#the whole mess (be it of God or the Devil or fucking Dracula)

[see-arcane]

Jonathan Harker: The ‘Absolute Love Corrupts Absolutely’ Villain That Almost Was*

*LONG before Francis Ford Coppola’s Cinematic Gary Oldman Fanfiction

Spoilers ahead for the Dracula Daily enjoyers, because I’m whipping out all my literary receipts on this.

I recently finished speed-rereading Dracula because I have no self-control. In doing so, I got a refresher on quite a few incendiary factors of the book that time had dulled in my memory.

1.     There’s a TON of ‘I’m not like other girls!’ and ‘men good, women dainty,’ and ‘What no I’m not projecting, honest, I just really like the words manful, voluptuous, manful, aquiline, manful, God, and manful again. –Bramothy Stoker,’ so brace for that from basically the whole cast. I’m blaming it partly on Bram Flakes’ own prejudices, of which there are plenty, and the fact that he’d clearly never met a thesaurus in his life.

(I appreciate everyone’s mental revamp of Mina as the New Woman to Lucy’s Classic Damsel, but…oof. Everyone’s in for a harsh Period/Stoker Accurate reminder.)

2.     Brammy Pajamas was either hanging around some exceptionally devout Christians to write some of the second/third act scenes with everyone basically thrashing and wailing and falling on their knees and clasping/kissing hands as they pray to/thank God, all while thinking it was perfectly natural behavior for these characters…or he legit had no clue how any kind of ordinary human being, Christian or otherwise, would react to the situations he puts them in.

(Seriously, it’s not even that everyone’s devout, it’s that they’re all written to act like they’re in a soap opera where the only direction they got was to be as hammy and histrionic as physically possible. You’ll know the scenes when you see them.)

3.     Jonathan Harker has not only been done dirty by every adaptation since the book in terms of being a main character, along with being the character to spend the most time with Dracula in close quarters, period, and being the love interest for Mina—his whole character arc by the second half of the book is the most blazing hot, “If my beloved is destined for damnation, I’m heading to Hell with her, fuck all else,” shit I have ever read in classic literature, full stop.

Not Dracula. Not any character based on Dracula.

Jonathan fucking Harker is the OG archetype for Love Corrupts (Violently), and the canon story avoided him going full tragic villain by t h i s much. You want proof? Let’s go.

NOTE: MAIN SPOILERS STRAIGHT FROM THE BOOK, SHIELD YOUR EYES

Here’s the part most Harker fans scream over, myself included:

“To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone. I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant many; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so the holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks.”

Good shit, good shit! Jonathan was already prepared to risk falling to his death from a cliff or being eaten by wolves rather than stay in Castle Dracula for a bloodthirsty eternity with the ladies. But now? Mina is quite literally his, “You are worth Hell,” Beloved. But there’s more. Fast forward to one of Team Fuck-Up-That-Old-Undead-Man’s first head-on encounters with the Count. As they’re waiting, Jonathan gets impatient, declaring:

“I care for nothing now,” he answered hotly, “except to wipe out this brute from the face of creation. I would sell my own soul to do it!”

He says as much in front of his Christian+ buddies who, by now, had pretty fair reasons to believe in the legitimacy of Hell and all its demons. Van Helsing is definitely startled and seemingly talks him down from such an oath. Key word being seemingly. Because we jump forward again to a point where Mina, in full saintly forgiveness mode (and apparently selectively forgetting Van Helsing’s history lesson about Dracula’s pre-vampire days being ones of a slaughtering tyrant), saying that if/when they destroy the Count, oh, how happy his soul will be to be free of his torment on Earth, et cetera. Jonathan Harker has a rebuttal to share. Namely:

“May God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that earthly life of him which we are aiming at. If beyond that I could send his soul forever and ever to burning hell I would do it!”

God forgives. Jonathan Harker emphatically does not.

Onward again, and he speaks volumes by what he does not say. Chiefly, there’s a point where Mina, now in full martyr preparation should the worst happen, makes the boys swear an oath to destroy her body if/when she succumbs and dies to Dracula’s vampiric poisoning so she cannot rise again as one of his ladies. The boys swear. Mostly. What we get from Jonathan is…

“And must I, too, make such a promise, oh, my wife?”

“You too, my dearest.” (Note: The rest of her paragraph here is full of the most knife-twisting, utterly warped martyr ‘pep talk’ I’ve ever read, and I have no idea how she/Bramarama thought it would remotely convince Jonathan this was all a reasonable and chill thing she was talking about. Anyway.)

It’s important to note that absolutely nowhere in the ensuing text does Jonathan ever speak the promise out loud. He does read the goddamn Burial Service at Mina’s request, which he barely chokes his way through. But he never makes the oath.

