#especially when mind reading and projecting vampires are there

[poorlittlevampirebaby]

okay i'm gonna have to do a real analysis but both episode 3 and episode 6 starting with flashbacks instead of daniel but showing very clear character insight and development for daniel

🧍

[novthewolf]

hello can give crush edward cullen x fem reader headcanons please 🙏 😊

Edward Cullen having a crush on you :

*

- The moment you cross that damn classroom door, Edward felt a incredible pull toward you.

- The rapidity of it would be ridiculous. But we all know our melodramatic vampire, he loves to make things complicated.

- He would be in a huge denial. Absolutly disregard any possible feeling for you.

- Edward would actually be scared, 'cause he thinks what he feels for you was plain bloodlust.

- So obviously, he distances himself from you even before your first official interaction.

- You didn't know how to react to this, wondering what you did wrong but tried your best to not let it get to you.

- You two were almost forced together by fate, since you have to work on a history project together.

- His incredible knowledge of history surprised you and intrigued, asking him all the questions you might had and always receiving an answer.

- Edward actually really enjoy your curiousity and got more and more eager to answer you.

- Still, you don’t instantly get closer from that. But slowly, he warms up to you.

- You spend more time together, especially in the library.

- His family doesn't quite understand why he hangs around you. And if you asked him at that moment, he wouldn't know either.

- What he does know is that it's getting harder and harder for him to stay away from you.

- Your presence, the way you smile when he explains something to you, the movements of your hands when you turn the pages of your new book.

- The way your eyes met his...

- Edward made a huge effort to never focus on your mind and read it but sometimes he wanted to know what you were thinking.

- He'd spent a lot of nights laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, replaying your conversations and moments spent with you, a smile grazing his lips unconsciously.

- Alice will get tired of his rambling about you but especially of his denial.

- Edward just couldn't bring himself to admit it, but the crush was there. And he was falling hard.

- As you grow closer, he becomes quite protective of you, as one could expect.

- When you hang out of Forks he is clued to your side, only leaving once he brings you back to your doorstep.

- Edward would be smiling and laughing way more often around you than with anybody else.

- Your whole relationship is really soft and slow but the feelings are there, and raising to the top.

- He would be showing signs of courting. Like, sometimes, out of nowhere he would come by to your house, to drive you to school and a tiny hand-picked bouquet flower will be waiting for you.

- Lifting your bag or books for you, holding the door open, glaring other 'suitors' away...

- "Let me get that for you..." He'd say and grab the book of the top of the shelf you couldn't reach, trapping you against his body.

- You would be constantly on his mind, almost driving him to madness. You managed to settle yourself in his head, but he would be a damn fool if he ever try to erase you.

- Now, everyday when he went off to school, he would arrive with a dumb little lovestruck smile on his face.

- But days aren't enough anymore and he regurlaly come through your window at night and observe you sleep peacefuly.

- He sometimes even clean up your room for you. And it's alway a nice surprise to find a tidy room, despite the fact it was certainly how you remembered it looked like when you went off to sleep.

- However, I don't think he would really act on his crush right away, but eventually... heh...

- No, it's better if you at least do the first step, just to reassure him.

- If you're too shy to explecitly confess your attraction toward him, don't worry you can be subtle, he notices the small details.

- When he notices your attraction, he isn't surprised by it (he is ecstatic don't get me wrong) but rather of his feelings for you.

- Edward would be in shock and need some time away from you, to clear his head.

- But like during the months since he met you, you kept coming back to him. He missed your shy warm fingers grazing against his, your oh so sweet scent, your words and smiles...

- You two had build such strong bound, you trusted him so much and so did he. He wanted to be truthful.

- To do so, Edward guides you through the woods, holding your hand in need be and brushing off leaves from your hair.

- He softly pushed you inside the beautiful clearing that laid in front of you, as he stayed put in the outlooks of the forest.

- So many doubts came whirlwinding in front of him but that caring smile you offered him, to invite him in... God, how could he saw no to you ?

- The vampire felt a deep rumbling in his chest as he took step forward, exposing his darkest self and feelings to you.

- "Don't crush my heart..." He muttered, knowing you wouldn't hear him, but all he needed know, was for you to see him.

*

[madarasgirl]

Without You

Friends…I am a Mrs. now! The wedding stuff turned my head to goo...feeling very romantic (but also horny). Sorry for the sappiness in this story, which I baked on/off over the past month. This Alucard is pretty soft with his Reader until he wants to troll.

With how important a concept virginity is in the world of Hellsing, I was surprised by the lack of virginity loss fics, especially with a partner Alucard actually cares for. So I wrote one. Your decision was made. You will not forsake your humanity in exchange for an eternity with your vampire King. On the night he was to take your virginity, there will be no going back.

“Eternity is a long time, little one.” Tags/warnings: 18+ NSFW, Alucard (Ultimate) x Fem!Reader, Vladcard x Reader, Riocard x Reader. Romance, angst/comfort, emotional sex, loss of virginity, vaginal sex, creampie, oral sex, sex marathon, slight bondage & BDSM, partial mind control, anal, snowballing (?), tiny bit of predator/prey (Alu can’t help that side of himself), AFTERCARE, Alucard uses his abilities... Words: 10441

Tumblr won't let me post the full fic even though I've seen longer fics here before. So here's the link.

An excerpt is below the cut.

Dracula was crying. It felt as though he murdered you metaphorically even if you were still living, which was foolish because the sex only solidified the fact you will never turn into a ghastly vampiric monster like him. Yet the act also represented the end of something. The dream that you might always be together. Bloody tears stained his face and the silky sheets. He held you close, squeezing you into the soft mattress as he wept silently, unwilling to let you physically part from him.

You understood. Your arms found their way around his broad back and caressed soothingly in an oval track. Salty tears fell down your cheeks as you mourned with him –you mourned the fact you won’t always be there for him.

Sir Integra gave her blessing to your relationship with her servant years ago, instructing you to take care of him because he was little more than a sobbing child. Her words were nonsensical at the time. This creature of mass destruction, a sobbing child? She had been right all along.

You kept rubbing his back while you peppered his head with light kisses. You were lost in the intimacy of the moment, but when you came to, the vampire in your arms was Alucard again, peering at you lazily like he wasn’t vulnerable just now. This was the form in which you met. You loved him as the King, but also like this. You loved him in all his forms. You pet his sinfully alluring face as he purred and leaned into your touch. He loved to be touched. 

He was so beautiful it just wasn't fair. His stunning appearance and cryptic mannerisms used to fluster the heck out of you. Fortunately, after many years together, you managed to better compose yourself in his presence. Until the next time he discovered another way to pester you, as Alucard does.

The Cheshire grin told you he heard your thoughts. “I’m not reading your mind, sweet, you are telling me.” He looked too pleased with himself. You exhaled. Nothing was fair to begin with when it came to this immortal being. “Come love, join me in the bath,” you told him, making to get up from the tear-stained bedsheets when you were swept off your feet and into lean arms several feet off the ground. “Alu, I can still walk!” You laughed at his overprotectiveness.

A sound at the back of his throat reverberated as he silently drew the bath and poured in scents and products, never letting you out of his grasp while he waited for the tub to fill with steamy water. “We will rectify that by the time I am through with you.” He finally replied, lowering both of you into the water, a devious grin painting his lips.

The bubbly water level reached your shoulders. You wriggled against a toned, lanky body to get comfortable, ignoring the boner poking your rear as you enjoyed the bath with Alucard. His head was thrown back against the tiles as he felt you shift around, your vampire the image of relaxation and contentment, his long limbs hanging awkwardly outside the tub. You sighed and leaned against him, the soothing water jets the only sound in the room.

He washed you, sweat and fluids sliding off your body with each swipe of his hands. "My Queen. My love...I will protect you. Always." His voice was low, eyes lidded and rippling with intent as he scented your rising arousal.

He buried his long nose in the crook of your throat and crooned, the elixir of your blood that raced under the skin ravishing his senses. He had been obsessed with your neck since the night you met. How he loved to lick, nuzzle, and sniff your throat. Running dexterous fingers down your waist, he found slick vertical lips once more.

The vampire made his infamous landshark smile from behind you, two rows of pointy teeth glinting in the soft light of the bathroom. He lapped at the side of your jugular, a low moan sounding deep from his chest as he teased, “So tempting, love.”

You snickered, head tilting over as if to invite him in, daring him to bite as you held his head and pushed his mouth against your throat. His teeth ached with the compulsion to drink, your intoxicatingly heady aromas tickling his bestial nature…

His fangs descended, his cock twitched. Alucard growled, huffing and finally ripping away from the urge to sink fangs into your vein. “A dangerous game you play, little one.”

[anim-ttrpgs]

Hey just wanted to say that the work you do is really inspiring. I think the TTRPG community has needed an urban fantasy noir sort of thing for a little while and I really like the direction you're taking it in. Looking forward to stuff in the future!!

Thank you! Basically all our projects come from a place of need, each one being something that we wanted to play ourselves, but either it just didn’t exist, or the people who did do it didn’t do it to our satisfaction.

Since it’s our blog we can toot our own horn a bit, and yeah, the TTRPG community did need Eureka. The whole idea originally came out of our dissatisfaction with investigation and mystery-solving gameplay in most of the other more well-known TTRPGs that attempt to tackle this genre, such as Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and Gumshoe. They either make it too easy for bad dice rolls to get the party hopelessly stuck by relying too heavily of the PC’s skills, or make things difficult on the player by not giving the PC’s skills quite enough input, which can make efficient mystery solving very difficult across sessions with a whole week or more of real time in between them. (And it’s barely even worth mentioning that the most popular TTRPGs such as D&D5e and Pathfinder just plain cannot do investigative gameplay to any respectable degree at all.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s Investigation Point and Eureka! Point system, whereby each skill check to investigate something fills a bar on the character sheet until the investigator gets a “Eureka!”, which can be spent to retroactively gain information from an investigation skill check that they previously failed, as well as many other specific rules that are too nuanced to go into here but that you can read about in the free version of the rulebook, are part of our answer to that. As you are putting the pieces together in your own mind, so is your character, and this system acts as a failsafe, but not a crutch, to prevent a single bad dice roll from leaving the party totally twisting in the wind.

And I personally have always been really autistic about folklore, which is where Eureka’s unique approach to playable monsters comes in. No RPG had ever really done certain monsters to my satisfaction, particularly vampires. Folkloric vampires have a great deal of quirks and weaknesses that usually get cut from any sort of vampire media because they’re too “silly,” but I disagree. I want them all, and so when a monster is playable in Eureka, it’s its own unique experience, unlike playing anything else in any other game or even within Eureka. (I am very, very proud to say that a number of V:TM veterans have said that Eureka does vampires much better than V:TM itself.)

Not every playable monster in Eureka is 100% strictly folkloric, which was a bit of a struggle for me, but ultimately the small exceptions that were made make the RPG better, so I can’t complain, especially because we managed to weave some pretty cool themes into all of them, which I will touch on more when I finally get finished writing that big huge post about, well, Eureka’s themes.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[supernatural-dreamer]

The Unnatural and Unexpected (Embry Call x Black!Reader) Pt. 2

A/N: Hey everyone! It’s almost twilight season and as a commitment to myself and to you, I will (attempt) to post every Sunday from now until Halloween! You’ve all responded and I have decided to turn this into a multiple part series! I’m playing a little loose with the blood singer/ mating vampire rules as a fun experiment..  Leave a comment AND follow if you’d like to be tagged going forward. As always like, comment and follow. Let me know what you think!   

This is set during Eclipse around newborn battle. This is tailored for a African American/Black female reader specifically, however all are welcome to read..

~Lauren

*All gifs credited to original owner*

—

Pt. 1

Masterlist

—

Imagine being Embry’s imprint and tagging along with the wolves to their newborn training session. However, you’re always in for an unexpected surprise when you’re around Bella..

__

Never were you the adrenaline junkie type. If your two feet were not able to stay on the ground, you did not participate. 

But damn. You would be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the experience, just a little.

Curse your newfound curiosity.

  Or maybe, being in Jasper’s arms is what made it more enjoyable.

  What the hell? You barely know this pale-ass dude.

  It is when your hair stops moving that you start to tune back into your surroundings. Clinging to Jasper akin to a koala bear, eyes still shut, you meekly ask, 

  “Are we there yet?” 

  “I stopped moving a few minutes ago.”  Crap. 

   Popping one eye open, you see the Cullen house directly in front of you. Looking up at him, you notice he is looking down at you, slightly smirking. Coughing,  you signal him to put down. He does, gently and you stand in silence for a moment. 

  “You alright? I know reaching high speeds like that can affect humans pretty bad.” No shit sherlock.

   “I’m fine. Thank you for the, um, ride.” You shuffle your feet while studying your now slightly-dirty shoes.

  Then you suddenly remember the potentially dangerous situation you’re in-the anxiety slowly kicking back in. Jasper checks his surroundings, then gestures for you to move up the front porch steps. 

  “My pleasure. Let’s get you inside. After you.”

–

   Jasper Whitlock was a pale, ex-confederate, undead, man of few words. He has seen mostly wars and death in his human and afterlife. Peace and normalcy was a foreign concept to him, until he ran into Carlisle. He never would have chosen this life for himself, but then again, he never knew his current life was even possible until was in it.

  You, on the other hand, were the complete opposite of him. 

  From the day he saw you, he couldn’t get you out of his head. At first, it was pure curiosity. You were one of the few interesting humans he had met in his time that actually presented a mental challenge for him. 

  Although he couldn’t directly read minds like his brother, Jasper could easily deduce what people were thinking based on their feelings–enhanced by his empath abilities, no doubt. When it came to you, however, he could not sense a thing. If he could put a color to every emotion he sensed, yours would always be grey- neutral. 

  Educated guesses were always made on his part, but you still managed to catch him off guard and did something different. A literal wild card. 

  The day you were partnered with him on some random school project, he began to notice your intelligence and convictions. He was impressed at your ability to keep Bella’s dangerous moves in check while keeping your personal boundaries. It reminded him of some of the people in his past he had lost long ago. It was then, you had gained his respect. 

  Slowly, Bella started bringing you around their house more often. At the time, it was mostly a cover for him and his siblings to investigate newborn activity, especially after one broke into your house. When he was around, outside of class, Jasper kept his distance, mostly for your comfort level.

   Then, he noticed Bella’s or any human’s scent did not affect him as much anymore when you were around. After a few times, he realized something peculiar: you were the only human that didn’t stir his bloodlust, either. 

  Miraculously, you actually had seemed to quell it. 

    It was when Alice and his family confronted him on the possibility of you being his blood singer, he considered that he might have felt something more than just friendly admiration for you.  Carlisle let him know only blood singers have this much of an affect on vampires like this. 

  But Jasper wasn’t having any of it.

    At first, he denied it, immensely. Although he was intrigued by you, you didn’t seem to have the exact same affect on him the way Bella did with Edward. He had and was more than content with Alice. 

   He especially didn’t think it was possible when he found out Embry had imprinted on you. He had abandoned the idea entirely. There’s no way a shifter, let alone their imprint, would have any involvement with the vampires. They were sworn enemies after all.

   So, he did the only thing he could do- kept his distance. The last thing that needed to happen was the pot to be stirred at a time where their alliances were critical. Besides, you seemed happy with Embry. Unlike his brother’s situation, he didn’t want to turn your whole life upside-down for a silly school yard crush—

  And that was that for him.

   Until Alice told him for the first time that she saw you in his future the day they trained with the wolves. In what capacity, she didn’t know. What was certain was that you were going to be involved with the Cullen’s for the foreseeable future, whether anyone wanted or not. She also knew Jasper well enough to know that you meant something to him. 

   She didn’t have to be a clairvoyant to know that. 

   Regardless, you could not make any decisions until he actually told you. The women were right that it wasn’t fair of him to keep everything to himself, especially when that meant putting you in more danger. Blood singer or otherwise, he couldn’t subject anyone he cared about to that. Not on his watch.

  It was at that moment, he realized he had feelings for you—though he hated to admit it. 

  As you sat in the massive kitchen, the silence became deafening. You could tell he was deep in thought about something and, at first, you thought it was from today’s events. 

   Until he looked at you the way he did today. 

   He was keeping something from you and you were determined to find out what it is.

    Penny for your thoughts? You’ve been quiet the whole way over.” Breaking the silence, you take a sip from your glass of  water. 

  “Well we were running over 70 miles an hour.” You had to keep from facepalming yourself. 

