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peachyqueenly · 6 months

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Cookie Run, Queerbait, and why the concept does not apply to SeaMoon... 2!!!

//This is a repost of an older post, as something else came up that I wanted to add to this analysis. If you don't want to reread the entire thing, feel free to skip to the section headed with 'Queerbait: Lost in Translation'.//

There are a lot of issues with the way Devsis, the developers behind Cookie Run, handle diversity in their games. Most notably, it falls into the common trap many, MANY gacha games do in that it partakes in a lot of orientalist tropes. But one debate I’ve seen that I just cannot get behind, as a lesbian, is the idea that they have queerbaited-- most namely, with SeaMoon.

Below the cut, I will explain why: what queerbait is and what it looks like, queerbaiting vs coding, and why comparing WlW tropes from other countries to queerbaiting is unfair (and also maybe don’t apply a Japanese literary concept to a Korean game, more on that later). All in a bid to show why it is not only wrong to compare SeaMoon to queerbaiting, it is harmful.

SeaMoon, for those unfamiliar, is the name popularly given to the ship between Sea Fairy Cookie and Moonlight Cookie in Cookie Run. Aside from the ocean and the moon being a common motif for romance in fiction already, the game had hinted at their romance in a lot of in-game and side material. Most namely, Sea Fairy’s line about Moonlight’s heart ‘being the warmest’ and the “I want you Everyday” music video with their moment together + the lines that went along with that moment...

Your love brought spring to my endless winter...

For more examples of where their romance was suggested, I recommend this doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

The point is, most WlW in this fandom caught onto the romantic ramifications of the ship long before Moonlight was expanded on in Kingdom and the recent updates all but confirmed their mutual affection towards one another. The two of them even got matching costumes and a bond story that was as close to romance as Cookie Run would do (as it is ultimately not a romance centered franchise).

With who they are established...

Queerbait: What is it?

Queerbaiting most popularly is understood as a marketing gimmick where creators and multimedia companies suggest queerness to draw in LGBT people and allies, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath fans. Though it has other meanings, especially in other cultures as I'll explain more below. Whether this is utilizing the ‘bury your gays’ trope, the rep being constrained to insignificant side characters/moments, or just not existing at all.

The two most popular examples of queerbaiting would be recent Disney movies and Voltron. Though special shoutout to Harry Potter, as if we didn’t have enough reasons to hate the book series and JKR. As the stuff with Dumbledore was an obvious retcon to go ‘look how progressive I am!!!’.

Voltron’s last season had two key things regarding queerbait: the Klance drama (the ship between Keith and Lance) and Shiro’s bait and switch with his partner.

To the show’s credit, Shiro was actually gay. Even revealed to have had a partner he was engaged to. However, this rug was pulled out from underneath fans when they actively killed said partner. He was given another partner in the epilogue, but the fact he was revealed to be gay only for his partner to be killed off (coupled with the next thing) upset many queer fans.

Klance is a lot more insidious. In the run up to the final season, Netflix and the crew actively promoted the show using Klance and its popular support. Despite the fact they knew the relationship was never intended to be canon. This is one of the most explicit examples of queerbaiting out there, and is foundational to understanding the specificity and insidiousness of the marketing ploy.

For Disney, I would like to focus on the Star Wars sequels and Beauty and the Beast (2017). The last movie of the sequel trilogy had the creators talking about how there would be queer rep... leading many queer fans to believe they were talking about Finn and Poe for obvious reasons, something the creators never corrected/confirmed. Only for the rep to merely be two background characters in one scene.

As for Beauty and the Beast, Le Fou was celebrated as Disney’s first openly gay character, leading folks to believe they’d explore him having feelings for the titular bad guy. But that was never really explored in any meaningful way, and the rep we got of him was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment between him and an unnamed character. Arguably he could fall more into coding, but the fact Disney actively marketed him for his gayness is where it bleeds into queerbaiting.

In general, queerbaiting is a more modern problem, as companies feel they can say the word gay now. But are still wishy-washy on actual depictions of queerness. So we get them celebrating their inclusion, even if it’s ultimately little to nothing.

Queerbaiting vs Queer Coding

This is when an important distinction needs to be made: what is queerbaiting and what is queer coding. Queer coding is when media uses subtext, but never explicitly says, a character is gay. A good way to understand this is to compare 90′s disney movies to modern ones.

As discussed above, modern Disney will often go on about having queerness in their movies only for it to be minimal at best if not existent. 90′s Disney meanwhile never marketed their movies as having LGBT elements, but many fans could see the way in which queerness came through from characters like Ursula (literally modeled off a drag queen), Scar, and Hades.

Queer coding can be seen as a product of the Hays Code era-- where positive depictions of ‘perverse sexuality’ (including homosexuality) was not allowed in film, relegating a lot of queerness to the roles of villains (hence the association Disney villains have with it). That, or queer creators had to find ways of coding their heroes in ways that went under the nose of cishet audiences.

Queer coding exists in a net-neutral space. As queer coding, while in many ways is outdated in a world where media can show explicit LGBT rep, was integral to the ways in which queer creators told their stories for years. And actively influences the way many queer creators continue to tell their story (for better and for worse). It can also perpetrate stereotypes against queer people, as we saw with the Disney villains, however.

Still, this is different than the relatively modern concept of queerbaiting as that is largely a negative phenomenon. Queer coding was a tool used and is still used by actual LGBT people, while queerbaiting is more often than not the work of cishet folks or corporations wanting to make a quick buck.

Queerbait: Lost in Translation

Another element of queerbait I did not previously address is how its more commonly understood in the context of cultures' media (such as in Eastern countries like Korea and Japan). As the financial reasoning behind the idea isn't as front and center (for a myriad of complicated reasons regarding how explicit queer rep can be from country to country). Though this definition of queerbait can also apply to US and English based media.

To some, queerbait also applies to coded LGBT relationships that are primarily centered on or meant to appeal to straight audiences (WlW rep meant for the male gaze, MlM rep meant for girls).

In other words, fetishized LGBT coding.

I would personally argue (as a queer non binary lesbian) that this meaning is less insidious than the money making logic behind modern queer baiting that happens in the US mainly, but its for an important reason...

A lot of this queerbait relies on elements of coding still. While the way many Western viewers see queerbait in American media relies on using explicit queerness as a marketing ploy. To compare, let's look at idol/sports anime and the previously mentioned Disney movies.

The idea that idol/sports anime is queerbait is... contentious. And one I'm not entirely sure I even agree on. But it is undeniable that some of its more WlW centric scenes appeal to the male audiences that view these shows or games. Still, nothing is ever made explicit. It utilizes elements of queer coding originating from the yuri/gl genre that was built up by queer people themselves.

To some, this may be more insulting. For me personally though coding has always been a net neutral, and this form of coding is just more on the negative end for me. Still, there is something there for queer people to take away.

Meanwhile, the way in which disney queerbaits its audience is by saying their character is LGBT then... doing nothing with it. Not even elements of coding. Just-- 'yep there's a gay character in our movie come watch it'!!! Its a lot more soulless compared to the previous one, and therefore to me is more insulting.

Why SeaMoon falls more into Coding

With the two elements defined, let’s explain why SeaMoon falls more into the realm of coding rather than baiting.

First off, the way the devs write romance is consistent with how they wrote SeaMoon. Most of the ways in which things were left vague before Kingdom could be explained in the devs unfortunate habit of not elaborating on things they really should elaborate on. On top of romance in general being coded rather than explicit in the franchise.

As an example, lets discuss the two closest things to M/F romance we have in the franchise-- PureLily (Pure Vanilla and White Lily) and MintCocoa (Mint Choco and Cocoa).

PureLily became more explicit in the same update as SeaMoon (with Pure Vanilla wondering aloud if he still loves her), but in general the way their relationship was shown before the Crunchy Dreams event was largely through subtext (how the two spoke of one another, PV’s garden, etc) and outside material (the love quiz).

This also applies to MintCocoa. During the days of OB, the game itself did not elaborate much on either of the two’s characters (just as they didn’t with Moonlight). With most of their romantic subtext (like SeaMoon) being in outside videos, media, and merch. Kingdom in general seems more willing to elaborate on romance, as we saw in the story that came with Cocoa’s release.

And secondly, the devs never really threw SeaMoon around as a way of saying ‘look how progressive we are’ or to appeal specifically to LGBT fans. Anytime SeaMoon was included in media, it was often alongside other coded relationships such as MintCocoa or things like RaspRose (Raspberry Mousse x Rose). And even the times they did do things like promote themselves during pride month, they never used SeaMoon. Instead they used the Hollyberry kingdom (due to its bg having same-gender couples dancing and having drinks together).

The way SeaMoon was treated up until the recent Kingdom update was more in line with queer coding rather than queer baiting. Which is NOT perfect, as media should go beyond coding in the modern age. But it is not as bad or as insidious as queerbaiting implies.

Not as insidious as either definition of queerbait; as nothing about the relationship between them is really centered on being for the male or fetishized gaze either. They're Cookies... in a series where romance is not a focus. While one could argue their romance is stuck more into the background compared to say MintCocoa and PureLily, it still isn't designed to be fetishized (in canon, what fandoms do with SeaMoon and other LGBT ships is its own matter).

Extra Note on S Class Comparisons

S Class is a trope in Japanese media where two girls will often have a very close bond, akin to romance. However, it is ultimately still platonic and disappears upon either graduation from school or marriage. It is over 100 years old, with some of the first pieces of the genre being in the early 1900′s. And was a major influence on the yuri, more commonly called GL now, genre.

Before anything else, I want to offer a brief aside that maybe we should be careful when comparing a Japanese literary trope to a Korean game. Comparing the two countries can be a very... very touchy subject matter. Especially in the context of this being a genre that rose in popularity during the colonization of Korea by Japan.

I do NOT think you can compare SeaMoon or anything in CR to S Class tropes. But I will discuss it just to clear things up, as I find comparing the trope to queerbaiting problematic.

It is more akin to queer coding rather than queer baiting. Why? Many of the authors who utilized the trope were queer themselves. In fact, “Obuko Yoshiya, a lesbian Japanese novelist active in the Bluestocking feminist movement, is regarded as a pioneer of Class S literature”. Again, a key factor that separates coding and baiting (being that queer creators will often code but won’t bait).

The genre is at its worst stifling and harmful to the modern day GL genre in Japanese literature, and extremely heteronormative. But to compare it to things like queerbaiting or to entirely dismiss it as a form of WlW rep in the context of how it was used by actual queer people in Japan is entirely unfair to the genre; queer rep does not look the same in every country.

S Class also evades the way in which queerbait can mean being meant for the male gaze, as it is a trope whose origins lie earnestly in media meant for girls. That does not mean it can't be used to appeal to the male gaze, but it is not where it started.

Ending Notes

Are the devs perfect in their representation of SeaMoon and WlW? Of course not, there is a valid conversation to be had on how queer relationships constantly being merely coded rather than explicit is annoying and hurtful. And more and more queer people have this critique of the concept of queer coding. On a personal level, I can forgive it in this specific case cause its in line with how the devs do romance in general. But if it bothers you that it was merely coded for the longest time rather than explicit, that’s entirely valid.

But the idea the devs ever queerbaited audiences is unfair and actively makes many WlW feel invalidated in how they easily saw the coding present in the two’s relationship. Again, queer coding is a net neutral phenomenon while queerbaiting is mostly negative. To subscribe such a notion to what is important rep to so many WlW is hurtful.

Sources

https://www.animefeminist.com/escape-yuri-hell-flip-flappers-critique-class-s-genre/

https://bookriot.com/what-is-queerbaiting-vs-queer-coding/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_S_(genre)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queerbaiting#:~:text=Queerbaiting%20is%20a%20marketing%20technique,romance%20or%20other%20LGBTQ%2B%20representation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_coding#:~:text=Queer%20coding%20is%20the%20subtextual,character%20in%20media%20as%20queer.

