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y-rhywbeth2 · 10 months

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D&D Vampire Lore Dump #2

"Biology" Their "metabolism" and their physical body, their senses, why they're not aging and "vampires actually make fantastic torture victims, if you're a monster: vampire healing and how to inflict scars on them."

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER FOR FIRST TIME READERS: There are two things to note about the lore presented here: First, while the standard stat block in the monster manual is the default, in terms of lore vampires have this annoying tendency to be incredibly, stupidly varied. They are magical monstrosities ruled by the power of symbolism and superstition above anything else.

The next is that D&D is decades old, spans five editions, several settings and hundreds of writers. One guy establishes a piece of lore, and then the next picks it up goes "nah" and writes something else. I collected info from four different source books, all from different editions, which naturally don't entirely agree on how vampires work. Lore never stays consistent and may contradict itself. You may see information somewhere else from a source I don't have that contradicts what I wrote here. If you read this and like some of this stuff but not other bits, take the good and ditch the rest. Larian themselves have not written BG3 totally compliant with some established D&D lore or the original games.

Basically, in D&D, canon is what you decide it is.

Feeding | "Biology" | Hierarchy | Weaknesses and Cures | Psychology

The transformation into a vampire causes little physical change, except for the fangs, and the fact that their facial features seem take on a permanent hardened expression, appearing more "feral" in a way that is likened to a starving wolf. Spawn moreso than freed vampires, and in 5e they have claws despite the fact that freed vampires don't. Rarely a vampire's eyes turn red upon changing, but this doesn't usually happen. Their eyes do start glowing red when they're angry through.

Most of the vampire's five senses are sharpened by undeath. They can see perfectly in the dark, for example, and are very hard to catch off guard. The only one that gets duller than it was when they were alive is the sense of touch - "a blunt, phantom sense of touch, more mechanical than biological. It is a pale, crude approximation of a real tactile sense." They don't feel the effects of physical exertion and their ability to feel pain is dulled (but not nonexistent). They're not particularly bothered by high or cold temperatures unless they're at extremes (like frostbite levels, or "standing by a lava pool" levels). They're also largely unbothered by electric shocks.

They don't breathe, though they do actually have a heartbeat as their blood still gets pumped around their body. It doesn't provide any biological need of a living circulatory system, but is possibly part of keeping the body animated via magic.

Vampires do not produce body heat and tend to be room temperature to the touch unless they've fed within the last 24 hours, in which case they appear alive.

Lacking brain activity on account of being dead, vampires are immune to mind effecting spells and psionics. The fact that Astarion is affected by the tadpole is likely due to Netherese magic. The parasite is canonically modifying his undead state to its needs and has shut down his vampiric abilities, as he observes in one banter.

Their physical abilities massively increase. They have superhuman strength, speed and reflexes and are far more durable than the living.

Vampiric blood looks like humanoid blood at first glance, but takes on a golden sheen when held up to a light source. Also if the vampire it came from is still alive, then that blood can have strange magic properties… which are random! Maybe it burns like acid, or puts you under mind control if you touch it, or explodes into flame when exposed to sunlight! You won't know 'til you find out, it could do anything or nothing.

Vampires are capable of siring partially-undead children with the living (Dhampirs). Dhampirs are alive but as they grow up and their undead heritage starts to manifest they begin to share their vampire parent's cravings and feeding habits and are not terribly fond of said parent, as a rule.

Vampires are the only undead that require sleep. That turned out to be a very long topic of its own though, so maybe I'll focus on the details another time. Short version: Vampires have an instinctive knowledge of how close sunrise is. Some vampires can chose to sleep much like humans, others will immediately shut down the second the sun appears over the horizon and be dead until the moment it next sinks below said horizon, at which point the vampire is 1000% aware and awake again. They are bound to soil from their grave/homeland and must sleep on/in that or be destroyed. In BG3 specifically, looking at Cazador, elves still reverie (trance) in undeath. (In reverie, elves relive their memories of years gone by in vivid real time instead of dreaming. It's how elves avoid forgetting their own lives while living 700+ years) Vampires also hibernate, where they chose to go into a deep sleep for an unknown and uncontrollable length of time reaching centuries in length. Usually due to depression.

A vampire's body is frozen in time, and they will always have the same appearance they had when they died. The magic that keeps the vampire frozen in time, unageing, also gives them regenerative properties as it tries to reset them. Within minutes of receiving a wound, the wound has closed itself as if it were never there. "Wounds close, broken bones reform themselves, even missing limbs regenerate…" Reducing a vampire to 0 hit points also does not kill them, but that's for a later instalment. If one were to torture a vampire one could get both incredibly creative and make it last indefinitely.

They also can't get new tattoos or piercings, as the body heals them over again and pushes out the ink/metal. On the same logic if they had body modifications before they died then they'd never be able to get rid of them - if you scrape off the skin a tattoo is on or tore off a pierced lobe, the skin that grows back will still have the tattoo and the ear will have the hole for the earing still there.

However, there are forms of magical damage that inflict permanent marks on a vampire, which are called stigmata. Sunlight, holy water, holy symbols and the like are known to leave a scar. A silver plated blade might also do it.

There are two energy planes: Positive and Negative. Also known as the Planes of Life and Death, whose energies infuse the Prime Material Plane (which contains worlds like Earth and Toril). Living creatures are powered by positive energy (also called "radiant"), while the undead are animated by negative energy ("necrotic"). It's actually theorised that the undead somehow exist on the Prime Material Plane and the Negative Energy Plane simultaneously, though this seems gets into a lot of planar lore and conflicting information that I'm not going into. Traditionally, due to this difference, the undead are healed by spells made of negative/necrotic energy such as Inflict Wounds spells, but in reverse would be harmed by healing spells. 5e has not included this detail, that I've seen.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion ancunin #astarion #i seem to recall something about Vampire the Masquerade writers also writing for Ravenloft #I can definitely see it #long post

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wearepaladin · 3 months

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I would like a second opinion on something, to get an internal gauge on my own biases from other people familiar with Soulsborne material. I kind of went on a tangent about this, so feel free to skip.

With the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, people have been comparing their favorite villains of the series and I’ve found myself looking in askance at people who call Marika Elden Ring’s villain. She’s certainly the most influential character in the story whose actions lead to the events our Tarnished find themselves in, and a legacy that created many of the enemies we face across the story, but also in turn has given us the means to be here and fight for how we decide the next step. We also never fight her directly, unless you count Radagon, but given that her other half is at cross purposes with her by strong implication, taking the form to combat us at the conclusion of the story. Given that I have no doubt Marika was equal or stronger than Radagon in matters of divine power or combat (the weapon he uses is explicitly her hammer after all), Radagon taking form after Marika being imprisoned/crucified says either Radagon was in agreement with The Elden Beast, The Beast chose the vessel of Radagon to do battle, or Marika, a deity with a history of war and at least one god (the fell god of the giants) bested personally just made her husbandsona fight us just because?

Don’t get me wrong, Marika can be attributed with many actions that would make her a villain in any story, genocide, oppression, conquest, etc. I just don’t see her as the villain/antagonist of our story, given that with both the guidance of grace and Melina, Marika’s daughter, is willing to go above and beyond to help us. The fact that we can continue to see grace even when Melina can choose to part ways with us permanently, and that we have so much freedom to do largely as we please, indicates that Marika might even be desperate enough to have us as her means of ensure death as her only means of release since either the destruction of her being (Ranni/Friendzied Flame) or the simple restoration of her fractured shell are the only consistent result across the endings.

I digress into the lore speculation: my point is that unlike the other prominent Soulsborne antagonists, Marika doesn’t invoke the same role as a villain in the story to me. Compared to a few prominent examples:

King Allant: Allant fulfills the category of villain and antagonist to us, given that he directly triggered the Demon Crisis of the story for out of nihilistic desire for mutual destruction, and we even face him twice, both as a demonic avatar and the corrupted remains of his physical being after we have nearly completely foiled his plans.

Lord Gwyn/Soul of Cinder: Probably the antagonist I have the strongest negative association for, since we’ve been dealing with the consequences of his actions throughout the trilogy and faced him in combat twice. And for me, as the story went from chapter to chapter, I tried to sympathize Gwyn, given that his physical portrayal is very paladinial and on the surface, trying to preserve the First Flame and all it represents. In our first battle with him, we even see the cost this has taken from him as he is essentially a hollow shell, a cinder of the former Lord of Sunlight. But as we progress through the series and learn more of the extent of his actions, Aldia’s description of him as the First Sinner, and the Ringed City dlc unveiling that the dark sign that forces humanity into undeath was his own creation, a literal brand upon our being, and that he still exists as the Soul of Cinder, his continued existence withering the world down to ash, burns away any desire to see him more than a villain.

Nashandra: Nashandra is a somewhat more traditional villain than many in this list as her motivations and methodology are something you could find in many stories, including Macbeth: The Wife of a powerful figure manipulates their partner into a position to either improve their power at the expense of others or to weaken them so their marital partner can betray and ascend at their expense, and Nashandra does both. Unlike other villains in this list, there is no grand metaphysical debate on the reason for her actions: she’s villain who wants power and utilized several methods to achieve it.

Aldia: Aldia is the other possible final boss of Dark Souls 2 and he’s certainly the more esoteric of the pair. In fact, like many things about Dark Souls 2, I consider him something of a prototype of concepts and characters we would later see in Elden Ring. Taking on the likeness of a bonfire and living in some undefinable state between life and death, Aldia made the plot of DS2 possible, given that he created the Emeral Herald who summoned us into the plot and his experiments and studies in the nature of the universe made the unique bubble of events and circumstances that Dark Souls 2 represents in the timeline, and largely I think if he did it intentionally it was so he could have someone to talk to about it. His role in the plot of the story reminds me of Marika, given that he’s doing much to help you achieve an ideal state, up to including other life forms to make it possible.

The Moon Presence: The most eldritch creature on this list, but hedges closer to Marika in their role on the plot given that its their influence that makes your success in the game possible, providing you with the Hunter’s Dream and the many benefits it provides, but like Marika we cannot ask it why it has done this, but unlike Marika we can choose to face it in combat by taking the correct path. In the more cosmic horror genre Bloodborne leans on, it’s less an antagonist and its existence is more along the lines of opening to a door to realize the eldritch truth you’ve accumulated is still the tip of the iceberg, and step through the door is be changed permanently and once more being rendered the least among creatures in the greater cosmos.

Laurence and Willem: Laurence is often brought up as the villain of Bloodborne, given a lot of what we face is due to him meddling with affairs man what was not meant to know, but he is not a ruling dominant force as a result, but trapped in microsm of the horror of the Bloodborne universe, being forced into a mindless burning husk of a monstrosity that only has enough awareness to be aware of what it has lost. His instructor Willem likewise has become a largely inert lump of flesh, his attempts at ascension turning him into a blind husk with eldritch growths. Both men had their own philosophy on how to achieve the Eldritch Truth, only to cause mass suffering and be rendered into husks of their former humanity, all their achievements to understand what should have never been disturbed making them ideal antagonists in a cosmic horror story because they are that horror turned upon humanity personified.

In other words, compared to these other characters and antagonists, Marika doesn’t fill the proper niche for me, and I worry that my own biases might be leading me to fail to see her as antagonist or villain. What do you think?

#elden ring #Soulsborne #bloodborne #dark souls #villains

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blingblong55 · 5 months

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All I can think of now is a proper what we do in the shadows! 141 AU, where the gang are a coven of vampires and there’s a documentary crew following them around. 🫧

Price is the oldest, perhaps a famous outlaw from over a thousand years ago. He views his coven as his children.

Gaz has been his companion for the longest. He was a knight or a soldier. Price has fought in a few wars to give himself something to do over the years, but couldn’t stand the thought of his new comrade and pseudo-child Kyle getting killed. He was far too young to die, so Price made sure he wouldn’t.

He met Ghost next when he was running one of his many criminal empires (again, he wanted something to do). Ghost had joined as a low level thug but quickly worked up the ranks to become one of his inner-circle. He was a cold blooded killer with little remorse - or so Price thought. Once he’s come to know of Simon’s upbringing and life, filled with hardship and pain, John knew he couldn’t just leave the lost soul alone. He deserved a chance to heal and make real, lasting connections with people who wouldn’t hurt or leave him, so Price turned him.

Soap and Grim are the newest additions to the coven. One of them probably became his familiar after being dared by the other, and they quickly worked their way into his unbeating heart. Price worried a lot for his two youngest children and they were giving him grey hairs after thousands of years without (how could be not worry with their love of explosives and lack of self preservation?) so he decided that, so he could keep a good eye on them and make sure that they didn’t get hurt, Johnny and R/n should join him and his older children in undeath.

