#vampire by nature

[wysteir]

I don't remember at what points in my life things changed drastically

I guess that's not really something that happened to me, at least in a way I can fully comprehend

They were mostly slow rolls, all throughout. Except maybe the whole moving every 4-5 years when those actually forced me to change schools but that was just a fixture of life for me at that point

Except times I remember- being young, and wanting to be loved more, and yearning for kindness and comfort when I was upset. I remember distinctly thinking that at the rate things were going, nobody could save me from the loneliness

Too smart for my own good, or may smart enough to avoid whatever hole that would have led me down

I knew I had to do it myself

I didn't have the courage nor charisma to reach out to others and make friends at the time, my parents weren't evil but they WERE old school and from a different time AND culture

They weren't raised on American Television, which despite everything still showed love and care every now and then, in cartoons, on the family channel. Childhood best friends forever and understanding parents

Impossible for me, I thought. At least impossible with the conditions and semantics I thought were needed

I had to save myself

And I couldn't really

I could only do so much and I tried so hard

But I was an awkward lonely teenager with no emotional strength or foundation learning everything a bit too late and a bit too slow

But nobody could save me, I had to do it myself

It's a flawed viewpoint but it was all I had, and despite everything it made me not give up hope

For better or for worse I always started with nothing, so losing what due to my own failings or due to shifts in my life usually didn't feel like the end of the world

But it's not good for growth you know? I was already a little behind because I didn't socialize much and it was scary out there

I learned the best ways to deflect statements that hurt me, I learned ways to try and not step on toes, I learned to better slow myself down and often try to think before I speak

And once I had that I could build myself up the way I wanted to, a decade and a half late

I'd given up on so much

There was enough "wrong" with me that I spent most of my time struggling against myself whenever I wasn't doing school or work

I remember a particularly bad meltdown haunting me for three years before I felt it ebb

It's not like anyone else brought it up either, it was just me. All me

I didn't feel like I had too much time for therapy or counseling. I didn't know where to look and I didn't even know what to say

And I spent so much time thinking and going over things in my head that what I WAS able to put into words sounded perfectly coherent and healthy

Eventually counseling helped a little, but there's just a lot that I couldn't rely on someone else for because I didn't know how

And there haven't been that many drastic changes, at least I thought

Not when everything feels like a mountain to climb and every effort feels like digging into the stone with my fingers

Nobody could save me

To get what I wanted I had to do it myself

I envy the dolls here sometimes. I envy the hope they have in Witches sometimes. Granted I don't go to those spaces. But I see the texts sometimes. I'm so exhausted but I feel like letting myself have that hope goes counter to everything I've struggled for, that I've fought for, that parts of me have died for

I really, really, wanted someone to save me

There is this concept of a Witch's unconditional love for her dolls that probably would have made me happy long ago

At the very least a moment in life where I could rest properly for once

But it's not what I want anymore

At least not wholly

It IS nice to relax and let go every now and then, to rely on others as best as I can, to be myself

It's nice to let myself be a burden and be taken care of every now and then

But I am my own Witch, first and foremost

I built my own soul, my own purpose, my own magic, my own pride

My sliver of humanity that shines as bright as any torch in the darkness

I and we and she reached through the mirror and chiseled the jagged heart of our reflections into a smooth core

I won't give up on her

I won't give up on the Witch I was yesterday who struggled to bring me here today, just as she didn't give up on me yesterday, nor the day before, or before that

Even as she climbed over my shattered cerebral porcelain, and I climbed over hers, and mine and hers- from even before I flowered from the prince's tomb

I won't give up on her

I'm a bit manic and delusional and a bit sleep deprived it seems

But I won't give up on her

She never gave up on me

When did it become like this?

Never, not really, it didn't become, it grew

From a flower, to a garden

Porcelain with gold between the cracks is still broken, but it still functions, and it's still beautiful

[mvdso2]

Mvdso

[120daysofsodomm]

[pixelpolls]

Vamps vs Werewolfs like its 2010!

[rosieandthemoon]

cemetery beauty

[anetherealpoetess]

imagine the headlines when two-time pulitzer prize winning 71-year-old journalist daniel molloy is spotted leaving a party with his 34-year-old boyfriend

[2000s-angell]

[knownoshamc]

Armand + why would you say that if you have only met this man once

[claudiaeparvier]

[pecquacti]

HEY HEY MY PLAYMATE / lesbian armandaniel city

[mvdso2]

Mvdso

[120daysofsodomm]

[daily-spooky]

[mustlovesteve]

I loved the first commission so much, I couldn't resist ordering another one as a parallel of sorts! This lovely drawing is by @toktopus-art. It's based on a scene from Chapter 26 of my vamp!Eddie/Steve-gets-Vecna'd fic, laughing at the broken glass.

Scene excerpt is below, and the AO3 link to the fic is on my pinned post.

Steve wished they could just stay like this, but there were only two more songs left on this A-side. “Hey, can I see your bracelet?” Eddie asked. If not for his all-too-casual tone, Steve wouldn’t have suspected anything. “Pulling out all the stops, huh?” Steve asked wryly. Eddie flashed a shameless grin at him. Chuckling, Steve tugged his sleeve down before lifting up his wrist. To his pleasant surprise, the glow-in-the-dark effect was actually noticeable. Eddie took a moment to share in the admiration of the bracelet before grabbing Steve’s hand and tugging it down. “This is better, yeah?” Eddie asked. “Huh?” Steve turned to look at him again, but Eddie was staring straight up at the sky. “Than just sitting in your car in the freezing cold by yourself, I mean.” “I had Freddie Mercury with me.” “I’m serious.” Eddie finally turned his head to face Steve again. His expression certainly matched his words. Steve couldn’t help but tense up at the shift in tone, though he was swiftly eased by the way Eddie’s thumb brushed across his knuckles. “I...hate that you even have to ask.” Steve managed to smile, even though Eddie frowned at that. “Yeah, this is better.” One song left. It wasn’t fair.

[herpsandbirds]

Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), family Vampyroteuthidae, photographed in the deep sea off the Pacific Coast of North America

Vampire Squids are not actually true squids, but are in their own distinct groups of Cephalopods (most closely related to the Octopuses).

These octopods live at depths of 600 to 900 m (2,000 to 3,000 ft) in oceans around the world.

Photograph by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute