#vtm speculation

[dr-mingus]

I'm fairly new so I don't know if this stuff is already the accepted perspective among VtM players, but it seems to me that a Vampire's essence is contained within their Vitae, while the body it inhabits merely acts as a vessel for it. Rather than the corpse being "brought back to life" by the blood, the corpse is a host through which the Vitae acts its will upon the world.

Here's how I think it works, feel free to correct me:

Kindred Vitae has two basic instincts that drive its behavior: to preserve itself, and to produce more of itself. These manifest in the host as the desire to consume blood, and the desire to Embrace.

During the Embrace, a Kindred drains all blood from a mortal. This Kindred, the Sire, introduces a small amount of their Vitae into the mortal's corpse which then finds its way into its brainstem. It acts to enable motor and sensory function, but lacks sufficient Vitae to sustain the entire host body. To remedy this, it attempts to source blood from the nearest available source, causing what is known as a Hunger Frenzy.

Once blood is consumed, it makes contact with the Sire's original Vitae. It then becomes Vitae through its capacity to transmute mundane blood into more of itself. It is possible that this is achieved through a property that makes it impossible to dilute, ironically similar to that of Holy Water.

Vitae then spreads throughout the host to facilitate biological processes necessary to achieving the instinctual goals. It interacts with the host body, preventing decay but also reshaping certain tissues and organs to better function as instruments of the goals. Teeth become sharpened fangs, the stomach reshapes to allow blood directly into the circulatory system, taste buds and neurotransmitters are altered to incentivise consuming blood, etc. It also flows into the rest of the brain, where the personality and memories of the host imprint into it through its presence in the memory centres.

In the event of a threat to the Vitae's survival, such as sunlight or fire, it exhibits a response similar to the human body's response to extreme cold. To avoid loss of heat, the body concentrates warm blood in the safest and most important areas, the torso and head, leaving the extremities cold. In the case of Vitae, blood leaves the anterior of the brain and limbs, and concentrates in the amygdala and brainstem. This causes the distinctive Fear Frenzy or Rötschreck in the host as the Vitae spurs the host to flee to preserve itself.

Through unknown means, Vitae is consumed by sustaining the body or by the manifestation of Powers of the Blood. In an attempt to restore itself, it increases the host's desire to feed. In extremis it forces the host to forgo rational action in a bid to sate its primal needs. This may occur any time a Kindred exerts themselves.

Variations in Kindred Clans are possibly the result of the original "Antediluvians" whose willpower and mastery of their own Vitae were such that remnants of their personalities and powers remain in their blood and are passed down to their descendants to this day. In a similar vein, the Anger Frenzy may be a remnant of the original Kindred "Caine" whose own rage could have been passed down to all Cainites due to his immense power and will.

Fully draining a Kindred, or Diablerie, extracts the Vitae dwelling in the Brainstem which has taken on the most significant imprint of the host. This causes a conflict within the Diablerist , as two different personality imprints vie for control of the same body. Eventually the more willful memory imprint wins out and takes full control of the host.

Fin

This was a fun bit of creative writing, and has given me some ideas for more stuff about how disciplines and other vampiric traits work.

I might do some more of this stuff if people like it, or if I get bored.

Thanks for reading!

[porcelainseashore]

Into the Ether (9)

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Vampire! Toreador! Leon Kennedy x Fem! Reader

Summary: At the all-night events cafe you run, you’ve become acquainted with an elusive patron, Leon, though you can never remember the last moments of your interactions together. After a harrowing encounter, a love-hate relationship develops between the two of you as you grapple with your newfound status in a world of darkness and investigate the reasons behind the untimely attacks.

Content & Warnings: 18+ Resident Evil x Vampire: The Masquerade crossover, horror, mystery, romance, slow burn, strangers to enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, eventual smut, swearing, smoking, alcohol, drug references, non consensual blood drinking, blood bond, vampire turning, violence, injury, mild gore, torture, religious themes, minor character death, RE ensemble, VtM concepts.

Author's Note: Implied child kidnapping ahead.

Taglist: @admirxation @angelstargel @miss-oranje-disco-dancer ❤️‍🔥

AO3 Link

Chapter 9: Blood Is Thicker Than Water

Another night, another part of the mystery to solve. But first, you had agreed to go into work. Nothing was going to stop you, not even the ‘Prince’s orders’. Something about having a nightly routine kept you sane and grounded you in reality. Not that what you were experiencing wasn’t real, but you didn’t want to lose touch with the living. You didn’t want to become like… Leon?

You heaved a disheartened sigh thinking about it. You’d been giving the man the silent treatment ever since returning from the Spencer Mansion, and you didn’t like it one bit. Hurting people wasn’t something you enjoyed — be it ignoring them out of spite or acting in a way that would lead to someone’s unfair demise. It didn’t help that you were constantly being reminded of how powerless and insignificant you were. Was this the best you could do when taking a stand? Or was there something more?

Working felt like walking. You went through the motions: socializing with your colleagues, pandering to customers, planning out the next month’s events program, making a couple of calls along the way, and your personal favorite — sorting out the cafe’s finances. Even the Redfields showed up, informing you and by extension, Leon, that they were still on the suitor’s case and would have something juicy for you soon.

“Do you ever miss the sun?” you wondered out loud. 

It had barely been a week since you turned, but you were already bemoaning the fact that you wouldn’t be able to live to see it. Although the nights were longer now that the year had entered into its colder period, you had thought ahead, speculating how it would be like when summer returned again. That was depressing.

“Always,” Claire responded, patting your shoulder empathetically.

“Best not to think about it,” Chris chimed in, taking a swig from his beer bottle. “You’ll get used to it at some point, and besides, there’s always YouTube.”

“Very helpful, Chris,” his sister huffed in disdain, forcefully backhanding her brother so that he choked on a bit of his beer.

“What the fuck, sis?” he groaned, wiping the beer stains off his clothes with his bare hands in annoyance. “On my nice shirt as well.”

For some reason the constant bickering between the siblings caused you to double over in laughter and they looked at you in amusement. After you recovered from your giggling fit, you pointed to Chris' bottle, asking, “So you can do that thing of actually enjoying what you eat and drink?”

“Uh huh.”

“Maybe you can teach me?” you tested the waters. “Leon was supposed to, but—” You stopped yourself in your tracks, realizing that you’d have to share a lot more than you would be comfortable with.

Unfortunately, Claire was perceptive enough. “Trouble in Paradise?” she suggested, only to continue on her train of thought when you didn’t answer, “Whatever it is, you don’t have to tell me. He may be a prick who needs a nudge in the right direction, but he’ll come around.”

She pressed her arm against the wall and leaned forward with a mischievous grin. “And I hate to say this, but he’s actually a good guy.”

The expression on your face must’ve given away how you felt when Claire had uttered those last words. She quickly peppered it with, “He must’ve screwed up pretty bad, huh?”

“Let’s just say it’s one screw up after the other,” you finally replied.

Chris gave a low chuckle, “Sounds like him alright.” He shrugged. “Can’t blame the guy for trying though.”

“Alright, I’ll let you in on something,” Claire began, only to be interrupted by her brother.

“Oh man, not again! Can’t ever keep your goddamn mouth shut, can you?” he scolded.

“Shut up, Chris! She’s cool with us, you know that,” she retorted and he conceded, though you could still hear him grumbling in the background.

Turning towards you triumphantly, she continued, “I’ll keep it short. He saved my brother's skin; I owed him a life boon, and Chris probably did too, but he turned it down in the end.”

“Yeah, said something about not wanting to take advantage,” Chris piped up, shaking his head in disbelief. “To this night, it still floors me.”

What they had said gave you some pause. It seemed as though Leon had a bunch of demons to confront, and there was always an internal battle waging. You just hadn’t been able to break through. But did you want to in the end? Or would you just leave him to rot in his own misdoings? You weren’t anyone’s savior and you didn’t want to be. You simply wanted to do what felt right to you.

“Guess there’s a lot more to him that I don’t know about,” you mused.

Chris’ wide palm met your back with a loud thump that reverberated across your chest. “Hey, chin up, kid. It’ll take a while, but you’ll get there. Us Brujahs don’t give up without a fight.” His brown eyes lit up and crinkled, fine lines of crow’s feet fanning out from the corners. “And no matter what anyone says, I still think you’re one at heart.”

“Brujah, huh? I like the sound of that.” A crooked smile played across your lips as you laid your cards out on the table. “I’ve heard you’re fierce fighters. Mind showing me a few tricks? Just so I know how to fend for myself.”

Chris stood taller, eyeing you with curiosity as a sense of pride visibly swelled in his chest.

“I could throw in a supply of beers on the house to sweeten the deal,” you added, pointing at the empty bottle he was clutching at his side.

He barked out a laugh before responding, “Well, now that you put it that way, you’ve got my hands tied.” Placing his bottle down on a table beside him, he agreed, “Sure, I’ll give you some tips, but a word of warning: I don’t go easy.”

The rest of your shift went by without event, until Leon dropped by to pick you up for the next meeting planned that night. Since neither of you had gotten any real leads on the case yet, he thought it best to visit the Bakers first before heading back to NEST, where the Primogens' offices were and where Jill would be waiting impatiently for answers. 

