#vampire col au

[whumpzone]

Not sure if that’s something you’d do, but can we see the latest vampire-au chapter from Col’s perspective? please? <3

please enjoy!

(masterpost)

CW pet whump, vampire whump, dehumanisation, thoughts about deserving to die

-

Pet was still figuring out what exactly he was to this Master. The demands he was given didn’t line up with the soaring reward of daily feedings, and there was no threat anywhere in the transaction. Pet obeyed and he was rewarded, surplus to requirement.

This morning, all he had to do was stand. If he didn’t know better, he would question his Master’s judgement. Pet had taken enormous amounts of pain to reduce him down to his knees, and of course he now knew he needed it all, and he’d take it all again tenfold to keep being good- but Master wanted to undo it.

Even worse, Pet was taller. He knew he would be before he even stood up. His legs unfolded like a stiff book, taking him up and up, and surely Master didn’t intend for his Pet to literally look down at him?

His head swam with new pain and the crushing confusion of it all. Master said something about furniture, and Pet should have heard but didn’t, and he had learnt that there was no excuse, not with his crystal clear hearing. Pain shouldn’t cloud it- only disobedience clouded it. He nodded, tried to look more alert, and then Master mentioned breakfast, and coming downstairs, and Pet was left to grapple with the fact he was still being fed.

He climbed into the chair again. It was easier to sit from a standing position, as opposed to crawling and then pulling himself up. He still didn’t know the appropriate way to sit, so he folded his knees against his chest. It was the smallest he could make himself, and it protected his vital organs. Probably an old human instinct still blinking out an occasional signal.

Master had his back to him as he prepared the blood, leaving Pet to look around. Master’s house was very handsome, he thought. There was something elegant about how he had arranged his personality and all his material interests in such an appealing way. It was tidy, but it wasn’t: the clutter was deliberate, so much so as to make Pet second guess if it was really clutter at all.

One thing that certainly was missing from Master’s home was any identifiable vampire security. The curtains, currently closed, could only be opened by grabbing and pulling. A longer string would mean he could quickly pull them apart even from a distance. Pet remembered the system the training facility had, when he caught a glimpse of his handlers’ common room. A string every metre or so, just in case.

There was no silver, either, aside from a small amount in the cutlery draw. His handlers had so much that the smell had made Pet’s nose sting.

Whatever Master’s game was here, Pet had yet to catch on, and that was bad news.

He was distracted from his worrying by the bowl of blood Master set down in front of him. He restrained himself like a good pet, glancing at Master only once, waiting for permission. When Master nodded, Pet let his low vampire urge take over. The blood was funny-tasting, not that he would dare complain. It slid down his throat and filled him up. What else could Pet possibly want? And what could he possibly give to his owner as thanks?

He had licked the bowl clean like a mongrel, but at least Master would know he was grateful. Pet had returned to the fog of his thoughts, teasing out every word, every hint, trying to find his purpose, and that was when Master’s arm appeared in the present, so startling and so close to his face that Pet had reacted before he even knew what he was doing.

He felt his jaw snap shut, and by then it was too late. His world went into slow motion as he realised what he had just done. Before the bowl even hit the floor, dropped by his horrified owner, Pet knew there was no coming back from this.

“No, don’t!” Master gasped, backing away in fear until his body hit the kitchen counter, shielding his face with his arms. “Don’t, please, I’ll turn!”

Pet’s thoughts were going into overdrive. Master was going to kill him, and it was a fact that filled him with certainty and terror. What could he do? What could he do?

Master was good to him. He was generous, softly-spoken, patient. Pet didn’t want to scare him, never, and certainly not any more after what he had just done. He could move towards his owner with that unnatural speed, and reach for the knife himself to get it over with. Press it into Master’s hand and tilt his head back, as if he were the human about to be butchered and Master the vampire about to indulge. But Pet wouldn’t scare Master, who was already shaking. They locked eyes, and Pet was sure he looked wild. Untameable just like the handlers had always said.

A second passed, then another. With some effort, Master lowered his trembling hands and used them to brace against the countertop instead. Pet could hear his heartbeat pounding.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said, unsteadily. “I promise- I’m going to feed you, okay? I’m going to feed you every day, and it won’t come with a price. It isn’t going to be like your old life. Even if you can’t trust me yet, I need you to believe me.”

Pet listened intently, the pit of despair in his guts only widening, sucking more of him in. Why was Master bargaining with him? Why was he leaning away from his initial terror, trying to calm himself down, when he should lean in, let it swell into justified anger. And why on earth was he using the words every day, as if Pet had a future after what he had just done?

Pet needed to die. He needed to. He was dangerous. He had tried so hard to be good and it had failed. The first fright he got and his mouth became a weapon again.

Sure, he hadn’t aimed for Master’s skin, but just clamping his teeth down was bad enough. Not least right next to his wrist, for goodness sake.

The despair was now sorrow, self-hatred, regret, anger, and mostly fear. Pet didn’t know why he wanted to live so badly, all he knew was that he did. Desperately. But he had never been allowed wants, and this was just another one he wouldn’t get.

Master waited a few more seconds. His heartbeat was beginning to slow again. “You stopped yourself. Well d… thank you. I’m pleased. I hope you’re pleased too.”

Yes, yes of course, yes Master I would never want to hurt you I’m sorry all I’m good for is being your pet and I can’t even do that-

“Was it because I moved the bowl away? And my wrist was so near?”

Pet had been asked a direct question, and shook his head truthfully. Good dogs didn’t get protective over their food, and Pet had been beaten for hours at a time for even looking at a human’s wrist.

He wanted to apologise. He was beyond begging for Master to show mercy, he knew it wouldn’t get him anywhere. He just wanted to apologise.

“Then… what? Can you show me?”

Pet stayed rigid, uncertain. Any wrong move could be his last.

“You can move. You’re allowed.”

Pet couldn’t refuse, although he was afraid of doing anything that could be seen as an accusation. He clumsily feigned a slap.

“No, I promise, I would never hit you. I was just cleaning away the bowl. Next time, you could put it with the dirty dishes yourself?”

Pet tried to find any evidence of the joke on Master’s face, but there was nothing. He didn’t understand, and Master kept on speaking, drawing his pet further into this mindgame.

“If I gave you a piece of paper, could you write a message, perhaps? We could use that in the future.”

Pet could understand that, at least, and ignored Master’s mention of a future. His orange eyes flicked down to his own hands. The handlers had focused hard on them, and rightly so. How easily Pet could snap a neck. Writing, though, was something he hadn’t done in years. His handwriting had once been a smoothly flowing river, but he was sure there would be none of that style left now.

Master gave him time, picking up the bowl (Pet should have done that) and washing it slowly in the sink (Pet should have done that too). God, how utterly worthless he felt. He couldn’t hold back as all his amplified emotions spilled over the page. He was just utterly desperate to apologise, and here was an opportunity to.

I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry your pet is so sorry Master Master I won’t do it again I never meant to I’m a good boy I’m good now I promise I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry

He went overboard and even wrote I deserve to die, then tried to scribble it out. He didn’t want that at all, and if Master intended to show him some mercy, then he wouldn’t fuck it up by being ungrateful.

The awful tension of the whole scene finally became too much for him and he dropped the pen, running upstairs far quicker than any human could ever hope to. He fled into the bedroom Master let him stay in and forced himself under the bed.

There was only one thing Pet knew for sure.

If Master didn’t kill him, his brother would.

And that was the only conclusion Pet reached all night, no matter which path he went down.

-

tagging: @whumpsday @whumpycries @hollowgast1 @pigeonwhumps @cupcakes-and-pain @extemporary-whump @unicornscotty @d-cs

@octopus-reactivated i know you requested Col's POV too!

[xenon-demon]

also. tell me more about your Kas!Eddie please 🙏

ohhhhh Lui gravity is the AU that has just. grabbed me in its jaws and will not let go. I think about it CONSTANTLY and I don't think that will stop anytime soon. I've got a few asks about this one though so I'll START with talking about What's Going On In Hawkins circa the start of the fic. If you would like to know more about The Boy, Kas!Steve, then may I direct your attention to this post :D

So Eddie and Steve swap places right before the final fight, because Steve is injured at that point and Eddie isn't (and they figure staying at Eddie's trailer will be less dangerous that going to the Creel House). Everything else from that point proceeds as in canon; the bats get in, Steve dies, Max dies temporarily and the four gates connect and drive a massive rift through Hawkins.

From there, Hawkins basically descends into a semi-apocalyptic nightmare. The rift from the end of season 4 has caused major structural damage all over town, many buildings have been destroyed and lots of people have either evacuated or had to move into a local motel that's been converted into emergency housing for the people of Hawkins (that's where the Munsons are now staying). On top of that, the rift has basically destroyed the structural integrity between the Upside Down and our world; while the rift itself is not really a functional gate, there are a bunch of smaller gates randomly opening up around town now. More and more of them show up as time goes on. Some are small (think like the tree Nancy goes through in S1), some are much bigger (think bigger than Eddie's trailer roof gate), and most of them tend to fluctuate a bit in size/fade in and out of existence. This means that some creatures from the Upside Down are starting to bleed through these gates and end up in Hawkins looking for food.

The government, realizing everything went to shit the moment the rift opened up, rolls into Hawkins about 3-4 days after the "earthquake" saying they're here to "help with the relief efforts". (For those keeping score at home, yes this is after Team Russia & Team Cali have arrived back in Hawkins.) The official government cover story is along the lines of "hey, remember when HNL got shut down a few years back after that tragic chemical leak incident? Well, we've just discovered that a Rogue Individual (Brenner) was secretly dumping toxic chemicals and experimental materials into the local wilderness/burying them underground instead of disposing of them properly. This is the cause of the geological weirdness and mutated wildlife that some people are reporting. Everyone should leave Hawkins immediately if they can, and comply with any and all government orders if they can't". Not everyone believes this, of course, but the truth is so much more insane that most of town is at least willing to go along with it - and that's not counting the people who just up and leave because Hawkins is so super duper cursed at this point.

The main things the government is doing are:

regular patrols around the border of town and known gate hotspots, to catch and kill any UD creatures before they're spotted by civilians

nighttime curfew; you shouldn't be out after sundown unless you are going Directly from wherever you were during the day (i.e. your job) back to your home. you're not gonna get ARRESTED but the military will absolutely Escort You back to your house lmao

urging citizens to stay the fuck away from any weird sightings and report them to the armed forces as soon as possible, so the military can handle it

and yeah, they kind of are helping with the relief efforts in that they're making sure food and other important supplies are still getting into hawkins and making sure the recently-homeless have somewhere to stay, but they're doing the bare minimum really asfjknjvkdan

Essentially, as of the start of the fic (approx. a month after the rift opens up/the end of S4) the situation is this: Eleven and the Party know that in order to fix this, they have to defeat Vecna first and THEN close up any existing gates/the rift. (They also have a strong hunch that the Upside Down is Like That due to Vecna's influence.) The government officials in charge of the Hawkins occupation Do Not Believe That Is The Solution, and instead spend a lot of time wasting Eleven's time and energy by forcing her to close up gates as they appear. Between that and the fact the Party can't just storm into the Upside Down to get Vecna without a solid plan and probably armed back up, they're all feeling kind of hopeless about how to actually fix this. Especially since tensions are rising in Hawkins by the day, and the gate/monster sightings are only getting more and more frequent...

Send me an ask about my WIPs!

[ahhhwomen]

You can say no?

Vampire Empire

Part 6

Pairing: DarkVamp!Wanda Maximoff x DarkVamp!Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

A/N: This is not my best-written chapter I won't lie, but it will still hurt if you are looking for a little angst fix... Yeah no, this hurt a little... I won't lie. Also, peep the tags, I had to make a change for this one...

Disclaimer: English is not my first language. All mistakes are my own.

AU Warnings: Human pets, abuse, violence, possessiveness, probably incorrect vampire lore, angst, panic attacks, hurt/comfort, kitten play (?), death, alluded rape/non-con Minors DNI 18+

Word count: 1.8k

Taglist

Your hands weave through cold water, their damaged nerves trying desperately to hold on to something, anything. Waving against unfamiliar territory, you paddle and struggle against heavy waves, they push and pull, and you heave for breath between the swishing walls.

The water is chilling and gloomy.

