#vlad tod the man you are

[leylyslevi]

hey gang

[giggly-squiggily]

Bruuh when I saw that you read/re-read Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, I was like 'yaaaas'. I started re-reading it again (literally bought all 5 books), and I am literally dying for a ticklish!Vlad and tickler!Otis fic!

It has been 89 years...but finally, on this day...I have done it! I have written this fic! :D @nutzgunray-lvt I believe this was you? If not well- here you are anyway! :D I haven't read Vladmir Tod in so long, so this was a blast to write. I hope you like it!

“Vladimir.”

“What-hey!” The mentioned boy yelped when Otis’ hand came around him, snagging a cookie off his plate. “What the hell, that was mine!”

“Uncle Tax.” Otis grinned around a mouthful of chocolate goodness, shooting a wink as his nephew pouted. 

This was a running gag for them- the notorious “Uncle Tax.” Well- it wasn’t THAT notorious. All of Otis’ antics were fairly minor, ranging from stealing a sip of Vlad’s drink (“It’s O-negative!”O) or borrowing one of his many t-shirts (“Were the same size, Vladimir, and besides- how often do you see a vampire walking around with a ‘I went to Slayer School’ T-shirt?”). Really- Vlad didn’t mind them all that much.

But when it came to Aunt Nelly’s famous cookies though…

That’s where the line is drawn.

Watching his uncle with the grand stink eye of all the Tod bloodline, Vlad turned back to his plate and carried on his way, one cookie unburdened. He’d get his revenge in time. For now- let it seem he’s just being a bratty teenager over sweets.

It was as Uncle Otis taught him; diversion is the best sneak attack.

~~~3 weeks later~~~

“Oo, are those what I think they are?” Otis’ breathed in the warm smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, all but floating into the kitchen. Nelly had already gone to work, it seemed, a note on the counter letting the boys know she’s doing a double shift and how to heat up the dinner she left.

Also, on the back of the note- a clear instruction: “No cookies before dinner, Vladimir.”

“Good thing I’m not Vladimir, then.” Otis snickered in delight, carefully picking at the plastic wrap around the plate of sugary treats. He was pretty sure his mentioned nephew was over at Henry’s tonight, meaning he’d have the house- and these delectable treats- all to himself. For a brief moment, he considered leaving a few for Vladmir to find in the morning.

And then he thought about the sass the younger vampire had been giving him the past couple of days and decided against it. Can’t award bad behavior afterall. Giddy in mischief, he brought the cookie to his lips, taking a bite.

And immediately spit it out into the sink.

“Pfft- Oh god! Oh my word!” Otis grabbed the sink hose, rinsing his mouth out in a desperate attempt to rid the salty catacomb he bit into. What happened? Nelly’s baked treats were never this salty! It was as if she went mad and forgot sugar exists! How could-

“Well well, look what we have here.” Otis froze, eyes widening at the sound. Turning slowly, he found Vlad leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and brow raised. Something smug was in his eyes despite his expression being flat. “Uncle Otis- to spit out Aunt Nelly’s hard work like that- and into the sink. How shameful.”

“V-Vladmir! I thought- it’s not- why aren’t you-” The blonde sputtered, looking at the front door and back to the young man watching him.

“Henry’s out visiting his cousin this weekend.” Vlad jerked his chin towards the plate. “And I lied. Aunt Nelly didn’t make those cookies. I did.”

“What?” Otis reeled back in shock, betrayal cutting into him like a stake.

“Yep. I used her recipe, but I accidentally mixed up the sugar and salt.” There was nothing accidental in that tone. “Maybe I dropped an additional cup in there too for good measure- I’ve never been much of a baker.”

“You poisoned me!” Otis declared in horror, backing away into the stove. “Why, Vladimir?”

“It’s like you’ve taught us in class, Uncle Otis. If you unfairly tax the people of a country, they’re gonna fight back.” Vlad let his lips quirk up in a small victorious smirk. “Your Uncle Tax has reached a high point it shouldn’t have crossed.”

“Oh…so this is how I die…” Otis sank to the floor, a hand grasping his chest. “Betrayed by my own blood, at the mercy of my greed.” He closed his eyes, letting his head fall forward. “Eu tu, Brute?”

“Liberty, freedom. Tyranny is dead.” Vlad replied, fighting down a grin as he watched his uncle fake-twitch in death. “You weren’t even gonna share, either. I could hear your thoughts without even having to read your mind!”

“So it seems…I’ve been bested.” Otis peeked up at him through blonde locks, a smirk of his own starting to form on his lips. “But alas, I am no mere mortal Vladmir. For I…am a god!” He was across the room in seconds-

The space Vlad once held was empty. Looking up, Otis turned to the living room, finding the younger boy on the defense.

“What kind of death scene was that?” He cried, yelping when Otis sped towards him again, just evading an outstretched hand. “What are you, a zombie?”

“No, but I am a vampire! A vampire who feeds off the betrayal of his own!” Otis darted again and again, each time just missing Vlad but getting closer. “And you’ve proven to be quite the feast I’m looking for, Vladimir!”

“You’re so freaking- AH!” Vlad yelped when the back of his hoodie was snatched, stopping him from bolting around the couch a third time. There was a tussle, limbs flailing and the world spinning. Finally, Vlad found himself pinned to the couch, eyes wide as Otis loomed over with long, wiggling fingers. “U-Uncle Otis! You don’t need to dohohoho this!” He giggled out, trying to squirm away.

“What’s so funny? I never thought you’d be the type to laugh in the face of death, Vladimir.” Otis smirked, all teeth before he attacked, hands flying over his Nephew’s torso. Vlad arched before letting out an honest to god scream, the sound dissolving into relentless laughter as he flailed and kicked beneath his uncle’s cruel clutches.

