#the monster of her age

[slaughter-books]

Day 19: JOMPBPC: Paperbacks

Four beautiful and blue paperbacks! 💙

[derpcakes]

The Best Books I Read in 2022

It’s been a weird, transitional year filled with an exciting variety of stresses and challenges… but hot damn, did I have some excellent fiction to carry me through it. Below are my favourite books I read in 2022, from funky queer sci-fi to uplifting teen rom-coms.

As of next year, I’ll be moving across to Story Graph for all my book-cataloguing needs! Send me a friend request if you’re on there~

Keep reading...

[gaybookstournament]

Round 2

Cemetery boys and she who became the sun will be having a rematch.

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

💜 SEPTEMBER STACK 💜

S - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

E - Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

P - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

T - Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

E - Emma by Jane Austen

M - The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks

B - Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

E - Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

R - Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

[instagram]

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - March 10th - Character Growth

I really loved watching Ellie grow and let go of her past in The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks 💙

[pridepages]

I could do with a little of that monster-courage, and the absence of fear would come in handy. But if watching a small selection of horror movies has taught me anything, it's that you don't get to fearlessness or be the Final Girl by waiting in the car. You get it by actually confronting the things that scare you and accepting the possibility that you could lose.

Ellie Marsden, The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I’m sure Dumat being defeated the same year andraste was born means nothing

I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact that andrastes mother was part of a tribe who helped the grey wardens fight and defeat dumat the same year she was born, meaning that she could have been a fetus affected by the taint in the proximity of a dying arch demon

And the fact that nobody knows which grey warden killed dumat, as seven wardens died from injuries from his death throes, and therefore we cannot actually identify a warden who absorbed his soul, means nothing

And I’m sure it is a complete coincidence that andraste had dreams and visions of the being later referred to as the maker her whole life, and behaved strangely, talking about hearing lost voices and seeing strange auras. That absolutely doesn’t sound like anyone else we know

[zaahvi]

genuinely obsessed with what bioware has done with ghilan'nain because it really is about subverting expectations in the most extreme way possible. the lore makes you think that she was this sweet, delicate white-haired huntress who was bright and caring: an elf who was raised to godhood for her loyalty to andruil, now worshipped as the mother of the halla and her name invoked whenever the dalish seek to find their way home.

in reality? she's a monster. she created animals and beasts only to destroy them all (well, almost) upon being offered power and godhood. she made enchanted armour out of living creatures. she experimented with the blight and whatever the hell the horror of hormak grey goop was. her voice is cold and commanding and she says the most vile shit like "i'll feed your blood to what i craft from your corpses" and dude her hair isn't even fucking white. and she looks like this—

and i absolutely love all of it

[rosieofcorona]

Kinmother (2024)

[michelle-jacksons-art-blog]

Try these out!

[madarasgirl]

His Immortal

Permission to use art from the INCREDIBLY talented @vanerchest. Feeling very honoured! I think about this piece often whenever I write Alucard angst.

C/W: Alucard (Ultimate) x senior!Reader, angst, on death and dying, hospital setting, hurt/no comfort, shadow writing. Inspired by the legendary song "My Immortal" by Evanescence Words: 998

You supposed you were the one who was selfish for choosing this mortal fate and leaving your greatest love behind.

Did you regret this path? Sometimes you thought perhaps you did. There would have been tons to gain by becoming an ageless vampire at his side, and on occasion, you used to speculate 'what if?'

It didn't matter. It was far too late to backtrack anyways, and it would be an insult to do so, after living such a beautiful, full lifetime spent with Alucard, teeming with precious memories and magical experiences. He aged with you through the decades –at least he made it so his appearance did.

But as with all mortals who lived long enough, you too eventually grew very old, frail, and sick. Your body betrayed you and no longer belonged to you. It didn't obey when you wanted to walk, speak, eat, or even breathe.

So here you lay in a hospital bed, intubated and sedated, machines replacing the function of vital organs while multiple drugs dripped nonstop to hold you captive in this realm. What a sight you made, with tubes protruding from every corner on your skeletal form.

Your body may have failed, but fortunately you never developed dementia. Your mental faculties were as crisp as the night you met so long ago. A piece of you was still buried within, floating from above and somehow aware of the happenings around you in your comatose state.

