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fangirleaconmigo · 3 months

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I've been going through some of your posts about Geralt and Dandelion's friendship in the books recently because... well I'm back in my book/game phase I guess and I really wanted to know if there are any other Dandelion friendships you like from the books and why? Like him and Zoltan or with the other Hansa etc? [Personally I'm a big fan of what little we see of him with Regis and it always makes me weepy that he wrote a biography about him in the games and fondly remarks abt him smelling like herbs all the time]

Awww yayy thanks for spending some time on the ol blog. I absolutely love this question. I don't get to talk enough about Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, and his relationship with Dandelion (for the newbies, that is Jaskier's name in the books) is so lovely.

Dandelion and Friendships

For those who are just joining us, Tea is talking about my series about Geralt and Dandelion's friendship in the books.

I have also written posts about Dandelion's friendships with Ciri and Zoltan:

Dandelion and Ciri

Dandelion and Zoltan

And for this post, I'll focus on Regis and Dandelion's friendship, which I absolutely love.

Dandelion and Regis Friendship (books)

What really strikes me about Regis and Dandelion, is just how patient and kind Regis is with Dandelion. Sometimes it is almost like he’s dealing with a child he cares about. Considering Regis’s age (over four centuries old), Dandelion (approx in his thirties when they meet) IS a child.

On top of that, Dandy’s personality is rife with traits often associated with kids:

insatiable curiosity to the point where he endangers his own life, (when they go into the forest or sea, Geralt has to essentially, follow right behind him like you would a toddler),

hyper enthusiasm about every discovery he makes, (he whispers in awe when he sees mandrake for the first time, that’s just how he reacts to everything new)

his inability to censor himself or stop asking questions even when everyone else wants him to shut up (he will ask until he understands, no matter the social cues happening)

the way he will act incredibly transparent and awkward while thinking he is being subtle and smooth

Perhaps that is why Regis seems to be so indulgent of him. And somehow their personalities just fit naturally.

Regis’s most annoying trait is to lecture people at length like a professor and cut people off who are asking a question, since he is too eager to answer it. The vampire loves to hold forth on a topic.

Dandelion’s annoying trait (one of many, bless, we know he can't keep it in his pants either) is to ask questions incessantly. In that way, they really kind of fit together.

Geralt loses patience when Dandelion is being socially inappropriate by asking too many questions. Geralt really values discretion and manners.

Regis is more willing to spend time explaining things and to open up.

Early in the hansa's time together, (before he manages to surprise folks several times over) Dandelion is often seen as the one who is in way over his head. Everyone else is a warrior or a soldier. Dandelion is the soft one. To add to the indignity, Geralt is angry at him during Baptism of Fire because Dandelion keeps forcing him to make friends (well, to ask for help)

Yet Regis, the new guy, is the one who always makes sure Dandelion isn't embarrassed or ashamed.

Here’s a few examples.

When Dandelion is given a bloody head wound by an arrow, the poet is howling and shrieking. He thinks he's dead already. He is not a stoic man. It is played comedically, but Geralt is also legitimately terrified that he will lose Dandelion. That bit is not played comedically.

But given the circumstances, the rest of them could be forgiven for rolling their eyes at the poet's dramatics.

But Regis (who is treating his wounds as the resident barber surgeon) does not.

Regis speaks to him so soothingly, and kindly. (I am omitting the Geralt dramz because I will get off topic lol)

Dandelion groaned and took a sharp intake of breath....

“I’ll put in a few stitches,” Regis said...”Be brave, Dandelion.”

Dandelion was brave.

“Almost done here,” Regis said, setting about bandaging the victim’s head. “Don’t you worry, Dandelion, you’ll be right as rain. The wound’s just right for a poet, Dandelion. You’ll look like a war hero, with a proud bandage around you head, and the hearts of the maidens looking at you will melt like wax. Yes, a truly poetic wound....”

And when it is revealed that Regis is a vampire, and Dandelion is afraid of him, Regis is incredibly patient and kind about the whole thing. He does not take offense. Geralt does! (Ironic, considering Geralt ran Regis off, but Geralt, bless, is dealing with a clusterfuck of feelings about the vampire and everything else going on in his life.)

But yes, after Geralt tells Dandelion about Regis, Dandelion is scared, and wants to seek reassurance. But the poet (unbeknownst to him it seems) is awkward and bad at it. He tries to bring up the issue with the subtlety of a sledge hammer.

Dandelion...deciding to clear up the uncertainty..began as soon as they set off. With his usual tact.

(I like that. His usual tact. Meaning, zero tact lmaoooooo.)

“Milva,” he suddenly called as they were riding, sneaking a glance at the vampire as they were riding, sneaking a glance at the vampire. “...I fancy eating a hunk of real meat for a change! How about you, Regis?”

Yeah. Real subtle Dandelion.

“I beg your pardon?’ the vampire said, lifting his head from the horse’s neck.

“Meat!” the poet repeated emphatically. “...fancy some fresh meat?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And blood. Would you like some fresh blood?”

“Blood?” Regis asked, swallowing. “No. I’ll decline the blood. But if you have a taste for some, feel free.”

Geralt, Milva and Cahir observed an awkward, sepulchral silence.

I love that. Awkward sepulchral silence. Dandelion causes a lot of those. But Regis does not dismiss him or laugh. He reassures him.

“I know what this is about, Dandelion,” Regis said slowly, “And let me reassure you. I’m a vampire, but I don’t drink blood.”

The silence became as heavy as lead. But Dandelion wouldn’t have been Dandelion if he had remained silent.

But Dandelion wouldn’t have been Dandelion if he had remained silent. (sorry I am laughing every other line at this part)

“You must have misunderstood me,” he said, seemingly lightheartedly. “I didn’t mean-”

“I don’t drink blood,” Regis interrupted. “...I gave it up.”

Dandelion doesn’t know what that means and keeps pestering Regis to explain. Geralt is embarrassed and tells Dandy to shut up.

However, Regis opens up around the camp fire that night. He tells his life story, and says he hasn’t drank blood in fifty years. Dandelion is incredulous.

“Not at all?” Dandelion said, and stuttered. But his curiosity got the best of him. “Not at all? Never? But...?”

Geralt is embarrassed again and shuts him down again. Regis, by contrast, is patient and defends Dandelion.

“I beg your pardon,” the poet grunted.

“Don’t apologize,” the vampire said placatingly, “And Geralt, don’t chasten him. I understand his curiosity.”

Baptism of Fire 291-295

That's right. Don't chasten him Geralt.

Regis and Dandelion also just have a wonderful dynamic of picking on each other.

Dandelion teases Regis about his long ass name.

And Regis has a great time teasing Dandelion lovingly. In one scene, Geralt and Regis team up to pick on Dandelion and the secretive way he treats his writing. Dandelion has stolen some paper and pencil from a Lyrian military convoy and is writing whenever they make camp, but gets testy whenever anyone gets near him or looks at his manuscript.

Geralt is good-naturedly giving Dandelion a hard time and Regis jumps in with such adorable relish. (Also, in this scene, we find out that Regis actually named Dandelion's memoirs)

"Indeed," the witcher joined in...."You've become devilishly touchy, Dandelion. One cannot fail to notice that it is somehow connected to the paper which you have recently begun to deface with a bit of lead while we camp." “It’s true,” Regis agreed, “our minstrel has become touchy, not to say secretive, discreet, and loving of solitude recently. Oh no, having witnesses when performing his natural needs doesn't bother him at all...His shameful secrecy and oversensitivity to being watched extends solely to his scribbled notes. Is, perhaps, a poem being written in our presence? A rhapsody? And epic? A romance? A canzone?”

He's like, you don't care who sees you piss and shit, but oh this you care about. lol. Tell us about the poem. But Geralt objects.

