bigbrownboots

[bigbrownboots]

such a paradoxical and confusing (and kinda fucked up) nature sort of ties into the whole 'vampires are A'Xerahn's folly' lore tidbit imo lmao i mean, one could try to argue how it almost makes sense that they deteriorate and become increasingly unbalanced as time goes on - because they weren't meant to gain power / become stronger through lineage, they were just meant to exist as these experimental, subservient creatures to replace daemons for the sovereigns (which did not work, and thus they were given up on almost immediately and left to "ravage the land-born" and live out their screwed up lives among the rest of humanity). I kinda like that concept, but it is admittedly just me looking at the wider historical implications of their origins and shoving that knowledge onto vamps as a blanket excuse as to why they don't really make sense in the long run. maybe Erik didn't think that far ahead, maybe he did and the system is truly just that unfair, maybe this is a case of unreliable narrators (have the houses ever actually tested vampiric strength across the years, across generations, or are they working on assumptions themselves?) (who knows? only Erik, i suppose)

I'm going insane and need answers now. Do we have an accurate power-scaling system for vampires? The system really confuses me and my brain has smelt a paradox.

So Vincent is stronger than Alexis, despite her being older than him, because William was younger when he turned her. So 'power' (which I'm assuming means just physical strength/ general prowess) is primarily determined by your maker's age.

But this doesn't really make sense to me, because if William is a power proxy, then that means that vampiric lineages progressively get weaker every generation, regardless of their age. (To visualise: if vampire A is 1000 and turns vampire B when A is 30, then turns vampire C 700 years later, would B or C be stronger, given C is still a fledgling and B is already an old blood of their own right?).

This system only works if old vampires have progeny extremely rarely, since this constant reproduction dilutes any 'old blood' power in the bloodline. It creates a degradation curve, since it's unlikely most makers will wait as long as William did to create them (he's also explicitly stated to be an outlier in this). Unless a vampire waits until they were older than their maker was when they made them to make their own progeny, net power is lost each generation.

Look at the vampires in canon, and how young they have their progeny. It leaves age as a bit of a non-factor, if everything is already biologically determined. How does age factor into power at all then? Why does it matter? It creates a paradox where either the system must be forced to decouple biological inheritance from static power or yield to account for time-dependent power scaling.

Also what does 'Old Blood' even mean, given both Quinn and William have been described as such? Is it your own age? Your maker's? Both? Is it a cultural term or a biological fact? Darlin' and Quinn seemed fairly matched for power, yet both Quinn and William share the same label that's meant to signify a noticeable power differential. It's made pretty clear neither Darlin' nor Quinn can beat William in a fight, at least conventionally, so it can't be used as a reliable indicator of strength.

If it's biological, William and Quinn should exist in the same tier of power, which they don't. If it's a reputation signifier, why is it used in contexts that power is discussed? If it's both, we need it more clearly defined to avoid this confusion, no?

I suppose I just don't like the idea that vampires are shuffled into this deterministic caste system where ascension is impossible unless you chance in an exalted bloodline at the right time. It undermines agency and ambition amongst the vampires, and makes the fact a near constantly-invoked ONE YEAR OLD VAMPIRE in William Solaire killing his maker absolutely impossible without some extremely convoluted means. Now I personally think this was done just so Alexis would be weaker than Vincent, but if somebody wants to clear this up for me, I would very much appreciate it lol.

[bigbrownboots]

Victor Frankenstein syndrome aka you spent nights over nights crying and bleeding over this work and now that it's finally done you're just like "nvm. it's trash" and go to bed

[bigbrownboots]

he was mentioned years ago - when Lasko talked with Freelancer about DnD.

Saul DMs for Lasko and his friends. He’s an illusory, which lends itself very well to his style of running the game

Girl did I miss something who the fuck is Saul?

[bigbrownboots]

Yo yo yo yo! What it isss everyoneee 😋

I FINISHED (HUZZAH!)