Price was wary of the crew filming this ‘documentary’ about them, but his two youngest just seemed so happy to have new friends to play with, so he allowed it. Ghost would be the most guarded, happily taking care of a few of the crew who got too close, thought it would be funny to come to work with a crucifix in their pocket, or made a snide comment towards one of his family. Gaz is cheeky, friendly, and happy to joke around with them, and probably gives them the most actually useful information. He’s the only reason the documentary can actually be called factual or educational. Soap and Grim are happy to have new people to mess with. They like to jumpscare the crew by flying in their face as bats, appear out of nowhere, hypnotise them and convince them to act silly, and stage nerf gun wars with everyone in the house - cameramen included.

hear me out!

Graves is Simon the Devious (ironic ik)

The cameramen never get used to this, never. Price, oh that poor man, he wishes at times he didn't have a soft spot for his children but then again, this is what he chose

I would also like to introduce the two dumb little young vampires, Johnny and grim, not only did they both dare each other to become familiars but their dumbasses didn't know the other was going to go through with it!!! They end up finding out when Gaz introduces them to each other...

Three days into being familiars, they set off a bomb, nearly kills them but father senses tingle and Price finds them in time.

Five days into being familiars, they nearly die in six explosions, 2 car accidents and one orea choking accident, so that's when Price decides its time to make them vampires, he knows they are unkillable unless they step into the sun, which they almost have....14 times so far-...make that 15 times

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ghoulodont · 2 months

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Cardiac Action Potential

The birds and the bees, for a ghoul, are the tria prima and a human sacrifice.

Relationship: None... yet Characters: Dewdrop, Rain Words: 1.3k

Read below or on AO3

Six ghouls wait silently at the locked door of the chapel. On the schedule tonight is the summoning of a singular addition to their lineup, a bass player.

Originally, it was a lead guitar ghoul that the group needed, but the clergy had noted Dewdrop’s proficiency on the guitar, his drive to learn an instrument he wasn’t summoned to play, and offered him an opportunity. After some deliberation, it was decided. The lead guitar ghoul role was filled, and the bass ghoul role was empty.

Dew liked the old lead guitar ghoul, and they had great chemistry together onstage. But he wasn’t continuing with the band. That’s life, Dew supposes. Or, that’s undeath, or however a ghoul’s state of being should be classified.

Regardless, because of this change of plans, the final summoning of this iteration of the band had been slightly delayed. Now that it was confirmed they did indeed need a new bass ghoul, they are ready to proceed.

Eventually the door creaks open, pulled back by a single sister of sin. When the ghouls enter, she closes the door behind them and twists the deadbolt shut with a heavy thunk.

Inside is a chapel designated specifically for summoning. It’s rarely used, but immaculately maintained. If you were to see it between rituals — and you wouldn’t, unless you were tasked with its upkeep, because it’s otherwise kept securely locked — you would hardly know its purpose. One of the only subtle hints is the coffin shape of the stone altar at the center of the raised sanctuary.

Another is the circle surrounding it, painted on the floor with something dark red, its circumference lined with intricate sigils. That might be a hint too.

The altar is bare, pristine, except for six black candles, flames glowing steadily, one at each corner. Copia stands at its head, hands clasped behind him.

Copia, only a cardinal, taking on the role of a pope. It’s all very non-traditional, but it’s not like Dew has much experience with anything else. It’s not the only atypical feature of this summoning, anyway.

The ghouls file into the pews along one side of the sanctuary. The matching pews across from them remain empty. The small nave is mostly empty too, save for a row of sisters.

When the ghouls sit, Copia nods to the sisters, who proceed up the single step into the sanctuary and make their way to the altar. Each of them holds a ritual item, cradled carefully in two hands.

Dew has seen all of this before. He just recently saw it three times in quick succession. It doesn’t get any easier to watch. He’s not sure what the purpose of the existing ghouls’ presence is anyway. It must just be tradition.

The necessary items for the ritual were prepared beforehand, ingredients carefully measured into their own little containers, oddly like the mise-en-place of a cooking show on TV. The first three sisters each hand a small bowl to the cardinal. He takes them, one at a time, and pours the contents of each onto the altar, along its long axis, each reagent in its own place.

The first is a fine yellow powder, a tiny, dusty mountain on the stone surface — sulfur.

The second is a shiny, slippery liquid, forming a little round puddle — mercury.

The third is a white and crystalline substance, pebbles of it tumbling down the sides of its pile — salt.

The penultimate sister is holding a black wooden box, intricately carved and inlaid with gold. She lifts away the lid and Copia removes from it a human heart, which he places on the altar, two thirds from the top, at its widest point.

The final sister hands him a chalice filled with a deep red liquid. This, Dew has been told, is blood, once belonging to someone who is now no longer alive.

Briefly, Copia holds the chalice aloft. Then he lowers it and pours its contents across the altar in a wide, splattering stripe, drenching it and all of the prepared items upon it. The liquid spreads, rivulets reaching the edge of the altar and running down its sides to the floor.

There is a tense beat of silence. Then, the salt sizzles, the mercury bubbles, and the sulfur erupts into bright blue flame.

When the reaction fades, the reagents are gone. The only thing left on the altar is the heart, unmarred. The chapel is silent and still, as if maybe that’s all that will happen, and it’s already over.

But, moments later, the main event begins. Blood vessels sprout from the top of the heart and grow, snaking, across the altar. They twist and branch into a vaguely humanoid shape, a shadow over the stone.

Individual organs congeal, wet and shiny, each budding from nothing and blooming into something recognizable — lungs, liver, kidneys. A brain. Ducts and vessels reach out to one another.

Bones form, the biggest ones first. They start out spindly like twigs and grow in length and diameter, creaking as they expand. They lie disjoint from each other, draped over the existing viscera in a loose semblance of a skeleton. As the first ligaments are created, they begin to pull together. Arms slide into shoulders, legs into hips. Ribs attach to a sternum and vault over the organs of the chest cavity.

Muscle and sinew forms, layer by layer, a macabre, meaty papier-mâché. As flesh connects to bone, the ghoul twitches. His limbs jerk unceremoniously, like a marionette.

One of his flailing arms knocks a candle off the altar and onto the marble floor of the sanctuary. Hot wax pools under it, but the flame continues to burn, rising perpendicular from the wick.

He lets out a low, breathy groan, whatever air was in his lungs pushed out by the contraction of his brand new diaphragm.

Final layers of adipose and skin cover his raw, exposed tissue. As all of his bodily systems come together he continues to twitch, smaller movements but more of them now, until he’s almost vibrating.

Then he flops limp on the altar, motionless.

Copia reaches down and feels for the new ghoul’s pulse, placing two fingers into the juncture between his neck and his jaw. When he nods, the waiting sisters flurry over to lift the ghoul’s body off the altar. As two of them raise his upper body into a seated position, his head first lolls back and then snaps forward, like he’s suddenly awake. His eyes fall open.

Dew watches him take a deep, gasping breath. His first.

Two more sisters join to help pull him up until he’s standing. A fifth drapes a blanket over his shoulders. He’s taller than all of them. The sister with the blanket stands on her tiptoes.

They lead him to sit on the opposite side of the sanctuary. If he were summoned when he was supposed to be, he would be sitting among other newborn ghouls. Instead, he’s alone. At least he doesn’t have to sit through any more summonings right now, to witness his first and only memory as an outside observer before he’s had any chance to get his bearings.

No, Dew wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.

Dew isn’t listening while Copia says the closing rite. He’s watching the new ghoul. His replacement, yet he’s still here to witness this. It hasn’t ever happened before, at least not that he’s aware of.

The ghoul is pulling his blanket around himself. His head is drooping forward slightly, like it’s too heavy for him to hold up. He’s breathing hard enough that Dew can see the rise and fall of his shoulders from the other side of the sanctuary. When Copia dismisses them all, the sisters return to his side and help him file out of the chapel with everyone else.

Tonight, they will go their separate ways. This new ghoul will be whisked off for further initiation rituals, and then closely monitored for a few days as he builds strength in his new body.

Dew watches as he’s led down the hall in the opposite direction. He looks like a baby deer, unsteady in an endearing sort of way. Something about his proportions adds to the image — he’s all legs under his blanket.

As they turn the corner and continue out of sight, Dew wonders what his name will be.

#ghost band fanfic #ghoul philosophy #sorry its not anything new but it wasnt on here #fic i wrote

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destieltropecollection · 1 year

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DESTIEL TROPE COLLECTION 2023 | DAY 3 | S15 Fix Its

i wanna be your lover fighter | @angelwiththeblue-box

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,056 Main Tags/Warnings: Fix-It, Major Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, AU, Happy Ending, Summary: what if dean is the one who confesses first?

There's Something About Jenny | @whichstiel

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,965 Main Tags/Warnings: Jenny the vampire, Time travel Summary: A fix-it for the finale.

Heavenly | @sunshine-zenith

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2,864 Main Tags/Warnings: Past Major Character Death/Set In Heaven, Post s15ep20, happy ending, humor, minor angst, Cas has some self worth issues Summary: Cas has been avoiding Dean in heaven, despite Dean's best efforts to find some information on the guy. The others made a point to bash over his head how Dean and Castiel had apparently been in love and could have been together for over a decade if he had just gotten his head out of his ass sooner (again, super unfair. It takes two to make up destiel, and it's not like Cas had been rushing to declare his undying love until just before he died for the last time. Unless you count that other time in the barn where he thought he was dying, but the angel totally chickened out when he backtracked with his “I love you all.” This wasn’t all on Dean, and he was taking that fact to the- well. Not grave. They’re all a little past that at that point). Luckily, eventually, Cas comes to him.

Sit in the Presence of the Sun | @aaronthe8thdemon

Rating: Mature Word Count: 3,125 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-Season/Series 15, Angst, Suicide Attempt, Major Character Undeath, Sad Dean Winchester, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Misunderstandings, Winged Castiel (Supernatural), Selectively Mute Dean Winchester, Angel Castiel Summary: “Why wouldn’t Dean want to see you?” “When I…” Castiel very deliberately continues watching the sun instead of Sam. “I’m not comfortable discussing this with you. I’m sorry.” “Okay…?” “It’s fine. Jack has already informed me that Dean doesn’t want any of us to bother him.” Now Sam groans. “Really? No, Cas! Dean doesn’t wanna see me or Jack! I’m pretty sure he just didn’t believe Jack when we tried telling him you’re back, and he fucking - escaped from the hospital when I wasn’t there and took off for Jody’s! He never said he doesn’t want to see you!” Castiel shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter. I… when I protected him in the dungeon, there’s no way around the fact that my actions were extremely upsetting for him. He doesn’t want to see me.”

There'll be peace when you are done - are you done? | @brainfuzz

Rating: General Word Count: 3,216 Main Tags/Warnings: Fix-it fic, no warnings apply Summary: Canon compliant right to the shitty end, and then goes and explains all the gaps and why that's not the end.

These Words Are All We Have (We’ll Be Talking) | @sunshine-zenith

Rating: Mature Word Count: 3,625 Main Tags/Warnings: Injury, Blood, Hurt Cas, Crying Cas and Dean, Dean has Self Worth Issues, Human Cas (S15 fix it), Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Bittersweet Ending Summary: When the Empty comes to collect Cas, Dean doesn't let it take him. The aftermath of this leaves Cas without his Grace and with a bleeding cut across his throat, and Dean questioning his worthiness of Cas's love.

this is the only thing i’ve ever had any faith in | @watchinghimrakeleaves

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 3,760 Main Tags/Warnings: season 15 fix it, post canon, human cas, retired hunter dean winchester Summary: The world is safe, Dean and Cas own a bar on the beach, and Dean is ready to ask Cas for something he could have never imagined he was allowed to have.

Devotional | @whichstiel

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4,034 Main Tags/Warnings: The Empty, Resurrection Summary: A devotional is a little meditative prayer centered around a story. We start with THE WORD, follow up with a story, and walk away with a little revelation to ponder. I give you Castiel’s devotionals.