“No,” Geralt retorted...”I know him. It can’t be verse, because he’s not cursing, mumbling, or counting the syllables on his fingers. He’s writing in silence, so it must be prose.”

“Prose!” The vampire flashed his pointed fangs - which he really tried not to do. “A novel perhaps? Or an essay? A morality play? Dammit, Dandelion! Don’t torture us so! Reveal what you are writing?”

Dandelion says it is a memoir called Fifty Years of Poetry. Regis says that A Half Century of Poetry sounds better.

“Thanks, Regis, Something constructive at last.”

P 88 -90 The Tower of the Swallow

I admit I'm such a sucker (hehe no pun intended) for whenever Regis's fangs are mentioned, whether he is hiding them, baring them, or unselfconsciously showing them during a warm, silly moment with his friends. (Sobs, I love this vampire, seriously I need an intervention)

Regis also comforts Dandelion openly when the poet is doubting his courage or fitness for a task.

Later in the book, Geralt volunteers for a bloody job/violence for hire that terrifies Dandelion, so the poet protests the plan. Geralt insists he’ll do it alone.

But no! He has a hansa now! He won't be alone! Angoulême volunteers to go. Cahir says he’s coming with as well. Then Milva insists she is coming.

Dandelion freezes.

It would be like the LOTR ‘and my bow and my axe’ yadda yadda scene, but if there was one person left and when it got to them, everyone turned around and looked and they are just standing there frozen like....motherfuck this is scary idk idk wtf do I do. And the way this next paragraph is written, it pleases me.

Dandelion...was evidently struggling with his thoughts. And the thoughts were winning.

lmaooo

And Regis jumps in "kindly." He shows solidarity with Dandelion, and takes the heat by calling himself a coward.

“Stop meditating, poet,” Regis said kindly. For there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re even less cut out to participate in a bloody swordfight than I am. We weren’t taught to carve up our neighbors with a blade. Furthermore...furthermore..,” he raised shining eyes towards Geralt and Milva, “I’m...a coward,” he confessed curtly.

They keep arguing amongst themselves because Geralt believes they have been spied on. And Regis is just...always soft with Dandelion. When Dandelion starts guessing about who is spying on them, and is beginning to ramble incorrectly,

“You’re mistaken, Dandelion,” Regis softly interjected.

The Tower of the Swallow p 182

It's Regis's gentleness that just fuckn kills me. That's always the character that's gonna get me right between the ribs with a shank. (Metaphorically, Regis is too gentle for that)the one that lives in a horror filled, violent, cruel world and is still just kind, even to the loud, awkward, soft, obnoxious poet who is in over his head and is afraid you'll bite him in his sleep and who shrieks when he is wounded.

Geralt and Dandelion are so sassy and old/married with each other, deeply, proudly loving in actions, but always bickering.

It's sweet to see Dandelion have a friendship like the one he has with Regis.

It is so nice to hear that the games continued his love of Regis. (I haven't played them, so I get my info about them from you guys XD)

So thanks again for following me and for the ask! I hope I've done ok answering. I also love Dandy's dynamic with Nenneke and ofc Yen, but I'll stop there.

Hope your week goes really well. x

#the witcher #emiel regis #dandelion #jaskier #the witcher books #emiel regis rohellec terzieff godefroy #thinking about the witcher books yet again #thinking about dandelion yet again

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saraanzu · 1 year

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bsd speculation: what’s up with this girl in bram’s flashback from 107.5, and what can we learn about her from dracula?

(prefacing this with some rambling… actual analysis starts after the readmore)

107.5 came out the same day as the s5 trailer and it was right after an exciting mersault chapter which is the vastly more popular pov and it was a whopping 9 pages - it was bound to be disliked. I won’t pretend a 9-page chapter isn’t disappointing (no idea why recent chapters have been so short - I hope they get a bit longer again when s5 is done airing?) and I think it’s fine to prefer the mersault storyline but I’ve also seen some god-awful takes about this chapter.

aya and bram aren’t side characters! they have been core to bsd’s plot ever since their introductions (in aya’s case, her re-introduction) and you can dislike them all you want but it’s objectively incorrect to claim they aren’t important to the story.

I also don’t agree with the take that 107.5 didn’t further the plot at all - obviously not a lot can happen in, again, 9 pages (that’s 1/3 the length of 107!) but aya deciding to remove bram’s sword and him actually encouraging her to do it even when he doesn’t believe it’s possible and previously told her not to is a huge turning point in the story! 107.5 certainly isn’t a favorite of mine but I will say we’ve had (slightly) longer chapters in recent months that had more exposition and setup with less plot.

I’ve seen some people worry that, because bram pictures someone who looks like aya in what’s presumably a wedding dress, bram and aya’s relationship is going in a creepy direction. I want to make it clear that no matter who this flashback girl is, even if she’s bram’s dead lover and/or aya in a previous life, I highly highly doubt that anything weird is going to happen between bram and aya. their relationship hasn’t been set up like that at all, in fact bram has parallels with aya’s father and he explicitly sees her as a child (more on that later) (look. bsd is not above using some Weird Tropes. in particular, the tanizakis and mori come to mind (and in mori’s case, it doesn’t even really function as a reference to the irl author - vitas sexualis has nothing to do with pedophillia!) but it’s important to mention that, while I wish those tropes weren’t in bsd at all because they’re unnecessary and add nothing of value to the characters, they are ultimately gags and nothing more. they don’t really set a precedent for how weird asagiri is willing to get when it comes to legitimately serious plot points.)

okay! got it all out of my system here’s the actual post

part 1: the dress

personally, when I first read 107.5, I didn’t think this girl was in a wedding dress. my initial assumption was “this must be bram’s daughter, she’s wearing some sort of tiara and bram was a nobleman”. but looking at it again, it does resemble one, and we should consider how bram’s backstory might reference dracula.

“the brides of dracula” are three seductive vampire ladies who live in count dracula’s castle and attempt to feed on jonathan harker early on in the book before being stopped by dracula, who chastises them for trying to eat harker and feeds them a human baby instead.

while they are known as dracula’s brides in pop culture and are often portrayed as such in movie adaptations, they go unnamed in the original novel and their relation to dracula is unclear. from what we see of them they refer to each other as “sisters”, although perhaps not in the literal sense. two of them have dark hair and are described as having similar facial features to dracula while the third is blonde, which may imply the third is dracula’s wife and the other two are his daughters. I imagine they’re pretty vague and mysterious on purpose, they could be dracula’s wives/sisters/daughters, or even just some vampire ladies crashing at his house.

however, I don’t think we should disregard details exclusive to adaptations of dracula and only focus on the original book when thinking about bsd. film adaptations of the book are actually more influential on dracula’s perception in pop-culture than the book itself, so it’s not unlikely that asagiri would reference elements that appeared in adaptations but not the novel.

so, because of “the brides of dracula”, I think it’s quite possible this girl is indeed a bride. she does look a bit young for it, but I’ve seen others say they think she looks older than aya, so I guess that’s subjective (and people would get married younger in bram’s time I suppose).

that doesn’t mean she has to be bram’s bride - again, the “brides” in the original novel have no explicit relation to dracula and could easily be his daughters or sisters, and I really do think her being his daughter instead makes more sense thematically.

part 2: her relation to bram

I believe bram subtly parallels aya’s father in a few ways. aya’s dad is verbally and physically abusive, and he berates aya for not being good at traditionally feminine activities. he doesn’t see her for what she is, a child, and instead expects her to be a perfect traditional woman.

right before we see this flashback, bram is surprised by aya’s age, and comments that she is “too young to even use a spinning wheel” (also a traditionally feminine activity). both of them question aya’s desire/ability to be an ally of justice but for different reasons: aya’s father finds it unladylike while bram finds it too big a task for a little girl (he is also sleepy)

I didn’t understand the point of this scene’s inclusion before, but in retrospect I think it serves as foreshadowing for bram’s flashback and demonstrates how he and aya’s father both associate aya with dead people, but this causes them to treat her differently.

aya will never live up to her father’s expectations because she can’t compete with his idealized memories of the dead. her own accomplishments are irrelevant in his eyes because she isn’t enough like the wife and daughter he lost. I suspect his grief is part of the reason he’s so horrible to her in the first place.

it’s the opposite case with bram. in his eyes aya does compare to someone who he remembers fondly, and the end of 107.5 implies that’s the very reason he’s okay with aya pulling the sword out.