The expansion of the ocean, vast, and intimidating.

You never realized it until now, with your feet kicking and struggling against the currents, but-

you don’t know how to swim.

There was a woman, long before Master entered the picture.

She was the only one to take an incline of pity on your small shaking frame as she dished out the punishment for eating before you were given permission.

Your chest struggles against the hammering of your heavy heart as the older woman looms over your small frame, sitting in the chilled freezer, your hands clamber around the rough wool sweater she instructed you to put on.

“Here.” Her voice is estranged and lost within time, but you remember the way she would hand you a little flashlight and a painting she had observed your eyes drift toward while you stayed with her.

Even at your young age, there had been something about that painting that drew you to it. The delicate brush strokes were perfected over time. You could almost see the progress of the artist within their work. Some lines were thicker, and rougher, as if they were made with an inexperienced hand. Yet, toward the end, the last final touches among the petals were as beautiful as could be.

The first painting she ever brought inside the cold metal box was your favorite. It helped fend away the thoughts of your stiff, shaking body, inside the locked freezer.

It was a field of sunflowers.

You claw against gruff hands as he holds you under the freezing water.

The cold hits you and you can’t help but try and gasp for air, the only reward you're given is water forcing its way into your lungs and dragging you down even lower.

Your vision darkens and you know.

There is nothing you can do.

As you squint up at the man, the water obscures the view, it morphs and moves, and his blond hair almost reminds you of the sun.

Your airways close as his hands tighten, despite the ice-cold water, blood pools inside your head, heating you up from the inside out, as your body numbs.

His horrid vanilla perfume penetrates your senses much like the chilling liquid that surrounds you.

You never tasted vanilla before… this may be the closest you will ever be to it.

In a blurry of delusion and hallucination, you dream of the beach. With the real sun, instead of his blond hair, peaking over the horizon.

And as you lose conciseness you picture a warming light and delicious ice cream with real vanilla.

The forceful grip of chill has been both a friend and a foe over the years. When you woke up that morning, you didn’t think it would be different from any other day. And you didn’t really care, even if it was.

On one side, the cold numbs you and lessens your senses until you can’t feel the burning pain of a harsh hand or even harsher canines.

Yet, on the other hand, with the lack of mobility, you can’t protect yourself. It’s not like you ever had much of a chance against your masters, to begin with, but that one night.

You curl into yourself, your muscles are weak and tired, but you try to hide from the outlash of thoughts and memories.

If you weren’t so damned cold, maybe it would’ve played out differently.

Maybe you could have spoken up before she had them remove that ability altogether.

“HOW DARE YOU!” You whine and turn as two hot weights settle you back in place. Something strokes your side in a gentle up-and-down motion as searing flashes of the past bombard your senses.

“YOU ARE A PET!” Army boots are the only thing you can focus on as she forces you down to your knees in the snow.

Your leash is wrapped around one of the boots, the weak material fraying around the edges as her heels dig into the ground and force you even lower. With your face flush with the dead grass that is layered with frozen water, she stares you down.

“YOU ARE A SLAVE!”

The last leverage of your knees is quickly kicked out from under you, and you fall with a heavy thud. Your eyes force themselves closed as the snow invades your nervous system.

“YOU DON’T GET TO SAY NO TO ME!” The harsh breathing of the older woman is slurred and hissed. Which is how you know her sharper teeth are out.

Your eyelids slowly peel open, and with a determined turn of your head, you stare up at her in wonder. What did you do?

“DID YOU TELL HER NO WHEN SHE DID THIS TO YOU, HUH!?”

Did you tell her no?

You can say no?

Before the vision can continue, you startle as soft whispers sneak past your eardrums. The words are hard to make out between the intense tone of the blond woman and the horrid chill of the surroundings.

You can only make out parts as the gentle strokes return to your side. A warmth, unfamiliar to you, presses itself closer to you as you can feel their grip tighten against your flailing body.

“Hush, it’s okay…”

Is it?

“You’re okay baby.”

You?

You are, okay…?

Aren’t you drowning…?

Yeah.

You are drowning.

“Shit, she’s getting worse.” Wanda curses under her breath as she closes the distance between the two of you even more, even going so far as to pull Natasha closer by the arm wrapped around your midsection.

Both she and the other redhead lay on their plush carpet in nothing but underwear as they clutch you close while the fireplace burns and crackles to the left of you.

After Natasha had carried you into their home, earlier that day, the vamped-out redhead had quickly ordered her wife to strip down, her voice harsh yet monotone. At the time, Wanda had been riddled with confusion, Natasha had never spoken to her in such a manner before, much less with a demand like that.

The way her words had drawled over each syllable, the air hissed against prominent canines as her tongue clicked at the roof of her mouth. It oozed authority, a clear disrespect toward the older vampire.

There are ranks within the vampire world and rules to follow such ranks. Wanda was the Wanda Maximoff, clan leader of the Maximoff clan. As far as the vamp rule applied, Wanda was at the top of the food chain.

Natasha is strong, always has been, but if she were ever put up against the command of a clan leader her free will would cease to exist. Of course, the powerful redhead would never do such a thing to her wife, but that didn’t mean a vampire´s rage was something that could be stopped.

And Wanda should be angry, she should be outright offended that a lesser vampire would ever speak to her in such a manner. Had Natasha been someone else, Wanda would’ve ripped her head off already.

Yet here they were.

Natasha laid you down gently in front of the fireplace, her hands were already moving to start the fire before she could register what she was doing. Strong, orange, flames licked her upper body as the wood caught ablaze. The heat sizzled and the wood groaned. Previous charcoal that had laid forgotten on the ashpan glowed and flourished with the newfound heat.

Then much like she expected Wanda to do, she stripped down to her underwear. It’s as if she couldn’t get the clothes off fast enough, with every glide of expensive fabric that loosened and fell, she just became more irritated. She doesn’t know how long you have been like this, but the window for action was closing by the minute.

The scent of blood from your scratched elbow drifted through the mansion, yet it was the last thing on the redheads’ minds.

Crawling over to the couch Natasha pulled down every blanket she could get her hands on, and in a jiffy, she was back at your side.

Wrapping you both up like a burrito as she buried herself under the blankets with you.

An audible hiss could be heard as Natasha first laid her front flat against your bare back. Your skin could rival a piece of paper for the bleakness. But it wasn’t just that, you were beyond cold. If Natasha didn’t know any better, she would think you were a corpse.

The thought made her shudder, in a moment of need for a distraction, her eyes started their journey toward a hotheaded redhead.

Natasha knew the significance of demanding anything from her wife, to be frank, it had just slipped, and as her eyes connected with her lovers, she was expecting to see anger flaring within them.

Instead, when her eyes disconnect from where they had been staring at your greasy hair, they glance up to see Wanda stripped down and standing protectively over the both of you.

So, after being let into your little burrito, they both wrapped themselves around you and waited with bated breath.

There was an unspoken understanding amongst them. You were special, whether they wanted to believe it or not.

Close to an hour later, you started whining in your fever-induced sleep.

It all went downhill from there.

(On the other side of the city)

Carol huffs as yet another problem arises, she could never get any peace.

Walking out she can finally breathe as the cold city air flows into her. Her lungs expand and contract as her eyes slip closed for a second. If she wasn’t so fucking angry, she may have enjoyed the silence that hung in the crisp air.

Pulling her phone out she goes to check your location, she hadn’t planned to run off like that, but one of the idiot goons had started trouble with another clan. If she hadn’t stopped it then and there, they were all as good as dead. It had been an ally of the Maximoff clan after all.

“Urgh” pinching her eyebrows Carol groans in frustration. She is going to get an earful from Thor once she gets back to work.

If her mood wasn’t sour before, it most definitely was now.

She was only half-heartedly checking your tracker, too busy wallowing in self-pity, that is until she saw the house, or more like a mansion, where your collar now resides.

Glass shatters, small pieces of melted sand, scattering and clinking as a mastered craft meets asphalt.

She is going to kill you.

Taglist:

@thinking1bee @tobiaslut @esmeseasle @skittlebum @tia-thesimp @maximilfsworld @leenasayeed @scarlethexelove @itsalwaysskorpioszn @observeowl @tekanparadiae @alexawynters @adelareys @anqyuicka @ichala @thalia-is-not-ok @lovelyy-moonlight @wandamaximoff-simp @opossumking03 @confidant-thoughts @delivery-bird @esouliie @geydumbbetch @dorabledewdroop @mousetheorist @herwagonempathkid @mommysfavouritegirl @auroraromaximoff @roman0ffsheart @morganna-la-faye @kaosrsing @marvelwomenarehot0 @lizzieswife101 @og-kxsh-420 @chibilauren @sgm616 @cyber-juipter @falloutboy-lover @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @likefirenrain @cole2907 @rahhhha @taliiiaasteria @mommysfavouritegirl @dehydratedcoffeeaddict @viktoriaromanovaa @julz2000

[greedandenby]

Transcript of all the French dialogue in Interview with the Vampire S2 E03 "No Pain".

You asked, yours Frenchly delivered. Bonne lecture ! (long-ass post incoming)

(did not use timestamps as these may vary, but rather scene descriptions)

Armand’s Children of Darkness:

Coven vampire: La mort punira toute infraction de la première et de la cinquième des grandes lois.

Armand sees Lestat at the theatre (performing Marivaux’s Le Triomphe de l’amour):

Lestat (as Arlequin): Ah ! Vous êtes donc des femmes !… (vous êtes deux) friponnes !… et par-dessus le marché, un honnête homme !...

Armand: Tu es le bâtard de Magnus. Je sais que tu peux m’entendre, mon enfant.

Lestat: Qui m’appelle « enfant » ?

Armand: Il est mort, n’est-ce pas ? Je peux prendre soin de toi. Je peux t’apprendre ce qu’il ne t’a pas appris. Viens à moi.

Lestat (as Arlequin): Mais de quoi s’agit-il, mes libérales dames ?

Armand: Viens à moi.

Lestat (as Arlequin): Encore plus honnête.

Armand confronts Lestat and Nicolas:

Armand (to the coven vampires): À la maison.

Coven vampires: Oui, maître. Désolés, maître.

Lestat (to Nicolas): Tu es si distrayant dans la fosse que je ne me rappelle plus du texte.

Nicolas: Je ne peux pas lire mes notes quand j’entends tes pieds sur le plancher… Nous allons nous faire attraper.

Lestat: Je l’espère… Entends-tu cela ?

Nicolas: Par-dessus tes incessantes divagations ? Comment pourrais-je entendre quoi que ce soit ?... Qu’est-ce ?

Lestat: Là… Quelqu’un me regarde.

Nicolas: Tu es toujours au centre de l’attention.

Lestat: Il pense que je ne sais pas qu’il est là.

Nicolas: Est-ce encore de la poésie ?... Viens plus près de mon oreille. Je peux seulement comprendre quand tu t’approches.

Lestat: En pardessus.

Armand: Gardes-tu ce garçon comme aide-mémoire ?

Nicolas: Lestat, connais-tu ce gitan ?

Armand: La solitude que tu ressens, il ne l’atteindra jamais. Sois avec les tiens.

[Side note: they translated « the loneliness you feel, he will not reach it » for « atteindra », but i think Armand is actually saying « il ne l’éteindra jamais », in the sense of « he will not extinguish it ». It makes a LOT more sense.]

Lestat: Et abandonner mon gilet à carreaux ? Mon col jabot ? Vivre comme une larve ?

Nicolas: Lestat, que se passe-t-il ?

Lestat: Rien. Il n’est rien… Bonne nuit, homme étrange !

Armand: Lestat ! Là !

Nicolas: Lestat ?

Lestat: Nicki !

Armand: Tu ne lui as pas révélé ta vraie nature, n’est-ce pas ?

Lestat: Quel est ce pouvoir ?... Je n’ai pas ce pouvoir !

Armand: Mais tu l’auras. Tu as le sang de Magnus. Tu gâches ton potentiel en menant cette vie-là.

Lestat: Relâche-le ! Relâche-le !!!

Armand: Et voici un buveur de sang !

Lestat: Qui es-tu ?

Armand: Je suis Armand. Je suis le chef de ton clan.

Lestat: Nicki !

Armand: Ramène ton gilet chez les larves, veux-tu ?

