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is there any joy in life quite like putting your cat on the windowsill and pointing out a squirrel to them, and then watching that squirrel together knowing that they see and are tracking the thing you showed them

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also while this is partly about a lot of media I've read/watched, this is largely about The Vampire Armand (and a little bit about The Devil's Minion chapter of Queen of the Damned too) 🫶

Something that's really come to frustrate me in terms of media literacy and this shift towards needing to label everything 100% bad or 100% good is the decline in people's ability to interact with kink/BDSM focused media without having things spelled out sesame street style.

I was reading the reviews of a movie I watched (which I won't name because it was boring LOL) and a lot of them were outraged by a scene where, during a BDSM scene, one of the characters began complaining that she didn't want to do it, that she hated it, that it was terrible. To anyone who's an avid consumer of kink-based media, it was clear that this was bratting. The other character even called it out as such and told her she didn't hate it, she loved that activity.

But viewers in the reviews were still upset by it, and refused to take her agreement later in the scene that she did actually like it as anything but coerced, or a lie to appease the other person.

I see this happening with books lately, and with fic too.

In BDSM focused fiction words like 'terrible' and 'horrible' and 'hate'- those aren't negatives.

They're the equivalent of describing a deep tissue massage you paid for, one that gave you a great deal of pain relief but was extremely painful in the process as 'horrible'. You might say that you 'hated' the massage when you tell your friends about it even though in reality you felt much better at the end and are planning to go back for a second massage with that person.

In kink media, suffering is very often part and parcel with the pleasure. To do something you hate is also to do something you love. To say 'this is terrible' is also to say 'this is amazing'. The horrible aspect is also the pleasurable aspect, and hating the person doing the 'horrible' thing is also loving them.

The use of typically negative words does not make it abuse.

But everything right now is so damn black and white. Unless the character says 'I hated what they were doing to me, which really means I deeply enjoyed it and consented to it and even though I said out loud to them I hated it I actually did not want them to stop', some readers assume that this a traumatic experience and vilify it. They feel deeply upset and outraged by the scene, despite it being marketed by the creator as a piece of BDSM media. And please, don't come to me saying anything about 'well the author needs to have them negotiate and make it clear-' No. The author does not need to do anything because their target audience understands the consent aspect, and in my experience kink content creators actually do make it very explicitly clear when it's the opposite and the character is suffering in a negative way.

And yes, while there is poorly crafted kink media out there, every single creator does not need to shoe horn in a red-light-green-light discussion just so that the reader does not have to engage their critical thinking skills. I could get into a whole essay about how for some pieces of media a negotiation scene is actually unrealistic, and the truth is not everyone follows modern kink etiquette rules perfectly behind closed doors (either because it's not a modern piece and those did not exist at the time or because they are imperfect people or because one of them is a monster who has mind reading powers, etc etc-) but for the purposes of this post I won't.

Because my point is, if someone is reading a book that the author very clearly stated was centered around BDSM or watching a film that centers a kink based relationship, and they feel outraged whenever something is described as horrible, or when a character complains about the acts that they're doing, or they refuse to accept it when the character says they loved the period of their life where they experienced a BDSM relationship even when they describe that period with 'negative' adjectives- they need to evaluate whether or not they actually like kink-focused media.

Because if you can't see that the misery is part of the ecstasy, it's okay- maybe it's just not for you.

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Something that's really come to frustrate me in terms of media literacy and this shift towards needing to label everything 100% bad or 100% good is the decline in people's ability to interact with kink/BDSM focused media without having things spelled out sesame street style.

I was reading the reviews of a movie I watched (which I won't name because it was boring LOL) and a lot of them were outraged by a scene where, during a BDSM scene, one of the characters began complaining that she didn't want to do it, that she hated it, that it was terrible. To anyone who's an avid consumer of kink-based media, it was clear that this was bratting. The other character even called it out as such and told her she didn't hate it, she loved that activity.

But viewers in the reviews were still upset by it, and refused to take her agreement later in the scene that she did actually like it as anything but coerced, or a lie to appease the other person.

I see this happening with books lately, and with fic too.

In BDSM focused fiction words like 'terrible' and 'horrible' and 'hate'- those aren't negatives.

