#Vampire Nonsense

[valcubust]

some sketches of my beloveds...

[thegreenwallrabbit-blog]

Explaining one of VTMB paintings (pt 13)

This painting show up as one of the works of art found in The Red Dragon Chinese restaurant in Chinatown run by the honorable and successful local businessman Wong Ho in VTMB.  

It is actually a single panel of a much larger colored lithography on traditional Chinese art from a French book called L'Ornement Polychrome (in English: Color Ornament) which is a major pictorial works on the history of design published in 1880 - 1889 by Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet. 

Chinese Bird Panels colored lithography found in L'Ornement polychrome by Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet (1880 - 1889).

Also the Black panel's to the left and right of this bird are also used with a different print from another page of this book as a part of a trio of paintings.

trio of art [left is with mod/right is without], screen shot from the Nexuse Mods page for the VTMB Art Texture Pack mod made by Vampire Nonsense whose citation list of the paintings I’ve found very helpful with identifying art/artist when I can’t do it on my own. It also seems like a nice mod as it doesn’t change the paintings to be different from the ones used in the base game but rather updates them to have better resolution. [6]

The middle piece of this trio comes from another page on Chinese art from L'Ornement polychrome (shown below) with this page possibly showing print recreations of embroidery patterns rather then paintings, but i’m not sure. 

Chinese Bird Panels (embroidery patterns?) colored lithography found in L'Ornement polychrome by Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet (book author) (1880 - 1889). I assume that the Chinese and stamps are the works titles and the artist signatures respectively for the panels in the print rather then being reproductions made by  Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet himself like on the other page. 

Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet (1825–1893) is best known today for publishing two major pictorial works on the history of design: Le costume historique (English: Historical costume ) and the formerly mentioned book L'Ornement Polychrome which was published in ten installments between 1869 and 1873, that acts as a visual record in 100 plates of the decorative arts from antiquity to the eighteenth century. The work was such a huge success that in 1885–7. Racinet brought out a second series, this time of 120 plates, and updated to include designs of the nineteenth century as well. The imagery presented in both series is drawn from a wide array of various mediums, including woodwork, metalwork, architecture, textiles, painting, and pottery, and from cultures all over the world. [1,2]

Being the son of a printer lithographer and later a student at l’École de dessin de la Ville de Paris, triggered Racinet aspiration to inspire and teach others. His ability to reproduce classical and ancient art – studying and learning from them at art school and the knowledge of reproduction and print that his father thought him sparked his interest in art education – producing scholar books. As an artist he did produce some individual works and his paintings were even exhibited at the Salons in Paris for 1849 to 1874, but in fact these were always reproductions of ancient manuscripts from la Bibliothèque Nationale, showing classical and archeological subjects. [3]

His career as an artist, art historian but mainly as director of publications echoes the development of decorative art in the second half of the 19th century. The spirit of discovery, progress and invention permeated all aspects of life during the 19th century. With the construction of the Suez Canal in the 1860’s, travel was facilitated between Europe and Asia, opening up hitherto inaccessible worlds to the western world. That same decade saw major archeological excavations taking place in Egypt and in Italy at Herculaneum and Pompei, revealing long forgotten artefacts to the European public. These activities triggered a renewed interest in the classicism. But note that, the revival of ancient styles was not a matter of copying and imitating, it was rather more a start of a new chapter in decorative art – to be inspired and to borrow ornaments of past civilisations to combine with new found industrial techniques to create a new type of decorative design. As part of select group of teachers, publicists and artists, Auguste ‘diffuse the most significant motifs of the decorative arts of the time. [3]

So I will fully admit that most of my knowledge of art history centers around European, North America and a bit of African art history. Traditional Chinese art history is something I’m less familiar with and as I have zero ability to read ether French or Chinese and can’t find an English translation of L'Ornement Polychrome online I’m mostly just guessing on this print being Racinet’s example of the traditional Chinese painting genre known as Huaniaohua (Traditional Chinese: 花鳥畫 // English: Bird-and-Flower paintings). I will be basing a majority of my description about the Bird-and-flower painting genre from the description I found in the chapter on Bird-and-flower paintings from the book Essential Terms of Chinese Painting by Dr. Maria Cheng and Dr. Wai Hung Tang[4]. If anyone has more knowledge on this subject free to comment below.

