If They Were Monsters
is a Victorian horror crossover AU by TheEvilNae (The Fantasy Book Club) and Sari Spooks (SPOOK). It is a yearly collaboration for the month of October; during that month every year. It is told in a dual-POV and switches writers/artists every chapter, with TheEvilNae doing Fiona's chapters and Sari Spooks doing Charlie's.
After Charlie Shelly storms outside during some heavy snowfall, she meets a vampire laying in an embankment and she invites him to her house to warm up. Leaving hurriedly, he declares that the Shelleys are now under his protection. Eight years later, Charlie is met by her suitor with a marriage proposal, which she accepts. Upon hearing that a local vampire may be hunting people by the bridge, Charlie rushes over, remembering what had happened.
Fiona (Charlie's older sister) has a fearsome reputation amongst the local men as uncontrollable, uncouth, and aggressive. As their werewolf clan has a ritual every full moon where the men have a choice of the unmarried women, Fiona must find a way to survive, with her options being "submit or die".
If They Were Monsters provides examples of:
- Chained to a Rock: Fiona and the other debutantes are chained to the floor during the ball so they can't escape while the suitors are claiming their picks.
- Crossover Alternate Universe: This is a Victorian gothic horror crossover, elements of which aren't present in either SPOOK or The Fantasy Book Club.
- Defiant to the End: Even while chained up, Fiona still finds a way to insult the very men who decide whether she lives or dies.Dain: This one however, seems like she would present a challenge.Fiona: [curtsies] My apologies for my outburst. I was told to be polite.Dain: Were you now?Fiona: Yes sir. So while I do appreciate your interest ... Kindly go fuck yourself.
- Deliberately Monochrome: This is in mostly black-and-white with a few splashes of colour for emphasis.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Implied. Fiona has plenty of suitors, who keep pursuing her even though they know she isn't remotely interested.
- Monochrome to Color: This is mostly in black-and-white, until the end where it's revealed that Fiona became Matriarch, with a full-colour panel of Fiona with a ripped dress, broken shackles, and covered in blood.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: The debutantes have the choice to marry their suitor or get ripped to shreds.
- Sadistic Choice:
- The debutantes must chose between being forced into a marriage that they don't want or being ripped apart and eaten by a werewolf. It's not like they can skip the event; families need to send daughters to keep the werewolf clan's favour.
- The sadistic choice is also implied with the families of the girls: should they keep their daughters and lose their standing or send them and have the possibility of them brutally murdered?
- Sophisticated as Hell: Fiona has a penchant for mixing formal language with profanity. Justified, as Fiona is minor nobility during the Victorian era, so she might be trying to reconcile the flowery speech patterns she was taught with what she actually wants to sound like.Yes sir. So while I do appreciate your interest ... Kindly go fuck yourself.Fiona Shelly at your service and please do feel free to go fuck yourself as well.
- Splash of Color: This is mostly in monochrome, but has significant plot elements in colour (e.g. the werewolves/vampires' eyes, blood)
- Take a Third Option: Fiona gets the "choice" to either marry a man she has no interest in or be ripped to shreds. She instead chooses to become matriarch.
- Working-Class Werewolves: Inverted. All of the werewolves we see are middle-to-upper class.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Fiona's father tells her that she is stronger than she thinks she is.I'm sorry I don't have the strength to save you from this. But no man nor beast is stronger than my daughter.