#cookie run #cookie run kingdom #crk #sea fairy cookie #moonlight cookie #seamoon #media analysis #lgbt writing #lgbt #queer coding #queerbaiting #crob #cookie run ovenbreak

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misqnon · 1 year

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Masquerade

CHAPTER 1: First Night

"On the final Friday of each month, towns and cities around the country hold their monthly masquerade. Although the humans don’t know it, this is the only time supernatural beings come out of their hiding places to dance amongst the mortals."

(Mystery, adventure, eventual human/vampire romance)

More chapters

—

9:00 p.m., the moon was nearly full, the spring air was lukewarm in the night. The big dome over Blighton was a deep velvety Prussian blue, and creamy white stars poked in and out of its blanket. It was a Friday— Friday the 31st of March.

Aleksandar “Ace” Crain and his sister Lilli- short for Lillibet- were both in the most jovial mood they’d been in all month. To their siblings, this was an amazing feat, as the two of them were nearly always bursting at the seams with energy to a testy degree. Or at least, more so than the rest of the Crain family, who were usually a fairly melancholy, reserved bunch. Living in an old coven house at the top of Blighton hill will do that to you- especially when the house which once housed nearly fifty people now only housed seven.

Four of which, in Ace and Lilli’s eyes, were huge downers.

The fifth was Carter, who probably had more energy than the two of them combined, actually, but funneled it entirely into sleazy activities that neither of them would describe as “jovial” or “fun.” He also had a habit of disappearing, and though all of them were meant to head to the ball together, Carter hasn’t been in the house all day.

But none of that mattered right now! As it was finally time for Blighton’s masquerade, and they were smiling and laughing with each other as they each pulled on their masquerade wear. They were in one of the extra rooms upstairs, both stepped behind antique baroque screens as they changed their clothes. Harley, Maki, and Priya were probably getting ready with their own dresses and suits in their respective rooms, but Ace and Lilli had been close since they were kids. They were closest in age, although truthfully none of them were that far apart.

“You almost done, Lilli?” Ace called, stepping out in his green and gold suit. The accents tied it back into the gold and green mask he held in his hand.

“I’m ready!” She exclaimed, stepping out in her pale pink masquerade dress, her own mask hanging on the screen corner.

“Hell yeah, let’s go bother the rest of ‘em then.” Lilli hopped up to grab her mask and followed after him, pulling her long hair back into a low ponytail as she skipped after him, fangs glinting in the old mansion’s amber lights.

—

“Leo?”

“Hold on, I’m coming. Something got stuck in my shoe."

Marnie turned on her heel to wait for him, watching as he balanced on one foot to shake a rock from his loafers. Not his usual shoe, but neither of them were in their usual dress. They were on their way to their first-ever masquerade.

"You good?"

He nodded, and Marnie excitedly skipped forward, holding her mask up to her face.

You had to be at least 21 to attend a masquerade, and the twins had had their 21st birthday just earlier this month. Leo was excited in a way, but not ecstatic per say- unlike his sister, who was practically running down the dirt path in the moonlight.

"Hey, look!"

"Hm?"

"Put your mask on, I see some other masqueraders!"

Leo sighed, hoisting up the wand that his handheld mask was attached to. It was hard to see through his glasses and the mask, and it made his face feel clunky. He was slowly coming to the realization that maybe the masquerade wouldn't be his type of thing. But he had to at least try it once. Especially for Marnie.

He looked over to where Marnie had been only to see she was now waving down the caravan of people. There were about 10 of them, all chatting amongst each other as they headed towards Blighton's ballroom on the forested border of town.

One of the women in the crowd, a girl in a pale pink dress and long pink hair, excitedly waved back. Marnie practically beamed at the reciprocation and began running over. Leo followed behind, only walking, but with an amused smile.

"Hello!!" The pink girl called, waving a clawed hand. Her fingernails were long but clean, prim, manicured. She had little rings and chains decorating her fingers and wrist.

As they got closer, Marnie called back. "Hi!"

A few others waved to the twins as they approached as well; a tall blonde man next to the pink girl and a couple various citizens the twins recognized (to the best of their ability) as townsfolk.

"Welcome! Are you guys excited? I heard tonight's music is going to be all strings! I'm so excited!" The pink girl chirped, clasping her hands together. Marnie giggled, adjusting her mask.

"I didn't know that! This is actually our first masquerade."

"What!?" The pink girl and the man beside her gasped, as did a few others in the crowd. "Congratulations! You're gonna have so much fun!"

"Aw, thanks! We're excited." Marnie said, looking over her shoulder to Leo. He smiled back at her, letting her know he was going okay.

He wasn't big into social situations, or people, for that matter. But he was happy to see Marnie making friends. She was especially nervous around other girls her age, so Leo was glad to see her getting along with the girl in pink. Although she seemed to be chattering along with ease, Leo knew she was nervous.

He watched Marnie nervously try to pull down her skirt without the pink girl noticing, just as the latter held out her bejeweled hand.

"You can call me Liatris! And this is my brother, Astronomer." She said, gesturing to the blonde man who'd been relatively quiet, although excitedly waving along with her the whole time.

"Nice to meet you guys!" He said then, reaching out a big hand.

Marnie took their hands and shook them firmly, although both of them were cold from the night air. And what strange names they had, too.

"You guys are siblings? So are we! This is my twin brother, Le- Wait, uh, aren't we not supposed to tell each other our names?"

Liatris giggled. "Yea, you're exactly right. Didn't your parents tell you that you're supposed to come up with a codename for the masquerade? It's traditional to make it the same first letter as your real name so people can try to find you if they really wish to, but it's up to you." She said, looking over at some of the more quiet members of the group.

"Oh, we actually don't live with our parents anymore. We moved out a while ago. We're, uh-"

She stumbled with her words a bit more, unsure what to say. The mention of their parents had thrown her off her rhythm.