Another jump ahead. They are on the hunt for Dracula and, alas, have just missed him at a key point. Most of the gang are shaking their fists at the sky, cursing up and down. And what is Jonathan doing? Well, to quote Jack Seward, just before the epiphany…

“We men were all in a fever of excitement, except Harker, who is calm; his hands are as cold as ice, and an hour ago I found him whetting the edge of the great Ghoorka knife which he now always carries with him. It will be a bad look-out for the Count if the edge of that ‘Kukri’ ever touches his throat, driven by that stern, ice-cold hand!”

And upon discovery of the Count slipping them…

“Harker smiled—actually smiled—the dark bitter smile of one who is without hope; but at the same time his action belied his words, for his hands instinctively sought the hilt of the great Kukri knife and rested there.”

For context, by this point Jonathan had already come at Dracula with said Kukri knife a while back, having nearly landed the blow after charging out of the pack and nearly fucking gutting the Count. For extra context, this is a Kukri knife:

He’s just been walking around with that. For half the book. Plotting.

And, with all of this in mind, we can only assume Jonathan had two plans of action in mind.

Plan A, follow Van Helsing’s lead.

…Not counting the moment he almost bit the Professor’s head off for saying he had to bring Mina along with him to Castle Dracula. Another good scene which includes his very succinct reaction to Van Helsing’s suggestion, even if he does have to agree in the end:

“Not for the world! Not for Heaven or Hell!”

Anyway. If the plan works out, cool. He gets to kill Dracula, Mina is saved. Best case scenario!

But then there’s the unspoken, explicitly unwritten (in case his pages need to be read), but heavily foreshadowed Plan B. They cannot destroy the Count, in time or otherwise. Mina is now either a corpse waiting to awake as a vampire, or a vampire already. The others, true to their vow, mean to destroy her.

Jonathan Harker, true only to Mina, in whatever form she may take, still has that Kukri. And the element of surprise. And a full acknowledgment of the realities of Heaven, Hell, and his holding Mina’s continued existence above them, his friends, his sanity, his humanity, and himself.

In short, all your tragically romantic Draculas can kindly go fuck themselves with a wooden stake. Jonathan Harker is the first and best gothic horror example of a person in love to the point of madness, damnation, and willingness to deceive or destroy anyone who would endanger the one he loves. The only reason we never got to see it in action was because Stoker had to tack on a happy ending. If he hadn’t?

The census would be less four unsuspecting heroes and plus two newlywed vampires.

The End.

Suck on it, Francis.

#Jonathan Harker is a good boy a lovely young man and he Can and Will Kill for His Wife :) :) :) #seriously there's a whole other essay to go with how gloriously fucked up-passionate this stance is within both the time it was written #and the novel itself which is SATURATED with God Christ and more God #for this fucker to have gone through what he did in the castle on top of all the very clear proofs of divine VS infernal goings-on #this dude is flipping the bird to all of it #the whole mess (be it of God or the Devil or fucking Dracula) #none of it ranks higher than Mina in his mind #my guy is fucked up and I love him #jonathan harker #dracula #mina murray #mina harker #dracula daily #spoilers

[the-crow-binary]

God i fucking love Castlevania.

The lore. The drama. Leon who had sworn for his whole family to hunt the night for the generations to come, basically cursing them. The pressure on the shoulders of said generations. The family ties. The relationships bonds. The sexyness of the hunters. A whip as the most important weapon. The father-son conflict with Dracula and Alucard. Alucard's voice. Sypha. Grant. Juste being a fashionable idiot obsessed with interior design even when in a critical situation in the castle of bloody Vlad Dracula Tepes. The devil forgemasters. The musics. The whole gothic aesthetic. The castle being made of chaos who constantly changes however it pleases. Dracula being a giant motherfucker. Mathias being a hot sexy mess. Walter Bernhard way of sitting. Joachim Armster. The horrible voice acting of Richter and Dracula. I just love it so much you have no idea.

The gameplay is secondary to me at that point, i'm mostly here for the stories and characters.