Signal | @diminuel

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 7,176 Main Tags/Warnings: S15 Fix-It, Interdimensional phone calls, Resurrected Castiel (Cas is still an angel), Crack Treated Seriously, Happy Ending, Fluff, Requited Love Summary: When the Empty grabbed Castiel he was prepared for this to be the end of him. There would be no more resurrections, no more loopholes, nothing but eternal sleep. But then his phone rings, piercing through the oblivion and Cas is wide awake. Turns out he’s got cell service in the Empty.

it's not a miracle you need | @brillemos

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 7,711 Main Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mutual Pining, Love Confessions, First Kiss Summary: Jack refuses to help save Cas from the Empty. Dean has no clue how to do it and enlists Sam and Eileen's help. It turns out the answer was within Cas all along, but getting there isn't easy.

how fast the night changes (WIP) | @closetoyou1970

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7,915 Main Tags/Warnings: Season 15 Fix-It, Dean Rescues Cas From The Empty, New Relationship, Road Trip, Retirement, Grieving and Healing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angel Cas Endgame Summary: Cas is back from the Empty, but Dean is still too traumatized by watching him die to set foot back in the bunker. With no apocalypse on the horizon and with a deathbed love confession still hanging heavy in the air between them, Dean suggests his go-to idea: that the pair of them take off together and drive around the backroads of flyover country until they figure it out. (Post-series road trip fic.)

if you ran away, just come home | @heller-castiel

Rating: No Rating Word Count: 9,172 Main Tags/Warnings: Grief/Mourning, Selectively Mute Dean Winchester, Woman in White Dean Winchester, Canonical Character Death, Fix-it, Angst With a Happy Ending, Human Castiel Summary: Dean wandered, after. The night that Chuck died, subsumed into Amara, he had silently climbed into his car in the dead of night, walking past Jack's room, past Sam's room. In his room, Sam laid in his bed with Eileen, and felt the air displace itself around where Dean slipped past in the hallway, instincts attuning him to movement just as they made Dean move soundlessly, without a thought to it. but Dean didn’t think of that. Dean only thought of moving, getting out, going - Going to something the bunker couldn’t be, anymore. Something he couldn’t ever go to. But he had to go.

Know And Understand | @aaronthe8thdemon

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 10,387 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Episode AU: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Time Travel, Episode: s04e02 Are You There God? It's Me Dean Winchester, Grief/Mourning, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Angel Castiel Summary: The Cas that reappears in the bunker after Chuck is defeated isn't their Cas. After supposedly being taken by the Shadow, Castiel has no idea why he immediately crash-lands in Bobby Singer's wrecking yard just days after Dean was raised from Hell. Jack is just trying to fix everything and surprisingly, Gabriel turns out to be really good at damage control. In both times, Sam has no idea what the hell's going on anymore and at this point he's almost too scared to ask.

I would do anything for love... but I won't do that | @startswitheff

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 11,001 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-Canon Fix-It, Dean Winchester Uses Actual Words, Eventual Smut, Human!Castiel, Top!Castiel, Bottom!Dean Winchester Summary: When Dean pulls Castiel from the Empty, he knows he wants to be by his side for the rest of his life. But is he ready for everything that entails? Otherwise known as the “and that’s how…” fic.

Summer Blues | @deanabean

Rating: Mature Word Count: 11,193 Main Tags/Warnings: Retrospective, Dean Winchester-centric, POV Dean Winchester, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Selectively Mute Dean Winchester, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Competent Dean Winchester, yCastiel and Dean Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon Fix-It, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester Summary: As Dean sits here alone in the dark of this summer's night, going through some sort of an introspection journey deep down memory lane _ as he’s finding himself doing more and more for a while now _ as he tries his hardest to make sense of things. Of memories. Yes, Dean thinks; hindsight is like looking through a sharp, new set of eyes. Sometimes disorienting, yet the closest thing to crystal clear.

Status quo ante bellum | @angelinthefire

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 11,201 Main Tags/Warnings: human!Castiel, light angst, canon-typical alcohol consumption Summary: Cas is back from the Empty, human, and convinced that his relationship with Dean is unsalvagable. Can Dean get his shit together in time to prove otherwise?

Dean daily | @fellshish

Rating: Mature Word Count: 11,840 Main Tags/Warnings: Epistolatory, denial, social media, fix-it Summary: Cas has been rescued from the Empty. Dean suffers from extreme denial about being in love with him. Epistolary / social media fic with Dean POV snippets for every day.

The Council Of Charlie Bradbury | @pointyearedelvishprincling

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 13,157 Main Tags/Warnings: post 15x18, angel!cas, selective mutism, angst with a happy ending, pov Charlie Bradbury, pov dean winchester, pov castiel, emotional hurt/comfort, LOTR references Summary: It's been a few weeks since Cas got out of the Empty, and Dean can't accept that there's finally peace in the world. Watching the camera footage of the dungeon scene on repeat probably isn't helping. Cas is content to give Dean space to heal, even if the loneliness at the end of the journey is settling in. On the request of Sam, not that she needed an excuse, Charlie spends the night in the Bunker trying to figure out what's going on with these idiots, and getting more answers than she bargained for. With the help of Stevie, she comes up with a plan that might finally bring Dean and Cas together.

something you love (something you lose) | @nessarose-thropp

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 15,308 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-Episode: s14e20 Moriah, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Temporary Character Death, Rough Sex, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Suicidal Ideation, Grief/Mourning, POV Castiel (Supernatural), Hopeful Ending, Angel Castiel Summary: “Story's over,” Chuck says, “Welcome to The End.” And with that everything goes dark and cold. The darkness and rot of souls and bodies surrounds them. He doesn’t dare touch Jack again, just stares at his lifeless body lit only by unnatural moonlight. He’s vaguely aware of the threat slowly encircling them, but none of it matters. Nothing matters anymore. Somewhere, something deep inside of him-not his earthly body but his true angel self-awakens. It’s a type of power and heat he hasn’t felt in years. It’s uncontrollable and unforgiving. Light and righteousness and fury coalescing into something terrifying. Castiel lets out a scream, an anguished cry from his human mouth and a piercing angelic shriek, and with it releases whatever it was that had been growing within him. When he feels it leave, his consciousness finally returns to the present, to the Earth and to his vessel and to Sam and Dean and to Jack and it’s light out again. The sun is shining just as it was minutes ago, and there is no sign of any dark forces around them. No ghosts, no zombies, no demons, just two men, an angel, and the body of a dead Nephilim. - Jack is gone, Chuck is in the wind, and Cas must find a way to cope.

The Little Issue with the Mission to Perdition | @amaranthhiding

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 16,460 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, Post-Ep 15x19, Jack & Amara family bonding, Jack and Amara Try Fixing Things Together but Make Everything Worse, Team Free Will 3.0, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Castiel/Dean First Kiss, POV Alternating (Jack, Amara, Dean, Sam, Castiel) Summary: Chuck is defeated and his power now belongs to Jack and Amara. They struggle with adjusting to their newly-shared existence, and with big questions such as, how can (almost) all-powerful beings avoid becoming what Chuck was? What even is all that power good for when it doesn't allow Jack to save someone from the Empty who absolutely deserves being saved? Who thought it was a good idea to hand all that power to two beings who, together, have spent less years on Earth than the average human child? ...And why is there suddenly black goo everywhere?

In the Rolling Up of Sleeves | @the-elf-barbarian

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 20,344 Main Tags/Warnings: S15 fix it Cas is human/in heaven, Dean and Cas are dead/in heaven, Canon typical Alcohol Abuse, Canon typical reference to Child Abuse, Domestic Fic, Magical Realistic Heaven, Failure to communicate, The Unrelenting Search for Happiness, Hurt/Comfort but like... for Us Summary: When Cas arrives in heaven, sometime after sacrificing himself to the Empty - he and Jack realize just how wrong Chuck got it when he built heaven. And, just how much work they have in store to prepare heaven for the arrival of those they love. Meanwhile, in the wake of Chuck’s defeat, Dean finds a way to forge a life with this new, more free, world while grappling with the knowledge of Cas’s true feelings. When they finally meet in heaven, will they finally get the afterlife they deserve - learning and building, to make the Heaven they have spent so long fighting for - or will Cas’s fears about how he escaped from The Empty endanger it all? What was that, wayward sons, about there being peace when you were done?

to the wonder of all things | @hauntedpearl

Rating: General Word Count: 21,164 Main Tags/Warnings: Fix-It, Empty rescue, Hell rescue, Flashbacks, Angel!Cas, Love Confessions, First Kiss Summary: The Empty puts Castiel to sleep. The sound of prayer wakes him up. He follows this call echoing through the void and relives pieces of his life as he journeys towards the voice — towards freedom. Towards Dean.

One Week Later | @squirrelofcelestialintent

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 23,208 Main Tags/Warnings: Panic attacks, alcohol as a coping mechanism, bisexual dean, internalized homophobia, switching, gentle dom cas, identity crisis, graceless/human Castiel, discussions of sex work Summary: “Touch-starved”. It’s one of those terms (along with “alcoholic” and “abused child”) that Dean has worked very hard to keep on the other side of the big fat concrete wall in his brain. The one that, until now, only weakens when he’s truly, deeply shit-faced. But Cas has made a career out of breaking through Dean’s walls, it only makes sense that he’d tear this one down too, if he just died enough times. Ripped Dean’s heart out just enough so that the foundations of family and duty and sacrifice can crumble and leave Dean even more of a desperate, black hole of need than he was before. Chuck is dead, and Cas… Cas is back. And Dean is supposed to be happy. It’s time to decide what he wants to do with the rest of his life. But how can he do that, when every time he’s not physically touching Cas he starts to have a panic attack that none of this is real, and it’s all just another one of Chuck’s games? Who knows. So, he lets himself touch Cas. Constantly. It’s that or face a complete, Chernobyl-scale meltdown. At least Cas doesn’t seem to mind.

there's no cell service in the afterlife | @payphoneangel

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 27,404 Main Tags/Warnings: finale fix-it, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alcoholism, Family Dynamics, Jack Kline is Not God, Suicidal Thoughts, Empty deal, Blood and Injury, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Masturbation Summary: Castiel is resurrected from The Empty. While Dean is recovering from casting the spell that brought him back, Cas checks his voicemail. Turns out, they both just might be able to say what it is they want.

Inherit the Earth | @malicmalic

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 29,167 Main Tags/Warnings: S15 fix it, Castiel Lives, First kiss, MPreg, TopCas/Bottom Dean, comfort, Jack is God, Light angst, Fluff, Happy ending. Summary: Prompt: Cas and Dean deal with a surprise pregnancy. Or the one where the world didn't end, Jack defeated Chuck and Dean and Cas got their happily ever after.

The Blood Curse | @labgeek2002

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 32,690 Main Tags/Warnings: Angel Cas, post season 15 fix-it, internalized homophobia, time travel Summary: Castiel has been rescued from the Empty, but the spell used to retrieve him tears a hole in the dimensional wall that acts as barrier protecting Earth from the pull of everlasting darkness. As the Empty feeds off of Castiel's grace to sustain itself, driving him closer to death with every passing minute, Dean becomes desperate to save him. The only way to repair the damage is for Dean, Sam, and Cas to travel back in time to obtain a witch's stone that's in the possession of John Winchester, circa 2002. A twenty-three year old Dean Winchester will serve as their guide as they navigate the tumultuous father-son relationship that transcends time itself before the Empty draws its final curtain.

Buffer Time | @sunshine-zenith

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 42,728 Main Tags/Warnings: Referenced to past character death (minor and major), slight psychological horror, sexual humor, mental health issues, Fusion/AU Hopping, everyone needs hugs, s15 fix it, Angel Cas, Happy Ending Summary: When Dean wakes up in his town's jailcell with a disoriented Cas, he happily roles with it. Sure, he knows he'll be the laughing stock of the town for a few days -- what deputy locks himself in his own jailhouse? -- but as long as Cas is there, things are fine. Until he realizes his memory is unusually fuzzy. Until Cas starts acting strange and morose. Until he starts having brief flashes of Cas being taken from him by an inky black entity. Until Cas starts talking about plot holes and tropes. Until he wakes up by a fire in the woods, on a quests to fight a dragon --no wait, in an ambulance, late for his shift as a surgeon-- no wait- Dean's just trying to figure out why he and Cas keep waking up in different genres and why Cas seems so distant, while Sam works with Eileen, Gabriel, and a few others to do the same on the other side of a laptop. (WandaVision inspired finale fix-it)

Creatures of Light | @aishitara

Rating: Mature Word Count: 44,075 Main Tags/Warnings: Angel!Cas, temporary MCD, temporary canonical MCD, canon-typical depictions of violence, Castiel and Dean Winchester have a profound bond, angst with a happy ending, creature!Cas, trueform!Cas, surrealism, non-linear storytelling, love confessions, heavy reliance on scenes from potentially triggering episodes of season 15. Summary: Dean is in Heaven. He’s got everything he could ever want at his fingertips, a literal eternity of peace laid before him for the having, but he can’t help thinking — how can it really be his Heaven if Cas isn’t there? Then one day, Dean goes for a drive. And at the end of it he finds something he truly did not expect. Another chance, maybe, to find Cas and confront him about his parting words to Dean. To figure out what it is he wants and to take it, for once, without guilt or shame. Another chance to live free.

