Admin Skitty: There are a lot of things I find interesting about our Xeno Au and its ideas, but my favorite hmmm…..it’s bound to be the bonds the vampires can form with others and the tragedy centered around Carla’s wings!!

I’m not aware whether or not you would want details but I’ll provide them below: (I apologize that it’s long but I got really excited discussing about the topics, I hope that’s alright)

-Vampires are born with left-over vestigial features from their ancestors, in this case wings. While the wings serve the vampires no physical purpose, they are incredibly sensitive and can have a huge emotional and psychological effect upon them. Depending on how you handle them you’ll be able to evoke different reactions. In example (and my favorite) is gentle handling. With gentle handling it is possible one can trigger a bonding instinct due to the pleasure signals it sends to the vampire’s brain, though it must be noted that it is not the only way to initiate the instinct. The bonding instinct is a powerful reaction, and it is not always necessarily a willing attachment to the person who triggered it. The purpose it had most likely served back in primitive times was as some form of a survival instinct, to encourage the vampire to stay closer to someone who was willing to take care of them and provide for their safety. Which may lead to the vampire affected by the instinct to feel the insistent need to keep the person who triggered the bond pleased, and wishing to stay within their vicinity at all times if capable. As long as the bond stays intact it will continue to grow stronger and can truly overtake the vampire, causing them to do things they can’t necessarily control (such as show their wings to notify the person of their pleasure) or do things that aren’t rational for them. There’s so much more to go on about with the topic of wings alone, such as the different types of handling. Or even about how where you handle the wing can affect the vampire in question, but I believe it would be best to cut it off here for right now.

– The tragedy Carla has to face within this Au although quite morbid is one of, if not, my favorite thing about our Xeno Au. As it displays some of the vulnerability even Carla is unable to keep under wraps as a founder. Many of you may be aware that Carla suffers from the disease Endzeit, an epidemic specific to founders capable of wiping out (and almost has wiped out) their entire race. It is a disease that can potentially kill him, and it plays no small role in this Au either. Just as the illness causes marks to appear on his body it is inevitable that it would cause a devastating effect upon his wings as well. Carla is constantly suffering from the agony of his wings, as they are in the process of deterioration due to the sickness. And while they won’t completely rot away as long as he is living, it is still a painful reminder that they will never return to their glory, as they may have looked in his youthful days. To be specific, Carla’s wings will constantly ache and itch and whenever he gives into the pain he will begin to pick at his wings in solitude causing irritation, blisters and deep scaring into the delicate flesh. The thin, tender webbing of the appendages are fading and they are becoming dark in color as well as dry and brittle causing pieces of the skin to fall off. As you could imagine they would be quite painful to look at, let alone suffer from. It is a fragile piece of his body withering before his very eyes incapable of ending the process. While there is no known cure to save Carla’s wings it is acknowledged that gentle handling can help lower the aches and desire to pick at them consistently, but Carla is much too prideful and ashamed of his wings to allow anyone to aid him in his distress. Shin is rather lucky, he does not suffer from Endzeit and nor are his wings is shambles. But, he is no pleasant reminder for Carla.