#castlevania games #don't mind me just fanboy/girling #gosh i love the Belmont #i'm a sucker for fictional families. especially that one #also the Belmonts apparently were originally from france and i'm screaming #cuz i'm french. so for me they're all french in different degrees now #and can we talk about long hair Richter. Please. He's so sexy #we don't deserve Trevor fabulous legs tho

[golbrocklovely]

review of sam and colby's hell week

since hell week is finally over, and i've had time to process all the videos, i figured now would be a good time to write out how i felt about each video. i didn't want to post about their videos during hell week since i was in the middle of writing for my 13 days of halloween and i already had enough on my plate lol

so here's what i thought about each of the hell week videos. i'm gonna give my general reaction, my rating of the video, and whether or not i would rewatch it.

i'm also gonna rate them from my favorite to least at the very end.

this is really long btw, so feel free to skip around or settle in lol

dracula's castle: this was good video to start off on. i think it brought a good mix of creepy and silly. nate and snc have such great chemistry together, and i hope they collab again soon bc i genuinely enjoy when they all hang out and do videos together. colby's fascination with their tour guide being a vampire was hilarious to me. and i have to note that i do like this video a lot bc it was about vampires, so it was right up my alley. hopefully they go to another vampire castle bc that would be sick. and they better take me with them otherwise i'm suing. but anyway, i saw everyone on here talking about it, and i wanted to add my two cents in that it really is so fucking strange how so many ppl/animals/spirits are drawn to colby. every new person they meet somehow always focuses on colby. him saying 'why is it always me?' is the god's honest truth tho. i was definitely unsettled by the spirit box (which again, colby looking like he's gonna die while doing it scares me) and the music box going off. i think that the video gave off nice creepy vibes, and i dig it. and the two most chaotic things i've ever seen colby do is literally shove his fingers into dirty vampire water and then bite into cloves of garlic. this man is insane and i'm not sure why i still stan him lmao

rating: 3.5/5

would i rewatch: yeah :)

~~~~~~~~~

catacombs: this video was interesting. this video didn't really fall into paranormal for me, but it reminded me of all the xplr videos they used to do back in the day. first and foremost, i would never in a million years go to the catacombs. beside that i don't like enclosed spaces like that, i'm a big bitch and personally believe with my luck and body that things would collapse bc of me. so... props to the boys for putting themselves into that whole situation. their tour guide not really caring about them or what they do was accidentally hilarious. the devil room they went into was definitely creepy and i can only imagine the vibe it gave off, regardless of if you believe in paranormal or not. occultist stuff is not something you want to mess with, and i swear to god i think the boys are trying to get something to follow them bc they don't protect themselves like ever. do i think it was weird that the candles burned out one right after the other, and the cloak fell? yeah i guess, but idk if it was paranormal so much so that they were already freaked out and it spooked them more. i will say, having that room get progressively colder and colby literally shaking/shivering from how cold he was was eerie. but idk... this video just wasn't as spooky as i would have liked it. also it felt kinda long and slow.

rating: 2/5

would i rewatch: maybe? not entirely sure.

~~~~~~~~~

queen mary: i find it really interesting how ppl on here disliked the video. i mean, i get it to some degree, but personally i really loved it. it's interesting how back and forth i go with amanda. in some videos i don't mind her, and then in others she's really kinda annoying. and in this one it was the latter. personally idk why she was there. she didn't really add anything or talk to any spirits, besides the guy that got crushed by the door. but even then she didn't really say much. i'm not entirely sure why the boys believe her when she says that she doesn't do research on these places (bc she also literally admitted to knowing facts about the queen mary so... you think she wouldn't research to see who "haunts" the ship???). while i believe in psychics and medium, something about amanda just seems... off to me. i don't think she's outright lying or making up the shit she feels/sees, but it just doesn't feel 100% genuine. also side note, amanda writing something down that didn't even really connect to what was said on the spirit box but acting like it did was so fucking stupid and funny to me. and then her saying 'you're not the darkest spirit, i've seen darker' or whatever was such an eyeroll of a moment to me. idk if she's giving off this energy of being stronger than she is for the video or for her own protection's sake, but idk it's all a bit much to me. AND HER NOT BELIEVING IN PAST LIVES??? that was kinda dumb. personally, if i could literally see ppl that were dead, i think my mind would be a bit more open past the traditional christian values lol alright enough about her.

matt was great addition to the crew and i just love how quick he is to pretend to leave. his humor is on par with what i would probably do. it was also fun to see the parts of ship that we didn't get to before. the ballroom was beautiful. do i think every crack was a ghost? no, but it was funny to see their reactions like it was. and then with b340... i'm not gonna lie, i got chills bro lol i do think something with that room is completely off. i can just feel it thru the screen. and even if you don't believe, you have to believe that whatever snc experienced in there has scared them to their core. i honestly believe that something in that room doesn't like being filmed and that's what happened to them. idk why they wouldn't either record with any extra camera or do a voice recording as well bc that would save them the bs of the camera shutting off and footage getting deleted. sam got really effected during this video and it makes me really sad. i hate seeing him upset. and i'm glad that both him and matt had the courage to walk away for a moment when things got to be a bit too much. especially matt. i hope he's doing better. nonetheless, i think the stuff that they captured in that room was definitely interesting and this was the first video i actually felt kinda spooked. and i need to mention it now, but i really do hope that in the future the boys find a way to record what the spirit box is saying and put it in the videos that way ppl stop acting like they are faking it.