“GEhahahahahahhahahha! Whahahhahit! Whahahhaait Uncle Ohoohohohotis I’m shahahhhahahrry!” He cried out, cheeks already flushing a pretty shade of pink as he laughed. “Coohohoohohme on, quuhuhuhuhuhuit ihihihiihihihiht!”

“What? You’re sorry? After all that planning? My you give up too easily, Vladimir!” Otis chuckled alongside him, his fingers finding that awful spot along his lower ribs just to hear those adorable bird chirps. “Then again, this could just be your way of sneaking away for your next line of attack!”

“Maahahahhahybe it is, mahahahhaybe it ihihihihihisn’t!” Vlad wheezed around a snort, his hands shooting down when Otis prodded at his belly. “Nahhahahaha doohohoohohon’t!”

“Ah, so a non-answer eh? I know how to handle these!” Otis shot his hands up and under Vlad’s hoodie, further driving his nephew into hysterics as his fingers danced across his belly. “Now, are you ready to give up, Vladimir?”

“GHEHAHHAHAHAHAHA! OHOOHOHOHOHOHTIS PLEHEHEHEHAHAHHASE!” Vlad squealed, his laugh going near silent from just how ticklish everything was.

“I’m waiting, Vladimir.”

“FIHIHIHIIHNE FIHIIHIHIHINE YOU WIHIHIHIIHN! I GIHIHIHIIHVE UP!” Vlad cried out, gasping for air when Otis retracted his hands, ending his tickling. The smaller vampire curled into himself, rolling onto his side and falling off the cushions. “Gahhaha…ahahaha…mehehehean!”

“So is tampering with goldy relics.” Otis reminded, making his nephew giggle. “Did you really do that because of the Uncle Tax thing?”

“Hehe…heh…y-yeah?” Vlad rolled onto his back, pushing his bangs back with a tired hand. “And I’d do it again too.”

“Pfft- a true rebel in the making.” Otis laughed, poking Vlad in the belly before standing up, offering a hand. “Really though, I am sorry if I pushed it too far, Vladimir.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for eh…poisoning you.” Vlad snorted sheepishly, smoothing out his clothes. “Though it was kinda funny watching you rinse your mouth out with the sink hose.”

“It’s quite- hey!” Otis mock glared as Vlad cackled, shaking his head. “Fine fine, all is forgiven. Now, come help me put in dinner. We’ll make a proper batch of cookies after all our hard work.”

“Sounds good! I’ll add the sugar!” Vlad grinned, doubling over in mirth when Otis gave him a stink eye. “I’m kidding!”

The second batch turned out much sweeter.

Thanks for reading!

[jaydonsjam]

Tomb of Dracula XII

Giant-Size Dracula #2

Giant-Size Dracula #2 - writer: Chris Claremont | penciler: Don Heck | inker: Frank McLaughlin

Alright I know I just said in the last ToD post that I don’t like when Dracula has to fight someone else who’s evil. But Chris Claremont pulled it off. This is definitely the best Giant-Size comic I’ve read so far. I loved the fight that Dracula had with Y’Garon and the fact that Vlad went insane and thought he was fighting the man who killed his wife. This explained why Dracula was trying to save Katherine and it worked for me. Katherine is a psychic that resembles Dracula’s second wife and love, Maria. Katherine is going to be the sacrifice to bring forth Y’Garon’s brothers and so she’s tied to a cross above a pit. After Dracula throws Y’Garon into the pit he goes to save Kathy and gets a glimpse of the Elder Gods but as a reader we don’t see what he sees, we just see his reaction. I loved that choice. It really goes along with the Lovecraftian gods which humans can’t comprehend when they see them. This felt similar to that. Anyways, I liked Dracula’s heroism being explained through him going mad at the sight of “Turac” sacrificing his wife “Maria”. This was a great issue that I thought I wasn’t going to like but it won me over. And it did move the plot forward by confirming to Chelm that Dracula isn’t dead.

Tomb of Dracula #24

Tomb of Dracula #24-29 - writer: Marv Wolfman | penciler: Gene Colan | inker: Tom Palmer

I loved this issue. Frank Drake makes the decision to leave and try to find himself now that Dracula is dead. I was a little confused at this development but I’ll have to see where it goes. Shiela Whittier is the new Clifton Graves except she’s in love with Dracula and she believes Dracula isn’t evil like everyone says cause she’s seen the “true side” of him. My favorite moment in this issue is Shiela talking about Dracula being misunderstood while he’s feeding on a victim. It was just pure hilarious irony. Vlad knows how to pick his familiars. Blade fights Dracula in bat form but isn’t sure if it’s Dracula or someone impersonating him. I loved this whole scene of Blade trying to survive the onslaught of attacks from the vampire bat. He does get a good stab on the bat’s arm. We also see Blade take out one of Dracula’s legion which was cool. I gotta say I love Blade and I wish he was in this series more. No Quincy this issue just a mention. Taj abuses his wife in India which was really annoying and made me like him less. Spousal abuse is shown to be frivolous so much in the 70’s that it’s so disgusting. But we find out that his son is dying so it’s definitely taking a toll on Taj.