And Neither Do You | @withclawsandsympathy

Rating: Mature Word Count: 45,309 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, POV Dean, bi Dean, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dean Winchester is Loved, Body Horror, Horror, Character Death Fix, Fox-It, Quote: Family Don’t End With Blood (Supernatural), Angel!Cas, Finale Rewrite Summary: “Come, now,” he heard Cas rasp. It wasn’t coming from the phone anymore, but from right outside the door. Dean lowered the phone and took a hesitant step forward, his bare foot sinking into the damp, rotting carpet. “Cas, what’s wrong? I don’t … You’re not making any sense.” “I have something for you,” Cas said, and this time it came as a whisper in a language Dean didn’t know, yet somehow understood. Dean froze in his tracks, his hand hovering just over the doorknob. He wanted so desperately for it to be Cas on the other side of this door, but he knew deep down that something was horribly, horrifically wrong. The rise of a new, hands-off God has unintended consequences, and the promise of free will reaches further than anyone intended. In the absence of the one who'd locked them away, and beneath the cracked and abused surface of the Midwest, an Old God stirs. Here, death is not the peace you're looking for, and there's one person left to save. Or: family don't end in blood, and neither does Dean Winchester.

Finally (WIP) | @nanianela

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 70,698 Main Tags/Warnings: Season/Series 15, Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy, Canon Compliant, Fix-It, Soul Bonds, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Post-Finale, Engaged Castiel/Dean Winchester, Magical Pregnancy Summary: Castiel manages to escape the Empty, but on borrowed time. Before he hands over his grace, he accidentally forges an angelic bond to Dean, his new life mate, and grace tainted with humanity has no place in the angel afterlife. The bond forces Dean and Cas to navigate new waters, as they can now see into each other’s minds and feel what the other feels. Grace sex between Dean’s soul and Cas’s grace becomes a new normal in the couple’s lives, until it causes something they never thought possible...

Carve a Palace From Within | @norahastuff

Rating: Mature Word Count: 75,930 Main Tags/Warnings: Background Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, mention of canon Cas/Djinn queen, 15x20 doesn't exist (except to dunk on), Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Introspection for everybody, The Power Of Love, Dean's Top 13 Zepp Traxx Mixtape, Billie is not a villain (this one's important to me), I will drag these idiots to the beach if it kills me, Cas is something between angel and human Summary: The world is saved, Chuck has been defeated, and with the help of Amara and Jack, they managed to rescue Cas from the Empty. It's over. It's all over. So, what now? Sam wants to continue on as a Man of Letters and help other hunters and Dean and Cas want to open up a Roadhouse-style bar, but old habits die hard, and it’s surprisingly easy to fall back into their established routine of monsters and hunting - that is until they run into trouble on a case and have to take a step back and evaluate what’s truly important. Just when it seems like things are finally falling into place, an old friend returns and they discover there's still one of Chuck’s messes they need to clean up. The cosmic forces at the top may have a plan to fix it, but it’s Dean who will have to play the pivotal role. In order to do so, he’ll have to confront his past, face up to who he really is and acknowledge just how far he's willing to go to get the job done. One thing’s for sure, though: this is their story and he refuses to let it end as a tragedy. They deserve better. They’ve earned the chance to be free.

Forget your perfect offering | @angelinthefire

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 81,785 Main Tags/Warnings: fix-it, angel!cas, top castiel/bottom dean winchester, angelic grace sex, minor homophobia, angel family, dadstiel, canon-typical alcohol use, panic attack, happy ending Summary: Cas was resurrected. Dean told Cas that he loves him, that he can have everything he wanted, but Cas has to stay with him. Cas promised that he would. The thing is, he didn’t realize how literal Dean was being. Now, Cas works on rebuilding Heaven with the angels, while he builds a new life with Dean. Neither of those things are as easy as Cas would have liked.

There Are Roads Left in Both of Our Shoes | @hawkland

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 117,878 Main Tags/Warnings: human!Cas, series fixit, road trip, nightmares, emotional hurt/comfort, switching Dean/Cas, soul bonds Summary: What happens when Cas wakes up in the Empty a second time, and rescues his own damn self? At first, it seems like the happy ending Dean thought he’d lost his chance to ever know. But as the two set out on a celebratory road trip and begin enjoying their new life together, there’s a darkness clinging to Cas that refuses to completely let go. They may need to make an altogether different kind of journey in order to put the past fully behind them. And meanwhile, where is Jack, anyway?

Beyond This Illusion | @skybird87

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 161,339 Main Tags/Warnings: Post Finale, Human Cas, Internalized Homophobia, Coming Out, Homophobic Language, Top Dean, Bottom Cas, Panic Attacks, Team as Family, Slow Burn Summary: “Are you serious, Dean? Your djinn-dream started with you dying?” Sam asks incredulously from the passenger. “Well, technically it started with us going on a hunt,” Dean points out. He licks his lips, jaw clenching. “I mean, there was Heaven, too, and that was pretty cool.” Sam stares at him. “Sorry, man, but that just sounds pretty lame.” He leans back and folds his arms. “Kinda sounds like something Chuck would cook up. Just you and me. No one else. I mean, really?” *~*~* In which some people come back, Cas learns to be human (the right way, this time), Dean Winchester finally realizes that good things do happen, and they all get their version of the post-credits, apple-pie life they deserved. AKA: Screw Chuck's narrative.

#destiel trope collection #destiel trope collection 2023 #destiel #fanfic #s15 fix its #day 2

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pocket-archer · 9 months

Text

Don’t Tap the Glass AU - notes & timeline

I'll be writing a journal entry style fic for DTTG and posting occasional comics so this is technically spoilers but posting anyway since it's been a long time coming. Feel free to read if you like 👍

internal conflict within the Shimada castle leading to the deaths of two brothers and the clan disappearing

some time after (years?) the brothers are reborn as an oni (self-inflicted curse) and minor god (revered as a tragic victim)

centuries later, Cassidy in his early hunting days is attacked by a lycan (deadlock) and to prevent the curse, dismembered his own arm (infected area)

blood loss and shock from doing this nearly kills him but one of Death’s workers (Nevermore!Reaper) notices how stubbornly he’s clinging to life and makes a deal with him (blackwatch)

Cassidy becomes an Undead, able to maintain his human form unless weak or when it’s time to do his part of the deal on the anniversary of his “death”

his deal grants him the ‘deadeye’, able to see who is marked for death and he has to bring them to the Reaper to keep extending his life

he later acquires the new arm for channelling the magic he lost when Turning, help with reaping, and is heavily enchanted to react to non-humans with a burning touch

Cassidy heavily relies on weapons more than his magic because it's not as strong as it used to be and more akin to practical effects or smaller attacks like smoke, stuns, small explosions (ei. wind effect during deadeye, flashbang/magnet grenade, etc) and feels draining to use at the same time as keeping his human appearance

Cassidy finds a way to stay away from innocents whenever the anniversary comes around, feeling more justified in his reaping if he’s taking out those who deserve it. Refusing to reap will end their deal and the Reaper will finally take Cassidy himself

at some point, Cassidy meets Genji Shimada, a traveller who he suspects is also not human, but Genji never brings it up

Cassidy is hired by a “priest” (Zenyatta) to capture the oni lurking within the abandoned Shimada castle, frightening the citizens of Hanamura

The priest warns of a horrible fate if the oni is left alone

Genji vouches for the Priest, and explains some of Hanamura’s legends to Cassidy, who figures Genji must’ve fled from there from the association with Shimada castle, or displaced when his ancestor’s clan fell apart.

bounty money was good too

Cassidy travels to Hanamura to hunt the oni, who he is able to find because the oni is peculiarly marked for death

He wonders if that means the priest will be killing the oni himself after the delivery

Cassidy wins the fight because being Undead has its perks (still hurts tho) and the Oni fought very distractedly (lack of tactic/sense)

He seals the Oni in a lantern that is covered in a variety of seals as oni are not something he hunted before, and he rarely takes jobs involving escorting a live target, so better safe than sorry. He made the seals himself

The oni in its sealed form is surprisingly chattier and snarky, as it didn’t talk during the fight. The two butt heads and bicker throughout the journey. At this point, Cassidy doesn’t consider the oni to really be a person with the rumours that this oni was born out of the tragedies in Shimada castle alone

funnee hijinks of avoiding other monsters or hunters

Vampire hunter!Brigitte encounter

Banshee!Moira encounter

The more human the oni spoke and acted, the more Cassidy questioned what it really was

The amount of detours and unexpected delays of journeying with a live target threw off Cassidy’s predicted drop-off time. The energy on maintaining the multiple seals is draining.

Both Cassidy and oni become more irritable and tired, and argue until Cassidy decides to stop talking to the oni and focus on the job

His Undeath anniversary is soon and the only person around for Cassidy to reap would be his own target

Cassidy detours again to a town to find suitable souls to reap

Oni has become significantly quieter and falling asleep more often. Getting weaker.

The Oni shares that he finally figured out what Cassidy was, through the different magic signatures that carried into the seals. He knows that Cassidy is Undead, and that it is ironic that they’re both cursed. He falls asleep once more, as Cassidy realized that the oni was also once a human.

Encounter with a disguised witch (Mercy) who took notice of his charge, tries to cast an enchantment on Cassidy to hand over the weakened oni for herself

Cassidy catches her act, burning her hand in a handshake

Village is revealed to be false, all the people in it are puppet illusions by the witch. (looks like ragdoll!echos) Cassidy cannot reap.

Time runs out, the Reaper comes for Cassidy

Oni wakes up during the confrontation, overhearing the argument, Cassidy being offered an extension if he reaps the oni whose time was long due, just like him, and overhears that Cassidy has decided not to hand off the oni to anyone

Cassidy doesn’t want to do the Reaper’s dirty work anymore,

they fight

the lantern shatters, releasing the oni

the two of them together fight until the Reaper retreats, vowing to return even before the next deadline

now freed, Cassidy offers for the oni to attack him back, in revenge for being sealed

the oni refuses, they talk instead

Cassidy finally learns that the oni’s name is Hanzo

Hanzo asks more about Cassidy's deal with the Reaper, about Deadeye, and he figured he was marked for death. He asks if he's still marked, Cassidy reluctantly admits that he is, but it's been wavering.

they decide to continue to travel together

Cassidy laments that he will not receive the bounty for turning Hanzo in. Hanzo mentions that there was abandoned wealth back at the Shimada castle. They go back for it as their first destination together.

Cassidy sent a letter back to Genji for the Priest. He will not be completing the hunt.

The Priest shakes his head at this, amused, but strangely optimistic about this development. Genji leaves to search for them instead.

Cassidy learns that Hanzo does not remember everything from when he was human. He remembers his name, yes he always had this tattoo, his family was of summoners, he did something to have been cursed to become this. He thinks he cursed himself in his final moments. He doesn’t remember what his familiars were, nor anyone in his clan

Cassidy mentions Genji as the one who told him about Hanamura’s legends, and that Genji might be one of Hanzo’s technical descendants since they share a last name. Hanzo doesn’t recognize the name Genji.

Hanzo learns that Cassidy enchanted one of his bag’s pockets for hammerspace. Cassidy uses this for multiple hats. Hanzo hates that.

Werewolf!Winston encounter. They fight until Winston turns back. They thought he would’ve turned back into a human. He didn’t.

Hanzo eventually remembers what he looked like as a human, for a supply run into town where he needed to be disguised like Cassidy

Same town has Einherjar!Zarya who is also a hunter, not an active one, but protects that town. She keeps squinting at them.

Anytime time they try to mention/question about Winston's.. condition (gorilla), something interrupts them

the witch returns, having captured the Reaper (Jack-o-Lantern!Reaper) as a servant after being denied the oni

Cassidy makes a new deal with the Reaper, that he will forget about Cassidy and Hanzo’s souls in exchange for being broken out

[more time for adventures here]

Will-o-wisp!Tracer and Satyr!Lucio “help” them through a forest

catch a ride on a ship with pirate!Torbjorn, warning from pirate!Baptiste about monsters in the water, (unseen, pirate!Ana in background talking w Genji)

Siren!Symmetra encounter

here comes the giant fist (swamp monster!doomfist)

Ana is there after they arrive, makes fun of them for getting attacked by the swamp monster

There’s a circus! (roadhog, junkrat, soldier)

Genji finally finds them. Hanzo remembers. He does not take it well.