Lestat confronts the Children of Darkness:

Armand: Je suis heureux que tu sois venu. Il est sain et sauf.

Lestat: Il est saigné. Il ne se réveille pas… Est-ce si amusant de vivre dans une telle saleté et la puanteur ?

Coven vampire: Nous devons servir Dieu au travers de Satan et au travers d’Armand.

Lestat: Ah… Une trinité crottée.

Coven vampire: Tu vas attirer la colère de Dieu sur nous avec tes péchés !

Lestat: Qui sont ?

Coven vampire: Tu vis parmi les mortels ! Tu marches dans le temple de Dieu !

Lestat: Il parle de l’homme triste avec les mains clouées ? Ah… Bien. C’est un arbre tombé. Raboté simplement pour les simples d’esprit. Du même arbre, on fit le pied d’une table et, là, une flûte ! Rampez hors de cette prison qu’il bâtit pour vous… Dieu… Satan… Armand… Est-ce vrai ? Hm ? Nous sommes les Dieux. Vous êtes les Dieux !

Lestat visits Armand:

Lestat: Que s’est-il passé ?

Armand: Je pourrais parler jusqu’à la fin du monde sans jamais te dire tout ce que tu as détruit ici.

Lestat: Nous sommes seuls. Satan ne nous écoute pas… Comment transformes-tu l’air en feu ? Comment bouges-tu des objets par la simple force de ton esprit ?

Armand: Demande-t-il, tout en dansant dans les cendres… Tu as fait de ton Nicolas l’un des nôtres ? Est-ce que le garçon a accepté le don ?... Trop fragile. J’aurais pu te prévenir.

Lestat: Il s’en remettra.

Armand: Certainement pas.

Lestat: J’ai une idée.

Lestat performs for Armand at the theatre (again, Le Triomphe de l’amour) :

Lestat (as Arlequin): Oh ! Mes mignonnes, avant que de vous en aller, il faudra bien, s’il vous plaît, que nous…

(As Lestat) Ils viennent accompagnés, séduits dans un élan collectif. Ils rient ensemble, pleurent ensemble.

Armand: Qu’est-ce, pour un vampire ?

Lestat: Une opportunité. Hamlet est mort sous les coups d’une lame empoisonnée, mais l’acteur qui gît sous leurs yeux respire encore. Dans ce temple, croire protège. Annonce que tu es un vampire. Bois le sang à la vue de tous. Mets en scène les rituels de ton clan, pas depuis les égouts mais depuis le premier balcon.

Armand: Je n’ai pas de clan. Tu m’en as privé.

Lestat: Au contraire, maître.

(as Arlequin): Je n’ai encore qu’un commencement d’envie de n’en plus faire.

Outside the theatre:

… assouvir vos cruelles envies au théâtre des vampires !

At the theatre performance:

Victim: J’ai tant d’années ! Tant d’années !

Theatre vampire: Des années ? La mort ne respecte pas l’âge !

Armand: Regarde comme ils sont immobiles. Ils croient vraiment que c’est une pièce de théâtre. Des clous sur une porte à Wittenberg. Tu as mené une réforme, Lestat.

Lestat: Nous l’avons fait ensemble.

Armand: Tu fais une meilleure Mort.

Lestat: La faux fait tout le travail.

Armand: Après une centaine de nuits ici, tu t’ennuies déjà ?

Lestat: Seulement avec le jeu d’acteur… Allons-y.

Armand: Ici ? Maintenant ?

Lestat: C’est une loge spacieuse.

Armand: Il nous observe.

Lestat: Il devrait regarder sa partition.

Armand: Lestat… Je t’aime.

Lestat: Oui… Je t’aime aussi.

Aaaand that's it (for now), folks! Will do subsequent episodes if there's more French in them (more likely than not!). Bisous !

Episode 2 here

Episode 4 here

Tagging the peeps who requested: @nalyra-dreaming @indelicateink @chicalepidoptera @zailafaneez

[arypurple]

Kino

Nom: ???

Prénom: Kino.

Parents: "Karlheinz".

Âge: 17 ans {physiquement)

Race: "Vampire" (il n'est pas vraiment un vampire, ça reste inconnu pour ce qu'il est vraiment)

Taille: 1m78

Date de naissance: 29 juin.

Signe astrologique: Cancer.

Nourriture favorite: Konpeitō.

Hobbie(s): Jouer à des jeux sur smartphone.

Physique: Kino a de courts cheveux noirs-grisâtres et des yeux roses en cuivre. Il porte la même tenue que les autres frères dans le jeu, vraisemblablement un uniforme scolaire plus défini. La partie supérieure de cette tenue est composée d'un blazer cramoisi avec des parures dorées, d'un ascot noir avec un fermoir blanc en forme de crâne et d'une chemise blanche à col roulé en dessous avec une bande noire autour de chaque manchette. Il y a aussi une aiguillette sous la forme d'un mince cordon d'or reliant l'épaule de son blazer et le fermoir du crâne. Autour de sa taille et sous le blazer, il porte une ceinture noire avec une boucle rectangulaire en or. La moitié inférieure de son uniforme se compose de pantalons à carreaux noirs et de chaussures blanches à semelles noires.

Caractère: Pour une raison inconnue, il souhaite détruire la race des vampire. C'est un prince naïf et égoïste qui pense qu'il est naturel que les gens fassent des choses pour lui. Il est le prince égocentrique typique qui suppose que les autres feront ce qu'il demande. Kino n'hésite pas à tuer quiconque se met en travers de sa route. Kino a une personnalité très similaire à celle d'Ayato.

Histoire: Kino a été abandonné à Rotigenberg, étant bébé. Le père de Yuuri l'a trouvé et les a élevé ensemble comme s'ils étaient de vrais frères. Mais les autres goules ne l'ont pas aimé. Ils en voulaient aux démons qui les avaient persécutés. Parce que Kino était un "vampire", il est devenu l'objet physique de leur haine. Bien que les goules savaient plus que quiconque la souffrance et la discrimination sans raison, ils ne pouvaient pas arrêter l'impulsion de leur haine et essayer de comprendre. Kino a subi une terrible discrimination de la part des goules et même de la violence physique. Au fil du temps... le cœur de Kino s'est complètement rompu. Un jour, son pouvoir s'est réveillé. C'est à ce moment qu'il a confirmé être le "fils" de Karlheinz. Puis, utilisant ses pouvoirs comme un bouclier, Kino força les goules à lui obéir. Peu de temps après, il a commencé à affirmer qu'il avait été choisi. Il se vantait d'emmener les goules à la terre promise. À la fin, Kino serait coincé avec le même problème. De ses propres mains, avec son pouvoir, il devrait éliminer quiconque l'a jamais méprisé. Kino a fait de Yuuri son serviteur. Il croit à tort qu'il est le fils illégitime de Karlheinz.

Bonus:

Il est erronément sous l'hypothèse qu'il est un vampire et le fils illégitime de Karlheinz.

Kino a un serviteur nommé Yuuri, une goule qui était autrefois son ami d'enfance. Yuuri pense qu'à cause de lui, Kino est devenu la personne qu'il est maintenant.

Kino aime jouer sur son téléphone la plupart du temps.

Parmi les frères Sakamaki, son préféré est Ayato, bien qu'il aime l'embêter.

Son bonbon préféré est le bonbon de Konpeitō.

Il est fasciné par le jus de goyave. Il réprimande Yui pour avoir "déversé son précieux jus de goyave".

Kino s'appelle "Onii-chan" quand il parle avec Ayato.

Le membre de la famille assassiné nommé sur le CD Lost Eden Vol.1 Drama Diabolik Lovers, était Richter. Kino l'a assassiné, mais les frères Sakamaki ne le savent pas, ni à propos de son existence.

Dans la fin Manservant de Carla, il est assassiné par Yuuri, car il avait un plan qui affectait les goules et Yuuri se sentait trahi, alors il a été poignardé dans le cœur.

Il n'aime pas les saucisses.

Il chérit les captures d'écran de lui se classant à la première place dans ses jeux.

L'endroit préféré où Kino préfère sucer le sang est l'oreille.

Chanson thème: 🎵

[queenharumiura]

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ║ Why? Why you ask? What can I say that I honestly love the amount of love and dedication you put into Haru. Seriously, I love love love how you write her as well! You're so much fun to talk to as well during the times we have talked honestly. Aaaand I do remember you from the time I did write Sepira on her own blog in the KHR RPC~ Unless I'm mixing you up with someone else, lol. If I am sorry!

Send me a ⭐ if I’m one of your favorite mutuals and explain why ||Accepting||

YIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!! UGGUUUU the ugly crying. I'm glad that you think highly of the way that I write Haru. She is a character that means so much to me for various reasons and I feel like she's a character that I'll continue to love until I breath my last.

We for sure gotta get around to talking more again! I don't think I can recall a Sepira blog, so that may have been another blog, but that's all good! I did rp with your Byakuran and your Zelman clock! I believe also Kyoko and Col?

I remember you'd talk about manhwas or something and i'd pop in like AYO YOU READ THAT TO? DID IT GET YOUR BLOOD BOILING BC SAME. As my family calls it, I enjoy bitch dominoes, which is the effect of one person starts bitching about something and soon a bunch of people gotta bitch about the same thing.

He truly was my 'ayo? Red haired characters are kinda hot? I dig it' awakening. If you're up for another go at interacting with Zelman and Haru- i'm all open for it. Vampire AUs are so much fun.

[songedunmatindhiver-iii]

Dessoubs les portes Mordelaises, en ce temps-là, près l'évêché, enfoui sous profonds décombres, au creux d'une crypte secrète, en un cachot sous un marais, pullulant de bêtes à venins, gras serpents de nuit bavant mort, larvés à fiel, crapauds de sang, vampires goulus, ailés à griffes, où nul ne pouvait atteindre sauf en labyrinthe cloîtré, de geôlier connu, de lui seul, pâtissant là depuis douze ans Gwenchalan le barde, enchaîné debout, contre la muraille, jamais ne se pouvant étendre, contraint ainsi, ceint de carcan, du col, des membres, là hurlant furieux anathèmes, injures à l'Évêque, aux bons prêtres, aux moines et saintes bénédictes, aux pieux mystères, au divin sang du Sacrifice, ne subsistant que d'un lard, d'un bout, d'un brouet de chien que le geôlier chaque semaine lui portait en bouche, le dimanche, en même temps que châtiment d'Ordre et de Chapitre, une raclée de bâton, puis une volée de chaînes à travers les membres, lui arrachant là grands lambeaux, ainsi saignant toute la semaine, sous grosses éponges de vinaigre, en pénitence, les deux bras brisés au surplus de coups furieux, tout tordus, l'un devers l'autre.

Mais le barde ainsi l'accueillait à chaque descente :

— Te voici donc porc d'Évangile ! Arrive ! À ton office pissat de truie ! Viens par-là baffrer mes ordures ! miel à ton gosier ! Taille ! Déchire ! Depuis douze ans que tu m'écharpes m'as-tu contraint à pâmoiser ? m'as-tu fait adorer Jésus ! Roi des chiens ! Roi des Étrangers d'Imposture ! Frappe pourceau ! Frappe ! Entends ce que le cœur chante de celui qui ne faille pas ! Supplice à cueur vaillant trempé ! tel airain ! À qui ne genouille jamais au cul du chien de Judée ! Cogne ! et bien âpre ! Ne faille pas ! Je suis aux fers ! Ne me redoute !

La Volonté du Roi Krogold, chap. X, Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

[subiysu-chan]

Les elfes du Monde Noir

Les langues elfiques sont mentionnées mais pas décrit. Leurs langues sont parfois utilisées comme langua franca, mais ces tous ce que l’on a. Nous ne savons pas le type de créature qu’ils sont ni leurs pouvoir. Dans le doute, j’utiliserai les livres de mythologie que j’ai pour avoir une idée de leur nature. Également, les elfes les plus anciens peuvent se dénaturer et prendre des formes non-humanoïdes, et encore ils semblent avoir certains pouvoir sur la psyché humaine. La beauté classique des elfes plus un monde Steam Punk, ça promet du beau.

