Normal Guy vs. Edward Cullen vs. Griffin Blasko

[melissatreglia]

Title: Normal Guy vs. Edward Cullen vs. Griffin Blasko
Author: Melissa Treglia (gnosticdiva)
Fandom: Twilight/original series
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 728
Warning: Brief language.
Author's Note: Griffin Blasko is the hero from the vampire novel I co-wrote with a friend. He's a special (and rare) breed of vampire known as the Pureblood (which is basically an ubervamp bred as a living weapon). His human girlfriend, Laila Chadevsky, is a nice Jewish girl who's very supernatural-savvy and is often the voice of reason in his messed up life (in a nutshell, she's Grade-A anti_bella material). Together, they fight crime!

Summary: Yet another "Normal Guy" vs. Edward Cullen comparison--this time, featuring the Pureblood vampire Griffin Blasko.

A normal guy would say: “I love you, baby!”

Edward would say: “You are my life now.”

Griffin would say "I love you" in Russian, putting Laila's bit of 'tutoring' to good use and making her smile.

Normal Guy would say: “I think I am falling for you.”

Edward would say: “You're my brand of heroin.”

Griffin would say that Laila's the sexiest woman in the world, and to get her sweet ass over here because he wants to worship it.

Normal Guy would say: “Your hair looks like a haystack; go brush it!”

Edward would say: “Your hair looks like a haystack but I like it.”

Griffin would tease Laila about having a rough night, then offer to brush her hair.

A normal guy would pick a random song from a random artist and dedicate it to you.

Edward would sing you a song he wrote for you while playing the piano.

Griffin would imitate John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever just to make Laila laugh.

If you die, a normal guy would find another.

If you die, Edward would kill himself because life without you isn’t worth living.

If Laila dies, Griffin would keep on doing the hero gig, because she'd want him to keep going. And what could be a finer tribute to her than saving the world?

As you leave the house, a normal guy would say: “Bye, see ya!”

As you leave the house, Edward would say: “Come back to me, love.”

As Laila leaves the house, Griffin would give her a kiss and hug and tell her to drive safely, and to call him if she needs anything.

As you come back to the house, a normal guy would be watching TV and wouldn’t even notice.

As you come back to the house, Edward would be welcoming you by playing the piano with a song just for you.

As Laila comes back to the house, Griffin would give her a bear hug, a big kiss and say, "Didja miss me, babe? 'Cos I missed you."

A normal guy would wait for you to make him breakfast.

Edward would make you breakfast every day.

Griffin and Laila cook their meals together.* It gives them more time to talk and simply indulge in each other's company.

While you are both out for dinner, a normal guy wouldn’t keep his eyes off the sexy waitress.

Edward wouldn’t even notice the waitress was a female.

Griffin would say that the waitress's skirt would look so much hotter on Laila's fine ass.

A normal guy, while driving, would keep one hand on the wheel and one hand on the radio.

Edward, while driving, would keep one hand on the wheel and the other attached to yours.

Griffin, while driving, would crank up the classic rock station and headbang a little while Laila sings along.

While far apart in different places, a normal guy would say: “I miss you.”

While far apart in different places, Edward would say: “It’s like you’ve taken half of myself with you.”

While far apart in different places, Griffin would crack jokes and do silly voices over the phone to hear Laila's laugh.

A normal guy wouldn’t care or notice if you had nightmares.

Edward would sing until your nightmares went away.

Griffin would hold Laila close, and ask her if she wanted to talk about it.

A normal guy can help a normal girl to stake a vampire pestering them.

Edward would get his family to kill the vampire pestering you.

Griffin would hold the vampire down while Laila stakes it. And, if that fails, Griffin ripping the annoying little bastard apart with his talons oughta do the trick.

A normal guy buys you flowers and chocolates.

Edward buys you a car.

Griffin would get Laila a kitten or puppy. Or he'd buy her a book she mentioned she was interested in, because he knows how much Laila loves to read.

A normal guy does it with everyone.

Edward only does it with one.

Griffin's a one-woman man, and he's got Laila. She's the best thing that ever happened to him, and he knows it. And what kind of idiot would mess that up?

