Bruh. Come on.
There’s no possible way you could’ve known this was the exact type of horror romance I’ve been craving all week, and still you show up knocking out of the park when I least expected it.
Brilliant man! Somehow doubt there’ll be a continuation based on the poetic completeness of the piece, but what a lovely scene you’ve left us to imagine after the fact ^^
Very sweet and nostalgic, thank you for sharing it!
Another delicate addition to the well-of-souls vampire-verse of yours? Some "Cheating Life" bells were going off during the read, for definite: the breathless quest for the eternal, the lush architecture, the period outfit for the lady...
The supernaturals do have a massive edge when putting sweet death deals on the table, and that is that certainty that the religious institutions have only ever been able to match with promises and invitations to have faith. There's plenty of room for doubt here, of course, and this story swiftly yet thoroughly gets to explore this aspect of the V-genre.
Loved the Flapper-In-The-Night's little semi-slip up with answering the protagonist chap's internalized thoughts directly at one point, but the flow of the conversation swept past that point before the poor soul could notice it.
The lady's enticing proposition crisply articulates one of the fatal vore genre's draws -- the sense of reassuring permanence of a relationship, the insurance against all the countless possibilities of failure existing for that form of bonding in real life, as well as the promise of a perfect note to out on, and a caring stewardship of the departed person's perspective in a blissful stasis.
The first part can get really disturbing when the predator is a man, as it maps onto the selfish consumerist disdain for reciprocity and responsibility in relationships past the delights of the initial romp that is traditionally ascribed to male lovers, but it sort of evens out with the woman doing the indulgent man-eating thing.
Appreciate the "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" reference!
Which part was the Jay and Silent Bob reference? It's been so long since I watched it I might have forgotten it and internalized it.
I wouldn't say this is intentionally within the Cheating Life universe (or any of the semi-associated vampire mythoi), but I fully admit that at this point I just make certain assumptions about vampires when I write them, basically because I've done so so often that I kind of forget where my personal preferences end and general mythology begins.
On the other hand, there's always the possibility that the vampire is a liar who considers a 30-minute chat easy hunting for a meal that delivers himself to her doorstep.
The thing I mistook for a reference was the hero's concerns about being relieved of his kidneys; the notion the kidney-theft danger is a commonly used tall tale associated with confidence tricksters, but the "in the tub full of ice" version was used verbatim in the movie I mentioned, complete with an imagine shot; evidently, this phrasing is more common than I thought.
Considering the deceptively recent and a very pulpy genesis of the "classic" vampire, and considering how saturated with variety the genre has become, you have as much right as anyone to a version of vampire that is both uniquely yours and tapping into the larger blood pool. My remark was based almost entirely on the soul retention/absorption concept, metaphorized so beautifully with the flower soaking in a teacup in "Cheating Life".
The vampire might be a liar, but any displays of supernatural prowess, and their very existence, entwined so closely culturally with the existential and the occult, can be heavily upsetting to an ordinary man's outlook. People have dedicated their lives to and have gotten themselves killed for lesser proofs that greater contexts than the physical reality exist.
Besides, a vampire with no spiritual and artful side to their ravages is boring and a waste of fangs. Unless it's black comedy, I guess; I can see a story series about a vampire lady with cynically material blood-and-chips-on-a-Friday-night sensibilities preying on impressionable beatniks and yuppies who build her way up in their minds -- someone like Shyguy9's Sophie, I'm thinking.
More on the story at hand: I love how at first the Chai Latte Killer's call for her guest's punctuality seems to be invoking the folklore notion of vampire being fussy over protocol and spilled grains, and then it turns out it was so she wouldn't have to strain herself keeping up the spatial warping effect for too long.
It was also clever to have made the predator blast her mark with candor, and describing her intentions in such detail; I've read casual vore stories that weren't so direct! And it makes sense, too: the John Doe of the piece is thus given too much specific information to believe it rationally, and too vivid an image for his sensual drive to resist, in addition to the existential carrot dancing in the air. Miranda performed a similar preview-teasing, delayed seduction technique in "The Academy"; Bitter's "They Always Come Back" runs on this concept, albeit it's more mystical/hypnotic there (appropriately vampirey!). I morbidly wonder if that's the effect that the poor bastards who send women unsolicited nude photos of themselves are going for.
Ahh, I see! I think I've only ever heard the tub of ice version before here, but it's a pretty old reference.