Bird-and-flower paintings are one of the three traditional Chinese painting genres, the other two being landscape and figures, that predate the Han dynasty (200 BCE) and continued to evolve long after. While it is called “Bird-and-flower paintings” the genre also extends to any aquatic, terrestrial or arial creature other then humans. There are five subgenre that works in this genre are broken up into: feather, flower, insect, aquatic and beast paintings. The separation of Birds and Flowers as a genre distinct from figure and land scapes was the result of a rivalry between two famous artist/art-masters that lived on opposite sides of the country and each forming their own schools of Bird-and-flower paintings.

 The first being Huang Quan (Traditional Chines: 黃筌) (903–965) who lived in the western interior and was known for a meticulous style of depiction as show below in his work Xie Sheng Zhen Qiu Tu, (10th century). 

Bird-and-Flower paintings done in the meticulous style as implied by the name use very fine brush strokes and seek to represent life like colors and require close observation. Outlines will be done in stark ink and vibrant washes will then be added at later stages.

The second was Xu Xi (Chinese: 徐熙) (886-975) who lived in the east cost and favored more expressive style of Birds and flowers as seen in his work shown below Butterfly and Chinese Wisteria Flowers (active mid-10th century)

Bird-and-Flower paintings done in the expressive style places a much greater emphasis on expressing spirit of the subject being captured over a ridgiousoly conforming to lifelike depictions. And while Xu Xi art may not seem any less of a lifelike depictions then Huang Quan at first glance, it is important to keep in mind that he was one of the first to use this expressive style. This was also not the only style that focused on the idea of capturing the feeling rather then depicting reality in not only Chinese but other Asian art styles, and later these themes would influence 19th century westerns artists such as the Impressionists who found inspiration in a wide verity of Asian painting and printing styles. Western artist in the 19th century suddenly became exposed to centuries of artistic traditions, styles and histories from Asia, the Middle East and Africa through the publication of books such as L'Ornement Polychrome which for the first time allowed them to draw from new sources of artistic inspiration outside of the centuries of European art styles and traditions.  

Finally, while these two masters from long past where the major influences at the beginning of the Bird-and-Flower paintings genre it is by no means considered an outdated or dead art style with modern artists such as Fan Yang’s work The Bee, Butterfly and Grasshopper,  ink and color on paper, (2010) shown below being exhibited as a part of the Tasteful Leisure among Flowers – Contemporary Chinese Bird-and-Flower Painting Exhibition jointly hosted by Beijing Fine Art Academy, Guangdong Artists Association, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Contemporary Lingnan Art Research Center and Guangdong Provincial Society of Chinese Painting in 2018.   

The Bee, Butterfly and Grasshopper, ink and color on paper, (2010) by Fan Yang

Citations

[1]The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Public Library. "L'ornement polychrome" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1880 - 1889. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-3fac-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

[2] “Albert Racinet's L'Ornement Polychrome (1869–73).” The Public Domain Review, The Public Domain Review , https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/albert-racinet-s-l-ornement-polychrome-1869-73. 

[3]Sanders, Esmée  Elice. “Auguste and Esmée – an Introduction.” L'Ornement Polychrome, 19 Feb. 2015, https://racinet.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/. 

[4]Cheng, Dr. Maria, and Dr. Wai Hung Tang. “Bird-and-Flower Painting.” Essential Terms of Chinese Painting. United States: City University of Hong Kong Press, 2018. Print

[5]Wang, Sue. “Tasteful Leisure among Flowers – Contemporary Chinese Bird-and-Flower Painting Exhibition.” Central Academy of Fine Arts New PPER, 5 Oct. 2018.   