    “Are you hungry? We have some leftovers from the other day still in the fridge.” He starts to cross the kitchen. You were starving and those leftovers did sound good at the moment, but you were persistent.

    “Yes, but you still didn’t answer my question.”

   “Just still on guard and keeping an eye out for any newborns is all.” And the lie detector test determined that was BS. 

   He starts to open the containers when you stop him, placing your hand over his. 

   “Jasper what aren’t you telling me? If it’s something about the newborns, you could tell me. At this point, nothing you can tell me will shock me too much.” He sighs. 

   “Not even if I told you that you are my bloodsinger.” Cue the glass in your hand dropping to the floor. 

   You and your big ass mouth. You did the only thing you could do at a time like this:

   Freak the hell out.

   “Wait a damn minute. How can that be? You already have Alice!” 

    “Yes, but it’s possible for a vampire to have multiple blood singers in their time as we live well—forever. It’s sort of rare but it happens.” Smartass. 

    “Okay, let’s say I buy that. But I’m also a shifter’s imprint.  How the hell can I also be a vampire’s bloodsinger? Isn’t that like impossible?” 

   “Honestly, I don’t really know. No one really does. Carlisle guesses that the imprint bond could have altered the usual signs of a singer. ”  

   “How come Alice didn’t see it sooner?”

    “Maybe you being an imprint blocked her from seeing your future. Or you could have the same neutralizing affect on her abilities as you do mine. Who knows? What we do know is that she saw you in my future, and as complicated as it sounds, you affect me as Alice did before she was turned. Unfortunately, she’s never wrong.” 

   At this point, you’re pacing back and forth, trying so hard not to lose your shit completely.

   “What am I going to do? What happens now?” What about Embry? 

     It would be just your damn luck as you are just starting to somewhat feel content about your bond with Embry, you now have a tie to not one-- but two creatures of the supernatural. 

     “Hey, hey, hey, he stops you, gently gripping your forearms and turning  you around to face him. You didn’t even hear him come behind you. Damn vampire stealth.

    “Let me stop you right there. This will be whatever you want it to be-or lack thereof. Although I can’t lie and say I don’t have feelings for you, I will not push or force anything. Just like anything else, we take it day by day. We will figure it out. I will be right beside you, only if you want me to be, (yn).” He pushes a coily strand behind your ear as you look up at him. 

   This time you actually get a good look at Jasper. His blonde hair was a bit messy, but framed his sculpted face perfectly. Against his porcelain skin, his eyes almost glowed. You noticed they were a little more gold than usual, most likely from his recent hunt.

  Now by this point, two things were going through your head:

  Good god. This man was fine.  

  You were in some deep shit.

   A deep, guttural growl snaps you from your trance. Whipping your head around, you see the large, glass pane door, wide open and a familiar native boy standing in front of it. And he is livid. 

–And the pile just got a whole lot deeper. 

__

Tags:

@zoexme

[sailoryooons]

Carmen | pjm x kth (m)

☾ Pairing: Vampire!Jimin x Human!Taehyung

☾ Summary: Taehyung gets lured to an exclusive club by a strange, enchanting woman. What finds him there is much more intoxicating and dangerous. 

☾ Word Count: 10,277

☾ Genre: Supernatural, Smut, PWP

☾ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately. 

☾ Warnings: Hypnotized/compelled decisions and thoughts, implied manipulation, Taehyung is influenced a lot by the natural power/allure of vampires and it scatters his thoughts/makes him do things he normally wouldn’t, depictions of blood, intimidation, The Vibes Are Off, light depictions of anxiety, vampires showing off humans like pets sort of, biting/marking/bruising, explicit language, explicit sexual content, not using lube, spit play/using spit as lube, light degradation, blood play/drinking, rough sex, overstimulation, oral (m. receiving), hand jobs, ass play, a lot of feelings and sensations, mentions of fear during sex, references to subspace, feeling overwhelmed during sex, crying, power dynamics but not explicitly dom/sub, blood lust, feeding frenzy, feelings of terror, Jimin calls Taehyung ‘Carmen’ sometimes - it makes sense in context, Taehyung is lured to the vampire den, implied obsessive themes (no stalking or anything), hair pulling, voyeurism, scenes of carnage and like a feed frenzy, terror at the end of fucking, idk its a vampire coven and Taehyung realizes whats happening at the very end so. 

☾ Published: October 27, 2023

☾ A/N: Happy Halloween to my baby bat @gimmethatagustd. I love you eternally, and I hope that we live a long and immortal life together. Please accept this as my love for you and I hope I am actually with you when this drops so that you can start screaming at me for hiding the fact that this fic was for you the entire time sofidjfogidjf. Also, Happy Early Birthday. I love you so much it’s actually disgusting and I need to be institutionalized. LARGELY UNEDITED SORRY. 

☾ A/N 2: If mem x mem isn't your thing - literally just don't read it. It is that easy. This is not me being a shipper - it is fiction and I do not believe in shipping people in a real-life setting. Thanks.

☾ Disclaimer: All members of BTS are faces and name claims for this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgment, or representation of real-life people. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios.

Masterlist | Ask | Tag List | Song Inspiration | BTS Fantasy and Fangs Halloween Collab

The boys, the girls They all like Carmen -Carmen, Lana Del Ray

Taehyung knows the woman at the back of the lounge wants to take him home before his first song is over. He’s become better at picking them out early. Of course, most of the men and women want to take Taehyung home, especially when starts singing the slower, romantic ballads. He can see the way they sigh, melting in their seats a little, eyes wide and mouth open. 

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes his eyes keep straying back to her. She is beautiful, to be sure, but something is pressing in Taehyung’s mind as he starts his set, drawing his eyes back to her. Like an invisible hand guiding him each time, reminding him that she is there and watching. 

She stares at him with a pinpoint focus, her dark eyes tracking Taehyung on the stage as he walks slowly, mic in hand and singing the notes softly. His eyes keep drifting back to her, trying to make out her features. All he can garner is that her eyes are alluring and even from a distance, she emanates something. Huger. Power.

It makes his stomach flip. Taehyung likes those who want him, but he loves those who crave him. Usually, it’s the men who are hungry enough for Taehyung to chase him. To go after what they want. To whisper pretty compliments until Taehyung is so lavished in attention that he goes home with them. 

The woman at the back of the room looks like she can charm him - will charm him. It makes his lips turn upward as he croons softly into the mic, feeling the music of the band behind him swell, jazzy notes drifting. 

He loves this. His mother told him that he was born to sing. Her little songbird. His mother is dead now, but he lives on through each velvet note, warm voice pouring over the patrons who watch him with dazed expressions. 

Taehyung feels powerful this way. He could lead them all around the room, he’s sure of it. He could get them up, one by one, and lead them straight into destruction. He’s sure of it. 

Except for that woman at the back of the room, whose presence scrambles Taehyung’s thoughts. He finds it hard to perform, her presence like a weighted stone on his thoughts at all times. He nearly messes up the words to a few songs he is so enchanted. 

Still, he does well. La Vie is one of Taehyung’s favorite places to perform. The clientele is high-end, the staff likes to give him free food and drink along with a decent amount of cash for his performances, and he’s growing a steady income here. 

The only problem with La Vie is that its clientele are often repeat customers, and Taehyung has grown weary of seeing the same faces he’s taken to bed already. The faces who think they own him now, who think that just because they’ve had a taste, they can have a fit whenever his eyes stray in another direction.

And his eyes do stray. 

In the middle of his set, Taehyung takes a cool sip of water while the band plays a fast tune. He nods his head, feeling the rhythm and snapping his fingers. The stage lights are low but he feels the heat through his long-sleeved shirt and slacks, sweat dripping down the back of his neck slowly like a phantom finger. 

From the corner of his eye, Taehyung can see Constantine staring. He tries to keep his expression neutral, but he feels the sudden flash of irritation, the urge to curl his lip in annoyance. Constantine is the exact problem that Taheyung has with La Vie, except that he’s the one who got Taehyung the gig - and the manager. 

Taehyung’s throat tightens as he walks back to the stage to finish the last half of the set. The last of the songs are slower, dreamy romantic songs meant to soften the crowd before they dismiss from the lounge for the evening. The sooner he ends the show, the sooner he’ll have to field Constantine’s seeking questions and fawning. 

It presents a problem if Taehyung wants to talk to the woman at the back of the room. 

He decides not to think about it too much. Instead, he closes his eyes and sings his way through the rest of the song, voice carrying old jazz classics and his own written music. Some people would call his smooth voice haunting. Others call it hypnotizing. Taehyung doesn’t know where he stands on the subject, and he doesn’t care so much. He just likes to sing and he likes people who watch him sing. Who listen. 

There are those who come to his performances at high-end restaurants and lounges to watch him, and those who come to hear him. He prefers those who like to hear him, but any will do at the end of the night when he wants to roll around satin sheets and drink rich wine that he doesn’t have the pallet for. 

When he sings the final note of the night, it hangs in the air. This is one of Taehyung’s favorite moments of each night. It’s the last breath before his spell is broken, a moment frozen in time where all eyes are on him, the crowd so entranced that it takes a long pause for them to realize he’s finished.

The brief silence is chased with thunderous applause and people standing. He grins, feeling his chest swell with pride, blood sizzling in his veins as he bows low at the waist. He’s one of the few artists who can get this stiff, rich crowd to stand and cheer, and he knows it. 

He steps to the side and gestures to his band, the applause continuing as they each stand and bow. Though most people might feel tired after a performance, Taehyung is buzzing. He feels the adrenaline pumping through him, and after he steps down from the stage and polishes off ice-cold water, he immediately wants something harder to keep the buzz going. 

Drinks wait for him on the bar top. It’s crowded at La Vie but people make room for him at the bar. An original speakeasy from the prohibition era, it’s low-ceiling and dimly lit, offering a romantic and mysterious air hanging in the room. Taehyung places a folded wad of bills into a glass tip jar, saluting Yoongi behind the bar. The bartender nods, gracious for the tip and a confirmation that the glasses of neat are on the house. 

Taehyung knocks back the first glass. The whiskey burns down his throat. He hisses as it goes, feeling the sting in his nasal passage. He blows out a slow breath and grins to himself, pausing before he sips the next drink to shake hands with a string of patrons complimenting him. 

None of them catch his eye the way the woman at the back of the room has, though. Taehyung sees lingering looks from husbands and wives and smirks at a group of giggling women who are shy and blushing and biting their lips as they compliment him, and he feels a slight spike of irritation when Constantine takes the stool next to him.

Instead of speaking to him, Taehyung focuses on sipping the drink. It’s smooth and perfect, with a hint of orange rind that Yoongi probably burned and waved around the glass. Taehyung looks up to see the bartender cast Constantine a pitying glance before making another drink. 

“You sang well tonight,” Constantine prods. “You have such a way with the crowd.”

“Well, I supposed that’s my job.” Taehyung’s comment comes out flat. He glances at Constantine from the corner of his eye to see that he’s frowning. 

Taehyung is full of mistakes, but letting the manager of La Vie fuck him is by far one of his biggest. He usually has a rule that he doesn’t fuck the people who can interfere with his work, but he made an exception. 

Constantine is beautiful, but a bit of a fool. He inherited La Vie from a long line of family members who have kept it running, and it’s through long-term patronage and reputation alone that it’s lasted this long. Well, that and his two only successful ventures in hiring Yoongi as his main bartender who doubles as his piano player on weeknights, and Taehyung as the late-night performances most evenings. 

People don’t come to La Vie because it’s well-kept or because of Constantine’s good business acumen. They come because they want to hear Yoongi play and then watch him behind a bar all night, sweat running down his neck, dark eyes always filled with a potential promise of more. They don’t get it, of course. Yoongi doesn’t sleep around as Taehyung does, but still, the bartender and pianist is loved and lusted after by most of the patrons. 

Then there’s Taehyung. The warm opposite of Yoongi’s distant, unattainable beauty. Taehyung is full of life, accepting praise greedily, willing to flirt his way through free drinks and extra tips, especially if it lands him in the bed of someone he has been eyeing all night.

Until he broke his rule for Constantine. Pretty Constantine, who said that he was on the same page and that sleeping with Taehyung would be a casual thing. Perhaps it’s Taehyung’s fault for not seeing how mystified the lounge manager was after that first night tangled in sweaty sheets followed by a hot shower the next morning. 

Now, he’s between a rock in a hard place. Offend Constantine and risk being ousted. Keep letting him take Taehyung to bed, and he’ll never escape. 

“Your eyes are beautiful tonight,” Constantine murmurs, dipping his head to catch Taehyung’s attention. “I’d bet they’d look even better rolling in-”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” a dark, feminine voice cuts in. “But I couldn’t resist introducing myself.”

The hair stands up on the back of Taehyung’s neck. He knows it’s the woman who watched him from the back of the room before he even turns around. When he does, he is mystified. Her eyes are lined heavily in kohl and her eyes are dark as a storm sea, pinning him to his place with their intensity. Her skin is umber and smooth, her face so flawless it leaves Taehyung reeling.

There is something uncanny about her. Taehyung can’t put his finger on it. Her eyes are narrow and sharp, her lips plump and breaking into a slow, knowing smile. She looks like the cat who ate the canary, tilting her head to the side as she continues to examine Taehyung with a feline-like gaze. 

“My name is Evangeline.” She reaches out a small, smooth hand. Her nails are filed into a point and painted a wine red. For a moment, Taehyung has the silliest thought that they look like the color of blood as he shakes her hand. He’s surprised at how cold they are, his palms tingling when she lets go. “I have not heard someone sing Ella Fitzgerald like that since… well, perhaps Ella Fitzgerald.”

Taehyung cocks his head to the side, a little confused. “Do you have Ella hidden somewhere that you can listen to her sing whenever you desire?”

“Would that I could. But that’s what… oh what is that spot app, again?”

“Spotify?”

Evangeline grins, revealing wicked, blindingly white teeth. “Spotify, yes. That little intricacy does quite a good job at catching the sound of old artists, but there is nothing like it live.”

Evangeline’s voice is like velvet. Even Constantine goes silent next to Taehyung, staring up at the woman as she slides next to Taehyung. She leans against the bar close enough that he gets the barest hint of scent like jasmine and amber. 

A shiver slides through him as she sips a glass of the darkest wine Taehyung’s ever seen. His tongue feels heavy in his mouth when he says, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. I know most of the patrons by heart.”

“You wouldn’t have. I have not been to La Vie in a long time.” 

Taehyung realizes that she speaks with a specific articulation that hints at an accent. He can’t place it, but it’s like the sweetest music to his ears. “You’ll have to come more often, perhaps.”

“That eager to see me again?”

“I like to pride myself on repeat customers coming to hear me. It would be a shame to know you didn’t find my performance compelling enough to see another.”

“Hmm. Pride isn’t very becoming.”

Taehyung bites his lower lip, trying to hide the smile. “Spoken like a woman who can relate.” 

Evangeline is quick-witted. The rest of the world seems to fade as Taehyung talks to her. It’s strange - he cannot remember what the conversation is about, and he can’t remember Constantine leaving. He doesn’t even recall the patrons leaving the bar until it’s just Yoongi wiping down the counters, eyeing Taehyung wearily as he says goodbye, following the woman out of the door.

Blood rushes through Taehyung’s veins. It’s cold outside, winter fogging his breath. His skin tingles with the sudden temperature change, muted by the soft glow of alcohol in his system. He looks up at the sky, hot breath fogging as he inhales deeply, filling his lungs with that sharp air. 

Something about being drunk in the middle of the night during winter is magical. He can’t explain it, feeling himself smile as he drops his gaze back down to the woman next to him. For a second, he swears her face is sharper than he remembers, a look so hungry in his eyes that it makes his pulse skip.

When he blinks, she’s smirking at him, tilting her head. Taehyung realizes he is drunk, but he craves Evangeline. Wants to hear the way that dark voice of her pants against him, wants to feel her sharp nails on his skin, raking down-

“Have you ever been to the opera house on ninth?”

Taehyung pauses at her question. He feels his brows furrow as his drunk thoughts turn from thoughts of kissing Evangeline to puzzling out her question. “That exclusive club that was made out of the old opera house? What’s it called again…”

“Sanguine.”

He snaps his fingers and points at her. “Sanguine. No, I haven’t. It’s by invitation only and it’s the most exclusive club in the city. I hear it’s open all hours, though.”

“It is.”

“Wait, are you a member?” 