In the jeep, the atmosphere was thick with tension, though along the way, he tried to cut through it with some advice. “I know you’re still upset and don’t want to talk, but I need to prepare you for this.” 

He tapped on the steering wheel nervously. “As Malkavians, the Bakers all suffer from some form of affliction following their Embrace. In this case, they believe a little girl called Eveline is part of the family, except no one else can see her.”

“You mean she’s invisible?”

The car swerved off-center as Leon glanced over at you, startled by your response. It was the first time you had spoken to him in a while. You clung onto the grab handle and yelled, “Keep your fucking eyes on the road!”

“Shit, um, sorry!” He focused his attention back to his driving, quickly stabilizing the vehicle before he spoke up again. “And, uh, no. I mean, we don’t think she actually exists.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Okay, and is that going to be a problem?”

“Not if you pretend she does,” he stated plainly. “Otherwise, they’ll get really provoked if you don’t interact with Eveline.”

“Right, thanks for the heads up.” You nodded curtly. “Anything else I should know?”

“Yeah, well, uh, just be—”

“Careful. Got it,” you finished the sentence for him.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” he emphasized. “These folks have always been rather isolated from the Camarilla. Last I heard, they don’t take kindly to strangers sticking their noses where they don’t belong. So, if all hell breaks loose in there, I want you to book it and run, alright?”

You frowned, shifting your gaze in his direction. If his intention was to allay your fears, he had done nothing but heighten them. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He flashed you a reassuring smile, but you could make out the hint of unease in the curl of his lips. “Take the car keys when we reach the place, so you have your escape route if needed.”

You let his words linger in the air as you kept quiet throughout the rest of the ride.

━━━━━━━━━━━

Reaching the outskirts of Raccoon City, you were traveling along Stone-Ville Road, where there was nothing but open land. The trees had been cleared from the forest, and multiple estuaries flowed from the Raccoon Dam. The area was sparsely populated, with only a smattering of houses spread out from each other in the distance. At some point, Leon made a left turn into a side road, heading towards a decrepit-looking estate that was slightly off the beaten track. It appeared to bear some similarities to the Spencer Mansion back in Arklay Forest, causing a spine-tingling shiver to sweep through your body.

“Designed by the same architect from the Trevor & Chamberlain fame,” Leon pointed out, seemingly able to read your mind.

“That guy from New York?” You remembered reading about him in magazine articles and the mystery of his disappearance as people mourned the loss of a genius.

“Yeah, so expect surrealist stuff, including puzzles and secret passageways,” he cautioned.

You balked at the thought of having to enter yet another labyrinth like the one at the Tremere Chantry.

“It’s just for a friendly chat,” he asserted, his calming blue gaze meeting yours. “I doubt there’s any need for us to explore the house, unless they make things difficult.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” you muttered, tucking the car keys into your pocket as you stepped in front of a formidable, rusty gate.

It was unlocked, and as Leon pushed it open, it screeched on its hinges like a dead woman's wail, beckoning you towards the crumbling building before you, which was long past its heyday. The refurbished plantation house, where you assumed the Baker family lived, was part of a larger ranch estate, and it looked like something straight out of a slasher flick.

Leon pressed the doorbell, waiting to see if there was any sign of life. A light switched on, its mellow rays filtered through the window shades, and you heard hurried footsteps on the wooden floorboards until the door swung open. An older lady with her dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail peered at both of you in confusion. She wore a tattered, sweat-stained button-up blouse and a brown skirt. Her coarse and wrinkled skin still carried an unfaded tan, suggesting a life of manual labor, where she had tended to the animals and fields under the sweltering sun.

“Can I help you, miss, mister?” she asked in a heavy Southern drawl. “We weren’t expecting anyone at this time.”

“Ma’am,” he dipped his head politely in acknowledgement. “Sorry for intruding on you like this, but there wasn’t any other way to contact you.”

“Well, we don’t want no trouble, young man. Just mindin’ our own business, that’s all.” Shifting nervously from foot to foot, she fiddled with the hem of her cotton blouse, glancing over her shoulder every now and then at a blank space behind her.

Your attention was drawn to the area she kept looking at, and as you concentrated on it, the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. You had the strangest sense that someone was there, but you couldn’t make out any shape or figure, just an energy. An icy chill gripped your head, as if cold hands were feeling along the grooves of your brain. You shuddered, realizing that whoever it was knew that you were aware of its presence.

“We don’t want any trouble either,” Leon assured, raising his palms slightly to indicate a truce. “We just have some questions we could use your help on, regarding an attack a couple of nights ago.”

The woman still clutched onto the door apprehensively. “Why? Who sent you?”

“The Prince put us on the investigation,” he disclosed warily.

At that moment, a shadowy figure materialized behind the woman, taking a few seconds before you could make out his features in the dim light. He was an older man, around the same age as her, balding and wearing spectacles. Likewise, his yellow striped shirt and beige pants were worn and filthy, as though he hadn’t changed out of it for decades.

“Prince?” he questioned defensively, placing his hand on the small of the woman’s back. “What does the Prince want? We didn’t do nothing wrong, son.”

“No, you didn’t,” Leon agreed, quickly following up with an explanation to assuage the man. “We have the assailants in custody, but it appears they’ve been brainwashed and manipulated through Dementation — a skill that you’re well-versed in.”

The man eyed him like a hawk as Leon continued, treading on thin ice. “We thought we could use your expertise, and if you might’ve picked up on anything out of the ordinary in the vicinity.”

There was a pregnant pause before the man relented, “Fine, you got five minutes to ask us anything you wanna know, son.” Pushing the door wide open, he gestured for you to enter. “Come on in.”

As you stepped into the gloomy premises, he pointed at you, flashing a warning glance in your direction. “And no more snoopin’ around, young lady.”

Oh, right. You must’ve unwittingly activated one of your powers earlier to sense his presence, when he had relied on his Obfuscate Discipline to remain hidden. “Sorry, my bad,” you mumbled. “It was an accident.”

He nodded, turning around to make his way into the living room where a dining table was situated. “You girls can come out now,” he hollered. 

You saw a younger woman with jagged, short hair emerge in a similar fashion to how the man did before, sitting at one of the chairs at the table. Despite that, you greeted two people as Leon had instructed, and he followed suit. A round of introductions followed, where you learnt that the older couple were Jack and Marguerite and their two daughters, Zoe and Eveline, with the latter being the youngest at ten years old.

Marguerite disappeared into the kitchen for a bit, only to return with a tray of crockery. She handed out cups to everyone and poured a red, viscous liquid from a teapot. Jack grumbled in the corner that it was meant to be a short meeting, but at the same time, couldn’t help but appreciate his wife’s hospitality. Bringing the cup to your nose, the liquid smelled musky, like earth, and you wondered where it came from.

“It’s the best I can offer at such last minute notice,” she apologized, wiping her hands on her blouse as she sat herself down. Twisting her head in the direction of the empty seat next to Zoe, she cooed, “But Evie likes it, don’t ya, sweetheart? That’s it, drink up now. Little piggy’s blood is good for you.”

You watched as the cup on the table remained motionless, while Marguerite bombarded the invisible entity with sweet words of encouragement. Trying to ease the awkwardness in such a situation, you took a mouthful of the liquid from your cup. It was the first time you tasted animal blood and as much as you hated to admit it, it was incredibly bland compared to human blood. Like a simple gruel versus a gourmet meal. Then again, neither could bagged blood beat the real thing, though you tried not to dwell on it. You smiled politely over at Zoe, who threw you a sympathetic look.

“You’re new, huh?” she asked shyly, cocking her head as she gazed at you.

“Mm hm, about a week.” You took another sip and pursed your lips, swallowing the liquid like a chore that had to be done.

“Ooh, a baby!” Marguerite interjected, suddenly interested in the conversation between you and Zoe. You imagined she was the social butterfly of the group. “Maybe Evie can show you a few tricks.”

At this, Leon rested his hand over your arm protectively, forcing a strained smile. “Perhaps another time? We really should get down to business.”

“Ah, city boys and their ‘business’,” Jack remarked, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles. “Well, what can we do for ya?”

You heard Leon speak, but his voice seemed to drone on with the others, and out of nowhere you started to enter a tunnel vision. In your line of sight, you spotted a framed photo of the Baker family, though something was amiss. There was a young man in the picture you hadn’t met yet. He was thin and lanky, and had a hoodie on that obscured part of his face. Leaning back on the couch, he stared directly back at you with a bored look in his hollowed eyes.

It took you a while, but you managed to snap out of it, uttering the first thought that came to your mind, “Is that your son, mister?”

All at once, the mood in the room shifted, taking a dramatic turn for the worse. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on you as Jack ordered ominously, “Get the hell out.”

You opened your mouth in protest, but Leon beat you to it, rising up from his seat as he contended, “Look, she didn’t mean anything by it. We’re sorry, alright? Could we just—”

“Shut your goddamn mouth, boy!” Jack bellowed, his command resonating across the room.

Leon’s body grew rigid and he remained mute. Dread seeped into your bones as you observed the previous scene of peace and tranquility descend into an utter nightmare.

“Mama, Evie’s getting upset,” Zoe announced in a tiny voice.

“Argh! See what you’ve done now?” Marguerite shrieked as she stomped around the room in a temper tantrum. “This is your fault!” she accused, glaring at you and Leon.