[6] link to Vampire Nonsense’s VTMB Art Texture Pack mod on Nexus Mod  https://www.nexusmods.com/vampirebloodlines/mods/75?tab=description

[bloodasmetaphor]

Edge of the World ( Pt. I)

Trigger warnings: idk blood and stuff

Jensen Levesque stumbled back into town after nine days of being gone, and the news spread like wildfire. The deputies that came to assist him were astonished, not quite sure how to approach the situation. He was obviously in pain, lurching along as he was, but they knew what his cure for pain was and it made them hesitate. Despite their instincts screaming at them to run, they knew their duty. They came to his aid, biting back questions, setting their jaws, and offering their wrists.

Jensen grabbed onto one, and the deputy flinched. But no bite came, only a low, scraping voice, like coffin nails on wood. “Toren?”

His green eyes flashed sharply, and the deputy turned white. He did not want to be the one to tell the vampire that his lover was dead. Him and four other people. He didn’t have to, in the end. Jensen plucked the thought out of his mind before he had the chance to say anything, and he abruptly dropped the deputies wrist.

By this time a small crowd had formed. No one had expected him back. Last they had seen of him was Adam dragging his unconscious body out the front gates. Someone had beaten their monster. But now here he was, back from certain death, and looking like at least that much should be true. He swore quietly. Then loudly.

“What happened?” He demanded.

The deputy blinked. “You don’t remember? We let in an old friend of yours. At least you said he was.”

“Who?”

“Adam. You said you knew him.”

Jensen grit his teeth. Oh. Of course. He had fucked up, big time. Talia appeared amongst the crowd, shouldering her way to the front. She was a middle aged woman with an air of dignity about her, the head of council, and one of Jensen’s oldest friends. She paused when she saw him, eyes wide, and hurried to greet him. “We thought you were dead.” She spoke what everyone was thinking.

Jensen didn’t reply, looking a thousand years away. She chose her next words like surgical instruments. “Go and see the nurse. Then we should talk.”

—

Jensen did as Talia asked. He could very well have taken the deputy up on his offered wrist — it would have at least made walking less painful. But instead he ambled slowly through town, taking his time, hoping the crowd would disperse.

The nurse was one of the few residents to get a house all to herself. It doubled as an office and operating room; work downstairs, home upstairs. When he fell against the door, pushing it open, a brass bell above it rang.

The nurse — Wendy — looked up from her work, eyebrows raised. “Well, well. I almost didn’t believe them.”

Jensen stood in the doorway, feeling every ache, every cut, scrape, broken bone, converge on his brain as one sensation: hunger.

Wendy stood up. “You don’t look so good, Levesque.”

Jensen’s voice came out tattered. “Don’t feel it either, doc.”

Sympathy crept into her eyes and she waved him further inside. “Jesus, are those bullet holes? Sit on the table.”

He did as he was asked, clenching his fists tightly. Wendy immediately got to work examining him for slugs, or any other souvenirs that had been left behind. Jensen knew they had to be removed before healing, but he found himself impatient with the process. He reminded himself how much worse it would be to have to dig them out later, and grimaced through the removal of a third bullet.

“He really filled you with lead, huh?” She examined the bullet between her prongs. “Or, silver?”

“Wendy—“ Jensen began, and she gestured to shush him.

“I know, I know. Sit tight.” She dropped the bullet into a pan and disappeared into another part of the house. When she returned she was carrying three makeshift bags of blood. Makeshift, because they were really gallon bags tightly-sealed with duct tape. She carried them to her patient, setting them on the bed beside him. “Wait ‘till I’m out of the room, if you please.” She said, not without a little bite.

Jensen preferred the privacy anyway. He didn’t care for anyone seeing him drink the blood of the living, but it was even worse with these bags. There was just no way to get into it gracefully. You had to go in with no fear, no hesitation; you couldn’t be afraid of making a mess, because you most certainly would.

He went through the three bags in quick succession, coming back to life a little with each. Wounds closed, strength flowed back into his limbs, and color dipped back into the world. He felt almost normal by the time the last bag crumpled. He wiped his mouth on his tattered shirt and left the house.

[jennablackmorebooks]

happy halloween :)

[aliceinfurbland]

Idea for a story, a vampire who works a tire shop during the day and then feeds on people who get tire rotations at night

[ruporas]

feast (ID in alt)

[shares-a-vest]

Eddie leans down, dipping Steve just so. Steve goes limp in his arms, as a new-found steel strength holds him effortlessly.