ANYWAYS HERE ARE THE SUPER DUPER AWESOME PEOPLE THAT LENT THEIR ART SKILLS AND KARMORS TO ME:

@nessypanda-art, @riooooooooo, @roachco-k, @waterbottlegal15, @callmecupio, @silverlavenderskull5, @creatortools, @pelvicsodium, @spiderjumper, @soup-sloth, @shaingles, @what0kx, @multibetasfh, @solzticesoulz, @bookwor-mmm

TYSM UR ALL AWESOME IT MEANS SM TO ME MAN

[bigbrownboots]

alright. we have sketches, and the work lines up. since there’s no other real way of knowing, i’m choosing to take this person at their word: not AI.

i do think it’s important to question this kind of thing when it occurs, but it sucks! it sucks that we even have to be vigilant, it sucks that we have to question art in this way, and it sucks that there’s a real possibility of people getting caught in the crossfire against people’s distrust and (rightful) distain of AI.

all that aside, i truly hope that this doesn’t sway anyone from making art. this community is full of so many wonderful artists, and everyone deserves to share their work without fear of being fucked over by generative AI.

THIS IS SERIOUS

I don’t want to come across as rude or bring any negativity, but I feel the need to speak up about something important. After this piece was posted, many of my artist friends and I suspected it might be AI-generated. The brushstrokes looked unusual, and the artwork felt emotionless. We even looked it up to see if it was made using AI.

If this piece is being entered into an art competition and claimed as original artwork, I believe that’s unfair. It feels disrespectful to artists who put in real time, effort, and creativity into their work—people who express emotion and meaning through their art.

Please understand that this is not meant to put anyone down. It’s simply meant to raise awareness and support fairness for all artists. (Especially for a art competition THIS IS BAFFLING.)

Thank you for understanding.

[bigbrownboots]

found this post also, which... is probably the most AI-generated 'albus' i have ever seen.

although they don't outright claim it to be their art? it's still the most damning evidence i could find, since it's very clearly AI (that damned face, it haunts me).

i understand i could absolutely be wrong and this person might just be incredibly fast and detailed in their work, but i cannot be certain the karmor art is not AI, so until they provide some sort of process i'm very iffy about this whole thing.

*COUFHS COUFHS* pls do not trust this person in such a way of ‘oh I took hours to draw this’ Type shit, in @solzticesoulz post it's a truth they uses ai://, which is UNFAIR we spend drawing our karmor reference sheet and drawing for the competition for about like an hour??, days??, while they just uses ai generated easily ://

Like bro, ur not slick buddy 💔💔💔, me and my friends had talk about this, @nexischillin had pointed it out. But seemingly like they delete it in their account. :// some of y'all believe it including gba their ‘art style’ is cool and is not ai (WHICH IT IS.)💔💔

the evidence we have, it is 100% ai..pls do pick up a pencil and learn 🥀🥀..art is created. Not generated.

[bigbrownboots]

…..i wish people would tone tag when they’re being sarcastic.

(thanks for saying this. i would not have picked up on it otherwise)

Porter fans are so funny because wdym mass murder is justified if you feel lonely I'm crying

[bigbrownboots]

have. you not listened to his audios?

(as a genuine answer though - he originally believed that the house was somewhere where he could belong. william took him in, and after everything he had been through with his maker, porter was incredibly grateful to william, to the point where he became what he is now in the house (the king’s blade) and did his bidding. and now after everything that’s happened, porter is starting to realise that this isn’t a home for him. william does not see him as anything other than a tool, and he has to decide whether this is actually something he wants to deal with and live with for the rest of his afterlife, or whether he should follow suit like the other vamps, and just leave the house.)

tldr: he was grateful and indebted himself to william for taking him in. william doesn’t seem to actually care about porter past what he can use him for (murder) and now after fully realising this (admitted out loud in his last audio), porter has a decision to make.