Evangeline sticks her hand out. Taehyung meets her gaze and it feels like he falls forward into it. All thoughts fade from his mind. There is no sound, save that of a high-pitched ringing. Everything but the glowing, otherworldly woman has faded to the back. He only sees her. 

Taehyung lifts his hand, but he doesn’t remember thinking about doing it. He places it in hers, and she laces their fingers. Her hands are bitterly cold, but she doesn’t seem to mind. He doesn’t either, skin tingling, gaze heavy on her as she tugs him along.

“Want to see it?”

He can’t form words. Suddenly feels like he can’t remember how. He nods his head instead, following her. His first few steps feel heavy and he stumbles like he has had far more to drink than he remembers. Normally, it might be cause for alarm, but Taehyung is unbothered as they walk, Evangeline’s eyes pulling him along as she walks backward. 

The world passes by but Taehyung doesn’t remember it. He is somewhat aware that his cheeks and nose are sticking with cold and that his eyes are watering from the temperature. He tilts his head upward, a little dazed and confused about where he is until he sees the golden glow of the opera house.

Sanguine. It is a massive building of white stone and ornate pillars. The architecture confuses him, a blend of Greco-Roman pillars and gargoyles he’d expect to find in a gothic church. The building is a wonderous feat of dark windows, ornate carvings in the stonework, and height. 

“The gargoyles are a bit terrifying,” Taehyung announces, staring at them fixated on top of the portico over the entryway. “Why the gargoyles?” 

“Some lessons are hard to learn.” 

Suddenly, Taehyung can’t take his eyes off of them. The two snarling beasts seem to be a bad omen and he finds himself frozen to the spot, forgetting all about the woman next to him or the invitation to see the exclusive inside of the most prestigious clubs in the city. All he knows is that suddenly, a feeling like doom has tiptoed up his back to rest on his shoulder. 

Taehyung takes a step back. The gargoyles look so much more like people when he stares at them. Twisted humanoids, crouched while screaming at the sky, showing fangs. His heart beats so hard that he feels his pulse in his throat, panic welling up inside of him, ready to spill out and overflow.

“I’m drunk,” he blurts. “I should go home. I-”

Evangeline’s cold hands grab Taehyung’s face and pull him down to her. Her lips are pressed against his and he doesn’t remember what he was worried about. His heart speeds up for different reasons now, eyes fluttering shut as he melts into her kiss, his hands going to her hips to pull her in closer. 

She tastes like dark wine and something else - a bit like iron and salt. The kiss is slow and dizzying and when she pulls away, Taehyung is eager to follow her into the dark halls of the opera house.

The lobby is dark inside. No light comes through the windows, leaving Taehyung in a complete abyss as Evangeline shuts and bolts the door behind him. A tingle slithers up Taehyung’s spine when she bolts the door and he suddenly feels like he’s never going to leave the opera house again. 

A soft din of voices and music trails to him from the doors leading to the main theater. Evangeline takes his hand and leads up toward the door. He still feels dizzy from the kiss, willing to follow her wherever she goes. 

For now, that’s the main seating area of the theater. She pulls open the heavy door, the rush of gentle voices and piano hitting him. Leading him through the door, Taehyung blinks as his eyes adjust from complete darkness to low light. It’s so dim that it takes him a moment to make out anything at all, eyes drifting up toward a massive chandelier with flickering, gold bulbs. 

The inside of the theater is like nothing Taehyung has ever seen. It has been transformed into a massive lounge with a wooden bar on the far right, manned by two bartenders. Velvet couches, chaise lounges and chairs are placed around the main floor, groups of people dressed in formal wear and dripping with jewels draping themselves over the furniture. 

Everything screams opulence. The interior still has the same baroque, elegant beauty that seems like the original design, mixed with the new additions like the bar and furniture. On the stage is a piano, a young woman playing with her eyes closed, and a cluster of people around her, gazing at her with what Taehyung can only describe as hunger. 

Evangeline leads him into the room. He feels the eyes on them as they go, glancing around nervously to realize that there is an odd mix of people in the room. There are those dressed formally in draping gowns and tuxedos, all of whom are unnaturally beautiful. Taehyung finds that his brain buzzes when he looks at them, each individual otherworldly and… cold. 

The other groups of people look like Taehyung. Starry-eyed and dressed in varying degrees of plain clothes. He wonders if they are guests as well, people brought into the fold by elegant patrons like Evangeline. 

Trepidation settles deep in Taehyung’s gut as Evangeline takes him to the bar and orders him a drink. He is tired, eyes heavy and worn at the edges. The momentary surge of adrenaline after she kissed him is wearing off, and Taehyung feels the layer of dizziness slipping off, replaced by anxiety. 

In an attempt to take the edge off, he sips his drink. Evangeline begins introducing him to groups of people, linking her arms with his and pulling him around the room. Taehyung gives her friends a dazzling smile, though he is overwhelmed by the dark eyes that meet his. The cold handshakes. The almost predatory way that the others smile at him. 

He cannot pinpoint what about the crowd is making him nervous, but as Evangeline tells someone about his singing ability, Taehyung realizes that she’s bragging. Showing him off. Pulling him around the room and gesturing to him with words like look what I found and isn’t he just darling? 

Normally, Taehyung preens with pride under the compliments and the pretty words. He loves it when people are enthralled by him, swept away by his talents. Now, something about it feels off. They don’t look at him with wonder on their faces and awe in their eyes- they coo at him. Look at him like they want to eat him whole. Like he is something they can possess. 

Only one person introduces himself and looks at Taehyung curiously instead of with lecherous intent. “Hoseok,” he says, shaking Taehyung’s hand. It’s firm and cold. “What do you like to sing?”

It’s the only time he’s been asked a question tonight. Hoseok is hauntingly beautiful, with dark eyes, a slim nose, and cheekbones that seem carved by Strazza. He is dazzling to look at, and Taehyung’s tongue feels heavy in his mouth as he says, “Jazz, mostly. Sometimes classical, but that was mostly in my younger days in school.” 

“Divine.” Hoseok’s gaze slides to Evangeline. “You know he’s… his type.”

“Well, he didn’t find him.” 

Taehyung doesn’t know who he is and he doesn’t get the chance to ask. The pianist on stage stops playing and Evangeline takes Taehyung’s hand, pulling him toward the stage. “Come on,” she gushes. “Let them hear you.”

He lets himself be pulled. Taehyung feels a coil of nerves in his stomach as she yanks him on stage and pushes him to the middle. The room quiets when they see them and Evangeline claps her hands, drawing the full attention of the lounge.

There’s no spotlight, but Taehyung feels hot under the weighted gaze. Again, his instinct tingles, trying to make him aware of something. He just doesn’t know what. He shoves down the feeling and tucks his hands into his pockets, giving a shy grin as Evangeline talks about his voice. 

The crowd of patrons lean in a little when she steps off the stage. Their gazes are sharp as razors and he can’t help but feel like a shy lamb among a pack of wolves. 

Licking his dry lips, he clears his throat and laughs awkwardly, unsure of where to look. Evangeline stands near the side of the stage, not a great point of attention as he sweeps his gaze out into the room. He fixes his eyes on the glowing red exit sign above the door and opens his mouth, taking in a deep breath before he starts a slow Sinatra number. 

His voice carries over the hushed silence, deep and swelling. He smiles a little as he sings, watching the face go from hungry to mystified. The whole room seems to lean in, people from the back moving toward the stage, drawn in by him. 

Taehyung goes right into the next song, feeling his anxiety melt away. His audience is wrapped around his finger, their eyes following him as he trails around the stage, more engaged. He makes eye contact with some of them, still flinching internally at the sheer darkness of their eyes, but still singing nonetheless. 

When Taehyung finishes, the room erupts into gentle clapping and whispered praise. He feels pride well up inside of him, flushing with pleasure as he bows at the waist, grinning under the sweet applause. He stands up and starts walking toward Evangeline, who looks at him with a smile like the sun. His heart beats a little faster, grinning widely as she claps for him excitedly and-

“Sing another.”

Taehyung realizes the room is silent. The hairs on his arms stand on end and it feels like the air gets sucked out of the room suddenly. Evangeline’s eyes flash silver for a moment, but when Taehyung recoils and blinks, they’re back to normal, though she looks put out as she steps back from Taehyung. 

Slowly, Taehyung turns to look at the edge of the stage at the owner of the soft voice and his world stops. Whoever this man puts the rest of the beauty in the room to shame. Taehyung feels his pulse race, meeting the dark, sultry gaze of the man who spoke to him. 

Something calls to Taehyung. He steps toward the man, dazed and confused, staring, staring, staring. The man has the most beautiful face Taehyung has ever seen. Round cheekbones with a chiseled jaw, plush lips tinted rose, and siren eyes that glitter as he drinks Taehyung in. This is the son of a god or a god himself, Taehyung thinks. A creature of myth and legend.

“What do you want me to sing?” Taehyung asks, barely recognizing his own voice. His ears are ringing and his thoughts are syrup-slow. 

The man smiles and Taehyung feels his stomach flutter. The man is not dressed in formal attire like the rest of the patrons. He’s dressed simply in black jeans with tears in the knee, a black turtleneck tucked into the waistband to show off his tapered waist, and a necklace that looks to be made of thorns. 

Even dressed casually, he outshines every person in the room. 

“What’s your favorite?” he asks, cocking his head to the side and regarding Taehyung. 

A flush works up Taehyung’s neck. He feels a tingle slide down his spine and a lick of pleasure curl in his stomach at the man’s gaze. His fingers twitch and his mouth feels dry. He licks his lips, trying to think of the man’s question and what his answer should be. 

“Can’t Help Falling In Love, I think.” 

The man grins and Taehyung sees stars. “You think? Or you know?”

“I know?”

“Are you asking me?” 

Taehyung shifts back and forth, shame coloring his cheeks as he looks at the floor. Effortlessly, the man jumps up on the stage. He lands silent and lithe as a cat. Taehyung’s eyes widen as he approaches, his gait smooth, footfalls unheard. “I’m only teasing, sweetling. What’s your name?”

“Taehyung.” 

The man stops right in front of Taehyung. He’s shorter, but somehow Taehyung feels small and delicate in his presence, wavering as the smell of orange blossom and something darker washes over him. Taehyung’s eyelids flutter and he fights the urge to lean in closer to the man, to brush his fingers across his skin. 

“I’m Jimin.” Jimin reaches out and brushes his fingers across Taehyung’s cheekbone. His touch leaves a trail of tingling cold. Taehyung closes his eyes, breath catching. Whatever this spell he’s under, he can’t shake it, gone with just a touch. “I want you to sing for me, Taehyung.” 

“Okay.” 

Jimin steps away and Taehyung makes a sound, protesting. His mind is warring between confusion at his reaction and the need to be near Jimin. The duller part of his thoughts is careening, telling him to pull it together, to stop and leave. But the desire shaken awake by Jimin is so much louder, commanding Taehyung’s thoughts.

“Don’t worry,” Jimin murmurs, gesturing to where Evangeline is standing. “I’ll be right there.” 

Taehyung watches as Jimin glides over to the edge of the stage. He whispers something to Evangeline that Taehyung cannot hear but he watches the change in the woman. She ripples with anger, her lip curling up in a snarl. Jimin says something else to her and in the blink of an eye, her head is bowed, her shoulders coming up as she steps back, cowering. 

When Jimin turns around, he gives Taehyung an encouraging smile. The effect is instantaneous. Taehyung feels giddy inside, joy bubbling up as he returns the smile shyly. Gone is the anxiety, gone is the strange feeling of being paraded around. Now, all he can think about is Jimin’s dark eyes, the way they track him as he moves to the middle of the stage again. 

As Taehyung starts the song, he wonders if this is what Elvis was singing about. If wise men were right and that only fools fall in love. Can love at first sight be a thing? As Taehyung sings the song softly, looking at Jimin every so often, his eyes drawn to him like a magnet, he thinks perhaps this song was written about Jimin. 

It isn’t rational. Taehyung knows this and yet barely acknowledges it, watching Jimin’s eyes shine with something as Taehyung finishes the song. For a moment, no one claps. Taehyung looks nervously around the theater, watching as the eyes of the crowd look at Jimin. Once he applauds, the rest follow. 

Taehyung lets out a relieved breath, smiling and bowing shallowly. Jimin approaches him again. It occurs to Taehyung that Jimin walks like a jungle cat, smooth and somehow lethal. 

“You have the most exquisite voice,” Jimin says gently, shaking his head. “You are a rare treasure, Taehyung.” He holds out a hand. “Join me?” 

Taehyung starts to reach for Jimin before he hesitates, eyes glancing up over Jimin’s head at Evangeline, who looks murderous. “You are far too precious for her,” Jimin growls. “It is insulting that she thinks she could ever have you.”

Instead of answering, Taehyung just nods. His eyelids feel heavy, his heady swimming like he’s buzzing off a fresh glass of liquor. Jimin links their hands together and tugs Taehyung along. As they pass Evangeline, she doesn’t dare look at them, her eyes fixed on the floor. 

At the foot of the stairs, Hoseok is standing, arms crossed over his chest and smirking. He shakes his head when he sees Jimin, falling into step with him. “I told her.” 

“Thank you for alerting me,” Jimin tells Hoseok. Jimin turns over his shoulder where Taehyung is trailing a footstep behind. “I would have missed out on him.” 

Hoseok breaks off from them, walking toward the bar. Someone takes up the piano again as Jimin leads Taehyung out of the main theater and to a stairwell. He says nothing, following Jimin’s lead in silence, steps heavy. It feels like he’s underwater, everything dull around him. 

Except Jimin, who is sharp and bright and alive in his mind. 

Jimin leads Taehyung down a hall and through a door. It opens up into a balcony suite. What was once a private box for watching the opera has been turned into a luxurious room of sorts, making Taehyung raise his eyebrows. 

A lounge area is in the middle of the suite, and there is a single bed tucked into the corner. A wet bar is placed at the back, along with a doorway that leads into a refurbished bathroom. Taehyung pauses as Jimin drops his hand, looking around to appreciate the velvet drapery on the wall and the ornate decor in the room. 

It feels like he has stepped back in time, a mix of modern and Victorian meshing in a way that Taehyung finds wonderfully elegant. Jimin goes to the wet bar and retrieves two glasses, pouring them a finger of whiskey each. Taehyung walks toward him, looking out at the lounge beneath. 

“It’s designed like a bedroom?” Taehyung inquires, eyes drifting back to Jimin, who smiles as he brings the glass up to his lips. His sharp eyes pin Taehyung to the spot as he sips. “Do you… live here?”

Jimin shrugs. “Sometimes.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

Instead of answering the question, Jimin gestures for Taehyung to walk with him, leading him to a rich, crushed velvet couch that overlooks the lounge. Taehyung takes a sip of the whiskey but it’s Jimin who makes him feel drunk and cottony.

He sits next to Jimin, limbs stiff. Jimin giggles at Taehyung’s awkwardness, tsking at him as he leans over and pulls Taehyung toward him, pressing their thighs and sides together as they watch the party unfold below. Butterflies flutter in Taehyung’s smile as he looks at Jimin, who is watching Taehyung with rapt attention. 

Being so near Jimin is difficult. This close, he’s even more beautiful than before. Taehyung doesn’t know how it’s possible. Jimin’s lashes are long, framing his beautiful eyes. His dark hair looks silky and soft, tucked behind his ears as he regards Taehyung with a fond expression. 

Heat climbs up Taehyung’s neck and between his legs, a heady feeling sinking deep in his stomach under Jimin’s gaze.

“What?” Taehyung asks, looking down at his lap and chewing the inside of his cheek. He’s never felt so bashful under someone’s gaze before. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re beautiful, of course.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t be shy now,” Jimin tuts. “You were quite confident on stage earlier. I believe the entire room fell in love with you.” Taehyung shrugs his shoulders and Jimin laughs loudly. “Now you’re humble? You are a delightful creature, Taehyung. Tell me, have you ever been to the opera?” 

“No, but I’m familiar with some.”

“What about Carmen?” Jimin asks. He reaches forward and drags a finger across Taehyung’s thigh. Taehyung holds back a groan as Jimin starts tracing patterns on Taehyung’s thigh. “Have you heard of that one?” 

“I’m familiar with the Habanera.” 

“Ah yes. It’s about a woman named Carmen who everyone is in love with. She entrances men with her vitality and sensuality. A man named José falls madly in love with her at first sight, abandoning the army, his wife, and his children for her.” 