"We don't know much about the masquerade, really, is what she means to say." Leo said, stepping in.

"Oh, of course! Nothing to be ashamed about!" Liatris seemed to sense that she had brought up a sore subject, and tried to put them back at ease. "Well, Astronomer and I can teach you everything you need to know!"

"Yea! There's not much to it anyway; just an opportunity to have fun and dance the night away." Astronomer said, and presumably snickered. He and Liatris' masks were especially mysterious, hiding their entire faces as well as wrapping around to cover their ears. Through all the years they'd seen masqueraders walking through the town streets on Friday nights, they'd rarely seen any masks like this.

"Well, what do you think a good codename could be? My name starts with M." Marnie said, pushing up her mask again. They could see the masquerade venue in the distance now, only about 2 or 3 more minutes away.

"Hmm, M…M…" She tapped the bottom of her mask with each syllable.

Astronomer stepped in. "Well, our family has always done it by picking a fancier word that starts with the same letter as your name, but also relates to who you are. Liatris likes flowers, and I like the sky. That help?"

"It does, actually! Maybe…Magnolia?"

"Ooh, I love magnolia trees!" Said Liatris.

"Perfect!" Astronomer said, giving a thumbs up.

These people were excessively friendly, Leo thought.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" Leo looked up and realized Astronomer was looking at him.

"Oh, me? Uh, I dunno, something starting with L…"

He looked to Marnie for help, but instead found her chatting away with Liatris. He could see how happy she was getting to make a new friend, but he was annoyed that she wasn't paying any attention to him while someone new was asking him questions. She knew he was bad at this.

"Well, what do you like?" The taller man said, trotting over to walk beside him. They were almost at the doors now, and it seemed as if the two sibling pairs had paired up. Just not as Leo had expected.

"Uh, well, I like to…write. And I like…history?" He didn't even like history that much. He was forgetting everything about himself.

"Oh, my other sister loves history! She's not as friendly as Liatris though." He paused, and although Leo couldn't see his face, he sensed that the other was debating something. Then he shrugged, and yelled out into the crowd they were walking with.

"Hey Medusa!"

A woman with short red hair shot around to look at them both, and she did not seem pleased.

"What." She said, flat, and not much of a question.

"What are some historical writers who start with L?"

"...What? Why?"

"I'm helping my new friend find a masquerade name!" He said, slinging an arm over Leo's shoulder, which seemed to surprise both Medusa and Leo himself.

She looked at them both silently, then seemed to scrutinize over Leo before uttering a single monotone name.

"...Lenin."

Then she turned away and returned to walking with the rest of her quiet little group within the crowd.

"Wow. I'm surprised she actually gave an answer."

Leo looked up at Astronomer, who still had his arm around the other's shoulder.

"Welp! Looks like we're next to go in!"

Leo hadn't even noticed, but it was true. Marnie and Liatris were already inside, looking around in awe at the massive hall.

He stepped in with Astronomer and couldn't help but be taken aback himself. The ballroom was huge, with golden arches and walls adorned in scarlet draperies and decor. The main room itself opened up to an atrium, and the second floor had a mezzanine balcony that seated tables and chairs overlooking the intricately patterned ballroom floor below. It could easily fit at least a thousand people.

Though he couldn't see it, Astronomer was grinning down at him from under his mask. Leo stepped forward more, the other's arm falling from his shoulders, looking around in wonder. He couldn't help but smile.

"Le- Er, Lenin! Isn't this great?" Marnie was looking back at him from where she had stepped aside with Liatris. He and Astronomer went over to join them.

"Yea, it is. I've never seen so many people in one place. And the venue…"

"I can't believe you asked Medusa to give him a name." Liatris said, amused.

Astronomer shrugged. "I was only asking our dear sister for a little favor."

"Oh? You guys have another sister?" Marnie asked. She had missed part of the earlier conversation.

"Yea. Two more other than me, actually. And two more brothers. There's six of us."

"Six!?" Marnie asked.

Liatris giggled. "Yea. We aren't related by blood, but we're family. They're all here. They were in the crowd with us."

"Wait, really?"

"Yea!" Astronomer jumped in. He leaned down next to Marnie and pointed them each out.

"That's our oldest brother, Hollow. And, obviously, none of these are their real names. And there's Medusa, our history buff, and Haring, our artist. Cannibal is somewhere around here. He didn't come with the rest of us."

"He chose his codename to be….Cannibal?"

Liatris and Astronomer both seemed to wilt at that. They both sighed.

"Yeah…."

Astronomer jumped up again.

"Well! I'm gonna get us some drinks. Requests, Ladies?"

"You know what I want!" Liatris chimed.

"Hm…I'll have whatever Liatris is having." Marnie said, smiling.

"That's a bit of a gamble with her, you know." Astronomer winked- though no one could see it. Liatris could tell, though, and gestured for him to stop, apparently not willing to joke.

"What about you, Lenin?"

Leo got the feeling he was winking as he said that (again). The way he sang his name had him warming up to the other, just a bit.

"I'm not going to lie; I have no idea what they have."

"Well, why don't you come with me then?" He said, holding out a hand.

"Oh…alright, yea, sure." He took the other's hand, and immediately he was whisked away, a bit of blush rising to his cheeks. He could hear Marnie giggling at him as he was pulled through the various dancers on the floor, all in various masks and dresses and gowns.

After plenty of bobbing, weaving, and twisting, mostly facilitated by Astronomer, they reached a long table with various punch bowls, bottles, water taps, and plates of food.

He grabbed four glasses and immediately began filling two with a bright pink champagne.

"Are those for your sister?" Leo asked.

"Our sisters," Astronomer corrected. "But yea. They are." He had a smile in his voice.

"She sure likes pink, huh."

"You have no idea." He said, chuckling. He handed Leo one of the other glasses.

"Take your pick! From wine to whiskey, water to…juice, I guess."

Leo snickered, something actually visible since his mask was only eyes-up. Astronomer seemed to like getting a positive reaction from him for once.

