Thinking about a Victorian gothic horror AU Sanemi rn.
Imagine an albino vampire cursed with a beauty so unnatural that any mortal that looks at him falls under its spell– Humans, beasts, it doesn't matter. One glance at his scarred face and they're hypnotized.
And obviously he takes advantage of it. Lonely travelers lose all sense of caution the moment they see a beautiful pale man standing beneath a gas lamp at midnight. Hunters catch a sight of silver hair disappearing into the fog and leave safe roads just to follow him further into the woods. Animals wander after him like they're being called and ferocious wolves stop growling and curl up at his feet.
It's not really a gift so much as a curse, a very useful curse tho.It's ridiculously easy to lure prey right into his arms and make a meal out of them.
The villages tell stories about a monster haunting the countryside–that appears after sunset and leaves bodies drained of blood in the forests, but nobody can quite agree on what it looks like because the few who see him don't survive to tell the tale. By day he's nothing more than a rumor. By night he hides beneath dark capes and passes himself off as an ordinary gentleman whenever he wanders near civilization. He has long since accepted that his miserable existence will continue so forever.
Then one night he meets a woman who looks him straight in the eye and well... nothing happens. She doesn’t react at all. No trance or sudden blind devotion or loss of reason. No overwhelming urge to follow and stumble after him into the dark woods. She just stares at him. Maybe she even thinks he's a little strange.
And Sanemi is baffled and weirded out. Maybe even a little obsessed.For the first time in centuries someone meets his gaze and remains entirely herself. Why isn't she following after him? Why isn't she surrendering herself to him?
Meanwhile, she has absolutely no clue that the pale gentleman she keeps running into after sunset is actually the creature behind the terrifying rumors/folklore spreading through the villages. As far as she's concerned, he's just an eccentric recluse (with an alarming pale sickness?) and absolutely terrible social skills.
So why is she immune to the curse ?
Maybe it's fate. His curse was designed specifically to be a punishment. His immortality isn't the curse at all-the real punishment is that he was always doomed destined to meet and hopelessly fall in love with the chosen mortal his power cannot touch. The only human who could see him through the enchantment. Someone he could never truly possess, could never turn immortal, and never his to keep. He'll eventually be forced to watch her grow old and die while remaining exactly the same and be left behind. How could he move on in the following centuries after loving her wholeheartedly and ardentally?
Or maybe she accidentally spent years poisoning herself with silver–not on purpose. Victorian women used all sorts of bizarre products in their daily lives: silver-infused hair tonics (hair dyes). Silver-backed brushes. Silver powder mixed inside the white makeup powder. Food cooked with silver pots/ cookware and stored in silver containers. Jewelry worn every day against her skin…etc
Tiny traces built up over the years until silver basically seeped into her being and became almost woven into her body (part of her system). Well I’m not saying it accumulated in a large quantity that causes her silver toxicity or anything, it’s just enough that she interferes with vampire powers or whatever supernatural force that fuel his curse.
And Sanemi spends months trying to figure out why his curse doesn't work on this woman while she just thinks he's oddly invested in her gardening opinions.
Anyway, just wanted to ramble about this idea with you guys.