#more characters will be added and blurbs will be written as to what they are

[mr-wrestlemania]

Living Legends(Monster Au)

"Shawn Michaels had a boyhood dream of carving his name into wrestling history and live forever in the same vein as other champions. Except for one problem, He already will live forever as an immortal energy vampire. Personal issues only grow as he discovers he is far from the only one posing as a human.

Will he succumb to his hunger or will he come out on top?"

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58924921/chapters/150201388

Main pairings: Shawn Michaels/Marty Jenetty(Implied), Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart

Chapter One: First Steps

(Content Warning: The Intro scene depicts a vague scene of an overdose caused by an unspecified substance. While not graphic in detail, desecration is advised. The rest of the chapter is free from such scenes. Nobody dies and they recover just fine.)

The night life was The Rockers’ bread and butter, especially for Shawn Michaels. What vampire wouldn’t love the glamour of the cities turning on their alluring lights for humans to party? Except he wasn’t like the old boring vampires you’d see on the theater screens though, his main source of food were emotions. Traditional Vampires wish they were him, because he could walk in the sun and not burn to a crisp. Food was still off limits sadly, but that was a small price to pay in Shawn’s book.

As a tag team, he found solace in his longtime friend Marty Jenetty. He was far from the same type of monster as Shawn, a satyr, but he had the gusto to stay on the same page as Shawn both in the ring and out. Masking his hooves was tricky but nothing he couldn’t handle. Monsters and wrestling wasn’t new anyway. Werebears were rumored to have made killings posing as actual bears for people to wrestle back in the day. However it still had to be kept secret, for the talent’s safety. At best, the two knew it'd be easier to hide themselves in performances until they knew for sure the rumors were true.

For their run in the WWF, they pretty much passed as humans and no one was the wiser. Shawn would feed off the energy of the crowd but sometimes it just wasn’t enough. Every now and again he needed blood to keep his body in tip top performance. 

It was that exact hunger that shattered his world apart.

Admittedly, he was more worried than he gave off but he had to keep Marty calm. He turned on the tv to help keep Marty distracted while he cleaned up the mess. Less evidence left behind the better. Shawn was used to the routine, but it was starting to get old. His eyebrow twitched as he wiped his hands on a random towel on the floor, but Marty was not in the right state to yell at. 

The rehearsals were long and wore on the young men’s bodies. Marty took his “medicine” out on the table of their hotel room and Shawn was sipping some cheap wine on one of the beds. If he couldn’t eat, he at least could ingest liquids. Still, he wished the shit he was sipping at the time was better tasting. It sat on his tongue with a bitter after taste. Marty was humming to himself until he nearly fell over.

He glanced over at his partner and raised a brow, “Marty? Go easy on that stuff, you’ll send yourself to the moon.”

Marty’s sigh was shaky, “Y-Yeah.. Thanks. I just needed something to help with the aches.” He tried not to stomp his way to his bed, even though they were on the first floor of the hotel. Poor guy was heavy footed, or heavy hooved. “Oh god. Oh god.. Mikey, I think I’m too high..”

Shawn sat up and quickly moved over to Marty to look him over, “Relax.. relax…Its alright. I’ll wait it out with you okay? I’m not letting you do any more.”

His partner’s presence made it easier to calm down. His warm hands on Marty’s shoulders helped ground him as he took some deep breaths. “Yeah. Yeah… Thank you Mikey. I’m sorry..”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He pat Marty’s back as he helped him lay down. 

All Shawn could do was run his hands through his hair and wait it out. The sounds of the soap opera he turned on could hardly distract him from his hunger. Marty said he’d let Shawn feed off him after the show, but the way things were looking he’d have to wait longer. Again. He could last longer than a traditional vampire but his hunger was just as agonizing.

The sound of something heavy falling to the ground snapped Shawn out of his thoughts. He bolted upright and yelled in horror, “MARTY!!”

He scooped Marty up and checked for a pulse. Still beating. Marty’s eyes were very dilated and it sounded like he was trying to talk. Shawn looked at the phone in their room and considered calling for help. No way, they would recognize he wasn’t human right away.

Shawn bit his lip and started to feel around for a vein in Marty’s arm. Once Shawn found his spot, he quickly tied his hair back and sunk his fangs into Marty’s arm. He was on a time crunch to get the substance out of Marty’s blood and he hardly cared what would happen to him. Marty wasn’t going to fade in his arms if he could help it.

Marty’s blood was worse than the cheap wine he had moments prior. Drugs and alcohol could completely change the taste of someone’s blood but Shawn kept up the pace. The dry taste of Marty’s blood made his nose curl. Before he knew it, he could feel his skin crawl and his vision blur.

“Ugh…Shawn…?” Marty’s eyes could finally focus and he looked down to his horror, “Oh god-” He pulled Shawn from his arm and lightly pat Shawn’s face. “Mikey??? Dammit!! Hold on. Just hold on..”

Marty hopped back onto his feet and grabbed a necklace that helped conceal his hooves and horns. Then dove back onto the floor to hoist Shawn onto his back. “You had my back, so I’ve got yours.”

The guilt tightened around Marty’s throat as he ran through the hallway. He nearly collided into Bret Hart but even then he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.

“Marty?! The hell you doing?!” Bret called out.

Jim shook his head, “Rockers must have had too much to drink.”

Bret frowned, “No. Something was off. Marty looked scared, Jim.”

Everything was a blur on Shawn’s end beyond hearing Marty sob and his jerky driving. He trusted Marty to make the right decision but the panic in Marty’s voice was more painful to listen to. He closed his eyes and everything around him was drowned out by a slow beeping noise.

“Oh..you’re coming to..” Marty was by Shawn’s bedside, looking Shawn all over, “Please don’t be mad..I didn’t know where else to take you.”

“Marty..? What are you-” Shawn looked around him, “A hospital? Fucks sake-”

Marty tried to quiet Shawn but kept his hand away from Shawn’s mouth, “Hey don’t bite me again! Listen, you have enough blood in you to at least have a heartbeat. So they didn’t get suspicious.”

He slumped back and wiped his face, “I’m so sorry… None of this would have happened if I just dialed it back like you said.. I’m no better than any other Satyr.” Marty shook his head, “But! You’re the one who needs attention right now-”

Shawn looked away from Marty, “You’re right about that. I can’t keep doing this for you.. It could put us both in danger if it doesn’t kill us Marty. I care about you but something has to change man.”

“I know.” Marty sighed and hesitantly reached for Shawn’s hand, “I’m sorry..” Shawn didn’t react. His eyes were cold and very, very tired.

A knock at the door startled Shawn but relaxed when he saw it was just a nurse, “Oh! Mr.Michaels, you’re awake. Good. You have a visitor. He..says he’s your employer?”

“What?! How does Mr.McMahon know already..?” Shawn looked at Marty.

Marty frowned and shied away from Shawn’s eyes, “It’s morning already. We probably missed our wake up call..”

Shawn pulled his hand away slowly from Marty but softened his gaze a little. Then he turned to the nurse, “Can you let him in please?”

“Of course, we’ll do another run on your vitals here soon, so it will have to be brief.” She smiled as she exited the room.

It wasn’t long before the big man himself entered the room. Normally, Mr.McMahon wouldn’t get directly involved, but the bizarre story Bret told him raised far too many questions and he had to get to the bottom of it before any information could get to the public. He closed the door behind him and walked over to Shawn’s bed.

“How are you feeling? I’ve heard quite the story this morning.” He was nearly impossible for Shawn to read but so far from what he could sense, there was some genuine concern for Shawn.

Shawn sighed, “Foggy, but I’m here. What did you hear..?”

Mr.McMahon’s mouth frowned as he paced, “Bret said he saw Marty running like a bat out of hell with you on his back. It was the mention of blood around your mouth that raised more than a few flags. I can get you help, but be straight with me dammit.” He stopped and looked at both of them, "What the hell happened???”

Marty looked at Shawn with fear, silently pleading with him not to tell McMahon but Shawn’s mind was made up. “Sir, Marty nearly overdosed and I had to help him-”

His eyes widened a little and glanced over at the heart monitor. It was a bit slower than it should’ve been.. Mr.McMahon then turned to Shawn and walked over.

“I know it sounds crazy but he’s telling the truth!-”

“Quiet dammit!” He silenced Marty, “Open your mouth.”

Shawn blinked, covering his mouth instinctively, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Shawn. If you’re insinuating what I think you are, you’ll have the proof sticking out of your gums.”

No other choice. Shawn lifted his lips with his fingers to show Mr.McMahon his fangs. They were more prominent than usual given his hunger for blood wasn’t satiated. The sight seemed to calm their boss down as he leaned away. Marty was as tight looking as a rubberband on a watermelon but Shawn was trying his best to read what their boss was feeling.

Mr.McMahon rubbed the crease of his brow and nodded to himself, “A vampire?”

Shawn frowned, “I’m surprised you believe me sir..”

A dry chuckle escaped his lips, “Son, listen. And listen very very carefully. Both of you. You are not the first to be employed by my family, nor will you be the last. The only way for this-” He gestured to Marty and Shawn, “-To function in the federation is with some honesty. I understand why you kept it secret but dammit it nearly killed you! Both of you!!”

Mr.McMahon turned to Marty, “You’re taking a break. I don’t care what you do but you are not going on TV until Shawn is better. Are we clear?”

“Yes sir.” Marty shrunk in his chair.

Finally, he looked at Shawn, “As for you, we’ll take care of your treatment this time . When you return, you are going to say you were on medical leave. We’ll discuss the paperwork later. No more lies you hear me? Not about this kind of shit. I expect you to learn from this.”

“Understood. Thank you- I’m just..a bit surprised. I thought it was just stories that..people like me in wrestling was-”

“-Fake? Bah. No. It never was. We had to make it seem like it was to protect our talent. It was one of the only accessible fields of work for some. We can discuss that later. Until then, both of you stay out of trouble, are we clear?”

“Yes sir.” Both of the younger men nodded. 

Their boss, surprisingly, was a man of his word. Shawn had a detox treatment involving blood transfusions while Marty was sent out to rehab. They’d on the phone for a few hours every other day to check on one another but it was far from boring. For Shawn at least.

“I’ll be honest. It feels pretty boring here.. I may have gotten in trouble yesterday for making my own fun.” Marty chuckled.

Shawn held the landline to his face as he laid out on his bed, “Marty, you gotta show the staff some mercy. Just a little. It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s super religious for some reason. Maybe this is a punishment..” He sighed heavily on the phone, “Just one more week.. How are you holding up?”

“My system is completely clean according to my test a few hours ago. Which means I should be clear to travel again. I just gotta see Vince tomorrow. Nothing to get too excited about, just to fill him in on me being an emotional vampire.”

“Oh. Good. Don’t have too much fun without me okay..?” Marty’s voice shook a little, “I gotta go. My head is killing me. I’ll check back in soon.”

“Sure. Bye.” Shawn hung the phone up and grunted. It was obvious Marty was hurt by Shawn planning to go to the WWF before he would complete his program. It only aggravated Shawn because he knew Marty needed support, but so did he dammit.

He shot off the bed and slid on a jacket with a smirk. If he couldn’t get the energy of the crowd, then his next best options would be the local bars. After all, he was far worse to deal with when he was hungry. He just had to hold out for Marty a bit longer..

“Alright, so I’ll just review this so I’m on the same page. You only occasionally need blood, that right?” McMahon looked up from the papers Shawn gave him.

Shawn nodded as he rubbed his eyes, “Yeah. Think of it like an oil change in a car I guess.” He chuckled softly, “I mostly just rely on the emotions of other people.”

“Explains why your fangs seem to retract.” Mr.McMahon chuckled, “No offense. You’re still an incredible talent out there and these hardly seem like limitations for you.” He sat the papers aside and leaned on his desk, “Have you ever considered a singles run?”

“A-A singles run?” Shawn sat up in his chair, “I mean, sure I have. It's been a dream of mine to be a solo champion just like the others.” He blushed nervously but kept his composure.

“No tag team lasts forever and you could have some potential out there. Try to mix things up a little when Marty returns. I want to see how you can work that crowd up with that..energy of yours. Just don’t make it too obvious that you out yourself. Do we have an understanding?”

The idea of leaving Marty made Shawn hesitate, but in front of him was a chance he might never see again. Immortal lives are full of regrets sure, but this was one he didn’t want to keep him up at night. He smiled and nodded, “Of course, I won’t let you down.”

“Good man. While you’re here, you might as well get retrained on the locker room etiquette. It’s a little different now that you’ll see everyone for what they really are. They’re just doing some rehearsals. If you brought your gear you might as well make use of that.”

Shawn knew an indirect way to shoo someone away when he saw one. He nodded and exited the office with a bit more pep in his step. He did need to work out a little anyway, so it wouldn’t have hurt him to use the facilities. Though he wondered just how *different* the locker room would feel now that he knew other monsters were in there with him. Did they know what he was too?

“I’m getting too into my head again, fuck.” Shawn took a breath and walked towards the makeshift gym, “Better just change and get some work done..” He thought to himself as he made his way to the locker room.

