Fic: When You Tell My Story, Don't Forget Me
Title: When you Tell my Story, Don't Forget Me
Author: kwritten
Artist: fluffyfrolicker
Word Count: 16,085
Rating: Teen
Characters/Pairings: Anna, OC (mention of Pearl)
Warnings: Discussion of abuse, rape, incest, violence (very minor Spoilers for S1)
Summary: After the events in 1864, Anna begins wandering West - ending up in San Francisco at the turn of the century with a human child she must learn how to care for. When she suddenly finds her child is now a fully grown man, Anna must face his desire for her, and vampirism, while also battling a growing awareness that she knows nothing about her own turning, or Pearl's life before they became a "family." After all - what happens when a vampire tries to raise a human child - when she no longer remembers a human life at all...
Author's Note: Many thanks and more thanks tohappyg_rlfor being the most wonderful beta sister in the world! Any further mistakes are my own. Cheerleader awards also go tofluffyfrolicker,upupa_epops, andaerintinefor rushing to my aid when I completely freaked out early in the writing process over how ~dark this story seemed to be. This is my very first bigbang - so thank you to this whole community and my entire flist for being so supportive of my very inelegant stumble into this fandom. I love you all.
[Links to some inspiration/historical context: SPOILERY IN NATURE, DO NOT CLICK UNTIL YOU HAVE READ ALL THE THINGS]
Further notes: Spoilery in nature
- All poetry taken from Women of the Red Plain, an anthology of Contemporary Chinese Women's Poetry
- Shen was found by Anna at a Chinese Railroad Worker Camp - follow link to more information on the presence of Chinese workers in America at this time (It's probably historically inaccurate that a woman and small child would have been in any rough terrain - but I imagine that there must have been some cases/encampments that were not male-only)
- Pearl's story deals primarily with the White Lotus - which was a specific Buddhist sect that worshipped the "Unborn or Eternal Venerable Mother" ... which just screamed "vampire" to me
- The man who kills Pearl's family: Hongwu Emporer - a beggar who used the White Lotus Society to rise to power
- The last story that Anna tells, of Wang Cong'er, is also based on a historical figure who was associated with the White Lotus. She was pretty much a BAMF.
- Title taken in part from the finale piece in "Smash":: "Don't Forget Me"
Link to fic master post: In which lj was mean and made me split this into 6 parts?
Link to art master post: In which fluffyfrolicker is my favorite human