* Griffin can enjoy human food, but he still needs to drink blood to survive... and Laila's day job as a hemotopathologist means she can grab the unusable/infected/discarded donations for him.

Comments

[jaydestarlight.livejournal.com]

I'm now really curious about Griffin Blasko and his story because he sounds awesome plus his dynamic with Laila seems sweet.

[melissatreglia]

Griffin was initially the creation of my co-writer, and Laila was initially mine. In the seven(!) years that we've been writing, re-writing, editing and trying to shop around our series to agents, we've fleshed out his character together quite a deal (I came up with a good deal of his family history, she came up with details of his current life at the time the story begins, and together we've improved his character voice and general heroic awesomeness).

We're doing a massive re-write and adding new scenes to fix the holes we missed the last bunch of times. We have enough material for a dozen books, but we've still gotta get that first one out, somehow! *bites lip and meebles*

On the bright side with all the wishing and hoping and praying? When we finally do get it published, we'll at least know for certain it kicks the maximum amount of ass possible. :D

As for Laila? She's definitely a no-nonsense kind of girl, and she's got a hell of a temper, too. The bad guys usually mistake her for a mere Damsel in Distress simply because she's the Pureblood's Main Squeeze. Being only human, she's got no superpowers--but she's very smart and resourceful. She stands beside Griffin in a fight, and refuses to hide behind him even when she probably should. (And Laila would have taken a flamethrower to Edward's sparkly ass for all his creeptastic stalking.)

In short: I'd say Laila's relationship with Griffin is like that of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, minus Tony's massive ego.

Oh god, I need to stop now, before your eyes start to cross. I can go on forever about these two. Seriously.

[melissatreglia]

If you're still interested (after all these years), Griffin Unbowed is now available on Amazon!

[magykal.livejournal.com]

These two (Laila and Griffin) sound awesome! You have to get those books published!

[melissatreglia]

You have to get those books published!

I know! *cries*

But, at least, now that the Twilight hype is finally beginning to die down, agents and pubs will be more open to a new vampire series. Especially that the teens who were into Twilight are now growing out of it and looking for something new and more mature to sink their teeth into.

These two (Laila and Griffin) sound awesome!

Thank you! Book 1 of the Pureblood series is really my first ever novel; it's basically the firstborn child of my authorly self. I'm very protective of Laila and Griffin, and I was extremely nervous about posting even this much.

But, believe me, what you've seen here is only a fraction of the full story. The Pureblood series is a mix of urban fantasy and sci-fi. The romance between Laila and Griffin isn't front and center like you might expect of a paranormal series these days, and their relationship develops organically. Any drama they face comes from outside forces, not from their coupling, and is a breather in between the proverbial shit hitting the fan.

Griffin's a total badass, but he's just an ol' teddy bear with Laila. And Laila's very sweet on him, without it ever being gooey R&J-lite or invoking ridiculous purple prose. Laila's also the more sexually experienced of the two (though they've both had several previous lovers) and she has a bit of a kinky streak. The relationship between Laila and one of her exes is also very amicable, and Griffin later develops a friendship with the guy--which is easy 'cos Griffin knows who Laila's really going home with. ;D

Griffin and Laila's whole relationship is basically one big fishslap to SMeyer and EL James.

[magykal.livejournal.com]

Yes, you have a window of opportunity :)

OH MY DEAR GOD YOU HAVE A STORY THAT PUTS ACTION AND PLOT FIRST AND ROMANCE LATER!!! Thank you. That is wonderful (I'm not a huge romance genre person and have been very disappointed with all of the YA stuff nowadays).

Laila and Griffin honestly sound so wonderful and well thought out and yes please a girl with a kinky streak! (I'm so fucking tired of MAN:"I am kinky" wimmin:"Oooooohhh, SEXAIII") Organically developed relationship? Yes please. Sweetness but not saccharine? THANK YOU! Also the bf and the ex are friends. This is definitely a huge fishslap :D

Honestly, this series sounds wonderful and this couple sounds awesome. You need to get these books out there! Good luck :D

[melissatreglia]

If you're still interested (after all these years), Griffin Unbowed is now available on Amazon!