rating: 3/5

would i rewatch: probably

~~~~~~~~~

pine barrens: idk what it was about this episode, but i had such high hopes for it... probably bc i'm from the east coast, i've heard about the jersey devil, and since i've lived around forests and explored them back when i was younger, i was excited for this video. and it ended up being really boring. i love the banter that seth, josh, and snc have, don't get me wrong, and that's really the shining part of this whole video. but something about this episode was just really lack luster for me. the lack of evidence wasn't really it, but something about this just wasn't even remotely creepy or scary to me at all. and it wasn't even like an xplr video where i can be interested in just the place alone. this could have been any random forest in the country and i wouldn't have known the difference. nothing about it felt special. i will say the man they talked to (who they later called their friend which was so cute btw) was so east coast to me, it's kinda hilarious. and i liked the info he was able to give about the jersey devil and the pine barrens themselves. maybe it's bc the boys didn't really do all that much research into the forest or the fact that nothing really happened, but i just didn't really enjoy this video. it had it's good/funny moments, but nothing about it was all that interesting. no offense to the boys, and i'm not trying to say that they should have given themselves more work to do, but a video like this... should have just been placed on xplrclub instead bc nothing happened. i mean, it's good that they didn't fake anything or try to force some paranormal shit. i do appreciate that. but this is hell week for christ's sake. i want spooky scary skeletons worth of content lol

rating: 1.5/5

would i rewatch: i'm not even gonna remember this video in a week or two, so no.

~~~~~~~~~

hotel del coronado: amanda... oh amanda. i know i already complained about her in the queen mary video, but i need to speak on here again. while i believe her abilities, i don't think the confidence she has is warranted, if that makes sense. her half-ass attempt at a prayer shouldn't be the one thing that is protecting snc and faze from getting permanently haunted. and again, i just don't believe her not researching things. if i'm wrong, i will gladly apologize, but there is no fucking way. and honestly, i wouldn't mind if she did some research, it would probably do better for her to know who apparently resides in the building than to go in not knowing, plus it might help her connect to certain spirits better. and her stopping it right before sam could really get into things with the estes method... that's so fucking annoying. i'm sorry, but what authority does she have to ask a question that boils down to 'r u good or bad?' and expect an answer? if an entity is from a different plain altogether, has existed 1000s of years, and operates under the belief that god and satan are two actual beings... what makes you think it has to answer to you???? you're not god, you're not powerful. you are a 20 year old girl with the powers of the kid from the sixth sense. while i want sam and colby to be safe and do things methodically (so to speak), using amanda isn't gonna cut it. stop taking her on trips.

now onto the rest of the video, i know literally dick all about faze rug, but he seems lovely. i really like his personality and the way he vibes with snc. and good on him declining to do the estes method. that shit seems scary as all hell (tho i am kinda interested to do it but also really not). but i genuinely like how faze acts with snc. weirdly, i don't like his videos on his channel with snc, but i do think he brings a fun naivety to their content (not that they're any better at knowing lmao). the hotel itself is fucking huge looking and that hallway was definitely trippy. i get they have a beach theme, but you could have a nautical looking hallway without the stripes. that employee... i hope is doing good, bc you could tell that he was still choked up over what he experienced. i haven't had something like that happen to me but i do believe that at one point i experienced a time jump/a shift in the time line we're on now (feel free to ask me about that another time), and that freaked me out a shit ton so i can only imagine what he felt. also it was interesting to hear colby say that that seemed like his version of hell to him, just being stuck repeating yourself over and over again but going nowhere. and how i feel about the paranormal and spirituality was summed up well by the employee. so, the shit that happened to them in their hotel room was creepy, ngl. the estes method and colby are a match made in hell bc every time colby does it, it's too fucking intense for me. like, i just get more and more anxious as time goes on. and the things he was saying were spot on with the questions being asked. and that knock they had while sam was doing the estes method was crazy. i love how protective colby got, he literally grabbed amanda, faze hid behind colby, and then colby reached over to sam, basically throwing his arms in front of everyone. i'm still annoyed that the video got ended early bc of amanda. i believe that snc need to take precautions and stop when things feel too intense, but if they weren't feel uncomfortable and they hadn't gotten contact with something that scaring them... they should have continued. idk how amanda can go from chasing a demon out of the lizzie borden house to asking if a spirit is from the right or the left and that's the proof that they took things too far lol