Hanzo's death marker revealed to be referring to his humanity and identity, as being in isolation as an oni he would've eventually lost himself. Suddenly remembering what he did and being overcome with the emotions drives him out of control

Genji and Hanzo fight (reference to dragons animated short except big oni attacks), and meanwhile Cassidy recreates his seals to suppress the frenzy to help Genji's words reach Hanzo

probably some crying but 👍

Other notes/encounters

Widowmaker is a monster hunter

Sombra is another monster hunter (knows Cassidy’s secret)

Kiriko (Matsuri?) is still a shrine maiden, or helps care for it, specifically the shrine Genji is connected to. They hang out :)

Ramattra is a necromancer that puts souls in dolls and bots (haunted doll!Ashe, victorian doll!Echo, gearbot!Bastion? what a weird family...) (this means ashe technically appears twice but it's possible because the lycan attack was years ago and she could've died since then and doll!ashe isn't the same

Enchanted armour Pharah and Reinhardt if they appear

No one ever sees Zenyatta's face under the cloth, and Genji only ever describes it vaguely

Junkenstein's Revenge and Wrath of the Bride could still happen to a degree but very different dialogue/origins for the four heroes

Cassidy can't see death markers through glass so he couldn't see Hanzo's having changed during travels because of the lantern

Cassidy can safely lose and reattach limbs as an undead but can't heal/regenerate too much lost mass on his own. He cannot have his head or heart pierced, that could still kill him

Hanzo has to physically eat as well for strength so part of him getting weak over time was seals, the other was cuz he was starving. He could eat people technically, but tries to stick to animals, and magic-adjacent stuff is more filling (he got a couple birds from the fight with Reaper)

Genji's abilities as a deity are wind and weather based (swift strike no cooldowns) and he can still summon his dragon familiar from before. He still uses weapons unlike Hanzo who is more melee now as an oni (though has storm related effects like lightning)

They probably stop by the town that had Zarya and Winston every once in a while because it's actually a chill town once they get to know you

#dont tap the glass #dttg #overwatch #overwatch au #hanzo shimada #cole cassidy #yeehan #mchanzo #long post under cut

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umbralstars · 2 months

Text

I think something interesting to note is that the Cetra and the Gi have two completely different tellings of their history. But there's also some internal consistency between both factions.

The way the story is framed from Gi Nattak the Planet we know as Gaia was (potentially) the home world of the Gi.

"...until at last it was subsumed by your own." For context, in a literary sense, "star" and "planet" can be interchangeable. The Latin the Promised Land song from AC explicitly uses the term "star" to refer to Gaia/the Planet, and I believe that is the intention with this line. The Gi suffered a calamity upon their planet and the survivors were left to seek refuge on Gaia now that the Lifestream had come.

The Cetra, however, place and phrase things slightly differently. They say this after explaining that their purposes is to protect their Planet:

Given the order this sequence is played, it makes it sound like the Gi came to Gaia from somewhere else. Particularly after Jenova had been dealt with. I believe this is impossible however, and that the story the Cetra are telling is being told in reverse.

If we order the events like this:

- Gi's homeworld dies

- The lifestream arrives and a functionally new planet is made from the corpse of the old. This traps the remaining Gi in a state of undeath as the cannot be absorbed into the lifestream

- Untold amount of time. Gaia canonically has an entire pre-history and fossils layers so we do not know how long the lifestream has been here. The Cetra also create a place to commune with the Gi as explained by Bugenhagen during the trials

- The Gi steal a materia of some importance. A "sacred treasure" even before it was corrupted and turned black (of all notable colors in FF7 lore)

- The Black Materia is used for its purpose and summons a meteor that strikes the Planet. The Cetra learn what caused this, seal the Gi away deep below Cosmo Canyon, and take the Black Materia

- However, it was too late as Jenova came upon that meteor. Through means that can be speculated, given the Shadowblood Queen storyline and OG events, she manipulates Cetra and Human alike until there is a brutal war which eventually seals her away

- Human civilizations and Cetran one(s) eventually begin to clash which leads to deaths of many and eventually the collapse of the Cetra as a people entirely. There were those who settled in Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon for a time. But we know that eventually Aerith becomes the last person who can claim a cultural connection to the Cetra (if not the last Cetra entirely, but I have my own theories on that)

- Gaia's history continues on

A timeline emerges that many people within the fandom agree on, and is the best way to make both the Gi and Cetra accounts agree with one another.

This, however, also leads me to questions especially after Rebirth and connections pointed out by other people. There have been people on Tumblr and YouTube pointing out the connections between Jenova, the "Goddess" of Loveless and the depiction in the Temple, the card game storyline ect ect.

In my opinion, from the evidence I see, the Gi seem to be the ones who created Jenova in some way. If we go by the idea that Jenova arrived when the Black Materia was used (unless there just so happened to be two entirely different meteors or Jenova's meteor is completely unrelated to the singular purpose the Black Materia has been established as having since OG), that means that the Gi would have needed to create her in some way or called her to aid them.

Plenty of people have pointed out visual similarities between Jenova's forms, the Gi, and their many effigies around their village.

We know from Rebirth Sephiroth that the "real" Black Materia has a purpose beyond just a meteor and is related to resurrecting Jenova to her full self in some capacity. What was the Black Materia before its corruption? They obviously did not use any old materia for this purpose--that one was sacred, special.

Jenova herself is also aware, intelligent, and is operating with a purpose that we do not know at current. I do not believe, nor have I ever, that she is some space parasite trying to eat Gaia for no reason. Through both Sephiroth and Regina (because the Shadowblood Queen is Jenova), she claimed that the planet as a whole belongs to her by right or used to be hers.

Even if she is speaking through the guise of Cetran queen she took over (which I'm not entirely sure she is), that still raises more questions than it gives answers.

Jenova has some influence over the lifestream. Being able to create and empower fiends through corrupting it (notably some fiends are fossilized in the Planet's crust as old variations of the species, so this may be up for debate. However, Jenova's connection to the fiends is said multiple times in different sources), have intimate knowledge of all entities that have passed into it (see: Jenova's mimic abilities, ones possessed by Kadaj as well), and even corrupt it to where Sephiroth can control souls and Whispers (see: Lifestream Black and Remake/Rebirth). She/they can even corrupt it into sicknesses like Geostigma or whatever Kadaj was doing in AC.

The lifestream's complete rejection of all foreign entities is well established and restated by the Gi in Rebirth. If Jenova is 100% foreign, how could she have this much control over it and beings born from it even before Sephiroth?

If Jenova is being given visual similarities to Rosa or even the Goddess, who had previously been established as Minerva, then I have to ask: What is Jenova? Why is she so intimately tied to the Black Materia? What even was that materia originally? Who is, or was, Jenova?

#final fantasy vii #ffvii #ff7 rebirth #ff7 #jenova #ff7 cetra #ff7 gi #gi nattak #theory crafting #second try at voicing my insane ramblings #i have thought about this non-stop for months #i'm not even sure i have an answer #but there's something going on with these plot points #i'm here for it tbh #i love cosmic horror and it could easily go even more in that direction #i think rebirth made jenova so much more intriguing

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the-overanalyzer · 3 months

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regarding godwyn

I don't think it's any kind of "plot hole" that Miquella's plan ultimately had nothing to do with him.

What we get in the base game is this:

Golden Epitaph: A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."

The eclipse church spirit in Castle Sol: "Ohh great sun! Frigid sun of Sol! Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!"

And the Castle Sol rooftop spirit: "Lord Miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers were lacking. Your comrade remains soulless…"

This tells a few things:

Miquella hoped that Godwyn would die rather than remain the giant zombie cancer merman he became. (It's vague, but in context it can only be Miquella speaking, unless there's another "young boy" we don't know about)

The people of Castle Sol were working on Miquella's behalf to use an eclipse to restore Godwyn, either bringing him back to life or, as per Golden Epitaph, letting him die for real.

Radahn is not the "comrade [who] remains soulless". Radahn's soul is right there in his body until we the player come along and put him out of his misery.

There's no indication that Miquella's plans for Godwyn were anything but what they appear to be: a boy who wants to end the bizarre and unnatural undeath inflicted on his brother. Which isn't to say there wasn't (or wouldn't have been) a nefarious twist somewhere along the way—it's Miquella, after all—but his goals were always at least intended to help people. And if you go with the Duskborn ending, you and Fia provide a little of that help yourselves.

#elden ring #elden ring spoilers #shadow of the erdtree spoilers #godwyn the golden #godwyn the prince of death #miquella the unalloyed #miquella the kind

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ficbrish · 8 months

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Stay A While

Rating: Explicit 18+ only!

[AO3 Link]

[Kinktober 2023 prompt thanks to @absurdthirst! October 21st - Hair Pulling, Masturbation]

[[TW/CW: Cptsd, blood]]

Summary: Astarion wants to linger the morning after one of their initial trysts.

Takes place in Act I.

[Click here for my other Kinktober one-shots]

“Where do you think you’re going?” Astarion’s droll tone harbored a tinge of excitement.

Vistri froze in her tracks, but answered with her back still to him, “Surely the others are waiting.”

He clicked his tongue with a slow shake of his head. “Back to camp,” he observed dryly, drawing out the word camp, then giggled, “How droll!”

She turned to face him; not an agreement to stay, just to hear him out. His pointy-toothed grin charmed her more than she’d like to admit.

“What’s the rush, darling?” he asked mischievously.

The only rush she felt was her pulse, but she couldn’t say that even if he already sensed it. Admittances such as those were for late nights spent together—Well… They said those sweet things all the time, and to anyone, but it was different when they actually meant it. Truth belonged to the midnight hours and their illusions, where it could hide in the dark. But it was simply out of place under the sun.

Vistri crossed her arms, suppressing a creeping smile, “I’m guessing you have other ideas?”

Admittedly, Astarion was curious. The tadpole gave him freedom, a new lease on undeath, but Vistri opened up entirely new pathways of pleasure. He woke up feeling the best he’d ever felt after drinking her blood. Only to be topped when they added a fuck into the mix. In a bit over a tenday, Astarion had a few of the best mornings of his life. He didn’t think it was possible to feel any better. Unless…

Light filtered through the trees, adorning him in spotty shadows. Rays of sunlight hit the side of his face, making one of his eyes sparkle like a rich ruby as the other was cast into darkness. He held up his hands innocently and made a show of looking side to side, “I don’t see any search parties.”

Ah, to never be found. Oh, to stay in this little grove and fuck ‘til death.

Vistri raised her brow, tentatively interested, “Say there were. Just how disappointed would you be?”

That was his cue to walk towards her, “Be careful of the way you talk to devils, girl. You might entice one. The sun may be high in the sky, but you’re never safe alone with a monster.”

The word, monster, stuck itself in Vistri’s mind like mud on a boot. She tried to scrape it off and put it on Astarion, but she couldn’t. She looked into his scheming, slanted eyes and said, “I’m not afraid of you under the moon either.”

He uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his waist, “You little fool.”

His mouth was so close to hers, Vistri felt dizzy, “I’m no fool.”

They were nearer to each other now than they’d been all morning. Vistri always fell into her trance on his chest and came back to the present with her face against dirt. He never held her after the sun rose, never kissed her good morning or farewell. It wasn’t like he’d set a clear boundary; he just never did any of those things, and she wasn’t going to be the first to do them. Whatever this was existed for the sole purpose of trading themselves for a bit of ecstasy, and they were simply each other’s catalyst. And that was fine. It’s the way she wanted it to be. It’s the way things always were. There was nothing special about this time, about him.

Astarion smirked. She tried to move away but he held her forearms against his sides in a firm grip.

“You’ve only survived thus far because I chose it.”

She continued fearlessly to meet his gaze. It was a misplaced confidence, like she had no concept of a reality where he’d actually ruin her. So much trust she laid on his unworthy shoulders, if it wasn’t foolishness, it had to be self-destructive.

She laughed at him. A real bitchy, mocking laugh, “Oh, you chose it?”

He grabbed her throat, tilting her head back with his thumb, “Yes. I chose not to rip you apart. Every. Time.”

“Pity.”

“No, not a pity,” he purred dangerously, “You’ve been so worth it.”

Vistri fought herself and lost. Swept up by a sudden rough current, she immediately gave over to drowning. She just let go, let it happen, and took a terrifying leap at his kiss.

Astarion moaned in pleasant surprise. He had a few more moves queued up before going there himself, but he didn’t mind the way she leapt in first. Her tongue was otherworldly, like it had been spilled out of Sune’s gossip at Loviatar’s tea party, salacious and indecently lush.

Nothing in the world compared to the way he felt. Like the sun, he colored all the greys in Vistri’s world. He felt like everything fascinating, and thought she was worth keeping alive. Someone, who felt as good as he did, deemed her worthy of life.

He was so grateful to himself for obeying his impulses. Astarion didn’t know whether she’d deign to touch him like this in the daylight. Come to think of it, she was the very first person he’d touched in 200 years under the sun. Yes, he’d pulled a blade on her then, but she was still the very first. And his first true drink. And the first fu—

“Oh, shit!” Vistri pushed him away, remembering herself and their unwritten rules made of habit, Sorry!”