Astronomer continued. "No milk. No blood, either."

Leo chuckled again. "Too bad for your brother, then." He started filling his glass with some wine.

"Huh?" Astronomer said, actually somewhat seriously. Then he thought a moment, and laughed nervously. "Oh! Cannibal. Yea, yea, he loves the stuff."

They took the drinks back to the girls, Astronomer keeping Leo from being run over on at least two occasions. When they finally reached them, over on the side of the ballroom, their wallflower quartet, they each took a drink and felt a lovely night coming on. Then the music changed.

"Oh! My god! It's my favorite! And in strings! Magnolia, you must dance with me!" Said Liatris, grasping Marnie's hands in her own.

"Oh, sure! Sure, I'd love to!" She hopped off the wall and let Liatris drag her away, the two of them giggling and holding hands the whole way as they went.

"Wow. They made fast friends." Astronomer said.

"You're telling me…" Leo murmured. He was, just slightly, bitter that his sister had left him. They were supposed to do this together.

"Well, I guess that leaves us no choice." Astronomer said, pushing off from the wall himself. He stood in front of Leo and then bowed, extending his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Leo felt his heart skip a beat. He had not come here expecting to dance with a very handsome man in a very mysterious, expensive-looking mask.

…Perhaps that's exactly what masquerades were for, but it's still not what he came prepared for.

Apparently, they were still within view of Marnie and Liatris.

"Oh, just dance with him already!" He heard Marnie yell from a few yards away.

He grumbled, embarrassed and blushing, and took the other's hand. He chuckled.

"I'll take it slow." The blonde said.

Somehow, that only made Leo's heart go faster.

They swung onto the dancefloor somewhere around where their sisters were, but through the sway of the other dancers and the movement of the crowd, they ended up near the back of the venue, circling the edge of the congregation. Astronomer had his hand placed gently, but firmly, at a respectable place on Leo's back. Their hands were clasped and the blonde's was cold, but not frightfully so. Leo was having trouble trying to keep his mask up and dance at the same time.

First masquerades were a good time to learn that the hold-able masks were horribly inconvenient. They were less than an hour in and his arm was so tired he considered revealing his identity just to put the damn thing down. His glasses could count as a mask, right?

Speaking of, he had plenty of time to examine his dance partner's mask at the moment. Beautiful, intricate, and ornate, a gold and green mask that gave hints of a bird of prey. The sides that wrapped around the ears began to look like feathers, or maybe the twisting ends of a Rococo design. He did wish he was able to see the other's face. It would make judging the social aspect of it all a bit easier. Somehow, though, he had a feeling the other was smiling.

"Are you enjoying your first masquerade?" The blonde asked.

"Yea, actually. I'm…not much of one for big social events, but…It's nice. Thanks for being so welcoming, you and your sister."

"Of course! We don't get to leave the house very often, so we really look forward to the masquerade every month. Even though the rest of our siblings seem pretty standoffish…they really enjoy it too."

"I'm glad to hear it. WoAH-"

Suddenly, the other was spinning him. He laughed, then half-dipped him.

"Hehe, sorry. It went with the music."

Leo felt his heart pang for the second or third time this night, and realized with finality that he had a crush. Well, damn.

He awkwardly laughed and let himself be pulled up. "It's okay. I appreciate your dedication to tradition."

"Ehhhh…Not really. Only the fun stuff." He led Leo through a few more small spins as the music swelled. "I like seeing what the present has to offer. New changes. The good changes, that is."

Leo smiled. "I agree."

"So, I know your parents aren't around, but do you two have any friends in Blighton? Someone else to come to the masquerade with? Or is it just you two?"

"It's…mostly just us. We moved here about a year ago, and we only really have acquaintances."

"Well, not anymore!" Astronomer twirled him again. "Now, for at least one day a month, you have two new friends."

Leo smiled. "I really appreciate that." He wanted to ask if they could hang out perhaps outside the masquerade, but he wasn't sure if that was against masquerade etiquette. Besides, if Astronomer was alright with them hanging out in real life, wouldn't he have suggested it?

Or, maybe he was waiting for Leo to suggest it? He certainly wouldn't mind…It would mean a friend for Marnie, and maybe even a boyfriend for him…

"Actually, what about-?" Leo began, but he was cut off by the appearance of a man in a black and red mask similar to Astronomer and Liatris'. He grabbed Astronomer's arm and eyed Leo nervously.

"Psst! I need to talk to you. We have…an issue."

Astronomer seemed immediately annoyed. "Are you serious? What'd you do this time? I'm kinda busy here." He said, gesturing to Leo.

"I- Nothing, thank you. I was just- Well, I think there's a…" He looked at Leo again, then leaned up to Astronomer's ear.

"A hunter." He whispered.

Leo heard him, for the most part, but wasn't sure he heard correctly. A hunter? What did that matter? Was something wrong? Did he have a weapon?

Actually, Astronomer seemed confused too. "...What? Look, go tell Hollow."

"No, he'd kill me!"

"I thought you said you didn't do anything wrong! Carter, if you did anything I swear-"

It seemed to Leo like he'd let a name slip, but he seemed quite irritated now. Was this "Cannibal", their brother? The first letter matched, and this argument seemed very…sibling like.

"There he is!" Carter said, and pointed a sharp, polished black fingernail toward a man in the crowd. This man wasn't wearing a mask, only a wide-brimmed black hat. And he was walking towards the three of them very intently, and very angry-looking.

In fact, he looked pretty threatening overall. His dreadlocked hair was pulled back into a ponytail, leaving his face and its many scars in plain view under the shadow of his headgear. And on close examination, it looked like he had weapons on his belt.

The two brothers shut up immediately, and Astronomer grabbed Leo by the arm and yanked him along as he rushed off to one of the hallways feeding into the main ballroom. Carter ran in the opposite direction, but into another one of the service hallways. The man in the hunting gear watched them both, then went after Carter.