Taehyung finds it hard to listen. Even through the fabric of his pants, Jimin’s touch is tantalizing. Taehyung’s legs widen a fraction, his spine tingling. He leans his head back, feeling breathless as Jimin’s tracing gets higher and higher, teasing Taehyung before his touch moves toward Taehyung’s knee again. 

“José, of course, is not the only one in love with Carmen. She is infectious, tempting everyone she comes into contact with.” Jimin leans toward Taehyung, so close that his breath ghosts across Taehyung’s throat. He feels his heart speed up as Jimin lowers his voice and continues, “You remind me so much of Carmen. Charming everyone around you with a simple look, with the sound of your voice. So addicting without even a taste.” 

“O-oh.” 

Jimin presses his face into the crook of Taehyung’s neck. Taehyung nearly drops the glass in his hand, placing it next to him on the couch as his breathing hitches. Jimin runs his nose up Jimin’s too-hot skin, making Taehyung squirm. 

“I fear I have the same weakness as José and you have hypnotized me like Carmen.” 

“Me?”

Jimin nips Taehyung’s ear and Taehyung lets out a throaty, moan. Jimin’s breath across his skin is maddening, colors swimming behind squeezed-shut eyes. His dick hardens in his pants, blood pumping through him, arousal unfolding like the slow-blooming petals of a flower. 

“Don’t sound so surprised. You know the effect you have on people.”

“I do,” Taheyung admits. 

“Look at me.” 

It is a command. Taehyung obeys, turning his face to look up at Jimin. Jimin’s pupils are blown wide, hypnotizing, and alluring as he looks down his nose at Taehyung. Desire stirs so strongly in Taehyung that he parts his lips open, making a small noise as Jimin’s touch on Taehyung’s thigh turns to a solid grip, fingers digging in. 

“Do you want me, my Carmen? Do you desire me?”

“Yes,” Taehyung breathes. “Please.” 

“Ask, then.” 

Jimin’s eyes are so hungry that Taehyung is lost in them. Jimin is on his knees on the couch now, pressed against Taehyung. It feels more intimate than anything Taehyungh has ever felt and they’re barely touching, Jimin gripping Taehyung’s thigh, his mouth hovering inches above Taehyung’s.

“Ask,” Jimin growls, the sound rumbling from somewhere in Taehyung’s chest. Jimin might be smaller than Taehyung but the power that emanates from him is intoxicating and sweeping, making Taehyung shudder.

“Please,” Taehyung says again. “I want you. Will you have me? Please.”

Jimin’s grip is iron. “Of course I will. You’re mine.” 

Taehyung feels like Jimin’s as Jimin steals a searing kiss from him. Taehyung gasps into the kiss, melting into the couch as Jimin licks into the wet heat of Taehyung’s mouth. Jimin is all-consuming, his lips sliding against Taehyung’s hungrily, his tongue brushing against the ridges of Taehyung’s mouth.

It’s just a kiss and yet Taehyung loses himself in it. It’s needy and torrid, their teeth clicking together, lips sliding. Taehyung grabs the front of Jimin’s shirt, uncaring if he wrinkles it as Jimin presses Taehyung into the back of the couch, straddling him. Jimin’s fingers tangle in Taehyung’s hair, pulling harshly. 

The pleasure-pain makes Taehyung moan. Jimin hums, his devilish mouth moving from Taehyung’s lips to his jaw, biting and sucking harshly at the skin. It feels so good. Taehyung just lies there and takes it, hissing as Jimin’s teeth pinch and pull his skin, followed by Jimin’s soothing tongue, rough and wet.

The ache in his dick grows, especially as Jimin puts weight on it, sitting in his lap and leaning and rolling his hips forward, pressing into Taehyung’s cock and driving him wild. He feels out of control, like the room is spinning and Jimin’s kisses are going straight to Taehyung’s veins. 

“Fuck,” he gasps as Jimin licks hungrily at Taehyung’s neck. Jimin drags his blunt nails along Taehyung’s scalp, sending sparks down his neck and spine. “Please.”

“Please what,” Jimin pants, mouthing at Taehyung’s collarbones. “Tell me what you need, my wonderful Carmen.” 

It should be strange to be called by another name and yet, Taehyung shivers at the rasp in Jimin’s voice. Every single part of him is suddenly alive like his nerves are exposed to Jimin’s hands and mouth. Taehyung can’t remember the last time he felt like this with such simple touches. 

Perhaps never. 

“Fuck me,” Taehyung breathes. “I want you to fuck me.” 

Jimin smiles against Taehyung’s mouth. “Oh, I’ll fuck you.” 

A thrill goes through Taehyung as Jimin grabs him and slams him against the couch. His world spins and he’s suddenly facing the ceiling of the suite, panting and delirious as Jimin pins him down, littering his skin with bites and sloppy kisses.

Some of Jimin’s nipping hurts but it adds to the pleasure, Taehyung barreling straight into a slow, pleasured haze as Jimin pulls Taehyung’s shirt off roughly. Cool air kisses his flushed skin. Taehyung claws at the jacket on Jimin’s shoulders, pushing it off of him until he’s free of it, Taehyung’s hands seeking the flexing muscle of Jimin’s arms. 

Jimin’s hand goes to Taehyung’s throat. His hand is small but it squeezes pleasantly as Jimin kisses down Taehyung’s chest. Taehyung grinds up against Jimin, trying to relieve the pressure aching in his cock, a whine leaving his mouth. He feels Jimin’s breath across his skin as he laughs before fixing his mouth on a nipple, making Taehyung keen.

The stimulation is too much and not enough. It feels like Taehyung is ripping at the seams - burst at the seams from the pressure mounting inside of him. What has Jimin done to him to command his body? 

“Everyone can hear you,” Jimin teases, flicking his long, wicked tongue out to tease Taehyung’s already abused nipple. He drags his tongue across Taehyung’s chest, leaving a wet trail of spit as he goes. “Can hear you whining like a little whore. Is that what you want?”

Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut as he feels Jimin’s teeth scrape against his other nipple. He nods his head, unable to form a verbal answer to Jimin’s question. 

“Hmm,” Jimin hums, tongue lashing. “Good boy. Let them know you’re mine. They’ll wait for us to have our fun before they start.”

Taehyung has no idea what that means. He doesn’t ask. Instead, his hands slip down Jimin’s stomach and under his shirt, touching his skin. Jimin is cool to the touch, his stomach muscles flexing under Taehyung’s inquisitive fingers. He grabs at Jimin’s hips, but his fingers slip away as Jimin sinks lower down Taehyung’s body, nipping and sucking as he goes. 

Opening his eyes, Taehyung watches with heavy lids as Jimin settles between Taehyung’s legs, looking up at him. His hair hangs in his eyes, which glint wickedly as his nimble fingers work the zipper on Taehyung’s pants. He can’t look away from Jimin, hypnotized by the movement, but the way Jimin grins and pulls open Taehyung’s pants, leaning forward to lick at the damp spot on Taehyung’s briefs. 

Taehyung’s head drops back and he moans loudly, feeling the pressure of Jimin’s wet tongue through the thin fabric. Jimin mouths at the crown of Taehuyng’s cock, sending jolts of pleasure straight to him. He grabs the back of the couch with one and presses his first to the mouth with the other, biting as he bucks his hips.

“So sensitive,” Jimin coos. His hands grab the top of Taehyung’s pants and the elastic band of his briefs and pull hard, making Taehyung yelp as Jimin unclothes him in one fell swoop. “Think you can take it?”

Taehyung nods quickly, making himself dizzy with the force. Jimin laughs and reaches out, gripping Taehyung’s shaft and pumping him slowly. Jimin’s touch is electrifying, Taehyung’s hips canting upwards to fuck himself into Jimin’s palm, head lolling to the side. 

Jimin spits loudly, coating Taehyung’s cock with spit, his hand gliding firmly to the base of Taehuyng’s shaft. “Just like that,” Jimin whispers. “Fuck yourself into my hand.” 

Taehyung doesn’t need to be told twice. He does so vigorously, chasing the feel of Jimin’s tight, wet fist and the cool feel of his skin. When Taehyung feels Jimin’s tongue kitten lick the tip of his cock, he clenches his teeth, slowly his wild thrusting to allow Jimin’s mouth to explore. 

It’s hard not to bust immediately. He feels his orgasm looming from the barest stimulation. Suddenly it’s like Taehyung is back in high school having his dick sucked for the first time, trembling and trying not to come as Jimin suckles the head of Taehyung’s dick, mouthing at it greedily. 

The room feels like it’s spinning. Taehyung cannot hear beyond the balcony. All he can hear are the wet sounds of Jimin taking Taehyung into his mouth, sucking generously, tongue brushing on the underside of Taehyung’s shaft. 

Jimin pulls off of Taehyung with a wet pop. “You taste so sweet,” he groans, tongue flicking against Taehyung’s frenulum. Taehyung feels wrecked already, sagging and boneless, unable to do anything against the onslaught of Jimin’s mouth. “Sounds so sweet, just like you sing.”

Slowly, Jimin drags his tongue south. He strokes Taehyung lazily with his hand, mouthing at Taehyung’s balls. Taehyung’s fingers feel like they’ll break as he grips the couch, overwhelmed by the stimulation, crying out, muscles squeezing, head spinning, blood roaring. 

“Such pretty sounds,” Jimin murmurs again, dragging his tongue upward. “Sing for me, my Carmen.”

A broken sob sound leaves Taehyung’s mouth as Jimin takes Taehyung to the back of his throat. The wet heat of Jimin’s mouth is an inferno, his throat tight and soft and oh god he’s swallowing. Taehyung lashes against the couch, hands shooting to Jimin’s hair as his throat constricts tightly around Taehyung. 

He feels the spit sliding down his shaft, his stomach so tight and his dick so hard he knows he’s about to come any second, every atom buzzing. 

“I’m gonna-” he can’t finish the sentence, shaking his head back and forth. His heart beats so hard in his chest he thinks he might die before he hits his peak. “Fuck, Jimin. Fuck fuck fuck.” 

Jimin redoubles his efforts. Squeezes Taehyung’s balls with his hand, letting Taehyung shove his hips forward, Jimin’s throat squeezing Taehyung until he’s coming hard. Jimin takes it in stride, swallowing down Taehyung’s cum. 

And he doesn’t stop. 

Taehyung’s hands start to push at Jimin. Tries to pull him off Taehyung’s cock, tries to scoot away. The pleasure morphs into overstimulation. It hurts so good that Taehyung is collapsing into the couch, kicking and bucking and crying as Jimin keeps going, his hand pumping, mouth sucking. 

If there is a god, there must be a devil. And if there is a devil, Taehyung knows that he is between Taehyung’s legs, working him to another orgasm somehow, driving Taehyung to madness as he goes. Jimin pulls off Taehyung’s dick with a sticky sound, moaning sweetly at the mess Taehyung has become. 

“You can take it,” Jimin coos. “I know you can. You said you can.” 

Taehyung nods. Tears sting his eyes and he tries to take a deep breath. He blinks his eyes open, watching as the ceiling swims into picture, a little blurry from the tears. He takes deep, shuttering inhales, his lungs rattling as he does. When he looks down at Jimin, he wishes he didn’t open his eyes. 

He almost doesn’t recognize whatever it is that is laving at his weeping cock. Jimin’s face is crueler somehow. More beautiful, but terrifying. Taehyung swears the veins around his eyes are darker and the scrape of his teeth is sharper. 

The orgasm must have made him delirious. It’s the only explanation, especially as Jimin works him hard again, Taehyung aching to explode once more. 

Jimin pulls off of Taehyung and crawls upward. Taehyung thinks Jimin looks like an apex predator for a single, terrifying moment. And then Jimin is kissing him, making Taehuyng’s thoughts turn to white noise as Taehyung presses his tongue into Jimin’s mouth, tasting spit and cum and something like iron and salt.  

Something pricks Taehyung’s mouth. He lets out a surprised sound, his mouth filling with a warm, metallic substance. Jimin’s kiss becomes frenzied. The force of it startles Taehyung, fear wiggling its way into his mind as Jimin presses down on him. 

Jimin becomes overwhelmed. A force that Taehyung cannot escape, completely trapped and helpless, still dizzy and uncoordinated from the overstimulation. It excites him. Taehyung realizes with mild terror that he likes this feeling, likes being overpowered and pushed to the edge. 

He lets Jimin suck greedily on his bleeding lip. He’s too focused on the ache between his legs and the mind-melting way Jimin makes him feel to realize that Jimin is hyper-fixated on his bleeding mouth. He kisses Jimin back as best as he can, though it’s more of a slide of lips and tongue than an intentional kiss. 

“Turn over for me,” Jimin grumbles. He’s already gripping Taehuyng and trying to turn him over. Taehyung struggles to make his limbs work but manages to flip, mostly due to Jimin lifting him and turning him, once again showing how strong he is. “Gonna work you open for my cock.”

A pathetic sound escapes Taehyung’s mouth. His cheek hits the soft velvet. It’s grounding, feeling the gentle scrape of it against his sensitive skin. His cock is pressed tight between his stomach and the cushions, but it’s less invasive than Jimin’s hungry mouth, a brief respite. 

Wet lips trail Taehyung’s spine as Jimin descends. Taehyung’s breathing is ragged and heavy, gulping down cool air as he trembles under Jimin’s rough mouth. He likes that Jimin doesn’t handle him with kid gloves. That Jimin keeps Taehyung to his word, driving him into a manic state. 

Taehyung still feels like he’s on the edge of that mania when he feels Jimin’s fingers slip between his ass, seeking. He flinches when Jimin brushes against his tight rim, the muscles clenching, afraid. Jimin laughs but doesn’t push it, instead peeling Taehyung apart to spit noisily. 

A gentle sigh drips from Taehyung’s mouth. He feels the spit slide, the sensation heightened. Jimin’s finger traces after it, circling Taehyung’s asshole lightly. His toes curl at the light stimulation. It feels good, but it’s hard to control the muscle's instinct to reject and contract. 

Jimin doesn’t seem to mind. He leans forward, his fingers pressed firmly in the seam of Taehyung’s ass, his mouth pressing butterfly-soft kisses to Taehyung’s spine. 

Taehyung feels like Jimin’s instrument. Jimin works him open slowly and gently, at ends with how he was driving Taehyung to madness minutes prior. The swing to gentle and soothing has Taehyung confused and reeling, his brain trying to keep up with the sensations tingling through his body. 

When Jimin slowly breaches Taehyung’s tight ring of muscles, he lets out a pathetic keen. Taehyung is too loose-limbed and fuzzy-brained to do anything but take it. The intrusion burns for a second, but levels out to be pleasurable. 

Cold liquid slides down Jimin’s fingers, easing the slide. Taehyung sighs, relief unfurling slowly as the burn goes quiet and all that’s left is the stretch and the pressure of Jimin working Taehyung’s walls open. Toe-curling pleasure sweeps through Taehyung. He bites his bottom lip, lifting his ass in small, half-hearted twitches to meet the push and pull of Jimin’s fingers.

“Mhmm,” Jimin encourages, teeth scraping Taehyung’s shoulder blade. His breath is cool on Taehyung’s warm skin. “Take what you want, sweetling. Open yourself up for me.”

It smells like sweat and orange blossoms, Taehyung’s skin covered in their mixed scents. His sensitive cock drags against the fabric of the couch, sparking pleasure and pain as he fucks himself into the palm of Jimin’s hand. Jimin’s fingers are small but do the job, pressing against the most sensitive parts of Taehyung, making his breath ragged. 

Everything feels like it’s on fire as Jimin pushes in another finger. Taehyung feels the wet schlick of lube or whatever Jimin has used to make the slide easier. He feels fuller, moaning like a whore as he chases the electric feeling under his skin, coming alive under the careful press of Jimin’s fingers. 

“So good for me,” Jimin whispers, biting Taeyung’s ear. His breath is hot against the side of Taehyung’s face. “Gonna take my cock so well, huh?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Fuck,” Jimin swears. “I can’t wait. This is what you do to me.”

Jimin pulls his fingers out. Taehyung complains, feeling the empty gape. Jimin shushes him and presses his clothed cock against Taehyung’s ass, letting him feel how hard Jimin is. Taehyung grinds his ass against Jimin’s crotch, making the other moan. 

A shirt flys past Taehyung. He realizes that it must be Jimin’s turning and angling his head to see the man in question. He is utterly divine, his compact body graceful and deadly, lined with muscle and delicate lines. Jimin undoes the belt of his jeans and pulls them down, palming himself over his briefs as he kicks out of his pants. 