For once, he tried not to get noticed and quickly slipped into one of the stalls to change. Just then he could hear two men walk into the locker room.

“I’m telling you, we got this in the bag Bret. We won’t have to do tag much longer since The Rockers will be coming back soon.” Jim Neidhart sauntered over to a bench to put on his boots.

“They are?” Bret Hart, there was no doubt about it if Shawn just went by his voice. “That’s good to hear. Couldn’t even find out what hospital Shawn was at so I have no idea how he’s doing.” He sighed.

Jim snickered, “I hear someone saw him in the building.”

Shawn and Bret were friendly with each other given the Harts and the Rockers got to wrestle a few times. Shawn beamed at the idea of someone like Bret worrying over a fresh wrestler like him. Bret was the locker room leader, a multi generational superstar and Shawn was still carving his name into the books.

He fixed his hair and quickly slipped his workout clothes on. Then slipped out from the stall with a cat-like smirk. “Aww, my ears are ringing guys.”

Bret perked and chuckled, “Michaels!” He got up, clasped hands with Shawn and gave him a quick hug. “Where the hell have you been? Last I saw you, you had blood on your mouth and Marty had you on his shoulder.”

The mental image made Shawn wince a little. “Ah..Yeaah.. I had to leave to get emergency medical treatment. I'm fine now! Marty got me seen just in time.”

Jim frowned, “Shit. Sorry to hear that. You were medically cleared ‘n everything?”

Shawn nodded proudly, “And Marty should be back in a week. I'll be so glad to get back in the ring. I've been way too restless.”

“I can imagine. From those bruises it looks like the vampires got you huh?” Bret chuckled.

Shawn went a little wide eyed and chuckled nervously, “Huh? Vampires?”

“He means your IV bruises.” Jim pointed to Shawn's inner arm.

“Oh! Yeah. Sorry I thought you meant-” Shawn hesitated. There was no telling if Bret was like him. Far as he could tell, Bret was a normal human.

“You believe in vampires?” Bret raised his brows a little with a smile. He almost seemed amused.

“Do you?” Shawn folded his arms.

The blonde nodded and stretched, “I'll be around.”

Bret shrugged, “Dunno. Never met one,  so who am I to say?” He glanced up at the clock and looked at Shawn, “Sorry to cut it short, but we have to shoot a promo. We'll see you soon?”

He took a deep breath and leaned against a set of lockers. Bret couldn’t have known..could he? Shawn ran to the nearest mirror and lifted his lip to look at his teeth.

“Fangs are in…okay.” Shawn took another breath, “He couldn’t have known yet..I just have to keep it up until I’m sure..” He decided against working out in the building after all..

That one week felt like too long for Shawn’s liking. Not just because Marty was easy access to blood and energy but everything felt far too quiet. He hated being alone, everything felt so loud without Marty there to drown it all out. When he saw the familiar face of his friend, he practically floated in the air as he ran over.

Marty beamed and nearly fell over from Shawn hugging him. “Did you wait on me this whole time??” He laughed, “It wasn’t too boring without me was it?”

Shawn sighed in relief and shook his head, “No. Just too quiet. Way too quiet. I hardly knew what to do with myself honestly.” Not like he had a posse of friends in the federation to call upon.

Usually he’d be amused at Marty’s double meanings but it only told Shawn Marty didn’t learn much while he was away. He had hoped it was just him being paranoid, or things were going to get very messy.

The brunette’s smile was warm and he linked arms with Shawn as they walked. “Don’t worry about that, The Rockers are back in town! I just gotta drop my stuff off and we can head on out.”

“You sure?” Shawn frowned, “You just had your ass planted in a car for 4 hours. Don’t you think you need to get something in you? I'm just guessing because I dunno if our hunger is the same.”

“I’m already good! Just seeing you brought that adrenaline pumping through my veins.” Marty laughed and walked with a pep in his step.

Shawn put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, “I’ll let you know..”

“You’ll adjust to having me around again, keep that chin up! Or do you need a hit before we head out?” Marty paused just before stepping out of the hotel room. The way he looked at Shawn definitely didn't put him in the mood.

Shawn’s nerves only got worse as they started to head to the locker room. The hunger dragged it’s claws from the sides of his head, all the way to the bottoms of his heels. Everyone moved around them, some said hi and were happy the rockers were back but it all felt like a blur for Shawn. It was hell for his senses and body to perceive everything going on around him, not to mention Marty trying to talk to him at the same time.

Just when Shawn didn’t think it could get worse, it felt like he ran right into a wall. Only it was The Undertaker putting his gear on. His once empty eyes focused on Shawn and bent down.

“Are you okay…?” His low voice was quiet enough for Shawn to hear.

“Oh-yeah.. I’m so sorry.” Shawn quickly brushed himself nervously, “I’m uh-”

Undertaker blinked slowly, “You look like you’re starving.” The way he looked at Shawn was as if he was staring right through him. Yet there wasn't any threatening aura about him.

He could feel the blood drain from his face and Shawn moved his hair around nervously, “Haha..I..Do you know what I am..?”

The dead man nodded but kept a finger to his lips. “That is your business Michaels. Take care of yourself.” He muttered as he walked off.

“Hoooly shit..” Marty breathed, “He knew who you were!!” He laughed until he got a good look at Shawn’s face. “Shawn. C’mon you need to sit down..”

Shawn grunted and followed Marty to an empty changing area. He sat down and put his head between his knees in an attempt to get the room to stop spinning.

“Buddy. Have you fed lately..?” Marty sat next to him with a look of concern, “Talk to me.”

He shook his head no.

Marty sighed with a smile as he gently lifted up Shawn’s head, “Take anything you need. We have time. I’ve missed you y’know.”

His hair stood up at Marty’s gentle touch, it felt like he didn’t deserve it. Marty’s fingers gently rubbed Shawn’s cheek and leaned closer to Shawn’s face.

A quiet sigh escaped from Shawn’s lips and he finally caved into his urges. For a brief moment their lips connected as Shawn’s skin screamed in relief. He could feel everything Marty was feeling in that moment.

Relief. Yearning. God the Adrenaline in Marty’s body..

When their lips separated, a glowing aura left Marty’s mouth and flowed into Shawn’s. The blonde man breathed it in as his blue eyes became more vibrant. He held Marty’s face gently until he was satisfied.

His eyes were slightly dilated but he felt incredible. Like everything was right again. “Thanks Marty.” Shawn whispered.

“Thank you for not sucking me dry.” Marty chuckled softly. “Feel better?”

“Like I could fight god.”

“That’s what I wanna hear.” Marty shot onto his feat and beamed. “Let’s shoot that promo. Then they’re gonna make us rehearse.. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Shawn smirked to himself, “Neither can I.” They walked back through the locker room with more swagger in their step.

Bret glanced up from lacing his boots and raised a brow at Shawn’s appearance. He looked put together but what was with his eyes? “You feeling better already?”

Shawn stopped and smiled at Bret, “Oh yeah. I’ll be able to perform tonight. Just you wait.”

Jim laughed, “Good to hear. We’ll meet you two out there in a bit then!”

Something didn’t sit well in Bret’s gut, so he walked back where Marty and Shawn were just sitting. There didn’t appear to be anything left behind like powders or a skunky odor.

“The hell did they do back here..? I hope its not drugs..” Bret shook his head as he rejoined Jim.

The promo was just to hype up their match and it went off without a hitch. Shawn managed to keep up until it was finally showtime. The Rockers made their way to the ring, smiling at the fans pop to their return. Shawn tossed around his hair and showed off a bit more than he usually did. He particularly enjoyed the sight of some female fans in the front row eying him.

Marty pat his back as The Hart’s entrance music hit. Shawn heard the pop for Bret and Jim and a bit of envy flickered through him. He shook it off as he watched Jim take the side and Bret stroll into the center ring. Marty took his spot and hooted for Shawn. Shawn took another deep breath and had a smug smirk on his face. It looked almost foreign on the usually happy-go-lucky rocker.

“Where was this energy during rehearsals?” Bret muttered.

Shawn stuck his tongue out a little, “I’m just excited.”

The bell rung and the two immediately jumped to grapple each other. Bret threw Shawn into the ropes to clothesline him. Shawn sold the shot and fell right onto his back. While Shawn tried to recover, Bret climbed onto the nearest turnbuckle and readied himself to jump off. He moved his hair out of his face and yelled as Bret landed right on him. Thankfully Shawn was positioned just right so Bret wouldn’t bump the ground too badly.

Both Jim and Marty were reaching out towards their tag partners, desperate to let Bret and Shawn get a breather.

Shawn started to crawl towards Marty’s corner but Bret tried to latch onto Shawn’s legs. The blonde kicked Bret in the ear and leaped forward to make the tag for Marty. Marty moved Shawn into the corner and went right to work to stop Bret from tagging Jim.

The boss’s words rung in Shawn’s mind, “Try to mix things up a little when Marty returns. I want to see how you can work that crowd up with that..energy of yours.” He glanced at the women behind him and jerked his head upwards to acknowledge them. The girls could hardly believe Shawn noticed them and their smiles only grew. The smell of their admiration for him was too enticing, almost like freshly baked desserts seducing his sweet tooth. Instead of focusing on the match, he jumped off the ring and leaned on the rail.

“Why aren’t you two sights for my sore eyes? What are ladies like you doing at a place like this? Enjoying the show?”

One practically swooned in his presence, “Oh yes. Shouldn’t you be up there though..?”

Shawn chuckled and waved his hand nonchalantly, “Marty’s talented, he’ll be just fine.”

Jim tagged Bret in and Bret looked on at Shawn in confusion. “Marty? What the hell is Shawn doing??”

Marty was held up by Bret and Marty yelled out to Shawn, “Shawn!!!”

By the time Shawn whipped around, Bret was already preparing to put him into the sharpshooter. Shawn took that as his cue to jump back onto the ring. “Marty!!”

It was too late. Marty started tapping as his body was giving out. It was the planned ending but it was supposed to be just a little longer. Mr.McMahon seemed pleased at the announcer table and nodded at Shawn.

Bret looked at Shawn and wanted to knock some sense into him, but Jim grabbed his arm.

“Lets go.Let’s go. Before you lose it.” Jim whispered as their theme hit.

Marty got onto his feet and glared at Shawn, ‘What the hell was that?!”

Shawn frowned, “I’m sorry I got distracted!”

“Clearly!” Marty shoved Shawn a little, “You’re making us look bad at our comeback!!”

The Rockers argued their way backstage but Marty was surprised management wasn’t as furious as he was. That was until Bret stomped his way to Shawn.

“Did you just suddenly forget all that rehearsing?! We were supposed to wrestle for a few more minutes!!” Bret practically snarled.

Shawn rolled his eyes, “You got your win in the end didn’t you? Or did you want to throw me around for a bit longer?” He teased.

Bret pointed a finger at Shawn, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you but you better knock it off. Unless you forgot to tell us there was something new added to the match. The boss seemed way too happy with you.”

Marty raised his brows and looked at Shawn, “Did you forget to tell me about something Shawn???”

He tried backing away until Bret grabbed hold of Shawn’s singlet. Shawn grew fearful until he looked down at Bret’s hand. Wrapped around the straps of his singlet were..claws?

Bret’s eyes widened as he got a much better look at Shawn’s eyes. They were vibrantly blue with slit pupils..?

The anger on both of the men’s face instantly faded and was replaced with quiet shock. Bret let go of Shawn’s singlet and held his hands close to his chest. “Shit.. We’ll talk about this later. I’ve got to go..” Bret grabbed his stuff and started to rush out.

“Bret!!! Hold on!! I can help!” Jim shook his head at Shawn, then ran off to catch up with Bret. 

Marty looked Shawn over, “Are you okay?! Did he do something to you?”

“No.” Shawn licked his lips and swallowed, “No.. I-I’m fine. I don’t know what happened back there.. But I think Bret’s like us.”

[hannie-dul-set]

six quick and easy hacks to 🆙 the quality of your fanfiction!

as promised, here it is! i’m not here to tell you how to plot out your story, or how to write your characters’ personalities. the tips i’m sharing are more on formatting and structure, secret (not really) cheat codes to instantaneously make your already written work even better! 

my qualifications? being a tumblr hag for over five years (my even more embarrassing pre k-pop writeblr included!) so i’ve unlocked quite a bit of secrets and discovered some eurekas throughout my time here HAHAHAH. anyway, let’s start!

#1 VARIETY IN PARAGRAPH LENGTHS, SENTENCE LENGTHS, AND SENTENCE STARTERS.

nothing turns me off more than seeing paragraph blocks after paragraph blocks when looking for some new fics to read, especially when you’re reading from a cramped up device such as your phone.

when i write a lengthy paragraph, i try to follow it up with a one-liner, or a mid-sized one. but it’s something i consciously keep track of— when i noticed that, “oh, this gdoc is getting a little too wordy, a little too chunky,” i make sure that my next paragraph is significantly shorter than the current one because it keeps the entire page interesting. one to two sentences of lines of paragraphs after another and another doesn’t look pretty. chunks of paragraphs after paragraphs is boring.

make your pages visually dynamic by ensuring variety.

like this, for example.