Astronomer sighed. They were just around the corner, hiding in a dark inlet near an exit. This was clearly not meant for patrons- the lights were dim and empty platters and carts and trays lined the wall where masquerade workers had put them aside.

Leo looked up at his new friend with a questioning frown.

"What was that about?"

He sighed. "I don't know. Cannibal's always getting himself into trouble. Sorry about that. You should get back to your sister, I'll deal with…whatever this is. Could you let Liatris know too, if she doesn't already?"

"Yea, of course." Well, there went the nicest date-not-date he'd ever had. And the man of his dreams. And the friendship of a lifetime. And his entire night.

Alright, he was being dramatic- but he was still disappointed to cut it off with Astronomer so quickly. They'd all gotten along so well. Maybe next time-

"FOUND YOU!"

"Huh?"

Leo popped back into reality just as he was about to re-enter the main ballroom, only someone was in his way. The angry man. The angry scary man. He wasn't looking at Leo, however; he was looking over Leo, at his date. Who pointed to himself, questioning. The hunter nodded.

"...Shit-" Astronomer started to run, but the Hunter grabbed- wait, grabbed Leo?

"Hey!" Leo groaned, fumbling as the other tightened his grip on his shirt collar.

Astronomer stopped then, and growled, "Are you serious? Put him down, he hasn't done anything!"

"I will. Soon as you come over here." His voice was like butter, but with little bits of gravel in it. Mean, evil gravel. It made Leo sick.

He felt like he had gotten mixed up in something he shouldn't have, and he didn't even remotely know what that thing might be. He continued to struggle but it wasn't doing much good.

Astronomer tsked and began walking over. Leo was tempted to tell him not to, but to be fair, he didn't even know what was at stake.

As soon as he was in front of the two of them, the hunter loosened his grip on Leo, who scrambled behind Astronomer. Then Astronomer held out his hands.

The other man took out a pair of handcuffs, a bit different looking from any Leo had seen before, and went to put it on the taller man's wrists.

Then the taller man brought up his leg and kicked the other man between his legs.

"C'MON LENIN!" He yelled, barreling down the hallway and grabbing Leo as he went. Leo nearly dropped his mask, eyes bulging out in the commotion. He looked behind him to see the hunter doubled over in pain, but he looked up at them both at the last minute before they ran through one of the exits.

They were outside suddenly, running through the gardens and alongside the forested woods that lined the town. The masquerade venue sat at the top of an incline, and a very sharp cliff-like cut off fed into the forest below. They were running very close to it, very fast, and Leo couldn't remotely keep up. He was quite literally flying through the air behind the other with his feet occasionally kicking dirt and grass up as he bobbled along behind him.

"Where are we going?!" He managed to choke out between the bumps and the out of breath rhythm of his chest.

"I…don't really know! Just away from that guy!" He managed, with much less difficulty than Leo.

Speaking of, Leo decided to glance around just to ensure they weren't being followed.

Well, they were. He was barreling at them at top speeds.

"UH- ASTRONOMER?"

"Yea? OH, SHIT!"

He turned, back around another side of the building. It was darker here from the forest's overhanging trees, and the ground was uneven. They actually tripped a bit as they turned, but recovered.

Then a knife whizzed past Astronomer's head. And another.

"WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE!" The blonde man cried.

Astronomer turned around, still stepping backwards every so often, getting a visual on their assailant. He had stopped to load a crossbow. Actually, it was already loaded. It was pointed at them, and he was about to fire.

The world seemed to begin moving in slow motion at that moment. Leo gasped, and felt his mouth slowly falling open. Astronomer did the same, and felt his feet slowly begin to move. He took one step, then two, and tackled Leo to the ground. Only, there was no ground there; just air, and suddenly they were both falling down the side of the sharp mud incline that led to Blighton Woods. An arrow whizzed past them a few seconds too late, and Astronomer tucked his arms around Leo as they rolled down dirt, rocks, and sticks for what seemed like forever.

Finally, they stopped; Astronomer's back landing harshly against a rock. He groaned, letting go of Leo and tensing up for a moment as he realized the air was knocked out of him.

Leo groaned as well, pushing up off the ground and looking up the near fifty-feet drop. No sign of the hunter.

He rolled away from his companion and rubbed his head, sitting up and looking over Astronomer, who seemed a bit more scraped up than he was, but otherwise uninjured. Somehow, his mask was still secured, but Leo's had been lost in the tumble.

"Jesus, are you alright?" Leo ventured.

His companion groaned again, but nodded, slowly sitting up.

"Yea, I think so…God, that is not how I thought tonight was gonna go." He looked over at Leo and stopped, gesturing to his face.

"Yea, I know. It fell off somewhere up there. At this point, I feel like we're a little past the whole masquerade part of the night."

"Oh, uh- I'm…actually going to keep mine on, if you don't mind." The blonde gulped, nervous. "Sorry. My brother would kill me if I revealed my identity."

"Oh…Yea, of course."

"Sorry. I, uh, don't mean anything by it."

There was an awkward silence then, Leo's bare face staring at the intricate metal mask in front of him.

"But! I can tell you my name. Just to make it even. It's more of a nickname, anyway."

Leo quirked a brow. "You can tell me your name, but you can't reveal your identity?"

The other laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's more of a facial recognition thing than anything else…But, yes! I can! It's Ace." He held out his hand again.

"Nice to meet you. For real this time. And…sorry I got you into this."

Leo stared down at the hand in front of him for the second time that night. He took it, and grinned.

"Don't worry about it. I'm Leo."

"Leo…That fits you. I like it." Ace said. "You weren't supposed to tell me your name, though. Now we aren't even anymore." He joked.

Leo snickered. "Too bad, I guess."

Ace stood and then held out a hand to help Leo up as well. They both took another glance up the cliff to make sure they hadn't been followed, and then Ace took a deep breath.

"...Oh. You're bleeding, by the way."

Leo looked down at his hand. Sure enough, he was. Just a small cut.

"Ah, well. It isn't too bad. I'll get it bandaged when we get back up there. …We are headed back up there, right?"