Tomb of Dracula #25

HANNIBAL KING!? Hannibal King was the star of this issue and boy did he shine. Holy shit. I loved this comic and it’s my favorite ToD issue in a while. Hannibal King is hired by a woman whose husband got killed by Dracula and asks Hannibal to find out why he was killed. King has a great moment where he finds one of Dracula’s thralls and has to break his arm to get him to tell him where Vlad is having coffins sent. Hannibal then takes out 2 vampires with a wooden stake and an axe. There was great action with blood splatter and all the stuff you want from this book. Hannibal is already a great character and I can’t wait to see more. He’s a badass and the ending reveals that he’s a vampire. I was floored with how much I enjoyed this issue. One more thing: Hannibal mentions finding out vampires are real when he saw a long white haired man kill people. I have to think this is the vampire that Blade is hunting. So I guess we’ll see if Blade and King hookup and hunt that vampire together. Great stuff. My favorite issue from this bunch that I read.

TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE

Tomb of Dracula 26-29

I bunched these four issues together because they serve as the next arc. I don’t think his name is confirmed in this arc and only referred to as “The Master” but we definitely saw the return of Dr. Sun. Unless they did confirm it and I’m just a moron. I liked this arc a lot. It was cool seeing Shiela realize that Dracula had no love for her that he was just using her. She falls for David which I think helps her realize the truth but of course tragically David can’t return the love and just wants to be friends. And it’s such a tragic ending because once Dracula shows her that David is dead, Shiela not wanting him to control her anymore, jumps out a window to her death. It was such a tragic and heartbreaking end. Good horror trope here where Shiela answers the door and sees the corpse of David standing in front of her with Dracula holding him. She does the most heroic deed she can by destroying the Chimera statue after seeing the horrible things it can do in the wrong hands. So Shiela actually turns out to be a great character and I was saddened by her end. Dracula continues to be a piece of garbage and I continue reading this comic with the hope that someone finally kills him. But it also points out my main issue with the book when in moments where he has to fight another villain. I can’t root for a dude who just constantly murders and tries to take over the world. So it makes issues like Giant-Size Dracula #2 look dumb when he’s just doing evil in the regular book. I liked the return of Dr. Sun and I’ll be interested to see where it goes next with him cause again, there isn’t a confirmation that he’s The Master but I’m pretty sure he is. Especially when they never showed a body, we just heard his voice. There’s a great moment where Dracula is trapped in a metal room with holy water flooding the environment and he has to turn into mist to escape but still manages to get burned. I loved seeing Taj’s backstory and motivation for wanting to kill Dracula plus how he met Rachel. He had his throat slashed by a vampire which serves as the explanation of why he’s mute. We meet his wife who was paralyzed by a wagon when they were attacked by Dracula and two of his vampires. Taj’s son is then bit and turned into a vampire. I loved how Wolfman slowly revealed Taj’s sick son being afflicted with vampirism and honestly, as a father this was terrifying and gave a lot more depth to Taj. According to his wife, the villagers have stopped giving blood and now out of fear want to kill him. Just a note: why are Indians colored grey? It’s such a bizarre choice. We also saw Frank leave Rachel to find himself and ends up in Brazil. We don’t really know anything past that so I guess I’ll wait to see what happens. We got brief moments with Quincy and Rachel but there’s not much to get into there. This arc really served as a way to dive deeper into Taj and Shiela Whittier as characters. I enjoyed this one and I can’t wait for more! Next up is Doctor Strange!

[theweirdspacejellyfish]

book recs

eighth grade bites: the chronicles of vladimir tod

summary: vlad has to keep his vampire urges under control while dealing with the pressures of middle school. thirteen-year-old vladimir tod really hates junior high. bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. oh, and vlad has a secret: his mother was human, but his father was a vampire. with no idea of the extent of his powers, vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. when a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. but then he faces a much bigger problem: hes being hunted by a vampire killer

pacific rim by alex irvine

summary: it has been ten years since the battle of the breach and the oceans are still, but restless. vindicated by the victory at the breach, the jaeger program has evolved into the most powerful global defense force in human history, the PPDC now calls upon the best and brightest to rise up and become the next generation of heroes when the kaiju threat returns

no longer human by osamu dazai

summary: no longer human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. oba yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a clown to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness

without reservations: with or without by J.L langley

summary: native american veterinarian - and werewolf - chayton wilson dreams of a fair-haired mate. however, hes shocked to find his mate is a man. hes not quite sure what to do with a male mate, but hes more than willing to find out. keaton reynolds wakes up in wolf form and finds himself with a mate. hes instantly attracted, but not thrilled to find out the man is supposedly straight. a past relationship where his partner denied being gay left a bad taste in his mouth. keaton wants to make a break for it and pretend he never set eyes on chay- but chay is not ready to let him go. together they work to battle prejudice and solidify their shaky relationship. when a power struggle in keaton's pack threatens keaton's life, the two men must quickly learn whether they can depend on each other.

bah, hambug by dianna bell

summary: whoever said that money cant buy you happiness hit the nail smack dab on the head. ellis carmichael had made his millions before the age of twenty. he'd launched his patented internet site, hotexpectations.com, which was the main go to social site for gay men to meet other like minded gay men and mingle. it was a very exclusive, members-only website, used by the gay and bi-curious sugar daddies, to discreetly hook up with the sugar babies of their dreams. the website had exploded, becoming an almost overnight success. now, a little over ten years later and with thousands of matches made, ellis was one of the wealthiest bachelors in the world. at thirty-four years old he was feeling very much alone at the top of his world. ellis' mood took a nosedive with the realization that the winter holidays were fast approaching. with it came all the festivities that seemed to rub salt deeper into the gaping wound of his lonely heart. especially christmas, a day that only served to remind him of just how alone he was in his wealthy kingdom. he vowed to skip the tortuous celebrations this year altogether; all those happy people putting themselves in debt by buying gifts, along with all the music and decorations, and especially all the happy couples and loving families that were around every corner you turned. that was ellis' plan until one frigid evening after leaving his office, his driver and car nearly plowed over a little vagrant, with stunning green eyes, who was trying to cross the busy city street. ellis' heart may be a little jaded, but he was human. he stopped to make sure the boy, who was literally swimming in his much larger, threadbare jacket, was uninjured. the little beauty was protectively clutching a little collection pot for the homeless. something inside ellis demanded that he made the young man was alright. little did ellis realize he had just ran into his christmas miracle. there would be no," bah,humbug," for him or his little green eyed elf this year

[silenthillmutual]

pathologic characters as movies i’ve watched

this isn’t intended to be a perfect fit for all this isn’t meta i’m just doing this for a laugh

if your question is, “why didn’t you put x movie as y character?” the answer is probably, “because i don’t remember that movie”

please feel free to suggest films to me!