The various alarms and buzzing were only background noises by now, and there was little commotion this time as well, but you felt a sense of relief. Sighing inwardly, you wished Alu would leave your side for a moment so you could just die already, though you knew that was an empty hope. The vampire had not parted from the bedside your entire stay.

Was he scaring the nurses by crying again? You hoped he'd remember to make them forget this time. And not to terrorize the staff and force them to do whatever it took anymore. You recalled the time you surfaced with another set of thick tubes in your neck and groin, and how painful they were. How frightening it was.

"You must live," he whispered to you at night at first. For his sake. So you did, trapped in the confines of your weathered shell, you continued to exist for him, slowly spiralling downhill until now.

With any other man, you'd be helpless to communicate in your vegetative state, but Alucard had never been as mediocre as 'normal.' So you begged him through telepathy. After all these years, reaching for his mind was as easy as sifting through your own thoughts, as natural as breathing (well, back when you were still able to do so independently). You implored him again to let you go. You were terminal and old, with no hope for recovery or any good prognosis. Being connected to every form of life support was not life, just a sad fate that prolonged your suffering and delayed your inevitable expiration.

Long ago, he promised not to let you suffer.

Alu, please don't make them bring me back again when my heart stops.

The weary, congested muscle thudded weakly towards failure. You were already dead in every way except you still possessed vital signs. The numbers were just evidence of the drugs, transfusions, and machines at work though.

The irony wasn't lost on you. At the end of the road, after declining his many offers to turn you when you were a maiden, you were finally just like Alucard, the living dead. You'd laugh if you could.

...More than anything, you didn't want him to see you like this, a husk of the vibrant woman you once were when you fell for each other. The unlikely circumstances of your meeting and scenes from your life flashed by in an instant. The vampire would tell you throughout the decades, when he'd get in one of his romantic moods, that you'd always be his sprightly young woman no matter your age. He actually only told you again yesterday. Or was it last week? 

How long have you been laying here?

The mind's eye saw his seated figure clearly and smiled. Actually, your tired mind pondered, you certainly did not regret a moment of your life with Alucard. He was the perfect partner and his unchecked devotion never gave you a reason to regret choosing him. Your lifespan was too short for that, he used to tell you.

But you regretted leaving him behind to be alone once more.

--------------------

Your heart stopped. And he loved you enough to let you go.

You were free.

Your spirit lifted from the prison of your flesh and you soared, wrapping around your love with your incorporeal form, sinking into him and caressing the unbeating heart that had ever belonged to you. This time, you wiped away the blood tears that fell.

You quivered.

Liberated from the pains and illnesses of advanced age, it was as if you'd become new and for the first time ever, like the fog lifted and you could finally see with clarity. Your non-existent chest tightened at the sight of your love crushed by your death, looking utterly devastated and lost. There was no sobbing or outward breakdown, but you knew his expressions well.

Nebulous fingers smoothed over inky black locks while you cradled his cheek. Glistening eyes the colour of polished rubies stared blankly at your lifeless corpse, your chest still rising and falling mechanically before the ventilator was turned off. He could not feel your soothing touch anymore and it broke you.

...

You will watch over your vampire from above and wait for him for the rest of your eternity, until he returned to dust and was no more. Then you'd meet him wherever he ended up. Just as he was, you were bound by the life you left behind.

And even if he was unaware, he still had all of you.

~End~

(For more angsty romance, check out my one-shot “Without You” on AO3. Warning: Smut abounds in that one. It is about the occasion when Reader chooses to remain human for her remaining days with Alucard. You will find similar themes to this short scene)

[slaughter-books]

Day 7: JOMPBPC: Circle Of Books

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[2beebebetter]

Tomie makes me so sad. She was just a high school girl who was pretty shitty and yeah needed to work on her personality but she got groomed by her teacher and was subsequently murdered by that fucker and dismembered by her entire class who made her out to be this horrible child of evil because they valued a pedophile’s career over getting justice for the death of his victim. And now because of their actions she’s cursed to relive her death forever, what’s left of her humanity stretched thinner and thinner in every subsequent version of herself until she becomes the person she was seen as by everyone else — a nefarious, selfish, arrogant girl who will doom the lives of every man she gets involved with until she’s finally burned like the witch she is.