Haut Elfique:

Déjà cette appellation est ambiguë. Elle peut désigner le son, toutefois il est plus tard mentionné l’elfique flûté, moyen et l’elfique grave. Bref, je ne crois pas que cela signifie une sonorité particulière. Il se peut que l’appelation ait une consonnance géographique: soit l’altitude élevée, une position plutôt au Nord ou encore peut désigner l’origine d’une rivière ou d’un fleuve. Ceci peut indiqué une localisation géographique dans le Mont-Vampire qui contient des affluent du Styx et des montagnes. Même la Forêt des ombres conviens, tant que cela reste dans les “affluent” du Styx. En parlant de montagnes, ils peuvent aussi être originaire des parties septentrionales de la Côte sauvage (qui d’ailleurs a une esthétique plutôt britannique et scandinave), là où c’est plus sauvage. Le terme “haut” peut aussi signifier “grand”, et donc je vais estimer que c’est un appellatif dû à leurs grandes tailles. Haut peut aussi à la limite désigner une capacité au vol. “Haut” peut également signifier “noble” et peut-être même arrogants. Bref, avec cela créont une esthétique pour eux. 

Localisation: Montagnes de la côte Sauvage. 

Apparence:

Nous allons les faire fins et androgynes, aux oreilles pointues, avec de magnifiques ailes transparentes derrière le dos, mais dont les nervures sont parcourues de veines et d’artères d’une créature à sang chaud, et en partie soutenues par des os très discrets. Quand à la forme, plutôt allongées comme celles d’une libellule pour les individus mâles, plutôt arrondies pour les individus femelles. Très gracieux. Puisque les elfes sont créature aérienne, dont on associe souvent les éléments “chaud et humide”, mais ici le climat est plutôt froid avec des tempêtes incessantes. Le tout donne symboliquement des couleurs froides et plutôt pâles sauf exception. Nous allons donc leur donner une peau très blanche ou de porcelaine cendrée, des yeux bleus, glauques ou gris avec des cheveux noirs ou gris. Leurs paupières promptes aux cernes auront de très beau reflets givrés. Si nous souhaitons leurs donner des pigmentations plus magique, je crois que des yeux jaunes vifs ou violets (dans des teintes improbables comme le violet évêque, aubergine ou lavande) ou des cheveux couleurs brumes ou encore très blancs pourraient très bien fonctionner. Mais je préfère met limiter à une palette de couleurs plutôt naturelle, sauf peut-être quelques rares individus aux yeux lavande, couleur froide qui viens très bien complimenter le reste. 

Langue:

Ont peut imaginer que le haut elfique sera une langue à la grammaire complexe, dont les sonorities auront pour structures: VC, CV et VCC, avec un ordre grammatical utilisant l’inflexion plutôt que l’ordre de la phrase avec le nominatif, l’accusatif et le datif. 

Coutumes:

Gardiens des forêts montagneuses, ils n’en prennent que le stricte minimum. Ils portent en général leurs cheveux longs et tressés. Refusent toutes modifications corporelles, jugeant qu’elle défigure leurs beauté naturelle. 

Habit traditionnels: Portent des capes, surtout pour protéger leurs ailes, et aussi des habits à la coupe droite, parfois avec beaucoup de broderies et de damasseries représentant des flocons de neige et des fleurs des montagnes stylisés. Les manches de leurs chemises sont longues, très ouverte au dos mais au col plutôt élevé. Aussi, les années 1890 à 1915 sont connues pour leurs magnifiques dentelles et passementeries, bien que ça fasse un peu trop “mignon” pour des elfes. Je crois que quelque chose de plus rigide en orties ou en chanvre délavées sera plus appropriés pour eux, parfois teint aux glands de chênes. Aussi, des broderies en soie d’araignées. Ceux qui ont plus souvent affaires aux humaines porterons généralement des habits en cotons et en laine, adaptés pour leurs ailes. 

[screamqueenclaire]

spin the wheel of transgenderification to trans the gender of a random spn character

[whumpzone]

Hi I don’t want this to seem pressuring or rude, especially bc the update was so recent, but I love your writing and I’m super into the vampire au and I’m wondering if we’ll see Viks reaction in the (potential) next update?

i hope you like this! it got long!

(masterpost)

CW vampire whumpee, thoughts of death, dissociation, dehumanisation

-

Vik pulled open a cupboard door, snatching a cereal bar for no good reason. He was kind of hungry, but he mostly enjoyed stealing something out of Linden’s house every time he popped by. The thing upstairs shouldn’t ruin their small rituals. Vik could just about ignore the way he was leeching the fun out of the place, replacing it with this awful, overbearing awkwardness.  He grunted and took a bite.

“You are so predictable,” Linden scoffed. “I knew you’d take one of those.”

Vik just opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, treating Linden to a sight of his half-chewed food. Linden burst out laughing and whipped the teatowel at him. It was a good shot, snapping against his arm and making him choke in surprise.

“Ow!”

“Thieves get the whip.”

Vik didn’t want his mood to sour, he wanted to ignore it, but fuck it was hard. “Give that thing the whip.”

Linden’s smile faded and the sight of it made Vik’s chest hurt. He was already dealing with so much, and yes it was his own bizarre and stupid choice, but Vik knew he shouldn’t add to it.

“Sorry, mate.”

“No,” Linden sighed. “No, it’s okay. I don’t expect you to be okay with it, I get it. It’s weird.”

“It is weird.”

“Can you trust that I’m doing the right thing?”

Vik thought about this. Linden always appreciated his honesty. “I can’t. But I can trust that you know what the right thing to do is. Does that make sense?”

Linden’s smile returned, but it wasn’t quite the same. “Yeah, you always make sense.”

Two more bites and the snack was gone. Vik held the wrapper in his palm and crushed it up slowly, pretending it was solid steel and only his strength could break it down. One of the stupid, boyish habits he should have left behind in his teenage years but never quite did.

“I dunno what to cook for tea tonight…” Linden murmured as Vik turned to throw the wrapper away.

His talking turned to static, however, as Vik had his attention grabbed by something else. A hastily written note, like something out of an old indie horror game, was lying at the top of the bin. It wasn’t Linden’s handwriting, it was far too messy, and that left only one suspect. Not a person. The thing didn’t make it into that label.

Vik’s eyes narrowed.

What did you need to say sorry for?

Glancing back, throwing in a nod and a hum, hoping he had timed them right enough to look convincing, Vik saw that Linden wasn’t looking at him. He had a new shopping list on the counter before him, but he was staring out of the window, watching the world go by. He was probably happy to have to curtains open for once. God, why would he do this to himself?

Vik seized Linden’s moment of inattentiveness to swipe the piece of paper, pocketing it in one swift movement. From the same pocket, he pulled out a fag.

Linden glanced over, the movement alerting his peripheral vision, and Vik held the cigarette up. “Mind if I?”

“Yeah, sure,” Linden waved him off complacently, of course he did, he trusted Vik.

He had to abuse that trust, but this was important. Linden would understand.

“Have jacket potatoes, I would. So easy. I’ll be back in a bit.”

. . .

Pet knew. He had known long before he caught the scent of Vik walking up to the house. He’d known all night, and he hadn’t slept a second because of it, instead choosing to spend his last night on earth with the stars.

He would try to take it well. He wanted to aim for dignity, but such fantasies weren’t allowed.

The door opened slowly, like it had before. Pet could only watch as Vik locked it behind him. Of course he had a spare key, he was family. As Vik turned to face him once more, a tiny whimper escaped his lips.

No, no, he thought. I don’t think I can do this.

Vik started moving towards him. Pet couldn’t tell if he had a weapon, but he had enough silver to reduce him to screaming flesh. He scrambled back, all thoughts of being still and good thoroughly chased away, replaced by terror and rising panic and the clumsy, ugly desire to live.

Vik took another step. Pet had expected a blind rage and sudden pain and death following not long after, but this slowness reflected a depth of self-restraint, of planning, of a desire to do this properly. There would be no enraged punch that knocked him unconscious. There would be no misaimed kick that cracked his head in just the right place to kill him fast.

Vik’s eyes were locked with his. Should Pet look down like a dog, with a face full of humility and submission? Or was it better to hold the eye contact and prove to him that he wouldn’t dare put him under hypnosis? In the end it felt as if the choice was made for him, as his back hit the wall and he realised he was frozen in fear. He kept staring with wide, frantic, orange eyes.

One of his hands was balled up, and as Vik lifted it, Pet realised it wasn’t destined to punch him, not yet. It was holding something. Vik smoothed the note out and read it over.

“What made you write this, then?”

. . .

The vampire gasped, and Vik knew he was on the right path. Oh yeah. Something had definitely happened and he had needed to double-down on the I’m so harmless and damaged act.

His body was pulsing with anger. He could feel it under his skin, guiding his hands to wring the neck of the creature that was only a metre from him. It would be so easy. He could make sure all his silver rings were lined up and then pound and pound and pound until he was a mess. Until Linden had no choice but to throw him out. Vik would do that too. Linden wouldn’t have to worry about anything. He’d be glad for Vik’s help.

A tiny spark of caution suddenly ran through him. He was dealing with a vampire, after all. No matter what, he was faster, stronger, and more deadly.

An even tinier spark of frustration followed. If Vik did beat the shit out of him, it would mean the vampire was letting him. And what did that mean?

Did it mean he really was domesticated? Tamed? Tortured into submission?

Was that a good thing?

Vik’s lip curled into a scowl. He was standing over a vampire, and the vampire was cowering. Vik was the one in control. What the fuck else mattered?

“You wrote my brother a little sorry note. And I suppose you thought that was all you needed to do. I’m sure you feel pretty smug right now.”

The vampire shook his head, all of his features twisting up like he was going to cry. His eyes were shining. Vik almost laughed. Oh shit, he really was gonna cry.

There was an almighty bang behind him. It would have made a lesser man jump, but not Vik, not when he had a business to see to.

“Vik! Vik you fucking maniac!” Linden shouted. His voice was loaded with pure anger, and on Linden it sounded all wrong.

Vik didn’t break eye contact. It would be too easy for the vampire to get the jump on him if he got distracted.

“Open the door!” Linden continued. “Vik! He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t do anything!”

His tone was already dropping from anger to bargaining. He sounded scared.

Vik knew he couldn’t stay for long, and he felt like taking a risk. He leant even closer to the vampire. His blood would smell so fresh to him, separated by only a thin layer of skin, flesh, whatever. All negligible in the eyes of a hungry vampire. The cereal bar wrapper that Vik had discarded earlier.

“I warned you, right? I’d say I was pretty fair.”

The vampire just nodded, finally looking down and screwing his eyes shut. Braced.

“Vik!”

Before Linden had even finished shouting his name, the first punch had cracked straight across the vampire’s jaw, and god it felt good. It felt like sugar and caffeine and sweet release.

The punch caught and dragged, and Vik realised it was because his silver rings were doing their job even better than he’d anticipated- he’d obviously never punched a vampire in the face before- and each one had started to melt the skin. It was like dragging his knuckles across a fresh wax model. When he retracted his hand, Vik was staring back at an even more monstrous face than before.

The vampire’s left cheek and jaw, where the punch had landed, were badly burnt with rivets exactly where the rings had hit him. Patches of his lips were missing, leaving him with a permanent snarl. The vampire breathed heavily, spitting out some pieces of burnt flesh.

He still wasn’t fighting back. He hadn’t even raised his hands to shield his face.

He just watched, tears running silently down his cheeks, as Vik raised his fist again.

Tame.

Vik faltered.

The vampire started to move.

But he was lowering his head, not lunging for him. Vik’s throat went wholly ignored as the creature bent forward, chest against thigh, and pressed a kiss to Vik’s boot.

Vik’s stomach turned.

The next punch landed easily, knocking the vampire clean down, his curled hands and skinny shoulder bruising against the wooden bedroom floor.

“Get the fuck off me,” he spat, real nausea fuelling the bile in his words. He staggered back, a little too unsteadily for his liking. The vampire hadn’t put him under his control, sure, but he’d still done something to him. He delivered a few swift kicks, going for his ribs until the last one, where he simply lifted the boot that the vampire had just put his lips on and brought it down hard on one of his hands. Vik smiled as the vampire moaned, pushing his face into the floor, like it would swallow him up and let him escape.

It had only been a minute at most since Vik had last heard Linden shouting. He wasn’t going to break the door down, was he? That would be extremely stupid.