→ fic: home for the bitchless.

seeing a large chunk of text and a singular line immediately after also sort of forces your reader to stick around and read an otherwise intimidating lengthy paragraph because— oh! what could have possibly led to that singular like of dialogue or thought! #subtlemanipulation you get me? 😔🤙

this rule of mine applies to sentences and phrases within the paragraph as well!

→ fic: love vomit.

and as a bonus, you can use paragraph breaks and cuts to your advantage! manipulating the way a sentence or paragraph ends in a certain way makes your works more rhythmic! and, when you play it around the right way, abrupt cuts and breaks also add the right mood and drama to your work!

→ drabble: the boy who cried wolf.

part three of tip number one (one…we’re still at number one…) is on sentence and paragraph starters. i keep it as a rule of thumb that if i start a paragraph with “you,” or with someones name, i don’t use it again in the next one to avoid monotony. it’s a very miniscule thing really, and i doubt that people notice this HAHAHA but this is something i religiously swear by because repetitions like this are visually boring.

→ wip: sunwater.

of course, this can’t be avoided all the time, and repeating the sentence starter “You” or any other pronoun, word, or phrase can be intentionally utilized to strongly drive a point. just don’t overdo it!

→ drabble: patience, patience.

→ blurb: monsters don’t hide under the bed.

→ fic: the psychology of strawberries.

there are other good and strategic uses for repetitions as well! we’ll get to that later.

lastly, variety in sentence and paragraph starters doesn’t simply mean changing up the first word. things can still get really boring even if you use “you” or a character’s name interchangeably if your sentence structure remains the same.

this, for example, is monotonous.

the structure (and length) of all three sentences are the same. A does this. B does this. A does this. and even if you switch things up but still use the same sentence structure, it still falls flat. case in point, below, a structure i often see in a lot of fics i stumble across.

those are flat. those are boring. they don’t…you know…make you feel something, even when you follow the rule of not using the same starter twice. let me try improving it by adding more variety in the sentences (+ adding a tip that i’ll be discussing right after!)

the word “He” here is used twice to create a rhythm and draw emphasis, but the rest of the excerpt maintains a sense of variety to make the narrative more interesting and compelling to read.

*

#2 PICK A POV AND STICK WITH IT.

before i start a scene, a drabble, or blurb, the first question i ask myself is, “whose point of view do i want it to be in?”

one, it’s a lot neater, more organized, than omniscient point of views in my opinion (unless you’re like a super fucking skilled writer of course HAHAHHA). two, it allows for a bit of mystery, suspense, and engagement because you don’t have access to what other people are thinking about, and three— in line with the first tip— when you know whose brain you’re in when writing, it allows for more dynamic narrations, gives you an excuse to be messy because our internal thoughts are messy as well, and makes the writing a hell of a lot easier when you’re focused on monologuing one person alone!

when writing shorter fics, drabbles, or blurbs, i swear by this rule, no excuses HAHAHAH but when writing longer fics, sometimes i switch around the point of views per scene, just to make a more well rounded story.

sometimes, the point of view doesn’t even have to be any of the main character’s! writing from an external POV is also really fun and adds another layer of interest. see example below, a Jeonghan breakup fic written exclusively from the perspective of the outsiders. very fun idea! 

breakup scene written in Seungcheol’s POV.

another squabble written in Seungkwan’s POV.

→ wip: the breakup soup.

*

#3 REPETITIONS AND THEMES = COHESIVENESS.

this section contains tricks on how to wrap up your fics into one cohesive little present with a pretty ribbon on top! 

first is the use of repetition. use a cool funky line at the beginning of your story, and reuse/rehash/revise it at the end for a neat finish, especially when you have trouble figuring out a way to end your story (lifesaving hack! trust me!) 

i use this mostly in my shorter works—

→ drabble: you’re my bucket list.

→ blurb: louder.

—but it works just as well with longer fics, especially when the repetition is all throughout, and not just at the start and finish.

→ fic: mogi.

sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be a repeated phrase or line! it can be a little gimmick and it’d still work to make your fic cohesive! for example, in the fic below, i use the giving of strawberry candy/strawberry kisses to tie all the different scenes together because this was initially a set of separate drabble ideas wrapped into one long fic.

→ fic: the psychology of strawberries.

and for this one (another ricky fic….yes…..) i use the whole cat metaphor to do the same. 

→ drabble: yours to keep.

the next tip to make your work cohesive is to grab a singular theme, object, whatever, and take advantage of it for your narration HAHAHAHHA this can be better explained by looking at the examples below.

theme: citrus.

→ drabble: citrus in the morning.

theme: storm.

→ blurb: blizzard.

the above examples are my shorter works, but it can work for longer fics as well! just check out this 36k word monster HAHAHAHHA.

theme: seasons.

→ fic: love vomit.

these are very simple ways to make your fic more put together! even if it’s just a simply blurb about a confession, adding a theme to aid the imagery bumps your fic quality to a +++++

*

#4 THROW AWAY THE Y/N’S!

now this one is quite honestly just a personal nitpick HAHAHHAHA but seeing the word Y/N when i’m reading something really pulls me out of my immersion. (and i only stopped using Y/N’s in my fics at the start of my 2023 comeback….so if you see my older works still using it…hahahha please don’t prosecute me).

anyway, you can do this either by embedding it in the narration—

→ fic: star studded baggage.

—or by using nicknames and titles instead!

→ wip: the breakup soup.

→ fic: can’t handle this.

*

#5 GET INTO THE (UN)NECESSARY SPECIFICS.

instead of just saying “Your professor called you,” grab a random last name and say “Prof Yoon asked to see you in his office.” instead of saying you went to the cafe, the mall, the store, grab an actual place or make one up because no one in the world says “they’re going to the cafe to grab a frappe,” (unless the store’s name is actually The Cafe). people say they’re going to Dunkin Donuts or Coffeebreak or wherever.

sure it’s not plot relevant, sure it’s not integral, but little things like this make your narrative and dialogue a lot more realistic and less awkward. it makes it seem like your characters are actually living inside a world of their own.

*

#6 GRAMMAR AND FORMATTING.

these are given HAHA but when i talk about grammar, i mean making sure that the commas and periods are consistently inside the quotation marks when writing dialogue. i mean minimizing the use of italics because overusing it can ruin the reading experience of a good piece (i was guilty of this too!) and i mean making sure that the use of tenses are consistent all throughout (unless if it’s a creative and plot choice), because all these things really matter if you want your fic, drabble, or blurb to be of overall high quality.

and that’s basically it! hope these tips help somehow...hope i’m not revealing my secrets for naught and someone can actually put them to good use HHAHAHHA what’s most important obviously is that you’re having fun with what you’re writing…etc. etc. insert inspirational you can do it speech here.

anyway, happy new year! and happy reading and writing<33

[babymetaldoll]

Prompts (MGGx Fem!reader blurb) 

Requested: Nope

Warnings: zero, nothing, maybe a curse, but that's it.

Summary: (Y/N) Gubler needs her husband's help to pick a prompt to write a Halloween story. Luckily, Matthew is a Halloween expert.

A/N: Honestly, I wrote this 'cos I asked one of my best friends for Halloween prompts ideas, and she said "Wouldn't it be great to ask Matthew?"... so I did. And this happened.

Masterlist

(Y/N) lit a candle and held a few crystals close to her chest for a few seconds, as she mumbled something. After a moment, she sighed, looked before her, and left the stones beside the candle. 

- “Come to me, come to me.”- she whispered as she stared at a blank page in her computer.- “Inspiration, please come to me.”

- “Hey Bunny, how’s the writing doing?”- Matthew’s voice nearly made her jump as he walked into the room holding two fresh cups of coffee. 

- “It’s not going anywhere.”- the writer sighed as she accepted with a smile the hot beverage her husband brought her. 

- “What’s wrong? Can’t focus?”

- “I have zero idea what to write.”- she pouted as Gubler sipped his coffee. - “Not true, I know I wanna write short Halloween stories. I just need some prompts to inspire me.” 

- “Maybe I can help. I don’t know if you’ve heard but… I’m kind of a Halloween expert.”

- “It’s September 18th, still hot as balls out there, and our house is fully decorated for Gublerween, sir. I know Halloween is your life.” 

- “And yet, you force me to celebrate HalloReid every single freaking year. That guy is stealing my thunder.”

Gubler pretended to be upset, the same he did every time his famous character “Spencer Reid” was mentioned around the house. His wife chuckled and shook her head as she stared at him, sitting on her desk, looking as dreamy as always. 

- “You shouldn’t be jealous of Spence. I told you I just like him as a friend. It’s you the one I married.”- Guber chuckled at those words and moved a chair closer to him to sit next to his wife. 

- “Ok, then let me help you with your writing problem.” 

- “Fine… so, I need prompt ideas for short stories.”

- “What about a vampire story? You haven’t written anything like that as far as I remember.” 

- “One, a million years ago, about a vampire who wanted to be human. He was fun, he actually went to therapy.”- (Y/N) commented, feeling excited about that particular story. No one had read it, but she was proud of it. 

- “Doesn’t sound creepy enough for Halloween.”- Gub argued right away- “How about vampires getting ready to throw a party at their castle?” 

- “Doesn’t sound creepy either.”- (Y/N) complained and stuck her tongue out to her husband. 

- “Very mature, but I wasn’t finished yet. They are throwing a party to suck all the blood from their guesses.” 

- “No one will ever leave the ball alive.”- Mrs. Gubler added with a creepy voice and her husband nodded, excited. 

- “Exactly!”

- “It has potential, give me more.”- Matthew left his coffee on the desk and wrapped his arms around her waist.- “Give me more ideas!!”

- “Sorry! You have to be more specific!”- he chuckled and kissed her neck before letting her go. - “Okay, more Halloween ideas… how about a story about a woman who hates clowns and her husband secretly decides to hire a clown for their son's birthday party, which just happens to be on Halloween?”

(Y/N) stared at Matthew, who smiled at her, trying to hold back the chuckles. 

- “That’s not a story prompt, that’s what you did last year! And you nearly killed me!”

- “You have to get over your clown fear!” 

- “I will not have this argument with you again.”- she crossed her arms on her chest and shook her head. Matthew just smiled and kissed the tip of her nose with a sweet smile. 

- “Fine… how about dating someone and discovering they are not human?”

- “I told you I’m not writing about us!”- she joked and Gubler laughed. 

- “Fair enough, Bunny! I have one last idea and then I’ll leave you to write in peace.”  

- “Give me your best prompt”- she replied with a playful smile.

- “Why don’t you write about a costume competition at a Halloween party?”

- “It’s not creepy”- the writer whined immediately, but Matthew smiled and stood up. 

- “Not a creepy prompt, but you can add a lot to that idea. Think about it. It could have it all: fun, weird costumes, the surprise creepy element.”- (Y/N) thought about it and nodded. 

- “Sold! I’m writing that.”

- “Great! I can’t wait to read it!”- Matthew leaned over and kissed his wife’s lips softly.- “And meanwhile, I’m gonna pick up the kids from school.” 

- “I’ll make good use of the quiet of the house in the meantime then.”

- “If you want, I could keep them out of the house for a little longer.”- Gubler smiled innocently, but his wife saw through him. 

- “You are not taking them to get more Halloween decorations!”

- “Oh come on!! I think there’s an empty spot under the stairs! We can’t have that!”

- “No Gub. Oh! And don’t forget this Thursday it’s the evening parent-teacher conference. You go to Vinnie’s and I go to Tilly’s.”

- “Can we swap? I always get Vinnie.”

- “Because Tilly’s teacher keeps flirting with you.”- Mrs. Gubler replied immediately, making her husband laugh.

- “As she could ever stand a chance next to you.”- Matthew winked at (Y/N) and walked out of the room shouting “Love you”. She smiled and grabbed the cup of coffee one more time. 

- “Now, a costume contest at a Halloween party… costume party… let’s do this.”

[dreamingofep]

Sinned Awakening pt. 19 🩸

An AU Elvis fic

(Vampire!Elvis/Vampire Austin!Elvis × reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

Request: No

Prompt: Getting promoted to be Elvis full time housekeeper, you realize the man holds secrets beyond belief and your undeniable attraction makes you fear the unknown. [Fem!Reader]

TW: Cussing, tension, abduction, mentions of blood/gore!!!

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 5.3k

A/N: Hello and welcome to part 19! We're closing in on the end very soon and it is making me a little sad! I haven't felt so attached to anything I've written before so its all so weird! I'm sure I'll write random blurbs about Vampire!Elvis in the future so he's not going anywhere😉 Hope you enjoy this next part!

A reminder, this is Vampire!Elvis so there is going to be mentions of blood/gore from here on out. If that's not your thing, sorry but it's needed for the story.

If you'd like to start from the beginning, start here I hope you enjoy and message and comment what you think!

You paced aimlessly upstairs, trying to plot your escape out of there. Every scenario you came up with, ended up with you getting bit by one of these vampires luring in the house. The number of them in the house was unknown to you and that made it even more dangerous to try to escape. Your stomach growled and your head felt weak. You honestly don’t remember the last time you ate a meal. So much has been happening and you haven’t made time to take care of yourself. You peer out the window and see two men at the front gates. Getting through them would be tricky and almost impossible. You look down and see it would be a far fall from the second story and you’d probably break a bone making your escape an impossible one. The city lights illuminate in the background of the dark desert. You had to be a few miles away from the hotel and there wasn’t much foliage to hide behind if you made it that far. Vampire’s eyesight was perfect even from miles away, you knew you were going to get caught either way.

You curse under your breath and close the curtains again, making the bedroom pitch black. You turn on the lamp on the side table and sit on the bed, covering your face in your hands. Your mind wandered and missed Elvis more than anything right now. He was looking for you, you were sure of that. You just wished he could find you sooner. You look down at your bandaged wrists and see blood coming through the wrapping. The stinging still coursed through your arms and winced if you moved your wrists a certain way.

The clock on the wall ticked menacingly, reminding you that you’re running out of time sitting here. Your head continued to pound and the added nerves didn’t help anything. You had to eat something or you’d pass out. You were too afraid of that happening in a house with starved vampires. The possibility of there not being any food in the house made you ill at ease. Why would there be anyway? Usually, the food comes to them…

You had to go and look anyway. Hopefully, Raphael wasn’t downstairs and wouldn’t make you stay down there with him. You quietly make your way down the carpeted stairs, taking one step at a time. You were sure it was pointless being this quiet as they could probably hear your heart racing away. Peeking over the banister, you don’t see anyone in the living room and you let out a slow sigh of relief. 

You remain stealthy and try to not make any noise once you’re in the kitchen. The space was huge and the cold marble floors made you shiver as you carefully treaded on. There was hardly anything on the countertops other than a few small arrangements of white azaleas on the far ends of the counter. There was a butcher block of knives by the sink and various items of cooking utensils in a container next to them. 

You find a pantry closet and peek inside. It was dark and the air smelled musty. You open the door a bit further hoping the light will light up the pantry more. The first thing you find is a box of crackers. It doesn’t look like they’ve ever been opened, which is a good sign they haven’t been tampered with. You carefully rip the plastic wrap off of them, trying not to be too loud. 

“Surprised you left your dungeon,” a man’s voice says behind you, making you nearly jump out of your skin. 

You quickly turn your head to look at who it is and find yourself disgusted when you discover it’s Daniel. 

“What do you want,” you say through your teeth. 

“You really must work on your manners. That’s no way to talk to a man,” he grumbles. 

“Go fuck yourself. I don’t owe you anything and do not need to talk to you nicely. Not after everything you’ve done to me.” You spat. 

“There’s so much hatred inside you. You were never like this when you were with me,” he says smartly. 

“Trust me, I was. I just knew how to hide it better.”

He takes a few more steps closer to you in the kitchen. His eyes were still red and he looked gaunt. You scoff at his current state. He looked pathetic and weak. Nothing like how powerful Elvis looked. While he was a new vampire and one whose power was unparalleled, it still didn’t scare you. 

“So this is what you wanted? The entire time you wanted to serve someone like Raphael? Because that’s what you have done to yourself. There’s no free will with him.” You seethe. 

“You wouldn’t understand,” He grumbles. 

“No?! Try me. What was the purpose of being with me if you knew that all you wanted was to be a vampire? That doesn’t include me at all in that picture,” you yell quietly. 

He stays silent and looks at you with disgust. 

“You weren’t going to be in the picture. I was going to leave you,” he says low. 

You nod your head and try not to laugh. 

“Yeah… that’s what I thought. Selfish bastard,” you mutter under your breath. 

“How did you find out? What they are?” You continue. 

“After some time of working for him, he told me. He said if I wanted to work for him, I’d have to handle the truth of what he is. He showed me his fangs and it scared me to death. But I pulled it together and tried to not let it freak me out. If it did, he said he’d compel me to forget and I didn’t want to,” he explains. His admission was surprising to you, the slightest amount of change that came into your lives freaked him out and he always deflected issues when you both were together. You were shocked you never noticed any strange behavior from him when he found out about Raphael. But then again, you two were never together and always working.

“What was your job with Raphael? Because you were gone all the time,” you ask annoyed. “Vampires don’t need ‘bouncers’ to protect them 24/7.” You say snarkily.

He takes a pause and starts explaining nervously, “I was the one bringing him… food whenever he wanted. That’s why I was never around.” He explains. 

“And how the hell does Raphael think he’s better than Elvis when he goes around doing that? He says Elvis has a control issue when in fact it’s him who has the problem. The only difference is he made you do his dirty work,” you say with disgust. 

Daniel stays quiet and clenches his jaw. 

“It wasn’t like that,” he says. 

“And you call me stupid. That’s exactly what it is,” you scoff. “But now what? What are you going to do now that he changed you?” You ask. 

“I uhh… I don’t know. Raphael hasn’t really explained anything to me yet,” he says timidly. 

You laugh at him, not surprised at all by Raphael’s actions. 

“Typical. I guess nothing has changed in the last fourteen years.” You mutter.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He snaps at you. 

“When Raphael bit Elvis in the army, he left him to figure out everything on his own. He went crazy because there was no one to guide him or knowledge of how to live with this newfound strength he possessed. I wouldn’t doubt you have the same fate,” you say. 

“He wouldn’t do that to me,” he grumbles. 

“Mhmm sure. Whatever gets you to sleep at night,” you say rolling your eyes at him and then realizing what you said. “Oh wait never mind...” you say smartly. 

He stares daggers at you, anger boiling off of him and he takes another step closer to you.

“Be honest with me, what do you see in Elvis? How could you possibly want him?” He asks.

You chuckle softly and shake your head at him, “That’s funny, Elvis asked me the same question in regards to you.” He looks at you annoyed and clenches his fist at his side. You continue, “But I’ve told you before, it’s none of your business. He takes better care of me than you ever could, that’s all you need to know,” you say coldly.

“You have to be lying. There’s no way that man would ever show a human any mercy,” he laughs at you.

“You don’t know Elvis! All you have heard about him are lies and rumors from either the newspapers or straight from Raphael’s blasphemous mouth,” you seethe, “How can you hate someone this much?!”

“The moment I knew he was fucking my fiancee! That’s when! I already didn’t like him, so it didn’t take much for me to push me over the edge. But when you told me what you let him do to you, I had never felt such rage. You were supposed to be my wife,” he growls.

“No! You already said you’d leave me once you were turned so you have no right to think you had a claim on me! You just became jealous of what you couldn’t have anymore. I didn’t want you anymore. It took me a while to come to terms with, but I can’t undo the past. We were not meant for each other,” you sneer. 

"All he ever does is lie to get his way darling. He might say he cares for you, but that can all be over in a blink of an eye," he snarls.

“You know nothing! Did you ever meet him before the night of the after party or was this hate you have for him based on only what Raphael told you?”

He shoots you a confused look and you sigh realizing he doesn’t remember any of it.

“He compelled you, the night of the afterparty we went to. I know you don’t remember obviously but I’ve always wondered… what made you lose your temper so bad? Do you remember any part of the night? I had never heard you yell like that…” you ask.

Daniel’s eyebrows furrow and he searches for answers.

“I don’t know… I’m sure it was because I knew things about him I had thought you did not know of… That entire night was such a blur… I remember what you wore and…I do remember watching how he would look at you from across the room. That hungry stare he had, the way he was practically drooling, taking in every last square inch of your body… that was enough to set me off. I guess in a way, I knew then he was having his way with you,” you say disgusted. 

You hum quietly to yourself and have to look away from him. The events of that night flood your mind and you can’t let him see your reddened cheeks.

“But now, you’ll have to live with the memories of him and that’s all. Raphael isn’t letting you out of his sight and won’t let you go back to him… guess you’ll be stuck with me after all,” he laughs menacingly. 

“You should probably get back upstairs. Unless you want me to tell Raphael his meal is waiting downstairs for him," he growls. 

You scoff at him and shake your head. 

“You don’t scare me. You’re the same pathetic excuse for a man that I met years ago. The only difference now is you have fangs.” You hiss at him. 

He gives you one last look of disgust and turns to leave you in the kitchen. You take a pack of crackers with you and throw the box in the pantry quickly. Before heading back upstairs, the glint of the stainless steel knife handles catches your eye. You had no idea how to hurt a vampire, but you knew they bled. That was part of the process of changing a human into one. You had to drink their blood to complete the process. If you could get close enough to Raphael and use on him… maybe you had a chance to run. Cause him to slow down in some way so he couldn’t hurt you as easily. You chose a shorter-bladed pairing knife and hoped it wouldn’t be as noticeable and would be easier to hide somewhere on you. 

*

Nibbling on the crackers you found, you watch as the clock’s minute hand inches closer and closer to six o'clock. You knew you had to get down there eventually or you were going to be dragged out by your ankles. You weren’t going to change clothes or anything. He didn’t deserve anything nice from you. You hid the knife under the mattress in the meantime just in case anyone decided to come in unexpectedly. You lift the mattress and take it out. You step in front of the mirror and slip the blade in your sleeve. The sleeves were already long on the sweater so it wouldn’t look out of place that your hands didn’t show very much when you walked. You test it out in the mirror and make sure you try to move as casually as possible. 

There was a sharp knock at the door and it makes you gasp. 

“What is it?” You ask, quickly glancing over at the clock to see it is a quarter til six. 

“Raphael wants you downstairs now. Don’t keep him waiting,” the voice says darkly. 

A chill runs through you and you know you have to go. This was the time to try and make your escape. It would haunt you if you didn’t even make the effort. It was a long shot, but it was worth the try. You prayed Elvis was coming. He has to find you or it might be too late…

You tread slowly down the stairs, gripping the knife handle firmly in your hand. The air felt thick and it felt like you could cut the tension clean with your knife. You struggled to breathe and every breath you took felt like poison going into your lungs. Every last instinct told you to run away from this man and not take another step. It wasn’t that simple and you wish there was another way. 

“Hello, honey. How are you this evening?” Raphael asks as you take the last few steps down the stairs. 

“Fine, thank you,” you say courtly, making your way to the couch he’s sitting on. 

“Please, take a seat with me. We should talk,” he advises, making a gesture to the spot next to him on the sofa. 

You hesitantly make your way to the sofa and leave space between the both of you. He was wearing a suit tonight and a red rose tucked into his jacket’s top left pocket.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” You ask carefully. 

“I was planning on giving you a proposition,” he says as his eyes look over you hungrily. He carefully pulls the rose from his pocket and hands it to you. It had thorns on it still and you handled it gently, making sure to not prick your skin and cause yourself to draw blood. You give him a forced smile and set the rose down on the small coffee table in front of you.

“Okay? In regards to what?” You prod. 

“Your future. You need to decide what you want.” He explains.

Your heart drops because you know what is coming. Anything he was going to offer you was going to be awful and you didn’t want to hear it.

“I-I’ve already told you what I want,” you say shakily.

“Yes but you see, that isn’t an option. So I’m giving you an alternate,” he continues.

“You can either work for me and do as I say or, I turn you and you live freely as you wish…” he says darkly.

You hold your breath, not liking anything that he’s said to you. Both options sounded terrible and seemed like your life would end either way. His gaze is intense and unwavering, piercing into your very soul; the thing he wants most.

“Work for you… as in getting you something to eat whenever you wanted or?…” you ask carefully.

He chuckles amused, “Mhmm… that will be one of your jobs… and anything else I desired…” his eyes trail down, taking in your body with his eyes. You feel repulsed, not wanting to be here another second next to him.

“How long would I have to decide?” You ask.

“Sooner the better my dear,” he says darkly.

You want to hurt him right here and now, but you have to be patient. 

Wait for the right moment.

You take a deep breath before speaking and soften your eyes when you look at him.

“I’d really appreciate… if you gave me a little more time. This is something I should give some thought to. You do understand, don’t you?” You say sweetly, cracking a soft smile. You boldly reach out to touch his knee, trying to get him to trust you and get him distracted. He quickly looks down at your hand on him, puzzled by your physicality. You quickly take your hand off and try to play it off as an accident.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep,” you say quickly.

He looks at you stunned, unable to say anything right away after your bold move.

You keep smiling at him, your eyes pleading for him to keep looking at you.

“No, not at all…You are fine. How much time do you need?” He asks softly.

“Maybe a day or two? Is that okay?”

“I don’t know-,” he says hesitantly.

“Please,” you interrupt, “give me some time. I’ll do anything you want. I’ll let you feed from me whenever you please, just give me more time,” you instigate, getting closer to him, and placing your hand back on his leg, a bit higher than before. Your thumb rubs soft circles there and you can feel him tense up. 

His eyes wander, looking at every inch of you and his breathing is beginning to hitch. You couldn’t let your nerves get the best of you. You had to act now or there would never be a tomorrow. He places his hand on top of yours and slowly lifts it up to his mouth.

“How about now? Can I take a bite?” He asks darkly, looking intensely into your eyes.

Your heart races and your head pounds away. You can’t control your breathing as you look back at Raphael. His eyes start to change in color and the monster inside him starts to gain full control.

“Yes,” you softly whisper. 

“Come closer. Sit down,” he says patting his leg softly. You clench your jaw, trying to not show the disgust you have. 