[gaybookstournament]

The tournament bracket!

[erabu-san]

What kind of Introvert is Kinich do you think?

The introvert that is shy of People or "eww people?" 🤔

HMMM I don't believe he is shy, but it doesn't mean he dislikes people

It is kind of canon that he felt sometime alone, because he had no friends 😭 i think it is more "huh. People can't deal with me. Welp... that's how it is" his straightforwardness, rational thought and impassive face clearly doesn't help him. He talks only when he thinks it is necessary ??

[nomazee]

hiii! congrats on 1k! may i pls have alma from gokurakugai w friends, amusement park n 22:22?

this was so cute i loved this prompt. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! hope u enjoy :*

my 1k event!

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Alma's hand is warm, almost too warm against yours. His fingers are intertwined with yours, scratchy and calloused. The summer heat has gotten to the both of you, and you hope that the sweat collecting in your palm doesn't bother him as he drags you around the park.

It's late, and the sun went down a few hours ago, but the heat of it still lingers on your skin. Your feet are aching and you think if you walk around for any longer, your legs will crumple underneath you like paper. But Alma's so—warm, and kind, and he looks back at you with this stupid beaming smile as he leads you around all the corny games and rides. Your stomach is still swirling from the last rollercoaster you went on, and your pockets are very light from the sheer volume of money you’ve lost to ball-toss games. 

"There's— oh! They're selling takoyaki over there," he points out, attention moving rapidly from you to the food stands to the crowds of people around you. "You know, we tried making takoyaki ourselves once, at the agency with everyone, and it was pretty good! I wish you were there for that."

Wish. He wishes you were there. There's a stirring in your chest at the thought of being wanted by a friend.

Unfortunately, the sight of the long, winding line in front of the takoyaki stand mixed with the darkening sky reminds you that you do have responsibilities. Like the math homework due tomorrow that you've neglected for the whole week, and the dreadful bus that you have to catch at seven tomorrow in order to even make it to school on time.

"Alma," you call for him, and he whips his head back to look at you. His smile falters. Your expression must give you away, then—the guilt, the frustration, the ache.

"I have school tomorrow," you explain with nothing short of dismay in your voice, "It's— it's pretty late right now. I have to go. I'm so sorry, it was really fun, seriously—"

"Hey!" he cuts in, already grinning again and pulling you close to him with the hand still wrapped in yours. "It’s seriously fine! I did keep you out pretty late, huh. I didn't even notice."

And he looks around—at the people still walking and wandering and having fun, and your heart sinks. You're a buzzkill, and you know that, but you're already failing a class and you can't risk missing any more days of school. Alma—you don't think he really gets it, and that makes it worse. In the grand scheme of things, you don't know too much about Alma—how he works—but you know that he doesn't go to school the way that you do. Every time you've hung out on a weekday, it's been cut short by a call from home or your own consciousness screaming at you to get back and do your work before you flunk out.

"I really am sorry," your hand squeezes around him, breath stuttering in anticipation as you mentally beg him to squeeze back, just to signal that he's not so upset about this. "I would— I would stay out for longer, but… Alma, really. I’m sorry.”

“You apologize way too much,” he says, earnest and honest and still smiling the way he always does at you, with something warm between his lips. “Hey, um, can we go on one last ride? I’ll pay for your ticket. The— the ferris wheel?” 

He’s so stupid, and it’s corny and cheesy and ridiculous, but you see the heat of hope on the apples of his cheeks and his eyes dart around from yours to the flickering lights behind you. Your lungs squeeze, and so does your hand around his. You’re a weak person, too weak against Alma and the fond feeling in your chest. You relent easily. 

“Okay,” you agree, lips curling in giddiness and wonder. Alma laughs a little bit, breathy and relieved, and promises to take you home after this one last ride, and you can’t find it in yourself to feel guilty when you get home late, math homework untouched, responsibilities replaced by the fluttering in your stomach.

—°+..｡ﾟ｡ﾟ+.*.｡.—

fill out my event taglist (pinned) to be tagged in works for this event!