I don’t necessarily see bram as a father figure to aya (to me he’s more of a weird creature who’s sort of grown fond of her after being unwillingly dragged around… but hey, who says that can’t be a dad?) but I do think it’s possible that this mystery girl was bram’s daughter in the past because of how he parallels aya’s father.

(note: she has normal human ears rather than pointy ones, but bram was turned into a vampire by his ability and wasn’t bitten or born as one, so I don’t know if he’d necessarily pass down his vampirism to his children. he also may have developed his ability after becoming a father, or his daughter could even be adopted).

part 3: her relation to aya

the most common idea I’ve seen to explain the resemblance between these two is that aya is a reincarnation of this flashback girl. introducing reincarnation out of nowhere seems a bit random even for bsd, but surprisingly this theory does have some basis.

in the movie bram stoker’s dracula (1992), the character mina harker, jonathan’s fiancé, is a reincarnation of dracula’s long-dead lover, elisabeta. dracula recognizes her as a reincarnation due to their resemblance and mina agrees to assist him, still harboring feelings and memories from her past life. it’s fairly common for dracula adaptations to portray dracula and/or mina as having romantic feelings for each other, but this isn’t really the case in the novel, and elisabeta is entirely an invention of this particular movie.

so, aya being a reincarnation of a girl bram once knew could work as a reference to this. I did say previously that I think it’s possible asagiri will reference adaptations of dracula and not just the novel, but I’m not so sure he would make something specific to one particular adaptation a major part of bram’s backstory.

personally, I’m partial to the idea that aya’s ability will be introduced soon, and her resemblance to this flashback girl may have something to do with it. (the ability idea and reincarnation idea aren’t inherently contradictory, aya’s ability could very well be reincarnation)

this theory by @jo-dieeee suggests that aya’s ability is called mirror, due to the discussion of mirrors in 107.5 and the book above.

mirror: the fiction and essays of koda aya isn’t actually a book written by irl koda, nor is it just a collection of her stories. it was written by ann sherif and discusses koda’s life and works, including some translations of her short stories in the second part. however, the existence of this book and aya emphasizing mirrors in 107.5 is quite an interesting coincidence! whether or not it’s called mirror, I’m fairly confident an ability reveal is coming up.

it’s also worth bringing up that aya’s resemblance to this mystery firl might not have a supernatural explanation at all. it could easily be an artistic choice simply made to indicate that bram is reminiscing about someone who aya reminds him of. I’m not too into the reincarnation idea myself.

#I’m assuming the panel is a flashback and not bram’s imagination of the future because the caption at the end of the chapter says “remember”#hoping to start making meta posts like this more often… it’s difficult for me to put my thoughts like this into words though #I wrote this post over the course of a week hence why it’s two weeks late #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #aya koda #bram stoker #aya bsd #bram bsd #talk tag #jo’s meta

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nicoleanell · 1 year

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I would love to hear your meta on the scene from Renfield with the priest and the vampire hunter, if you’d be willing to share!

SURE, THANK GOD YOU ASKED.

My thing with that scene is it was peak Give Renfield A Hug and also the most irredeemable thing he does in the movie short of destroying some kid's ant farm, and that instantly made me fall in love with him.

I like the fact they made Renfield an aggressively sympathetic character and at the same time not wholly innocent. Robert Montague Renfield is neither a good guy or a bad guy but he deserves to be okay. (Also he may come off way more "sane" as movie Renfields go but he's not a well person lol, and the fact he's in an all-gender support group for abuse survivors very rapidly becomes not so much A Joke as it is the Entire Point of the movie.)

In the flashbacks, it's totes played for comedy and riffing on the 1931 movie and there's a little bit of an "unreliable narrator" vibe to it when Renfield's like, it was good we had great times etc. :))) We don't really know how in control of himself he is or how much he's whitewashing. But then we get the church/vampire killer thing and there's like... the first seed of something more real going on. The movie tells us upfront that the last time Dracula was almost defeated he stopped it, willingly, and it wasn't normal vampire enthrallment stuff as much as a very human emotional choice.

There's some heavy-handed manipulation happening and it's *completely* non-supernatural. They'll lock you away. I'll protect you. I care about you. And Nic Hoult's big woobie eyes hold all the sadness and isolation and genuine hope/desire to be loved, and it's unhealthy attention but there's nothing better out there for him. 🥺 <- emoji rendition of Renfield and also me.

Oh and for good measure his "he really means it this time" internal monologue is 100% meant to sound like toxic/abusive boyfriend stuff he's echoing from the support group, which is A Joke in this movie until it's not anymore.

(Side note, I saw you mention this in another post - the mental institution headcanon is Valid. I would've liked for it to be explicitly in there somewhere but as far as I'm concerned nothing *contradicts* it and it's one of like 3 facts people associate with Spiders Georg over here. So I'll take that crumb that the threat of him getting locked up is just as likely to be in an asylum (again) as a jail. And yikes the legitimate fear of that being WORSE than the hell he's currently in.)

And the second he does the thing, some priest *completely proves Dracula right* by immediately throwing more guilt and blame on Renfield and being like YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONE ELSE HE KILLS NOW. Which, fair! But also, dude, you're being the opposite of helpful here! Lmao fucking Catholics. He knows this! It's why he can't get out! Of course he chose Dracula and he did it on purpose and he did it because of trauma and it *cemented* him being trapped forever. This is the climax of an entire other movie in which Renfield is probably not the main character but would definitely end up my problematic fave anyway.

SO YEAH. Between that and the reveal he left a whole wife & kid, there's such an interesting theme of guilt/shame on top of self-esteem and learned helplessness issues I was not anticipating in this movie. It's important for him to get to a place of: "I want to blame this legitimately awful monster but I also did SOME of this to myself, and when I can accept that without immediately going into a fetal position, it gives him less power over me."

Does not remove his power completely! 'Cause Renfield 2023 is also not, like, saying that you can just Easily Decide To Leave Your Violent Abuser. But the affirmations about being enough and deserving better and seeking better in spite of having failed or fucked up before are important.

#renfield #renfield 2023 #local-redhead-bookworm

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astrangergivingthestrangewelcome · 9 months

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A Lukewarm Defense of Mrs Westenra

I'm simply not on the kill. maim. destroy Mrs. Westenra hate train as everyone else like. Alright. One would think that if you saw your daughter with flowers around her neck and flowers in her room you would assume they were there for a reason + leave them be particularly since the doctors are mucking around in ways you are deliberately keeping yourself ignorant of. And she was a little bit smug with the doctors as well so I'm not a strong Mrs. Westenra defender she definitely behaved like an asshole however I really don't think it's quite what people are making it.

Like she can be forgiven for not implicitly understanding that the garlic flowers themselves are keeping her daughter healthy + her most damning action (opening the window) is completely understandable like if she hadn't removed the flowers and had just opened the windows then I would in fact be a full on Mrs. Westenra Defender because what is so heinous about going into a room that smells RANK and going "oh Lucy cannot possibly be enjoying this" and opening the window. Qho would just assume that keeping the window shut is a vital detail? She doesn't know vampires exist, and these things are not intuitive! Van Helsing should have fucking told her.

