Shot in the Dark - Renfield's Paraphilia

Welcome to the first posting of a regular monthly feature looking at Dark one-shots. Each month we will be reviewing something short and dark whether vamp or AH.
This is an excellent taster to the Darkside.
Recommendations always welcome.

Renfield's Paraphilia by swill122 and mjinaspen

SUMMARY: The Age of Edward Contest Entry: Lead Detective in the case against Richard Chase, the “Vampire of Sacramento,” Edward Masen faces debilitating nightmares about his unrequited love, slain by the serial killer. DISTURBING IMAGES.

Dihenydd says:-

Renfield was the ‘lunatic’ under the influence of Dracula in the original vampire novel. One definition of paraphilia is “recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies involving the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner”. Renfield’s Paraphilia is the obsession to drink blood for the purpose of sexual arousal.

If there is one story that illustrates that there are undiscovered gems out there this is it for me. I was told about it by swill122 when we were discussing her collaboration with mjinaspen. When I first read it there were 6 reviews on mjinaspen’s profile and zero in swill122’s. It was an entry in the hugely popular Age of Edward contest where it garnered an unbelievable 0% of the vote and was placed third from bottom. Yet I have no hesitation in saying that it is my all time favorite one-shot.

Contrary to popular belief Darkward is not one dimensional and predictable. There are so many complex interpretations, both vampire and human. This is Dark in a very real sense, Edward lives where no light shines and he is punishing himself physically and mentally.

“His regret is so intense, so stifling, he cannot work through it or around it at all. And the one thing that he thought would free him fell flat, dead. It's devastating for him, and we wanted people to feel that.” - mjinaspen

The lyrical third party narrative is told partly through dreams making use of poetic devices like repetitive phrasing and alliteration.

“dreams that make him restless at night and reckless during the day”

"then he remembers the blood corrupting his stomach and retches wretched all over her body"

“The blood seems endless, the supply limitless, his stomach bottomless”

It has a haunting quality that is at once disjointed, unnerving and cohesive. It speaks eloquently of lost opportunities, lost innocence, lost hope.

The almost imperceptible transitions from happy memories, through flirting which is full of expectations, to erotic fantasies and finally full on horror are nothing short of hypnotizing. The inevitable chilling conclusion is all the more repugnant because of its innocent beginnings.

"Every night Edward dreams about Her flirting, the banter, and the moment when everything spins on its axis. She is the object of his uncontrollably destructive desire. In his dreams he wants Her body, yes, but he also wants Her blood, Her pulse, Her life. He wants it all”.

The eroticism is so powerful it is hard not to be affected, then when it all turns bad we feel guilt for being so affected, in much the same way that Edward does. Yet it is in no way titillating or exploitative. It is edgy and gripping with mesmerizing imagery and a truly original plot.

This is a disturbing story that will stay with you for a long time. If you can take the darkness it is so worth the reading.

~{{{*}}}~

Sweetp-1 says: If you're anything like me you'll have read a huge number of great, well written fanfic stories - lucky for us all, good reads in this fandom aren't hard to come by. The flip side of that, is that it takes something truly brilliant to stand out, to stay with you long after you've finished reading, to be the story that you begin to measure all other one-shots by.

Renfield's Paraphilia is one of those stories for me.

Months ago, when I read it for the first time I remember leaving it open for a few days before I came back and tried to leave a review. I wanted to say how much I enjoyed it, and yet, I almost felt guilty for writing that - this isn't an enjoyable read.

This is a dark, disturbing read that haunted me for days afterwards, just as Edward is haunted by his loss, the despair and horror that are so poignantly portrayed linger long after the story has ended.

Edward's story is one of an angry, jaded cop. It's a stark and raw picture - this is a man broken by the things he has seen. Police reports and newspaper headlines give the story an authentic feel that captures the era, and the horror surrounding the "Vampire of Sacramento" case.

"Every day he faces himself in the early morning light. He brews coffee, reads the paper, and smokes four Camels before heading to the shooting range and then to work. Every day he is a dead man walking."

Close to the edge, lost in the darkness of his grief and guilt, Edward is a man who finds little respite in sleep. Seductive and sensually poetic, the dream sequences provide a welcome almost-relief against the desolation of his waking hours. We see the man he might have been, the playfulness and the sinfully sweet descriptions draw the reader in, mesmerized by the erotic turn his dreams take, it's heartbreaking as these precious moments too, slip into horror.

"The milk-white cream is there, all over her thighs. His tongue is jealous as his eyes feast on it. He pushes her thighs wide and whispers, "be a good girl, strawberry, and lay back for me…" At first, he sees pretty white lace obstructing the view between her thighs, but just as he wishes it were gone, it is. She's still focused on him, and she still moans without moving her mouth, and he dives tongue-first into her pink flesh. His gun is laying off to Bella's side, long forgotten in the furor of Edward and her new dance."

For a darkness that goes beyond the stereotypical gore or shocking twist at the end, and for writing that is simply exquisite - Renfield's Paraphilia is simply a must-read.

~{{{*}}}~

YellowGlue says:

"I have to find the strawberries, Bella. I found the cream... Where are the strawberries?"

So, I read this one shot, Renfield's Paraphilia, months upon months upon months ago, when I first found my way into Twific. I poked around FF.net a bit, posted a story, nothing really caught my interest right away. Until I was recc'd this story. It was the first story that not only slamfucked my priorities right away and demanded ALL of my immediate interest, but it stuck with me. For days. And days.

There were only 10 reviews for this story at that point.

Weeks later, still on my mind, I pulled out my copy of Dracula, and sure enough: "R.M. Renfield, aetat 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable, periods of gloom, ending in some fixed ideas which I cannot make out. I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish, a possibly dangerous man..."

Sounds about right...

According to psychological theory, sanguine is one of the four temperaments corresponding to different personality types: Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. Out of the four, Sanguine doesn't seem like it would be the primary choice for a typical Darkward. But, upon further research I found that people with this temperament tend to be creative, and often give themselves over to dreams and daydreams. Yes, now we're getting somewhere. They're also very sensitive, compassionate, and thoughtful. They also tend to be forgetful and are chronically late.

"I lost focus," Edward exhales nicotine smoke. "I... dropped the ball. I was late."

Yes, now I'm getting somewhere with these puzzle pieces.

Paraphilia: sexual arousal to objects, situations or individuals that are not of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems to the paraphiliac or persons associated. More specifically / in this case: the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner.

And her eyes meet his, and they ask, "How does your kind define love, Edward?"

Same as all bodies... same as everywheres...

"... love is sacrifice ... "

Edward is human in this story, BY THE WAY.

I feel like this is crucial, epic even, considering he's the only actual dynamic human Dark-Darkward I've ever read.

The story begins with a police report, written by our main character, Edward. I suppose I could say protagonist, instead of main character, but only very loosely. Protagonists tend to be defined as heroes with whom the readers share the most empathy. And while I did feel a kind of maybe-sort-of empathy for him, well...

Edward is a merciful God, so he answers that prayer with a single long and languorous lick...

When I say DarkDark, I hope I'm conveying my meaning quite clearly.

After the police report, it switches to third person narration, and the camera pulls way, way back from the character. Then switches to a newspaper article, which relays some rather abhorrent information. The camera pans back to Edward then, holding the paper, and back to the third person narration, keeping a generous distance. For a few lines.

Because then, it goes into the nightmares, where

the rougher he dives, the higher she climbs...

and I just love it when authors include bone-crack sounds and a man that knows how to handle a Smith and Wesson 9mm and a man that knows he

can take from her as he pleases.

I'll never think about gun etiquette the same way again.

As the story opens wider, you find that time is completely surreal and nonlinear. Along with space. And many of the actions themselves. First you're here and then you're there, and

his clothes have gone wherever hers have gone...

and it's all

thump thump thump thump thump thumping...

all around him and you.

It reads like a Bosch painting, frighteningly surreal before surrealism ever was, and moves like a Breton Manifesto: "dictated by the thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern."

The camera moves closer, and closer still throughout the story, zooming in on details that are all at the same time macabre, morbid, and musical. The whole piece reads reads like lyrical art, which is awesome for one author to create. It is *amazing* that this is a collaboration of two authors, and that the seams between them slip absolutely invisibly. And though it's the images that stick with you the longest:

...nothing distracts him from her strawberries - pink, puckered, and wet from his tongue and teeth...

The rhyme, and the the meter that this story has, the alliteration and the way the story coagulates back and forth, that sticks you tight in the moment and leaves you spinningsick afterward. Sometimes you're reading a story and sometimes, you're being told this story, and *sometimes* you're in the storyteller's head. The voice, like the camera of narration, also fluctuates throughout the story, swings like a blade. Sometimes it's speaking about him, very cold and detached. Sometimes for him, frustrated and seeking and desperate. And sometimes through him, panicked. Terrified. It offers it's own pungent and pyrotic brand of explanations, exclamations, excuses, and eluding inquiries.

There are only 13 reviews for this story at this point.

And this baffles me. It is completely egregious to me, this story and it's authors: swill122 and mjinaspen, haven't received more attention, affection, respect, and love.

It left me instantly disturbed, and still (to this day)haunted, and there's not much in the way of current art and literature that does that. While pitchdarkness isn't for everyone, I believe that when it's crafted this fantastically, it should be praised fearlessly. I could not be more thankful to have been told about this story, to these two girls for writing and sharing it, and to have this opportunity to tell EVERYONE to read it. If you're brave enough.

Far and away, my very favoritest one shot, ever.

ABOUT OUR REVIEWERS

dihenydd betas for lambcullen and other wonderful writers and reads altogether too much Twific.

sweetp-1 is the author of many award winning fics and is currently writing Once we were Kings an Edward/Seth story.

yellowglue is the author of the complete fic The Worst of Weather (reviewed here last week), the EPOV Rose Like Thunder (WIP) and some stunning one-shots.

So there you have our educated opinion - now go read and review it! And don't forget to come back next month for another awesome one shot recommendation.