Fanfic / Of Fur, Fangs and Flying Brooms

Of Fur, Fangs and Flying Brooms is a Vocaloid fanfiction by CJ Croen 1393, focusing on the PowerFX Vocaloids being depicted as classic monsters.

The story focuses on the PowerFX Vocaloids and frames them as a Family of Choice of monsters who came together because of the way society rejects them. The series also brings other more unexpected Vocaloids and UTAUs into the mix as other monsters.

Can be read here.

Tropes

• Adaptational Species Change: Several examples.
  • While Big Al and Sweet Ann being Frankensteins Monsters is semi-canon to their lore as mascots, Oliver, who is traditionally perceived as also being a Frankenstein's Monster, is depicted here as a werewolf.
  • Hio and Ruby are assumed to be ordinary humans in their mascot forms. Here, they're a vampire and a witch respectively.
  • While James is still an American goldfinch, he's depicted here as not being a normal one, instead being a magically-constructed Familiar that Ruby made to protect Oliver when he goes into werewolf form.
  • Fukase is a demon.
  • Daina and Dex are assumed to be human, but here they're a kitsune and werewolf respectively. Avanna, meanwhile, is presented as either a cosplaying human or an elf by her Vocaloid mascot, but here, she's a witch.
• Afraid of Needles: Downplayed. Oliver admits to not liking needles when Ruby extracts some of his blood to use in a Familiar-creating ritual. Ruby jokingly suggests it's because he's both a kid and a dog, which Oliver gets annoyed at.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Daina is revealed to be a Kitsune.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: When Oliver accuses Fukase of stalking him to convince him to make a deal, Fukase responds with "'Stalking' is such a negative word... but yes, that's the gist of it."
• Blood Magic: Ruby uses some of Oliver's blood to create a Familiar for him. Oliver is a bit surprised to see that Ruby uses a modern medical needle to extract his blood for the ritual.
  Oliver: This doesn't come off as particularly... magical...
  Ruby: Hey now, even witches are willing to update their approaches with the times! I think you should be glad I'm using actual, clean, modern medical tools for this! In the olden days, this kind of magic would require me to use an actual, rusty, frequently reused knife!
• Burn the Witch!: Ruby's mentor was burned at the stake by distrustful members of their village. However, she had the foresight to protect Ruby before this happened.
• Celeb Crush: Ruby has one on Hatsune Miku.
• Daywalking Vampire: Hio can go out in the daylight with no problem.
• Deal with the Devil: Fukase is depicted here as a demon who wants to forge one with Oliver, though his motives aren't all that clear — beyond finding Oliver "interesting".
• Familiar: James the goldfinch is depicted as one of these, a creature created via magic that is magically bound to a specific person (in this case Oliver).
• Family of Choice: The PowerFX Vocaloids are depicted as such, being a group of people who formed a family bond in response to the society that rejects them.
• Fangirl: Ruby is one of Miku. Hio claims that she has a Celeb Crush on her too.
• Faux Affably Evil: The vampire who turned Hio presents himself politely and elegantly, even when draining the young Hio of his blood. The narration calls him "The Gentleman".
  Gentleman: Thank you so much for the meal, young man...
• Frankenstein's Monster: Sweet Ann and Big Al are a pair of Flesh Golems who were created by a Mad Scientist years ago.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Hio is a friendly vampire. Though his backstory shows that not all vampires are quite as friendly as he is, as he was turned by a more malevolent one.
• Fur Against Fang:
  • When Oliver was imprisoned in an Orphanage of Fear after he was first turned, one of the ways they kept him in place was by leaving a vampire's fang in front of him.
  • Oliver and Hio, a werewolf and vampire respectively, didn't get along when they first met, and Ann mentions after Hio storms out that vampires and werewolves are known to be enemies. Deconstructed later when Hio is asked by his human girlfriend Ia (who isn't in the loop about the family's true nature) why he and Oliver don't get along and Hio can't come up with an answer — all he knows is that vampires and werewolves have never gotten along. This prompts him to try and bury the hatchet with Oliver.
  • Later, this trope returns when Hio meets Ia's friend Dex, who turns out to be a werewolf. Dex gets along well with Oliver, but not with Hio and the two throw passive aggressive jabs at each other during lunch.
• Interspecies Romance: Hio (a vampire) and Ia (a human). Though Ia doesn't know Hio's a vampire.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: A security guard tasked with chasing down Oliver in chapter two calls Oliver an "it".
• Magic Staff: Ruby uses her flying broom as one of these.
• Monster Mash: Our main group consists of two Frankenstein's Monsters, a vampire, a witch and a werewolf, but we soon meet a few other monsters as well, including a demon and a yokai.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Hio's birthplace was Sweden, just like his voice provider Yohio.
  • In Chapter 11, we meet a boy named Satoshi who is actually Fukase in a human disguise. This is a reference to Fukase's voice provider, Satoshi Fukase.
• Orphanage of Fear: Downplayed. Oliver's life in the orphanage was uneventful until he became a werewolf, at which point the orphanage became a collective Jerkass to One towards him, locking him away in a basement, wrapping him in chains made out of silver and keeping him from escaping by placing wolfsbane, a silver cross and a vampire's fang on the floor in front of him. He ends up getting sick of it and escaping, kickstarting the plot of the story.
