#gate system

[galoogamelady]

Since y'all call any Dragonborn character "Dark Urge" now

[skaiind]

[saph-y]

I adopted the murder lizard🗡️

[rialymn]

rawrr

[jukeboxindie]

boys night // girls night

[heheheku]

elven pointy ears are made for biting

[tendermiasma]

Making dried orange garlands and thinking about this cryptid gnawing on em

[hua-liansimp]

Noticing some parallels

[jeeaark]

[alibonbonn]

Guy who went to Baldur’s Gate law school and passed the Baldur’s Gate bar exam some time long ago

[vorestarr]

ascended astarion and vampire spouses

so I've been reading the dnd 2e manual "Van Richten's Guide to Vampires" for fic/game inspiration, and there's this really interesting chapter on vampire brides and grooms. after reading it, it's very clear to me that Astarion didn't turn Tav into a typical spawn, but into a vampire spouse, which are two very different rituals with very different outcomes.

the typical vampire spawn creation process is exactly what Astarion describes happening to him: a painful death, a painful rebirth into undeath, fighting his way out of his own coffin, and Cazador's complete control over him. this is described pretty clearly in the guide to vampires:

According to most related tales, a vampire can create another simply by killing a mortal either with its life-energy draining power (draining all the character's experience leveIs) or by exhausting the mortal of his or her blood supply. If the victim's body is not properly destroyed, it arises as a vampire, under the control of the creature who killed it, on the second night following the burial. [...] Most vampires remember the instant of their death and the nature of their killer, and understand immediately their new nature. Certainly their new hunger gives them a good idea of what they have become. They must immediately free themselves from their grave. either by breaking it open from within or by assuming gaseous form and diffusing out.

so that's definitely what happened to Astarion, but that's not what happens to Tav. after ascended Astarion turns Tav into a vampire, they can ask him what happened, and he describes the following:

Astarion: You are so beautiful... And you will be beautiful forever. Thank you for trusting me. Player: What exactly happened? Astarion: You were drained dry, and at the height of your delirium, I granted you one drop of my own blood. Things will be a touch different for you than they were for me when I was a spawn. I'm imbibed with unfathomable new talents. I am fairly certain I can extend Mephistopheles' blessings unto you. Player: Does that mean I need not fear the sun? Astarion: You need not fear anything. You will be stronger, swifter, sharper, but you won't be different. You were already perfect before. It's hard to improve.

for reference, this is how the guide to vampires describes the ritual for vampire spouses:

To actually create the bride, the vampire bestows what is known as the "Dark Kiss". lt samples the blood of its mortal paramour—once, twice, thrice—draining her almost to the point of death. This process causes the subject no pain; in fact, it has been described as the most euphoric, ecstatic experience, in comparison to which all ether pleasures fade into insignificance. Just as the subject is about to slip into the terminal coma from which there is no awakening, the vampire opens a gash in its own flesh—often in its throat—and holds the subject's mouth to the wound, As the burning draught that is the vampire’s blood gushes into the subject's mouth, the primitive feeding instinct is triggered, and she sucks hungrily at the wound, enraptured. With the first taste of the blood, the subject is possessed of great and frenzied strength (Str 18, if the character’s Str isn't already higher), and will use it to prevent the vampire from separating her from the fountain of wonder that is its bleeding wound. lt is at this point that the creator-vampire's strength is most sorely tested. He is weakened by his own blood loss, and also by his own rapture as the "victim" of a dark kiss. Overcoming the sudden loss of strength and the inclinations of lust, the vampire must pull her away from its own throat, hopefully without harming her, before she has overfed. Should the subject be allowed to feed for too long (more than 2 rounds), she is driven totally and incurably insane, and will die in agony within 24 hours. Once the subject has stopped feeding, she falls into a coma that lasts minutes or hours (2dl2 turns), at the end of which time she dies. Several (1 d3) hours later, she arises as a Fledgling vampire—and her creator's bride.

this to me sounds like what Astarion describes. he drains Tav almost dry, and at the very last moment, gives them a single drop of his blood. (also interesting reading this guide, the single drop avoids the problem of the vampire spouse being driven ravenous with hunger for the vampire creator's blood and attacking them. did Astarion know this and give them one drop on purpose to avoid that and Tav potentially being driven mad by it? or was he being selfish and this is just a nice but unanticipated outcome?)

i kept reading and there's a lot more interesting information about vampire spouses, but the most interesting thing I found related to the game was this:

Although there are some folk tales that describe the bride of a vampire as its slave, in much the same way that offspring are slaves, a bride is free-willed from the moment of her creation. The creator vampire does have great influence over the bride. however although this control is totally nonmagical. When a vampire is created in the traditional manner—that is, when a victim's life energy is completely drained away—the new fledgling instinctively understands much about the vampiric way of unlife, and about its own strengths, weaknesses* and needs. Not so the bride.

so basically, the vampire spouse is not tied to the vampire creator in the same way as a spawn (i.e., not able to be fully controlled) but is still extremely reliant on the vampire creator to teach them how to live as a vampire. the guide goes on to describe that some vampire creators may lie to their vampire spouse about the control or powers they have, in order to exert more control over them.

interestingly, if you ask Astarion if he can compel you the way Cazador compelled him, he doesn't give a straight answer, he just says this:

Player: Cazador could compel you - can you compel me? Astarion: Why would I need to? You're going to be wonderfully obedient.

to me, all of this says that Astarion was telling the truth when he told Tav that they would be different from him as a spawn, and also in emphasizing that they are not a spawn but a consort. he didn't create a spawn, he created a vampire spouse. he married Tav, and because of this Tav also retains their free will.

of course, Astarion doesn't say this. if he knows, he withholds this information in much the way that this guide describes, as a way for the creator to maintain more control over their spouse. but still, extremely interesting implications for the ascended Astarion romance, imo.

other interesting facts about vampire spouses from the guide to vampires:

the married couple has telepathic communication that can span miles -- so Tav and Astarion can potentially have a telepathic bond even after the tadpoles are gone. (another note, this communication has to be consensual both ways for it to work, so you can't just dig around someone's mind if they don't want it.)

the vampire creator is extremely jealous and possessive. (yeah lol)

their life forces are linked, so one suffering a great deal is felt by the other.

the bond can be broken, but the ritual to do so has to be initiated by the creator. to break it, they both spill their blood on the ground and allow it to mix. this dissolves all aspects of the bond (i.e., telepathy and linked life forces), but the spouse stays a vampire.

[naariel]

Sacred moments in time.

Halsin, despite being the scholar he is, can't seem to pay attention to any of the words on the page. All focus is on the slender, steady hands braiding his hair. On the closeness.

Nobody's taken care of him, before.

It's nice.

[heart-of-the-morningstar]

The real reason Lucifer is so short is so that he can have better access to give the best head of all time

[the-golden-gates-system]

Shout out to system with “scary” alters.

Systems with alters who would cause you to go to jail if they were allowed to do what they want.

Systems with alters who are violent.

Systems with alters who are addicts.

Systems with alters who are abusive.

Systems with alters who purposely hurt the body.

I see you. I feel you. We can heal too

-🧱

[literallybyronic]

losing my fucking mind. just saw a post going on about how amazing the DAV writing is in incredibly broad strokes that do absolutely nothing to describe the details of what on earth they're even referring to as "good", which is ridiculous enough on its own, and then someone in the replies said they hated people comparing it to BG3 bc BG3 doesn't even have themes and they didn't understand what it was meant to be about. they didn't understand what BG3's themes are. BG3. yes, that BG3. yes, the same one we all played. they said it had no themes. the game with the mentally controlled and abused sex worker, the mage groomed to do nothing but pleasure his goddess and then sacrifice himself, the kidnap victim brainwashed by a doomsday cult, the indoctrinated militant experiencing freedom and kindness for the first time, the hero who sold his soul to protect his city being forced to commit acts of evil, and the child who slipped through the cracks so far she was literally used as a science experiment by a government official. no themes. doesn't see any themes. sorry, did we need to make one of the Chosen a CEO named Brian Thompson for you to get it you fucking illiterate mongrel

[fallout-lou-begas]

started a seamless co-op run of elden ring with @juuni-byou and the thing is that having friendly fire enabled completely changes the way that you have to approach every single combat encounter in the best possible way. she's a STR greataxe build and i'm a squishy DEX build with dual (parry) daggers and support incantations, so there's a lot of setting each other up and alley-oops for big damage. in general, the threat of clobbering each other forces us to keep distance, space each other, and just move and attack very intentionally and strategically. it becomes instinct, eventually, to weave in and out of each other's attacks without needing to call it out. but also, just as importantly, failing to do any of that and accidentally flattening or backstabbing or blowing up the other person is always and i do mean literally always hilarious, the single most crucial quality in a multiplayer game