You carefully get up and sit down on his knee, displaying your wrist out in front of him. Your other arm drapes along his shoulder, making sure to not let him feel the cold blade of the knife.

“Go ahead,” you say with the most reassuring smile you can conjure. You couldn’t prepare yourself for the pain he would cause you again. The wrist you had reached out in front of him was not one he’d bit yet so he would have to open up another wound or bite on the mark Daniel left.  

He greedily grabs your wrist closer, taking a deep breath, and licking his bottom lip. He quickly unwraps the bandage on your wrist and squeezes your forearm tightly. You squirm a bit, the pressure making you uncomfortable, and not prepared for the agonizing pain. 

His fangs pierce your skin before you can look away and the pain shoots through your whole body like a lightning bolt. You close your eyes tight and let out a loud scream. His bite felt like he was about to take a chunk of your arm out. He wasn’t just drinking your blood, it seemed he was trying to mark you with the imprint of his fangs. Making it known that he bit you. You hear him start to gulp down your blood quickly, feeding much more than he did yesterday. The pain sears through you like a hot branding knife.

Your eyes shoot wide open and fear takes over every last thought. You feared that if he fed like this for much longer, his venom would enter your system, beginning your change. Your head pounded away and your vision began to blur. You grab onto the handle of the knife tighter in your other hand, knowing you have to act now or it’s going to be too late.                                                                                            

He takes a pause and takes his fang out of you, taking a look at your fragile and weak state. He grabs your face, making you look right in his dangerous eyes.

“Jesus, I don’t think I can ever get enough of you. You’re absolutely delicious,” he growls.

You whimper out in agony, not ready for him to take another bite. He lets go of your face and sinks his teeth in your fragile flesh once again and drinks more. Your body felt limp and your breathing was labored, you knew there was not much more time for you. 

You cry out again and feel the tears fall down your face. You knew it was time. You mustered every last ounce of strength you had left in your body and took a deep breath. In one fluid motion, you pierce the blade into his neck, forcing the knife to go as deep as it will go, and watch as blood seeps down his skin. He makes a loud gasp followed by a groan and lets go of your wrist. Still having a hold of the blade, you pull down on it as you get off of him and try to make your escape. He falls back onto the couch and groans loudly. 

Your legs can’t keep up with your thoughts and you stumble at every other step you take. Your vision was doubled and your head felt like it was going to burst open. You can see the front door, or at least you think that’s the front door, and hobble to it as quickly as you can. You fall and the cold marble floors make you feel paralyzed. Your blood smears on the floor and leaves a trail behind you. You had no more strength in your legs and could only crawl from here on out. The door seemed closer and you could taste freedom.

Suddenly, you feel a hand grab a fist full of your hair, and your body gets thrown against the banister of the stairs. You gasp as more pain radiates through you and through heavy eyes, you see Raphael walk toward you. You can see him pull the knife out of his neck and he grunts as he does so. The clank of the knife hits the floor and he kneels in front of you. His blood was still gushing down his neck and he looked like he was about to go on a rampage. His hand wraps around your neck and pushes you up against the railing.

“You fucking bitch! Did you think that was going to hurt me? For a second I thought I could trust you!” He yells, tightening the grip he has on your neck. You gasp for air and try to push his arm off of you but it's no use. You’re so weak you can barely keep your eyes open. He shakes you, making you look at his bloody red eyes.

“You’re going to clean this up. Guess I’m not giving you a choice anymore; I’m turning you now. Drink. Now.” Raphael commands, pushing your head to his neck.

The metallic smell of his blood filled your nose and it felt like you could vomit. You groan in protest and try one last failed attempt to get free from his grip. He doesn’t let you move and pushes your lips into his bleeding neck. You try to keep your lips shut, hoping none of his blood will be tasted.

You feel your body weaken and your eyes droop heavily, no longer being able to keep your body working properly. His fangs enter your neck with a crunch and the front door bursts open. Your body goes limp and your head hits the floor. The taste of blood hits your tongue and you try to spit it out. Through blurry vision, you see Elvis standing there in the doorway, eyes red and his face and hands covered in blood.

“El…” you weakly whimper, feeling your eyes close and your world start to go black around you.

*

Pain ached through your bones and you didn’t want to open your eyes. You were too afraid the pain would only get worse and be too much to bear. You hear a loud beeping coming from the side of you and you feel something covering over your nose and mouth. Moving your fingers, you felt rough sheets and a cold shiver ran through you.

Slowly, your eyes flutter and the bright luminescence of the overhead lights burn your eyes. You wince and slowly lift your hands to your face but cry out in pain. Cold hands grab your wrists and you scream, afraid it is Raphael who has you in his clutches. You thrash your hands and head, trying to get him off of you quickly. 

“Baby, baby it’s okay. You’re okay. Don’t move too much, you’re going to hurt yourself,” a man’s voice says. The southern twang in this man’s voice made your heart flutter in ways you couldn’t describe. 

“Baby, open your eyes. Please, let me see those beautiful eyes,” he pleads. 

You take a deep breath, hoping this was all a bad dream. Your eyes flutter open once again and try to adjust to the harsh lighting. 

You look up into gorgeous cerulean eyes, soft and loving. His black hair fell in small strands on his forehead and he looked at you like you were the only soul on earth. The glint of gold that hung around his neck sparkled even in this lighting.

Elvis.

God you missed him. He looked like an angel standing over you. Maybe you had died and gone to heaven. You had always thought he looked like an angel, too perfect to ever be real and living on this earth. Maybe, just maybe, he was your angel and was ready to guide you into the next life.

You raise your hand slowly up to his face, caressing his cool, sculpted cheek. You sigh when you feel he’s real and not some hallucination.

“El… you’re here,” you whimper.

He smiles at you, letting out a relieved sigh, and softly caresses your face. 

“Yes baby, I’m right here.” He coos. He hums pleased and kisses your forehead.

Your throat hurt when you tried to speak but you wanted to talk to Elvis. Ask him all these questions that were floating in your fuzzy head.

“El…w-what,” you hoarsely say and start to cough. You reach for your throat and feel it burning. It hurt like never before and then it hits you.

Did Raphael turn you?

You grab onto Elvis’ forearms tighter, fear encapsulating every fiber of your being. You try to clear your throat to try to speak again but it hurts too much. He calms you down, hushing you softly and tenderly.

“Shh, baby It’s alright. Don’t talk I know your throat hurts. It’s okay now, you’re safe,” he assures you.

It still didn’t answer your question. Were you turned? Was this what it felt like? The burning and the pain that you are dealing with right now?

Your eyes plead for more information from him. You needed answers.

The door swings open and you cry out, scared it was someone coming to hurt you. A woman in a nurse's uniform comes in with a clipboard and stops in her tracks when she sees Elvis hovering over you. He slowly stands up and straightens out his jacket.

“Not now. Come back later,” he instructs. Without blinking, she turns around and closes the door.

You look up at him and stare, watching the power radiate off of him so easily.

You wince as the pain in your neck increases and grab for his wrist. He looks down at you concerned and kneels down again next to you. You groan in pain and your eyes are full of panic. 

He calms you, rubbing his hand in your hair, pushing the loose strands out of your face.

“Shh honey stay calm. You’re alright. You lost a lot of blood, you almost died on me,” he says weakly, tears pooling in his eyes.

“You’ve been out for a few days honey. Your body was so weak. He nearly broke you…” he says through his teeth. You feel tears start to form in your eyes and the throbbing pain on your neck doesn’t cease to stop. Your fingertips lightly graze the bandage on your neck and look up at him with concern.

He closes his eyes like he’s in pain too, rubbing circles on your hand.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry he did this to you. I should have protected you.” He says sorrowfully, placing a kiss on the back of your hand. Your heart pounds frantically, scared that your worries have come true. He turned you.

He takes a deep breath before speaking again.

“He didn’t turn you. I got there just in time. I’ve never seen such horror… What he did to you… I’m just so glad I was able to stop him,” he says with a sigh.

“The way he bit you, caused a lot of damage. He bit too deep and it leaves a mark on the skin when a vampire does that. That’s why it hurts so much to speak. He was trying to mark you… as his…” he growls. Your tears fall freely and sigh in relief and pain.

You weren’t a vampire at least. But now you carried Raphael’s bite mark. Making it known that he bit you and to taunt Elvis about it forever. You’re heart sank, not only did the pain that wracked through your body hurt, but your heart ached for Elvis. This couldn’t have been easy on him seeing you in this condition and now have to deal with another man’s bite mark on the woman he believes is his Chosen.

You sniffle, wishing you could talk to him and ask him more but you felt so tired and knew it would only cause you more pain to try and speak. He wipes some of the tears away from your eyes and smiles at you.

“Don’t you worry about a thing baby. No one is going to hurt you now. Raphael is… taken care of.” He assures you, looking away momentarily. You were relieved to hear such words and it gave you a bit more ease to relax.

“Please, rest honey. I’m not leaving your side. When you feel well enough to travel, we’ll head home to Memphis okay?” He asks with a smile. You nod your head and feel your eyes grow heavy, no longer able to fight the need for rest. You feel him kiss your hand and you fall back into the peaceful arms of sleep.

*

*

*

Tagging:

@powerofelvis @burninlovebutler @neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @loving-elvis @theresalwaysep

@prompted-wordsmith @sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog. @myradiaz @tacozebra051

@thatbanditqueen

@18|kpeters @flwrs4aust @emma181873

@austinswhitewolf @eliseinmemphis

@everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything . @ohjustpeachy

@elvisalltheway101 @austinsmutler @kingdomforapony @generoustreemystic @kendralavon7 @lettersfromvenus @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121

@jaqueline19997

@returntopresley @iloveelvis @rjmartin11 @that-hotdog @louisejoy86 @misspresley @cattcb @annapresley8

@arrolyn1114 @raginginkedslut @epthedream69

@mh777ep1938 @50sexyshadesfashionista @oldh0llyw0od @hooked-on-elvis @livelovedilfs

[someone-always-cares]

Progress update

Edit: laptop broke (hard drive issue), so thing will either be delayed a week or A Lot depending if my shit is recoverable. Back up your files regularly yall

Realised I should probably update yall on how things are going! Things are almost ready, just need to stich the book together together and finish a couple things, then I can order a sample of the book. I don't want to start the kickstarter until I have a book sample in hand that I'm happy with.

Admittedly looking like my original timeline isn't quite going to fit but such is life. its a close enough timeline so im not too annoyed just not in time to advertise it this weekend

to thank yall for your patience with this, here a sneak peek of the stickersheets made because I'm very happy with them and also because I just approved the proofs the manu sent me for those samples:

disclaimer: colours may vary depending on how the samples turn out (converting rgb to cmyk, my beloathed).

[id: two stickersheets, one of characters from chapter 1, and the other chapter two: chapter 1 sheets has: rami (civilian clothes), his whole team, tsunami, inkmaster, swarm, sound flood, and mori. as well as some smaller stickers: a sparkling wave, rami's logo, two diamond shaped sparkles, a small fireball, swarm's butterly, and three hearts with the ace, trans, and rainbow pride flags. chapter 2 sheet has: lewis and sound flood (both in civilian clothes), iris, faete, mindforce, and omen (super costumes). also several smaller stickers: mindforce's eye, a yellow and pink rose, a snowdrop, faete's sword, iris's notebook (with the words "stay safe"), a starry sky with city view, rami's hand holding a rose, and 5 blue pink and white hearts. end id]

also here's the cover (minus the blurb)

[id: image of the cover design, layed flat. aka the front cover is on the right side, back on the left, and the spin inbetween. designed to look like a corkboard with photos pinned to it, and red sring connecting things. on the back there are photos that are from various panels in chapter 1 and 2 (redrawn, specifically faete after transforming, cam readying her forcefield, lewis on the roof, and tsunami riding his wave. the back also contains enamel pins: a trans flag, an ace flag, and mindforce's eye. as well as the corner of a missing persons poster, a business card for "cullen's bowls 'n' bowls", and a blank sheet of notebook paper where the blurb should be. the spine has some starry washi tape with the title written on. the front has a piece of blue paper torn off at the end with the title on it, and stickers of a silver star and rami's logo. below is a large image of rami sitting in the water staring intestly at the viewer, light emerging behind him. around him, hands all strech out towards him, hands belonging to the significant character significant in chapters 1 and 2 of sac. end id]

so specifically what is left (no particular order):

spellchecking

adding page numbers to the bottom

finishing the rest of the not comic pages (aka the thank you note, about the author, deciation and the bit where im going to add names of people who pledged to the kickstarter) 75% done

character bios (admittedly optional i just want to do them)

bonus pages for art and sketches (i have collected all the art and sketches, its just deciding which ones to ue and which ones to save for next time because it makes more sense to put them with the more spoilery chapters 3-5 specific arts)

assembling these and sending a sample off to print

actually starting the kickstarter (once i have decived book sample back and am happy. i am not starting it without knowing 100% that i can fufill it right then and there)

(in the intrest of transperency: while these are all easy and mostly quick (aside from character bios. havent started that one yet), i also have some upcomign events that will have to take priority. that being a convention this weekend, next weekend, and my sisters wedding the weekend after (and the wedding gift, which is custom artwork of my sister and future brother in law. like a wedding painted but not on the day and also digital. so that will take up a bit of time after [another reason i wanted to get this done before then but ah well])

for real though one day i hope to be able to do art stuff full time because i am. so tired of doing a day job

also also there are versions of lewis and rami stickers in super outfits, they'll be seperate stickers

[id: drawings of lewis and rami, same as the stickers in the sheets, just seperate and in different outfits, the drawings have been placed close together, so it looks like thye're holding hands. end id]

you can make them hold hands :)

[bubblin-trouble]

OKAY OFFICIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT LET’S GO LET’S GOOOOOO

It’s based off of this post I did a while back :)

Once again, this event is an open one (most of my events will be for future reference)! Feel free to interact even if we haven’t before and you’re following me, or if you just happened to stumble upon this event and it catches your attention. If you have more than one muse, feel free to use more than one if you’d like! OCs and canon characters are welcome!