emissaries

the powers that be: children of the corn (1984, dir. fritz kiersch)

block: catch-22 (1970, dir. mike nichols)

aglaya: blade runner (1982, dir. ridley scott)

founders

nina: double indemnity (1944, dir. billy wilder)

victoria: wuthering heights (1939, dir. william wyler)

simon: young @ heart (2007, dirs. sally george & stephen walker)

isidor: man with a movie camera (1929, dir. dziga vertov)

utopians

maria: the craft (1996, dir. andrew fleming)

victor: the sixth sense (1999, dir. m. night shyamalan)

georgiy: gaslight (1944, dir. george cukor)

andrey: rope (1948, dir. alfred hitchcock)

peter: vertigo (1958, dir. alfred hitchcock)

mark: un chien andalou (1929, dir. luis buñuel) * runner-up: cabaret (1972, dir. bob fosse)

eva: some like it hot (1959, dir. billy wilder)

termites

khan: rebel without a cause (1955, dir. nicholas ray) * runner-up: billy elliot (2000, dir. stephen daldry)

capella: the aristocats (1970, dir. wolfgang reitherman)

notkin: oliver! (1968, dir. carol reed)

taya: nausicaä of the valley of the wind (1984, dir. hayao miyazaki)

sticky: the 400 blows (1959, dir. françois truffaut)

murky: gremlins (1984, dir. joe dante)

grace: the enigma of kaspar hauser (1974, dir. werner herzog)

humbles

katerina: rosemary’s baby (1968, dir. roman polanski)

saburov: tweleve angry men (1957, dir. sidney lumet)

lara: girl, interrupted (1999, dir. james mangold)

rubin: east of eden (1955, dir. elia kazan)

grief: clerks (1994, dir. kevin smith)

aspity: stalker (1979, dir. andrei tarkovsky)

oyun: walkabout (1971, dir. nicholas roeg)

anna: freaks (1932, dir. tod browning)

others

vlad sr: giant (1956, dir. george stevens)

vlad the younger: the godfather (1972, dir. francis ford coppola)

barley the barber: a clockwork orange (1971, dir. stanley kubrick)

var: dirty pretty things (2002, dir. stephen frears)

willow mellow: la strada (1954, dir. frederico fellini)

nara: black orpheus (1959, dir. marcel camus)

loy: waking ned devine (1998, dir. kirk jones)

healers

artemy: fiddler on the roof (1971, dir. norman jewison)

daniil: the seventh seal (1957, dir. ingmar bergman) * runner-up: morphine (2008, dir. alexey balabanov)

clara: metropolis (1927, dir. fritz lang)

[scholarlypidgeot]

"Fun fact," they laughed unevenly, flopping against the concrete wall behind them. "Getting stabbed hurts... ughh... quite a lot..." for whomever you choose, if you're looking for prompts!

As soon as the door closed behind the detective, Tod shuddered, his head turning down to the handle sticking out of his chest.

“Fun fact,” he laughed unevenly, flopping against the drywall behind him. “Getting stabbed...hurts...ughh...quite a lot.”

He leaned back and slid down the wall, just like that. Patrisia, unsure of what exactly she should do, watched him slide, leaving a trail of dark matter in streaks to mark his descent.

“Do you…” He placed one hand around the handle of the knife as he settled into the position on the floor. “Would you mind helping? I don’t think I’m strong enough to…”

She blinked, and then realized he was talking to her. Of course he was. She crouched down to the ground to his level, carefully, and looked at the injury. “What- what should I-”

“Just…” He grimaced. “Don’t tell me when.”

Oh, so she was supposed to solve the knife problem. That didn’t help her nerves any. Experience reminded her that removing an object like that would cause a significant amount of bleeding. That wasn’t so much a problem because he didn’t have much of his own blood; rather, she was the only thing in the way that had anything that could replace a loss. Still, she remembered what Eva had told her about Tod. Obedience would prove better than hesitation, even in a situation like this.

She gingerly placed her left hand on the pommel, and he let his own hand fall to his lap. She raised her right hand to under the grip, more as a brace than anything else, and then took several deep breaths to steady herself. “Any moment would- aargh!”

The blade slid cleanly out, leaving Pat with a dripping weapon, and Tod with a gap in his chest that didn’t quite bleed. She fell back, afraid that he’d be quick to lunge for her, but instead she watched him curl in on himself, around the injury, somewhat reminiscent of a dying spider. His body shuddered violently for a few horrifying moments, and then suddenly went absolutely still.

There were a few dreadful moments where Pat thought that he’d simply died, right there, before he began to stir again. At first she thought he was shuddering more, but then, she heard it. Laughter.

He unfurled himself onto his back, sprawled out on the floor, and he was laughing.

“That’s…” He coughed wetly, but didn’t let that deter him, “That’s more excitement than this old man gets in a year these days.”