They're the equivalent of describing a deep tissue massage you paid for, one that gave you a great deal of pain relief but was extremely painful in the process as 'horrible'. You might say that you 'hated' the massage when you tell your friends about it even though in reality you felt much better at the end and are planning to go back for a second massage with that person.

In kink media, suffering is very often part and parcel with the pleasure. To do something you hate is also to do something you love. To say 'this is terrible' is also to say 'this is amazing'. The horrible aspect is also the pleasurable aspect, and hating the person doing the 'horrible' thing is also loving them.

The use of typically negative words does not make it abuse.

But everything right now is so damn black and white. Unless the character says 'I hated what they were doing to me, which really means I deeply enjoyed it and consented to it and even though I said out loud to them I hated it I actually did not want them to stop', some readers assume that this a traumatic experience and vilify it. They feel deeply upset and outraged by the scene, despite it being marketed by the creator as a piece of BDSM media. And please, don't come to me saying anything about 'well the author needs to have them negotiate and make it clear-' No. The author does not need to do anything because their target audience understands the consent aspect, and in my experience kink content creators actually do make it very explicitly clear when it's the opposite and the character is suffering in a negative way.

And yes, while there is poorly crafted kink media out there, every single creator does not need to shoe horn in a red-light-green-light discussion just so that the reader does not have to engage their critical thinking skills. I could get into a whole essay about how for some pieces of media a negotiation scene is actually unrealistic, and the truth is not everyone follows modern kink etiquette rules perfectly behind closed doors (either because it's not a modern piece and those did not exist at the time or because they are imperfect people or because one of them is a monster who has mind reading powers, etc etc-) but for the purposes of this post I won't.

Because my point is, if someone is reading a book that the author very clearly stated was centered around BDSM or watching a film that centers a kink based relationship, and they feel outraged whenever something is described as horrible, or when a character complains about the acts that they're doing, or they refuse to accept it when the character says they loved the period of their life where they experienced a BDSM relationship even when they describe that period with 'negative' adjectives- they need to evaluate whether or not they actually like kink-focused media.

Because if you can't see that the misery is part of the ecstasy, it's okay- maybe it's just not for you.

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in my head armand starts calling daniel “his daniel” in his internal dialogue by like year one of their shitshow, they didnt even have a proper conversation yet and armand is thinking ah yes, my daniel is going to england now <3

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You've been invited to the Vampire Party! 🦇

Hello friends, and welcome back to our fourth annual Vamptember celebrating Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles and all of its adaptations!

For the month of September, please join us in making vampire stuff! Fic, art, headcanons, playlists, meta, gifsets, edits, anything you can think of. Base your creations on the books, the 1994 movie, the show, the musical, that other movie, whatever you want! Canon or AU, get creative!

RULES

1. Each day has THREE PROMPTS in case one doesn’t speak to you! Pick one or combine them or rearrange them, it’s up to you!

2. Please tag your posts #vamptember so that we can reblog them here! If your post isn’t showing up in the tag for whatever reason, don’t hesitate to send us an ask!

3. Find our AO3 collection here!

4. Use of AI is prohibited. Any submissions created using AI will not be reblogged or approved into our AO3 collection.

Tell your friends and share to spread the word! Daily prompts (3/day) under the cut! 

Filled To The Brim / Throne / Urban Legend

Dionysus / Reverse AU / Offered Up By Hell’s Own Hand

Incense / Day Is An Illusion / Pyre

A Human Lifetime / Aristocrat / Night Island Roller Rink 

Hourglass / Library / Who Recused Who?

Mad Scientist / Draught After Draught / Ballgown 

FREE DAY

Unsent Letter / Cradle / We Are Not Painted Things

Glamour / Closer Than Brothers, More Intimately Than Lovers / 1349

 Shaved / In Loving Memory / Guardian 

Lavender Martini / Came Back Wrong / Galaxy 

Chiaroscuro / Wars / Disco Ball 

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat / Peach Fuzz / The Canker In The Heart Of The Rose

FREE DAY

Do Demons Not Love One Another? / Groupie / Dirge 

Maladaptive Daydream / Father / Milk-Fed Catamite

Oak Tree / A Blending Of Sadness and Simple Grace / Prophecy 

 Erosion of Faith / Cigarettes / The Only Time 

Cairo / Genderswap AU / Funereal Spirit

The Dark Is Patient / Pagan / Dinner and a Show 

FREE DAY

House Pets / San Francisco / Runes Carved To My Memory 

 Radio / Across The Stars / Changeling 

 Muse / Talamasca Storage Room / Stupid and Superstitious

Test / Mortal Families / Depeche Mode

9 o’clock News / Old Melodious Nonsense / Psycho (1960) 

Renovation / Adaptive Choices / The Vatican 

 FREE DAY

 Road Head / Hermitage / Lantern Light

Monastery / Pool Party / “First Brood. All that power.”

