#i love my silly little frankenghoul so much!

[nocturnalghoul]

A short little Frankenghoul aside wherein Mountain finds a left behind relic of their past.

words: 594

Mountain quickly came to realize this was not something he was meant to find. He had recognized the script on the cover of the notebook as belonging to the proto-ghoul they all called Creature Feature and thought it was another part of their usual trades at first. Upon opening the notebook and seeing the frantically scribbled words he realized that whatever this was, it was deeply personal. 

I feel myself searching their faces for the marks of my kin but come up empty. Yes, we are from the same infernal source but I feel there is no such thing as anybody like me. I am not purely infernal, yet not of man either. I can feel the strings connecting us but they will never be enough

Ah, so it was a diary of sorts he thought to himself. He knew he should proceed no further but was unable to will himself to stop. As he carefully flipped the long since yellowed pages he couldn’t help but scan over the words scrawled upon them. There were many places where the ink had long since faded or pages torn in fits of rage but the overall image was still there. Mountain had always known them as a calm and collected ghoul, however strange, but this painted a completely different story. As he moved on the script became increasingly erratic, bits of ink splattering all over the page.

They will come to rue what they made me- 

- this shall not be my first taste of the tender flesh of man--removed my capacity for love so I must indulge in the anger and hatred

If they want to make me a beast then I shall act as one. 

A few ripped out pages 

-On this beautiful moon just like the night I was summoned I have ripped their beloved “Papa” away-

Oh but that sweet taste of retribution! I hope they never forget the image of white fangs and matted fur growing wet with blood. Let them paint portraits-

-semi-satiated boil of blood inside my mouth-

The remainder of the next few pages were illegible, having been stained long ago with copious amounts of blood. Mountain skipped ahead then, not wanting to ruin his mental picture of the kind intelligent ghoul he knew. Finally he found a section where the handwriting had calmed down close to the end of the book.

To mutilate not one but two ghouls, how could the Dark Prince let his followers do this? 

I have searched along all infernal connections I hold for close to a year and have come to the realization that this blasted Earth magic that has been forced upon me is all that remains of my love. 

He is no more, however he also is trapped within me. Must I not only be confined to this wretched form but left with only a shadow of the only one I care about? What sort of fate is that? Another reminder of how truly lonely a role I have been cast.

Mountain wanted to find more, but he could sense them approaching quickly through the woods. The soft internal anguished wolf’s howl that was layered underneath their entire psyche was growing louder and louder, likely as they panicked trying to find their forgotten memento. He placed the notebook back onto the rock he had found, leaving a few sprigs of lavender on top as a peace offering. I am sorry my kin, for all you have been bestowed -M he scrawled onto a scrap of paper before tucking it between the notebook and the flowers and leaving down the path back to the abbey.

[nocturnalghoul]

i would love to hear more abt frakenghouls appearance and if they have any elemental powers ♡

Frankenghoul by beloved! I honestly talked a bit more about them than just what you asked (including a little about their summoning) but it's related so yay bonus creature lore.

Slight allusions to gore at one point, but its brief and purposefully vague. It's all contained within the indented section if that is something anyone is sensitive to or does not want to read. Skipping that section does not affect comprehension of anything else about their lore.

Their features have changed over time (partially due to self experimentation with rituals of their own in the woods). Their appearance is different from when they were freshly summoned, to shortly after, to now.

When they were freshly summoned... well there is a reason the clergy termed them "the abomination". It was partially their overall look, but more so the way it was achieved. Nobody really knew anything about how to contain ghoulish features and reconcile them within a host body. The clergy definitely beefed that part of the ritual, along with their element. Several clergy members present at the ritual fainted during Frankenghoul's summoning. Their ghoulish traits (eyes, horns, tail, claws, etc.) quite literally ripped their way out of the host body in a graphic display.

I picture it as sort of similar to the werewolf transformation scene in Hemlock Grove. (Warning for anybody who isn't familiar, while I would easily call it one of my favorite werewolf transformation scenes, it is also kinda graphic as the wolf inside of him literally tears and eats it's way out. If you are sensitive to imagery like that do not look it up!). Essentially their ghoulish characteristics had to tear themselves out of the human vessel in a brutish manner.