“You barge into our house and threaten my family? This won’t do!” Jack shook his head menacingly as his eyes glowered. “I’m just gonna have to teach you a lesson.”

His eyes changed into an otherworldly shade and Marguerite joined him, speaking in tongues. They gazed at Leon as if engaged in a séance. However, Zoe remained separate from their antics, looking on in fright. You stood rooted to where you were, bracing for the worst, but nothing happened. It was only when you saw Leon sink to the ground on his knees, his face pale as a sheet, that you realized he was bearing the brunt of your transgression.

He was taken back to years ago, at the height of his blood bond, where he would do anything to win Ada’s affection. Her interest in him had begun to wane and he was sure she was seeing another lover. But this time, he would bring her the vessel that would change her mind about him and guarantee her everlasting love.

There he was, at that godforsaken group home, the one linked to the Catholic church he had frequented when he was still alive, and where he would sell his damned soul for a second time to the Devil. All it took was a flash of his police credentials and a charm or two from his arsenal of skills he had honed to entrance the nuns keeping watch over the children.

“Sherry, are you ready to go?” He extended a hand towards her. 

This wasn’t his first rodeo. Ada and him had been noticing the little girl for a while, testing to see if she would be a worthy vessel for the Prince himself. After all, Ventrues were extremely fussy drinkers and Wesker expected a Michelin star meal every single time. The only thing stopping him from delivering the girl over was a vague sense of morality he still had within him. But he was desperate enough now to dash it to the ground for a chance at his sire’s approval again.

The girl had dressed into her school uniform, a hairband holding her blond tresses out of her face as she peered up excitedly at him. “Yes, let’s go!”

She would have done anything to get away from the home where she never slept well and felt alone despite being in a room full of kids around her age. Where Leon was taking her sounded like a glorious fairytale. A palace with a prince, she imagined, a place where she would be treated to all the luxuries her current life could never afford her.

“Oh god, no!” he cried out, doubling over on the grimy floor of the Baker House. 

Sherry was haunting him again. Everywhere he looked, he saw multiple copies of her like a cracked mirror reflecting her ghost on its uneven surface. He heard layer upon layer of her laughter, jumbled and out of sync, mocking and taunting him. Paranoia sank in and he curled himself into a fetal position, pleading for no one in particular to forgive him.

“Sherry, please, we have to go!” he urged. 

This was years later, when he had some sense knocked into him from the time he hung out with the Anarchs. He wanted to right his wrongs, and free the girl who was never meant to be trapped in the underworld in the first place.

But she had changed. She was older and wiser, and knew exactly what she wanted — it was definitely not to leave.

Yanking her hand back, she kicked her feet, stamping on the ground as she yelled, “No! I want to stay!”

He was shocked by her absolute conviction in remaining within the prison where she was held, like a pretty songbird for the rest of the Kindred to gawk at. “But…”

“You can’t make me!” she screamed, red in the face.

Rendered speechless, he didn’t know what else to do than stare at the crying child before him with his jaw hanging open. He thought he was saving her, like a knight in shining armor, but she didn’t need any saving. She was perfectly happy where she was.

“One day, I’ll get you out of there. I promise,” he babbled on repeatedly, reduced to nothing but a trembling mess before the Malkavians.

During the entire period when Leon appeared to be suffering from a mental breakdown, you were torn about what to do. He had told you to bolt the minute something like this took place, but you couldn’t leave him to fend for himself in this state. You didn’t understand what he was blabbering on about. Was Sherry his sister? Where was she? What happened to her?

A million thoughts raced through your mind, but you shut them down. You needed to pry Leon away from the family’s cold clutches and keep him safe. Mustering your courage, you approached the one who seemed to be the most reasonable of the lot. She still sat in her chair, gazing upon the scene with a vacant yet troubled expression.

“Zoe?” you called out softly, hoping it wouldn’t escalate the situation. “Please, we don’t mean any harm.”

Her eyes darted towards you.

“I know you’re just trying to protect your family,” you deduced, especially from the way they had been on edge the moment you stepped onto their property and inadvertently brought up one of their own.

“We need the information, but I swear to you we will keep whoever it is you’re trying to protect safe,” you promised.

Her breath hitched, and she looked at you with glassy eyes. In the background, you could hear Leon’s gut-wrenching whines of pain.

“Zoe, please!” you begged, your brows furrowing and tears on the verge of spilling from your eyes. You couldn’t bear to witness him in such agony any longer. It felt like your heart was shattering into pieces, though you couldn’t explain why.

“Eveline, stop,” her calm voice sliced through the air and the buzzing energy died down. 

Her parents came out of their hypnotic state and Leon stopped shaking uncontrollably, though he backed himself into a corner in fear. You rushed to his side, holding him in your arms as you checked his eyes to see if he had fully returned to the present.

“You stayed…” he whispered, reaching out to touch your face, as though he was trying to ascertain if you were real.

In an instant, you pulled him into an embrace, rocking him gently as you stroked his hair. “You’re okay, Leon. You’re safe.”

After a while, he relaxed into your arms and his breathing returned to its normal tempo. The Bakers exchanged worried looks but said nothing as they gave him time to recover. Finally, Jack broke the silence. “I-I’m sorry about what happened there, son. Just been a lot going on these days.”

You turned around, deciding to take the reins as you spoke for the two of you, “I understand, and as I promised your daughter, we’ll make sure that, um—”

“Lucas,” Marguerite offered.

“—Lucas won’t get hurt.”

Jack nodded, taking off his glasses as he wiped the sweat off his brow. “You see, how we work is through what others call premonitions or clairvoyance, and all that mumbo-jumbo.” 

Clearing his throat, he continued, “Well, lately we’ve been sensing a bunch of Sabbat activity in the city. Their symbols are everywhere, like little red hotspots across the center. They’re planning more of these attacks for sure, just heading down along the river.”

“Circular River?” you probed.

“Uh huh, the one closest to town,” he concurred. “And, uh, I’m guessing you were also here about the Cobweb?”

“Yeah.”

He swallowed anxiously as Marguerite took over. “It don’t always speak to us, and sometimes it’s hard to make out what it says. But we heard somethin’ the other night.”

She paused, adjusting her hair restlessly before she divulged, “It was Lucas’ voice, carried like a wave by a thousand voices, saying his name is nobody. That stood out, but we don’t know why.”

Nobody said they were nobody…

You caught a flicker of recognition in Leon’s eyes as you recalled what the man had said during Jill’s interrogation. Was Lucas responsible for all of this?

“Where’s Lucas now?” Leon asked, his voice still a little unsteady.

“He don’t want to be found.” Jack shrugged dejectedly. “My boy’s always been a real firecracker. Left home one day and never came back. We think he’s with them — the Sabbat.”

“But he’s a good boy,” his wife insisted. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“We just want him to come home,” Zoe added. “Evie wants her big brother back.”

The joy and curse of familial bonds. You could get behind that.

“We won’t breathe a word about Lucas,” you pledged, overriding your sire’s authority as you answered on behalf of him as well. “Right, Leon?”

You could see the discomfort in his expression, though he grunted an affirmative reply.

As Jack showed you out of the house, you thanked him and his family for their assistance, though a final question came to your mind. “Can Dementation have long-lasting effects?”

“With the right choice of words, it can.”

━━━━━━━━━━━

To play it safe, you took over the driving on the way back as you and Leon discussed the information you had gleaned from the Bakers.

“You think Lucas is the one?” you asked as you stopped at a red light.

“No, I don’t think he worked alone,” he opined. “It took two of the Bakers to bring me to my knees.”

There was a momentary pause as he clenched his fist at the memory, exhaling another deep breath of air. “I know we are talking about manipulating a group of lesser vampires, but unless he’s a prodigy we’ve never discovered, there were most likely others involved at the same time.”

“Makes sense,” you agreed, easing off on the brake pedal to switch over to the accelerator as the lights went green again.

“You still want to protect the guy, even after what he did?”

Your grip tightened on the steering wheel, causing your knuckles to turn white. A promise was a promise, and there was more than enough bloodshed these nights.

“Yes,” you forced the answer out through gritted teeth. “Got a problem with that?”

“I admire you,” he murmured, dispelling your misgivings. “Your compassion.”

You felt your anger dissolve as you followed up with a suggestion. “It’s never too late, you know?”

He gave you a weak smile but remained silent for the ride home.

Back at his apartment, you noticed that he still seemed shaken by the night's events as he kicked off his shoes and sat on the couch, gazing blankly into space. Was he going to doze off in that position? You had already changed into a loose muslin nightdress and gone through the usual bedtime preparations.

Strolling over, you sat down beside him, trying to strike up a conversation. “They spooked you real bad, huh?”

He didn’t laugh at your joke, though he acknowledged it. “You can say that again.”

This wasn’t like him at all. You grabbed his shoulder in concern. “Hey, you don't seem okay.”

“I’ll be fine,” he sighed, looking away from you to his lap. “And… thank you for back there.”

“I would never abandon you like that,” you stressed, even if you hadn’t forgiven him for turning you… yet. 

He glanced at you with his watery blue eyes in appreciation, but you could tell that his mind was in a distant place elsewhere. Even though he tried to hide it, you saw his hands quivering, and you hoped that what the Bakers had done wasn’t permanent. You knew he was trying to put on a brave front, but a part of you felt uneasy about leaving him on his own.