"Yea, eventually. You gotta get back to your sister, and I gotta check on the rest of my family. And who knows what even happened to Carter."

He sighed again, then looked up the dirt and rock that made up the cliff in front of them.

"...Think you can climb that?"

Leo took one good look.

"Nope."

"Yea, worth a shot. C'mon, we'll have to walk around."

Ace started heading through the trees, pushing aside branches for the man behind him. Leo felt a bit helpless. And a bit nervous. He wanted to get back to Marnie. He was nervous about how she'd react when he noticed he was gone. He didn't want to make her worry.

Besides, who knew if she was in danger with that crazy guy running around?

"By the way, do you know why that guy was chasing you and your brother?"

Ace hemmed and hawed a bit. "Well, it's…kinda related to why I can't take off my mask. But yea, I think I do. Long story short, he doesn't like my family."

Leo decided not to press on that issue any farther. Well, to an extent.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but are you all…famous, or something?"

Ace laughed out loud at that comment. "Nah, we aren't famous. Just related to some important guys from the past."

"Oh, that's cool! I won't ask, obviously, but I love local history."

"Oh yeah?" Ace broke a twig in their way. "How much do you know about Blighton?"

"Well, now I just look stupid. Not that much, really. I knew more about my hometown, Coal Stop. It was a big player in getting the railroad system to the scale it's at today. Still provides a lot of fuel for the older trains, too. It's a bit of a shell of its former self now that most of the trains run on steam energy. …But I do know a couple things about Blighton."

"Ah, I've visited Coal Stop a couple times! About two hour's train ride from here, yea?"

Leo nodded. "Yea. Just far enough away, in my opinion." He and Ace laughed at that. They seemed to understand each other when it came to family troubles.

"Really though, what do you know about Blighton? I'm curious. My sister Maki's a big history buff, like I said. I wanna compare to what she's told me."

'Huh, he's started saying their real names now', Leo thought. 'I guess he trusts me.'

"I know that it used to be the capital, and that there was some kind of turf war at some point that left the town pretty divided. A Romeo and Juliet situation. The town had a rough period, but people eventually started coming back."

Ace brought a finger to the bottom of his mask, thinking for a moment. "Hmmm…Yea, I'll accept that."

"Did I get something wrong?"

"Nope! Seems a good enough interpretation as any." Ace hopped over a small log, kept walking ahead, and apparently was content to leave it at that.

They kept walking through the brush, but at this point it was getting very, very dark. The sun had set just before they arrived at the masquerade, and now more than an hour had passed, maybe more. Leo couldn't see a thing, but Ace was somehow dodging every stick and branch in their way.

"Ack-!"

Leo tripped over a wild root and almost fell face-forward into the knotty, hard night ground. Luckily, Ace caught him just in time- much like the way he'd been dipping him earlier. Leo missed that. That was just as hot, but under much more comfortable circumstances.

"God, thank you. I don't understand how you can see in this."

"What can I say, it's in my genes."

Crunch.

The two of them froze.

…Crunch, crunch.

"Stand back." Ace whispered. Leo obliged, getting behind a tree as quietly as he could. They both had the same guess as to who was coming.

Then, there was silence, but a figure appeared in the small clearing with them, his voice dramatic and sly.

"Oh, there you are Ace! You still have that human with you?"

Ace faltered. "Wh- Carter?"

'Human???'

"I figured I'd find you down here. I managed to get away from that guy; I let Lillibet know what's going on. She told me to come find you and the human."

Ace visibly prickled. "Stop- Shut up, Carter."

"What are you talking about?" He was playing dumb.

"OHHH, you haven't told him yet, have you! No wonder you still have your mask on. You're so well behaved. I'll tell Harley you followed all his little rules."

At this point, Leo could quite easily put the pieces together, and he wasn't going to feign ignorance any longer. He still wasn't 100% convinced, because it was crazy, wasn't it? To think these two- and Liatris, too; maybe their whole family- were inhuman somehow? The hints were there, they were just small, and inconsequential if not put next to one another, but this..There was still a chance it was a joke, right?

He trusted Ace, he liked Ace.

He looked up at Ace.

Nothing was visible behind the cold brass of the mask.

Carter took another step forward and caught his attention instead. Now, he was standing where there was a bit of moonlight shining through the trees. It was still hard to see, and he couldn't truly be sure, but Ace's brother, Carter, his ears were pointed. He slyly pretended to tuck a lock of wavy black hair behind his ear. Not only that, but what Leo hadn't noticed when meeting him with his mask on was that he was covered in gauze and bandages, wrapping around half of his face, his eye, and his neck.

And then, when he spoke, two long, sharp incisors caught Leo's attention.

"Ace didn't wanna scare you, but he's not human under there, my friend. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Carter."

The raven-haired vampire turned with a playful smile, humming a "Hm?" as he turned to his brother.

Ace held an antique gold key, which he placed firmly in Carter's hand.

"Go home."

Carter stared at the key a moment, then scoffed.

"You're no fun." He pocketed it, immediately frowning and visibly worsening in mood. "Tonight's already been a disaster. I don't see why you insist on trying to keep up appearances."

"I wouldn't have to if it weren't for you. Can't you behave for like, one day, Carter? Just one?"

Carter made no comment, only worsening the sour expression on his face. As he walked off in the other direction, Ace only watched.

Leo was practically shaking in his loafers. He was terrified. He was lost, at night, in the middle of the woods, with vampires. Real vampires. And one of them was tall and strong and leaning towards him right now at this very moment.

"Leo, I am…so sorry about all of that. I-" He stopped, rubbing the back of his neck.

He reached up and undid the clasps on the back of his golden mask, pulling it down from his face.

"I guess I might as well talk to you face to face for this. No point hiding anymore anyway, is there?"

As he spoke, Leo was only watching the weapons stashed behind his lips. He swallowed.

Ace- the man he met as Astronomer- had finally been revealed to him after hours of this endless, crazy night. His blonde hair was pushed back in a messy manner, revealing bright and unnatural yellow-green eyes. Now that he thought about it, what he thought were brown eyes on Carter actually had a gleam of red.