rating: 2.5/5

would i rewatch: yeah i guess

~~~~~~~~~

waverly hills: i genuinely enjoyed this video from start to finish. this is one of the only videos from hell week that i had no problems with at all. them bringing back and working with that investigation duo again was fun. i think they really balance out snc's behavior when it comes to paranormal stuff and reactions. there's a certain level of professionalism that they have that snc don't lol kat and stas were nice in the video too. i can't believe stas saw more figures. that's fucking crazy to me. i saw a figure once when i was kid and freaked out, i can't imagine seeing something like that now. the amount of evidence that snc got in this video was insane. the rempod going off like that... idk what could be doing that other than ghosts. colby's heavy breathing and being fucking terrified of the rempod and the noises it was making was scaring me. that boy really knows how to get under my skin. the music box acting up (also the comment of colby actually having a problem with the music box being dead was so funny bc i weirdly like the music box too) was also really strange. the story of william was so sad :( who would kill an old man just chilling in a building alone? it's nice that he was following them around and maybe even protecting them. and then all the activity they got on the fifth floor and the evp session. that shit was fucking crazy. i hope that snc buy a voice recorder at some point bc using that to hear sounds around you is awesome and really good evidence. that spirit box session also fucking scared me. the 'which hand' voice... oof i got chills bro lol

also i wanted to make a quick side note that when snc were talking about waverly hills and telling it's history, colby looked really hot. and he makes a lot of faces for some reason when sam talks sksksks

rating: 5/5

would i rewatch: 100%

~~~~~~~~~

conjuring part 2: you all know how i feel about amanda in this video, and if not, read this post lol

but she was such a small part of the video, that i'm not gonna let her ruin the rest of it. so... i've said it a lot in this review, but this video was crazy. crazy is too nice of a word. honestly, this video was scary. anxiety-inducing. the fact that the second they stepped onto the property they were told 'you guys are fucked tonight' was one hell of a sign. the constant evidence they were getting was incredible. the double estes method? that was sick. and the fact that both their names came from each other was fucking insane. the rempod and the music box going off back and forth, like something was teasing them... that shit was spooky. and then when they were talking to the music box upstairs in the birthing room, that was heartbreaking to hear that the soldier needed help. but the second half, where they did the prayer outside and inside... i have no words. props to colby for staying inside by himself bc he looked so fucking terrified. sam did too, but colby was literally shaking like crazy and breathing like he ran a mile. and then sam seeing a figure in the window and then the door to the basement being locked. colby sounded so scared, and rightfully so.

my anxiety was at an all time high the whole time this video was on. it was like a horror movie from start to finish, and all i could ask for to be posted on halloween.