“Um, why don’t you sleep next to me today?” you offered hesitantly.

He peered at you quizzically. “You sure?”

“Yeah, just get dressed, alright?” You made your way up the stairs and waited for him by the bed before he could argue any further.

He joined you later, clad in a plain t-shirt and sweatpants, keeping a respectable distance as he lay beside you. There was a nervous energy to him.

You drew nearer, caressing his arm tenderly. “We don’t have to talk about whatever you saw in there,” you affirmed. “I’m here if you need me.”

He tucked your hair behind your ear as a stray tear fell onto his face. Wrapping your arms around him, you closed the gap, breathing in his scent as you felt his hands along your waist. It seemed as if an eternity had passed before you released each other. His nose nudged against yours as his warm breath grazed your cheek. When his gaze lowered to your lips, you didn’t have to think or doubt what would come next. 

Leaning in, he placed his soft lips over your own, kissing you intimately as he savored your taste in his mouth. Instinctively, you kissed back, running your fingers through his messy locks as your tongue licked across the seam of his lips. A low moan escaped his throat as he pressed up against you, claiming your lips again and again. It was the last thing you remembered as daysleep enveloped you like a cocoon, lulling you into a temporary hibernation.

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Tonight in "Stoat muses on weird speculative fiction ideas," I bring you a(n even more) fantastical take on the good old "reverse grandfather paradox."

Suppose we have a character who is a vampire. We send him back in time, and while there he bites and turns a woman in the past. Time goes on and this woman eventually bites a young man and turns him, siring another vampire. Surprise, this turns out to be our initial vampire time traveler. Now the two of them are caught in a two-person loop where they pass a strain of vampirism back and forth with no discernible origin point. Bootstrap vampires.

We can of course expand or contract this loop as necessary. At its smallest extreme, the vampire enters his own timestream at an earlier point and is his own vampiric sire. At its broadest, the time traveler goes back in time to become the first vampire, meaning that the species as a whole flies in the face of causality on top of being an affront to the laws of God and nature.

It'd also be kind of funny if we're looking at a VtM-style setting with different vampiric "bloodlines," where everyone's assumption before the truth comes to light for why the time traveler's vampirism being so weird is that his sire was one of the first examples of a new bloodline. And, I mean, they aren't exactly wrong....

Anyway I just like the idea of vampirism being unnatural and extrapolating it out to being tied up in a temporal paradox. I think that'd be kind of neat.

[literallys-illiteracy]

Mr chancellor, a second audiolog has hit the chapter house

Vampiric arts and disciplines.

To spite D, and because I can, this run through will be written with as many commas as possible, also because I just already kind of write like this.

So, to start off, the first notable thing mentioned is THE AMAZING BALLOON BOY, who is clearly going to be the true culprit to this crime.

Waters is aware of not only the existence of vampire clans, but their names and disciplines, almost mentioning Tremere by name.

Then there are four primary discussed vampiric arts.

Potence.

Dominate.

Obfuscation.

Blood Sorcery.

It is interesting to note that D mentions a battle against a "Vampire elder" whom used the art of potence, as well as one who used dominate; These may relate back to the Lasombra mentioned in the first Kevin Audiologue as both Potence and Dominate are inherent arts to the clan, alongside their "Obtenebration" or "Oblivion", which was renamed in V5, however which was mentioned by Kevin explicitly in the past.

Regarding the specific clans that were mentioned in this Log, we begin with Gangrel, or the Humanimal's, alongside the art of "Animalism". Following this, in the discussion of Obfuscation, the clan symbols for the "Ravnos" and "Malkavian" were shown, and the Nosferatu were called... well not exactly by name but still.

Also why does the Malkavian look so.. Elvish. I personally want HTP to be fairly separate from TTS, but I mean I can't help the Chegorath vibes im getting from them.

All together, the clans that have been mentioned and have appeared in HTP so far:

Tremere (kevin) (mentioned by name: D, Kevin, Waters). Nosferatu (Peter) (Pseudonym, Sludge Lads) Brujah (Shitbeard) (mentioned by Shitbeard) Gangrel (Ape Boy) (Pseudonym, Humanimal) Malkavian (Audience seen) (Mentioned by D) Ravnos (Audience seen) (Mentioned by D) Lasombra (unseen) (Mentioned by name: D) Tzimisce (unseen) (Mentioned by name: D) Ventrue (unseen) mentioned by name: Peter) Salubri (Unseen) (Mentioned by proxy: D discussing Saulot)

also Thin Bloods/Half Bloods (unseen) (mentioned by name: D, Kitten)

This only leaves:

Banu Haqim Hecata The Minstry Toreador

So we've been at the very least acquainted with most clans, more than i thought before I decided to count the ones that had only been mentioned.

Now comes the part where I talk about 16th Century medicine and humors.

There exist four "Humors" within the body, Phlegm, Blood, Bile, and Black Bile, it was believed that each of these humors must exist in equilibrium within one's body, and an imbalance causes any kind of ailment or illness.

The four kinds of illness correlate to an excess in any of the humors, Phlegmatic, Sanguine (blood), Choleric (Bile), and Melancholic (Black Bile), which were distinguished by the emotional state of the person ailed, or for Sanguine and Choleric, the colour of their face.

Within VtM, exists a concept of "resonance", where each vampiric art possesses a humor of resonance, which is able to empower the vampiric art should the vampire ingest blood containing this temperment.

Such examples are as follows, Potence: Choleric Dominate: Phlegmatic Obfuscate: Melancholic Thaumaturgy: Sanguine.

Hold on a fucking second...

Now. What do these correlations to the arts that D and Waters listed mean? I've no clue. Onto the next section.

Now, one may in fact notice, there are four people in this audiologue, and four humors. Baseless speculations and meaningless correlations follow, millions are to suffer.

Choleric relates to passion, anger, and resistance; this temperament is found in those who are willing to stand and fight, those who are believe in a righteous cause, and those who are yellow from Cholera. The most obvious correlation immediately is D, who is already yellow and believes in many, many, MANY things.

Phlegmatic relates to the colour white, and to those who are apathetic or uncaring towards the world, not necessarily in a depressed manor, rather in a "peace of the world" type of way (however it can appear as any form of the listed emotions and more). This one throws me for a loss as it does not strictly apply to anyone within the chamberhouse itself, except for maybe how Fatigue was before he wasn't. This may relate to Door however? I don't know, why are you reading this, this is just me rambling.

Melancholy, as the name suggests, primarily relates to sadness or depression, immense fear, hopelessness, and despair. This temperament also relates to those who seek wisdom, knowledge, or enlightenment. This relates to either Kitten or Markus, whom seek as much information as they can towards the hunters, however i am leaning towards Kitten due to his more grounded demeanor.

Sanguine correlates to red, blood, and "fiery" emotions, specifically wrath, lust, and none of the other deadly sins. This humor takes the form of initiative, drive, energy, wrath, lust, and none of the other deadly sins. Markus is red.

There then exist two more sub-temperaments, Null, and Animalistic.

Null, Void, Empty, whatever synonym a person uses for the same meaning, is distinguished by a lack of human emotions, be it sociopathy or general detachment. This temperament is only used for one art, being Oblivion, which relates to the game "Wraith the Oblivion" which i have not played.

Animal Blood is not exactly a category, it is also exactly what it sounds like, this is the temperament used for Animalism and Protean unless your storyteller decides them to be related to one of the primary 4/5. However with the mention of animalism, this technically means that we have all bloods except for Null covered in the audiolog, which is neat.

Notes of discussion:

There are many things listed by D in his ramblings regarding Thaumaturgy, specifically different groups, traditions and bloodlines of vampires:

"Ancient elemental techniques of the Caucasuses", could be referring to a few things? The kingdom of Caucasuses relates to one "House Gwydion" of the dreaming, so something Fae related is the most likely answer, however I do not play Changeling so :/

"serpentine[...]" Ministry. In the past known as "The Followers of Set", and having access to the discipline "Serpentis", which was later absorbed into protean, however I don't remember particularly much "Poison" in the past discipline, and I can't find anything that does so maybe this is something else! maybe this is somehow related to the Wyrm! I DONT FUCKING KNOW!?.

"Curses [...] Merciless order of judges" is likely referring to the Haqim?

"Blighted Daemonology" is likely referring to the Baali, whom are, indeed, demonologist vampires. They are both a cult worshipping demons, as well as a bloodline, who recruits through thaumaturgy.

Waters sprints off after hearing Markus's remark about how the redaction of information hasn't saved anyone, especially fatigue, with a worried look on her face. This may be related to something? perhaps she is finding Blacklaw, the less supernaturally acquainted, or Occam, in order to spread the general knowledge from this discussion, in order to prevent more losses of staff.

[jasina85]

As a general rule, I do not like vagueposting. I do my best to not engage in it for sanity's sake. I'm breaking this rule today.

My experiences with the World of Darkness community here on Tumblr has truly been nothing short of fantastic. Seeing everyone talk each other's blorbos, lore dives and speculations, it's all been great and y'all are wonderful to chat with.