This is part of the reason they have a lot of resentment towards the church. They had attempted to tie human glamour to the vessel itself instead of putting a ghoul into the vessel and fixing it later. Essentially the magic they used was not strong enough and everything broke through.

Immediately afterwards though, they looked like what observers at the event could only describe as a nightmarish impersonation of a person. They looked like if you took a human man and put them in a taffy puller then added cheap monster makeup. They were far too long, with weird bruised purple-gray skin. The long spiraling glowing horns and glowing eyes (each a set of one violet, one green on opposite sides of the face), fanged maw, and razor sharp tail did very little to help that spooky vibe they had going. They looked neither human nor fully ghoulish. Between the traumatic experience of creating them, and seeing the shocking end result everyone decided to immediately dip out and hold a long series of meetings deciding what to do with this thing that they created.

Good ol' Creature Feature tho managed to eventually recover and come back to their senses enough to run off. As time went on and their scrambled mind returned to them, they were sort of able to fix some things themselves. They are now probably the best and most accomplished ritualist topside so they were able to make themselves less concerning. They don't really have a use for a human glamour, seeing as they live deep in the woods and purposefully do not interact with people, but it is still intrinsically tied to their vessel.

Nowadays they look similar to how the other ghouls look "unglamoured" but the ghouls can still tell that they are a bit too beastly to be quite right. They appear overly strong and oddly proportioned. Their ears and fangs are a little too sharp, and there are lines of elemental magic that shine though out of the scars left behind from their summoning. Other ghouls can occasionally be seen glowing with magic from places besides their eyes when they are channeling their element or feeling super emotional, but Creature Feature just sort of does that constantly. It makes them rather unsettling to come across in the dark.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They do in fact have elemental powers! It took them at least a decade to figure out how to channel them, but it's there.

Part of the reason it was so hard was because they were an Air ghoul down in hell and accustomed to drawing from their element in a particular fashion. Being forced into the opposite element meant that they had to draw from their magic in a completely different way and essentially relearn how to ghoul magic.

With time, patience, and a few midnight personal rituals deep in the woods, they also figured out how to switch between their original and new element. Whichever element they are currently attuned to will make the eye and horn corresponding to that element glow brighter. The glow from their scars though is always whichever element they are not using at the time.

They still haven't figured out how to channel both elements concurrently, but hope that by researching the modified hybrid and multi rituals the clergy made for Dew/Swiss/Sunny they can write their own ritual to make it happen.

[nocturnalghoul]

Mushy May Day 31: Reuniting

Nobody can stop me from ending with Frankenghoul OC! This is a piece about them reuniting with their lover in a magic dream, and a token of reconciliation for the clergy.

Mushy May is finally over, but I have had so much fun with it! Thanks again to @forlorn-crows for organizing the event, it has been a blast and I’ve adored both writing it and seeing what all everyone else made!

Also thank you to @askingforthesun for graciously letting me borrow Deo to throw in at the end there. Hope I did right by ya boy!

Words: ~1410 (I edited a few mistakes and am not rerunning the word count)

Rating: T (vague mentions of implied sex but honestly its like one paragraph and I mostly skip over it.)

Read below the cut or on AO3 here

Finally the night the proto-ghoul had been waiting for had arrived. Seeing as the winter solstice was tied to the element of Earth, it was the one night of the year when the magic of that element was the strongest. It also made it the one night when they could reconnect with their love, Kedros, again. 

As they let themselves shift into the dream world, they focused on the residual earth magic deep in their core. It originally was their mate's element, but now that magic was the only remaining physical proof of them having existed at all. 

The physical world faded away as sleep finally gripped the ghoul. Immediately in their dreams a large statically shape of a ghoul began to materialize, flickers of earth magic spilling out of the form through faultline-like fissures shifting ever so slightly. 

There was something about the way the green glow shifted in mesmerizing cracks that let the proto-ghoul know that these solstice nights were the one time these conversations were not simply imagined. On these nights they were talking to the last piece of spirit that remained of their lover. 