rating: 5/5

would i rewatch: already have lol

~~~~~~~~~

overall rating of hell week: 3.5/5

while i liked pretty much every video, i wanted more spooks and scares. if you're gonna call something hell week, make that shit scary. this was their first time doing hell week, so i'll give them a pass bc i can only imagine the crazy stuff that could be coming up for next year. i would like for them to bring back matt, nate, and the paranormal duo again, because those videos were the most fun to watch. kat and stas are also cool, but i figure they're gonna be coming back regardless haha josh and seth were also great, just not in the woods lol

and less amanda please.

i definitely enjoyed these videos. it's gonna be weird to not see them post every other day for a while. i'm gonna miss it truly.

favorite video to least

1. waverly hills

2. conjuring part 2

3. dracula's castle

4. queen mary

5. hotel del coronado

6. catacombs

7. pine barrens

#text #personal #sam and colby #sam golbach #colby brock #feel free to send in asks about hell week #i'm down to talk about it :) #hell week

[monkeyartfiend]

Can't speak to the third episode but it seems to me that most people who are upset about the new dracula, like, just don't get it.

Dracula is BAD he is a BAD GUY and he HAS FUN DOING IT. He is evil and creepy and gross and EVIL and he will do evil things! And he will LAUGH about it to your face! Because he views himself as immortal, close to a god maybe even. He climed out of that wolf carcass because he COULD not because he had to or some shit. He did that to be DRAMATIC because he wanted to scare the nuns and show them how powerful he is!

Point two: Vampires are SEXY. To understand this you have to understand that a vampire's inherent sexiness does NOT mean that they have to be physically attractice. It means that by way of their eyes, how they move their body, how they talk and touch you will be alluring and mysterious and will make you want them. Not just sexually. In all ways. Vampires make you feel like you will let them do anything to you and you will thank them. That is their whole thing. They consume you whole. The only sexuality you could label this dracula with is VAMPIRE (get out of here trying to assign the devil incarnate labels)

And Dracula? He's the KING of vampires. That's how he was able to manipulate Every. Single. Person. He. Wanted. To.

On Moffat and Gattis: yeah, i understand people dont like them. I get it. Yall need somebody to hate and they're a pretty good duo to dislike. Yes sherlock is full of queer baiting. Yes y'all wanted Mina to be more powerful, as a blonde myself i fucking wish she coulda been. But like. Look at what happened to her. Idk if yall have ever been in love but like. I'm married and i would be a FUCKING MESS if that happened to my partner. I get it. You can't always be strong, and Mina is a good character to show how badly Dracula hurts people.

This dracula isn't for everyone. The humor is extremely macabre. Like they took macabre humor and raised it to 100. If you can't laugh along with Dracula as he does his evil shit you WILL NOT like the show.

Because if you can't laugh along and realise that he's a VAMPIRE then YES it does just look like a white guy doing things white men do. But it's supposed to be! He's supposed to be the most evil, devil incarnate ass motherfucker.

This Dracula is for those who love a good villain, and who always wanted to see more of the castle and his time on the boat.

(dni: anyone)

#dracula 2020 #bbc dracula #netflix dracula #mark gattis #steven moffat #moffat gattis dracula #bram stoker dracula 2020 #i will not elaborate

[lunaschild2016]

Devil In Me (Divergent AU)

Rated M (Sexual content, angst, romance, fluff)

I might be teasing the hell outta everyone...we will see.

One Shot - Eric/OC [Remington Pedrad] Jai Courtney/Jaylen Barron

This is intended to be a one shot that hit me in the middle of well deserved glass of wine and bubble bath. If you loves like it enough I was thinking of turning it into a series maybe with these two.

Remington Pedrad had certain rules that she had to follow or it would bring the wrath of her brothers upon her. 

1) Never drink or party without them.

2) They were NEVER to be locked out of her apartment or her fridge. Open access at all times.

3) NEVER DATE OR DO ANYTHING ‘Romantic’ WITH ERIC COULTER

In one night she breaks all three of them and she doesn’t even remember how it happened.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Fuck. My. Life.” I muttered as I rolled out of the bed to the pounding at the door. 

The same annoying and incessant rhythm that was currently pounding in my head. I can barely see and it isn’t just because I have the deepest darkest blackout curtains in my bedroom making sure it rivals Dracula’s lair in here. 

I can barely see through the hangover that is making it’s presence very known. I find what I think is a t-shirt on the floor beside my bed and slip it on then start to wobble my way out of the bedroom to kill whoever is knocking at my door.

“Fuckin’ hell! I’m coming.” I yell out in a broken voice that I know I got from my drunken activities the night before.

There is a deep raspy chuckle from the bathroom as I pass the open door to see someone standing there, piss in midstream as he looks over his shoulder at me with a smirk. “Yeah, I remember you sayin’ that same thing several times last night.”

Bile rises up and threatens me as I trip over my own feet and go to the floor in a tangled mess of limbs, my eyes wide and praying to all the gods that I am hallucinating.

“Eric?” I squeak with my face at the floor as if it can help me. Swallow me up, knock me out…fuck!!! Something!

There is a deep sigh and I feel his hands wrap around my waist before I am airborne and set on my feet. He steadies me before pulling his hands back with a scowl. 

“You know…a guy could get a damn complex with all the times I am greeted with that same reaction the morning after.” Then his eyes move over me and the asshole is back, if he ever left. He licks his lips as a smile curls his lips up on one side. “Then again the number of times you screamed my name for more, just might tip the balance the other way.”

Faint yelling from the door and the pounding gets louder. My eyes go wide again as my head whips to it and I groan. 

“Oh god. They’re going to kill me.” 