“Vi-“

“I’m coming out, calm down,” he shouted, summoning every ounce of nonchalance he could. None of this mattered to him, the whimpering vampire below didn’t matter to him, the only thing that might be worth a damn was that Linden was upset with him. Vik could let himself attend to that.

He thought about taking one of his thickest rings and pressing it into the back of the vampire’s neck, seeing how far it would sink into the flesh, burning a path through the living creature. His stomach rolled again. Perhaps not. He wanted to beat him, rough him up a bit, not torture him.

He kicked the vampire one last time, right in the face where his burns were, and then held his breath as he turned and opened the door.

He found Linden right outside, and ugh, fuck, the fucking look that Vik was greeted with was enough to sow the seeds of guilt, and that made his anger puff its chest up even further.

Linden grabbed his shoulder to shove him out of the way, staring into the bedroom, then back to Vik.

“Go downstairs,” he said, low and flat and emotionless.

Vik grunted and stormed away. When Linden did appear a few minutes later, Vik knew to hold his tongue and let him speak first.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Linden barked as soon as he was downstairs, just far enough that if Vik decided to turn back and finish the job, Linden would at least have time to react.

“Can’t you?” he replied, not missing a second. “It was really out of the realm of your imagination? You dumb, Linden?”

“You’ll be thrilled to know that he’ll be fine in a day or two. I thought you’d killed him. I thought you’d actually just murdered someone. I mean, beating the shit out of them is hardly better, but-“

“Of course he’s- of course he’s fucking alive!” Vik yelled. “He’s a vampire! Fucking hell!”

“He hardly fought back, did he? He would have let you kill him.”

Vik ignored this. “I did that for good reason, you seriously have no idea how much danger you’re in having that thing in the house.”

“God, you really do think I’m dumb. I know, Vikram, and it’s okay, he’s-“

“No, because it’s not okay, something happened and I found the note- he did something! He did something to have to write all that shit!” Vik was surprising himself with how unstable his voice was. He was going to tear himself to ribbons with emotion if he wasn’t careful. But he- his brother- “He did something to you!”

“He didn’t, it- where are the injuries, then? I’m fine!”

“Stop fucking lying to me, Linden, I know we see this differently and I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry I can’t support this, but you’re really gonna lie to me? To protect a worthless piece of shit vampire?”

“You lied! You lied to me,” Linden snapped, jabbing a finger into his own chest to emphasise his point. “You didn’t even ask me about the note, you just, what, fished it out of the actual rubbish and snuck away? You went right under my nose in my own house and-“

“Linden, Linden, do you hear yourself? You have a vampire upstairs!”

“Would you just take some deep breaths? Fuck!” Linden was shouting, now, they were both shouting and it was never going to accomplish anything.

How did the vampire see his brother? As master of the house? Vik could listen to the master of the house. He took some deep breaths. Linden did the same, and the two didn’t break eye contact. Vik wasn’t sure how his own face looked. Hurt? Furious? Beastly?

Linden looked like he was a hiker that had just come across a bear. His hands were slightly raised, ready to placate.

“Okay, okay, I’ve calmed down.”

“Okay.”

“Please just tell me what happened.” Vik felt wrung out. Why had any of this needed to happen? Why had Linden taken the stupid thing in, he thought hopelessly. Everything was going wrong. He absolutely hated arguing with Linden.

“I’m not going to let you hurt him anymore.”

“I won’t!” Vik heard himself raising his voice, and paused. Deep stupid useless breaths. “Sorry, I won’t, alright? God.”

“You’re acting like that was a ridiculous accusation to make, when you just-“

“Okay, I get it, I get it, I get it. Please tell me, please Linden, I need to know that you’re okay, I’m doing this for you.”

Linden stared at him from under his heavy brow. It would be so easy for Vik to lean into his own annoyance, but he didn’t want to. He tried to let himself feel the unbearable pain of humility.

Yes, Linden was right. He had just gone and beaten the little pet that Linden was looking after. He shouldn’t have done that- not because the vampire didn’t deserve it, but because Linden hadn’t asked him to.

“I moved my arm in front of his face, just to pick something up, but it scared him. He thought I was gonna hit him. He did this… kind of, like, a bite in the air, but it was like his mouth just closed as a reflex because he was surprised. So he didn’t actually bite me, or hurt me. And yeah, it scared the shit out of me, Vik. I panicked. And then he didn’t move, and I realised if he’d wanted to bite me, he would have. So I asked him if he could write on some paper, and he just used it to apologise, and then he ran upstairs.”

Linden broke eye contact. “Thanks for letting me talk.”

“Yeah, ‘course mate…” Vik said as he mulled everything over. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was only yesterday. I knew you’d lose your shit.”

“Yeah, but that’s not- I still can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”

“But Vik, you found out and you did lose your shit. I’m trying to look after him here. I would have told you, okay, of course I would’ve, just in a way that was a bit calmer.”

“So you’re really not hurt?”

“I promise. I swear down.”

“Good.”

“Christ, Vik.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry I kept interrupting you.”

Linden ran a hand down his face and exhaled. Vik stepped forward and tilted his shoulder, a tiny fraction of movement. Linden saw it, like he always did, and he understood, wrapping an arm around Vik in a tight hug.

Vik’s arms tightened across Linden’s back, using his strength to push the air out of him in a huff. It only lasted a second or two, but it was all they needed to get the point across.

“I’ll go home. I know you need to go back upstairs.”

“I really need to name him…” Linden muttered, with another almighty sigh.

. . .

Pet lay on the floor where Vik had left him. He was alive.

He took a few breaths. He didn’t want to think. He was numb- alive, and numb. Humans called his current state of breathing, eating, sleeping, a type of undeath. It didn’t seem quite accurate, but he knew he shouldn’t be questioning humans.

Still. Alive he was.

Why had Vik shown him mercy?

Even before his Master intervened, Pet’s finely tuned senses had picked up on all the infinite ways Vik had hesitated.

He hadn’t expected kissing his feet to stop the onslaught, and it didn’t- if anything, it made it worse-but Pet hoped it had proved his obedience. He was alive! He would happily be Vik’s punching bag. Vik could beat him senseless, keep him in his place, Pet would welcome it with Master’s permission.

His hand was twitching in pain where Vik had crushed it. He was strong, for a human, and Pet was an incredibly weak vampire. It made for a pretty good beating. The injuries would fade fast, but it didn’t make the hurt any less severe.

It had been deserved, so the pain didn’t feel like proper pain. The handlers used to remind him that being pinned down, bitten, drained of blood- that was legitimate. What Pet felt was justice, or something. It was hard to remember, not because he had forgotten, but because his mind shoved the memories behind a door and locked it.

He was thinking too much.

If he was truly destined to live a bit longer, Pet decided he had time to drift away. His mind was already tugging at the loose rope that moored him to his body, scratching at it with clumsy fingers, holding back until Pet closed his eyes and lent a hand. He knew how to untie the knot. He had done it so many times before, and as he finally went away, he let the rope slip from his palm without a second thought.

-

here's a little sketch of how Col looks at the end of this chapter:

taglist:

@whumpsday @whumpycries @hollowgast1 @pigeonwhumps @cupcakes-and-pain @extemporary-whump @unicornscotty @d-cs @secretwhumplair @octopus-reactivated @wolfeyedwitch

[beclynn-herondale]

Right now on of my writing projects (one of many) is what I call the "Alec corruption arc fic" mainly because I'm not 100% sure about this. I've written some of it and probably won't really start working on it until I finish up the fic I'm actively posting to Ao3 right now, but one of the ideas I want to incorporate is every TMI character's worst traits coming out.

Which actually makes me want to sit down and think of what their worst traits are. What their weaknesses are. I really, really need to re-read TMI again, but I think I can figure out what parts of these characters I can use to my advantage. (i. e. Have it make them at least some sort of morally grey.)

Jace had always stuck out to me as a very sensitive character, but he hides it with his rapier wit. Jace is the angel boy, the one who cried when his pet falcon died, the one who was never enough for Valentine. A very merry "fuck you" to Valentine for that, and all that he's done.

I won't say that Jace's sensitivity is his worst trait, in fact, his arrogance and tendency to try and cover up his emotions might be something that could tip the scales. A lot of the time, Jace tries to cover up his emotions with jokes and avoid what he's feeling. (Magnus does this a lot too, but to a different extent. Magnus will always do this even with the people he loves, Jace is more likely to break down and cry after some point.)

Clary's worst trait might be her naivety. She's new to the Shadow World, new to everything, and is more likely to believe in the mundane ideals her mother taught her, and what she learned from Simon. Although I have to point out in my fic I would want her to have grown up as a part of Shadowhunter society, so she wouldn't be that naive.

I really can't think of one for Izzy?? Then again I haven't read TMI as recently as I would like, and Izzy does have a slightly more minor role compared to the other TMI mains. I probably wouldn't do much with Izzy, she's going to be a good person for the fic, as good as she can be.

Both Alec and Magnus are very self-sacrificing. That's something we've seen so often throughout the books, they're very often making sacrifices. I don't know if I can use that as the basis of Alec's corruption arc, though. Most of the time corruption arcs happen through desperation, the need to not have to make sacrifices.

With Simon I really have no clue. The only thing that would make even slightly morally grey would be his vampirism, but one of the main points of TSC is that blood doesn't matter, we're just all people. Simon's an awkward nerd, but he's nowhere near the extent I can see Jace going.

Do you have anything you want to add? I'll assume you've read TMI more recently than me or recall the characters better. It's just interesting to me what our beloved characters have lurking in the shadows.

Hey!

This is actually a good idea!

Also, I love morally gray characters.

_

Can I just take a moment to say, thank you for understanding Jace's sensitive side, people forget how sensitive he is. As Clary and Alec say "He's fragile." but they feel only they see it 😭

Which is why the heavenly fire was such a big deal for him, because he's actually a highly emotional person.

Also, I always saw a lot of his arrogance even as a cover up for his feeling not good enough. Because if he used arrogance no one would assume he felt that way, and would leave him alone.

But you got him right.

-

Clary, yes, definitely has naivety. but we also forget she could read people well and see right through, know their weaknesses, much like tw Valentine, she just doesn't use it for evil purposes. And usually uses it to understand people. But in an au like this, you could use that.

We also know Clary has quite the temper at times, and a very "fight me" attitude as well.

But I think the way she doesn't always understand the shadow world like Jace does, can definitely be used.

-

Izzy is extremely passionate in her personality and the way she cares and loves, her temper is also passion based. And she let's that lead her sometimes.

She's also extremely protective (I love this), and would literally do anything to keep her family and friends safe, which if you did want to give her bad traits, you could use. As she'd probably take extreme measures to defend and keep them safe.

-

Simon actually, maybe this was just me, has a tendency to let others achievements and abilities put him down. He often compares himself, and he lets it rule at times, not always, but a little.

And in the beginning of TMI, I personally felt, he had that nice guy thing going on, obviously he grew out of it and Isn't like that anymore, and got with the iconic babe Izzy. but it could be used.

Don't get me wrong I like Simon. But he kinda did get on my nerves in the beginning when Jace was trying to keep Clary and him safe, but they both insisted they knew more. When Jace, in fact, was the experienced Shadowhunter. Which is why Jace looked like an asshole so often, because he had to be that way to keep them safe and out of the Clave's hands. Because as we saw in CoG they wanted to use Clary and did in a way use Simon.

I think Clary and Simon were both a little naive to the shadow world in the beginning. Simon definitely did learn the way the shadow world worked a little faster than Clary, but I think that had to do with him becoming a vampire.

-

Alec and Magnus definitely both are self sacrificing. And it definitely gets them into situations.

Alec's need to always keep his siblings safe and sacrifice himself so they can be safe and live.

Magnus' need to always help those in trouble even when he knows he shouldn't.

And Magnus' tendency to keep secrets about himself and to not talk about his feelings definitely falls under that. And the way he dodges personal questions, every single time lol. But same.

Alec's insecurities could definitely be used here too, as we know those insecurities lead him to do things in CoFA and CoLS (don't like to think about that stuff tho).

A road you could take is having them finally have enough, and being like "These people owe me now." or something like that.