I keep on thinking of that line back in August when Mina and Lucy come back from being the cemetery one of those days and Mina wrote something like "her mother rejoiced to see her" and the picnic they all had which was apparently a very good time and I just do not think she is this awful distant mother. I think she and Lucy are genuinely quite close. Lucy certainly seems devoted to her, and I doubt that's all just duty. Even her action that I find the most unpalatable (never telling Lucy she's dying) is not despicable it's just wrong. She's a dying woman who's trying to spend her last months alive happily with her daughter + she doesn't want her to worry before the time comes. It's human of her although I strongly feel she's wrong.

The whole not letting Lucy sleep with her thing is also quite pardonable like she's not feeling well and thinks she could die at any moment. She doesn't get the severity of what's happening because Lucy is also in fact hiding it. It's a little unfair to say that she doesn't care if her daughter is alone and scared, that's not exactly the situation.

When i look at Mrs. Westenra I see someone who is legitimately quite frustrating, but who loves her daughter and wants the best for her. I think she's underwritten by Bram Stoker and a plot device more than she is a character but I really don't get the big spicy Fandom Hatred like she's just a mom.

#dracula #dracula daily

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invinciblerodent · 5 months

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tbh, it never ceases to astound me that there are actual people who are fans, legitimate fans, of Ascended Astarion.

like i'm not even saying this as a funny thing, i'm not even gonna put it any tags or whatever, and it's not like i want to make fun of someone for a preference in a fictional character, that's not what this is about, it's just that.... posts here, and the comment sections on videos of his voicelines, always have at least one person trying to justify his behavior as actually good, or talking about how hot some line or another is, and how much they like this outcome (not because it's fucked up but because it's "passionate" or "sexy" or whatever- this btw is much more prevalent on youtube), and I just... can't grasp how that's a possible thing for people to think unironically. how someone can play through 100+ hours of game, interact with Astarion multiple times, take him through his whole damn personal journey, and still not feel like post-ascension he's just a... a horrible stranger wearing a friend's face.

If you see the fucked up part and go "yeah i'm into that because it's fucked up"? I'm fully in support of you. Absolutely 100% in your corner. Write/imagine/fantasize about nasty fucked up manipulation and shit all you want; I've been known to indulge in worst case scenarios myself. Engaging with unhealthy dynamics with the knowledge that it's unhealthy and exploring that can be good for the soul. But way too many seem to be arguing that "he still loves (the PC)", and that it's possible for that guy and the PC to have a decent, loving relationship on equal footing, while they need to actively dodge all the options even in-game that exist to call him out for being a piece of shit.

because he's. god, ascended he's such a creep. he sets off all the alarm bells in my head, worse than any guy I've ever decided not to let buy me a drink. an obvious manipulator, nakedly abusive, dismissive, clearly a megalomaniac that's going as far as saying the quiet part out loud in the multiple times he can say that he wants to turn the PC into a spawn so they can't leave or defy him, and it's right there on the surface in every single interaction that being with him is not a good idea. The other companions fucking hate his guts and feel sorry for the PC, and even a PC that's head over heels, fully on board with all the bullshit, and is into the whole "gilded cage enslavement" aspect, can complain (and it's implied that they have complained, multiple times) in the epilogue about not having their freedom.

Six months after becoming his spawn, they're still not a full vampire, and we know from that conversation with Aurelia and Leon that one of Cazador's little tactics had been promising his spawn freedom he never intended to give, in order to keep them obedient.

sure, he has some lines that, in a vacuum, are hot. but I'm pretty sure that's all simply Neil Newbon (despite being a very skilled actor who's fully deserving of all the acclaim he's been receiving), being physically unable to inject enough gross sewer-slime into his voice, and not any merit to this weird creep of a character.

this whole thing, I'm gonna be honest, is just... so fucking worrying to me. it like actually worries me how many people can't see something written with the explicit intent to be unsettling, and a guy written openly to be awful and shitty and gross, as such. And it's not like we can fully chalk it up to how emotion in the moment can cloud your judgement, or how manipulators can and do adjust their personalities in accordance to how best to make you stay, he's literally ones and zeroes, and a limited number of lines you can listen to over and over again and dissect if you want.

I'm not even remotely joking, is this how people end up in relationships with genuinely awful people????? because god, it sounds so terrifying that there are actual people who can look at a fictional guy draped in a red flag the size of a tectonic plate, and still only notice that the color brings out his eyes.

(and to reiterate, if the awful is the selling point, I'm fully in support of that. but god, the "I can fix him"/"I know he still loves me" sentiment is just... it makes the back of my neck itch.)

#squirrel plays bg3 #like i said not tagging #this is more of a vent post if anything #and i'm fully open to conversations but i don't really want this reblogged either

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monstersinthecosmos · 1 year

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I think what makes this whole situation even worse for Armand is that he only has one (1) fledging. There is literally no point of reference about anything when it comes to him and Daniel except for Armand’s past experiences with Marius which in SOME ways are similar to what Armand and Daniel went through but in other ways they’re completely different experiences. Lestat, Marius and pretty much all of the other main vampires in the series (even Louis even though RIP to both those cuties) have a whole roaster of fledglings to develop different types of relationships with and over the series, they allow them to grow and change and feed off each other, but Armand *only* has Daniel, so it must be legitimately maddening because all the good and the bad and the crazy is just… one relationship for Armand. And it’s obviously a position he put himself in by obsessing over and falling in love with Daniel so hopelessly to the point where he couldn’t even consider continuing existing without him. And then he cursed them both. But I think that in finding himself and regaining his will to live and to have meaningful connections in late canon, he was also able to accept Daniel’s love again, and maybe to start having important conversations about the trauma they both went through when Daniel was turned and after they separated. I’d like to think they didn’t just reunite in PL and immediately jumped right back into a relationship like two stupid teenagers but actually had Important Conversations about what they’d gone through before Daniel moved into Trinity Gate and they decided to give it another go. NYC has great therapists and they’re rich so, please? 🙏

[ dgajksdg I waited too long to answer this bc I was too sad but just for reference icymi I got this ask after posting this devastating shit ]

fuck man!!!!!!

yes! YES.

(I feel like I don’t have a lot to add except that I’m bawling my fuckin eyes out so hear me out for a sec)

It’s just like, man Armand is so fuckin tragic you know? There’s so much nature/nurture to think about when you look at the others but it’s like, he was SO deeply traumatized for his early years I’m not surprised he couldn’t even try. I bring this up from time to time but it’s like, his time with Marius was so brief in the scheme of things, and even if his turning itself or the small amount of time he had with Marius wasn’t traumatic, the fallout was ENOUGH. And like, to relapse back into a cult after being with Marius makes me wonder if he convinced himself that those years were like, an abomination or a mistake, even if his actual turning itself wasn’t awful.

Then you look at someone like Lestat, who was also super traumatized by the way he was turned, and simply will not fucking stop making fledglings because he’s so lonely and has no impulse control and can’t cope with the concept of losing people. I think the two of them are both so desperate for companionship and still approach it so differently because of their personalities. And even without turning people I just think like, Armand has dealt with so much rejection? It's hard enough to get people to stick around when they're already vampires, like, why would he invest in a human at this point.

So yeah it’s just, it fucks me up every day of my life that Daniel is the only one for him.

I think a lot about the “Remember then that it was love” convo with Marius and how like, Armand seems to have made steady progress in his relationships over the years. Like, acting like less of an animal, being more present with people, etc. And it finally settles on Daniel and repeats some of the Venice stuff.

The irony too of how he GOT Daniel there by being a fucking predator at first; same with how Marius chose Armand because he had no innate value anymore as a person, no one would miss him, every day Marius gave him was a bonus and he was living on borrowed time. Daniel’s life sort of ends the night he meets Louis and Armand harasses him to the point of completely isolating him and fucking up his whole life. In that way he’s at rock bottom with nothing else to lose, also on borrowed time, nowhere to go but up.