Taehyung can’t help but stare, lips parted. Jimin is a vision, his face still masked in something lethal and terrifying that makes Taehyung excited and afraid all at the same time. The mixture is intoxicating, sending his thoughts somewhere distant and fuzzy where all he can do is watch Jimin pull his briefs down to reveal a thick, leaking cock. 

On instinct, Taehyung scoots toward Jimin. The other laughs, giving Taehyung a quick, harsh smack on the ass. His skin stings where Jimin’s hand connects, earning a whimper. Jimin tuts at Taehyung, fisting his cock leisurely as he does. 

“So needy,” he grumbles. “So hungry for cock. You’re just like Carmen, you know? Addicting, needy, breaking down my will to give you whatever you want. This must be how Jose felt, ready to give her everything. Pliable. So willing.” 

“And you? How do you feel?”

Jimin’s gaze is dark and heavy. Taehyung holds his breath, pinned to the spot. He feels Jimin’s cockhead nudge the tight rim of his ass as Jimin settles behind him, looking at Taehyung so intensely that Taehyung feels as though he will wither away. Ashes to ashes. 

“Like I want to give you the world.” 

“Please.”

“You have to give it back. You have to be mine.” 

Taehyung is nodding before Jimin even finishes his sentence. Taehyung will give him anything he wants, as long as it means Jimin will push forward and relieve the aching weight of Taehyung’s needs. He is filled with so much carnal desire he thinks he would do anything Jimin asks of him. 

“Yours,” Taehyung agrees. He tries to push back and spear himself on Jimin’s cock, but Jimin’s grip is iron, holding him in place. “Yours.” 

That’s all it takes for Jimin to sigh, pleased. He pushes in slowly, Taehyung gasping and grabbing the couch at the intrusion. His walls flutter around Jimin’s cock. It’s a tight fit, a slow, pleasure-filled agony that ripples through him. 

Taehyung is hyper aware of how full he feels. It is perfect, his mind turning to static as he lays his face down on the couch, breathing strained and heart hammering. Jimin praises him gently, coaxing Taehyung to calm down with gentle kisses on the back of his neck, shoulders, and head. Jimin is fully seated, his hips pressed to Taehyung’s ass. It feels good, the pain retreating and leaving nothing but bliss in its wake. 

Jimin pulls out, the rough drag of his cock sending Taehyung into a spiral before Jimin snaps his hips forward again. Taehyung lets out a desperate sound, feeling his eyes roll back into his head as Jimin starts to fuck him slowly. 

It feels hot. Jimin cages Taehyung in, his chest pressed to Taehyung’s back, humid air trapped between their bodies. Jimin’s skin is cool to the touch, such a contrast to the warmth radiating from Taehyung. The mix of hot and cold only heightens the sensations, everything feeling sharp and powerful. 

Jimin’s teeth scrape Taehyung’s shoulder. Taehyung doesn’t know why, but he leans his head to the side, giving Jimin free access to litter his throat with sloppy kisses. Taehyung feels broken under the weight of Jimin’s thrusts, the wet sound of his cock pushing deeper into Taehyung until it’s pressing against the deepest part of him, making Taehyung kick his feet as the pleasure builds.

It’s so good it hurts. Taehyung is reeling, having never felt like this when being fucked. Jimin chuckles darkly against his ear, tongue licking the shell of Taehyung’s ear before whispering, “You take it so well.” Taehyung whines in response, pushing his ass back to meet Jimin’s hips as best as he can. “Such an eager little slut. Everyone can hear you getting fucked - do you like that?”

Taehyung nods his head. Jimin grabs him by the hair, pulling Taehyung upward so that Jimin’s chin is slotted on Taehyung’s shoulder. Taehyung’s neck cranes painfully and he opens his eyes, looking at Jimin’s side profile. 

“I said do you like that?” 

“Yes!”

“Come here, let’s show them.” 

Everything goes off balance. Jimin picks Taehyung up off of the couch like he’s a ragdoll, spinning him so that his feet hit the ground and he’s pushed up against the balcony railing. He barely has the coordination to plant his feet on the ground and grab the railing before Jimin is pressing back in, splitting him apart for everyone to see. 

Taehyung casts his head back, eyes closed. He doesn’t want to look down, doesn’t want to see the faces of the onlookers as he moans loudly, feeling flushed and breathy as Jimin fucks him hard. Taehyung sees stars behind his eyelid, laying his head back on Jimin’s shoulders, his hands gripping the railing as Jimin hammers into Taehyung’s prostate. 

It feels like Taehyung’s blood is on fire. Something like glee unfurls in him at the thought of everyone below seeing how perfect he is for Jimin. That Jimin chose Taehyung and no one else. That Taehyung is the perfect, pliant partner for Jimin. He doesn’t want to see their faces - he’s too shy for now - but he silently revels in the fact that they’ll know from this moment forward that Taehyung is Jimin’s in some capacity. 

His mind hasn’t caught up to what exactly that capacity is, blinded by the way he teeters on the edge of coming again. 

“This is going to hurt at first,” Jimin whispers against Taehyung’s throat. 

There’s a brief moment of confusion. Taehyung is unable to think beyond the thick, heady haze clouding his mind, but then searing pain rips through his neck. His eyes fly open and he gasps, too shocked to scream properly where he feels blinding pain throbbing from the side of his throat. 

Taehyung’s hand shoots up to Jimin’s face, digging in his hair. Jimin’s mouth is pressed against Taehyung’s throat and it takes a moment for Taehyung to realize Jimin is biting him clean through the skin. 

Panic shoots through him. He clutches at Jimin’s hair, pulling tight at the strands to pull him off. Jimin doesn’t budge, his mouth fixed to the tender flesh of Taehyung’s throat. Then Taehyung feels Jimin’s tongue. The subtle pull of his mouth, the drag of his blood. 

The pain fades into something else. His neck tingles, fire replaced with numbness. Taehyung’s eyes flutter shut as a high unlike anything else hits him. Jimin is still fucking him, his pace picking up, his thrusts becoming savage as he takes deep swallows at Taehyung’s neck.

Taehyung is vaguely aware that Jimin is drinking his blood. He can’t process beyond that acknowledgement, too caught up in the euphoria glittering through his veins, turning his blood to molten lava. His head falls forward, too heavy for him to hold up, eyes closed and sinking into the feeling. 

His orgasm comes swift and hard. Every muscle in Taehyung’s body squeezes tight with a force he’s never felt. It feels like he might collapse in on himself, a star going supernova before it implodes, sucking everything inward. 

Jimin lets go of Taehyung's neck, gasping as he feels Taehyung squeezes his cock. The wet gurgle of a moan from Jimin’s mouth makes Taehyung turn and look at him. Taehyung is bent over the railing now, sweaty chest sliding back and forth as Jimin’s hips jostle him. Jimin is standing straight, his hands gripping Taehyung’s hips to hold him in place as he fucks him viciously, chasing his high. 

But what freezes Taehyung in place isn’t the powerful body driving him into overstimulation. It isn’t the beautiful, lithe lines of Jimin’s chest and arms or the beautiful way his eyes drink Taehyung in. It’s the blood running down Jimin’s neck and chest that startles him. The crimson smear across Jimin’s mouth, which is parted as Jimin tilts his head upward, tongue coming out to run across his bottom lip. 

A glint of white catches Taehyung’s eyes and his heart stops. Two fangs, stark against the wine-red mouth filled with blood - Taehyung’s blood. His heart skyrockets for a whole new reason and he tries to think but his mind is too slow. Sluggish. Still crawling through the high that Jimin’s bite injected him with. 

“Jimin?” it comes out slurred and terrified as Taehyung watches Jimin lower his face, eyes finding Taehyung. He still looks beautiful with the lower half of his face colored in blood, but he is terrifying, and destructive. Taehyung thinks he might die of fright even as his stomach flips with arousal again. “What…?”

“Look at them,” Jimin grins, mouth a red gash. He grabs Taehyung's hair and forces the boy to turn toward the scene below. “Look how they waited so patiently for me to start. To fuck, to feed. They waited for you - to come and bleed. They don’t indulge until you’re done, my sweet Carmen.” 

It takes several moments for Taehyung to piece together the tableau unfolding beneath him. What appears to be a mess of blurry images and sounds morphs into something else, the edges of his clarity sharpening as Taehyung blinks through the fog of pleasure. What he thought was going to be patrons looking up at the balcony as he’s ravaged is not at all the case. 

Below is unleashed carnal energy. He sees bodies writhing. Scarlet ribbons of blood flowing down necks, in between thighs, down shoulders. His eyes sweep the landscape of bodies fucking and thrusting and bending, of screaming of pinning down, of biting. 

Vampires. 

The word suddenly comes to Taehyung in a moment of clarity, the word ringing out so clearly in his mind that he jerks upward underneath Jimin’s grip. The vampires below chase the humans in the room. Taehyung realizes that all of the patrons dressed in finery are slamming people dressed in plain clothes to the ground and onto furniture, fixing their mouths on them, and ripping their shirts open. 

“Oh my god,” Taehyung breathes, finally breaking free of the murky mist of lust. “What are you?” 

Jimin presses against Taehyung, slamming his hips in deep one more time as he comes with a feral growl. His hands are tight in Taehyung’s hair and his mouth is rough against his ear. “I’m yours,” Jimin answers, voice low. “I’m José and you are my Carmen.” 

Dizziness sweeps over Taehyung, feeling like darkness is racing up to greet him. “Yours,” Taehyung agrees, slow blinking as Jimin’s teeth sink into his shoulder again. “Your Carmen.” 

-

PERMANENT TAG LIST: 

@wobblewobble822 @idkjustlovingbts @teddytaee @jknoah @veronawrites @bts-ruu @tumeperds @ashtonkeller @ivyrosewater @secfir @hoseokshobagi

Please note: typically I would reblog with my tag list, but this drop is scheduled while I am traveling and I am unable to reblog and tag, so I’ve just done it as part of the main body. 

[scatteredcloud]

I don’t read a ton of fanfiction but I don’t mind labru as a ship and I like longing and devotion and erotic bloodletting, use this as an excuse to infodump if you like, convince me to read :3

You have no idea the can of worms you have unleashed thank you so so much

Ok so disclaimers :

1. NSFW. Naturally.

2. Bloodletting may be putting it diplomatically. It’s blood sucking. Vampire horny style but no one is a actually vampire.

The fic takes place in the post cannon, with Kabru serving as Laios’s royal advisor. Their professional relationship has put them in proximity of each other near constantly, and the simmering obsession that Kabru has had about Laios through the story reaches a boiling point when Laios reveals that he’s become (monstrously) obsessed with Kabru.

What gets me (aside from just like. my own sexual proclivities lmao) is the imo perfect Kabru characterization. I think a lot of people misunderstand what drives him and so when they write him it feels kind of odd. Kabru isn’t a manipulator,in t like abusive sense but he is a…social engineer. And a compulsive liar. And obsessed with Laios. He’s a nice guy, but acts amicable helpful and friendly to mask his social engineering.

This fic really gets that Kabru will say things, not without meaning them, but some part of him projects an image of cool confidence and he will act subconsciously to maintain that mask - in the interest of furthering his own goals. Those goals in this fic happen to be finding plausible ways to be intimate with Laios while maintaining some sort of professional veneer. It also employs a very subtle head cannon of him dealing with intrusive thoughts (kill Laios) in a way that I find pretty authentic and endearing as someone who also deals w intrusive thoughts.

And Laios. Again, characterization is really on point. This fic plays up the like chimeraization of Laios, and it takes his hunger seriously in a way that I think a lot of other fics and the main storyline often play for laughs. It’s about the need for satiation and satisfaction, but never feeling fulfilled. His desire disgusts him, because he’s been told it should, and as king he has every thing he could ever want. But he’s still Laios, he’s earnest and truthful and awkward and what he wants is Kabru. Inside of Laios’s appetite (all meanings of the word) is deep shame and inside of that shame is the sensory seeking autism need to feed on food that is forbidden (monsters, Kabru)

Kabru occupies a space in Laios’s life in the post cannon that we don’t really see equivocated in the main story. During the story he certainly cares deeply for his other party members and values their insight 100%. But Kabru is regent to the throne. In the day in day out running a kingdom, Laios is no figurehead but he works intimately (lol) with Kabru to compensate for his lack of social graces. There’s also the like, subtextual bodyguard implications that Laios is perfectly capable of defending himself but Kabru is acutely trained in combat against other humans, making him especially useful to a newly crowned king in danger of assassination. This is what makes me ship them so hard - Kabru’s story long attempt to know Laios combined with the implications of their post cannon positions

This fic really nails desire as narrative tension in romance - the “I want to, but I cant” “I know we shouldn’t, but we are” Not just erotic/romantic desire either, the desire to maintain appearances, the desire to secure a career. This thing is only three chapters (for now 🤞🏼) but the DEPTH of this erotica is fucking hngdbbsbdbcbcndndbgjgkfkdkdbd

I don’t know when the entire fandom decided Kabru is a trans man but I do like it despite my contrarian impulses. It’s worked in so naturally and I love that its never made A Thing (I don’t even think it’s tagged for it which is what made it a nice surprise in this fic). When Kabru gets hot and bothered it’s discussed in exactly the way that I experience it which makes me just :] yayyyyyyy

This fic brings out the like, service top-ness of Laios also. I’m of the opinion that there’s not a clear top/bottom dynamic between them so I hesitate to put it in those terms but this fic gets that Kabru’s social engineering extends to the bedroom - he knows he can exploit Laois’s earnestness and takes advantage of that leverage

Anyways. I really really should be asleep. My nightly routine has been getting home from work. Lay down. Kick my feet and sigh dreamily about Kabru and Laios for hours so thank you again for indulging me

[yoomiii123]

Me imagining what Twilight could have been, if Edward's interest in Bella wasn't rooted in how amazing her blood smelled for him but in her evasion of his gift instead: a slow-burn romance with vampirism as a 'man vs nature'-antagonist.

Edward is stunned when the new girl—Bella Swan, ordinary at best—resists his mind reading. Confused and yet intrigued, especially after some secret experimenting reveals that his sibling's gift seem to work fine, he decides to befriend the human and figure out her secret.

Bella, slightly socially awkward and shy, is confused why the strange-yet-super-hot most desired bachelor of the school seems to be interested in her and her life, but what is she supposed to do? They are lab partners after all.

Bonding through a biology project, Edward starts to realise that Bella is actually a very interesting and fun human despite stubbornly avoiding his gift. And Bella starts to warm up to the fair-skinmed beau as well.

A fun shopping trip to Port Angeles and an impromptu italian dinner date later, the two are on the brinks of admitting how they feel about each other, when suddenly, a sliding car in the slippery parking lot reveals Edward's secret to Bella. Freaked out and scared to learn that her crush is a blood-sucking monster, she distances herself from him, hiding with her childhood friend Jacob and his friends in LaPush.

However, Edward is not ready to give up on her. With the help of his family, he tries to convince Bella that he is no danger to her. Just as she decides to meet them all and observe a family baseball game, a group of nomads appear, threatening the safety of the entire family and Bella especially. In the ensuing battle against time, Bella learns that the Cullens are vastly different from what she feared they would be and overcomes her fears.

We end with Bella asking Edward to prom and them having their first kiss on the gazebo.

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

Having a hell of a day as you know, can I get some New York, Mass and/or Loui fluff that's as angst free as possible pleasee?

MHM MHM MHM YES HERE YA GO :D

Louisiana:

Whenever he hasn’t slept in a while, Maine will quite literally snatch him (he has thought of just pillow-casing this mf) and take him to his and Alaska’s house and they’ll both cuddle him. And Louisiana just accepts it cuz he isn’t strong enough to escape either of them, and especially not both of them.

He has just- full on bodyslamed his friends and brothers and hugged them till they couldn’t breathe

The human(?) equivalent to a puppy

^Especially with the look in his face when someone he loves comes home or enters the same room 😭💙

^If he has his tail out, it is 10000000000% wagging at the speed of light

I feel like he is a really good listener and gives great advice if you need it

New York:

Idk why, but I feel like he cannot tell his left and rights. Am I projecting? MMMMMM QUITE POSSIBLY SHUSH YOU-

He’s also a really good listener but he’s not as good when it comes to advice. Again me projecting? MAYBE-

You don’t have to tell him if you’re sad. He just. He knows. How he knows? Idk he’s got some mind reading type power 😭

^He will just sneak up on you, and if you catch him, he’ll just simply do what he was gonna do in the first place: curl up on your lap and cuddle the sadness out you. He’ll even purr when he cuddles you 😭 Yorkie cuddles make everything better, 5 star rating from literally the entire statehouse.