Pat stared at him, all of the fear draining away. It took so much energy from her that she couldn’t even be properly confused. She just felt… numb, now. She wondered if that was something normal, after all her near-death experiences. Numbness.

After a few more moments of damp laughter, Todd managed to maneuver his body into a sitting position.

“Right,” he said, catching his breath. “Now that that awful business is over with, I think we can move on to the real reason why you’re here, Ms. Suanders.”

She bit her tongue to keep from sounding nervous, and then began to repeat, “I’m working on a project…”

“Oh, I’m sure you want to talk about Eva, but that’s not why you’re here.” He looked her in the face, the same chilly, steady gaze that she’d seen in several other places over the last few months. “You want to talk about Vlad.”

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

Me seeing this ask: *proceeds to sit for 6 hours trying to find a context to use this in Crimson so I don’t have to think about the four following books*

@bespectacled-ghost@borgesperovago@a-beautiful-crow @mad-ad - let me know if you want to be added to/removed from this list!

Thanks for the ask! The game this prompt is taken from can be found here! Feel free to send more!

[elysiianisms]

I.

            the stitches mellina made in the mess of black and purple fabric were becoming repetitive, but the motions of stitching together the two kinds of fabric to form the vague outline of a wing brought on a sense of calm, even with the chaos of packing up her apartment. boxes piled high in her bedroom — just a small part of the packing that she and nelly had completed in the last week. mellina loved stokerton and loved living in the middle of the city with nelly, but — with a baby growing in her belly, it was time to move back to a familiar place to start her family.

             she sighed softly as she finished the last stitch of the left wing. the first of many toys she wanted to make in anticipation for her little one’s arrival — she had sourced the two fabric colors from some of her old childhood clothes, and was determined to fashion them into the form of a bat. fitting, she thought, since she would be marrying a vampire in the woods of bathory and soon be giving birth to a half - vampire child.

              mellina rested a hand on her swollen stomach, which was only just barely noticeable under her sweater.   ❝   i hope i can spoil you as much as you deserve,   ❞   she whispered, not uncommon for her to talk to herself — or to the unborn child growing in her belly.   ❝   i haven’t even met you yet, but i know i’m going to love you with my whole heart. but take it easy on me, okay? i’m still learning, learning how to be a mom, learning how to be a wife … but this i’ll swear to you — i will love you so much.  ❞

               a smile befell her features as she picked up the needle and thread again to continuing making her first gift for her child.

II.

               nearby mewling and crying woke mellina from her light sleep. with a yawn, she forced herself to shed the warm comforter and slip out of the bed she shared with tomas — who was fast asleep, rolled over away from her. as her feet hit the cold floor, she walked over to the nearby bassinet and softly cooed while she reached in and picked up the fussy infant.

               she quietly hushed little vladimir while she rested him against her shoulder and chest. her hand rested gently against his back, offering light, rhythmic pats.   ❝   you must be hungry, huh, baby bat?   ❞   mellina whispered, slipping out of the bedroom and heading downstairs to make a bottle. as she carefully walked down the steps in the near - darkness, she gently pushed her thumb against vlad’s little protruding fang. she barely even winced when the sharp tooth broke through her skin and vlad began to suckle on the slow - flowing blood from her fingertip.

            ❝   now, let’s get you fed so we both can go back to sleep,   ❞   mellina whispered, gently putting him in a soft bouncer so she could use both hands to fix him something to eat. it had been a trial - and - error experience, but if vlad’s contentment had anything to say about it, she had figured out how to make sure such a unique infant was nourished and healthy. kissing his soft tuft of black hair, she made quick work of pulling a bag of donated blood out of the biohazard freezer. in half of the bottle, she mixed usual formula, and then poured in the sticky blood to make up the other half. shaking it to mix the reddish pink liquid, she put it in the microwave for a short time to make sure it was safely warm. when it was done, she happily picked vlad up back into her arms and offered him the bottle while she turned off the kitchen light and headed back upstairs.

                 ravenous, he was already suckling on the bottle by the time she had carried him upstairs and back to the master bedroom. quietly, so not to wake her sleeping husband, mellina climbed back into bed, resting her back against the propped - up pillows. cradled in her arms, vlad’s little fist curled around her finger while his big, dark eyes stared up at his mother. she looked back at him with so much unconditional love in her eyes, so much admiration and adoration for the little infant held so snuggly in her arms.

                ❝   i don’t think you’ll ever know how much i truly love you, baby bat.   ❞

III.

                   the rope burns on her wrists hurt — but the constant pressure of mind control scrambling her thoughts hurt worse. as a drudge, as a human, she was powerless to the fog that tomas cast over her mind. next to her, tied up the same way, dorian’s son — adrian — was panicking, despite the same mind control being cast over him. mellina could feel him struggling, pulling and tugging at the restraints. she could hear tomas outside the bedroom door, telling their young son to hurry off to school. hot tears quickly welled up in her eyes — if she was to die, she wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to him or to nelly. they both would have to bury her after she was gone.

                  a wail slipped out of her throat. she was absolutely terrified — she didn’t want to die. she didn’t want to cease to exist. she would never get the chance to see vlad grow up, or talk to her sister again. she’d never get the chance to kiss the top of vlad’s head, or walk him to school, or tuck him into bed. in fact, when she had put him to bed the previous night, she didn’t know that would be her last  “ i love you ”  to her one and only child. she needed more time — more time to tell her baby how much she loved him. she needed more time — to keep him away from his treacherous father.

                 a sense of panic and dread began to fill her chest, squeezing on her heart like a clawed hand. this couldn’t be the end. it just couldn’t.