Porter fans are so funny because wdym mass murder is justified if you feel lonely I'm crying

[bigbrownboots]

who tf is justifying mass murder? i just want my boi to be treated with the same autonomy and respect that everyone else in the house gets. everyone else is allowed to express their opinions and be heard, they’re treated like people whose feelings matter. porter on the other hand, is treated like a tool to be used.

Porter fans are so funny because wdym mass murder is justified if you feel lonely I'm crying

[bigbrownboots]

aye!!

Aaron isn’t bald and will pay child support

All those that agree say aye

[bigbrownboots]

THANK YOU

let's all just use our brains for a second please. "treasure didn't apologize!" "treasure was wrong too!" YEAH OBVIOUSLY but was there not a point where there was definitely space for them to apologize as well and Porter shut it down? like the part where they (i think, at least) apologized for calling him a coward and porter immediately shut it down and said "no, you were right." hello???

also, for what it's worth, that was almost 20 straight minutes of Porter talking NON STOP ‼️ there was no room for Treasure to get a word in edge wise. AND IT'S IMPLIED THEY WERE GONNA SPEND THE NIGHT TALKING ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND BOUNDARIES AND THEY PROBABLY APOLOGIZED IN THAT CONVERSATION

[bigbrownboots]

or (also maybe) he realised that - sure, in the beginning, as a concept: having a bunch of vampires be kings and queens and established royalty is kinda cool, but if you think about it for any longer, in actual practice… living under a monarchy is certainly not ideal, and hey, maybe there was a reason that historically, people usually ended up rebelling against them.

and now we also have a new plotline for the vampiric characters, so… win anyway

idk maybe this is bs but im kinda theorizing that vin and sam (and im assuming porter eventually) leaving the house is probably an "easy" way for erik to fix the issue of william not having an official voice actor anymore (this is also based on the assumption/idea that erik might not want to voice william himself)

[bigbrownboots]

yeah, it does kill them - because it’s an overdose of pure magic, to the point where it becomes too much for their bodies to handle.

like, say, if you were to drink enough alcohol to poison yourself.

Do you guys think vampires can have blood overdoses like alcohol???

[bigbrownboots]

it is a cliche, but that doesn’t make it bad. it’s well written, and well thought-out.

the entire storyline still makes sense with the twist, and it wraps up that chapter of the story nicely, whilst preparing for the opportunity of a new one.

the events still happened, even moreso because of how dreamwalker magic - and their dreamscapes - are so potent and realistic, so there are definitely consequences for the events, and the characters themselves were changed by them, too.

take some time. it was certainly a shock (i mean yeah, it was meant to be, kinda the point of ‘plot twists’ and all that) but take a breather before you sink into just hating it out of first impressions.

eric pulling a “it was all a dream” card on the meridian makes me want to rip my hair out. it’s so cliché 

i just finished listening to it cause it ended and i’m so pissed

[bigbrownboots]

they seem to be able to do that with other vampires’ blood - they can get drunk off of it, and if they go too far with it, baaaad stuff starts happening.

(also demon blood. that seems to be straight up alcoholic poisoning to the max)

Do you guys think vampires can have blood overdoses like alcohol???

[bigbrownboots]

for me, the first one felt more personal, and did wonders developing between early-arrogant-Gavin, and him beginning to fall for the Freelancer. The second one felt just like it was just early-arrogant-Gavin. Which I also love, don’t get me wrong, but…

Gavin asking Freelancer what they wanted, and allowing them to put their feelings first for once - not just placating him with what they thought he wanted to hear - felt so much sweeter to me. The both of them, softly asking each other to be their Valentine between kisses, and Gavin’s admission that he’d never been asked to be someone’s Valentine before…

First one. definitely.

Just a random question

This isn’t meant to be a determination on which is better, this is purely out of my own curiosity ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

You can also state why you chose your option if you want :3

[bigbrownboots]

(good)

Did both of the confessions accounts fucking die?