Their kisses were only meant for teasing, their touches only meant for petting. She wasn’t supposed to love him at the end of her lips. Unless it was for pretending.

“Don’t be sorry,” he muttered, bringing her mouth back to his.

She felt her knees grow weak. Stupid knees. Backstabbing cunts.

“I kissed you,” she protested.

“And I kissed you back,” he went in for more.

Vistri eventually broke away again, “But we don’t kiss in the mornings.”

“And I usually don’t drink in the mornings,” he spoke into her neck, “But I think… I think we can do whatever we want. Don’t you, darling?”

He could take her blood, “I want you to drink me.”

He could take her body, “And ravish me.”

He could even take her heart, “Just make it hurt for me, lover. Would you?”

He grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled it until she cried out. His voice dripped with a bright, shiny toxin, “Oh, I can make it hurt, if that’s what you like.”

She tried to nod, but his grip was too tight on her scalp, so she just begged, “Please.”

Astarion licked her neck from base to chin, then crashed into her mouth after whining, “Gods but you make a mess of me!”

Lines like that were usually bullshit, it’s why he said them so readily. But as it tumbled out of him now, it felt real. Maybe he was just that good of an actor, and he’d really begun to believe his part. That would be so much more convenient if it was. He picked her up, overcome with a desire to possess her. He didn’t own her, didn’t belong to her, but he could steal her away from gravity. She wrapped her legs around him, and he moaned deeply; tangled in her lips, in her hair.

The others were definitely going to have to wait. That or just start the day without them.

Vistri felt her back press into a tree, just like on the first night. She kissed him and felt every star she’d ever seen. That night, she thought it had to be a fluke, a trick of the bad wine. But Gods! It was still there. It was screaming. Her heart broke whenever he pulled away, and mended only when his lips were back on hers.

He chuckled, “I’ve got you right where I want you, little pet.”

“Where’s that?”

“At my mercy.”

“You did try to warn me.”

“I’m not a nice man to be alone with.”

Her smile messed up the kiss. He was so adorable. And he was right. So right. Vistri shivered as he nibbled at her ear. It felt a lot like love, but it wasn’t. Great fucks pierced the soul like great works of art. But that wasn’t care, it was an appreciation for expertise. Sure, Astarion felt indescribably right, but that didn’t make him her god. She’d just finally met her match.

He unbuttoned her corset to fondle her breasts. She twitched whenever he brushed her nipples delicately with his fingertips, and he giggled like a naughty fey each time. The line between reaction and performance was beginning to blur. She didn’t know anymore whether she twitched on cue because he touched her or because he liked it.

“I don’t want you to be nice. I want it to hurt.”

He pulled her hair again, smirking as she let out a sound that was something between a moan and a yelp. The harder he pulled, the more she felt like his. She didn’t want to want that, and yet it possessed her, like a sob forcing itself out.

“More,” she pleaded.

“More?”

“Aren’t you a bad man? And I a fool alone in the woods?”

He let go of her hair and spoke onto her lips, “Oh, you’re not alone, darling. You’re very much not alone.”

His hand took hers and brought it to the front of his trousers. Grasping and gasping, she felt him. How hard he was; thick enough to break her. The anticipation made her shiver as he kissed her again.

“Use me,” she sighed, “However you’d like.” It was the only way for her to say, I’m yours.

She gave herself so willingly, it was intoxicating. Not like it was anything he wasn’t used to, but it was new, startlingly so. He melted into the feeling of being wanted by someone who knew what he was, of being wanted by her. The world grew smaller, more manageable. All he had to be was the salve to her desires. Hers wasn’t an itch; it was a death wish.

Astarion felt something pull on him, and for a moment froze, thinking of Cazador’s compulsions. Noting his twitch of fear, Vistri took her words for the cause. Fuck. Simultaneously, they asked the same question through their eyes; Have I been found out?

“Touch yourself,” he commanded, saving them both any need to explain.

“Will you watch?”

“As I hold you tight,” he offered.

It was overwhelming. Astarion didn’t want a performance, not the kind she was used to, but something candid, completely her. He wasn’t asking her to curate his pleasure, he demanded she create her own. She never showed anything like it to anyone before. Accustomed to one type of role, she stepped into something unfamiliar. And not even a role, but the actor in their bed alone at night.

Vistri’s hand travelled between her legs. She felt Astarion spread them further apart, holding her steady with a grip on each thigh. She was close to him again, held and admired; the only thing he wanted in the moment. Her fingers traced his lustful expression onto her soul, encircling herself in his web with every stroke. Determined to trade her life for a little death, she exposed her aching need to be coated in his poisons.

She closed her eyes.

“Open them, darling. I want you to watch me, as I watch you.”

Her breath skipped with her choking heart as she met his gaze. Astarion looked as raw and exposed as she felt. His eager fangs rested on pouting lips. She leaned forward to lick them.

“No, no, dear. You’ve got to earn that,” he cooed, “With your ecstasy.”

She moaned stupidly, “Okay.”

Vistri was everything his hand had been slapped away from these past 200 years. She ran through his thoughts entirely on her own. His body forced him to comply instead of the other way around. Sure, he was using her at the end of everything. She was by no means the first to surrender, but there was something sweeter about hers, and not just because she was his to savor. This time he was actually having fun.

“Does it feel good, dear?” he grinned.

She tossed her neck and sighed. Her eyes closed for just a moment before snapping open again to obey him, “Yes.”

Astarion kissed her neck, and she moaned, leaning into it. He whispered into her ear, “You think you’re in control, but I’ve got you tangled up.”

“You do,” she panted, “You do. All yours.”

“My, but you put on a show,” his warm tongue wrapped around her lobe. His breath gently broke over her skin.

It was like watching her layers peel back in a way he hadn’t seen before. Reading her eyes, Astarion watched them become saturated with the whole of her. The void in them brightened from her dim presence, and the light grew with her gratification. Shy at first, she stepped and then stomped into herself. Until there it was in those violet depths, the core of her on a silver platter, ready for him to devour.

Vistri let his name slip lazily from her lips.

“Do you call out my name when you’re alone?” he chastised.

“S-Sometimes. Once. Accidently.”

Astarion licked her throat, desperate to eat her up, “I’ve yet to call out yours. But I’ve thought of you.”

Her free arm tightened around the back of his neck. Her breathing got faster.

“That’s it, my darling. You’re so close. Now give it to me. Be a good pet and cum for me.”

Astarion could feel his own blood throbbing as she fulfilled his wish. His eyes were open, greedily watching, but seeing nothing. There was just a great feeling, like when their tadpoles bent reality to the other’s experience. Her eyes were shut tight as if in begging prayer, and all he could do was stare blindly into her abandon.

Her cries, only loud for being close to his ear, pierced his heart. At the end of them, he finally allowed himself to kiss her. It was his turn to let her name slip slowly out of his lips.

“I earned it?” she asked happily.

He nodded, chuckling, “Yes, I think you’ve earned it.”

Vistri closed her eyes and kissed him again. She felt him undo his laces, then helped him pull down his trousers. Alone in the woods with the naughty rake indecently arrayed; she knew she was wiser than that. Giving herself to Astarion was a decidedly stupid thing to do, and that only made her want to disappear further inside him.

He nestled himself against her soaking, warm, soft, “Oh gods…”

“Astarion!” she cried out as he tore through her with a hard stroke. Her lips trembled from the sanctity of his name. It was a spell that brought everything out of her chest, even the dust tucked between her ribs.

He cracked her open.

The more they took, the less they were sated. He wasn’t near enough. He wasn’t in her skin.

Maybe they’d never go back to camp. The others would have to carry on themselves while the two of them stayed here, tangled up in each other until they inevitably sprouted tentacles, out of the artifact’s reach. And what would that matter? Astarion never wanted to be anything other than buried inside Vistri ever again. That was his new identity now, just his pulsing cock deep between her thighs.

“Drink me.”

“In a moment, love,” he said, then tousled a little with her tongue, and spoke again, “I quite like this as it is. Feeling you.”

It was more the desperate growl in his voice than the words themselves that made her tremble. It sounded like she meant something to him, even though she didn’t. Pretending it was real made her eyes roll back. Or no… it had to be the devilish thrusting of his hips. It had to be—

“Astarion!” she shouted so suddenly; birds took off in terror from their branches. Her staccato cries and their warning calls formed a cacophonic duet, like ritual music for the purchase of her soul.

He sunk his fangs into her neck, just below her ear, as the squeezing and pulsing around him coaxed his throbbing self to bursting. He rolled deeply into her as he let himself go, overtaken by a blinding wave of ecstasy. It felt like it would never stop, stunning them both, wave after wave. Even after it stilled, Astarion tenderly moved himself in and out of her. The mess he made dripped between them. Regardless of any overstimulated shiver, he savored the feel of his spill in her.

“You’re my little slut, aren’t you?”

She nodded emphatically, panting as her breath fought to settle her pulse. He rested his forehead against hers, and they lingered there, head pressing into head. They were both so dizzy, they had to get hold of their bearings, remember who they were.

How long could they stay there like that until the other had something to say about it?

It didn’t matter that his arms grew tired. They could fall off before he let her go. Astarion shut his eyes against welling tears. His disobedient forehead softly nuzzled hers; subtle enough to sneak passed his own notice. Catching himself, he cleared his throat.

“Time to go back?” she asked, tone heavy with a sense of sorrow.

Astarion reached for one more kiss. Saying goodbye until their next, inevitable tryst, they clung so vehemently to each other it couldn’t be paid attention to; couldn’t even be muttered about.

Arms wobbling, he finally set her down.

She immediately started to collapse under her weight. He stopped her fall.

“Easy now!”

“I’m all right.”

“You can’t even stand.”

She smiled dazedly, “Bloodless times two.”

“Gods, you’ve gone all silly. Look at you! You’re barely alive!”

“No, you’re barely alive.”

“Ha-Ha. Very funny,” he huffed, scooping her into a bridal carry.

“Weeee!”

He couldn’t stop himself laughing. It wasn’t even funny.

“You’re ridiculous—Stop squirming! I’ll drop you, and if I drop you, I’m leaving you.”

“Arsehole!” she pouted, “You’d leave me behind?”

“I’m sure Karlach or someone would come get you, but I’m tired. We can only do our best, darling.”

“You’ve had two separate helpings of my blood, you’re not tired.”

Vistri closed her eyes for a moment, just to savor this rare occasion of him holding her after. His arms felt as solid as she was wibbly. His chest felt like the stars as a pillow.

“You put me to work just now. I’m exhausted, and on top of that, now I’m carrying you all the way back to camp.”

“Whose fault is that Mr. Fangs?”

“Yours!”

“Mine?!”

“You turned back ‘round when you should have marched on.”

“You asked me to!”

“Darling, I’m a villain!” he chuckled, “You’re supposed to say no. Right my wily ways.”

“I quite like your wily ways.”

He couldn’t remember the last time someone looked at him the way she did now, with lackadaisical joy in their eyes.

“Astarion?”

“What?”

“You’ve stopped.”

“What?—Oh, right. There was a stick.”

“A stick?”

“Had to maneuver around it.”

“Took a while.”

He blushed, “Sounds like somebody wants to get dropped.”

“No! Please! Don’t drop me,” she giggled.

“Drop you?”

“No! Don’t drop me.”

“But you said please so nicely.”

“No!” she laughed, “Don’t drop me!”

“Shush! I have to pay attention to our surroundings, my dear. I want to give a good description for the others to find you.”

Vistri squealed, hysteric. Astarion crushed her tight against him.

“Silence, girl!” he teased in a booming voice, “Otherwise I’ll observe no great detail, and the only landmark the others will know to look for is ‘somewhere by a tree that has leaves on it.’ And then they’ll never find you, and then I’ll never get to shag you again. Would you like that tragedy to come to pass?”

She blushed in his arms, “…No.”

“Good. Then leave me to my concentration.”

She nodded her agreement and didn’t utter a sound.

“Oh, never mind that! Please say something. I grow bored so easily.”

Vistri chattered away as Astarion brought them out of the woods. Totally wrapped up in conversation, they forgot what a sight they made when they eventually showed up midday.

“Where the hells were you?!” Karlach growled. She’d be happier to see him if Vistri was walking vibrantly by his side rather than carried like a ragdoll with two big bite marks on her neck.

“Don’t light your pants on fire,” Astarion said, “Where’s Shadowheart?”

The cleric tore out of her tent, “What have you done to her?!”

A huge smile broke over Vistri’s face, “Shadowheart! Come give Mummy a kiss.”