Eric shrugs and starts out to answer the door, butt naked. If I weren’t in such a state of disbelief I might admire the deadly sexy way the cheeks of his ass dimple as he walks. Or the swagger that he roams around Dauntless with completely unhindered by the clothing that hides a whole other level of lethal he becomes when shed of them.

I stumble after him to stop what I know is coming.

He wrenches open the door but I am blocked from seeing out and the unwelcoming party on the other side don’t get a glance at me. They are only getting an eyeful of Eric Coulter.

“What the…” I hear started before they are interrupted.

“She’s busy. You can save the lecture and ripping I know is coming for after.” He deadpans out but doesn’t wait for an answer before he slams the door shut again and locks it.

Eric turns back to me with a smirk and seems to be scratching his flaccid but still impressive dick and balls.

He chuckles as he makes his way back over to me. This whole time my mind has been trying to play catch up while trying to not explode from pain at the same time.

When he reaches me he slides his hands around my hips to cup my ass. I realize I am stuttering like an engine that won’t start.

“Normally I don’t do morning repeats but it doesn’t sit right with me that you don’t remember a damn thing.” 

My legs wrap around his waist when he lifts me up like I weight less than nothing. I moan as his mouth moves to my neck while walking us back to my room. 

He throws me into the middle of my bed then climbs up until he straddling my legs and looks down on me with a pause.

“Tell me now if you want this to stop.” His forehead creased as he says this. It was said slowly as if he was forcing himself to say the words.

I can understand why. Eric takes what he wants and be damned what anyone else wants. He is giving me a choice.

Despite a hell of a hangover and the looming blow up on the horizon with my brothers, I literally can’t think of anything else other than how much I need to know exactly what it is like to have the devil inside of me.

I licked my lips and tugged my bottom one between my teeth as I moved my eyes down his body slowly. 

“My patience is wearing very thin Remy.” Eric hisses out drawing my attention back to him.

I raise an eyebrow at him and tilt my head to the side. “If I wanted you to stop I would have already thrown you out of my apartment, Eric.”

“Alright then.” Eric grins wickedly. 

#ff #divergent #eric coulter #oc #smut #oneshot

[drchristineputnam]

M/M romance recs

Here’s a list of my favourites! Organised by genre, with very broad summaries. All of them have HEA, all the m/m romances are the central ones. 

Names in bold have POC protagonists, names in cursive have disabled protagonists (be it physical disability, mental illness or chronic illness). In series with multiple couples, it’s usually one or more.

Feel free to ask me about triggers for any of them!

Historical:

Soldier’s Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian

Disabled regency war vet aristocrat decides to hang around a self-proclaimed ex-criminal helping those who need help. Said ex-criminal tries not to be charmed, ends up catching feelings instead

The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian

Confidence artist grows a conscience and angers dangerous people, so he needs to pose as a secretary to a scientifically minded, but eccentric Lord. Really beautiful portrayal of people on autistic spectrum and anxiety.

The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian

Posh and straight-laced gentleman has to help a famous scoundrel aristocrat to restore his image after a raunchy novel supposedly based on his exploits gets published. Contains ridiculous amounts of adorable kittens, tasty pastries and also wonderful portrayal of chronic illnesses

Sins of the Cities by KJ Charles

Trilogy set in victorian London, during the horrible London Fog of 1873. Three wonderful and diverse couples (one is half-indian with dyspraxia, one is non-binary, one was born with partial arm, one is near-sighted), murder mystery, fake mediums, lost earls, intrigue! It’s so good 

Wanted, a Gentleman by KJ Charles

A delightful and frankly hilarious regency romp through British countryside. An unlikely couple of men need to travel to Gretna Green to save a young girl from potentially dangerous marriage. One of the protagonists is a black ex-slave merchant and the book touches upon his experiences (very respectfully!)

Society of Gentlemen by KJ Charles

A Society of gentlemen who like other gentlemen, centered around Lord Richard Vane and his friends and acquitances. Set during the radical uprising during the Regency, it has everything- friendships and families, sedition, intrigue, bookstores and good wine, valets being the mightiest strategists and amazing lovable radicals. This trilogy is honestly my favourite thing EVER.

Think of England by KJ Charles

Wounded during the Boer war, seemingly because of treason and betrayal, Archie Curtis sets off to a countryside mansion to get to the bottom of the matter. Completely unprepared for the task, he teams up with Daniel da Silva, the elegant jewish poet, who is much more capable than he seems. Absolutely delightful <333

HISTORICAL PARANORMAL

Whyborne and Griffin series by Jordan L. Hawk

The adventures of a shy sorcerer linguistic nerd, his detective husband, the most badass lady archeologist (the actual love of my life) and more, as they save the world from otherworldly beings bent on destroying it. Will make you cry about found families, strong and wonderful friendships and broken people finding strength in each other. Has magic, archeology, monsters, reluctant travels, lesbian warrior fishes and the best ginger cat in the world.

Hexworld series by Jordan L. Hawk

Turn of the century New York witch detectives and their familiars must fight to uncover a conspiracy plan to change the world. Really amazing worldbuilding, the magic system is very cool and it will make you furious about the treatment of familiars. The familiars are, generally speaking, fucking hilarious.

A Charm of Magpies by KJ Charles

Filthy-mouthed dominant earl falls in love with a stubborn and heroic wizard, together they create magic. A lot of people want that magic though, and it gets ugly. First KJ book I’ve ever read and I fell in love instantly. Has two more books set in the same universe with different protagonists and those are also amazing. (Rag and Bone is the one with black protagonist)