Anyway sdhgkjlasg boy yeah they have so much to talk about and like. I think there’s enough anecdotes about vampires who go mad and don’t recover, and it’s promising to me that Daniel DOES recover. And I want them to speak and heal and I hope they both respect how fucking special it is that Daniel is The One.

#i'm sad about armand again good morning!#armand pain #vampire chronicles #devil's minion #armand #daniel molloy #armand/daniel #deep ass thoughts about vampires #trauma hole theory #anne rice

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saltymongoose · 2 years

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🔞 [THE KISS] 🔞 - How They React to a Vampire!Player's Bite ft. The Main 4

I'm so glad to finally be posting this, sorry for the long the wait. 😅 You guys know the deal, minors do not interact in any way, heed the tags and TWs. Other than this, enjoy! <3

(TW: !Minors Do Not Interact!, Extremely Suggestive Content, Yandere, Obsessive Behavior, Biting, Descriptions of Blood, Reader is a sadist again lol) [Part 1 - WORLD WITHOUT LOGOS] ←

As it turns out, your vessels were more than happy to accommodate you in every way possible, and this includes your dependence on vitae - blood.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't expect a positive, if not outright excited reaction to the idea of you feeding on them. (After spending so much time around them, their amusing amount of possessiveness over you wasn't something you could ignore.) However, their complete lack of regard for their own safety was still something you found concerning. Especially when you let them know that you took more than just blood from your vessels.

You let them in on this when you were trying to warn them: “Well, besides the fact that you might die, another effect of a mortal getting fed on by a Vampire is that said Vampire can get your soul, or part of it,” you had said flatly. A look at their stunned and weirdly awe-filled expressions was enough to prompt you to continue before they asked any questions.

"Most kindred don’t have the ability to do that, but I do. It’s one of the things that makes me so powerful if I go overboard with the feeding. If I drain you dry, your entire soul is mine, period. I already know you’re going to ask, but even if I don’t kill you by feeding, and the loss of that part of your soul won’t have much of an effect if any, it’s still important. If I get your blood in my mouth and I swallow it, a part of who you are will belong entirely to me. Forever."

You thought that would be a deal breaker for them. Surely giving up something so important to a monster like yourself wouldn't be desirable in any way, right? Wrong. Which you admit you honestly should've expected.

On the contrary, the thought of you legitimately owning part of their souls was actually exciting to them. Even the more level-headed grunts of your troupe couldn’t help the flush that overtook their faces as they silently mused on how wonderful it’d be to have such a thing happen; to be yours in the most literal sense possible and have the essence of their existence belong to you (as it should). They even thought it sounded romantic, really. Your fated partner having a part of your very being integrated into theirs, so that you’ll never truly be away from them (even in death).

Your vessels were touched by how much you cared about their safety, but that didn’t stop how tantalizing being bitten by you appeared to be. They want you to own them. So no, of course they wouldn’t dare let anyone else have the privilege of receiving “The Kiss” from you (as your kind called it). And you weren't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth (blood from the willing always tasted far better anyway), so you accepted their little proposal, to their absolute delight.

- [HANK J. WIMBLETON] -

Hank has zero hesitancy whatsoever in regard to you biting him, having wanted to bear your mark from the moment you first met. In his eyes, your relationship was one of ownership already; he was your vessel and you were his Player. (The only one he’d allow to control his every movement without question, the individual who he respected and loved enough to give himself to completely.) Being bitten by you would serve to make your claim on him open and obvious, so the fact that you would be bound together through his soul afterward was just a bonus if anything.

Perhaps this is what makes him so incredibly impatient whenever it’s his turn to receive The Kiss from you. His trembling and rushed movements are symptoms of the excitement he feels at getting closer to being marked by you. You can feel it especially well when he's yanked you into his lap, pressing you so tightly together that you have to bend backward to look him in the face. He beats you to it when you try to undo his coat and bandages, nearly ripping the offending cloth away before leaning into your shorter form. (You give him a look when he turns his head to bare his neck to you. It hasn't even been five minutes since you started.) Honestly, it seems like Hank is on the verge of somehow forcing your teeth into his neck himself most of the time.

Biting Hank also comes with an additional stipulation. With most of your vessels, you do a quick bite - one that you can cover up and heal quickly. Thing is, Hank doesn't want you to pierce him with just your canines. Instead, he prefers for all of your teeth to penetrate his skin; the full mark of your bite left indented in his flesh is what he truly needs. You’re fine with it, of course, even if it’s a bit unorthodox for vessels you actually mean to keep alive.

Hank is surprisingly noisy when you feed on him. His breaths grow more and more labored when your maw's sharpened razors begin to stab into him, sinking into his skin easily as you squeeze your jaws down and sending an odd jolt of heat to his lower body. Another harsh nudge of your teeth further into his neck is met with a low groan from him, the noise muffled from behind his mask.

(He's never felt anything like it. The sharp sting blooms into an intoxicating mixture of pain and overwhelming pleasure, only made better by the way he can feel your lips pulling into a smile when he pants.

The haze from your bite clouds his mind until he’s lost in the euphoric feeling of you finally showing him everything you try to hide: The animalistic nature of your hunger that he only sees in fights, the cruel, amused laughs you make when another moan or whine leaves his mouth, and how you nip playfully, painfully, at his bite to elicit more noises from him. It’s overwhelming in the best of ways…but it’s still never enough.)

The slow draw of his blood from you sucking at his wounds makes him want more of something, igniting an urge for him to completely surrender everything to you. It's something you realize early on, with how you're able to read your vessel's minds like this.

He tries to satiate that incessant need by leaning further into your form to try and catch your fangs deeper into his skin, attempting to silently persuade you into making this even bloodier than it began. Perhaps even trying to force you further into his lap, caging you tighter to him in the hopes that the closeness of you pressed against every part of him would somehow stop that hunger for more of whatever you can give him. It doesn't work, though, and you can tell from the way his hips shift underneath you, and the tightening grip that threatens to force the tips of his claws into you that he's getting frustrated with it. (He can’t even explain why he feels so discontent; this is what he wanted, but it still aches. He has to have more, he needs it-)

However amusing (or perhaps even cute) you find his uncharacteristically desperate movements and noises to be, you acknowledge that you probably should give him some small kindness to alleviate that pull you know he’s feeling. Considering how you can't drain him dry, your chosen remedy is simple. Bite him again. The sudden burst of pain is enough to pull a choked moan from him, his purrs rumbling even louder as you tear another deep mark into his flesh. And then you do it again. And again.

You aren't really sure why it works, but you can tell from how the tension in him seems to be winding tight and how his body is starting to tremble that it’s at least a suitable distraction. This, and the fact that the only thing you can read from his mind is a hazy sense of happiness and adoration (odd, considering what you were. If you happened to be more careful in pulling your teeth from him after that, and soothing the wounds with your tongue, then it was purely coincidental.)

Of course, it’s not like Hank always stands perfectly still when you do this. He’s obedient to a fault, especially to you, but you honestly can’t expect him to just sit there and take it when you’re moving around in his lap and marking him repeatedly like that. So when you inevitably end up pinned somewhere with Hank’s panting form looming above you, blood dripping down onto you from the collar of bites you've left on him, you suppose you only have yourself to blame. Tempting the beast, and all that.

Either way, you've probably been full for a few minutes and the extra bites are always more for his benefit than anything. It won’t fully sate that deep-seated need he has for more from you. Nothing will, until you do more to claim him as your kind would.

But watching him almost frantically pull his mask down before slamming his mouth against yours in a bloody kiss, and feeling the way his weight rests on you heavily to seek out more contact tells you that this has been at least somewhat satisfying for him. Although, you'd be a fool to assume he'd calm down quickly from this high you've given him and let you go just because you think you're finished. (If he croaks from blood loss, he figures Doc can just bring him back again. Right?)