In a fury, she grabbed hold of Astarion’s tunic, even with Vistri limp in his arms, “I will repeat myself only once, Spawn. What have you done to my best friend?” Her voice was lethal.

Vistri’s was not, “Bloodless times two!”

Shadowheart let go of his shirtfront to bury her face in her hands and sigh deeply, “Just put her on the ground.”

“That’s a good cleric,” Astarion smirked.

She glared up at him, kneeling to treat Vistri’s condition, “Good clerics stake vampires.”

“Then let’s call you… a good, nuanced cleric!”

“Whatever.”

Vistri sat up like a galvanized corpse once Shadowheart muttered her spell.

“Wow! Thanks, Shadow. Owe you one.”

“Owe me plenty.”

Vistri chose to ignore her and smirked at Astarion, “My, my… You look more powerful than ever before. My blood suits you so well.”

He gave a little turn, “Doesn’t it?”

“Very,” she confirmed, surveying his form. She lost her train of thought until Shadowheart elbowed her side.

“Right!” Vistri said, addressing everyone, “Let’s go slay a hag or something!”

[Click here for my other Kinktober one-shots]

#vistarion #kinktober 2023 #absurdthirst kinktober list #prompt fill #vistri #astarion #astarion ancunin #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #full fic #tav x astarion #astarion x tav #stay a while fic #BrishFics #smut #angst #fluff #lemon

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y-rhywbeth2 · 3 months

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Creating vampire spawn involves some degree of planning really. The more I think about it the more I'm pretty sure Faerûn's funerary industries should be the battleground of a quiet espionage-based war as necromaners and undead try to insert their own servants into it without getting caught by the churches of the death gods. I'm also wondering what kind of anti-undead measures undertakers are trained in:

Doomguide: 'Well we normally keep the corpse for at least 48 hours to give it all its last rites.'

Definitely-Not-A-Vampire: 'I, uh, need it done faster.'

Doomguide: 'Oh? Like before next sundown...?' :)

Definitely-Not-A-Vampire-About-To-Get-Smote: '...uhhhh-'

• First you need to be able to murder your target without getting caught. If you don't take the body with you then you probably need to cover up the rather obvious cause of death, what with your victim now being a bloodless corpse with bite marks in their neck.

• Then you need to bury them in soil, and quickly because if they're not buried before next sundown then they'll just be dead, and you don't have all day to fuss over this as you're only active for the few hours of darkness. Hopefully you've got competent and loyal mortal servants to puck up the slack for you in daytime hours.

• You need to make sure they're not buried in consecrated ground, and if the graveyard is owned by a church you won't even be able to access the property (and several faiths - like Lathanderites and Kelemvorites - are liable to go out of their way to ensure gravesites are under their protection to keep your murdered victims have their final rests undisturbed; safe from enslavement at your hsnds).

This was probably easier prior to the 1350s, when Myrkul was Lord of the Dead, since he was fine with undeath. Vampires spawned post-1350s probably had a harder time.

• If they're getting a funeral you need to make sure the usual customs of laying protections on the coffin to prevent the occupant from being cursed with undeath don't happen. That's not suspicious at all, although I suppose you could just dominate everyone involved in the process, which may be a few or many people to hunt down and control in only a few hours. Assuming the business is open and works that fast. Also Kelemvorites are heavily involved with the funerary industries, so again, good luck post-1350s I hope your mortal pawns are competent.

• If you're in a city like Baldur's Gate you're either facing a long walk out of the city and back in to visit the graveyards outside the city walls - transporting a corpse - or you need to explain why you don't want them cremated. Priests at the Rose Portal shrine might like to know why.

• Basically, either own a private graveyard or just bury them in the back garden. It's infinitely easier.

• Unless you plan on making the spawn sleep in their graves where you buried them, don't forget to gather some of their grave dirt to make a bed for them in the house.

#Further reasons I favour the spawn ending: I didn't even get to dig my way out of my grave! I didn't even get a funeral!#How do you spend eternity with a vampiric master who didn't even give you a funeral?? Where's the goth in it all???#Cheap bastard.#Worse than the VtMB sire who fucks you murders you and just leaves you to wake up on the dirty hotel bed.#... which is basically what Astarion does thinking on it #lore stuff #/astarion #long post

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camelliagwerm · 2 months

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okay so i realised the last ask game i reblogged would be perfectly suited to a poll :) and i think polls are fun :) Speculative routes under the cut so some of the lesser talked about OCs get a chance vs. say, the popular ones.

(Note: I did not include everyone as I figured some of these would overlap significantly, and each one would need something a bit unique about them. Sorry Byron)

Leonelle (she/her, human, lesbian, 25) — to win the pretty, petty (and a little bit pathetic) Chelish Diva's heart, you must understand she has a lot of baggage from being raised in a strict household with a Cardinal of Asmodeus for a father. She is angry, a bit immature, a bundle of nerves, but she is also vivacious, charming, and eager to explore thanks to her newfound freedom. She is also very opinionated when it comes to matters of the arts, particularly as a Chelish trained bard. Expect events at the opera but also... patricide :)

Valerius (he/him, dhampir, bisexual, 57) — a tyrant, a scion to a family fallen on hard times, a silver tongued prince. Valerius has been called many things, but the most accurate of them all is to call him a beautiful, honourable parasite. He keeps to his word, even if he may twist it to suit his agenda. He worships a goddess of gluttony and undeath, and understanding this is key to thawing his icy heart. Decadent dinners, blood rituals, cannibalism, obssession. A quintessential gothic romance awaits.

Magni (they/he, dwarf, polyamorous & queer, 27) — once, Magni was the favoured Prince of King Endrin Aeducan, and then it all went to hell. After being found guilty of fratricide (he did do it), they have become a Grey Warden on the surface. Ruthless, pragmatic and a political aspirant, Magni is open to a relationship of any kind - open or closed.

Arthur (he/him, human, biromantic asexual (sex favourable), 50) — dilf enjoyers, this is potentially one for you. Calm and compassionate, but grieving, Arthur's heart is mending after the loss of his previous partner and he might be ready for love again. He keeps his noble upbringing well but doesn't put on airs, instead using his position to try levy a better life for those suffering. Rank does not matter if one is in his care. Also comes with a beagle called Chutney.

Leto (he/him, human, pan & demiace, 23) — a young Navy Officer from the Navis Imperialis, Leto has never had much interest in people, preferring his star charts and travel journals instead. But with the right person, he might feel the stirring of something, and more inclined to go by the old courting manuals than think of something outside of the box.

Veszeth (they/them, drow bhaalspawn, aro lesbian, 62) — to court the Dark Urge is to court death. After all, Veszeth means bloody obssession. Flesh taker. They will keep you at arm's length, fighting against their nature just to love you. But that love is a twisted thing, warped by their perception of what love is by their quasi-divine father. Unless you manage to give them the courage to fight back against their destiny before it is too late, then this will be a tragedy. Thee Toxic Yuri Route™️

Luminița (she/her, changeling, demisexual lesbian, 26) — as a cleric of Pharasma who has spent her life being raised, tutored and working in Lepidstadt's graveyards, Lumi is a light and a balm to those who grieve for their departed loved ones. Patient, kind, and with a strong moral character. She will heal those who surrender to her, but allow no quarter against the enemies of her goddess and can have as much of a biting tongue as those who might test her patience. Expect tension if you were in any form sympathetic to the undead, but that makes the relationship all the juicier. Just don't worry too much about her hag mother coming to Call.

#polls #oc: valerius #oc: leonelle #oc: veszeth #oc: leto #oc: magni #oc: arthur #oc: luminița

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gortashs-skidmark · 5 months

Text

ASTARION HEADCANONS and DND Canon lore about VAMPIRES

(UNDER CURRENT WORK, UNFINISHED)

18+ MNDI, MATURE CONTENT FAR BELOW WITH FOREWARNING

CONTENT WARNING: Corrupt behavior, blood suckin', malice feelings, mentions of suicide, mentions of mangled appearances and bodies, life and death mentions

I always start with Canon, and then Headcanons because I have evidence.

There is much less history in the canon bits, just conditions of being a vampire. You can note many different vampires in different periods of DND History but none were noteworthy at this time.

𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔡𝔥𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔴𝔫𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔡𝔥𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔴𝔫𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔡𝔥𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯��𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔴

Info Source: DND BEYOND, Forgotten Realms Wiki, CBR, DND BEYOND Utilizes 4th and 5th Edition Lore.

CANON

TRUE VAMPIRES and their Abilities, Habits, and Beginnings.

small warning: this will entail their weakness, which will tell you, in-toe, what Cazador's weaknesses are in combat. If you don't want that and want a stupidly difficult battle with him, skip this first canon part.

𝔒 True Vampires are undead, feared, uncompassionate creatures that feast on blood of the living with their Sanguivorous diets. They bleed utter corruption and are highly intelligent for the undead.

𝔒 They don't have a favoured climate but they have a couple of known places where lairs are more common. Such as the Prime Material Plane, Shadowfell, Negative Energy Plane, Thanatos, The Abyss, and Pandemonium.

𝔒 Vampires (solitarily living) can be lured out, as hunting is their only form of joy, and they can take the bait very easily. Vampires will use any kind of command, summoning, and weapons to catch prey. When a vampire uses most of its resources against its enemy, it means they’re at a last resort and wits end trying to flee and escape.

𝔒 They challenge level 13 adventurers, and are aligned Lawful Evil,

𝔒 True Vampires are shapechangers, which is seen in Cazador's Fight. He takes on a Gaseous Form. In any form, if they die, they revert back to their original form.

𝔒 They can take on a Tiny Bat polymorph form, though they cannot talk in this form. Has a flying distance of 30ft or walking distance of 5ft.

𝔒 In misty form, they can't take action, talk, or manipulate objects. It is weightless and has a 20ft flying distance. It's capable of moving in hostile creatures areas. Its form cannot pass through water. It still has Dexterity, Strength, and Constitution saving throws in gaseous form. Can still take sunlight damage, but not non-magical damage.

𝔒 Vampires regenerate 20 hp at the start of every turn. Unless dealt with Holy Water or Radiant Energy.

𝔒 Vampires are found in lavish lairs, fortified manors, castles, or walled abbeys. Their coffins rest in underground crypts, often guarded by Vampire Spawn.

𝔒 Regionally, their lair warps the land, with an increase in bats, rats, and wolves in the area which they are capable of dominating control over. Plants within 500ft die and warp into twisted thorns, shadows cast within 500ft around the area are unusually gaunt and haunting, creeping fogs appear within 500ft of the lair. Sometimes the fog takes on form such as writhing serpents and grasping claws.

𝔒 The determining factor of a 2d6 (2, 6 sided dies) will tell how long these regional lair warps will last after a Vampires Death, in days.

𝔒 Vampires retain their likeness, but gain pale cast skin, red eyes, glassy claws, retractable canines, and sharper features akin to looking predatory. Vampires often wear blush and makeup to hide their undead features.

𝔒 When Vampires are well fed, their decaying process stops, giving them a pinkish hue on their pale skin, and temporarily kick starts their circulatory system.

𝔒 More sadistic vampires will sexualize their eating experience, using mockery such as flirting on their prey.

𝔒 Usually vampires are always evil, before undeath. They're a piece of shit in life, and a piece of shit in undeath. Sometimes losing memory of life in the process. They are meticulous in their planning and don't mind slow moving plans as long as it's executed perfectly.

𝔒 True Vampires CANNOT feel love, its twisted in obsession, friendship is warped into jealously. Many will seek out a past fixation and make it an obsession in undeath. Such as sought love becoming beauty sought in all their prey, ones who value youth prey on children.

𝔒 Obssesion moves onto Possesion, they collect art, objects of torture, and decorating their lair with trophies.

𝔒 Their organs have acute sensory, including darkvision, hearing, and smell.

𝔒 They do not need to breathe, sleep, eat food. Prey are destroyed after feeding to prevent them from turning into undead. A stake will not kill them, only paralyze. Garlic will keep them at bay and prevent them from entering rooms.

𝔒 Vampire Spawn are granted free will after their master's death, or being allowed to sup on their master's blood, transforming them into a True Vampire.

𝔒 Vampires and lich have quite a bit in common, which makes for deadly history. Vampires have been known to take militia ranking next to lich in armies of the undead.

𝔒 Though vampires are incredibly solitary creatures.

𝔒 Humanoids, monstrous humanoids, dragons, illithid, giants, or even flying snakes are capable of becoming vampires.

𝔒 Half-Vampires, although incredibly rare, can exist. A vampire must consume enough blood to start circulation, and breed with a humanoid creating half-vamp offspring. OR even rarer, a mother survives being drained by a vampire, and the fetus carries tainted blood to birth.

