Our Bodies, Our Scales

Our Bodies, Our Scales by Juou no zan (女王のザン) first appeared in issue Issue 96 in 2022.

Creator's Notes

The first of my betas to read this story messaged me immediately after she finished reading it to ask “So how fast do Max and Eddie U-haul?” and honestly, I wouldn’t even give them six months. Four, maybe.

So this is a monsterverse story! Previous monsterverse stories have been about werewolves and concubi and witches, but I figured out the vampire stuff around the same time as everything else, I just haven’t finished anything with one in until now. This takes place about a year before The Virgin Incubus, in the city where Hassan’s parents live. Shoba the research witch in the techno coven is actually Hassan’s mom.

I’ve been working on this story off and on for years at this point, but it never really clicked until I was like “oh Eddie is trans” at which point I no longer had a problem figuring things out.

“Ani is there any good reason for vampires to have weird shark eyes” Yes! It’s sexy! I came of age in the heyday of Supernatural, I make no apologies!

I knew I was being self-indulgent with this story in particular and with the vampire lore in monsterverse in general, but I didn’t realize precisely how self-indulgent I was being until my first beta messaged me like “ah, glamours as crip tax, nice” and I realized this story was Very Much About Disability Also. Oops all self-indulgence!