Perhaps interestingly, the candor was really a means to the end. The whole story was born of fleshing out a scenario in which that fanged smile gif above could represent a John Bloodbag showing up despite knowing everything he's getting into - that sort of first pangs of satisfaction for a delayed gratification on her part.
Noticed that gif, it's delightfully meaningful for its subtle brevity! How fruitful those small seeds of inspiration end up being in your care!
Means to the end, yes.
I've found that setting up a framework of rules, conditions and contracts that leaves brushing past the thickets of red flags up to the victim-to-be is a tempting, but an all too obvious, and ultimately fallacious way of trying to scrub some of the guilt off the predator, and making the final act at least appear consensual, but besides its failure as a morality regulator, it is a useful way of leveling out the character expectations and the tone, so all the parties hit the last leg of the story in-synch.
Asymptotic is one of my favorite words. Ever since I learned it as a hangman-buster, it's been one of those landmarks in my mind that other thoughts build suburbs around.
I was just thinking of you recently. I'm glad to see you about! I hope you're doing well.
This is a great dialogue. The way she brings it up, the way she talks, the details she gives (you have ten chakras, 32 pressure points...) all make it completely believable.
I love pushing this "either die somewhere in the next years or become part of something greater" conundrum on prey in modern settings. It's not just intimacy to an impossible degree you sell, it's not just a meaningful exit for people lost in the absurd grinder of modernity, it's also a set foot into the realm of fantasy.
And I think you've perfectly illustrated that when he steps into an ordinary house among houses, but this one is special! This one opens to a larger than possible interior!
This childlike wonder lasts just for a moment, not long enough to be destroyed by analysis, then it's shadowed by the apparition of the woman, and we're busy with more important matters anyway.
Posted by Ty975 4 years ago Report
Bruh. Come on.
There’s no possible way you could’ve known this was the exact type of horror romance I’ve been craving all week, and still you show up knocking out of the park when I least expected it.
Brilliant man! Somehow doubt there’ll be a continuation based on the poetic completeness of the piece, but what a lovely scene you’ve left us to imagine after the fact ^^
Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report
No plan for a continuation, but I can at least provide a link to the gif that inspired the story!
https://media.tenor.com/images/062850bba2caf656138dade87537f76d/tenor.gif
Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report
Very sweet and nostalgic, thank you for sharing it!
Another delicate addition to the well-of-souls vampire-verse of yours? Some "Cheating Life" bells were going off during the read, for definite: the breathless quest for the eternal, the lush architecture, the period outfit for the lady...
The supernaturals do have a massive edge when putting sweet death deals on the table, and that is that certainty that the religious institutions have only ever been able to match with promises and invitations to have faith. There's plenty of room for doubt here, of course, and this story swiftly yet thoroughly gets to explore this aspect of the V-genre.
Loved the Flapper-In-The-Night's little semi-slip up with answering the protagonist chap's internalized thoughts directly at one point, but the flow of the conversation swept past that point before the poor soul could notice it.
The lady's enticing proposition crisply articulates one of the fatal vore genre's draws -- the sense of reassuring permanence of a relationship, the insurance against all the countless possibilities of failure existing for that form of bonding in real life, as well as the promise of a perfect note to out on, and a caring stewardship of the departed person's perspective in a blissful stasis.
The first part can get really disturbing when the predator is a man, as it maps onto the selfish consumerist disdain for reciprocity and responsibility in relationships past the delights of the initial romp that is traditionally ascribed to male lovers, but it sort of evens out with the woman doing the indulgent man-eating thing.
Appreciate the "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" reference!
Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report
Which part was the Jay and Silent Bob reference? It's been so long since I watched it I might have forgotten it and internalized it.
I wouldn't say this is intentionally within the Cheating Life universe (or any of the semi-associated vampire mythoi), but I fully admit that at this point I just make certain assumptions about vampires when I write them, basically because I've done so so often that I kind of forget where my personal preferences end and general mythology begins.
On the other hand, there's always the possibility that the vampire is a liar who considers a 30-minute chat easy hunting for a meal that delivers himself to her doorstep.
Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report
The thing I mistook for a reference was the hero's concerns about being relieved of his kidneys; the notion the kidney-theft danger is a commonly used tall tale associated with confidence tricksters, but the "in the tub full of ice" version was used verbatim in the movie I mentioned, complete with an imagine shot; evidently, this phrasing is more common than I thought.