Though, thinking of Alec or Magnus being like that is scary 🤣

(idk if this made any sense or helped lmao)

[ibelieveinturtles]

Bucky Barnes Bingo Masterpost

B1: Cartoon of Bucky and Nat - WinterWidow - BuckyNat - - Moodboard

B2: Til Death Do Us Part - Til Death Do Us Part - Darcy Lewis/Bucky Barnes - "You might not be around me anymore, but your presence will be felt for eternity." - unknown - Moodboard

B3: Labyrinth - The Maze Stumbler - Darcy Lewis & Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson - Don’t drink Thor’s Asgardian booze. Ever. - Moodboard

B4: High School - BBB September Round Robin - N/A - Bucky, Steve, and Natasha are helping decorate the hall for their school dance. Commence shenanigans. - Fic

B5: Cartoon of the Winter Soldier - Lights, Camera, Action - N/A - - Moodboard

U1: Plums - Love Starts With Plums - James "Bucky" Barnes & Darcy Lewis - Love starts with plums (or the one where all Bucky wanted was a few plums to snack on and ended up finding a whole lot of plum-themed baked goods and the love that was baked into them.) - Moodboard

U2: Body Swap - A Matched Pair - Bucky Barnes/Jane Foster, Bucky Barnes & Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis - Whilst touring the ancient Viking village, Bucky and Darcy find themselves in a predicament. - Fic

U3: Shopping Together - May Round Robin - N/A - A quest for theater costumes and props ends in a possibly magical shop and a probably fae encounter. - Fic

U4: Picture of 'Bucky' (BTS) - The Red Room Bar and Grill - BuckyNat - BuckyNat Restaurant AU - is it a cover? is it real? Have they retired or are they running their own operations? No one knows! - Moodboard

U5: Prisoners/Captives Together - Replaced with: Adopted: Historic - All These Stars Exist - Bucky/Jane - Bucky doesn’t know a lot about stars. Or art. - Fic

C1: Stranded - The Maze Stumbler - Darcy Lewis & Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson - Don’t drink Thor’s Asgardian booze. Ever. - Fic

C2: Picture of Bucky and Sam (Endgame) - The Quantum Cat - No ship - Everyone knows that if you give a cat catnip, it will go a little crazy. It’s a shame that no one knows what the Flerken equivalent to catnip is, because Goose got into the hors d’oeuvres and now the Avengers are scattered across the multiverse. Now it’s up to Sam to rescue the Avengers. - Moodboard

C3: Free Space - In The Restaurant - Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis & Brock Rumlow, James "Bucky" Barnes & Darcy Lewis - Summary: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Universe as we know it has now been in existence for over one hundred and seventy thousand million billion years and will be ending in a little over half an hour.” - Max Quordlepleen, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe by Douglas Adams. OR, there’s an explosion in the lab (again) and Darcy goes time travelling. This time, she’s not alone. - Fic

C4: Mind/Emotion reading - BBB October 2021 Round Robin - N/A - How Bucky starts finding and expanding his comfort zone, and making friends with the Avengers. - Fic

C5: Picture of Bucky and Sam running (Civil War) - New Year Mission - Darcy Lewis & Bucky Barnes - Bucky and Sam team up with Darcy Lewis for a New Years Eve Mission involving cocktails, escape rooms, and a missing portal machine. - Moodboard

K1: Fallout - Pocket Issues - James "Bucky" Barnes & Darcy Lewis - When they arrived at the safehouse, Bucky was too tired to listen to the welcome talk. Which means he missed some important information regarding the laundry rules. - Fic

K2: Canon Compliant - Free Fill Token

K3: Vampire/Werewolf - June Round Robin - N/A - The New York werewolf pack unwillingly explore a mysterious, icy labyrinth. Bucky is not at all happy about this. - Fic

K4: Gender-swap - replaced with Adopted: Multiverse shenanigans - This Kind Of Thing - Bucky & Sam - Sam and Bucky return home and begin to plan their next move - rescuing a pair of astrophysicists. - Fic

K5: Dragon AU - The Silver Statue - James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers - Bucky finds a silver dragon statue in the ruins of an ancient castle. - Fic

Y1: Avengers - Eurovision Song Contest - N/A - Sam and Bucky are backpacking through Europe when they discover the remnants of their favourite college band, The Avengers, playing a gig in the tiny European country of Asgard. After sending them a round of drinks between sets they invite him and Sam to join them on stage. One song turns into two, turns into joining them again the next night and the night after that and the night after that and without being quite sure how it happened, they become the New Avengers and the Asgardian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. - Moodboard

Y2: Picture of Bucky (TFATWS still) - The Odd Collection - Bucky & Sam - Bucky hadn’t intended to spend so much in the secondhand bookshop near his sister’s house but he’d forgotten to buy his nibling a birthday present. And then he remembered an article he’d read about cooking as therapy. Sam’s favourite thing about owning a secondhand bookshop was seeing what people bought, although he rarely saw a collection quite as odd as this but when the guy explained he couldn’t resist offering a suggestion of his own. - Moodboard

Y3: Ship-wrecked - The Quantum Cat - No ship - Everyone knows that if you give a cat catnip, it will go a little crazy. It’s a shame that no one knows what the Flerken equivalent to catnip is, because Goose got into the hors d’oeuvres and now the Avengers are scattered across the multiverse. Now it’s up to Sam to rescue the Avengers. - Fic

Y4: Handle With Care - July Round Robin - N/A - When Bucky agreed to help Natasha out on an undercover mission he never expected to become the kidnappee. - Fic

Y5: Cartoon of Bucky - The Winter Soldier - N/A - N/A - Moodboard

@buckybarnesbingo​

[vanhelsingenthusiast]

AU where the CoL never finds out about Dracula being a vampire and such so he just gets to keep living in London but he gets arrested for homosexuality after like two months 

[eileen-crys]

Love the Halloween!AU 😍😍😍 I have a massive soft spot for Vampire!Brian so I LOVE THAT! But anything else is perfect too!! As Always!! Everything you create it's always so beautiful and creative and perfectly fitting for our boys! I mean, it's not easy to write/create an AU and keep everyone OC, but you have the amazing ability to do it!

I mean, here we have the boys so perfectly portraited! I love that both Rog and John are werewolves, they always proud of the family they created and I can see that moved on the wolf living in packs. And Fred with Jim ❤ a one of a kind witch meet a gentle, protective being and it's love I'M CRYING OK. And as I said, I reeeeeeally love Bri as a vampire idk why, but always have. It's an image that's really suit him. Night creature, who living a very long life spend his time studying the universe, and tries to live ethically his curse.......

Aaaand the girls too!! I love them being a trio of witches (IL POTERE DEL TRIO COINCIDE COL MIO nessuno mi toglierà questa immagine dalla testa lol).

I love everything, I'm repeating myself but YES I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE!!! And I'm sorry I can't always find the time to write proper comments or tags or other stuff and again I'm sorry dear!! But know that ILY, I LOVE YOUR WRITINGS AND I LOVE YOUR DRAWINGS💕❤️💕❤️💕❤️💕❤️💕❤️

AHHHHHH OMG THANK YOUUUUU 😭😭💖💜💕💖💕💜 I'm SO glad you like this AU as well, really ahhh 😢💕💕💕

And you're so right about them all! Yesss 🤧💖

[the-strawzish-clownfish]

aight I got this from @jay-is-bean‘s post so thanks dude

List at least six fandoms you’re in

well I’m not really active in most so

1. Ninjago

2. Hamilton

3. Be More Chill

4. SiX the Musical

5. Sanders Sides

6. Dear Evan Hansen

7. Heathers kinda (I can’t listen to some of it bc triggers)

Favorite Characters

Ninjago: ACRONIX ACRONIX ACRONIX Morro ACRONIX ACR

Hamilton: Peggy and Madison (also John bc who doesn’t love him)

BMC: Michael duh

SiX: KITTY HOWARD

SS: Virgil and Logan (also Deceit bc I lowkey am him)

DEH: Jared (lowkey Connor too)

Heathers: McNamara

Favorite book/movie/season/etc.

Ninjago: Season 7 was the best, followed by s5, s10, s9, s6, s8, s2, s1, s3, & s4, respectively (I haven’t seen past s10)

Hamilton: My favorite song changes like every day so rn it’s probably frickin Wait For It

BMC: it’S FROM JAPAAAAAAAAAAN

SiX: Don’t Lose Ur Head

SS: the Christmas one

DEH: Sincerely, Me (my sister’s hot)

Heathers: Beautiful (i know i’m basic)

Ocs?

Ninjago: so I have kind of a long au with like a ton more characters than there actually are in canon so (the one I refer to as “my oc” is Grey Eros tho, she’s my daughter)

none for the others

HCs/AUs?

Ninjago: a ton (my au where everything is the same but more chars and backstory and drama, my BMC au, vampire au w/ my oc, other vampire au w/ my oc....those are just the first that come to mind)

Hamilton: college au college au college au col

SiX: college au where everything’s happy and Henry doesn’t exist and also Cathy and Boleyn are soft gfs

SS: I DON’T HAVE ANY BUT ONE TIME I READ THIS FIC ONCE ABT LOGAN BEING A TEACHER AND HE MADE THE OTHER TEACHERS RESPECT PRONOUNS AND ROMAN AND PATTON WERE STUDENTS AND THERE WAS WARM ANALOGICAL AND AHHH IT WAS SO GOOD so yeah I like that one

that’s all

uhhh anyone who wants to do it (but @chaotic-yeet @band-geeks-memes @honey-tea-and-rosemary @lydxsilhouette and @sanriosapphic are getting tagged bc i know y’all got something)

[adiscoveryofwitchesfrance]

📙 📺 A Discovery Of Witches, Episode 4 📺 📚

Un avis parmi tant d'autres...

Cet épisode est assez paradoxal pour moi. J’ai toujours l’impression que c’est mon épisode préféré mais c’est aussi celui sur lequel j’ai le plus de choses à redire… C’est justement peut-être parce qu’il reprend des moments de l’intrigue que j’affectionne tout particulièrement !

Ouverture

L’introduction de Matthew, bien que redondante au bout de 4 épisodes, est bien synchronisée avec la découverte du village de St Lucien et les réactions des habitants.

Je suis désolée mais c’est mon moment chauvin-critique. Je reconnais que les paysages sont magnifiques. Le village est typique à souhait et semble sorti d’une carte postale, le château est majestueux, les couleurs sont fantastiques… Mais bon sang, ça ne ressemble en rien à l’Auvergne ! Qui est déjà allé aux environs du vrai Sept Tours (Château Dauphin à Pontgibaud), sait très bien que le paysage, le village et le château sont bien plus médiévaux et austères que l’ambiance italienne et romantique qui nous est proposée. La description des lieux dans le livre nous parle de grande salles, de château fort et de chevaliers ... ce qui n’est pas vraiment le cas ici. J’imagine que le choix de la très jolie ville de Monselice avait de nombreuses raisons légitimes (et peut être budgétaires) mais tout de même, je ne peux manquer d’être déçue par cette première incartade blessante pour la française que je suis. Ceci étant dit, la parenthèse peut être fermée et nous pouvons nous concentrer sur l’action à proprement parler de ce début d’épisode.

On y découvre la tension montante dans la voiture. Matthew très stressé, ne peut s’empêcher de jouer avec ses lèvres et Diana est bien consciente du malaise ambiant. J’aime beaucoup la demi-vérité de Matthew quand il répond de façon peu convaincante « Yeah » à la question de Diana pour savoir si sa mère est prévenue.

J’ouvre une parenthèse au sujet du personnage d’Ysabeau. Comme tous les fans du livre, je m’attendais à trouver une jeune femme blonde, sophistiquée, très française, de l’âge de Diana et le choix de Lindsay Duncan m’a beaucoup surpris et déçue dans un premier temps. Le sujet a fait beaucoup polémique dans la fanbase et Deborah Harkness a dû prendre la défense de l’actrice plusieurs fois. J’ai appris que c’est Matthew Goode qui avait suggéré Lindsay Duncan pour le rôle, étant un grand fan de l’actrice (et accessoirement représentés par la même agence). Il semble donc que Bad Wolf avait en tête dès le départ d’avoir des acteurs plus âgés pour les rôles « senior » (comme pour Gerbert). J’imagine que c’est afin de se démarquer du traitement teenager des autres histoires de vampires (Twilights, Vampire Diary etc) où les adultes ne le sont pas en apparence et éviter ainsi toute confusion de style. Ce n’est pas exactement une approche à laquelle j’adhère mais que je peux comprendre. Toutefois, ayant intégré ces éléments, en voyant Lindsay Duncan évoluer dans cet épisode, je ne peux que reconnaître la qualité de son jeu et sa justesse pour incarner Ysabeau. Elle est magnifique, froide, forte et ses interactions avec Matthew Goode sont parfaites. Je referme donc la parenthèse (je vous avais prévenu qu’aimant beaucoup l’épisode, j’avais forcément beaucoup à redire).