𝔒 Curseed Enchanted Items can create Vampires, such as vampiric swords that collect the blood of their enemies, and when the carrier dies, is brought back as a Vampire at the cost of their Constitution. They are bound to their sword for eternity until a dead undeath.

𝔒 Vampires need permission to enter houses, can be damaged by running water, silver, stakes, and cannot regenerate when in water.

Can There be Different Forms of Vampirism?

𝔒 In short yes, there are many. We're looking at Elven Vampirism. It is called the Dominion of Dread.

𝔒 There can be Gnome, Dwarf, Kender, and other humanoid forms of vampirism.

𝔒 some subcategories of Vampirism include Cerebral (they are a slim subdominon that can walk in the sun), Corpse Vampire (they are Spellplagued beings that arose from improper burials and evil energy pollution), Dhampyrs (sun-walkers who have tainted blood from vampires), Hellborn (they are sun-walkers, who cannot fly or turn into gaseous forms), Master Vampire which is the most common and what Cazador is (evilly perfected beings with a gaggle of spawn), Nosferatu (Hideous beings found in the Domain of Dread), Velya (Aquatic Vampires), Vampyre (rare Faerûnian Vampires that have the ability to cast fire).

𝔒 Let's talk about Vampyre for a moment, ya'll will eat this shit up. They are able to transfer life energy to undead or living by way of breath or kissing, which revitalizes them.

𝔒 Elven Vampirism; only full elves or half-elves can contract. In the 14th century had a presence in Toril of the Prime Material Plane.

𝔒 They prefer forest climate.

𝔒 Often adorning scarred and twisted face, shocking and scaring those who gaze. Typically they hide it under dark robes. Maybe that's why Cazador has a crazy amount of acne-looking scars.

𝔒 They harbour deep hatred for all thing beautiful, vibrant, and lovely.

𝔒 Super unfriendly neighbors. Destroyed and corrupt anyone who tried to farm or live near their lairs.

𝔒 Adept perception, particularly for hidden seals and entrances.

𝔒 Their polymorphs are often eagles. Snd their ability to command animals varies to wolves, badgers, prey birds, hawks, porcupines, monkey rats, and weasels.

𝔒 They sustain life on the Charisma of other creatures. Victims suffer from disfigurement after feeding, too many or too big of a feeding results in victims feeling suicidal. Anyone who succumbed to those urges who become undead spawn.

𝔒 The touch of an Elven Vampire can wither any plant away. They can feel the exact pain and agony the plant goes through as it happens. Elves are connected with nature but this feature drove them mad if cursed with vampirism.

What are the Differences in Vampire Spawn?

𝔒 They don't have all the abilities of a True Vampire, but suffer from the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

𝔒 If freed from their Masters control, they are unable to be enslaved again.

𝔒 If they posses Spider Climb, they are capable of walking on walls and ceilings.

What are Magistrates?

𝔒

Brief run-down on Elves.

𝔒

𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓐𝓷𝓬𝓾𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓐𝓷𝓬𝓾𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲

HEADCANONS

𝔙 Astarion can walk on walls, he's uncanny about it. It really adds to his Dexterity and scares the shit out of his prey during a fight.

𝔙 He doesn't have Elven Vampirism, have you seen his face? he put the definiton of beauty to shame. but he does hate flowers and loves vanity, also ruining others people's fun.

𝔙 He's got the regular form of vampirism under a Master Vampire, but because he lost vanity and can't see his beauty, he ruins it for others. It's not an obession yet, but it stabs his ego quite a bit. A bitter fuck he is.

𝔙 He cannot be re-enslaved, but if he could, by a Cerebral vamp, he'd get the ability to walk in the sun. I think he'd rather hide in the shadows forever than do that.

𝔙 He can't see his shadow. or face, or reflection, that's all a given. but he CAN, ladies and gents, see himself through your eyes using a tadpole. Even more he feels how you feel about him. It's a dangerous game to play, letting himself see him through your eyes.

𝔙 Astarion will lay down in the dust and have you trace his figure. He can guess his height from general objects he's around but he likes doing that. Not the dusty part though.

𝔙 If you let him drink from you, it can't be all the time. You gotta know the days you're in intense combat or rolling in a skill you're not proficient in.

𝔙 “maybe you’ll meet some new buddies Astarion!!“ “ ‘buddies’? “ “yeah the Shadowfell has a shit load of vampires and undead” “I will not be making ‘buddies’ with anyone”

𝔙 He has longer fangs that come out when he's about to feast, you only get to catch glimpses of it.

𝔙 You can find Astarion in streams of water, unharmed by it. He gets a chance to reconnect with being a regular elf again, touch nature and swim in streams.

𝔙 He's a nocturnal creature by nature, his sleep schedule is fucked when he gets the tadpole, that's why he complains consistently. He's exhausted and really does need that blood from you, after you make him travel with you for the first few weeks.

𝔙 If Astarion and you had a cat, their household rivalry would be legendary. They're both highly territorial creatures.

𝔙 You cannot run a bath for him post-tadpole :( stinky vampire. The water has to be completely still. No showers or washing his hands under a sink. You gotta have a special system in place where he can clean himself in still-water.

𝔙 You let him pick the place you will move in together. The Underdark is a safe choice and he can have an active social life among Drow, there's no daylight he has to worry about. Just a lot of mean Drow and homeless vampires he dragged to Cazador before. Baldur's Gate would kill him, he can't have solitude in a hustle and bustle city like that. Though he could get away with eating a lot of people, murder is not uncommon at all. He might wanna move somewhere lush and green, and have the freedom of connecting with the forest as an elf again. Bugs and all.

𝔙 2 thoughts: 1) Astarion could've been a really good magistrate, which is why he likes corruptness and is jealous of the good do-ers. 2) Cazador would've sought people who were already bitter and corrupt as Spawn. Vampires do research on all their pray. So it could 50/50 whether Astarion was a piece of shit in life, and into undeath.

𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚𝔑𝔖𝔉𝔚

NSFW BELOW

𝔙 You and Astarion love swimming at night. He can admire the glimmering water and fresh feeling on his skin. and you get to see him naked, you love it. It often can lead to something more, or just chatting on the edge of the bank.

𝔙 He can't get hard without blood circulating. Cazador let him feast on bugs and rats before "dates" as to lure victims in. With you it's so easy, he doesn't have to beg or starve before sexy time, he can just go and kill boar or bear and keep his energy up.

𝔙 He only needs to meditate for 4 hours with the tadpole like a normal elf, before, the meditation was impossible. He's got a lot of energy. and if you're an elf, you'll plan the same meditation time and wake up with him so you can chat or have alone time together. if you require sleep, he'll prod and poke you until you wake up to have alone time together when he's feeling extra needy.

𝔙 He hates children. He lost the rest of his life to Cazador, and vampires hate and target what they miss about their past lives. Clearly his vanity is one of them, but this young elf entered his adult-hood and then was stripped of the very tip of the beginning.

𝔙 If he's not ascended, he'd consider having children, but he really just hates their sticky fingers. He's not malicious like a True Vampire. They would be able to walk in the sun, as dhampyres, which he might resent them for, or learn to appreciate what he cannot possess.

𝔙 If it's pregnancy/surrogate, he's mostly worried about the chances of the carrier's survival.

𝔙 Astarion would not know how to feel about adpotion. NOT because it's not blood-related, but because he has to choose. Simply plucking someone out of their situation and putting it into his arms really scares him. Knowing adoption is a difficult process during and after, he's scared their life would be as shitty as his had been under a Vampire, he's not Cazador by any means but he's still, him.

𝔙 Astarion is well-fed in BG3 after the crash, with or without your help. He doesn't cum in you, he doesn't want the fucking chance (hehe) of children while you're traveling (if you're afab). During the Shadowfell (act 2) he struggles to find things to eat until the last battle against Moonrise. He really depends on you to not starve, he does not wanna eat the hostile rats in Shar's Gauntlet. But there's less chance of pregnancy so you guys can cum all over eachother.

𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲

Thank you so much to those who have read this far! I will keep updating as I think of more!

Enjoy any of my other works on my masterlist!

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 headcanons #bg3 tav #bg3 act 3 spoilers #astarion ancunin #astarion headcanons #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #astarion bg3 #astarion x reader #bg3 x tav #baldurs gate

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gorbalsvampire · 2 months

Note

Do you have any general advice on involving human touchstones? (And, as a bonus round, any advice on how to handle touchstones that live somewhere other than your chronicle's city? How to make them matter, still bring the drama, etc.)

So I've had to sit on this one for (checks notes) ten days, because - OK, Red, you found my secret weakness. I am terrible at maintaining a mortal focus in my games. I am, on this occasion, the person V5 was designed to course correct. That said, I have made some progress since I first picked up the V5 books. Here's how.

One Touchstone per Conviction is bullshit. Coming up with Convictions is already a challenge, and now you have to ideate a whole person for each one? In theory this makes you create multiple mortals and really make you think about the World your characters live in and their roots. In practice it seems to result in part-baked NPCs who are there because the book says they have to be and never get used. So, turning to Requiem where the mechanic originates, and to VtM: Redemption (my beloved) which presents it as a plot beat, we have one Touchstone for each character.

Touchstones are not just Touchstones. Again, I get what the V5 devs were trying to do here - incidental, fleeting, arms-length, parasocial, parasitical, one-sided relationships - but I don't think it quite lands in terms of wanting to use the characters and having a purpose for them. Touchstones are at their best, IMO, if they rise out of Merits or Flaws, if they're associated with an advantage or disadvantage the character has to use or deal with. One could argue that for Finlay in the Wild Roses game, their Enemy Lucas is their Touchstone. Their rivalry has defined Finlay's life since before their Embrace, and ensuring Lucas doesn't get to join them in undeath is a constant drive for their actions. Cali's Touchstone is Mr. Morecambe, his family solicitor, who's locked into his Disliked and Destitute Flaws: Cali's quick mouth and quicker fists have landed him with multiple assault charges over the years, and the wealthier side of his family only relate to him through a legal intermediary. One could similarly argue that for SPC Kieron, his Stalker Sarah is his Touchstone. Sarah is a journalist - a theatre critic - who's trashed Kieron in print multiple times but still turns out to every show he directs, and Kieron's boyfriend Callum has remarked that someone needs to Embrace that woman because she has the vampire attitude down already. Kieron's had an opportunity to kill her - on the edge of hunger frenzy, he cornered her in a phonebox and fed from her - but he didn't kill her because, a) that would be wrong and b) he recognises he needs his most vituperative critic to tell him what he's doing wrong. I think Touchstones work as an incentive to not buy off Flaws with XP. You need this person, for some reason. They remind you that you could be worse, and need to be better. For a positive, tied-to-Merits example: Sister Alzbeta in the Dark Ages game has Sister Ruth as her Touchstone. A mentor figure who comes as part of the community in her convent Haven. Likewise, Mariam has Mendel, the son of her recently-deceased-in-mysterious-circumstances rabbi, and she's desperate to keep him safe from whatever Cainite nonsense is swirling around him - but he's a smart guy, he knows things, and he's known Mariam since they were kids, and he's going to work this out. Tension. TENSION! Their Coterie Type is Questari so investigating and learning about the secrets that threaten their communities is part of their whole deal and that's another hook to hang Touchstone relationships off. Your link to Humanity, capital-H, is also your link to your Domain Merits - I can never remember which one's which, I think it's Lien, the one that measures how integrated into the domain you are - anyway, to your little-h humans as well.

As for Touchstones who are outside the chronicle's immediate remit, I probably wouldn't - unless the player had a really cool idea. If that's the case, I trust the player to make the Touchstone relevant because it's theirs, and the kind of player that does this is going to bring their idea up.

So let's talk about Frankie's Touchstones. Frankie's lesbian aunties back in Finland, who raised them, and Frankie's daughter, who they were looking after while Frankie was studying in the UK (and never came back). This damaged goth MILF with a Past (loathsome ex, recovering from addiction, but a daughter she adores from afar) revealed her backstory over a few in-between nights and moments in the first two "seasons" of the chronicle, and it became part of her bond with Alistair as Coterie Mawla because he's had to raise a child at arm's length too. Their talk about that came at either the end of S1 or during S2, I forget now, but it was heartrending, and it's a big part of why they trusted each other going into the revolutionary activities of S3.

That sort of loops us back around to what I was saying earlier, though. By the Rules As Written, Touchstones are not necessarily linked to anything else on the character sheet, but if they are, they will be much more relevant to the players, and will become more present in play through reference and repetition. At least, that's what I've figured out so far.

#vtm #vampire the masquerade #meta #advice #chronicle: xiii tales from feudal bohemia #chronicle: wild roses #thanks for asking!

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