Leo was still silent, probably sweaty, and unable to hide the pure unease that wracked his form. Ace showed a bit of hurt on his face, but of course he wasn't surprised.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Leo. We're friends. Or at least, I hope you still consider us so. If you ever did in the first place." Ace reached out his hand for Leo to shake for the third time that evening, but this handshake held all the weight of acceptance and truth and rawness that the other one had no idea would ever be a consideration.

And Leo, a bit fearful and unsure what to think, wasn't sure he wanted to shake that hand. But he also knew that if he didn't, he'd hurt the feelings of someone who he did have otherwise positive experiences with to judge him on. And also that if he upset him, he might end up on a vampire's bad side, which could also be bad. So in the end, more out of obligation than anything, he took it, barely.

Ace gave a hesitant smile and shook it gently.

"Thank the Skies. Now, as much as I'd love to sit down and explain…all of this. I assume you want to get back to your sister. And I probably need to meet back up with my family, too."

Leo nodded aggressively. Yes, yes, Marnie and leave. Sounds perfect. He could really use some Marnie right now.

"Wait a minute." He said, speaking for the first time at all in this interaction.

"Your sister, Liatris, that Marnie's still with- is- is she, too…?"

"Her name's Lilli. And yea. We all are."

Leo thought he might faint.

"But we're harmless, promise." Then he muttered, "'cept Carter, anyway…"

Leo heard that though, of course, and made a mental note to write his will upon returning home. He would leave everything to Marnie, and he wanted an open casket. May everyone see what the vampire did to him, amen.

"Hey, there's the way up!"

Ace jumped over a log and the forest gradually cleared into the grass and dirt path of the town outskirts. Just to their right was a hill leading back up to the venue. Leo couldn't be more relieved- and frankly, Ace looked pretty happy too. They took about 5 paces up the hill before two figures appeared at the top of it and the sound of two relieved sisters yelling their brothers' named filled everyone's ears.

"Leo!! Holy shit, I was so scared something happened to you!" Marnie came bounding down the hill so fast she nearly tripped over her own feet. She still had her mask up, but she dropped it halfway down to throw her arms around him. Leo smiled and hugged her back just as tight.

Beside them, a still-masked Lillibet was doing the same. As soon as she reached Ace she held his arms and looked up at him, relieved he was alright too. But then she realized he wasn't wearing his mask, and then she looked from him, to Leo, and back.

"Your mask…" She whispered, anxious.

Marnie pulled back and looked between the three of them, confused. Lilli was the only one still wearing a mask at this point, so she didn't really see why it was such a big deal. Then she caught a glimpse of just how pointy Ace's ears were, and she quirked a brow at Leo. Her brother just held her hand tighter, his lips pressed together in a nervous line.

"Am I…missing, something?" Marnie asked.

Ace sighed, and Lilli began undoing her own mask clip. When she removed it, a fairly normal young woman was underneath, though her eyes were the same rosy pink as her hair. She then parted some of it, and an elven ear of her own poked through the strands.

"We, uh…" Lilli started, quiet. She sounded so shy suddenly.

"They're vampires." Leo said.

Ace and Lilli exchanged nervous glances.

"...What?" Marnie asked, incredulous.

She was giving her brother the stupidest of looks, so Ace stepped in.

"He's uh. Telling the truth. That's why we wear such comprehensive masks."

When Ace spoke, his fangs went on display, and all of that together had Marnie convinced just as quick.

"Oh my god….fuckin vampires…" She whispered, seemingly to herself in wonder, looking Ace and Lilli up and down.

She looked at Leo again, suddenly, taking careful inventory of his neck especially, and then back to Ace and Lilli.

"Well…the only thing I have to say. Is that you're very, very pretty underneath your mask, Liatris."

Lilli blanked. Then, slowly, tears started to prick her eyes. Marnie immediately flustered.

"Oh- Oh, I'm sorry-"

"No, No! I'm just. That was so sweet. Thank you." The poor thing sniffled, then held out a hand. "And it's Lilli, actually."

Marnie took it. "Marnie." She smiled.

As the girls reaffirmed their newfound friendship, Ace looked somewhat hopefully over at Leo, who was trying with all his might to avoid eye contact. When he did happen to look, against his own wishes, Ace was practically giving him puppy dog eyes.

This was so very, very weird. And wrong.

"Leo?"

It was Marnie. She was still holding Lilli's hand. Ace was standing expectantly, like a kid waiting their turn.

"You don't mind, right?"

Now see, this was a dirty, evil trick. Marnie knew Leo. She had since the day they were born, even before that. And she knew him well enough to know that he was both deathly afraid of anything supernatural and also completely terrified of anything that could possibly harm him. The man didn't even trust dogs. So when she said 'You don't mind, right?' What she was really saying, was:

'I know you mind, but I'm going to ask you this publicly in front of them so you have no choice but to agree, because this is my way of telling you to Not Mind. Also, I know you have a crush on Ace, and I think you should have a hot vampire romance with him, and this is the first step. So say of course not and I'll argue with you about it later.'

And so that's exactly what he did.

—

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OH MY GOD THANKS FOR READING?? IF YOU DID??

apologies for any typos this is just...me. this is entirely a personal project for fun and its the first time in a WHILE i've had the motivation/inspiration to come up with new characters and a story let alone...write it. Here's the first chapter, the first 7,000 words out of 24K so far. there's no concrete uploading schedule- and tbh, i may or may not upload more depending on response.

if you wanna see what the characters look like (mostly, they're picrews and mostly vibe-based) you can check out this post or my masquerade story tag. please comment or leave a message if u liked it thaaaaanks for fueling my vampire obsession

#original story #oc #vampires #vampire oc #vampire story #my ocs #masquerade story #vampire x human #vampire x hunter #my writing #lgbt writing #lgbt story #supernatural #original character #edited: 5/25/23 #masquerade update

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