than he bargained for. Anthony Stark died here a decade ago, but was it an accident? A suicide? Or a murder? Obadiah Stane still lives in the main house just up the hill, and the past casts a long shadow. When Tony's ghost begins appearing to him, Steve becomes more entwined in the dangerous mystery surrounding his death. Even worse, he finds himself falling for a man who died a decade ago... Features lots of ghosts, murder, secrets, and supernatural revenge. Also Thor and Rhodey.