“My dove, is it the solstice again already?” the figure exclaimed joyfully as he gradually solidified and took shape. He was still a little fuzzy around the edges, but being able to see their mate once again still left the proto-ghoul breathless, even after all these years. They surged forward, pulling their mate into the tightest hug possible, resting their chin on the top of his head. 

“It doesn’t come often enough, Kedros. I yearn to see you every day and these meager crumbs are nowhere near enough.” they whispered into the top of their mates' hair. 

“I have to say I do appreciate your flair for the dramatic, my dove. You know I am with you always, even if we can only truly reunite on nights such as these.” Kedros mumbles into their mate's neck, attempting to wiggle free slightly to look them in the eye. “Now, it may be the longest night of the year but alas it is only the solitary night. Let’s not waste time on these same sentiments expressed every time for the past two centuries.” 

As Kedros speaks, the black void slowly melts away leaving the two in a small clearing of a thick forest. He pulls his love with him to sit under a clearing to curl up. The two get to talking and it is like no time has passed at all. The conversation flows free and easy until the words falling past their lips gently fade away. Each returning sentiment falling faintly quieter causing the two ghouls to lean a little closer to one another until eventually those lips meet.

It starts slow, the most saccharine of gentle kisses with hands roaming just for the sake of being close to one another, then gradually turning to so much more. The pent up desperation of only seeing one another one day a year hitting them both. The speed and ferocity with which the two ghouls rip each other's clothes off leaves shreds of cloth littered all around them like discarded wrapping paper. As they continue to pick up speed, elemental energy starts to crackle around them, building to a crescendo alongside the two ghouls. 

“That is not how it once was, however I guess it suffices” the proto-ghoul teases breathlessly afterwards, taking in the several leveled trees around them. 

“Maybe so, but you are not the ghoul you once were either my dear.” Kedros shoots back, a wave of sorrow sliding across his face before he purposefully shifts it into a warm smile. 

“Speaking of that, I’ve decided to implore you to let go of some of that rage in your heart. It has been two centuries, surely the church has learned from their mistakes.” he continues on, scanning his lover's face for any sign of a reaction. 

“I- I cannot my dear, not after the way they ripped you from me.” the proto-ghoul laments. They can see the way their mate deflates at the immediate refusal. “I wish I could, but I am unsure of how to do so.”

“I believe in you to do the right thing my dove, no matter how long it takes.” Kedros asserts before laying his head on the proto-ghoul’s chest. 

“Lets not weigh down our limited time with this dour subject any longer. I know you will come around eventually.”

The rest of the remaining evening is spent reminiscing about the past as well as catching up, seemingly better than every time before it. 