- [2BDAMNED] -

2BDamned tries to approach you biting him in a clinical, professional manner, he really does. He insists on doing it in a sterile environment, even taking a shower beforehand so he’s completely clean for you. He sits at his desk and has his tablet in front of him in case he needs to record information on anything odd he’s feeling. He wants to treat these occasions as research in addition to something just to feed you. However, he never actually fulfills that objective, no matter how many times you do this.

Doc tries to ask you questions about the process while you stand over him, lifting his jaw and tilting his head to the side to get a better view of his neck. You find it really funny since it’s obvious he’s trying to get himself together. The cracks in his composure start to show when you bring your face closer to his, and he stumbles over a few words. That’s nothing compared to how he gets when you respond to his inquiries, though, lips and the edge of a sharp canine ghosting over his skin.

(“We’re lucky I’m not from one of the more…picky clans. Some of us can only drink from really specific types of humans, and I’d probably starve if I was restricted by that,” you muse quietly, paying no mind to how your lips press slightly to his throat on some of your words. What you do notice is how 2B’s breath hitches from it. You tilt your head and breathe out a silent chuckle. You can’t even tell if he got anything you just said. “What, no questions?” He flinches a bit. So he wasn't focusing on what you were saying. How interesting.)

His hold on his composure only slips further once you bite him. The press of your teeth is met with a sharp inhale, and he tenses up when they pierce his skin. You won’t hear any obvious noises from him, at least nothing he doesn’t attempt to muffle. With your hearing though, it isn’t difficult to pinpoint the little gasps he tries to hide when you nudge your sharp fangs a little deeper into his flesh, nor is it hard to tell that he's fighting to keep his breath stable.

He’ll try to continue asking questions, only to fade off in the middle of them, completely losing his train of thought as you drink from him. In Doc's defense, having you so close and sucking at his neck is enough to stop him from thinking; his head feels fuzzy, and he isn’t sure if that distinct warmth he feels building in him is from your vampirism or your traits as the Player. He can admit to himself that it feels...good. Too good, actually. It's enough to make him achingly self-aware of his own reactions, and to compel him to at least try not to act so “out of line” with you there.

(You're someone he considers a sort of superior; your status as his Player demands the utmost respect; even if you're biting his neck and draining his blood, he has to keep some level of decorum with regard to that. It's difficult, with how a large part of him wants to just give in to the feeling of you, but he tries to manage it.)

Sometimes you might try to get him to let go of this facade he's so desperate to hold onto. (You don't want him worrying about something like this since it really doesn't matter to you, and the experience would be so much better for him if he just relaxed for a change.) This could mean letting your tongue linger for a bit longer as you lick up his blood, or nibbling at the edges of the wound harshly so the bruise of it'll stay for a while longer.

Does it work 100% of the time? No. But it's a convenient challenge to focus on when you're ensuring your focus doesn't fall entirely into draining him. Though if you want a guaranteed way to break Doc, you found that outright telling him how good you think he tastes works exceedingly well. It's enough to make him choke back a small moan, so you consider it a success. The blush you see sweeping across his skin, even visible on his jaw and neck, makes it even better.

2BDamned knows that you do this just to make his attempt at a professional demeanor slip. It's obvious from how he can feel you grin once you manage to get something substantial out of him, which causes his face to burn hotter. He doesn't know what to do with the knowledge that you seem genuinely pleased when this happens, and embarrassingly enough, he can even feel himself beginning to purr when it does. He stiffens when he feels the rumbles starting to build up; it's like that animalistic part of him is satisfied by how happy you are when his instincts begin to break through. (They are an important part of him, even if he keeps it hidden most of the time.)

2B also tends to go far longer than the others do with letting you feed. He’ll allow you to drink from him for a concerning amount of time before doing anything to try and alert you, whether it be outright telling you that he can’t go on further or tapping you to signal that something’s changed in his condition. Even if he's starting to feel exhausted, he doesn't feel the need to stop you. Not with his claws digging painfully into the palms of his hands as he fights the urge to make more noises (he'd die of mortification if he lets another loud whine slip from him again). Not even when he shifts back into his seat to stop from squirming too much at the euphoric feeling of you draining him. The motivation just isn't there.

He'd never openly admit it, but he feels far too good to. (And it's not like he can think of a pragmatic way to do it with his head so foggy.) It's probably because of your abilities, but he also concludes it's also connected to how he's essentially being marked by you. Claimed as yours in the way that grunts have always staked such importance on. He likes it, to put it simply. It's fulfilling, and he relishes in the event as much as he can. Of course, you receiving part of his soul along with his blood was not something he initially expected, but with Nevada's poor excuse of an afterlife, he thinks it's the best option. He wants to give all that he was to you, and you spending so much time marking him worked perfectly with that. Even if it makes him weak, why would he ask you to quit when the positives so obviously outweighed the negatives?

This means it typically falls on you to stop this, which you do with little fanfare. You may or may not press a little kiss on his jaw to soothe him after working over the wound with your tongue (just so it heals up all nicely, an effect of your saliva), earning another pleased sigh from him, but you hold off on a lot of what you could do. You figure with how Doc is, the nicest thing is to let him try to regain his composure. Even if it takes a lot, with how boneless he looks under you and how red he is, even with all that blood loss. You can tell his heart is beating unnaturally fast, but you're blind to how he's looking at you in an almost lovesick daze. You smile at him and he shifts in his seat. You still have his blood on your lips.

At this moment, he usually wonders if it's disappointment he feels at you not continuing and doing more with him. It only takes receiving your Kiss a few times to realize that this is entirely correct, and a couple more for him to start formulating ways to get you to stay.

- [SANFORD] -

For someone who faces the chance of getting grievously injured nearly every day, Sanford is surprisingly nervous leading up to your bite. He doesn’t talk that much or shift around a lot, instead just fidgeting a little with his hands and stiffening up when you come closer. It’s almost like he’s trying to mentally prepare himself for it, which you can understand. Being bitten by you is incredibly overwhelming, even for other vampires.

You’re more gentle with Sanford from the get-go since you don’t want to take him off guard too much or make him uncomfortable. The added gentleness is obvious from how you softly rest your hands on him and slowly work him through some of the steps you’re doing, even outright telling him when you're about to bite him. You're careful in a way you rarely show to others, and it makes his heart start to beat faster before your lips even touch him.

Sanford is incredibly restrained whenever you officially start one of these encounters. The nervousness shows, but he tries to steel his facial expression to keep it down, biting back a noise when you finally cut into him with your teeth. He can feel your hands moving, fingers tracing comforting circles as you tighten your jaws to pull blood from him, and he shifts slightly, turning his head to both bare his neck more to you and hide his flustered expression. You haven’t even really begun draining him, but he’s already getting overwhelmed.

(A reaction he blames on how grunts are. It’s only natural to get flustered if someone you like romantically incidentally claims you with a piercing bite, especially when it’s in such a visible spot. He knows you're aware of this too, which only makes the reaction worse. Is it really so outlandish to assume that you welcome this idea of officially staking a claim on him, since you showed zero hesitance to continue after being informed? He hopes not.)

The grunts have always felt very warm to you due to your vampirism, but you’re a little shocked by just how hot he feels. If it were Deimos, you could blame it on pyrokinesis, but with Sanford it's more worrying. You were relieved to find that it was simply his blush that made him like this. It seems this flusters him more than you initially thought it would. (How odd it is, that he’s able to get so red when you’ve started draining him of his blood.)

To your joy, you can actually feel him relax into your grip when you gingerly remove your teeth, even if he tenses up the slightest bit when you run your tongue over the opening you made, testing to see if the bite was deep enough. Honestly, Sanford thought it’d be painful at first, maybe with some numbness mixed in. But when your lips seal onto his neck and you suck at his split skin, he realized that it’s the exact opposite. The feeling of your mouth on him, pressing roughly onto his flesh as you tongue at the cuts where his life essence spills from is one that makes heat curl in his gut.