Considering the deceptively recent and a very pulpy genesis of the "classic" vampire, and considering how saturated with variety the genre has become, you have as much right as anyone to a version of vampire that is both uniquely yours and tapping into the larger blood pool. My remark was based almost entirely on the soul retention/absorption concept, metaphorized so beautifully with the flower soaking in a teacup in "Cheating Life".
The vampire might be a liar, but any displays of supernatural prowess, and their very existence, entwined so closely culturally with the existential and the occult, can be heavily upsetting to an ordinary man's outlook. People have dedicated their lives to and have gotten themselves killed for lesser proofs that greater contexts than the physical reality exist.
Besides, a vampire with no spiritual and artful side to their ravages is boring and a waste of fangs. Unless it's black comedy, I guess; I can see a story series about a vampire lady with cynically material blood-and-chips-on-a-Friday-night sensibilities preying on impressionable beatniks and yuppies who build her way up in their minds -- someone like Shyguy9's Sophie, I'm thinking.
More on the story at hand: I love how at first the Chai Latte Killer's call for her guest's punctuality seems to be invoking the folklore notion of vampire being fussy over protocol and spilled grains, and then it turns out it was so she wouldn't have to strain herself keeping up the spatial warping effect for too long.
It was also clever to have made the predator blast her mark with candor, and describing her intentions in such detail; I've read casual vore stories that weren't so direct! And it makes sense, too: the John Doe of the piece is thus given too much specific information to believe it rationally, and too vivid an image for his sensual drive to resist, in addition to the existential carrot dancing in the air. Miranda performed a similar preview-teasing, delayed seduction technique in "The Academy"; Bitter's "They Always Come Back" runs on this concept, albeit it's more mystical/hypnotic there (appropriately vampirey!). I morbidly wonder if that's the effect that the poor bastards who send women unsolicited nude photos of themselves are going for.
Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report
Ahh, I see! I think I've only ever heard the tub of ice version before here, but it's a pretty old reference.
Perhaps interestingly, the candor was really a means to the end. The whole story was born of fleshing out a scenario in which that fanged smile gif above could represent a John Bloodbag showing up despite knowing everything he's getting into - that sort of first pangs of satisfaction for a delayed gratification on her part.
Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report
Noticed that gif, it's delightfully meaningful for its subtle brevity! How fruitful those small seeds of inspiration end up being in your care!
Means to the end, yes.
I've found that setting up a framework of rules, conditions and contracts that leaves brushing past the thickets of red flags up to the victim-to-be is a tempting, but an all too obvious, and ultimately fallacious way of trying to scrub some of the guilt off the predator, and making the final act at least appear consensual, but besides its failure as a morality regulator, it is a useful way of leveling out the character expectations and the tone, so all the parties hit the last leg of the story in-synch.
Posted by Sarus 4 years ago Report
That was so very well written!
Mysterious, subtle, sexy. I loved it :)
My only complain is that it ended too soon...
Thank you 4ofSwords for sharing this awesome piece!
Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report
Thank you!
I always figure your imagination of the rest is better than what I could have written.
Posted by Sarus 4 years ago Report
You vastly overestimate my imagination :P
Posted by Sehnsucht 3 years ago Report
Sehnsucht. Haven't read a more perfect rendering of the craving that he feels.
Is she what she claims to be? I want to believe. Isn't that the trap?
Gorgeous, utterly gorgeous writing. The following will live in my mind: "a relationship so long-term it was asymptotic."
A crystal of a story.
Posted by 4ofSwords 3 years ago Report
Asymptotic is one of my favorite words. Ever since I learned it as a hangman-buster, it's been one of those landmarks in my mind that other thoughts build suburbs around.
I was just thinking of you recently. I'm glad to see you about! I hope you're doing well.
Posted by Sauvegarde 1 year ago Report
This is a great dialogue. The way she brings it up, the way she talks, the details she gives (you have ten chakras, 32 pressure points...) all make it completely believable.
I love pushing this "either die somewhere in the next years or become part of something greater" conundrum on prey in modern settings. It's not just intimacy to an impossible degree you sell, it's not just a meaningful exit for people lost in the absurd grinder of modernity, it's also a set foot into the realm of fantasy.
And I think you've perfectly illustrated that when he steps into an ordinary house among houses, but this one is special! This one opens to a larger than possible interior!
This childlike wonder lasts just for a moment, not long enough to be destroyed by analysis, then it's shadowed by the apparition of the woman, and we're busy with more important matters anyway.
So yeah, great text ^^
Posted by 4ofSwords 1 year ago Report
Thank you! I really appreciate that!