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David Cronenberg for W Magazine, 2025.

Interview by Phoebe Chen, photographs by Grace Ahlbom, and styling by Tori López.

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kiss kiss

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disservice top

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Some of the US Editions of Interview with the Vampire. In Order: First Edition Hardback (1976, this image is an anniversary re-release of the same design), First Edition Paperback (1977), Paperback (1979), Paperback (Early 80's design), Paperback (1989, Later Edition of Earlier Design), Paperback (Early 90's design), 20th Anniversary Paperback (1997), Paperback (2004), eBook Cover (2011), Books-a-Million 40th Anniversary Hardback (2017), Most Recent Paperback (2022), Books a Million Special Edition (2022)

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what if we met at a ball and started hooking up in our minds but then i sent you upsetting visions and tantalizing lies and bit you a little so you went "oh i'm so mad" and then you beat the shit out of me and raised a sword to behead me so i'd have to live the rest of my immortal life that way. but i was super forlorn and sad and from the dark ages and also very small with big brown eyes and you went "oh no he's just some boy from the dark ages with big brown eyes and he's so so sad" and then you picked me up and put me on your horse and took me to your tower lair. and on the way there i bent the iron gate of the tower a little bit with my mind to show you i could have gotten in and killed you like whenever. but generally sat there looking super forlorn while your mom/girlfriend combed my hair then told you some prophecies about how no one's ever going to really love you. what then

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VCkinkfest

Book Maharet & Thorne hair-bondage scene below.

Then he felt her hand on his cheek. He knew it. He knew the soft wool of her gown. He knew her lips when she kissed him. "You do have my eyes," he said. "Oh, yes," she said. "I see wondrously through them." "And these chains, are they made of your hair?" "Yes," she answered. "From hair to thread, from thread to rope, from rope to links, I have woven them." "My weaving one," he said, smiling. "And when you weave them now," he asked, "will you keep me close to you?" "Yes," she said. "Always." - Maharet and Thorne, Blood and Gold

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inspired by this amazing art by @hallowedhaunting + submitted for #vckinkfest: collared “Hey-“

Daniel hurries to follow Armand, sweat dripping from the back of his neck and leaving his shirt damp between his shoulder blades. Turns a dark corner and finds himself near blinded on 42nd Street.

The deuce is a riot of neon lights, still packed even at three in the morning. The peep shows and porno theaters never rest. He’d taken advantage of those, once, when he was running from Armand. He’d fallen asleep in the middle of a scene of some guy beating off and woken up to a dead boy sitting beside him, staring at him so cold and unnervingly he’d shouted and scared the other guys in the theater, and gotten both of them kicked out.

Daniel loses track of Armand dipping in and out of the crowd, but only for a second. Just enough time to catch up with him at the corner and hook a finger in his belt loop to keep him from jaywalking and disappearing across the street.

“Jesus, slow down, would you? If I lose track of the house and you I’m gonna end up sleeping on the damn street,” Daniel says. He jerks at Armand’s belt loop, trying to get his attention. “Hey. Earth to Armand, hello?”

He’s got a flier in his hand, too busy staring at it to pay attention. Some place called the Vault. The ad says it’s relocated, and there’s probably an address on it but it’s covered by Armand’s thumb. In the neon light his bone white skin glows; first warm gold, and then, when the lights change, shocking red.

“What is an S&M club?” Armand asks.

[Read on AO3]

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Still trying to improve my drawing skills - might as well do that by drawing fan art ✌🏽

For day four of vc kinkfeast, collared. No, I don’t know either what Daniel did to deserve this. Perhaps he simply asked nicely.

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