His other hand moves to Steve's neck and his boyfriend lolls his head to the side, eyes fluttering shut. Steve parts his plush, kiss-stained lips and lets out a faint sigh.

Eddie squeezes ever so gently and runs his index finger over the two moles on the left side of Steve's neck. He presses his fingertip to each of them, digging in just enough that when he moves away, a pale ring forms around each one.

He leans down further, baring his teeth as he draws closer.

Steve's heart skips with excitement. His breath quickens.

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb," Eddie whispers against the warmth radiating from Steve's skin.

Steve's eyes snap open and his lip curls up in disgust.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry," Eddie recoils, leaning back just as Steve pushes himself up to a standing position.

He tsks, detaching from him completely. Steve folds his arms with a huff.

"You promised you wouldn't keep saying stupid vampire shit."

[violent138]

Jason Todd returning as a vampire would be so much fun to write. Especially if Duke stays as his Robin, but has to be super careful with his powers lest he disintegrate one of his favourite mentors (but Duke routinely threatens him with that when Jason annoys him). The hood makes sense then too, serving as a physical barrier that prevents Jason from just sucking the blood out of any bleeding opponent or person he's trying to save. Furthermore the inability to enter Wayne Manor without invitation, and keeping a bomb in his helmet a) because he's crazy like that and b) because beheading is one of the only ways left to kill him. I like the idea that Dick or someone finds out by accident and just rolls with it.

One unfortunate source of angst in this would be the fact that Alfred would very seriously have to rethink garlic in dishes.

[literally-irreverent]

My favorite tags on iwtv fics part 2, even more unhinged! (part 1)

putting the worst one under the cut:

[oifaaa]

i have a very important question for you... in your vampire au, how does the red hood helmet work? does it have little ears on it for jason's to not be squished? ear cutout holes? are they just jammed in there? does he not wear one at all?

The helmet has inbuilt ears but the hood has the ears poking out so it looks like this

[nightcolorz]

wait. Imagine in iwtv s2 Daniel is prodding at armand and trying to get him to open up about his past for the interview and armand says “why would I share these things with you? You have given me no reason to trust you.” Cuz it just slips out and Daniel kind of just looks at him like oh….oh. Oh boy

[valcubust]

standard end to a feeding session

[bloodasmetaphor]

You must tell me what it’s like. I can’t imagine. The notion of being a creature of blood. Subsisting on the very lives of those around you. The process of becoming that. Of first feeling monstrous, then drawn to it, then normal. The blood, thick and rich as chocolate, lust and hunger combining in your belly, the awe of draining away an existence, all of it fading into a daily occurrence. Becoming the dreaded norm.

What was it like when you felt that pull in your belly for the first time? You probably mistook it for longing, probably for your wife, only to realize your mouth was watering — practically drooling. I cannot imagine that; the visceral desire to devour someone you know, someone you love. What is it like to want someone that way? To want them once and forever? 

And then when you grew used to the pull, when you learned how to follow it, how to use it to work for you. You chased it, searched its highs, found its lows, and relished every drop of blood along the way. 

And then it slips outside the sacred. The norm. You are pumping gas and you see an attendant: you want to eat him. You think of a myriad of ways to drink him and dispose of the body before you realize this isn’t what people do. You watch him work and you feel the way your belly wants him, even just in passing. You want him like a college kid wants drive thru. 

You drive away feeling your fangs on your tongue. You consider turning around, grip tight on the steering wheel. Christ, what have you become?

The normality of it, that gets me. Wanting to eat the grocery clerk, your next door neighbor, the mailman. The depth of desire in even just the passing by. 

And in passion, Christ, all the worse. Passion and hunger mix and confuse with each other, writhing together in your belly. Love and hunger feel surprisingly similar to your predator brain, especially given your tendency to fall in love with food. Can you ever really separate your love for someone from your desire to consume them? Perhaps not.