But I'm very sparsely active in other WoD spaces (VtM in particular) which I won't name, and I keep running into this idea that the "other" (ie. Outside of that space) is incapable of critically engaging with the mature themes of the game and the genres it draws inspiration from? There's this prevailing theme of "enjoying problematic themes = endorsing them irl" and I'm just... What?!

In particular, the topic of V5 being rather explicit about how kindred are not capable of experiencing true love. How it's not actually love they're feeling, but a simple obsession. And how that's apparently a good change, because only by explicitly stating any romantic relationship between kindred is toxic can we avoid somehow seeing those relationships as "appealing and aspirational"...

Now, I'm aware that relationships that can be described as problematic are something of a staple of the gothic literature. But I'm not immediately assuming the author is endorsing them, because I'm able to be critical about their work. The fact this "appearance in media = endorsement" attitude persists is honestly sapping my will to live.

Also age gaps in kindred relationships are problematic, naturally, because clearly we haven't hit rock bottom yet.

And don't get me started about how us poor WoD "fans" can take Sabbat's morality as aspirational.

I'm on my hands and knees, begging for these people to exercise some critical thinking.

[mormonvampire]

- I love City of Mist's dual character playbooks and the questions that encourage you to restrict and refine powers and abilities, which helps to make them REALLY interesting.

- The way you roll a handful of dice in VtM, with the red ones slowly taking over the ratio, is so narratively interesting and physically satisfying. It makes for some fun story moments and a lot of personal speculation about how your character is responding to this thing you can literally see.

- Dread's Jenga tower mechanic is simple but utterly effective. There's tension, a physical awareness, teamwork, and random chance. Someone usually chooses to topple the tower on purpose, and it's amazing for the story.

- Ironsworn has simple clocks, but I love the way they're built into the characters, and so prevalent in the rules. You're encouraged to use your vows as narrative guides, with mechanical rewards for doing so.

- Lancer has a lot of things going for it, but one of my favorites is Comp/Con, the online tool that makes it so easy to pick up, and really starts to immerse you in the world. You're playing the game but you feel like you're handling a sci-fi mech computer at the same time.

- WitchCraft2/the Unisystem has a generic mana resource, Essence, that's then given different costs and abilities via entirely different magic systems that work in different ways, all interacting with the same base resource. It's a fascinating way of increasing character diversity, and the way the game models traditional spells as needing power from external sources etc opens up a lot of interesting narratives as well.

Anyway instead of constantly making the world's silliest people mad with my mild criticisms of D&D I'm going to say some positive things... about games besides D&D.

I love the tables in Rolemaster, like you've probably heard this before but the random tables in Rolemaster are basically little story generators.

The system of strings in Monsterhearts is probably one of the best if not the best social mechanic ever.

I love how Errant empowers players with the ability to make actual tactical choices about how their characters move around in places.

I love how weird Troika!'s character options are. I'm playing a weird muck wizard right now. He can cast a spell that literally ties some tongue in knots.

I love the presentation of everything in Break!, it's an absolutely beautiful game and I can't wait for the physical book to arrive so I can show it off to my friends.

I love the investigation point/Eureka! mechanic in Eureka, it ensures that characters will at least have some clues available to them provided they're willing to do the work, also there's so many fun traits that alter the flow of investigation points in fun ways.

[themarginalthinker]

a sane author: hehe writing about my evil littol guy doing his evel schemes

me: desperately googling what the fuck is the etymology of the word Nosferatu, and is there any discussion of it in WoDlore

[robotslenderman]

Top 5 clan Nosferatu stuff you know/read/seen pls

Oooh, fun!

1. Nosferatu have an instinct to dig and go underground. Given the water table, I have to wonder if they have some instincts we don't know about -- did Nosferatu just dig wherever, and use trial and error and hope the water table was far beneath them? Did they have a way to sense how far down water is, so they knew exactly where to dig? Have they been just digging wherever all this time and enslaving ghouls to pump out water for as long as pumps have existed? Have they got ways of waterproofing their walls -- do they mix their vitae with dirt in some kind of mixture and paint their walls with it to keep the water out?

2. So I haven't read or seen this, but Nosferatu are probably very good at managing in places where it's completely dark.

Think about it. Electric lighting is a modern invention, so for most of history they don't have electric lights. They wouldn't have had fireplaces down there for light. They wouldn't have had windows, being underground, and no open ceilings to allow moon and starlight in. A lot of fiction with underground races has bio-luminescent mushrooms and stuff, but in reality those are extremely rare and when they do happen, the light is very dim.

They might have had candles, but historically candles were very expensive. Having multiple candles in a room would have been very impractical from an expense standpoint; if they did have the resources to use candles, chances are every Nosferatu had a personal candleholder and would use their own candle to navigate, instead of just having candles around each room. (This raises more speculation about what kind of relationship such a clan would have to fire, given Rotschreck conflicting with the need to be able to see, but I don't want to get off track.)

But it's very likely that most Warrens would have been completely and utterly pitch black. Therefore, the Nosferatu would need ways to sense their surroundings in order to navigate, or else have some compensation mechanisms. Maybe they have the same senses we do and they just used sticks and "Marco!" "Polo!" to make sure they weren't crashing into anyone. But also -- maybe Nosferatu often have whiskers or their bodies are covered in very fine hairs, and they can sense very subtle changes in air current. Maybe they can do echolocation -- Gerard Rafin's ears are described as being like a bat's, and bats use echolocation. Maybe they have some other way to "see". Given the variety of Nosferatu appearances, the most likely explanation is that each Nosferatu is unique -- some have the fine hairs, and others have the echolocation. Which would probably mean you also have some Nosferatu that are shit out of luck and are completely blind in all ways that matter when they're underground.

They probably also have something akin to Braille. They're the clan of spies, but they can't read fuck all under there, they need some way to be able to keep records and be able to read them in pitch black.

The more I think about it, the more I think it'd make sense if Nosferatu had blood magic or something, simply just so they can make glowing balls of light and stick them around the Warren. Alas.

3. There is a bloodline of Nosferatu called the Nictuku who lack the instinct to dig, and instead have a pathological need to be able to see the moon. In VTMNR, there's a Nosferatu called Dove. On the surface you might only notice she's unusual because she doesn't hang out in a Warren or seem to be involved in any kind of spy network, unlike the rest of the highly social Nosferatu, but...

At one point Lettow dictates Dove's entire lineage. If you look up the Methuselah in her lineage in the wiki, you'll see she's actually Nictuku.

And if you know that, everything else about Dove makes sense and you realise she spends the bulk of her time in places where she can easily see the moon and open sky. She's a driver, so she'd see the moon all the time on the road. But not only that -- she's Lettow Kaminsky's Seneschal/Sheriff. Lettow has an open-air Elysium. No matter which job she's doing, whether it's being a Seneschal or driving, she's got an open sky right above her.

On the other hand, I have no idea why the fuck Kyle Marquis wrote Dove's grandsire as being the complete opposite and always being underground like some kind of ugly-ass Dune worm.

4. Dove has the Vampire Mafia after her, and she almost didn't survive as a fledgling because of it.

She's noted to have a strong resemblance to an "extinct clan". She has a skull-like face; the Cappadocians have skull-like visages and were hunted near to extinction (officially extinction) by the Giovanni. AKA the Vampire Mafia. 100% chance it was these guys who wanted to fuck her up and damn Jasper Knowles must have been pretty damn powerful to get them off her back.

5. We know them as hackers, but honestly, they're probably pretty damn good engineers too.

In modern times Warrens probably have a network of pumps going 24/7 that need to be constantly maintained, like how in NYC the subway is always flooding and people don't know about it because there's a whole system of pumps taking all the water that comes in and pumping it right back out.

In all times Nosferatu have existed, they've needed to be able to dig underground through various types of rocks and dirt, but also maintain its structural integrity. They don't have to worry about dying so much, but cave-ins are probably a real pain in the ass at least, so they'd devise ways to dig that minimise risk, and also reinforce the ceilings. But it'd be pretty moist down there and wood rots -- a Warren isn't a mine, it's supposed to last centuries, if not thousands of years in some places in the world, so they probably have carpenters who are constantly, by vampire standards, maintaining ceiling beams and columns and checking for rot and decay.

[nemo-in-wonderland]

LOLOLOL tbh, Raphael is already canonically safe because his father doesn't want to put up with his shenanigans😂😂😂And YES. The threat of having his son bouncing around his mind with villain songs (that he would sing on repeat until it becomes an earworm) IS STRONGER than any urge to diablarize him to get any Tzimisce power up lololol

AND HELL YEAH (no pun intended) INFERNALIST BUDDIES FOR THE WIN LOLOL. And you are indeed correct, Aranea still very much is set on revenge and whatnot in this universe, and after being turned by Mephisto and taught by him (pretty much like in the BG3 canonical AU), she will also partake in some of his Infernalist tendecies (soul? who cares about our souls, we need power ups lol), albeit not to the same extent as he did. But still, she tipped her toes in those waters, so to speak (I love to imagine that, in true Tremere fashion and true to how she was in life, my girl like to experiment with stuff lolol Mad Scientist right there lololol)

and OMGGG I ADORE THAT HARLEEP WOULD CALL HER "HIS LITTLE FIEND" BECAUSE OF THE TINY HORNS 🙏😭💓Honestly, I love how, as you said, they match each other freak, they are adorable for that.