                 tomas and another man she had never seen before returned to the bedroom, glancing at their two captives as if they were merely cattle taken to the slaughterhouse. she began to plead, plead for her life, plead for her son’s life. but tomas just stared at her with those unfeeling eyes. tears rolled down her cheeks, slowly understanding that she was standing on the precipice of death now.

                 her eyes followed the other man and his hand holding the fabric of the curtain. in the quick motion of letting the sunlight fill the room, everything erupted in flames in a flash of white.

                 mellina tod’s existence was no more.

[itwill-comeback]

Some things to note

Alright, so this is my work's blog, a side blog inside a bog, don't mind me. Nickname's Casper or Cas for now. I'm 20, a Capricorn, a decent writer, huge Hozier fan. This is where I'll be putting the stuff that I write as well as on AO3 which to be fair, I'm not as good at using since I just started using it.

About my writing:

I'm an absolute mess of a writer, zero update consistency, sorry. No editor, unless you count Grammarly. I'll probably only ever post my COVT works here and AO3 so there's that.

× I love the COVT just the way it is, but I crave some new things in it. In my writing you'll probably find the following

× Vlad not being bad at like everything, boy needs some skills and hobbies dang it!

× Vlad having motivations and in some way resembling his father when that motivation is what's driving his decisions, don't worry he won't become his old man, but lord outside of physically resembling Tomas he needs to have some of his traits.

× You don't know where we are canonically in my works? Join the club babes. Call it an AU or post-canon if it makes you feel better cause I'm just writing for the fuck of it, and you're in my candy cottage now kids.

× Vlad has ADHD canonically I'm almost certain, so don't be surprised if it's in my works. He's on adderall and Henry reminds him often to take his medication so he's not the Big Forgetful.

× Vlad is willing to flex on people about being the Pravus because he's aware it tricks vampires out and he finds that funny.

× Henry has an Attitude™ and does Not tolerate shit from vampires. Thank those Slayer Genetics.

× Vlad schemes. No context just,, be aware.

× Dorian is ostracized in Elysia, but he's not actually that creepy, people just really don't like that he's powerful and has a penchant for playing the Cheshire Cat. Cryptic soft boi with a grin that claims madness, promise he's just lonely.

× Vlad is far less awkward in my writing, he's clued in to social and psychological influences.

× D'Ablo has gotten a fucking redemption arc. Will I write it? Unlikely. (I did) But you see in my head canon he's faced off with Tomas and Vikas, and being the incredibly hard to kill bastard that he is, got out of it alive despite their best attempts to be rid of him. Pravus blood will take you so far. He lied low, got bored, came back to Stokerton and basically told Vlad "You're the Pravus, we been knew, want my job back, idc bout u or ur uncle or the Elder Council, like being President tho so tell Otis to scoot." And Vlad was like "yeah sure, Otis wants to go back to being principal anyway & the Elder Council doesn't take up near as much time as the Stokerton Council cause it hardly ever convenes, don't fuck wit me again, my dad's dead btw, oh and Vikas too. Let's just be chill." And that was that.

× Vlad has vampire friends and empathizes with other orphans. Not far fetched. Like at all.

× Vlad has a few jobs, gets that bread... for a college aged kid at least.

× Did I say bread? D'Ablo is rich af. Stunts on everybody in Armani suits and wears Red Bottoms. He's the President of a Council, you know that job pays. Old rich Italian vampire rolls in mad cash and has taste, surprise surprise ?

× Know who else is an old rich Italian vampire? Dorian Ciotti, his family uses stocks and real estate as monopoly money. And you thought they were just a humble family with a small business, jokes on you they haven't been humble for hundreds of years. Dorian is known to travel all the time, where did y'all think he got the money for that? You better believe he spoils Cecile, she's his baby girl. A rich single dad who thinks he might fuck up at any moment, he's doing great at raising her. Your fav could never.

× Elysian Councils are mostly afraid and indignant towards Vlad, but don't worry, he can see through them quite well at this point. (Read: he was raised by Tomas fucking Tod, the king of liars, other vampires don't have shit on him.)

× Elysia is not entirely the Councils, Elysia is a world of vampires full of pocket communities and niche tribes all tied by the same undead thread.

× Otis and Vlad share the issue of having a terrible sweet tooth, and now that Nelly's gone they have to figure out how to bake for themselves. Also blood candy and blood mixed baked goods exist and Vlad is really wanting to try some.

× Vlad has the most powerful weapon against vampires on him at all times now, is curious to find out how it works and what it runs on. Elysia knows he doesn't leave it anywhere, if he's somewhere the Lucius is there with him.

× I will be inventing a few of my own charms (like the tego charm) with latin words so you can always ask Google what the charm does before I tell you. (I.e. Tego = to cloak, to hide. This charm is used to allow the vampire who creates it to have a lock down on any humans they place it near.) Tomas places these around the citizens of Bathory to keep other vampires from reading their minds and discovering his location, he closes their minds in a way.

× Vlad has more complex hidy-holes for his things these days.

× Remember that key in the first book that looked like head of a woman that was described in detail and then left behind and never mentioned again? Remember it. I'm gonna use it. Red herring? Who?

× Henry has not forgotten the time he saved Otis' life. He's gonna call in that favor someday, Otis, you know he will.

× Otis has a lot more faith in Vlad to not act like a child and will treat him like an adult.

× Vlad has a huge crush on somebody. Not saying who.

× Vlad's a big hippie. On god, he loves the earth, hates conflict, and wants to tell D'Ablo about how many slave children worked to create his outfit, but wants to keep their peace more.

× Vlad has at long last, filled out and isn't the lanky child he once was, could throw you through a wall but is probably too nice for that. Probably.