Despite how hard Sanford tries to remain quiet, not wanting to be inappropriate when you’re only doing this for food, he can’t stop noises that leave his throat; little cut-off moans and deeper groans, even a few breathy whines and gasps. He's purring too of course, the rumbling echoes in your ears while you busy yourself with pulling blood from his body.

It's shameful for him since he worries he's putting you off by acting this way, but he just can't stop it. It feels so good, to have you leaving a mark on his flesh and pressed so close to him. The painful sting of the wound only elevates the sensation, and the tension in him winds tighter every time your sharp teeth graze him. He has to do something with this weird longing he feels, whether it be making noises or subconsciously reaching up to rest his hands on you to ground himself. You let him pull you closer with no complaint.

You really don't care about how he acts, of course; it's a completely natural reaction to what you're doing. The biggest reaction you'll give is a chuckle when he gives a particularly loud moan, or a small exhale in amusement when you notice how his hips jolt when your thighs brush his. Seems noises aren't all you can get from him if the way he seems to seek contact with all of you is any sign.

Shame can wait until after you're finished, when the high of having you biting him and sucking his blood has faded away. At the moment, he's too lost to the heat from your actions and the hazy, painful pleasure of your Kiss. It's paired with an odd duality from you; the gentleness you show in all aspects except for the way you nip at his skin and suck harshly, as though you want the "hickey" you leave to last for days afterward. He can't tell if he feels lightheaded from blood loss or just being overwhelmed by your actions, but either way, he wants more.

(Or perhaps he just wants you to desire more from him. He knows you already get a part of his soul from this, but he still aches for you to take him completely. He knows that it's probably an irrational thought, since this is probably just a side effect of losing a part of himself, but the overwhelming need is still there.)

However, Sanford at least has the sense to stop instead of insisting you go on. You don't often push him too far, but if he ever feels like he's starting to get too weak, he'll tell you as best he can manage. (Or maybe just nudge you pointedly if he can’t muster the words, which happens.) You're quick to pull away as soon as you notice, taking a quick glance over him to check for any serious signs of blood loss. It’s nothing too bad but you still agree that you should stop, so you give him a soft look before slowly returning to the wound to close it. He shudders when he feels your cold tongue swiping over him, and you pause for a moment to make sure he’s alright before continuing. You’re honestly really sweet to him when you end your “sessions”; you even whisper a small thank you to him after you’re completely finished, sometimes accompanying it with a soft peck to his cheek.

Sanford questions if he’s more embarrassed by his reaction to your bite, or at how something so simple and innocent almost makes him just as flustered. In any case, it’ll provide him enough motivation to ask you to stay, at least for a little while. He’d like the company while he recovers, he reasons, and you accept the proposal every time. It’s a good way to monitor him (plus it’s just nice to cuddle into Sanford's side while he rests, not gonna lie). If Sanford happens to play up his condition a little more to get you to remain with him for another hour or five, then the others will just have to put up with it. (Forever would be better, he'd muse to himself as he tightens his arms around you...Maybe becoming a Vampire wasn't such a bad idea after all.)

- [DEIMOS] -

If there’s one word you would use to describe how Deimos acts when you bite him, it’s restless. His clawed fingers tap repeatedly on your waist and thigh as you loom over him, and he squirms with anticipation when you bring your face closer to his skin and your hands move up to pull his coat off his shoulders. No matter how you try to ease him into it, whether by doing it when you’re already cuddling him or during your other more comfortably intimate moments, he just doesn’t stop fidgeting.

(If you were someone with less experience (or maybe if Deimos had been anyone else), you might’ve been annoyed. But you were in no rush, and truthfully, you found it to be a little endearing.)

This doesn’t stop when you actually bite him, either. He might pause and hold his breath when your lips brush his skin, swallowing roughly when you stop over a spot you like, but this halts the moment your teeth actually pierce him. A loud cry will leave his lips before teetering off into an airy whine, his legs knocking into yours as his hips jolt under yours, forcing you to rebalance yourself as you instinctually clamp your jaws down a bit tighter. Something you’d do as a warning for your more expendable sources of blood, but the pain just forces another raspy moan from him.

Deimos is one of the quickest to fully lose himself to the sensations of you biting him, his mind going fuzzy and thoughts spiraling until the only thing that’s tethering him to the moment is you. Maybe it’s something about you being a vampire, or that it’s you who’s doing it to him, but the only thing he can focus on is your lips pressing roughly to his skin as you suck his blood into your mouth, your hands cradling him so carefully, and the weight of you over his body.

Deimos is probably one of the most vocal vessels you’ve had the pleasure of drinking from as well. His whines, raspy moans, and ardent praises fill your ears when you suck at his wounds, lapping his life essence up with restrained delight. During those few seconds where you have to pull your lips away to reorient yourself (mainly to stop from getting too into it and draining him dry), he whimpers little pleas for you to come back.

(“Fuck-wait, nonono, don’t stop, please.” He begs, trying to hold you tighter when he feels you wrench your mouth away from him with a wet squelch. No, you can’t leave him like this, you wouldn’t- You just laugh and hold him tighter, pressing a few bloody kisses to his jaw in a move that makes him blush a deeper shade of red, if that’s even possible.)

If it weren’t for the fact that everybody knows what you’re doing, you might’ve considered using your abilities to stop him from being so loud. You happen to find it extremely amusing (and perhaps a little cute) though, and the self-satisfaction of reducing him to such a messy state is enough to stop you from even dwelling on the idea. Come to think of it, messy really is the perfect adjective to describe the state you reduce him to when you drink.

Especially with how his noises rise slightly in pitch with each rough suck to his wound and his clawed fingertips scratch at your skin, hips bucking up while he squirms underneath your form like he’s trying to seek out friction from you. The only intelligible words from him are little praises, curses, and begs, intermittent with panting, moans, and raspy purrs. It’s so funny, just how little inhibition he has with acting this way around you. Not that you blame him that much; it’s normal, and he just can’t help himself.

(This won’t stop him from being mortified by his behavior afterward. Even if you’re okay with it, since it’s pretty natural for those you feed on, you still shouldn’t be seeing him like this when the situation shouldn’t call for it. It just isn’t proper. Then again…what if you like it?)

Sometimes, if you’re feeling particularly generous, you’ll brace a hand on his chin, tilting his head down as you remove your bloodied mouth from his neck and allowing him to regain at least some of his composure. It doesn’t work a good majority of the time, since he typically just whines out a complaint and arches his back as a way to try and return that closeness you had before. You still ask questions about how he is to try and bring him back to the moment (“Dei, you feeling alright? Lightheaded? Dizzy?”), because you're responsible enough to make sure he isn’t too out of it. A sly grin spreads across your face when you lean closer and delicately wipe the drool from his lips with your thumb, gauging his facial expression as you wait for some semblance of a response. (Again, very messy.)

Occasionally you don’t get one though, because even if he’s suffering from the effects of blood loss, most of the time he won’t even acknowledge it. This is partly due to how your abilities work to dampen that realization (something you try to lessen by stopping for those few minutes), but more importantly because he just really wants your mouth back on him. Even if he’s starting to feel a slight weakness creeping up on him and his pulse is rising dangerously high, the sensation of your lips on his jugular and your tongue lapping at his wounds fills him with an odd, stirring warmth that’s just too good.

You’d say that Deimos is lucky you have a lot of self-control for a vampire, otherwise you think you'd completely devour him. His blood is almost addictive; thicker than the others is due to the nicotine he consumes, and almost sticky. It’s like syrup to you. The reactions you get out of him just make the idea more tempting, especially since you can tell that he seems to desperately need more contact with you, to press together and have you swallow him whole so you'll never be apart. But you can't do that.