Do you believe he would maintain his "Raphael" appaerence around Mayhem?? or would he assume his true original form??? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.

I thought of how to translate the plot of BG3 into VTM. Instead of the Crown, Gortash stole an ancient Thaumatergy ritual from Mephisto and he, Ketheric and Orin are attempting to control a slumbering Antediluvian. If it wakes, it’s pretty much the beginning of Gehenna (ala the Week of Nightmares). There’s obviously no nauteloid so idk how all the companions would meet but regardless they have to band together to save the world.

PICTURE THIS.

Those three are trying their hands at control a slumbering Antedeluvian.

BUT NOT ANY ANTEDELUVIAN.

Oh no.

Those three thought it would be SO MUCH FUN to go and poke MALKAV himself.

Honestly, I gave it some thought about which Antedeluvian would be the most "eligible" in being poked by the Baddies Trio, and my choice was up to either Malkav or Zapathasura  (because, as you quoted WEEK OF NIGHTMARES. -And considering that there are speculation that, despite all the weapons utilized against him, the Ravnos Antedeluvian could still be alive, just in hiding), but between the two of them, I am hella biased with Malkav (i *adore* the Malkavians, I always either play as a Malk or as a Tremere lol),so I like to imagine that he is the Antedeluvian that they are trying to control

(POOR FOOLS, THE THREE OF THEM).

(sorry, POTO moment for me lol)

BG3 but it’s Vampire the Masquerade

Given that VTM is another TTRPG it wasn’t actually all that hard to imagine what clan the BG3 companions would belong to because *game mechanics* and character archetypes but I did it anyways lol. I love the V20 lore for VTM but I prefer some stuff about V5 (especially the fact that the Ravnos aren’t a giant racist stereotype now) so I’ve used both clan names for those that changed between versions.

Karlach - Brujah

Poster girl for Clan Brujah.

Astarion - Toreador

He and Nellie G from L.A. by Night would be friends I think.

Shadowheart - Lasombra

This one was actually the hardest for me to decide, I went for Lasombra because Shar lol

Wyll - Ventrue

No doubts about this one. A true leader.

Gale - Tremere

He would obviously become a vampire wizard. Nerd in life, nerd in undeath.

Lae’zel - Assamite/Banu Haqim

Another one that seemed obvious to me.

Halsin - Gangrel

Probably the most obvious. Was never in question.

Bonus!

Gortash - Lasombra

Master manipulator, pulling the strings from the shadows.

Raphael - Setite/Ministry

Would 10000% run a vampire cult.

Ketheric - Giovanni/Hecata

Duh.

Orin - either Tzimisce or Baali

Tzimisce for the shapeshifting and Baali for Bhaal the bloodshed and murder.

Tagging @nemo-of-house-hamartia since I know you like VTM too :)

[vampiremourning]

parliament of knives hasnt officially updated yet as far as im aware but it looks like some new things have been added into the code in preparation 

i saw something in the code a while back about being a malkavian but this is the first time ive seen it on the startup page so thats something neat. & lucca was teased a while back as being one of the potential romance paths, so no real surprise there. her section has no variables in it for now, and i havent combed the rest of the text to see if its been added in the actual game, but at least we know its definitely on the way. no bouchard romance variables to be found, but i know there was some point where jeffrey dean either implied or outright said that was something he wanted to explore. it might just not be in the code yet, or it could just be shelved for now. i 100% believe he was serious about wanting to add that in though and i can already see the skeleton of how it would develop even just playing though bouchard’s alliance or speaking positively to him. 

now this could have fully been there before and i just missed it, but ive peeled back ch 10 more than a few times now trying to see how i can trigger the best ending, and i dont remember this section being there at all. its definitely interesting though and im glad that kashif gets some more screentime. the last time he featured prominently in one of my playthroughs i somehow got him executed so uh. this is Much Better. but it seems overall he has more variables/appearances in general based on what looks to be a fairly updated/reorganized startup page. i wouldnt be super surprised to see him get a romance path later on either ngl. 

i definitely Do Not remember reading this before? it seems like its probably one of the better endings to get especially if you like corliss. its the final choice of the ending options on the page (so far) & its also an ‘*else’ choice, so im not really sure what conditions need to be satisfied for it beyond not meeting the conditions for any other ending? idk. corliss has always wound up dead in my games & thats a very easy thing to do for the most part so im not really sure how to get here without pissing everyone off royally lmao, but it could be interesting to aim for & see what happens. willing to bet it might be one of the ends thats dependent on adeline being destroyed, unless thats just a scenario you avoid entirely if you encounter annabelle. which might be required here? since she’s present and ends up throwing herself out the goddamn window lmao. i think? seeing as corliss is being told to take her job? tbh i had no idea there would be any possibility of working with arundel and corliss at the same time. 

the ‘ending’ label here refers to the ‘we hope you enjoyed playing’ screen to my understanding, so thats genuinely just the end of that route here. i think. to get this result you probably have to investigate the tremere? thats really the only way i can see this being a natural result, although i didnt get the impression that was the route to take if you wanted to find arundel? i’m pretty sure adeline being involved is unavoidable, but i wonder if this is an ending you can only trigger if your version of chapter 7 is the second version with jordan. (its entirely possible im very confused gfhgjh) 

this isnt new i just think its kind of funny that qui is the Only One so far with a break up option lmao. and the scene itself is so sad too like gfhgjh why must we be given the opportunity to witness his suffering he sounds so dejected.

and i also dont think this is new i just never caught it before now since iirc qui diablerizing the lasombra was always a possibility. but he really does have some very unfortunate options available doesnt he ghghkj

half of this is just me guessing lmao this game has a Very Impressive number of routes and options and its difficult to reverse engineer some of these endings without actually playing through all of the options presented. unfortunately im Extremely Attached to my toreador and her choices/relationships at the moment so the odds of me doing that are admittedly not great, but seeing the raw code & potential options is something ive enjoyed doing since night road (& its also a much faster way of fact checking for fic lmaooo) 

[periculum-dulce]

Some OC concept art I did last week, for both my friend’s Monster Sci-fi RP group and another friend’s Monster of the Week TTRPG. Returning faces are of course Werewolf Red Army Sniper AU Vannika and Mr. Stuck-In-A-Tomb-For-1700-Years Aquila, who now has white hair to fit the RP lore for vampires. Some new OC faces are Germanicus the absolute bitch Lestat-esque vampire and Shiki the half-oni monster hunter Buddhist nun (she’s still under heavy construction)

[allshallbewell]

this blog isn’t new but this is my writeblr intro!

my name is riley, and I’m a college student about to graduate w a degree in theatre and a minor in creative writing. i love speculative fiction, and I’ve been writing obsessively in the fantasy and sci if genres since i could hold a pen.

I have 2 unpublished (and it’s gonna stay that way - these things should not see the light of day) manuscripts, and I’m working on a third (and who knows where that will go!!)

current wips

the star book - high fantasy adult entanglement of a soldier, a thief, and a runaway attempting to find the gods that control their fates.

the vile book - frankenstein retelling where the monster is just a boy and the doctor is attempting to conquer the world.

also! a choice of games attempt (as i work my way thru learning choicescript) based on British mythology. I’ll tag it as the choice book.

Other -

i am also a GM for two games (monster of the week and vampire the masquerade) and a player in a dnd campaign, and i consider both to be as close to writing as anything. expect ramblings and inspo reblogs for such things :)

I’m an avid reader so I’ll probably RB a good amount of that as well.

please RB this if you’re a writeblr/interested in any of these things so i can get more of you guys on my dash! I follow from my main @gelaxy.

[despairlost]

I don't think this means anything to any of my followers but I can't keep this conversation between me and my brother contained any longer

[ryttu3k]

Top five things to cross over with VtM. :>c

So I genuinely have a fair few of these! It gets pretty long-winded, so I'll throw most under a cut. Ahead: His Dark Materials, The Locked Tomb, Pokemon, Subnautica, aaand the Sims!

Spoiler warning for Nona the Ninth under the Locked Tomb section.

1. His Dark Materials. I actually have a whole tag for this. There are multiple ways you can take it (daemons die upon Embrace, daemons become the Beast, daemons still exist), with the latter being my favourite if only because I helped create Hvare (Mithras' manul daemon) and I would die for her. Probably would, actually.

Also go read Dusty's fic, it emotionally ruined me.

-

2. The Locked Tomb. There's some speculating here, mostly on the nature of thanergy and thalergy. In chat, we worked out a few more elements, namely vampires being powered by thanergy and thus… they're solar-powered by Dominicus. What an inversion! Before the sun was The Enemy, now it's what gives them life! (Or, technically, death!) Jod kills everyone with a thalergy signature. That's okay, vampires are thanergy-based, and thus avoid the death sweep!

…They don't avoid the nukes, but the ones that aren't killed in that just. End up in torpor for a bit, and when they wake up on a now-deserted Earth, they find that - for the first time - the sun is giving them the means to survive. They don't need vitae, Dominicus is thanergetic and is all they need. Solar-powered vampires! Some do end up leaving (I want to say Mithras does a stint on Trentham, which is only one planet over), but otherwise they more or less start their own society on the mostly-deserted Earth, and just. Avoid Canaan House.