That being said, here’s what the event will look like at a glance! :)

Overview:

This event will be different from the one I did before. The event itself is basically two timelines colliding. One where Calypso was never sent to NRC and something different occurs, and one where your OCs/characters are sent to her from the TWST world.

Basically they’re isekai’d. Or somehow find themselves off campus and in what’s essentially another world but still in the same universe if you’re picking up what I’m putting down. Whatever suits your fancy.

When your muse(s) finds themself with this version of Calypso, they will most likely take note that she acts differently than their beloved version. This version of Calypso will not know your muse, since she was never taken to NRC, but something subconscious tells her she’s seen them somewhere before. But, who knows?

Pre-event:

The pre-event is also different. It will be in the form of dreams that the current timeline Calypso has. Little blurbs here and there, varying in length and different types of content.

Closer to when I decide to officially start the event, such dream posts may be more frequent. As to what those dreams entail, you’ll have to find out~

The pre-event will most likely be shorter, since I’m really excited and have to resist the urge to jump into this thing lol

The event:

(Also, read the post linked to get more info!)

This is already kind of explained in the overview, but your muse(s) will be isekai’d somewhere off campus that they aren’t familiar with. They end up meeting Calypso, or at least a different version of her. In return for their company, she tells them a story.

But, not just any story. Seven special ones, written by a mysterious author. How she has gotten her hands on these stories, it’s not clear at this moment. It’s in your muse(s)’s best interest to listen. Who knows? Maybe they’ll learn something new…

Obviously, if you couldn’t tell, Calypso is the narrator. But, there’s a bit of a mystical twist to her storytelling. As to what that will be, you’ll just have to wait for her story to begin.

There are seven stories to choose from, and I’m going to assume all of you know what they are. Calypso could give your muses the choice of which story they’d like to hear, or it could be random. I will be limiting to only three stories per thread (for my sanity), but you don’t have to choose/go through with three! Just one or two is also fine.

As Calypso paints the picture with her spellbinding storytelling, your muse(s) may find themselves enraptured by it. They had never viewed it that way. How did she get this version? It was so much more different than the things they’d heard at NRC/growing up…

But…one more story can’t hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, during this event, all rules still apply! If I don’t respond to your thread immediately, I am most likely working on others or busy at that moment. If it has been two days or more, feel free to poke at me a little to remind me, since stuff often is buried in my inbox and notifications.

That is all for now! Stay tuned for more updates :)

Taglist : @nrcsfavoriteshrimps @nrc-asteryn-crew @night-raven-miscellany @nrc-ramshackle-prefect @floyd-leech-thing @knightcoree @purplehairnpronouns

Also, let me know if you would like to be added onto/taken off of my taglist for this event!

[romance-of-three-memes]

It's been over 6 years since Dynasty Warriors 9 came out, and 6 years since we've had a new main series entry. We're not getting another main series entry at least as of yet, we're getting Dynasty Warriors Origins, which was revealed in Sony's 2024 State of Play show, which has been remarked to have been an utterly mediocre event (much like this entire generation of tRIpLe A video games). The first trailer is here:

So, what do I think of all this? My overall sentiment can be summed up as follows:

Fuck man, I dunno.

Dynasty Warriors means a lot to me. It means so, so much to me. It's shaped a lot of aspects of my life, my taste in video games, music, characters, and costume design, my academic interests and aspirations, etc. I learned Chinese in college and studied abroad in Beijing largely because Dynasty Warriors stoked that interest in me from a young age. So yeah, I *really* love this series. I *really* am not sure what my life would look like if it hadn't been part of it. And I *really* hate what's become of it.

I want to be excited. I want to be optimistic. But at the same time, I don't, because man, does getting your hopes up only to have them dashed hurt. Nothing last forever, and after the sorry affair that was Dynasty Warriors 9 (the strongest defense I've heard for it was 'it's wasn't as bad as people say' it wasn't AS bad. Yeesh), it's made me wonder if there's really much of anywhere left for the series to go that's interesting.

The formula itself, the 1 vs 1,000 gameplay, has long been ported to other IPs such as Zelda, Fire Emblem, and Berserk, and a lot of them have been great (holy shit I love the original Hyrule Warriors). This proves that the gameplay concept can continue to evolve and be engaging. But Dynasty Warriors as a narrative device for that concept has been pretty played out, and it's not like this is a new observation, anyone who's played more than one or two Warriors games would probably be able to tell you the same thing.

Given the differing gameplay with the whole nameless hero bit and the title it's probably more like (another) spin-off than a main sequel, and that may very well be because the devs don't have much of anywhere else to go with the main series, which may be for the best. I'd rather let something go quietly into the night than watch as it shambles on like a reanimated corpse, although I'd rather it ended on a better note than Dynasty Warriors 9. Something that particularly bothers me is the wording of some of the ad blurbs, like on Koei-Tecmo's official twitter account announcing the game: 'In addition, for the first time in a Dynasty Warriors title, the storyline will be told through the eyes of a “nameless hero.” Play through the historical tale of war as chaos erupts throughout the Three Kingdoms, showcasing the vast lands of China and its most ruthless generals like never before!’

That's *technically* true, but in a very legalese way. This isn't the first time the Warriors series has had an original character with no historical or cultural background being 'the main character' of the game. Dynasty Warriors 4 and most of the Empires games have the option for you to create a player character and play through the game with them, and Samurai Warriors Chronicles is the same deal, albeit that's even more like the premise of Dynasty Warriors Origins because you play as an OC going through the late Sengoku Era. And man, the evolution of the character creation over the years has been pretty amazing. It makes me wonder if this 'nameless hero' is going to be customizable other than changing their weapon (which was showcased in the trailer). I'm going to be really honest, unless that character ends up being extremely compelling and well-written, I'm going to be very put off if we can't customize them, or if there's only a small degree of customization. In Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 I can make a player character who’s a woman that’s taller than virtually every male character, isn’t stick thin, can wield any other character’s weapon or her own unique weapon, and I can put her in cool armor that isn’t pointlessly sexualized, and I can give her different voices who all give the character different personalities in their lines and delivery, and I give her the overconfident, ruthless voice actress. If you take that degree of customizability away from me after having given it to me on a handheld system from the previous generation, I will lose a ton of interest, Dynasty Warriors Origins.

Another thing that maybe isn't quite as major but still gets me is the announcement tweet on Koei-Tecmo's official twitter account that goes 'Fueled by exhilarating 1 vs. 1,000 action and the rush of massive armies, DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS delivers an unrivaled sense of realism to the battlefield'. Realism. In Dynasty Warriors. A game series where you play as characters with superhuman abilities and are at a peak physical condition that most people could never hope to achieve. Realism? You think I want realism? You think *anyone* plays this series for realism? One of the best parts of Dynasty Warriors is how flashy and campy it is, and how unabashed it is about that (or how it used to be, anyway). Dynasty Warriors has never, ever been about realism and feels more like chasing trends, since realism has been a buzzword in the video game community for years now (albeit it's quieted down within the past few years, thankfully).

Still, this is just a very basic first trailer. Could it be great? Yeah, I'd love for it to be. But do I think it will be? Most of what little evidence we've been given so far makes me lean towards 'no'. That doesn't mean I necessarily think it'll be terrible, but I also don't really think it will be great.

As much of a cynical, joyless bastard as I can be, I don't get anything out of saying all this. I usually love being right, but not about this. Man would I *love* to be wrong about this. I really, really would. Also, I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade or try to convince them that they shouldn't be excited or should expect the worst case scenario, I'm just throwing my opinion out there. Maybe once we see more my expectations will take a turn for the better.

So I guess I'll end this with the sentiment I began with: Fuck man, I dunno.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb:

A vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love in this epic and seductive gothic fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.

“Fiercely empowering and gloriously vengeful.”—Heather Walter, award-winning author of Malice

Her name was written in the pages of someone else’s story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula’s first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula’s clutches—and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn in twenty-first-century London, when she meets another woman, Iris, who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. Yet she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris while Iris is equally mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by outside forces. Iris’s mother won’t let go of her without a fight, and Lucy’s past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl once more.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness has always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

Review:

A sapphic take on Dracula told from the perspective of Lucy as she recounts both her past and her present in a story about revenge filled with betrayal, romance, and vampires! Lucy Westenra is known for being one of Dracula's victims... and in this new take we follow Lucy from the beginning as we go past her death to the present day. Lucy and Mina were inseparable and it's known that Lucy had famous suitors, yet the moment she becomes a vampire what truly happens to her? In this story we explore Lucy's side of events as she grapples with her choices and her forbidden love, as she deals with a whole new life style and the thirst for revenge against the monster that turned her. Spanning decades, we see her grow and see her hunt down the vampire who continues to elude her... and then she meets Iris, the first person to see her for herself and to love her wholly. Iris has her own secrets though... secrets that could destroy them both. Can Lucy's past and Iris's own dysfunctional family tear them apart or can they find a way to work together and overcome it all? If you love unique takes on characters that further flesh them out and give a fresh take on the classic story, absolutely add this book to your tbr. As a huge fan of Dracula and a lover of sapphic vampire stories, this book hit all my boxes. It's a delightful read that manages to keep both the true gothic undertones of the original story while adding a fresh new spin that will absolutely captivate you while you read it.

Release Date: September 10,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

Author Info: Website

Book Tour: TBR Beyond Tours

*Thanks Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and @tbrbeyondtours for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review and being part of the book tour.

[writeblrfantasy]

THE NIGHT AUCTION: BOOK INTRO

“I’m sorry,” Aric admits, conceding a bit of honesty for once. “I am the one bringing the mood down. I wanted this too, and I can’t understand why I’m having a difficult time adjusting.”

Kyrell snorts. “I can. You were just bid on like a piece of meat in front of a whole crowd of fools, bought by a man you barely know when you were least expecting it, and given more money for it than you’ve probably ever seen at one time, if you would pardon my frankness.

“Now you’re alone with that man and the clothes on your back, and though they’re very nice clothes and a very nice man, your world probably feels like it’s been ripped out from under you whether you wanted this or not.

“So, yes, anyone in your place would be having a difficult time adjusting too. I say it’s more amazing that you haven’t thrown a completely justifiable fit, screamed, punched me, or cursed all of our names. Or all of those consecutively.”

genre: fantasy romance

status: complete. word count 70k

blurb:

For a gemeyes, love is a prison. What happens when it could mean freedom? Aric is a gemeyes, a powerful and heavily regulated mage in the second class of Vadare society. His whole life, he’s worked hard to survive—he doesn’t dream, and he certainly doesn’t love. When an old debt comes knocking, Aric is forced to turn to The Night Auction, a club where gemeyes go to be auctioned off for dates. There, he is bought by Kyrell Tierwood, a first class lord who’s kinder and handsomer than any Aric has met before. Kyrell’s main draw is his wealth, which Aric needs in order to protect the family secret. Aric’s plan is simple: seduce the money he needs out of Kyrell and then leave him. It’s not love, it’s business. However, Aric didn’t count on his seduction turning into something real. As Aric and Kyrell navigate coexistence, Aric is torn between two worlds: the love he’s fostering with Kyrell, and the secret he will do anything to keep.

please let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist for this book!

surprise! 🎉🎉my secret book is finally done!

for the past month i pulled a sanderson and have been working in secret on this baby. THE NIGHT AUCTION is about finding trust, friendship, and love through class gaps. It's about realizing your mistakes and actually changing your behavior instead of just promising to be better.

it was supposed to be nanowrimo, but in typical me fashion i got impatient and started drafting october 13 and finished drafting october 31. there is only one person in the world to whom i mentioned i was writing a secret book. not one soul on earth knew the plot, the characters, nothing.

it was the most fun, the easiest, the most delightful drafting experience i've had in years. it's also one of my favorite books i've ever written. i feel so connected to these characters, this world, the heart of the book, in a way i've been lacking lately.

the top word i would pick for how it felt to write this book was healing. every moment was freeing, every word was fun. it was lifechanging.

i will be posting character intros, excerpts, and more to help you meet the world that has been living rent free in my head for a month. so, so excited to finally be sharing this with you all!!