Of course all of this was inside a dream, and they both are more than aware that it is the nature of dreams to end. As the proto-ghoul awakes to the first rays of sunlight their mate's plea weighs heavy on their mind still. There is one act of reconciliation that they can think of now that the pleasant warmth of sleep has faded. A gift of information as a token of goodwill.

~~~

Even though the clergy doesn’t want to see them, they see all that the church does from afar. Always lurking along the edges, always watching, keeping a keen eye on proceedings. This is partially out of a concern of safety, but also curiosity. 

They see the results of countless failed rituals performed, so close yet never good enough. They see how it rips the researcher apart, the way he retreats to the library as sanctuary after another wasted attempt, long black hair falling over his face in a wasted attempt to hide the way his makeup smudges with tears. He seems to genuinely care, and not purely in an egotistical “I must be perfect way” that they have grown to expect from higher clergy members. He cares about the resource drain, about discovery, about knowledge, about the pursuit of something more, about… ghouls. 

He is one of the few people in the centuries the proto-ghoul has been living in the woods that seems to actually care for ghouls like peers. 

Watching the librarian fight tears at the latest failure, being led away by the comforting hand of a tall blond, they understand exactly who to give their token of knowledge to. There is no doubt in their mind that gifting this researcher, a fellow academic yes, but also a man with so much love and compassion inside of him this act of goodwill is the correct course of action. 

The proto-ghoul sneaks a plain envelope onto the librarian’s desk while he is out later that evening with an invitation to meet at the edge of the woods at midnight. Whether or not the man will show up is questionable, but for the first time in forever they feel hope. 

He sees the man saunter up to the designated meeting point, as slowly steps out of the shadows in an attempt to give him a chance to adjust to their appearance and intimidating size. They search the man’s face for any signs of judgment, contempt, or pity, but all they find is eyes full of compassion and a barely contained excited smirk. 

“Brother Asmodeo, yes? Please allow me to state my piece without interruption so that we may both continue on with our respective nights.” they start apprehensively, but the man simply nods kindly and leans back against a tree to listen. 

“I know that my reputation must precede me, so I am… grateful to say the least that you are willing to meet with me, an alleged monster, at such an eerie hour. It shows great testament to your character. I would like to present you with this journal.” 

As they hand the journal over to the librarian he starts flipping through it, brow furrowing in concentration as he attempts to parse what all it contains. 

“I believe you might find this useful to put together the last piece of the puzzle you seem to be lacking for that ritual. Consider it an apology for past transgressions that I wish to finally put to rest. I am doing so to honor a past love, so I would wish you to find the love I have felt as a final token, but I get the feeling that it surrounds you already. Goodnight sir, I do hope the notations serve you well.” 

Before Deo even gets the chance to look up and say something to the proto-ghoul they are already gone, leaving him to go back to his study and devour the knowledge inside the tome.

[nocturnalghoul]

Being not normal about FrankenGhoul below the cut. Truly my mind is plagued by thoughts of this weird "technically a ghoul" that lives in the woods so enjoy some random stuff about them.

They are the absolute best ritualist topside mostly due to the fact that they have spent an outrageous amount of their time in the woods studying and experimenting with ritualistic magic. They already understood a little about it intrinsically because they are a ghoul, but there’s no real use for it in the pit and they have their elemental magic so most of their knowledge has been learned over time.

Upon hearing Mountain and Dew were on friendly (enough) terms with them, Sister Imperator tried to convince the two to try and get Frankenghoul to share some of their knowledge. Before they even had the chance she returned to her office to find a few arcane symbols carved into her desk that she quickly realized locked everyone but her out of it. One of the drawers also had a never ending bottle of wine inside. There was a sticky note on top of the desk that says "that's all you get" in beautiful script. Still nobody knows how they got in and out without being seen, but she decided to take the offering as a success and leave it there.

It was Primo that originally petitioned for them to no longer be considered a threat or an enemy of the church, starting when he was young. It took until after he retired, but upon finding this out they did leave the old man some clippings from a rare plant that normally only grew deep in the woods surrounding the abbey as a thank you. This was the first kind action any non-ghoul had ever shown them since their summoning so they decided to reward the kind gesture.

Dewdrop found them super scary when their telepathic link first manifested having only heard the horror stories passed around by the siblings over the years. Eventually Dew realized they were just a deeply private person trying to just do their thing and feels better now. Frankenghoul finds Dew very fascinating, which he knows, but what he doesn't know is their desire to study him like a weird bug.

At one point, early on in their time topside, they tried to return to the abbey to confront everyone and be like "why am I even here?". Other ghouls had been successfully summoned by then. They ran into these ghouls and while there was a mutual feeling of connection, the conversation went very poorly. This resulted in Frankenghoul deciding they didn't need to stick around and going back to the woods. When those ghouls told the heads of the clergy what happened and that they were out there lurking in the woods the general response was "We are satanists and you are literal hell beasts. It's fine". It was shortly after that Frankenghoul killed the Papa at the time, Nihil's ancestor.

[nocturnalghoul]

My brain: hi :) do you wanna work on any of your proper WIPs? Or how about stuff sitting in your ask box from Sunday?

Me: ... Frankenghoul :)

Brain: oh okay, are you going to work on the actual Frankenghoul fic then?

Me: no ;) *rotates them in my head and contemplates making audio recording of Frankenghoul dialogue instead*

[nocturnalghoul]

I think my favorite thing about Frankenghoul is that despite their long and complex backstory I made them, they are just sorta out there in the woods somewhere.

Rarely are they plot relevant, but they ARE TECHNICALLY OUT THERE doing something