× Vlad and the Pravus are separate entities sharing the same vessel. Pravus isn't a ghost though, he's the Adam of the vampire species and died a long ass time ago and wanted to live again after a while. Much like D'Ablo, he lied low, got bored and wanted his place in the world back. Had to create a new form of life to exist in, created the vessel (Vlad's body), could've gotten rid of Vlad's soul and just worn his body, but kind of ended up adoring him before he was even born and, entranced with the concept of this new existence, decided to share the body with him, which sort of forces him to stay hidden in Vlad's subconscious or divide their body into two bodies. Which he can totally do, but it's kind of a lot of trouble and would hurt Vlad badly so he doesn't bother. He really adores this dumb kid and doesn't want him to be lonely, but that'll present its own issues in its own time.

× Dorian is aware of all of this. Pravus can fix his mind and his cravings for vampire blood, but he can't force this from the two of them because it would kind of fuck Vlad up. Oh you mean that fox in the back of my mind isn't my mental support animal, it's an ancient vampire and kind of absurdly powerful? Cool cool.

× Eddie Poe becomes a bigger problem than ever before! Fun!!

× The Slayer Society becomes a bigger problem than ever before!

× As far as I'm concerned, Em is not being manipulated by D'Ablo in the books, he answers to her, she's autographed bible old, you think he could pull one over on her? Tomas Tod couldn't even manage that. (Canonically I know Vlad insinuates that D'Ablo is holding some power over Em but I just can't see that realistically being true.)

× Em went home to Europe after that Slayer cleanse nonsense, she's still President of her Council, but she is no longer on the Council of Elders. Kind of in hiding because she suspects Vlad's about to take over the entire world.

× D'Ablo's cult is still a thing, they send Vlad gifts sometimes. Sometimes it's a dead bird, sometimes it's an envelope full of cash. D'Ablo doesn't care either way what they give him, Vlad prays it's not a dead animal every time tho soo.

× Remember how Mellina was never said to have any family? Turns out her family were just religious nutcases and promptly disowned her (and her child) upon finding out she was having a child out of wedlock.

× Vlad is in touch with the Tod clan in Scotland cause he wanted to get in touch with some part of his family and prove to himself that his dad's side isn't all bad, they kind of give him Evil Dad War Flashbacks™, but they're good people. A few are vampires and they think Vlad's a cool kid.

× There's always gonna be magic in my writing, don't worry though, I'm not gonna make Vlad OP.

[ash-nico]

Get to Know Me

- rules: tag 20 followers you want to get to know better!


- tagged by: @bang-my-doldrums

- name: Ashley/Ash

- nickname(s): Ash

- gender: Agender


- star sign: Pisces

- height: 5'4″

- sexual orientation: bisexual/demisexual

- hogwarts house: Slytherin

- favorite color(s): Green, orange

- favorite animal(s): dogs


- average hours of sleep: like 5 maybe lol
  

- cat or dog person: dogs but I really like cats too :3

- favorite fictional characters: Vlad Tod, Rei ryuugazaki, sousuke yamazaki, Nico diAngelo, basically any emo nerd

- number of blankets I sleep with: 1 sometimes none

- favorite singer/bands: Panic! at the Disco, fall out boy, Hozier, Dance Gavin Dance

- dream trip: Don’t really have one. I’ve pretty much been everywhere I want to go for the time being

- dream job: Machinist

- when was my blog created: I had to check cause I honestly couldn’t remember but it was Jan. 1, 2014. Wow I’ve been here for longer than I thought

- current number of followers: 590. My side blogs have far less


- when did your account peak: Fuck if I know man

- what made you decide to make a tumblr?: I already looked at tumblr on a regular basis so I figure why not


- why did you pick your url?: Prince cause I wanted to be like a prince (now I know I already am a prince B) and a-nonny-mous cause it’s a play on the word anonymous and I tend to be a background person and as such don’t get much attention so anonymity seems fitting

Idk who to tag so I guess I change all my mutuals and any who wants to do it

[scholarlypidgeot]

You might have explained this already, and if you did you can just link that post, but could you give just a general summary of the context and characters you've been writing the one shots about? I've really been living what I've been reading ave would like to know more

Hi, thanks for asking! I explain the barebones concept of the story in this post and this post, but I realize I've added more in the context of the other characters!

Eva Blake and her husband Ren are a middle-aged couple and parents of the triplets Trey, Silas, and Ren Jr. They have been kind enough to house Patrisia during her time at the college since she's moved off campus (probably close to 3? years now, following 4? living in dormitories that eventually got too loud for her to work peacefully. She's part of the family now.)

Crown Prince Henry is Charles' older brother, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and Silver Crown, eventual Emperor of the West. I haven't written about him for y'all yet but he's a chill dude. Erik, on the other hand - the elder Prince of the Golden Crown - is only superficially chill, and has all the self-control and political prowess that Vlad lacks. He also lacks empathy and this sometimes causes him to commit atrocities.

Tod is a hard case to explain. He's also Unseelie, but is living a pretty relaxed suburban life when Crimson begins. He's an old friend of Erik and Vlad, and also happens to be the man who raised (read: traumatized ((read: unwittingly traumatized and has since been repairing his relationship with))) Eva.

If you want to know more feel free to either ask or drop a prompt with specific character names. Thanks for the ask!

[scholarlypidgeot]

Prompt:

“It was easier to pretend I didn’t matter to them”

“Wait,” Patrisia interrupted, her hand hovering over the page. “Are you saying the Golden Crown visited you?” 

She was trying to imagine Vlad sitting in a suburban living room, having a conversation with the man Eva had described Tod to be. The exercise was proving more difficult than originally anticipated. 