Has bought and made band tee shirts for all his pets. It’s the most adorable thing ever. Even his pigeons and rats have Queen and AC/DC and Led Zeppelin merch.

Despite basically being a cat/vampire (every gacha oc in 2018 be like:), he actually loves swimming and is surprisingly good at it (I hc him to be either part of the Navy or Coast Guard so- he kinda has to know how to swim-). BUT IF YOU PICK HIM UP AND THROW HIM INTO A BODY OF WATER, EVEN A BATHTUB, HES GOING TO STAB AND SCRATCH YOU IN VARIOUS BODILY REGIONS. UNASHAMEDLY TOO.

Massachusetts:

Actually really good at digital art. He’s good at traditional art to, but prefers digital art (him, upon discovering digital art: "IT HAS A MOTHA-F(SPEAKS BOSTON)KIN’ UNDO BUTTON 🥹🥹")

He lovessss taking long walks outside, especially on the beach at sunset. Has gotten plenty of drawing inspiration from the sunsets and the beach <3

He also really loves plants and nature. Granted, not as much as NJ, but pretty close. He won’t admit it though cuz he’s a stubborn bastard. We love him though :3

Mass gives the vibes of someone that’s really good at bass guitar and drums

I like to imagine that whenever he takes his hat off, his hair falls in front of his face and temporarily blocks his vision. Penn and Ginny love making fun of him for it <3

Hope these are fluffy enough I tried to add no angst, but my finger mighta slipped somewhere idk <3

[saturnianautist]

8th house placements

Disclaimer: not a professional astrologer these are just my opinions and experiences.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙

- Magnet for energy vampires.

- People trust them with their secrets so they often get people’s trauma unloaded on them.

- Prone to being mentally drained from being around others energy whether it’s absorbing it or just getting constantly projected on.

- Because of getting projected on a lot, they can get bullied or people might want to fight them. Similar energy to Scorpio energy in that area (traditionally ruled by mars=violence aggression, war).

- Very intuitive individuals.

- Read others energy very well meaning we also read through others bs.

- You know how there’s somebody everyone around you will really like but there’s one person that tells everyone how they don’t feel sincere or they get off or bad vibes from but no one listens cuz they can’t see it and then way down the line they betray people or switch up, we’ll that’s your 8th house friend you should listen to their gut they usually almost end up being right about that kind of thing.

- Prone to attracting jealous, controlling, obsessive people into their lives and relationships or can be that person themselves if underdeveloped as a person.

- Often end up isolating themselves to protect their energy and mental health.

- Very private people. Part of this is because we don’t like feeling exposed in anyway, but part of it is trust issues because of all the times people weaponize what we tell them against us. Just be patient and be their for them they will open up to you eventually if you’re genuine.

- Prone to getting sexualized from literally anything mostly towards women especially because women already get sexualized. Will at some point in their life end up adopting this trait just because other people told them this is how they are. From my experience it’s actually that we are just comfortable with our sexuality and often prefer sensual ness to sexual ness.

- Can either be very divinely protected or in some cases it can possibly put you in more danger depending on surrounding placements and aspects.

- Will most likely inherit something in the future if they haven’t already.

- Might have difficulty with any kind of authority from bad experiences with power struggles and abuse of power. This can include teachers, parents, bosses..etc.

- These power struggles can be seen in relationships too especially if their partner is a man certain things might trigger them from their past experiences.

- Most likely very into their spirituality.

- Also into spiritual tools like divination (tarot, oracle, pendulum..etc), things like astrology.

- These placements can be very intrigued by the mind as well and psychology, it also helps them read people even more.

- Detectives, they’ll only need your name and will be able to find out what school you went to in middle school, your best friend Ashley and how you played soccer when you were younger lmao.

- Might be intrigued by water or like to stare at it, makes them feel grounded.

- Really resilient, once they realize their power they are invincible.

- Constantly going through transformations throughout their entire life, as soon as one ends another begins. This can feel really tiring until you accept that it’s a part of you and just flow with it because it’s also a blessing to be able to always be growing as a person.

- Out grows friends and relationships, bad habits, old mindsets. Similar to Pluto energy which partly rules destruction in order for rebirth so they can have very abolitionist mindsets where they need a whole new foundation before moving forward (8th house rules death and rebirth as well aka transformation in some way).

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙

That was the end loves, thanks for reading, stay tuned for 8th house in the signs post it’s in the works. <33

[inairbinad]

Steve's Got a Date with a Vampire! (3)

part three of seven | Explicit (eventually, but not yet) Part one | Part two | Read on AO3

warnings: blood drinking, and I'm gonna err on the side of caution and say this one is very mildly nsfw under the cut

About a week after the popsicle incident, and just as much time spent absent of any matchmaking plots, Steve was starting to wonder if maybe Dustin had dropped whatever scheming he had in mind in favor of spending his summer on something more fun. 

That was why when Dustin invited him over for dinner with Claudia one night, Steve didn’t hesitate to accept. He was getting bored of making sad little dinners for himself most nights, since Robin was busier than usual studying for finals and had better things to do than to keep him company while his parents were out of town. 

“Oh hello, Steve,” Claudia greeted him with a hug when he rang the bell. “You’re right on time, dinner’s almost ready.”

“Smells wonderful,” Steve complimented, nearly ready to float away on the scent of whatever she was making. She led him back to Dustin’s room with a warm smile. 

“Dusty! Steve’s here!” Claudia called through the half-open door before moving back towards the kitchen. “I’ll call you boys when it’s ready.”

Steve heard Dustin talking to someone in his room, probably Suzie, so he gave a soft knock before peeking his head in. Dustin was set up at his desk, using Cerebro as usual, but it quickly became clear that Suzie wasn’t on the other end.

“Thank you, sir,” Dustin was saying in a surprisingly formal and respectful tone. “I appreciate all your help.” Then he dropped the handheld radio to his desk and stretched like he was completely satisfied with how that conversation went.

“Who the fuck do you call sir?” Steve said, lowering his voice so Claudia wouldn’t hear him swearing. Dustin swiveled around in his desk chair to face Steve and beamed at him. 

“People I respect,” Dustin quipped. Steve didn’t miss the insulting implication in that, but he ignored it. He raised his eyebrows at Dustin in question, imparting that he wanted a real answer. “That was just a mentor of mine. He’s helping me with a little project.”

“This close to school getting out?” Steve asked, completely distrustful of whatever Dustin was up to now. 

“It’s not for school,” Dustin shrugged. “It’s extra-curricular.”

Dustin refused to talk about it more all throughout dinner.

———

Steve hadn’t seen Eddie very much since that day at the pool, and the few times he did, Eddie was decidedly more distant than usual. Steve was becoming more and more convinced that Robin and Dustin were wrong, that Eddie was just trying to rile Steve up for fun, and now he’d grown bored of it. That was all fine enough. It left Steve time to lick his wounds in peace and get back into his old routine of endlessly dating with no real prospect of finding someone to love him anytime soon. 

Steve tried to shake the morose idea loose from his brain. When his thoughts turned this morbid, it was usually a sign it was time for him to get out of his house. But that wasn’t an option tonight, because he was having people over. Again.

The kids had talked Steve into hosting the “freshman-friendly” version of everyone else’s graduation party, which basically just meant letting them drink one beer each under direct supervision. They were especially excited about the whole thing now that Jonathan and Argyle were back from California with their own shiny new diplomas as well.

Steve, proud of all of his friends, went all out with decorations. There were streamers and banners everywhere, and he probably spent too much of that week’s paycheck on a giant cake for everyone to share. (Though he saved a little by opting to have it simply iced to say “Congrats, Grads!” rather than expecting the bakery to spell Eddie, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle’s names correctly.)

At least having all of his friends crowded into his house at once had a similar quieting effect on Steve’s thoughts to if he’d actually left the place. Absolutely nothing else about it was quiet, though. Robin and Nancy had taken over DJ duties with Max and El assisting, and that led to pushing Steve’s stereo system to its limits. That, in turn, seemed to be the only excuse the boys needed to talk as loudly as they could over the sound of the music, with Eddie trying to referee whatever nerdy bickering was happening on this particular occasion. 

That usually left Steve hanging out with Argyle and Jonathan, unless Robin bothered to tear herself away from Nancy for longer than thirty seconds at a time. (Steve was determined not to let himself be jealous of their budding friendship. It absolutely did not mean that Robin was abandoning him. He would not let himself spiral into those thoughts again.) It was actually nice, when Steve stopped thinking long enough to enjoy himself. He even thought he and Jonathan might finally be approaching something like actually being friends. 

The rest of Hellfire came, too—Gareth, and Jeff, and a third whose name Steve couldn’t remember. Dustin, who was assigned door-answering duty, greeted everyone excitedly and waved Steve into the living room to introduce them. Taking in the collective body language, the Hellfire boys seemed slightly uncomfortable to be in Steve’s house at all, let alone for him to be coming over to greet them. So he grabbed them them all drinks on his way, and tried to open with some self-deprecating humor. 

“Gotta imagine whoever lives with that on display in their house is a complete freak show, right?” He handed over their drinks, then nodded at his mother’s collection of porcelain figurines of children doing random shit like yodeling or herding sheep. 

Jeff snorted behind a sip of his beer, and the third one managed an appreciative smile. Gareth, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes slightly. 

“Well, we wouldn’t want to break any valuables,” he said, tone slightly challenging. Dustin’s eyes shifted between them nervously, like he was ready to intervene on Steve’s behalf. Steve wasn’t sure he needed it, though. He picked up one of the figurines he knew his mother hated yet refused to throw out anyway. He briefly examined it, twisting it between his fingers. 

“Eh,” Steve shrugged, then tossed the figurine over his shoulder. He heard it crack when it hit the floor, didn’t bother to look back. It was strangely satisfying to hear, like he wanted to toss another. Steve reeled in the impulse, though. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

That earned an impressed “cool” out of Dustin, and Gareth actually cracked a small, surprised smile. Steve felt like he’d passed some sort of test, even if he had a lot farther to go. 

“I’m Steve,” he said, holding out his hand towards Gareth first. 

“Right!” Dustin said, scrambling to correct himself. Steve was never all that concerned with Dustin’s manners, if he was being honest. He knew to temper his expectations. “This is Gareth, Jeff, and Vince.” 

They all nodded and shook Steve’s hand, then thanked him for the drinks. The conversation didn’t get much further before Eddie inserted himself into it.

“Are you breaking your own shit, Stevie?” Eddie asked, then happily slung an arm around Steve’s shoulder. It was certainly more friendly territory than they’d been in for weeks. 

“I suppose I am,” Steve smiled, let himself lean into the weight of Eddie’s arm around him for a moment. “Care to join?”

“Of course not,” Eddie scoffed. “Just because I’m an undead creature doesn’t mean I’m an animal.”

Steve wasn’t sure why, but he was surprised that Gareth, Jeff, and Vince knew about the vampire thing. But then again, they were some of Eddie’s best friends, whereas Steve definitely was not, and he knew. He shrugged the revelation off and tried to keep in the flow of conversation. It was made slightly more difficult by the fact that Eddie kept his arm firmly planted around Steve’s shoulders, to the point where his hand rested just against Steve’s clavicle. 

It was distracting to say the least.

———

An hour later, the kids had all had their “first” taste of beer (so they claimed, anyway) and Dustin had already snorted some up through his nose to the hilarity of all. He disappeared upstairs for a few minutes before he came darting back down the steps in a huff.

“Steve,” Dustin was out of breath and wide-eyed, which quickly put Steve on high alert. He set his drink on the counter and stood up straighter. “Eddie, I need you.”

Steve and Eddie exchanged a nervous glance, but Steve relaxed a fraction once he was pretty sure this wasn’t Upside Down related, at least. 

“Both of us?” Eddie said, voice clearly skeptical. 

“Yes, Eddie,” Dustin scoffed. “I need your vampire vision and it’s Steve’s house, so come on.”

Suddenly terrified to find out what the hell Dustin had done to ‘his house’, Steve sprung into action and followed him up the stairs with Eddie on his heels. 

Steve was confused when Dustin led them to the linen closet and stopped.

“Henderson, what the fuc—“ he started.

“I lost my nasal spray in here,” Dustin cut him off. “And I can’t find the light switch, and I need Eddie’s eyes to help me.”

All of Dustin’s words made sense individually to Steve, but when he strung them together that way in a sentence he felt like his brain was melting.

“What?” Steve asked, incredulously looking to Eddie to see if he knew how this was a real problem. Eddie just shrugged at him. “Why were you trying to use your nasal spray in the linen closet?” 

“I was looking for a washcloth,” Dustin explained, like that made perfect sense. Steve just stared at him, so Dustin blew out a dramatic sigh. “I had a bad reaction to the carbonation in the beer! You know I have sensitive sinuses! So I came up here to try and stop sneezing by washing my face, then using my nasal spray.” Dustin flattened his palms together and explained it slowly to Steve, like he was a five year old. 

“Well,” Steve said, pinching the bridge of his own nose, “Maybe you should try to avoid snorting beer through your nose next time, and this won’t be a problem.”

Eddie, who was already getting on his hands and knees to look around on the floor of the closet, chuckled to himself. Steve got caught up in the sight of him for a fraction of a second longer than was strictly necessary. 

“Who the fuck has a walk-in linen closet?” Eddie asked over his shoulder, snapping Steve out of his trance.

“Steve does,” Dustin said, matter-of-fact.

Steve couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. Normally he would have expected a ribbing over his room, or his mom’s knick knacks, or even the fact that it was a five bedroom house that usually only had one person living in it. But the closets? Steve didn’t know he needed to be prepared for those being mocked.

“I may have super sight, but a little light would still be helpful,” Eddie said next, sticking his head under a shelf. He seemed completely unembarrassed to do whatever he could to help Dustin, though, which only made Steve want him more.

“Right,” Steve said, stepping fully into the closet to flip the switch. Nothing happened when he did, though. 

“Shit,” Steve grumbled. “The bulb must be out.”

“I’ll go get a flashlight!” Dustin exclaimed, sounding entirely too eager about it. Steve turned to ask what the hell his deal was, but Dustin was too quick for him. Before Steve even had his mouth open, the door slammed shut and plunged Steve and Eddie into complete darkness. 

“I said more light, not less!” Eddie grumbled.

“Why would he close the door…” Steve asked, mostly to himself, and reached for the knob to open it again. It jiggled uselessly, and the door didn’t budge. 

It dawned on Steve all at once that he’d let his guard down at the absolute worst moment.

Fucking nasal spray. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for that shit. He knew that story had been complete nonsense, but his distraction at Eddie crawling around on his hands and knees and Steve’s natural reflex to give in to whatever Dustin wanted clouded his judgment. Again. “That little fucker.”

“What?” Eddie asked, not catching on to their predicament just yet. It sounded like he was still on the floor, too busy taking Dustin at his goddamn word.

“You can stop looking for nasal spray,” Steve informed him. “He locked us in.”

Eddie went completely silent, so Steve could only guess at his reaction to Dustin’s little stunt. All of a sudden, Steve felt Eddie shove halfway past him, stopping while they were still chest to chest in the narrow space. Then Steve heard the slap of Eddie’s palm against the closet door. 

“Henderson!” Eddie yelled. “You locked us in!”

“No shit,” Dustin replied from the other side.

“Very funny, Dustin,” Steve tried, hoping the end of this prank was near. Eddie was standing very close to him, to the point where their he could feel each breath Eddie took in. Distantly, Steve wondered if Eddie really needed to breathe still, or if it was just out of habit. “Now let us out.”

“Not until you agree to get along!” Dustin called through the door. The emphasis he put on the words get along implied very heavily that he wanted much more from Steve and Eddie than just that.

“We do get along!” Steve argued anyway, knowing it would be of no use. He knew what Dustin really wanted to happen in here.

Eddie snorted from somewhere near his left ear, and Steve tensed in confusion. 

“What? We do,” Steve said, less sure of himself now. 

“Do we?” Eddie asked, as he moved out of Steve’s space and deeper into the closet again. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, Steve thought he saw the outline of Eddie’s arm crook at the elbow, like he had his hand on his hip. 

“I thought so,” Steve muttered, feeling entirely put out now. If Eddie didn’t even like him as a friend, he was more pathetic than he thought. He deflected his misery in favor of saving it for later, focused on the problem at hand. “Come on, Dustin. It’s dark as shit in here.”