What about other love? What about hate? Your father, you killed him, you drank him, I assume? I cannot imagine the satisfaction, the revulsion, the unbelievable mixture of relief and guilt entwined within you. Your own father, whatever that means to you. After what he did to you, your sister, your mother. This is a son’s duty, is it not? Protect the family, no matter the cost?

[geometryyaoi]

always looking for an excuse to draw her in this outfit

[xoxoladyaz]

AU-gust, Day 5: Pet Sitting

“Nope, no way. Absolutely not.”

Six sets of puppy-dog eyes stared back at her. Lucas, the ham, even pretended to start whimpering.

“Stevie, please,” Dustin whined, “Eddie needs a safe place to stay.”

She stared at Dustin for a few seconds before glancing down at the shoebox in Dustin’s hands. Inside the shoebox surrounded by a few of Claudia’s oldest and fuzziest kitchen towels stood a bat, a small black bat with big black eyes that looked almost just as pathetic as the rest of the kids.

(Almost.)

“I’ve done this song and dance with you before, Henderson, and I told you when you got rid of the alien lizard - ”

“D’artagnan was a cryptid, Stevie!”

“ – alien lizard that I wasn’t going to help you keep playing monster vet. I still haven’t recovered from seeing Mews’ corpse!”

“Mews was my cat and I’m fine! Besides, Eddie’s just a normal bat!”

“Dustin, he has a full head of hair!”

Stevie and Dustin stared at each other before looking back down at the bat (Eddie). Who was running his little claws through his hair and preening. (Stevie could have sworn that he winked at her, but she wasn’t crazy; it was definitely just a trick of the light.)

Dustin’s face started to flush like he was going to argue with her but El (sweet, precious El) cut him off before he could really get going. “Stevie’s right. He is not normal,” El said, stepping forward to run her fingers against Eddie’s head. Eddie rubbed up against her fingers and chirped. 

“See, I knew it - ”

“But he is a friend,” El said and fuck, the full force of El-most-likely-a-changeling-Hopper’s big brown eyes was something Stevie would probably never learn to resist. “And he needs someone to care for him while he gets better.”

“Better? What do you mean, better?”

“Bad man,” El replied matter-of-factly and, well, shit. She didn’t need to say much more than that.

Stevie sighed and turned her attention back towards the “bat” in question. “How long?”

/////

Just a few weeks, maybe a month or two, Dustin had said. “I would have kept him myself but Mom was worried that he’d eat Tews – ”

(“Oh, and you don’t care if I get eaten?” Stevie had replied. Dustin had just rolled his eyes and ignored her.) 

So yeah, two months tops, just until Eddie was “healed” or what not. (He didn’t have any visible injuries that Stevie could see but then again, she was just a cosmetologist, what the fuck did she know about bat anatomy?) Until then, Stevie was going to have a tiny flying roommate who apparently “only likes to listen to metal music, so I’ve brought a few tapes and oh! He loves fantasy so you’ll have to read him this as a bedtime story,” at which point Dustin handed her The Lord of the Rings, “and he gets lonely at night so don’t lock him out, he likes to cuddle, and he should be able to fit in your jacket pocket when you go to work during the day - ”

“No, nope, no way, none of that is happening,” Stevie argued and she really had been planning on sticking to that – no metal music, no bedtime stories, no cuddles, and definitely no work trips, no way, no how.

(She’d folded by hour two of Eddie’s stay at Casa de Harrington.)

/////

“You get this is weird, right?”

“Hmm?” Stevie was cutting apart some strawberries to blend with whatever “protein drink” Dustin kept dropping off at her house. “What’s weird?” She turned to look at Robin, who was watching Eddie shimmy up and down the dining room table to “Rock Me Like a Hurricane.”

“Stevie. This is not normal bat behavior.”

“So? It’s normal Eddie behavior,” Stevie shrugged. She tossed the berries into the blender and, once it was a fine red concoction, put it in a little cup with a little straw and walked over the table. Eddie slid his way across the polished wood and wiggled when he saw her, chittering happily before going to town on his fruit smoothie.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t also normal Stevie behavior!” Robin threw her hands up in the air. “You’re letting a wild animal sleep with you in your bed!”

