Seventeen & Maldusk: A Supernatural Soap Opera

Yes, we do get our first glimpse into Reuben's past here. It won't be our last. He's 400+ years old, so probably some stuff has happened to him...

He's definitely struggling in this chapter. All those distracting heartbeats, his headaches, not really getting enough of a proper meal. And he probably needs some rest too. I think he works a bit too hard sometimes.

Underfoot has it right! Reuben definitely should be nicer to Mitchell. Underfoot is clearly the "smart one" on this team.

I had fun getting shots for these last two chapters, from both Tristan and Reuben's points of view.

? Reuben definitely could have gotten more juicy secrets out of that tough cop! But I guess Reuben just doesn't really care what sort of hobbies other people do in their spare time.

I am delighted by your opening comment! Count von Count was one of my two favorite characters from Sesame Street as a kid (um... still is, actually ?). Oscar the Grouch was my other favorite. So in Reuben, I have... uh... combined both? :lol: Yay!

Actually, the counting bit in this chapter was partly inspired by some little tidbit of old vampire lore that I stumbled across as I was researching the history of vampire stories. Apparently, it featured in some cultures that vampires were prone to obsessively counting things. I liked the idea that this is something Reuben does specifically when he gets extremely thirsty, to distract himself. The "62 yellow leaves, 63 yellow leaves" bit was definitely an intentional tribute to my favorite vampire puppet though. I can hear the "Ah! Ah! Ah!" too, though Reuben laughing does seem to be a rare occurrence.

It's true, a being like a vampire living through many centuries would definitely see a lot of changes in nature, society, and technology. I've actually thought a lot about that in developing Reuben's backstory, so I wanted to start with this little glimpse. Light pollution is something I think a lot of modern people in areas with a lot of access to electricity don't think about a whole lot. Even just in my own lifetime I have seen the night sky change in my hometown. When I was a kid, we could actually see the Milky Way from our own front yard. But by the time I was a teen, there was already enough extra light from various sources in the area that it was no longer possible to see hardly any stars at all from there. Reuben's feelings about that are pretty much drawn from my own feelings here.

Reuben has some interesting connections, and runs into some interesting people, for sure. He does need to be a bit more careful though, if Goth Girl could spot him for a vampire on the street, probably some others can too. He's not as sneaky as he thinks he is. He doesn't seem to like to use his powers much, only when he needs to. I hope he remembered to wipe Undercover Cop's memory of being manipulated by vampire powers, or he's going to run into even more trouble.

I loved showing this whole sequence from both Tristan and Reuben's POV. Reuben might not be up to too much nefarious stuff, but he's definitely hiding a few things, and Tristan wildly misunderstands most of it. But Tristan, like you, is worried about Tre.