There was no response.

“Afraid to sit in the dark with lil ol’ me?” Eddie teased, though there wasn’t much humor in his voice. Steve didn’t know where the hell this was coming from, but he thought maybe they could at least use this predicament to hash it out. Even if it wasn’t quite the outcome that Dustin hoped for—or Steve, if he was being honest—maybe Steve could at least make Eddie believe that he didn’t hate him.

“This again?” Steve asked, incredulous. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not afraid of you?”

“I guess enough times for me to actually believe it’s not bullshit,” Eddie said easily. 

Steve recoiled, unsure what he could ever do to convince the people he cared about of his sincerity. Maybe he’d just ruined his benefit of the doubt a long time ago, and he was destined never to get it back. At least, not with the people who had ever known him as King Steve.

“It’s not bullshit,” Steve murmured, not sure why he was even bothering at this point. He leaned back against the door and let himself sink to the floor. 

“You tense up if I even touch you,” Eddie said, but his voice had softened into something less challenging and more uncertain. Steve wanted to reach out and soothe it away. “That’s kind of hard not to take personally when you’ve recently developed the ability to kill people with ease.”

Steve was entirely unprepared to admit exactly why he tensed up around Eddie, so he thought up an excuse. “That’s not because you’re a vampire, though. I’m just not as touchy a person as you are. It takes some adjusting.”

“Please, you and Robin are constantly hanging on each other,” Eddie scoffed.

“Yeah, well,” Steve shrugged, knowing Eddie had a point since he was lying through his teeth, and all. “Robin’s my best friend. That took time, too.”

Eddie sighed, and Steve hoped that was a sign that he’d let it go. Eddie stalked towards him again, then stood hovering above Steve as he banged on the door and yelled for someone’s attention. 

“Help! We’re trapped in the closet!” Eddie yelled, and Steve couldn’t contain his snort. “Oh very funny, Harrington. It’s the perfect time for gay jokes.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve chuckled, trying not to let his laughter spiral out of control. “Really. I just had to appreciate the irony. Since, you know, it’s us.”

Eddie was quiet for a beat before whispering, “Us?” 

And oh shit, Steve thought. Did Eddie not realize that Steve knew about him being into guys as well? Or did Eddie not know about Steve? He thought it was pretty obvious, honestly, considering how well all of Eddie’s flirting had destroyed Steve’s ability to function. 

“Well…yeah?” Steve asked more than confirmed. Even though he could barely make out the scope of Eddie’s face, Steve felt Eddie’s eyes on him. 

“Say more words, Harrington,” Eddie said, slowly. Steve wished he could go back to being Stevie. He scratched at the inside of his wrist. 

“I’m bisexual too?” Steve tried.

“Is that a question or a statement?” Eddie said. Steve couldn’t help but notice that Eddie’s voice sounded a little…strangled.

“A statement,” Steve said, gaining some confidence back. Maybe this would be what proved to Eddie that Steve trusted him. “I thought you knew.”

Eddie laughed, and Steve decided that sound was definitely strangled. It buoyed his fragile heart a smidge further. 

“I definitely did not know that,” Eddie said. Then he blew out a long breath and dropped to the floor beside Steve, sitting close enough that their shoulders touched. “I guess your closet joke was funny, then. Since it wasn’t only at my expense.”

“Well of course it was funny,” Steve joked, knocking his shoulder into Eddie’s. 

“Cocky as ever,” Eddie said, but he laughed as he did. “I guess we’re stuck in here.”

“I’m pretty sure he turned up the volume down there just to be extra sure no one would hear us,” Steve agreed.

“Dipshit,” Eddie sighed. Steve hummed his agreement this time, and they sat in companionable silence for a while. Steve was surprised to find it was comfortable, rather than making him want to crawl out of his skin to fill the space with words. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

“For what?” Steve asked, startled to even hear it. 

“For accusing you of being afraid of me,” Eddie said. “That wasn’t fair. I’m just being insecure and, well. In my defense? I’m just cranky because I’m hungry.”

“Didn’t you eat today?” Steve asked, all at once feeling like a bad host for not having some extra rare steak or something for Eddie to snack on at his own graduation party. 

“Nope,” Eddie answered like he found Steve’s suggestion funny. “I’ve been trying to space out time between…feedings, I guess. It’s getting harder to rob the blood bank consistently, plus I feel like an asshole doing it.”

“Well,” Steve said, realizing how that might pose an ethical conundrum. It was surely preferable to Eddie running around eating people, though, even though Steve knew he would never. “It’s kind of the best option out of a lot of bad ones, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Eddie relented with an entirely humorless laugh. “The good news is I can make it five or six days in between without even feeling it. Ten days or two weeks, though…”

“Two weeks?” Steve cut in, not keeping the shock out of his voice. “You haven’t eaten in two weeks?”

“No?” Eddie said sheepishly.

“Is that a question or a statement?” Steve said, quickly parrying with Eddie’s own words. Eddie gave an appreciative laugh this time in response—tiny, but there.

“A statement,” Eddie confirmed. “Not since your little pool shindig, actually.”

Visions of Eddie sucking down a blood red popsicle swam through Steve’s mind for probably the trillionth time since it happened. 

“Jesus,” Steve breathed, both in reaction to Eddie’s admission and to his constant inability to keep that image out of his mind. “I’d be a lot more than cranky.”

“Yeah, well,” Eddie thunked his head against the closet door behind them. “I’ll go home and dip into my depleting stash a little.”

“Well…” Steve said, hardly in control of his own mouth at this point. “I have blood.”

“Here?” Eddie asked, missing the point. Steve held in an embarrassed and frustrated scream. “Why?”

“Because I hear it keeps me alive,” Steve quipped, and that seemed to be when Eddie fully registered what Steve was offering, because he went stock-still and deathly quiet.

“I can’t do that, Stevie,” Eddie finally breathed out, and Steve reveled in hearing the nickname come out of his mouth again. “I can’t hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Steve said, completely convinced of it. If Eddie was so hungry he’d lose control of himself, Steve thought he probably would’ve been dead five minutes ago. “Come on. Call it a trust exercise.” 

Steve felt Eddie’s eyes on him again—assessing, probably. He didn’t know why he was pushing for this, exactly, only that he was suddenly entirely convinced that it was exactly what he needed to do. What he wanted to do. So he held his wrist out in front of Eddie in silent offering.

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked, voice cracked and desperate. Hungry.

“As I’ve ever been,” Steve said without a trace of doubt. 

Steve watched the faint outline of Eddie’s pale fingers slowly reach upward, before delicately wrapping around his wrist. The cold of Eddie’s skin felt scorching against Steve’s own, hot and alive and jumping at the contact. At an agonizingly slow pace, Eddie drew Steve’s wrist in towards his mouth, like he hadn’t quite decided on a course of action yet.

This was stupid. Steve knew this was stupid. Eddie was over-hungry, Steve was trapped in here with him, and no one would hear him calling for help if he needed it. Logically, Steve realized all of that. But something else, large and lodged somewhere beneath his ribcage—and yes, stupid—didn’t care about any of that. It only cared about making Eddie see that Steve trusted him, wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. It wanted to give Eddie everything he ever needed.

It wanted Eddie’s mouth on him. 

“You won’t hurt me,” Steve assured him, and for the first time he was able to see Eddie’s eyes flick to his own. “I know you won’t.”

If he had blinked, he would have missed Eddie making the decision and sinking his teeth into the flesh of Steve’s wrist.  

Steve was incredibly glad he hadn’t blinked. He was mesmerized by the way the little sliver of light that crept in under the closet door glinted off of Eddie’s teeth in a flash, the way they felt as his skin opened up at their prodding. Steve barely registered the pain of it beyond the little thrill it gave him to feel it at all. 

Steve wished he could see Eddie’s face more clearly, watch his throat work as he drank. The darkness forced him to lean into the feel of it instead, so he dropped his head back against the door and did just that—from the flat of Eddie’s tongue against the thin skin of his wrist, to the way Eddie’s grip on his arm stayed gentle as ever, despite the roughness of what Steve was letting him do. The more Eddie drank, the more his skin warmed, and Steve couldn’t help but preen a little at knowing he’d done that.

But what Steve loved most was the heady, floaty feeling he got from it, despite the fact that he knew that probably meant it was almost time for Eddie to stop.

Eddie seemed to sense that all on his own, because in the next ragged breath Steve sucked in through his nose, Eddie pulled away. He lapped up any stray drops of blood, first from Steve’s wrist, then from his own chin. Steve had to work to contain a moan.

“Fuck,” Eddie sucked in a deep breath, and Steve wished he had a better view of his blood staining Eddie’s lips. “That is so much better than out of a bag.”

All Steve could think about was how much he wanted Eddie to bite his neck, next. He was pretty sure his brain was short-circuiting, but he knew he’d have to spit out some words soon—if only to keep Eddie from freaking out and thinking he’d done something wrong.

“Happy to be of service,” Steve managed, leaning into the hollow thrum of pain coming from his wrist to help tie his thoughts to something concrete. Doing that much made him very aware of how else his body was reacting to this situation, though, and Steve was suddenly intensely grateful for how dark the closet still was. 

At least, that was, until it occurred to him that Eddie could still see better than he could. Steve dragged a knee up to his chest to hopefully conceal where all the blood Eddie hadn’t already drunk was pooling between his legs. Steve wondered if Eddie could hear his heart pounding in his chest, or if he could smell the light sweat painted over Steve’s skin—if he’d tasted the excitement bubbling in his veins. 

Steve took a deep breath and did his best to will his adrenaline to recede, and hoped whatever arousal Eddie could pick up off of him in that moment would be interpreted as pure nerves from being fed on, instead of being the product of wanting to taste his own blood on Eddie’s tongue.

Trying to be polite, Steve reached over and grabbed a towel for Eddie to wipe his mouth with, then offered it to him wordlessly. Eddie’s laugh in response was sincere and charming as ever, this time.

“Thanks, Stevie,” he said as he took it. “But I’m pretty sure proper decorum would call for me to take care of you instead.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve asked, floating even higher still. He thought Eddie taking care of him sounded perfect in all sorts of ways right about now.  “Did you learn that in vampire school?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Eddie said around a breathy laugh. “Seriously, though. Are you okay? I didn’t go too far, did I?” 

“I’m great,” Steve didn’t bother to lie. “Feels a little like getting high.”

“For me, too,” Eddie admitted in a small voice. Steve wanted to chase that line of conversation down, but Eddie squared his shoulders and moved on before he got the chance. “Thank you, really. That was…unbelievably generous.”

Steve was surprised he had enough blood left in him to flush, but he felt it creep up his neck anyway. “It’s not a big—“

“It is a big deal,” Eddie cut him off. “And to think I was being a complete dick before.”

“You weren’t,” Steve argued, and he heard Eddie’s scoff in reply. “Okay fine, but I wouldn’t say you were a complete dick. Just a little one.”

“Oh, well,” Eddie chuckled, pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. His arm brushed against Steve’s as he did. “Phew.”

They sat quietly for a while, until Steve started to feel the buzz in his muscles recede a little. He listened to the music coming from downstairs, and the faint sound of laughter that came with it. He wondered if anyone had actually noticed they were gone yet, or what they thought he and Eddie might be doing if they did. Probably not feeding in a closet, he figured. 

Then, a metaphorical light bulb went off in Steve’s head. 

“Oh my god,” He said as it dawned on him. “This door doesn’t even lock.”

“Huh?” Eddie asked, tilting his head in Steve’s direction until he caught up to Steve’s train of thought. “Then how come we can’t open the goddamn thi—wait. El?”

“Gotta be,” Steve nodded as they both came to the same conclusion. “They’re ganging up on us, the little shits.”

“Unbelievable. Though…I could just break the door down,” Eddie offered. “At least, I think I can. That would be an interesting test of my strength versus El’s.”

“Don’t bother,” Steve said, wincing at the idea of of how his dad would react the next time he came home only to find a door missing or smashed.

“Care about your doors more than little figurines or bloodied towels?” Eddie asked, and Steve couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not really,” he shrugged, “but my dad would. I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Your dad’s kind of a dick, isn’t he?” Eddie asked.

“You have no idea,” Steve scoffed. 

“I have some,” Eddie said quietly. “Mine is, too.”

“Right. Sorry,” Steve said, feeling like an idiot. He remembered Eddie telling him about a father that taught him how to hot wire and not much else. Steve wasn’t sure if his father ever taught him anything other than how to be an asshole, if he was being honest. “To shitty dads, then.”

“To shitty dads,” Eddie agreed with a smile in his voice.

They spent another half hour talking before Robin came looking for them.

“Steven Dingus Harrington!” She called from the hallway. “I better not find anything funny happening behind this door when I come in!” Steve heard Robin open a door a few feet away, presumably to his bedroom, then say, “What the fuck? Where in the hell are you?”

“In here!” he called back. “The linen closet!”

Robin snorted in the way she always did when she was pretty close to drunk, if not there already. “Why on earth are you in there?”

“Long story,” Eddie grumbled in response. “It involves the imminent demise of Dustin Henderson.”

“Oh ho!” Robin trilled as her footsteps approached. “Munson is with you, then.”

Steve bit down on his lip to keep from saying anything he’d regret later. Instead he tried to wait patiently for Robin to free them, but when she twisted the knob, nothing happened from her end either. 

“Is this broken, or something?” Robin asked. 

“Nope. Apparently a certain super kid has a hilarious sense of humor,” Steve groaned. “Be a dear and go make El let us out, please?”

That was when Robin started cackling, apparently realizing exactly what the kids were up to, here. 

“You got it, dumbasses,” she said. Her laughter trailed behind her all the way down the stairs again. 

“How are we the dumbasses?” Eddie asked, clearly insulted. “We’re victims.”

“No argument here,” Steve said. “Any ideas on how to handle Henderson?”

“String him up by the ankles,” Eddie offered.

“Put him in a headlock,” Steve added.

“Take his lunch money.”

“Make him walk everywhere,” Steve said, finally hitting on something concrete.

“Now you’re talking,” Eddie agreed, before standing up and pulling Steve along with him. 

———

Two days later, when Steve finally got around to changing the light bulb, he found that it wasn’t burnt out at all. It was loosened just enough not to click on, but stay hanging in place. 

“That little fucker."

[PART FOUR]

[ellekhen]

When Your Mind's Made Up

Chapter 5 - The Spawn

Chapter Summary: Church wakes up as a newborn vampire spawn. It’s a warm, albeit disconcerting welcome — especially as he gets used to his new features… as well as his new bond with his maker.

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Original Male Character/Illithid Tav Rating: Explicit Progress: 11K+ words; Chapters 5/15

- Excerpt below -

Church’s mouth does water instinctively at the idea of it — at the very recent memories of blood gushing abundantly from their enemies. It was so wasteful in retrospect, when he is starving for it now…

Dwelling upon it makes Church whimper involuntarily as another pang of hunger rattles through his body. 

“Oh poor thing,” Astarion fusses over him. “Hm. I wonder…”

Church watches in alarm as the vampire takes his own forearm and bites deeply into it without so much as a grunt of pain. 

“Love — what…!” the tiefling scrambles to stop him. 

But he smells the blood singing as it flows from his lover — his maker’s — pale skin, and he grows dizzy in anticipation. 

“Allow me, darling,” Astarion coos at him. 

The vampire presses his wound against Church’s lips, and in an instant the tiefling instinctively, eagerly latches hold of him — suckling and lapping up the blood like a man parched. 

“There you go,” Astarion murmurs soothingly, tangling his other hand into the tiefling’s hair and pulling him in close to his body. “Drink, my love. It should ward off the hunger pains for now.”

Church moans happily as he drinks. It is blood. It still tastes like blood, and nothing can change that. But now, it fills his brain with euphoria, his veins with adrenaline, and his body…

He groans and shifts uncomfortably as his cock stiffens from the sheer pleasure of the sensation. Astarion chuckles to himself. 

“Just a fledgling,” he murmurs in wonderment. 

Church squeezes Astarion’s arm tightly, greedily even as it begins to pull away. He longs to bite and rend into that delicious flesh, pull more blood from his lover’s veins, but…

He won’t do that to Astarion. 

He wouldn’t dare. 

“That’s enough, pet,” the vampire says calmly. Coldly. 

Church stops immediately, his hands dropping as the elf gingerly withdraws his arm. The tiefling remains slumped against the elf’s chest, licking his lips and still stifling his moans at the continued sensation.