(She’d tried to encourage Eddie to stay in the guest room that first night all those weeks ago but she’d barely laid in bed for all of two minutes before a dark shape flew through the dark and landed on her chest. She’d screamed and leapt out of the bed but Eddie had somehow managed to grip his claws into her shirt and no amount of arguing with him was able to get him to let go. 

“Fine,” she’d finally growled, “but if I roll over and squish you, it’s not my fault.” 

When she’d finally woken up the next morning, she was still lying on her back and Eddie was still nestled onto her chest. They’d been going to sleep every night that way ever since.)

“Hey,” Stevie replied defensively, “he’s not a wild animal, he’s totally tame.”

“Uh huh,” Robin replied queasily, watching as Eddie happily slurped up his smoothie. “Just because you play dress-up with him doesn’t mean he’s tame, Stevie.”

The tiny vest was from El and Will, something about how Eddie looked “wrong” without it (whatever that meant. Stevie had to admit it did look really cute on him.)

“He looks adorable, Robin!”

“He’s totally taken over your life,” Robin shot back dramatically. “He goes shopping with you, you take him to work – Stevie, he sits with you when you take bubble baths, for Pete’s sake!”

(Hey, Eddie was a gentleman, he always waited until she was covered by bubbles until coming in and sitting on the little nest of towels she’d made for him on the set of drawers by the bathtub and okay, maybe Robin had a point here.)

“And that’s not to mention that I’ve been trying to get you to read a book for literal years now and this bat shows up and suddenly you’re reading Tolkien to him every night?”

“It’s actually a good book, Robin,” Stevie said defensively.

“I know that, Stevie, I just can’t believe that you’re not seeing this! Like, there are so many red flags! He’s literally drinking blood right now!”

Stevie huffed and leaned over the table, like she was physically covering Eddie from Robin’s criticism. “It’s rude to judge somebody else’s eating habits, Robin. Or did you forget our conversation last month when you tried to go vegetarian?”

“That’s different and you know it!” Robin exclaimed. 

Eddie, because he was a little drama king, took the last sip of his smoothie while making eye contact with Robin before letting out an exaggeratedly content sigh. 

“See?!”

Stevie rolled her eyes and set her hand down. Eddie scurried onto her palm, letting out a series of happy chirps. She lifted him up and set him on her shoulder where he waddled to her cheek and pressed his little face against it, like he was giving her a little kiss. “You’re being overdramatic, Robin.”

“Fine, whatever, just don’t come crying to me when he makes you his eternal vampire bride or whatever,” Robin huffed before getting up and stalking out of the kitchen.

“He’s just a bat!” Stevie called after her. Robin responded by slamming the front door after he on the way out. 

Sighing, Stevie turned to look at Eddie, who was currently making a home for himself in her curls. “You are just a bat, right?”

Eddie turned and shot her a wink before wrapping his little body in one of her ringlets.

“Yeah, that’s probably fine.”

/////

One of the best parts of having Eddie around actually was nighttime. She hadn’t gotten so many nights of uninterrupted sleep in years. He was like some sort of nightmare repellent or something; in fact, the only dreams she’d had recently were of a shrouded figure with long dark hair and a sexy laugh and teasing cool hands and other things – 

And when she woke up a month and a half into Eddie’s residency in her home, she probably should have been more shocked at the fact that her bat had turned into a very pale, very sexy and very naked man with long dark hair and cool skin and – 

“God, Robin’s never going to let me live this down,” Stevie murmured as the man stirred above her. He opened his eyes and yep, yeah, those were her bat’s eyes. 

Eddie’s grin grew sharp as he pressed her further into her bed. “I’m sure I can find some way to make up for it,” he said as he drew close enough to kiss her. 

“How do you feel about a Halloween wedding?”

[smalldicksantiago]

i understand that some ppl didn't like the finale and for all the wrong reasons honestly. you need to hate the finale for the fact that daniel and lestat have NOT fucked yet!! UNFAIR!! i had to witness lestat and louis for season 1 (great btw) and then that weird fucking nonsense going on with louis and armand in season 2 and they couldn't even give me a TREAT for enduring that!! i am sooo angry!! but listen this is how danstat can still win-