“No as often as you’d think,” Eva said, with a slight smile, “but often enough.” 

Pat set her pen aside for a moment, pretending to clean her hands on her dress while she processed that. Eva seemed bemused. 

“Oh, come now, dear. You readily believe I was raised by an Unseelie, and that I lived in that house. But you have trouble believing that Tod and the Princes weren’t birds of a feather?” 

“I’m not sure,” Pat admitted. “Yes?” 

Mrs. Blake laughed. “Well, at the very least, how do you think I met my husband? At random?” 

Pat hadn’t thought about how Eva Blake had met Wrenfeld, but now that she mentioned it…

She picked her pen back up. 

* * * 

I think it was when the Golden Crown visited that I best understood what a spoiled pet feels like. Todd made a point of having me around them, let me pass through their midst in peace, and gave me all the attention I wanted, even when he was distracted by his guests. Especially then, actually. I’d be allowed to sit next to him, to play on the living room floor, to come and go into the kitchen as I pleased. I remember we’d always bake as soon as they were gone, and I’d have cookies with every meal after. Looking back, I don’t really think he was trying to make any kind of point. Tod had a tendency to be direct when he did that. No, to him, letting me act as normal was his way of softening the Princes’ edges. Child-proofing them, as silly as that sounds. 

It was easier to pretend that I didn’t matter to them, not the way I mattered to Tod, anyway. I wasn’t quite too young to understand that Erik of the Golden Crown had a peculiar interest in me, but I was certainly inexperienced enough that I had no idea what that interest meant. It was really the one edge that he could do nothing to dull, even with all his influence, and it wasn’t like it did me any harm. They respected him enough to actively avoid that, even if Vlad took a great deal of pleasure in scaring me the first few times we met. As time wore on, though, either I became less easily startled, or he less interested, because it happened less and less. 

I didn’t begin to understand their interest until the summer of my tenth birthday. That year, the Princes brought a boy with them. He was introduced to me as Wrenfeld, and they told me I was to ‘keep him busy.’ I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I decided in my child’s mind that I was being instructed to make a new friend with him. He wasn’t that much taller than I was, but he was very quiet, the kind of person you’d forget was there if you didn’t know better. He didn’t talk much, but I did. It’s hard to believe that children don’t like the sounds of their own voices, because I know that I only ever shut up if I knew Tod was in a sour mood. So I talked, and to his credit, he endured it. I tried to teach him how to play games, but the first few times, he either didn’t understand or made a point of letting me win. I couldn’t wrap my head around the second idea. Why would he lose a game on purpose? So, I made it my sworn duty to try to teach him how to play those kinds of games correctly. 

Most of the time, we were left to our own devices. But every so often - regularly enough that I, oblivious though I was, noticed - Erik would come, and stand in the doorway, and watch us. Then, especially, the boy Wrenfeld would make a move that would let me win the game. I’d laugh and then try to show him what the right kind of move was in that situation, but he’d just nod like somebody who didn’t speak my language, and pretend not to look at the door. Maybe I saw it, too, then especially, but like I said. It was always easier to pretend that I didn’t matter to them. 

---------

@that-catholic-shinobi @bespectacled-ghost @distance-does-not-matter @mad-ad @borgesperovago @a-beautiful-crow - if you'd like to be added to/removed from this list, let me know!

Thanks for the prompt! Feel free to send more, or ask about the characters and plot involved!

[jaydonsjam]

Tomb of Dracula IV/ Blade I

Tomb of Dracula #10

Written by Marv Wolfman, pencilled by Gene Colan and inked by Jack Abel

I’m back to share my thoughts on Tomb of Dracula #10 and the first appearance of the famous vampire hunter, Blade! As I’ve written in a previous ToD post, I’ve been waiting for Blade to show up and initially the whole reason I started reading ToD was for Blade. I’ll say this: I fucking loved Blade from the first reveal and the fact that he takes out three vampires in pretty quick succession.

Quincy shows up and kinda scolds blade for killing the vampires because they could’ve tracked them to Dracula, the main target. It’s a nice dichotomy cause Blade has no quarter for any vampire but Quincy does have a point with the strategy to let one of Dracula’s legion to lead them to the big kahuna. It’s like do you kill the ant soldiers or do you follow their trail to the ant pile (queen)? I will say that while I thought Blade came off like a total badass (arguably the coolest first appearance from any vampire hunter we’ve seen in this book yet) but his dialogue felt super cheesy and borderline stereotypical. I also gotta say as a kid of the 90’s who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade films, I do prefer him clad in his all black leather look.

Not a lot happens in this issue, we see Dracula board a ship and play into his fame minus the whole being a vampire thing. He tells Clifton Graves to watch a girl that he bit and make sure she doesn’t leave the cabin. Of course Clifton can’t do anything right and she knocks him out and is revealed to be a new vampire. Blade briefly fights with Dracula before he tells him that he put explosives all over the ship and that it will explode any moment. I like the moment when some dude is like, “I can’t swim!” And Blade pushes him off the boat saying, “no better time to learn unless you wanna get blown to bits!”

Clifton pleads with Dracula to take him with him before the boat explodes and Vlad refuses letting him die in the explosion. I said last post, that I can’t wait till Clifton gets his, but I kinda felt bad for him in that moment. Plus, I was kinda hoping he would have a face-off with Frank one last time but oh well this worked either way. Gene Colan continues to be my favorite artist with this book although Sal Buscema’s work on Defenders is absolutely top notch. Plus I love Mike Ploog’s work on Werewolf By Night as well. It’s so difficult to choose. I love this book and I can’t wait for the next issue. I wanna see Blade hang out with Taj. Next up is a Doctor Strange solo comic!