(They're an absolute hit and a known quantity both in the Second and Seventh Houses, and there's a big collection on the Sixth, too. Second House digs the more militarily-minded ones, and if their largely immortal thanergy-based companions need to drink human blood when they're away from Dominicus, well, there's plenty of Blood of Eden soldiers. Seventh just adores the idea of beauty preserved by death, there's probably at least a few heirs who decided fuck all this cancer malarky, gimme the Embrace. And Sixth just digs anyone with old knowledge, and some of them have pre-Resurrection memories! The rest just… stay on Earth, avoiding Canaan House, not too bothered about things like old societies and… clothes and things and being solar-powered. Secret solar-powered nudist vampire colony.)

And then the events of the books happen and it all goes downhill from there.

Apocalypse: *happens* Vampires: "Well this sucks! *goes into torpor*" Torpor: *happens* Resurrection: *happens* A millennium or so later: "*cautious peeking out* Is it safe now? Oh shit, we're solar-powered 8D" Nine thousand years of a vampiric golden age: *happens* Lyctoral Trials: *announced* Vampires: "…Well fuck."

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3. Pokemon. Yes I know, I know. It was a lot of throwing ideas back and forth for one particular story idea, but here's what we got!

Backstory: ~1000 years earlier, Michael, the Dracon, and Antonius are the Trinity, attempting to create a heaven on Earth via Some Kind Of Means. Antonius allows his jealousy and general 'being a garbage person' to get the better of him and ends up dying in some thematically appropriate way due to his own hubris; the Dracon, exhausted and burnt out, bails, and ends up finding a quiet existence tending to the God-Tree, the recently-dormant Xerneas, known as the Eldest. But he's still depressed as hell, and ultimately ends up departing to find Yveltal to end his existence, being turned to stone. Michael, refusing to accept the loss of both his lovers, strikes a deal with either Celebi or Dialga to be displaced in time, so he can force the Eldest to resurrect the Dracon.

A little before present day, Michael arrives in the modern Pokeverse, and starts going about trying to work out how to bring back the Dracon, keeping a protective eye both on the God-Tree and statue!Dracon. He's also been busy tracking down the Dracon's descendants, finding Symeon Gesudin and his young child, Myca. Michael manipulates them both into joining him, deciding that Symeon is an acceptable replacement for Antonius and that Myca… well, if he can't bring back the Dracon, then maybe he can have a new one. Myca initially is homesick but otherwise quite content in Michael's cult, but as they reach their teenage years, the gloss starts coming off and they realise that Michael definitely doesn't have their best interests at heart, and they run away with their Chikorita Sascha.

Part 1: New runaway Myca (around 16-ish, I'm thinking) sets out as a new trainer, taking the surname Vykos (their mother's) instead of Gesudin. On their travels, they meet Ilias, another young trainer, who turns out to be a runaway himself (he had actually left home a few years earlier, but had spent the last few years with his guardian Dorinta, who was now encouraging him to go on a Pokemon journey). Over the next two years, the two grow closer, starting to move on from their pasts…

…until Michael and Symeon show up. They plan on using the power of the still-dormant Eldest to force the Dracon's soul out of the statue and into a new vessel. Namely, Myca's body. Myca is less than impressed with this idea, and the fighting becomes pretty fierce. Sascha, Myca's starter, dies protecting them from Michael, Ilias is mortally wounded, and the Dracon's statue cracks. Ilias manages to crawl to the God-Tree and begs them to save Myca with his last breath. The Eldest awakens, kills Michael, and fuses the Dracon's soul into a mask before the statue can crumble completely, fuses Yamask!Dracon on to Myca's face so they can make each other stronger, absorbs Ilias' body, and vanishes. Symeon takes one look at Dracon!Myca and flees, leaving them completely alone, save for the Dracon merged to their soul.

Part 2: Some time has passed (not sure how much - could be anything from a few years to a few decades). The Eldest resurrects Ilias, but their grasp on time isn't… great and it's been quite some time since his death. Eventually finding his way back to civilisation, he's recognised as one of the kids who disappeared [x] years ago and is hospitalised, and while in the hospital, he sees a story about a terrorist called Sascha Vykos, who wears a gold mask and seems to be focusing on causing as much self-destructive chaos as possible that, apparently, never seems to even leave a scratch. Ilias promptly remembers Myca, and what happened, and is able to escape the hospital. Trying to work out what the hell happened, he manages to find former regional Professor candidate, Beckett, and briefly explains what happened.

Beckett is intrigued, and agrees to work with Ilias to find Myca, and preferably find a way to… bring them back to whoever they were before, because the actions 'Sascha' is taking really doesn't gel with Ilias' memories of Myca. They also cross paths with Symeon, and learn that he had been made immortal by the radiation the Eldest had given off when they had awakened, that Ilias likely is now too as he was resurrected, and that Myca is as well, since the Eldest wasn't about to lose their beloved adopted child again, were they? Symeon tries to convince Ilias that he had been misled by Michael too and just wanted to save his son, and Ilias reluctantly agrees to travel with him to find Myca. When they do finally meet again, Symeon reveals his deeply possessive side (he doesn't want to do anything evil, or so he claims, he just wants to like. Own Myca) and Dracon!Myca takes great pleasure in killing him.

Which. Valid.

They get the mask off somehow I haven't actually thought that bit through, Myca collapses in Ilias' arms, happy resolution! …except they're both immortal, somewhat displaced in time, and deeply traumatised, but hey, that's the next part's problem!

Part 3: Still working it out but it involves Myca learning how to people again, Ilias adjusting to the new time period, working out how to get rid of their pesky immortality and also what to do with Yamask!Dracon, and Beckett being an unpaid babysitter.

Here's an art!

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Right okay those are all the ones I had prepared earlier. Let's make some up on the fly!

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4. Subnautica. I did actually play around with a vampire!Ryley AU at one point, but making it VtM specifically should still work. I had vampires being a known element with powdered heme available on the Aurora in that AU, but if there's a Masquerade still around, then yeah, vampire crew members on the Aurora are just snacking on their crewmates on the regular. Gotta keep it quiet! In this case, Ryley is a vampire of unknown clan keeping it on the sly. When the Aurora crashes, he's still the only survivor, and the game more or less plays out the same with one major difference: he doesn't get sick.

Oh, he still gets infected. He has to drain fish blood here, it's probably unavoidable. And he still can't shut down the QEP with it floating around in his system, so if he ever wants to leave, he still has to go through the same plot. Some parts are easier (no need to worry about oxygen), some parts are harder (have to stay somewhere sheltered, like a cave, during the day so he doesn't go crispy; better make sure those caves are free of stingers and/or crashfish!), it does kind of balance out. The Aurora will be interesting. Lots of Rotschreck potential. That was an extreme act of bravery tyvm!

I feel ultimately, he stays. He's not going back to some shitty trans-gov where he's treated like shit. He's going to stay on his lovely water planet with his baby leviathan friends and those 4546B nights are his, my friend!

…He might go Mariner. Honestly, Gangrel does actually fit pretty well!

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5. The Sims. Straud's bloodline are Toreador (he does play music, after all!); specifically, he and Miss Hell are Toreador antitribu. Lilith and Caleb take one (well, two) look/s at their sires and go "no thank you!!" and get the hell out of dodge and are currently chilling in San Myshuno with the Camarilla and pretending they absolutely don't have a Sabbat background. Caleb is Humanity 8, wanting to maintain who he is, missing food so much, and generally trying to be the best example of a Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire (albeit without letting anyone. Know he is. Masquerade and all). Lilith… slips a bit and might possibly benefit from a Path; she still maintains the more Sabbat way of thinking that it shouldn't be necessary to have to hide who she is, and so she's finding Humanity to be a bit of a struggle.

Hilariously, they're Kinfolk, from the Children of Gaia. Their cousin Lily did undergo the Change and now lives with her pack in Moonwood Mill; the Vatores didn't and barely survived their quite traumatic Embraces. The Children are quite dedicated to peace, and Lily sees good grounds for reconciliation with Caleb, at least, but she worries Lilith has been too influenced by the Wyrm to be redeemed, and would possibly have to be put down for the good of Gaia. Which. Awkward.

For the others - as mentioned, Miss Hell, Straud's childe, is actually ductus of their pack, with Vlad taking on the role of pack priest instead. Their other pack members are Kat and Markus. The Nobles are a coterie of older autarkis, who avoid the precepts of the Sabbat but do prefer to be able to live openly in Forgotten Hollow. Inna is still on Humanity and is generally as close as you'll get to a genuinely nice elder, while Elle and The Other Vlad are a bit more hardened and may follow Roads. And for the Virtuous ones, Demetrius is a neonate who came across the recently-Embraced fledglings Samantha and Brandy, and took them under his wing. They're still very young, and the Nobles try to keep a bit of an eye on them to make sure they don't get into too much trouble. Especially Samantha, who's starting to show some worrying traits…

Morgyn is a mage originally from House Tytalus of the Order of Hermes, surviving their apprenticeship and still maintaining a decent relationship with their master Aine. She died during the Reckoning, and Morgyn, disillusioned with Tytalus and the Order of Hermes in general, ended up leaving in disgust. Now they're dabbling with the Verbena and the Euthanatoi, but maybe they'll find belonging with a pair of vampires instead…?

[icaruskey]

Ow. My head hurts trying to understand this “growing racism in trans masc community” doc. 