Présentations

Fidèle au personnage du livre, c’est Matthew qui porte tous les bagages et qui introduit Diana formellement à sa mère, qui ne manque pas de la toiser et de la critiquer sur ses limitations linguistiques et d’éducation (ce qui n’est pas sans saveur quand on sait que Diana est un professeur renommé). L’expression sidérée de Diana et excédée de Matthew à ce moment-là se passe de mots et vaut tous les dialogues. Marthe arrive quant à elle, complètement fidèle au personnage chaleureux et bienveillant du livre. Mon petit regret est que nous n’aurons pas beaucoup l’occasion de la découvrir dans la série, alors que c’est un personnage tellement attachant et riche, et qui contribue beaucoup à l’attachement de Diana pour Sept Tours (sans parler de l’épisode du thé qui n’existera pas du tout dans la série).

Matthew introduit Diana comme son amie/friend, ce qui signifie beaucoup pour des créatures qui ne se désignent que par leur espèce.

J’aime beaucoup la lutte de pouvoir intemporelle et universelle entre la mère et le fils quant à l’organisation de l’installation de Diana. En mère soucieuse des bonnes traditions, Ysabeau souhaiterait installer Diana dans des appartements disponibles (ceux de Louisa). Matthew insiste avec force pour qu’elle aille dormir dans SA tour. C’est un petit détail du livre que j’ai plaisir à retrouver, Matthew qui s’est construit sa propre tour, imprenable, défensive et dans laquelle il se sent seulement et parfaitement chez lui. Petite modernité très appréciable également, c’est Matthew qui prépare lui-même le lit de Diana. C’est l’occasion parfaite pour quelques confidences sur la notion de sommeil chez les vampires et pour que Diana confronte Matthew à la vérité que sa mère ne veut pas d’elle à Sept Tours. Je trouve très subtile le fait que Matthew murmure ses réponses, sachant très bien que toute conversation dans le château est entendue des autres vampires, et que certains sujets sont sensibles, tout particulièrement concernant Philippe.

L’intrusion de Juliette

Contrairement au livre, l’action ne se limite pas au huis clos de Sept Tours. Pendant leur absence, le monde continue de tourner et je trouve très malin ce principe de voir la tension monter à l’extérieur, l’étau se resserrer et la menace croitre.

L’échange informel de Marcus et Miriam fourmille de petites informations qui nous livre par touches leur perception de la situation.

Trouver Juliette dans le bureau de Matthew est une vraie surprise pour Marcus et le spectateur. Evidemment que Juliette est partie collecter des informations sur Matthew pour le trouver ! Avoir laissé son téléphone allumé est très malin et permet à Miriam de venir à sa rescousse à la vitesse de l’éclair (et oui, Matthew nous avait prévenu qu’ils étaient rapides !) J’aime beaucoup le fait que ce soit Miriam en grande sœur responsable qui mette la raclée qu’elle mérite à Juliette. On comprend très vite que les 3 protagonistes ont un historique commun et qu’ils ne s’apprécient guère. Le « conseil d’amie » de Miriam final “Eternity's a long time to be chasing a man who doesn't want you, Juliette” est tellement bien trouvé ! Tout comme l’air dégouté de Juliette en sortant !

Le bureau de Philippe

C’est un lieu qui va être très symbolique sur l’évolution des relations du trio au cours de l’épisode. Au début la porte est fermée, puis l’on y verra Matthew en pleine réflexion, puis Ysabeau et Matthew s’y confronter, Ysabeau s’y morfondre avant sa confrontation finale avec Diana.

Cette scène me fend le cœur car on ressent toute la détresse, la rage et l’impuissance d’Ysabeau face à la perte de son âme sœur. Lorsque Matthew ouvre la porte, on sent le fantôme de Philippe s’emparer des lieux. Matthew parcours du regard la pièce, comme s’attendant à le voir arriver, on imagine qu’il sent encore son odeur. Puis il touche la chaise, comme réalisant ce qu’il a perdu et l’absence de l’être cher. Puis il se courbe sur la chaise, comme si le poids du monde s’abattait sur ses épaules, couplés à toute sa tristesse et sa culpabilité. On imagine aisément qu’il aimerait tellement que son père soit là pour démêler la situation !

Cauchemar & Coup de fil impromptu

Je confirme ne pas aimer cette scène de cauchemar. Elle a pour but de faire monter la tension en suggérant un sort ou une malédiction mais je ne trouve pas que cela fonctionne. L’apparition en sus de Rebecca n’y change rien.

Le coup de fil des tantes est également là pour accroître la tension en tissant la réputation d’Ysabeau et ajoutant un sentiment de danger pour Diana qui n’est pas nécessaire, surtout qu’il ne sera pas vraiment exploité par la suite.

La Congrégation

Enfin nous allons voir le conseil ! Les démons sont introduits avec le personnage d’Agatha et son petit discours féministe. Il peut paraître évident que dans une institution millénaire où un tiers des membres sont immortels, la parité semble peu d’actualité. Pourtant, quand on lit le livre, ce n’est pas le cas : les sorcières sont représentées par 2 femmes et 1 homme, les démons par 2 femmes et 1 homme et l’on sait que Vérin a tenu le siège du Conseil pendant quelques décennies. J’imagine toutefois que ce discours girl-power tenait à cœur aux scénaristes face à un casting conservateur …

J’ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à découvrir Baldwin. Dans le 1er livre, il apparaît comme un personnage brutal, manipulateur, sans aucune finesse. Ici, il fait preuve de plus de subtilité et l’on a le temps de le découvrir. Les clefs à empiler pour pouvoir ouvrir la porte du conseil sont magnifiques et j’adore l’air de domination de Baldwin quand il ouvre et pénètre dans la salle en maître des lieux. Un vrai bonheur !

Merde

Gillian n’ayant pas eu l’occasion d’annoncer à Diana que c’était les sorcières qui avaient tuer ses parents, il fallait bien trouver un autre moyen. Matthew menant l’enquête est une assez bonne idée. Et c’est aussi l’occasion pour lui de prononcer son plus beau mot de français !

Si Matthew utilise le bureau de Philippe, il ne s’y assoit pas pour travailler mais utilise une table ridiculement petite pour lui (il aime vraiment se rendre la vie plus difficile qu’elle ne l’est !).

Confrontation

Encore une fois, le profil d’historienne de Diana l’amène à confronter Matthew à ses demi-vérités. Elle n’est pas dupe de la situation ou de l’aversion d’Ysabeau à son égard et les informations alarmistes de ses tantes l’amènent progressivement à comprendre où est la vérité.

Petit détail qui me saute ici aux yeux : la garde-robe de Matthew a changé avec son arrivée à Sept Tours. Il est chez lui, plus décontracté, aussi son style de professeur n’est plus de mise. En manches courtes, jeans et bottes équestres très foncés , il contraste complètement avec le col roulé douillet et rosé de Diana.

Defcon 1

Après un échange mettant bien en lumière la protection fraternelle de Miriam envers Marcus, Baldwin fait irruption. J’aime beaucoup l’usage des conversations téléphoniques dans la série car elles sont riches et bien menées. Elles permettent souvent des rebondissements ou des actions intéressantes et ici Baldwin ne me déçoit pas. En un clin d’œil, on comprend qu’il est tout en haut de la chaîne alimentaire et que peu importe la fidélité de Marcus envers son père, c’est Baldwin qui domine. (C’est d’ailleurs la première fois dans la série où l’on dit très clairement que Marcus est son fils)

La scène équestre

Dans le livre, l’équitation est très importante. C’est l’occasion pour Matthew et Diana de se connecter. Diana y découvre de nouvelles aptitudes magiques et à chaque chevauchée quelque chose d’important va se dénouer (comme la chasse par exemple). Dans la série, il n’y a malheureusement pas le temps pour toutes ces séquences et, je n’aurai jamais cru dire ça, c’est presque une scène inutile. On les voit chevaucher avec bonheur, lâchant prise et l’ensemble est magnifiquement tournée (tout comme la musique qui sera utilisée ensuite pour le Witchwater). Mais elle n’apporte rien de plus qu’une belle séquence romantique qui fait plaisir aux fans et amoureux de Bishmont. Et c’est un peu dommage, car elle aurait au moins pu mettre en lumière ou l’aspect protecteur de Matthew ou la capacité de Diana à parler aux animaux ou à se diriger en fermant les yeux. Quoiqu’il en soit, la scène est belle, on est heureux avec eux, mon cœur de romantique est aux anges.

J’aime toutefois la séquence où Marthe et Ysabeau les observent en commentant à la fois le potentiel de Diana et leur relation « ensorcelée ». C’est à la fois intéressant du point de vue de l’histoire mais aussi d’un point de vue maternel concernant la méfiance d’Ysabeau vis-à-vis de Diana.

L’étau se resserre

Baldwin est un stratège, joueur et calculateur et il ne se laisse pas longtemps berner par les manipulations grossières de Knox. Cette scène est intéressante car on comprend les enjeux pour la Congrégation, ce qui est et ne peut être dit et l’on comprend très vite que Knox a beaucoup plus à cacher qu’il n’y parait…

Révélation

Comme à chaque fois que Matthew sent baisser sa garde avec Diana, il ajoute une difficulté. Ici, il ne trouve rien de mieux que d’annoncer à brule pourpoint que ce sont les sorcières qui ont tuées ses parents. Une nouvelle que Diana prend finalement plutôt bien… Dans le livre, elle se serait laissée envahir par la panique. Ici, elle se domine, comme si elle acceptait les faits comme une évidence dans la défiance qu’elle accumule sur son espèce.

Knox est vraiment abominable

Et c’est bien ainsi ! Quand on connait l’évolution du personnage par la suite, autant que l’on sache déjà qu’il ne connaît aucune limite ! J’aime beaucoup l’idée que le jeu de pouvoir soit aussi existant chez les Sorcières et surtout que Satu n’est pas qu’une poupée avide de pouvoir et d’influence. On voit très vite qu’elle est certes ambitieuse, mais qu’elle a aussi sa propre volonté. Ceci dit, la voir maltraitée ainsi par Knox me rappelle toutes les souffrances qui ont été infligées au cours des siècles à toutes ces femmes prétendument sorcières par des hommes cruels et ignorants… et j’imagine que c’était bien l’objectif aussi de cette séquence.

Sophie est formidable

La douce Sophie a tout compris (on le savait déjà) mais le montrer dès le départ redonne un peu d’élan au mystère posé au précédent épisode. Et oui, la White Queen est bien avec sont Dark King, et effectivement, rien n’a démarré. C’est une belle séquence où encore une fois, l’utilisation des téléphones portables est habilement manœuvrée. Et j’apprécie tout particulièrement les quelques informations sur l’alchimie et le symbolisme distillées à cette occasion car ce sont des éléments importants à l’histoire et pour lesquels on a trop peu de temps. C’est seulement amusant que ce soit Sophie qui fasse ce cours à Agatha plutôt que Diana, mais j’aime assez cette initiative. Les démons sont difficiles à saisir dans le livre, ou en tout cas assez caricaturaux. Voir la dynamique entre Nathanaël, Sophie et Agatha, les regarder interagir et avancer eux-mêmes dans leurs propres conclusions est vraiment très intéressant et un très bel ajout de la série !

La scène aux bottes de cavalier

C’est sûrement ce que j’ai le plus retenu de cette scène, tant l’attitude de Matthew et son costume ne pouvaient me laisser insensible. Il est vraiment chez lui à Sept Tours, et tout contraste avec Oxford ! L’intérêt de la scène est tout de même de voir Matthew forcer la réflexion à Ysabeau en lui rappelant une ouverture d’esprit que je ne lui connaissais pas dans le livre…

Bras de fer

Je ne peux m’empêcher de reconnaître le cadre sublime choisi pour cette conversation importante mais peu attrayante de prime abord. Une fois encore, l’équipe de tournage s’est surpassée. Voir Gerbert menacer Baldwin est intéressant car il permet de mieux les cerner l’un l’autre et de prendre la température de la position des De Clermont en terme de pouvoir et de domination. On comprend aussi mieux les enjeux d’une incartade de Matthew dans ce contexte. Scène inédite et très utile, je ne peux qu’approuver !