“…sorry love,” Church mutters sheepishly. “You’re just… it’s just…”

“Delicious, isn’t it? You never forget your first taste,” Astarion purrs as he pulls him into a kiss. His tongue eagerly swipes into Church’s mouth, groaning as he tastes his own blood upon his lips and tongue. “But rest assured — I will not let you be a slave to hunger, my love. I’m sure you’re already feeling better.”

Read from the beginning!

[azure-daybreak]

So I went to Miku Expo 2024 last night (the Vancouver show) and I wanted to talk about it while it's top of mind.

TL;DR I had a lot of fun, while there were some things I wish were different (mostly the screen), it wasn't a bad first Miku concert IMO (But I do wanna see more shows). More under the cut!

First of all, it was super cool to see all the different people there to see Miku and the other Vocaloids. Like, I've been to conventions before and it's always cool to see a horde of people dressed as various anime characters or animals, but to see everyone dressed specifically as Voicaloids and Project Sekai characters was new for me.

About the merch on sale at the concert, I was surprised that they were doing most of it outside and that the inside merch stand had barely anything- at least when I got in. That could just be bad timing on my end. If you're reading this and you wanna buy merch at one of the upcoming shows (especially a glowstick), make sure to get there early. For Vancouver, they did send out an email the day before saying that they were selling merch outside starting at 2pm, but I wasn't able to get there before then.

I did get the VIP package merch but it's kinda.... well it's not bad or anything, and I'm glad to have it but some of it feels a little cheap. For example, the hand fan is cute but feels flimsy, and the tote bag has a really nice design but the heat pressing makes me not wanna use it because I'm worried about cracking the art. On the other hand, I really like the lanyard that came with the package; The art was done by Socky and I liked it so much that I bought the backpack that also has that art.

Onto the show. You may have already heard this but yes, It wasn't the usual hologram, where they have a sheet of glass with the visual projected onto it, it was just a normal screen where they played the visual. It did feel like I was watching one of those hologram-ready videos on my phone but on a giant TV, but it was still cool to see.

Here's also a side-by-side of how the hologram looks vs the display using on the rocks from Magical Mirai 2021 and last night's show. While it's not fair to use a pro-shot vs what looks like a musical theater bootleg sime tutorial to show this, I hope it gets the point across. (Miku Expo 2024 on the left and Magical Mirai 2021 on the right)

I liked the setlist also, it can be found at this link here, but some standouts to me were, Miku by Anamanaguchi, The Vampire, Unknown Mother Goose, Childish War, On the Rocks, Sore ga Anata no Shiawase to Shite mo, Gimmie x Gimmie (Love this song so much), World is Mine (everyone screamed at the first "Sekai de" (including me)), the band introduction, Tell Your World (It's not my favorite or anything, but they shot out confetti at one point and that was cool.), and Intergalactic Bond.

I want to expand a bit on the band introduction and them as a whole, I loved that the band got attention and their names were shown. I watched some Magical Mirai videos and I see that this practice might be from that, so I'm glad that was carried over. They all were stellar and watching them was really exciting, the drummer- Dylan was always so cool to look at, Tobias the keyboardist was dancing near the beginning of Gimmie x Gimmie and that was a vibe, the bassist and guitarist- Leanne and Vixen's Diary respectively were fun to watch when they would get into the song and headbang and bounce around.

Lastly, I was surprised that Luka only got 2 songs (one of them was a duet with Miku). I (very sadly) expect MEIKO and KAITO to get shafted when it comes to songs, but not Luka!

Quick shout-outs to some specific concert goers; Shieonn, who made stickers and was handing them out before the show (Here's her Twitter!),

The person near me who shouted either "I LOVE YOU JERMA!" or "I LOVE YOU DRUMMER!" at the end of one of the songs (I think it was World is Mine), the girl near me who was trying to get pictures and video of the show using her 3DS, and this one person I saw outside the venue entrance as the show was letting out who was dressed up as Sonic Miku, I wanted to say that I loved the fit, but I didn't wanna just walk up to you randomly at almost 10PM and possibly freak you out.

Overall, I'd go again but please for the love of god, don't just have a screen for the Vocaloids!

[spagyricqueen]

To my readers <3

TL;DR: I am old. I write old. My heart is squishy. Thank you for reading.

Always and forever, I want to thank you for reading my fic. I thought it might be fun to discuss it a little while I'm in between chapters. The beginning of this semester at university has taken much of my attention with a rhetorical analysis for English class, writing assignments for philosophy, Geography homework, and a digital media class that has readings and projects due every week. So my plate is a little more full than last semester. heh

In order to relieve my frustration at not being able to throw all my effort and attention into this next arc in my story, I thought it could be fun to share some of my musings here.

So I'm an elder millennial. I started writing fanfiction when I was 12 years old, when the only way to find it was on FTP servers in the early days of the internet. I was precocious and managed to get the attention of an English teacher who thought I was older, due to the nature of my writing (don't get me wrong, it was still juvenile, but I guess she saw potential in me?). Suffice to say, she was surprised to learn my young age. But I gained a mentor who gave me a lot of pointers and did exercises with me to practice dialogue and descriptions. I kept up writing up until my 20s, when life happened and other things gained my interest.

I was surprised at myself when I was inspired to start writing again, starting with the Astarion origin story (which, I stress, would really need some reworking as it is far from perfect). I found the character very captivating and ripe for exploration and study. Yet, the landscape of fanfiction has changed a lot since I last attempted it. I had no idea what a 'drabble' was, and realize that most people are interested in short-form, easily digestible works. And here I am, devising an entire epic and canon continuation with the caveat being to treat it as if it could be a published novel or series. My writing style is, I suppose you could say, classical?

In searching for fanfiction to read about this character, I found many of them focused on very specific things (vampirism, trauma, sex, et al). I was disappointed that many of them were in second person and present tense, both styles that I was wholly unaccustomed to reading. We all have preferences, and I completely respect that. I wanted to read novel-style work, and was found wanting (though if you have recommendations, I would love to explore them). So, as one does, if you can't find it - write it yourself! And I did. The story I'm crafting is the one I wanted to read, and I'm grateful that there are others who do as well.

I'm not after big numbers, truth be told, and I'm quite overjoyed when I get a kudos here and there, and especially when I see 'unreviewed comment' pop up. It's an unexpected delight, every single time. :)

So, why did I make him blind? How cruel, right? Well, there's a few reasons for it. He is a vain character, though I imagine that had tamed somewhat towards the epilogue of the game. He has trust issues. He has issues with seeing value in himself. As a character study, I thought this unique aspect might be interesting to explore in a character like Astarion. I wanted him to learn the value of insight, patience, and overcoming challenges in a new way that is not often explored. I also wanted to bring some awareness to disability in general. I researched the hell out of the subject, trying to impart the wisdom I gained through the writing. For instance, the 'Blindfolded Masquerade'? Yeah, don't do that. That's not a good way to foster empathy, and is actually somewhat belittling of the character's condition. A point that, I feel, was made rather clear by Astarion's response to it.

Writing a blind character is a challenge. I have to try to remember how to write descriptions from the perspective of someone bereft of sight, and focus only on touch, sound, and scent (not always with success, mind you). A blind character in a D&D setting, too, has unique aspects that can be inserted - from the mystical to the mundane. They can still have a high Passive Perception, but limited to sound, touch, and scent. Astarion has a dexterity score of 17 - that hasn't changed. In a medieval high fantasy setting like Forgotten Realms, this can be utilized in interesting and nuanced ways.

I made him too soft, maybe? Well, perhaps. But characters grow and change depending on circumstances. Astarion can be soft, and still be funny. I have a squishy heart, personally. I like soft Astarion. Someone else recently mentioned how his 'mask' fell away during the Graveyard Scene, and you see the real person behind the acerbic wit and irreverence. I understand masking all too well. Recently, I was diagnosed with autism (and no one was surprised, really). Imagine going through most of your life thinking you're the weirdo no one wants to be around, and you constantly hide yourself by pretending to be someone else - for decades. Trauma can do this too, so addressing that aspect of his character is important to me. He is soft now because people change, especially in light of challenges, experiences, and when someone shows them kindness and empathy.

I have been enjoying how my version of this character has evolved, and for those of you reading my story, I thank you for sharing in this same delight.

In conclusion, I wanted to assure you that the next couple chapters are being crafted with care. There is a plan being devised, plans being thwarted, and perhaps an interesting cameo to look forward to. I deeply appreciate your continued interest. Your support means the world to me. Thank you for sharing in this adventure with our beloved (former) vampire spawn arcane trickster rogue, Astarion Ancunín.

[crossedsabers10s]

Do you have any hc about Damon's season 1 powers? I'm especially interested in shapeshifter!damon. The whole concept is quite fun to imagine. Also why do you think he has these extra powers? Personally after the whole lily thing I like to imagine that Damon is an untrained heretic. Also a scenario where hos powers would be revealed to scooby gang and/or the mikaelsons.

okay, okay so. Prepare for a short essay. (Sorry)

Intro!! So, in the Vampire Diaries books, vampires have Powers (capital letter and all) that feature things like weather manipulation, shapeshifting, flying, elemental control, telepathy, I think they can see auras or sense other vampire's Power. The books and the show are only like barely related. A lot was changed to make the show. (The Salvatores' ages, for one--they'd been Renaissance era men who'd killed each other in a duel over, you guessed it, Katherine. A ton of characters had personality changes (show Bonnie is better, imo), and book Caroline was an antagonist, plus Jeremy straight up didn't exist, Elena had a v young sister. So on, so forth, everything ended up super different.)

The show started off a (teeny) bit closer to the source material, but sharply diverged, including getting rid of the Powers thing. Something about it being too supernatural???? in the vampire show??? idk might have to fact check me on that one think I read it somewhere random.

But, as we know, it's heavily implied, and outright stated in some cases in early S1 that Show!Damon has access to some kind of power. Controlling the weather, controlling animals (perhaps shapeshifting, but maybe just a connection), and a long distance kind of hypnosis.

What we know about it:

In episode 1, a crow is seen following Elena around. It shows up multiple times. In the car with Bonnie, at the graveyard, when she goes to the Salvatore House for the first time. The crow heralds Damon's reappearance to his brother. Stefan says, "Crow's a bit much-" which implies this is a Thing that he knows about. Damon replies, "Wait until you see what I can do with fog."

The very first scene Damon is in, the opening with the couple on the way back from some concert (i think) it's foggy. They mention something about it that implies it shouldn't be foggy, or that it wasn't previously. Like, "What's with all the fog?" At the graveyard, Elena sees a crow, then it starts becoming much more foggy.

Bonnie, at some point, touches Elena and says she sees a crow, some fog, and a man.

It's foggy when Vicki is attacked.

So. We've established those two things. Moving on.

There's that one scene where Damon is locked up and long distance compels Caroline to free him--i think after calling the crow into his cell and eating it to gain that strength? maybe--it's heavily implied because he fed on her they have a connection he can use to influence her mind without direct compulsion.

I'm sure there's other examples, but I can only watch so much of S1 at a time.

OKAY!! now that that's been established, time for the fun headcanon stuff.

Firstly, I also love shapeshifting!Damon! Tis good fun and it lets me project gender envy i mean it's a great metaphor about vampires being inhuman!! Yes! That! Nothing else ahahahahaha. Something something, predator's perspective, something something instincts. In the book Damon could turn into a large crow and a wolf. Highkey wish they'd kept the crow thing as more than just the occasional motif. It could have been so much fun!! Crow minions!!! Crow friends!!!! Crows bothering the fuck out of people he wants to annoy!!!!! Damon trades shinies and food for things!! Somehow always has a snack on him. Crow drama??? Just casually mentions weird lil bird rivalries. Crows are Smart! They are super social!!! They hold grudges!! They absolutely have Drama on par with Mystic Falls. It could also be played for angst; Katherine announces her return with with a bunch of bird corpses in the Boarding House. Damon, who is unsympathetic to human deaths could be visibly upset by this!! Also nicely plays into the 'likes animals but pretends he doesn't bc it's a weakness' thing.

Comes home and there is feathers in his hair, nearly blending in. Except, on closer look, they're positioned oddly, like they'd been growing from him instead of just settling there. Then he brushes them off or shakes his head and they fall away. Maybe Stefan notices he's a bit more prone to tilting his head at things to get a better looks. Is a bit more easily distracted/more prone to notice shiny things.

A crow follows Elena around and maybe she makes friends with it. Or a crow comes across Stefan having some angst fest in the forest and bothers him into a better mood.

I like the heretic thing!!! I also just think the Salvatore bloodline is magic charged bc it's a doppelganger line!! They've got Silas germs!! Maybe Damon is a little bit more psychic than he should be. Maybe his compulsions require less effort and his dream-walking is better than vampires twice his age!!! Mild telekinesis would also fit in with early S1 nonsense! moving doors to creep Elena out!

As for his powers being revealed... I mean. Suddenly he's more valuable to the Originals? Not as much as Elena was, but there would prob be more recruitment efforts than in canon. Plus, Kol would be more interested in him as more than a batting target. Klaus and Elijah may press the 'saved ur life thing' more. Hm... I guess it would depend on when in the show? Early seasons and it just makes him more a threat. Stefan maybe assuming he did something to a witch??? Later in the seasons and if he develops those powers it's fun to imagine him having to learn to use/control them + having to deal with increased need for blood to fuel them. If it was a matter of him keeping them secret, I'm sure the Drama will manifest with 'how could you not tell me!!' and so on and so forth. Technically speaking, I imagine it'd be put in the same place as Jeremy's medium powers. Brought up when needed. not entirely sure, may think on it later

[wisteria-lodge]

Have you sorted the Hogwarts Legacy companions at all?? I checked your master list and couldn’t find anything but I’m not sure if I’m just being blind 💀😂

So here's the thing.

(And your ask is super nice and in absolute good-faith, it's just also a good way of getting into this stuff.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not Joss Whedon. House of Cards is not Kevin Spacey. But Harry Potter kinda is JK Rowling. She has an astounding and honestly pretty unique amount of both creative control and ownership over that property. The only other person I can think of who's even in the same category is George Lucas... before he sold it to Disney, obviously.

And JKR has written about how she interprets the royalty checks she gets as kind of tacit approval from the world, which makes sense because she's been also very public about how she spends those royalty checks to support anti-trans campaigners and legislation.

But. But. I get wanting to engage with the property. I mean, obviously. I'm going to tag this 'sortinghatchats.' The parent system is clearly HP, and the point of changing the terminology was never disguising that, it was more supposed to communicate that I am not engaging with the work or its creator uncritically. I think it's worked pretty well. I've gotten maybe one piece of anon hate calling me a terf? That's not bad.

I'm a teacher, and the place I work attracts a *lot* of LGBT students. Trans and non-binary especially. And they're interested in Harry Potter. They read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction. They want to talk to me about Harry Potter, and about JK Rowling. I don't see this property fading away any time soon.

And like. I was a fan. I waited until midnight in a bookstore to get books 4, 5, 6 and 7. My Sibyl Trelawney came in second at the book 7 costume contest. Which was fine because the girl who won did the most perfect Hermione you've ever seen, and spent the whole time handing out SPEW badges and knitting house elf clothing.

Recently, I'm finding myself wanting to unpack this property as an adult. Maybe understand some of the biases I didn't pick up as a kid, maybe do right by some of my favorite characters. Because there's good stuff in there. How much was on accident versus on purpose, how much is the fandom interpreting the text in a specific way, how much is the films smoothing over issues... and creating different issues... I would like to work all that out.

And actually, when I started writing some Harry Potter fanfiction over the holidays, it came pouring out, and it felt *good.* Clearly I've got a lot of *stuff* that I want to examine and *put somewhere,* and for me, writing (ships that JKR doesn't like) was a fun and ethical way to do that. Maybe I'll even post it with a nice disclaimer.

So that's me. Fanfiction, fan side-projects, fan merch. I guess the argument against that would be "free advertising," but like - HP has so much just - actual advertising - and I'd like it if people who still wanted to engage with the property had somewhere else to go. So no Hogwarts Legacy for me, no Fantastic Beasts films, or HBO miniseries, or even Cormoran Strike books. (and people don't talk about this enough - but a big aspect of that series is essentially JKR writing a non-magic AU where she ships herself with Mad-Eye Moody. I have no idea what to do with this information, but now you have it too.)

I could see myself writing more about JKR or Harry Potter, once I've turned it over more in my mind and feel like I have something useful and new to say. But as it is, this is a snapshot of where I am.