The supporting blog did have one good post from someone being very gross and speculating about two black people’s parentage and just -- please never do that. It’s disgusting. Foul. I have to double check the url and block them just for that post. 

But getting upset that someone screenshotted your blog (and then getting mad that another person didn’t go to someone who has them blocked to double check their pronouns) is weird. 

Making a post being angry that people are trying to give a shit about a country besides the US and then someone who doesn’t live in the US and frequently tries to talk about issues outside the US on a platform that is very US centric getting upset about what an insensitive post you made... well. I guess we all have to have things we’re irrationally angry about. My thing is VtM.

Also, the blind assumption that a trans man could get pregnant and then the dismissal of the severe dysphoria that this triggered -- honestly the assumption is far worse imo than coming through Luke’s blog for proof. And I’d love to know how she’d feel having something traumatic poked at. Well, we do know because this document was made. 

Getting upset again that this non-US blogger is trying to call attention to the roots of ACAB and the protest fist isn’t racist. He is truthfully reminding people that these aren’t solely symbols for fighting black oppression. I personally have run into people very angrily telling me I shouldn’t have the fist on my gay US flag jacket because it’s meant for black people only. So there is a very real conflation and it’s not bad for someone to remind people that racism exists differently outside the US.

There is no link to nothorses’s callout post, so the document needs to be updated to reflect that. From what I’ve seen though, nothorses and others primarily call out three bloggers who have constantly harassed them: the person who made the original callout post bifey as well as WOC and VOC. 

WOC then claims that nothorses took a post out of context, but it’s about TMA/TME language which is really just not useful the way it’s being used by the tumblrsphere. 

Comment about nothorses refusing to call out people as much as the three bloggers who have been harassing him for months. It may have less to do with the fact you’re black and more to do with the harassment. Maybe try leaving these folks alone for a month and see what happens?

Now to the cis/not cis debate. Maybe just post your pronouns? So it’s easier for people to check (though you don’t like people you’ve blocked going on your blog either so). Also, I’m 100% certain that no one on this side of the equation would purposefully misgender you. When it was assumed you were cis, there was an entirely different level of bs that’s just not there now that it’s obvious you’re not. But it’s hard to say you deserve an apology after all the bs you’ve pulled.

And again, if you say you don’t want blocked people looking at your blog, don’t expect them to know wtf is going on with your gender. Cause I can promise you, they’re getting their info secondhand.

There’s a whole thing about Luke’s dysphoria. The fact they can’t just apologize is eugh.

Then there’s this thing about Black American culture being indigenous to the US and nothorses commented on it through an anon ask -- but he never actually gave an opinion about the whole Black Americans being native. Just discussed the drama around it and is pretty rightfully hot under the collar after an extended harassment campaign by these three people. 

Then there’s a whole big screenshot from someone who apologizes for coming across as anti-black, agrees that Black American culture is native to the US due to how their culture is sourced from being forcibly ripped from their homeland and having individual traditions stamped out, but while they apologize for how they handled the situation, they never say they fully agree with what VOC and WOC were saying. 

So at the end of this, because the people who are most vocal about smearing trans masc people are nonwhite and because the people they’re smearing are white, they can pull the racism card the moment that any of these men get frustrated after months of bullying and say something imperfectly. 

That’s where the racism plays into all of this. That’s it. Because outside of Luke reminding people that racism looks different outside the US, everything else directly links to these three people. 

[the-bloody-masquerade]

End of Year ask! So I'm playing Amanda, the Ventrue PC in Coteries. It's my first time playing a Ventrue, and I never realized how difficult their bane is. What's the most difficult Ventrue bane you as a player have taken on, and/or given one of original Ventrue characters?

Also from baddass-at-cuddling: Second end of year ask is what do you think LaCroix's Ventrue bane is? Maybe he can only feed from handsome mobsters like Mercurio? 🤔 [I’m gonna throw both your asks in one because the second answer is gonna have a lot to do with my first answer.]  And heads up trigger warning for mention of rape and slavery as I discuss a couple of White Wolfs more *edgy* character arcs.  How about post-first-week-of-the-year ask. That’s about all the quicker I move with these asks. 😅 So! The Ventrue! I love them so much and they are my favorite clan. A lot of people with project their frustrations of the real-world “top 1%” onto the Ventrue and tend to treat them scornfully, or worse yet, project those frustrations onto the people who like the Ventrue. Its just make believe folks! There are numerous reasons to be fond of the vampire aristocracy and not all of them automatically equate “I want to lick the boots of harmful capitalists in real life.”  Anyway, the Ventrue bane can be tricky but I think it is also one of the more appealing aspects of the clan due to how it is springboard for creativity and character development. There is no official “rhyme or reason” to why a certain Ventrue gets a certain Bane but I wanna take a little time to explain my personal pitch for how a Ventrue gets their Bane.  Its not really a singular cohesive idea but I cannot fathom not making a Ventrue character’s Bane relevant to their personality or backstory. Something that explores some aspect of their psyche. Maybe constructs that sense of “personal horror” that vtm says it so loves to cultivate.

I actually know of very few canonical ventrue banes and a lot of them are... dicey. 😬

On the completely innocuous end of the spectrum you have characters like Victor Temple from LA by Night who’s preference appears to be people who “know who he is” ie recognize his fame. Its simple, and not at all difficult as long as he stays in LA or its culture sphere where he as a music industry mogul and social media personality is well known. Pretty easy to tie this to Victor psychologically, he craves recognition and maybe a human aspiration was transformed by supernatural Ventrue ambition upon his embrace. Sure would be an interesting challenge for Victor to travel to an area of the world where his music empire wasn’t well known...

Then there’s Alexander of Paris who’s blood preference only allowed him to feed from women who were in love (but not married). Devilishly specific, perhaps tricky, perhaps not if the Toreador-level-pretty Alexander could just make his blood dolls fall in love with him. I don’t know enough about this character to say if this is backstory-relavant to him. 

On the dicey side you have things like our dear Jan Pieterzoon’s canonical blood restriction to only feed from rape survivors. Sort of recently I’ve seen people tossing about the headcanon that this could be made less stereotypically “White Wolf edgy dark shock value bullshit” if this was a reflection Pieterzoon being a survivor himself, and then exploring the aspects of a “personal horror” how having a blood restriction that reflects that. Because as far as I know, canon never does that, his restriction is just that way in canon to be edgy.  On the other hand, yet another canonical Ventrue with a... squicky blood preference would be Andrew Seneca, a former black American slave who found out after his embrace that his blood preference was in fact, slaves. 😬I am not equipped to parse out the handling of this storyline so I won’t try but he’s got a listing on the white wolf wiki if you want to know. Without getting into it, his backstory and blood preference certainly seem to be made for a very hardcore impactful case of “personal horror,” especially regarding what he was going to do as the ages marched on, but again, I can’t really speak to how it was handled. 

So by now you’ve figured out that I have a preference for Ventrue whos blood preferences speak to something intrinsic to their backstory or character arcs. I actually have something of a mini-dynasty of Ventrue OCs who’s blood preferences I’ve put a lot of thought into. I’d love to go into that but I’d prefer to do it on my personal project blog. So I’ll do that and tag you in it, okay Badass? But I will answer the question of my speculation on LaCroix’s blood preference here (finally, lol). I’ve seen a few people in fandom take a pass at it and many of them do wrap it into psychological aspects of LaCroix that they’ve explored in their own works. 

I have seen a version of LaCroix where his blood preference is blood that is laced with alcohol and/or opium, ‘old timey comfort drugs’ speaking to his 19th century wartime backstory. 

I’ve also seen a take in which LaCroix’s blood preference is dominant women, setting up an accidental embrace and romance that the author wanted to explore.  The take that I use for my own fics is that LaCroix’s blood preference is real down to earth kind of people. Peasants, working class, to put it one way, but not because it contrasts with LaCroix’s presumed aristocracy. No, in my version LaCroix was born a common citizen into a family with only fair means. His vampiric blood preference for low-born hardworking folk is a reflection of almost all the people who surrounded him in life, family, hometown friends and soldier buddies. The kinds of people he remembers fondly from life. And our favorite even-tempered salt of the earth smuggler Mercurio fits that bill for LaCroix.  Another thing I’ve always pondered is if a Ventrue’s ghouls are necessarily a “tell” as to their blood preference. I think for young Ventrue it would be, since traditionally you gotta feed on the person you’re going to ghoul to ghoul them so they have to fit their blood preference. That and one of the primary purposes for a ghoul is a quick easy snack. I suppose older Ventrue could acquire ghouls who aren’t their preference by going out of their way. To make a ghoul you just gotta exsanguinate them, you don’t necessarily have to drink it. [Edit, I mixed this up, the only difference between a ghoul and embracing a new vampire is a ghoul drinks vampire blood while in a state of good health, a new vampire is created when they drink blood while having barely any other blood in their system, ie being exsanguinated. I ALWAYS get the methods of ghouling/embrace confused] So yeah, there’s a whole big barf of my thoughts and ideas about Ventrue. I just kinda tend to do that, take a relatively simple ask and be like “WANNA SEE HOW LONG I CAN TYPE???” When I get there I’ll post about my Ventrue OCs’ blood preferences on my personal project blog. Until then thanks for reading!