Catfight, non pardon, Confrontation

C’est ce qui m’est effectivement passé par l’esprit en voyant démarrer cette scène qui n’existe pas en tant que tel dans le livre. Vu la montée de tension qui s’était établie autour d’Ysabeau, je m’attendais à un affrontement plus direct entre les deux femmes. Finalement c’est une scène de main tendue. Diana est forte, directe, décidée et annonce clairement ses attentes. C’est une des grandes différences avec la Diana du livre. Son discours sur la tolérance est bien placé, rappelant que l’usage des espèces de créatures par Deborah Harkness n’est qu’une métaphore contre toute forme d’intolérance et que c’est le message premier de sa trilogie. Ysabeau quant à elle partage sa soif de vengeance, énonce sa morosité. C’est aussi un peu différent du personnage original mais correspond bien à la mélancolie montrée depuis le début de l’épisode.

La Danse

C’est forcément LA scène la plus mémorable de l’épisode et je ne compte pas le nombre de GIF et d’images en circulation avec cette scène.

Mais avant de danser, il y a le dîner. Il est assez bien amené car il reprend des citations entières et adorées du livre (la réflexion sur la modération des De Clermont, la docilité des chevaux et des fils). Cette scène montre les interactions entre les 4 personnages, ce qui n’avait pas été possible jusqu’alors : Marthe n’a pas sa langue dans sa poche malgré sa bonhommie et la tension reste forte entre Matthew et Ysabeau.

Diana est vraiment ravissante dans cette scène. Personnellement, je n’aime pas trop les combinaisons malgré le fait qu’elles soient absolument tendances mais je dois avouer que celle portée par Diana est absolument magnifique (dois-je rappeler que c’est Matthew qui a fait les bagages de Diana dans l’épisode précédent et qui est donc responsable de cet heureux choix ?). Je trouve l’idée en tout cas parfaite. Diana est une femme moderne, pratique et que l’on n’imagine pas se guinder dans une robe (ce qu’elle ne fait pas non plus dans le livre). Cette combinaison la rend d’une élégance absolue (tout comme sa coiffure très sophistiquée) et en même temps irrésistiblement sexy (mon mari dirait que je suis amoureuse de Teresa Palmer ...). Pour une fois, elle ne porte pas de bleu hormis son collier de lapis lazuli qui fait ressortir ses yeux de manière stupéfiante. Selon ma théorie des couleurs, le choix de cette couleur beige la rapproche des teintes terra cotta de Sept Tours, comme si elle se fondait progressivement à son futur univers.

Quoiqu’il en soit, la scène est absolument charmante. J’étais heureuse d’entendre l’évocation de Louisa et des souvenirs passés. J’espère que c’est bien un teasing pour la saison 2…

Matthew faisant danser sa mère est un moment splendide, hors du temps. On est assez proche de l’atmosphère du livre et de la comparaison à Fred Astaire et Ginger Roger. Puis après un tombé de cravate remarqué, (et important pour la suite), s’en suit certainement l’une des scènes les plus attendues (en tout cas pour moi). Même si l’on ne croit pas une seule seconde à l’amateurisme des danseurs et à leur improvisation, c’est le spectacle parfait pour lequel on est venu. La musique est une nouvelle fois parfaitement choisie, la chorégraphie un peu exagérée mais romantique à souhait. Les deux acteurs sont gracieux et l’alchimie de leur couple fonctionne parfaitement. On ne peut que se dire que l’on a hâte de voir plus de Bishmont !

Si Diana ne vole pas ici, on voit tout de même le chatoiement et si certaines mauvaises langues n’ont pas apprécié, j’aime cette séquence où, pour la première fois, on voit Diana apprécier la singularité de ses pouvoirs.

Et comme après toute danse, il y a forcément un très beau et romantique baiser avec une tirade devenue culte « What spell have you put on me? » Cela faisait 30 minutes qu’on l’attendait !

Ce que j’aime dans cette scène, c’est tout d’abord l’embarras légitime qu’ils ont à se promener seuls à seuls, après l’émotion partagée de la danse et les 3 jours passés depuis leur premier baiser. Diana se cramponne nerveusement à son châle, Matthew range soigneusement ses mains dans ses poches, comme pour se retenir. Puis Diana s’arrête, Matthew se retourne instantanément, comme s’il renonçait subitement à toute résistance. On imagine sans peine qu’il a senti son adrénaline monter par anticipation de ce moment. Et c’est sous le plus magnifique des pins (qui ne pousse évidemment pas en Auvergne, désolée, je ne pouvais m’en empêcher) que la plus tendre des étreintes démarre. Certains ont remarqué leur importante différence de taille et s’en sont amusés. C’est un heureux hasard du casting car c’est exactement cette différence de taille qui est décrite dans le livre, ce qui rend leur couple encore plus crédible. Ce que j’aime aussi, c’est le respect des détails de ce baiser par rapport à celui du livre (qui avait lieu dans l’escalier de la tour de Matthew), le mouvement des mains autour du cou de Matthew, placées de part et d’autre du visage de Diana, qui descendent dans le dos … (même si Deborah Harkness ne dit rien d’une main aux fesses que MG semble apprécier tout particulièrement puisqu’il la renouvellera à plusieurs reprises). Tous ces ingrédients s’ajoutent au romantisme d’une scène parfaitement orchestrée.

Retour à Oxford

C’est un peu un choc de retrouver Gillian après ce moment magique et hors du temps. C’est justement le but des scénaristes. Il faut nous rappeler que pendant que Diana et Matthew tombent amoureux bien à l’abris de Sept Tours, le monde s’agite et les menaces montent de toute part. Et étonnement, la pauvre Gillian en fait partie. Je la qualifie à nouveau de « pauvre » car dans cette scène de clôture de Covent, on comprend à quel point elle est en recherche de reconnaissance et de considération. Je ne peux manquer de me demander si le fait que le groupe se réunisse chez elle est par opportunisme (elle a quand même une magnifique maison) ou si c’est une position nouvellement acquise de par sa collaboration avec Knox. Quoiqu’il en soit, Gillian est prise au piège désormais car elle se retrouve propulsée dans une mission pour laquelle elle n’est pas taillée et pour laquelle elle se retrouve volontaire désignée...

Will you please tell me about William Harvey?

C’est une scène que j’affectionne tout particulièrement. C’est la première scène d’intimité qu’on les voit partager. Tout d’abord en tant que couple qui se découvre. Matthew s’est suffisamment laissé aller pour lui tenir la main et Diana s’y accroche à deux mains. Tous deux sourient de voir l’autre sourire. C’est le bonheur des amoureux. C’est aussi l’échange parfait de deux génies qui apprécient de partager ce moment. Intellectuellement, ils sont égaux et partager des anecdotes scientifiques et historiques sont des moments de complicités hors pairs. Des moments comme ceux-ci sont assez nombreux dans le livre et c’est ce qui rend les chapitres à Sept Tours si agréables. Dans la série, c’est le premier moment et on ne peut que l’apprécier… car il va être de courte durée.

L’intrusion de Domenico

Bien que d’un autre genre, c’est aussi une très belle scène. Déjà de par le jeu nuancé et impressionnant de Matthew Goode. Tout au long de ces quelques minutes, ce n’est qu’à force de haussement de sourcils, de changements de regards, de frémissements de narines et de sourires qu’il passe de l’amoureux éperdu protecteur au plus féroce des prédateurs.

Domenico est exactement ce qu’il doit être : arrogant, nonchalant, sûr de lui. Il est vraiment parfait dans ce rôle.

Matthew se fige immédiatement lorsqu’il sent son odeur et tente de renvoyer Diana qui, évidemment ne l’écoute pas malgré sa perception évidente du danger. Jusqu’à l’arrivée de Marthe et Ysabeau, on sent l’inquiétude monter, le tempérament de protecteur prêt à bondir bouillonner. Ici aussi les tirades importantes sont reprises et j’aime entendre Ysabeau répondre avec hauteur « I smelled you ». J’aime le courage inconscient avec lequel Diana s’avance et contredit les ordres de Matthew. Elle montre ainsi qu’elle a fait son choix et qu’elle se pose non pas en victime mais en l’égale de Matthew, même si elle ne saisit pas tout le sens de la situation. Lorsqu’elle répond à Domenico, Matthew est fier de sa lionne. Il ne cesse de dire qu’il est attiré par son courage et elle le prouve une fois encore. Le cadrage sur son visage et le changement de ses traits est vraiment formidable. Et que dire encore du contraste de son jeu lorsqu’il envoie Diana avec amour et douceur, s’imprégnant de son odeur, pour se transformer en quelques secondes en monstre aveuglé par la rage sanguinaire ?

Lorsqu’une fois Domenico renvoyé, il avoue en occitan son amour à Ysabeau, j’ai l’impression de voir un petit garçon chercher secours auprès de sa mère. Lorsqu’il comprend qu’il n’a pas d’issues, on voit littéralement son cœur se briser et c’est en automate qu’il part faire ce qui doit être fait.

We are bound together

Dans un interlude fort utile, Marthe explique le concept du Convenant à Diana. C’est le moment parfait pour Matthew de faire une entrée théâtrale, un masque de froideur figeant ses traits. Il essaie tout d’abord d’être diplomate et académique, sans succès. Diana lui annonce qu’ils sont liés. Dans la série, ce n’est qu’une phrase mais dans le livre c’est très important. Juste après le Witchwind, Diana jette un sort qui la lie physiquement au cœur de Matthew. L’évocation ici est bienvenue.

Matthew essaie ensuite de la blesser, de la raisonner mais Diana tient tête. Il essaie donc de lui faire peur, ce qui échoue une nouvelle fois puisqu’elle se sait en sécurité à ses côtés. J’aime qu’elle lui dise d’arrêter, qu’elle mette ses mains sur son torse de manière familière, essayant de comprendre. Et c’est ce qui fait craquer Matthew.

Heureusement pour lui, l’appel inopiné de Marcus et Miriam lui permet de reprendre son sang-froid. Il confie Diana à sa mère, son instinct de protection reprenant le dessus et ce malgré la tentative de cette dernière d’éloigner Diana à Madison.

Diana, ne comprenant pas son besoin de protection et, se rebelle et lui lance son « I love you ». Matthew se fige, incapable de résister davantage. S’il cède à lui répondre, il scellera leur union aux yeux des vampires et le danger ne sera qu’accru. On voit la douleur sur son visage, l’impossibilité à s’extirper d’une situation qui le dépasse et où il est dominé par ses instincts. Diana s’approche à nouveau, son odeur le submergeant… et Matthew ne peut que fuir. C’est la seule issue qu’il lui reste avant que tout ne soit perdu. Lorsqu’il arrive à sa voiture, on voit un arrêt imperceptible, ses épaules se creusant de peine et de douleur, hésitant. Puis l’on imagine qu’il entend Diana arriver, sent son adrénaline, sa douleur. Alors Matthew fuit de nouveau laissant Diana éperdue sur le pavé.

Et Diana laisse sortir toute sa peine. Elle est certes courageuse mais en 10 minutes, elle est passée de l’histoire d’amour parfaite à l’abandon le plus total. Elle se laisse submerger par ses larmes. Witchwater. Ce sont des larmes de pouvoir, comme Marthe et Ysabeau vont le souligner. Dans le livre, Diana devient l’eau, comme un être éthéré et disparait progressivement, noyant tout sur son passage. J’avoue avoir été déçue ici de ne voir que de la pluie, c’était la version la plus facile (et certainement la moins onéreuse).

Et une fois encore, c’est le regard irréel de Diana qui clôture l’épisode, alors qu’elle est en plein désespoir… Quel suspens !

Personnellement, j’avais l’espoir de découvrir l’épisode 5 dans la continuité de cette séquence… Peine perdue… Mais ça, c’est pour la semaine prochaine !