• Our Demons Are Different: Fukase is depicted as a demon here. He can apparently communicate with Oliver when the latter is in wolf form (something that humans can't do), he has horns and a tail, can control fire and tries to tempt Oliver into making a deal with him. He can also disguise himself as an ordinary human.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Hio is a vampire. According to the story, vampires consume blood, can shapeshift into bats, wolves, owls and clouds of mist and prefer to be active at night rather than by day (though Hio can clearly go around during the day without any problem). Hio was turned into a vampire when a vampire bit him and drained him of his blood, at which point he transformed upon dying. He has lived for over a hundred years, but he's physically eighteen.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Oliver was turned into a werewolf when he encountered one while playing outside at night and the werewolf attacked him, slashing at his eye with its claws. Ruby mentions that werewolf transformation can be brought about in many ways, with the majority of werewolves being born that way, while others are turned via werewolf attack or a magical curse. All werewolves transform on all three nights of the full moon, but revert back to human form during the day. The level of control they have over their wolf form varies depending on their origins. They also have some wolflike traits even in human form, such as a keen sense of smell. Werewolves are vulnerable to silver, hence why Oliver was bound with silver chains by the orphanage, and they're also weak to wolfsbane and the fangs of vampires. Dex turns out to also be a werewolf.
• Our Witches Are Different: Ruby is a witch. She creates Magic Potions, has a Flying Broomstick she also uses as a magical focus, and she was mentored in magic by an old widow in the past. Avanna is also a witch.
• Really 700 Years Old: Hio, a vampire, is chronologically 117, but physically 18. Given that he met Big Al and Sweet Ann before either of them met Ruby, this trope is also implied of them.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Hio storms out of the house after Oliver is accepted into the family, due to not wanting to live with a werewolf. However, Ia convinces him to go back.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Chapter 5, Ruby calls Hio Nosferatu.
  • In Chapter 8, when Ruby asks if she can join the boys in sharing tragic backstories, Hio snarks "Nonsense, you have no power here. Begone, before someone drops a house on you too!"
  • In Chapter 11, Fukase names his human disguise, "Satoshi", after the Vocaloid Fukase's voice provider Satoshi Fukase.
• Stalker without a Crush: Well, maybe. Fukase is really keen on making a deal with Oliver, to the point of disguising himself as a human boy to stage a "random" meeting with him at a Hatsune Miku concert.
• Tempting Apple: Fukase uses one in his second attempt to convince Oliver to make a deal with him. Rule of Symbolism is in full effect, of course.
• Tragic Keepsake: Ruby's Flying Broomstick used to belong to her mentor, who left it to her in order to save her from being taken by the Witch Hunters.
• Unwitting Muggle Friend: Ia, Hio's human girlfriend, doesn't know that he and his family are monsters. She also isn't aware of this fact for her friends, Dex, Daina and Avanna.
• Urban Fantasy: The story takes place in a world where monsters secretly coexist with humans.
• Vampires Hate Garlic: Unsurprisingly, this applies to Hio, though he passes it off as just being an allergy. Both Ruby and Dex tease him about it.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Referenced with most of the known backstories for the cast.
  • After he was turned into a werewolf, Oliver was imprisoned in the basement of the orphanage he was living in, wrapped up in silver chains and exposed to wolfsbane, a silver cross and a vampire fang just to make sure he doesn't try to escape. When he finally does, the whole orphanage goes on lockdown and tries to recapture him.
  • Hio was chased by an angry mob when he started drinking from local livestock in order to sate his hunger for blood without hurting anyone, only managing to survive when he learns how to transform into a bat and flies away.
  • Ruby's mentor, a wise old widow, was already treated with fear and suspicion by her village. This reached its boiling point when the villagers eventually dragged her off, subjected her to a witch trial and burnt her at the stake. Fortunately, she managed to plan ahead to save Ruby from this fate, hiding her in a broom closet and leaving her one of her Flying Broomsticks to help Ruby escape.
• Vegetarian Vampire: When Hio's blood cravings started up, he refused to kill humans, so he went after local livestock. The farmers didn't like this and drove him out. In an early chapter, he also drinks the juices of an orange slice.
• Viral Transformation: Oliver and Hio were turned into a werewolf and a vampire respectively through the scratch and bite of another werewolf and vampire. However, Ruby mentions that most werewolves are born that way.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Hio and Ruby can both shapeshift, though Ruby requires a potion for it. Hio mentions being able to turn into a bat, wolf, owl or cloud of mist, while Ruby uses her shapeshifting potion to turn into a cat so she can help Oliver out with his monthly transformations.
• Werewolves Are Dogs: Downplayed. Oliver hates being compared to a dog, but he still has some wolfish/doglike traits even when in human form, such as his keen sense of smell, his rather healthy appetite and his tendency to growl when he's angry.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Played with — Satoshi, a boy introduced in Chapter 11, is casually mentioned as wearing a skirt. However, it turns out he's actually Fukase in a human disguise.
• Widow Witch: Ruby says that a kindly old widow had mentored her in witchcraft, before being executed by the people in her village.