GENERAL TAGLIST: @worldbuildng @muddshadow @nikkywrites @47crayons @directionoftime @chayscribbles @magic-is-something-we-create

also, if you made it this far, you deserve to know that the idea for this came from a seinfeld episode, if you can believe it! (the barber)

[topguncortez]

WELCOME TO G’S WHUMPTOBER 2023 CHALLENGE:) 

➢It’s that time of year again!!! This year I am taking part in @/ailesswhumptober and I can’t be more excited!

MY RULES:  

One topic/day will be assigned to one character for that day (i.e Jake gets Day 1, Rooster Day 2, Floydsin Day 3). I will not be doing more than one character a day.

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS. As these topics all fall under the WHUMP category, there will be heavy content written and shared. Fics will be tagged accordingly, but no minors are permitted to interact. If I find you are a minor interacting, you will be blocked immediately. 

During this time I will not be posting any other fics/blurbs/one-shots or taking requests, primarily because I’ll be writing a lot and posting a lot and I don’t need that added stress.

HOW TO REQUEST: 

As I said before, one character will be used a day. Therefore, whatever day and character come in first will be assigned. 

Example: “Jake, Day 27 pls!” 

-Jake will be used as the main character on Day 27. 

Example: Rooster Day 18! 

    Iceman day 18!

-Rooster will be used as the main character on Day 18 because the request came in first. 

You can request what prompt you would like

My normal requesting rules still stand: if you are a blank blog, a minor, a character I don’t write for, or exceed the two-three sentence limit, your request will not be fulfilled

I will update the calendar/character list on SUNDAYS, so you know what days are left.

ALL REQUESTS MUST BE DONE BY: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd  (exceptions maybe made if days aren’t all filled)

THE WHUMPTOBER CALENDAR: (the days are in bold)

1 | PICK YOUR POISON

Drugging | Sick | Poisoned

2 |  SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE DEAD

Overworked | Insomnia | Exhaustion

3 | LET YOUR SENSES GUIDE YOU

Sensory Deprivation | Overstimulation | Isolation

4 | THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP

Hiding an injury | betrayal | lying

5 | HELD AGAINST YOUR WILL

Hostage | Kidnapping | Held at Gunpoint

6 | OUT OF YOUR MIND 

Conditioning | Mind Control | Forced to Hurt Someone Else

7 | NOT DEAD TILL YOU’RE WARM N DEAD

Flatline | Restrained | CPR

8 | A BRAIN ON FIRE

Panice Attacks | Dissociation | Seizure

9 | DEAD ON YOUR FEET

Scar Reveal | Interrogation | Presumed Dead

10 | A GIFT TO REMEMBER

Branding | Scarring | Collar

11 | FLOAT LIKE A FEATHER

Fainting | Paralyzed | Adrenaline 

12 | LEFT A SCAR ON MY HEART

Self Harm | Sacrifice | Character Death

13 | A FORCE OF NATURE, AN ACT OF GOD

Earthquake | Flood | Crushed

14 | 9-1-1, WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY?

Bleeding through the bandage | Field Medicine | No Anesthesia 

15 | WHO’S THE NEW KID?

Experimentation | Muzzle | Transformation

16 | ONE HALF OF A WHOLE PERSON

Amputation | Chronic Pain | Hospital

17 | INTO THE FIRE

Hypothermia | Heat Stroke | “You Look a Little Pale?”

18 | TAKING A SICK DAY 

Fever | Vomiting | Warm Soup

19 | I’LL NEVER PUSH YOU AROUND

Taken for Granted | Left Behind | “Why Wasn’t I Enough?” 

20 | THE BEAUTY FELL FOR THE BEAST

Dehumanization | Stockholm Syndrome | Master & Servant

21 | WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU

Blood loss | Shock | Near Death Experience

22 | PAIN MAKES YOU STRONGER

Whipping | punishment | stress position

23 |  DON’T TRY TO BE THE HERO

Begging | “Take Me Instead” | Forced to Watch

24 | RUNNING UP THAT HILL TO MAKE A DEAL WITH GOD 

Failed Escape | Hunted Down | Too Exhausted to Keep Running

25 | BAD DREAMS, BAD DREAMS, HERE TO STAY

Nightmares | Flashback | “Why Didn’t You Save Me?” 

26 | THE LAZARUS EFFECT  

Magical Exhaustion or Injury | Curse | Came Back Wrong

27 | NEVER LET GO

Forgotten | Locked Away | Immortal

28 | OUT OF BREATH AND OUT OF TIME

Whumpee hair pulling | Oxygen Deprivation | Sweating

29 | ONE TICKET TO HELL 

“The Easy Way or The Hard Way? | Bargaining | Forced to Choose

30 | YOU’RE MINE, ALWAYS WILL BE MINE

Possession | Mind Games | Coma

31 | A light at the end of the tunnel 

PTSD | Headaches | Crying

MY CHARACTER LIST: 

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin  Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw  Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace  Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell  Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky  Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw  Henry ‘Wolfman’ Ruth Beau ‘Cyclone’ Simpson  Rhett Abbott

MY PAIRING LIST:

Jake & Shy!Wifey  Dragon & Rooster Coyote & Val Phoenix & Cerberus  Bob & Bea  Hangman & Athena

Fill out the Form to be Tagged:)

[arbutus-blossoms]

Hey, sorry, weird question, but what happened with Reddit and Westworld? Did the creators of Westworld change something about the show's future storylines because a redditer guessed what was going to happen?

So Westworld had a gigantic audience of 12 million, and it's surprising because this was HBO's attempt for a new tentpole franchise when Game of Thrones was going downhill.

A subreddit spawned, I was in it as a viewer capacity and there was a lot of speculation. Star Ward level of speculation. Which is good , if your show is good, you want them engaged.

So a bunch of redditors had guessed ( Spoilers) that Ed Harris was playing the Current version of Man in Black, and Jimmy Simpson was the younger version of Man in Black , William. That they were the same character.

And that's because the first season was actually beautifully crafted. Including one scene where Younger William enters the park for the first time, and debated choosing a Black or White cowboy hat. This is a simple storytelling device, character is nice, naive, believes in the good in the world, circumstances makes him lose that humanity. Then it made sense for William to be MIB, wearing the black cowboy hat. But until you saw the entire series it could be brushed off. But once you saw it, it made so much sense.

This is during the height of GOT, Star Wars when speculation and the need for twists and turns were paramount. Felt like you needed to outsmart the viewers if you want to be a good showrunner.

During that time, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have an interview to an audience, which they said things in a joking manner. But in the age of digital social media, things go fast. Especially if it's only a text blurb and people didn't see the actual clip

Turns out to be a tongue in cheek joke. But the damage was done and it spread everywhere.

They also decided to do a prank to reveal the all the spoilers of season 2, turns out they made a rickroll video to Redditors as a light-hearted joke.

With that said, season 2 started but there was a lot of thing that seemed off in the show, it started to get even more conveluted.

Multiple spanning timelines. The show also started to get more and more philosophical. Because the show is about Robots ( Hosts) , you never know if a character is a robot as well. So that could feel like a cheap gimmick.

Also it's not only focused on Westworld anymore, it spanned outside to the real world , making a show called Westworld...not Westworld ( even though the Old Westworld movie had multiple theme park sections as well)

I also worked in Marketing, I also want to take the hunch, that General Audience ( Not the hardcore Human Philosopher/ai/spirit/High Art viewer ) wanted to just watch Robots vs Humans and the drama surrounding that, not get too deep in the human subconscious.

But the showrunners made it felt they added twists and turns so much, maybe to outsmart said Redditors? ( As I said, joke or not right?) That the general audience started to be confused and lost interest

The show then went from season 1 with a staggering of 12 million viewers, to season 4 measly few million. And this is HBO rolling the red carpet for Nolan and Joy.

I feel, if you're a showrunner, you need to be careful because anything you say will be dissected and spread like wildfire, and sometimes written articles don't convey tone, especially if it's a joke, that click bait newest and even well known journals can run with. This you can clearly see if you are part of the Marvel fandom.

All of this is sad because Westworld season 1 was so beautifully crafted and written. But because of all of this, as a viewer, you're left wondering if Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were genuinely trying to craft a twist because the story needed it, or done it for the shock and confuse viewers even more.

Nerdwriter went more in details on it's fall.

This is why I am a bit worried about the TV Fallout Series because they are the executive producers and also Nolan directed some episodes.

This is also why there is so many similar vibes to Westworld, especially MIB to The Ghoul, Dolores Abernathy to Lucy Maclean and so on as I posted on my Tumblr

Both Fallout and Westworld had the gaming aspect where your character could choose to be good, mid , or evil. As Westworld, humans can go in to just explore an enchanting Western theme park, but some are deviants and they go there to unleash their deepest desires.

The only hope I have is that Fall Out is a franchise, they have rules and lore.

Then again Star Wars had rules and lore but they retconned and brought back dead characters just for reusing legacy characters to make more money...

So yeah just my two cents 🥴

[robiinurheart33]

Thanks for the tag @sergeantwoods !! I went a little crazy on the questions lols,,,

1. how many works?

Honestly no idea lmao (if ur talking on ao3, I don’t have an account there, but I’ve been thinking about it.) (14 wips atm)

2. Total word count?

Again, no idea LOL! My actual works have been around 1K ish per post? So id say in total maybee 10k?

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently, COD. I wanna expand more soon though, so stay tuned in the far, far future

4. top 5 fics by kudos?

I’m gonna list down my fav fics of all time (multi fandom) if im reading this correctly

1. Anything by buzzcut_season really. Their writing is spectacular and made my heart clench on so many occasions. My personal GOD of writing fluff. And the person that got me through the hells of teenage puberty.(for the record, i am still in puberty lmfao) my firsts in the tag tooth-rotting fluff and the magics of slow burn. (Sk8 the Infinity)

2. Neon Void by sugarpastels. The creator is here on Tumblr with the same user so if you wanna check her out go ahead!! FANTASTIC writing, villain Leo au with heart pounding scenes that leave me dizzy. A fic has never made me breathless and needing to pace around my room more than this one (special shoutout to her sister as well who is writing a mutant mayhem fic that unfortunately didn’t get added to the list but is still super well written!!) (ROTTMNT)

3. Anytime You Need Me by thirteenbullets. I really don’t need to elaborate more. Character analysis + fluff + non sexual intimacy + long fics… it’s the perfect series for me. I felt like a stuck gold when i read this. (COD)

4. The Eldest Brother by dEBB987. Classic 2012 x 2018 crossover, but it doesn’t have ooc and is just such. A. Fun. Read. Made me giggle and kick my legs more than one occasion and good family feels all around. (TMNT)

5. Mutant Ninja Midlife Crisis by a_platypus. Old Leo comes back to the past after the events of the movie to readjust to new life. The right amount of drama with the perfect amount of slice of life. This fic actually gives the old turtle a break but also not letting go of the teenage angst and everything that comes with seeing your dead friends young and alive again. Would have been higher on the list but it’s not completed sadly. The author does write for COD as well though, and it’s worth to check it out! (ROTTMNT)

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes!!! I love love love it when people comment and try to interact if possible.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably the panic attack Ghost fic. Haven’t written much angst if im remembering correctly. I’m a major fluff person

7. fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh god i really haven’t written a proper fic at all helps. I’m frantically swiping through my robs ramblings tag and just realising most of the ghoap stuff i write is about their undying dedication to each other. Jesus. Happiest ending is probably one of my blurbs cause every time i try to write actual fluff i overheat and explode.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Nope

9. do you write smut?

Nah. I don’t think ill ever write smut honestly not because im asexual its just that I don’t think I can write one accurately if that makes sense. Also im a minor I don’t think im allowed to do that

10. craziest crossover?

None yet

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully not, but if i have i would take it as a sign that I’ve made it as a writer. Unless it’s more popular than the actual post in that case burn it with fire.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Unfortunately and fortunately no. I would LOVE to collaborate, don’t get me wrong. But i would get so anxious about not disappointing the other person or procrastinating and motivation and all the works and just. Yeah I don’t have the mental capacity for that rn.

14. all time favourite ship?

Ooooooh

ghoap, renga, ineffable husbands, solangelo (Off the top of my head rn)

15. what’s a wip that you want to finish but doubt you will?

THE SECOND PART TO DRUNK SOAP. OH MY GOD I NEED TO GET IT DONE ITS BEEN 2 MONTHS

16. what are your writing strengths?

I would say making everything just too dramatic and emotional

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. I can barely talk irl how am i supposed to write witty banter

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Love it. As a bilingual myself i love seeing diff languages it’s like a bonus secret for that language user

19. first fandom you wrote in?

Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. That was when i was in my “i think this is so cringy of me and i hold myself back because of it” because wow. I reread some of it recently and it’s horrible it will stay and rot in my notes app. Although i will say it’s so nice to see how far I’ve come in terms of writing and just posting publicly in general

20. favourite fic you’ve written?

The drunk soap one and the Ghoap one where they’re on stakeout together. I didn’t like the second one initially, but i think slaving over it worked. I love how I managed to balance the quietness and mutual respect and fondness of each other.