A Death by Silver by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold

University-era friends need to figure out their confused emotions, while investigating a murder that brings out bad memories. Very good and soft, with even a better sequel

Downtime by Tamara Allen

When in London for a case, FBI agent gets sent back in time to Victorian London. While there, he finds out magic is real. Decides that since he’s there anyway, might as well investigate who Jack the Ripper was. Very sweet and soft

Restless Spirits by Jordan L. Hawk

A medium and a scientist bent on proving said medium to be a fraud get chosen to be in a contest to prove which side is better. They end up having to team up to save lives of people around.

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles

Journalist and writer Robert Caldwell has been a close friend and lover of ghost hunter Simon Feximal for years and has been chronicling their adventures. Now, he finally writes the true story of their life together. Warning: this book will absolutely ruin you for years to come. You will be a mess whenever you think of the book and you will enjoy every second of it.

Green Men by KJ Charles

Set in the world of The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. Only few years after WW1, Britain is still recovering from the war. Having lost an entire generation of youth and most of the sorcerers the country had, those left are completely unprepared for what’s to come. Wonderful characters, the softest romance I’ve read possibly ever and beautifully melancholic. Best KJ book, in my opinion.

CONTEMPORARY

Shadow of the Templar by M. Chandler

FBI agent and his team are tasked with catching a famous international art thief, they end up kinda sorta accidentally adopting him instead. One of the funniest series I’ve ever read, honestly.

Cut&Run by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

The incredible adventures on an unlikely pair of FBI agents go from enemies to lovers. Includes serial killers, undercover luxury yacht trips, tiger trafficking, drugs, marine buddies and one of the genuinely best character developments I’ve read. Warning, the first book is a bit shit. The rest is absolutely incredible though.

The General and the Horse-lord by Sarah Black

Retired ex-military lovers need to figure out what to do with their relationship, now that they’re civillians. A soft look at older gay people still figuring out their sexuality.

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

Neil Josten is on the run from his mafia murderous father and gets signed up for a professional college sports team, while people are still after him. It’s a really powerful emotional journey, but contains a large amount of a very triggering content, so be safe please.

 CONTEMPORARY PARANORMAL

THIRDS series by Charlie Cochet

FBI like team consisting of shifters and their partners must investigate conspiracy and threats against the new shifter population. Ridiculously hilarious at times, absolutely heartbreaking at other.

Deep Magic by Gillian St. Kevern

A story steeped in welsh folklore, with beautiful mermaid princes and knights who will save them. Shows the power stories have to change our lives. Plus it’s free so what are you waiting for?

Psycop series by Jordan Castillo Price

A medium detective and his partner investigate a series of supernatural crimes. People are horrible, corporations are horrible, ghosts are horrible and lbr, everything is kinda horrible, but it gets better.

Wriggle and Sparkle by Megan Derr

The adventures of Lynn the Kraken shifter and Anderson the unicorn shifters, their detective careers, and their life together. Honestly adorable. And when I say adorable, I mean sparkles-on-rainbow-filled-cupcake kind of adorable. Also, Lynn’s gender-presentation is fluid and it’s absolutely wonderful.

FANTASY

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Prince gets betrayed and sent as a slave to his sworn enemy, they end up working together to save their countries and fall in love. The best enemies to lovers example. Has amazing and complex politics, unreliable narrator and great worldbuilding. You’ve probably already heard of this book, but if you’re worried about triggers, please ask someone who actually read it, because there’s a lot of misinformation flying around.

Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling

The fantasy series of your dreams. There is ancient evil being revived, war is coming, everyone is bisexual and the kingdom is ruled by an ancient line of warrior queens. Everyone is wonderful and charming, characters are complex and the story will make you laugh and cry.

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek

Western-style world, where gods are reborn as humans, and one of them tried to control the whole world. It doesn’t go exactly as he planned.

Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale

Teenage genius inventor gets accepted to a prestigious boarding school in enemy territory. His room-mate might be demon-possesed and there’s some evil magic lurking around.

Champion of the Scarlet Wolf by Ginn Hale

Somewhat sequel to Lord of the White Hell. Disgraced noble travels to a faraway country, where he saves an injured dog. Turns out the dog isn’t just a dog, magic is everywhere around them and there’s a witch war coming.

Fairytales Slashed vol. 1 by Megan Derr

A collection of gay fairy tales. All kinds of stories with all kinds of characters (my favourite one is the one with the jester <333)

Dance with the Devil by Megan Derr

Adventures of half-ghost detective, his demon husband, imp partner, witch colleague and a vampire. Really cute and intriguing, with mysteries and conspiracies.

Dance in the Dark by Megan Derr

Set in the same universe as Dance with the Devil (there’s an entire series). Human son of a dracula becomes a detective, moves out to the city to help others, and gains a lover who only visits him in the dark.

The Rapier Brothers by Megan Derr

A collection of short stories centered around swordsmen. Three different couples, three really cute stories. Love it.

#romance novels #book recs #m/m romance #m/m fiction #mlm literature #long post #yall better share this bcs I fried my brain at it