If you couldn’t tell, i had a lot of fun answering these questions haha

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations!! You know more about me than the average online follower 👏👏👏

[topgun-imagines]

One Year Anniversary!

hi everyone! i've decided to host a 'one year celebration'. july 27th, 2022 was the day that i posted my first story. since then, i've made many friends and found something that makes me incredibly happy. i’m so so grateful for every single one of you for making this such an incredible journey! i’m so excited to see what the next year will bring! <3

so, without further delay, let the festivities begin! since this celebration is themed around a one-year anniversary, each of the options will be different cake flavours. while some of these are similar to ones that i have done in past celebrations, some new ones have been added. feel free to send in as many as you like. i hope you all enjoy! once again, thank you so much!!

celebrating from july 27th - august 20th

- pink champagne: since this is a ‘one year annaverisiry’, i figured that i should have something to do with my stories over the past year. so, for this one, send in ‘pink champagne’ and a story of mine to get the directors cut/my thought process behind it.

- coconut: as always, i have to include a moodboard aspect to my celebration. send in a character and a theme to get a moodboard!

- lemon: this is another new one that i’m adding. for this one, send in 'lemon' along with one of my stories to get a playlist of songs that fit the story.

- confetti: for this celebration, i'd like to have an even amount of focus on new stories and stories from the past year. send in 'confetti' and a character, along with any other specifics you'd like, to get a list of my favorite stories that i have written for that character.

- strawberry: send in any top gun 1986 or top gun maverick character to get a list of some of my favourite stories for them. this one will act more as a fic rec and a way to boost other writers on here.

- white chocolate: for this option, send in 'white chocolate' along with any other word to get a sentence from an upcoming story.

- salted caramel: another option that i include in all of my celebrations is the blurb option. for this one, send in a top gun character + a theme to get a blurb.

thank you again for this wonderful past year!! <3

tagging some mutual to get things started:

@topguncortez @peachystenbrough @wkndwlff @rhettabbotts @supercatgirl006 @jackiequick @myfaveficrecs @roosterforme @dragon-kazansky @cassiemitchell @teacupsandtopgun @beccaanne814 @rosiahills22 @seresinsbabe @mrsjaderogers @topgunruinedme @cycbaby @callsignthirsty @nobody7102

[misc-obeyme]

there's always a thousand ideas rattling around in my brain, and my notes app is getting filled with one line prompts for mostly art ideas but could also turn into mini fics

I'm still hung up on boxer mammon and I think. I will pick up my sketchbook today after going grocery shopping. Drawing faces is what's holding me back, and the idea that I wouldn't do the characters justice is what holds me back from writing (have not written since my wattpad days). The closet thing I have is dialogue blurbs in my notes app.

mammon is always on the brain SORRY. but like, thinking about merchant/jeweler mammon and a royal mc. And Mammon has ridiculous prices or excuses for why he can't sell (thinking about aziraphele from good omens and his book shop) but mc visits his stall every day (possibly in disguise?? or with a guard), and one day manages to trade a royal jewel for something in his collection (i am such a sucker for royalty in general and knights and AAA)

or thinking about Solomon and mc making potions together for the first time, and Solomon encouraging random things to be added just to see the end result (my mc is naturally curious and shares a single braincell when paired with solomon)

OR mc their first year in the devildom and possibly going to barbatos for advice on ingredients to use, what's human safe, and easy dishes to experiment on so they don't poison themselves. which makes me wonder how much human stuff is readily available and if mc can go grocery shopping in the human world with barbatos (domestic activities), or if they had to send him with a list (like when there was a retreat at the demon lords castle and everyone got to make dishes from their home)

sorry for getting carried away, this was the longest ask ever akdjdj, was just hoping to share some ideas and maybe some things that could bring back the creative spark AAA SORRY BYE LOVE YOU AND YOUR BLOG 🤣🫶

- ✨ anon

Please do not worry about ask length, ✨ anon! My responses tend to be lengthy too lol! So don't apologize because I love it!!

Augh, I totally get what you mean about the ideas... I am plagued by them all the time lol. It's finding the time to actually use them for anything that's usually the issue.

I hope you did do some drawing in your sketchbook! I can't speak to difficulties with art, but when it comes to writing, you can't let yourself worry about doing the characters justice.

I used to care a lot about how I characterized everybody. I was always so nervous about writing for Mammon in particular that I just didn't a lot of the time. But the truth is, every writer will characterize them differently. And your interpretation of them is just as valid as anyone else's! If it's less about that and more than you're concerned about your skill level, well, unfortunately there's no way around it. You gotta write to get better at writing! You can always start with characters you're not as concerned about if you want, but I find it's usually best to follow the inspiration! I believe in you!

Also don't worry, I love Mammon, so I don't mind hearing about him lol! And OKAY I looove Good Omens! I read the book a long time ago and then re-read it several times before the show came out. And then the fandom exploded!! But it's been amazing. Er anyway, getting off topic here, which is that I love the idea of jeweler/merchant Mammon who can't bear to part with his merchandise alksdfjf- I also love knights, I have a whole medieval AU brewing in my brain meats that I would write if I had any kind of time. Royal!MC showing up like I bet I have something you can't resist... I'll get you to trade me something from your wares!! I also like the idea of MC trading a kiss for something of his and he agrees because he's surprised to find that he's willing to give up his expensive object for a chance to kiss MC tee hee~

Solomon being a menace is something I'm always up for! I like the idea that he would encourage MC to do that, but also knows enough about the ingredients himself to know that the things he's suggesting aren't dangerous. Like he doesn't know what adding this herb will do, but he does know that it won't explode in MC's face lol. Though I also like the idea of Solomon and MC just being chaotic potion gremlins and adding anything and everything just to see what would happen. Like when MC is powerful enough and Solomon feels confident that MC won't get hurt, then they're both going all in.

I kinda think ingredients from other worlds are not readily available, since it seems like Simeon and Luke kinda go through this thing where they're trying to learn to cook with Devildom ingredients. Which means that Barbatos likely has a way of procuring those ingredients when he needs them. I absolutely love the idea of going human world shopping with Barb. I'm just gonna put that in my own personal headcanon. Whenever MC says in the game that they're gonna cook some human world food or at the retreat and everything, that also means a shopping trip with Barbatos. I wish I understood why I would want to do that so bad, but I really do. Imagine taking him to a human world grocery store. Like if he said to me that I should take him wherever I normally go, it's like okay lemme take you to Aldi and Walmart lol. But then I'd be like listen, if we can go anywhere though, we should really go to Costco and Trader Joe's. I never go to Costco because I don't have a membership. Because I am shopping only for myself and I don't need fifty pounds of anything lol. And there is no Trader Joe's in my town, the nearest one is over an hour away.

ANYWAY I love all your ideas!! I hope you find the motivation and confidence to pick up drawing and/or writing again! I have no doubt that whatever you create will be amazing!

[uponawhitehorse13]

What Fate characters do you plan on writing for? Also are you going to add any new fandoms soon?

Ok so regarding Fate/Stay Night other than the characters I've written for I have to do Sakura when I finally finish Heaven's Feel and Medusa. I may have to see if I'll delay Medusa to after I've played at least a bit of Hollow Ataraxia just to get a bit more familiar with her character.

I may not take requests for Archer and keep the alphabet as a one off thing. Small chance I do one for Lancer though.

Regarding other Fate media other than Medusa there are other characters in Hollow Ataraxia that I might write for like Bazett and Caren. Luvia is also a popular character but doesn't seem that deep so I might end up skipping her. Almost done watching Zero but there isn't really anyone to write about there. I am planning on playing EXTRA and CCC after I finish the VNs. Due to the way routes work in those games I might write only for Nero and not Tamamo since she doesn't seem that interesting. I will be writing for the Sakurafaces especially for Passionlip since a friend of mine is a big enjoyer of her story arc.

New fandoms are a bit harder of a question. I am seemingly picky about choosing fandoms to write for. This is more a consequence of the way I approach my posts as character analysis instead of fantasy fulfilment. I often see writing for really shallow characters which ends up just looking like a person projecting their fantasy onto an attractive shell. The worst example of this is those posts that are a blurb that lists a bunch of characters below it. I also care a lot about being accurate to a character because I find it pointless to write things that are ooc. If you don't write for a character as they are just don't write for them at all. Make an oc or something. I'm not looking through fanfiction just to read someone playing dolls.

Another thing is that as strange as it may seem I'm not a big fan of anime. The only anime I could confidently say I like and think is good is Jin-Roh. Other ones I've seen are either disappointing or just too weird with too little justification for it. As such the only thing I've considered doing is a one off Kill la Kill post. I've also watched RWBY almost twice but that show sucks. Small chance for some Yu-Gi-Oh posts since that show really knows how to set up a great character and then just completely piss on everything they did and set it on fire.

With videogames I'm mostly a shooter guy so there isn't much to write about. Like I have seen people write for Halo and Payday but that just feeds into my point about shallow characters. Similar situation with fighting games. Other than Blazblue while I know enough about both Under Night and Guilty Gear I don't see much fun stuff to write about. I do have some jrpgs that could have interesting characters to write for but I would need to finish them. Digital Devil Saga has really interesting concepts but there may not be much to write about with the characters. I also have Tales of Berseria but it's kinda boring and I probably won't finish it. I am pretty familiar with Persona but I don't like it that much and there's more than enough writers for it. One of my friends did recommend a VN called Katawa Shoujo recently and that honestly has the biggest chance of getting added as a new fandom.

I won't be writing for any live action stuff since I'm not interested in anything that way and it would feel a bit weird to write for. Same goes for real person fiction since that is honestly just really fucking gross.

Anyways if you there are any fandoms you want me to write for you're always free to ask anyways. You'll never get something you want if you don't ask for it.

[iwannawritelots]

BE: Aesthetically Pleasing

Originally written May 2023

AO3 - I usually post here first!

Part 1 Part

Human AU Masterlist

Characters Active: Simeon (23), Asmodeus (16), Satan (1)

Ship(s): pre-established Simeon/Barbatos

Trigger/content warnings: none

Headcanons/notes from the author: hehe…

Brief Blurb: Simeon can’t get their mind off of the pretty goth that keeps showing up at work.

Taglist: @graveswrites

“Simeon, is everything okay?”

The person in question snapped out of their trance, giving Asmodeus their full attention. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re twirling your hair around your finger and spacing out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do that before.” Asmodeus rubbed Satan’s back when he began to whine, and resumed bouncing him on her hip.

Simeon quickly took their hand away from their hair, face growing hot as they began to feel silly about it. “I… haven’t really had my hair this long before, so that’s probably why. Sorry.”

Tilting her head, Asmodeus asked, “Wait, why are you sorry?”

“I… don’t know. I thought maybe you were pointing it out because it was bad.”

“No, of course not.” Asmodeus waved away the thought, then quickly returned her hand to Satan’s back to soothe him. “I thought maybe something was wrong since you are so spacey.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

After a moment of quiet, Asmodeus asked, “Then… what is it?”

Simeon snorted and shook their head. “You’re nosey.” They glanced at the pot on the stove, then added, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, but you can’t tell Lucifer.”

“Ooh, keeping secrets from Luci?”

Rolling their eyes, Simeon told them, “Sure.” Asmodeus switched the hip Satan was resting on, then leaned against the counter. Suddenly more nervous, Simeon began to fiddle with their hair again. “That wealthy regular brought a friend with him yesterday.”

“Oh…?”

“Yeah. A really… intimidating and pretty goth person. They were really aesthetically pleasing, so I’ve been thinking about them a lot.” Simeon huffed and crossed their arms. “Then he brought them with him again today too. The beautiful goth is just… so polite, too.” They shifted their weight and averted their gaze, realizing how weird it probably sounded when they talked about it. “I dunno why I’m so infatuated. It’s strange.”

Asmodeus giggled and shrugged. “Knowing you, it’s probably not going to become anything romantic. Maybe you just have a squish.”

“Probably.” Simeon sighed and stared off for a moment. “They’re so pretty. I really don’t want to stare at them like some sort of weirdo, but just…”

“Yeah, that’s how I feel about Solomon.” Asmodeus rolled her eyes when Satan screeched with protest at her taking her hand away for a second to push her hair out of her face. “I mean, I doubt you’re being creepy on purpose, if at all, but you tend to be pretty obviously nervous when someone is attractive to you.”

Simeon frowned and turned away to focus on the food they were cooking. "I do not."

“Uh huh. And I don’t go to parties.” Asmodeus walked to the dining table and set Satan in the high chair, sighing when he shrieked and sobbed with displeasure. “I hope you try to befriend this person. They obviously interest you.”

Flustered, Simeon told them, “Th-That’s probably unlikely, since it’s an employee-customer situation.”

“If you say so,” Asmodeus sang out, petting Satan’s hair. The baby simmered down a bit from his fit, crying turning into sniffles. “Do you think Satan will calm down if I give him some crackers?”

“Maybe.” Simeon left the stove for a moment to dig around in the snack cupboard. “Does he still like the strawberry ones?”

“Yeah.”

Simeon passed the crackers over to Asmodeus and returned to their cooking. They couldn’t help wondering if she was right… As they stirred the food and stared into nothing, Simeon thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt to seek friendship from the pretty goth.