By the time you’re finished with him, he looks utterly debauched. Purring and in a strange trance as he looks at your blood-coated lips, another desperate noise leaving him when you lean back further. It'll take him a while to recuperate and get back to "normal" after this, so you keep an eye on him for the time being. It's not like it's difficult to justify when he hasn't actually let you go yet.

A small thought comes to Deimos' mind when you start to clean him up, gently swiping the residual blood away from his skin with your tongue, your saliva working quickly to heal up his wounds. Maybe he can get you to leave the bite next time? Or better yet, make it permanent?

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jimothy-g-brooks · 5 days

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Ethrika the Nemeses, the Princes Of Darkness

When a Darkened human loses all Integrity and from a lack of any Umbrae is set to become a Mnemosyne, they may instead assume a different mantle. Just as seemingly human, just as actively inhuman, mightier than a mere Mnemosyne, the Ethrikos (pl. Ethrika) (mp. Enthrikos, Enthrika) ((bas[tardiz]ed on the Greek word for "Hostile", εχθρικός echthrikós)) is a terrible creature that draws many comparisons to the Kindred. Unlike those cursed by the Requiem, the Ethrika do not struggle with the Beast; they are monsters, one and all, totally, unrepentantly and without delusion, in complete control of their mental faculties.

There are two prerequisites to becoming an Ethrikos instead of a Mnemosyne. First, one must have undergone the Withering, granting them the same Inner Night “enjoyed” by the Dethroned. The second trait is an unknowable X Factor. Every “naturally created” Ethrikos had undergone the Withering before they lost their last shreds of humanity, but not every Withered Darkened who otherwise fulfills the requisite traits ascends as one of the Darkness’s most favored princes. It might be some favor of the Darkness itself, some undiscovered alignment of natural factors or just sheer raw luck that sees the transformation happen. Any Withered Mnemosyne may become an “artificial” Ethrikos at the hands of another Ethrikos that knows the caligines of Enervation and Venom Of The Soul, both of which are modified by being an Ethrikos, as described further below.

Withering (•••) | Must be Darkened or a Creature Of Darkness The Dark-Shaped accepts some form of cruelty not only as part of their nature and way of life, but as a legitimate and even positive philosophy. Not just paying lip service to it to justify their awfulness, but truly believing in it as some form of enlightenment, or endarkening. There may be other ways to achieve Withering, after resolving to commit heinous acts most foul or moments of overwhelming hate that calls to the Darkness. A philosophical enlightenment of cruelty or religious awakening of evil is just the most common method of attaining this uncommon trait. Creatures that undergo the Withering gain traits similar to that of one of the Dethroned. They gain Inner Night, starting at one dot. They may purchase further dots at five xp a piece. They do not gain access to the Dethroneds’ Chains. This grants the character Supernatural Tolerance and adds to his sensitivity rolls.

An Ethrikos may also form when a Strix possesses a Mnemosyne, when a Darkened Ghoul finally loses the last of their Integrity or when a Mnemosyne grasps a Noble's throat as she dies with 5 or less Belief, so long as he was responsible for its lowering by 3. Much like with a Withered Darkened, there is no guarantee of anything, though the resultant creature will be Withered by the experience and gain access to Inner Night.

Traits Of The Ethrika

At the stroke of midnight, every night, the Ultimate Darkness reaches through the black pit of the Ethrikos’s soul and extracts its nightly toll. It takes a Shadow from the Ethrikos, only the one, and that is all. If the Ethrikos is unable to pay this toll, the Darkness simply takes their life. A rare few become something else instead of dying, but that’s beyond the scope of this document.

Unlike the Kindred, the Dark Princes are not burned by the touch of sunlight but they are not unaffected either. Natural sunlight falling upon them induces the Fatigued condition immediately, as if they had gone 30 hours without sleep and every additional minute spent in sunlight adds another 6 hours to the count. It takes an hour of rest in a shaded area, or ten minutes in total darkness, to recover from the experience.

Of note, sunlight through a glass tinted by jade will burn an Ethrikos in the same way normal sunlight does to the Kindred. This is an obscure piece of occult lore.

Despite the resemblance to vampires, Ethrika age normally unless they know and have performed Undying Heart. Aside from that, an Ehtrikos enjoys many of the same physical gifts as one of the Kindred, the ones that come innately, that make a vampire stronger and tougher. Damage is downgraded one level unless it comes from the Bane of Jade. An Ethrikos may reflexively heal 1 Lethal or 2 Bashing by spending a Shadow. They may also boost a Physical Attribute Roll by +2 by spending a Shadow reflexively. The ability to imitate the Kindred’s Predatory Auras or Keen Senses can be learned as two different vrykolas caligines at One Dot each.

Ethrika can learn vrykolas caligines ((bas[tardiz]ed on the Greek word for "Vampires", βρυκόλακας vrykólakas)) that imitates the power of vampiric disciplines, using Shadows in place of Vitae and Inner Night acting as Blood Potency. All Ethrika may draw from the common disciplines and most of them have access to one of the unique disciplines as well, with a few able to use even more. Why some Ethrika have access to two or more unique disciplines and some have none at all is about as unknowable as to why some Darkened turn into Ethrika in the first place.

Becoming or being an Ethrikos modifies the following caligines: Enervation: Will absorb Wisps before it absorbs Willpower. Will absorb a number of Wisps and points of Willpower per use equal to 1 + the Ethrikos’s Inner Night. Wisps can be freely converted into Willpower or Shadows. Willpower taken from the Light Touched can be freely converted into Shadows. Any person brought to 0 Willpower by this ability dies. I Am Your Master: By feeding a Darkned mortal some of their flesh, the Ethrikos may enthrall the mortal in the same way a Kindred’s Vitae addicts a Ghoul, imposing a False Love similar to the Vinculum. These infected mortals, called Minions or Voulos ((Greek: "Slave", δούλος doúlos) by the Ethrika, have the same limited access to vrykolas caligines as Ghouls have to vampiric disciplines. The Ethrika doesn’t need to battle wills with the Darkened as the caligo normally does with Darkspawn unless they have undergone the Withering, only keeping up with monthly feeding as a vampire would a ghoul. You can also flesh bond a Mnemosyne, who cannot resist unless they have Withered, or another Ethrikos, who are all withered, in this manner. Undying Heart: By performing this ritual, an Ethrikos becomes a lot more like a vampire, unaging from that moment forward and counting as one of the undead. If they do die, their body rapidly decomposes as if they had truly died the moment they had performed the ritual. Venom Of The Soul: If an Ethrikos drains a Withered Mnemosyne dry of their Willpower via Enervation, which normally kills, they may instead permanently invest a point of their own Willpower into the drained person and revive them from the brink of death as another Ethrikos. An “artificial” Ethrikos is not undead, unless they have used Undying Heart. The newly forged creation has access to the same vampiric disciplines via vrykolas caligines as their creator. Crafted With Love And Care: If the Ethrikos knows I Am Your Master, Undying Heart and Venom Of The Soul, they may convert fresh corpses into creatures called Puppets or Kukles (sg. Kukla) ((Greek: "Dolls", κούκλες koúkles). Puppets function as Ethrika that have performed Undying Heart except that they have no ambitions, no virtues and no vices. The only thing a Puppet wishes to do is obey the will of their master. If the Ethrika that crafted them dies, so too do all of their Puppets. Unlike the dolls normally crafted by this caligo, Puppets can look normal and human.

#princess the hopeful #homebrew #creatures of darkness #chronicles of darkness

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y0urlittl3ang3l · 1 year

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Lloyd Garmadon Headcanons lmao, because I’m literally going insane

Lloyd uses He/Him pronouns but doesn’t mind other pronouns

Lloyd doesn’t forgive Misako, at all, he’s resentful towards her and screams the lyrics to ‘I hate my mom’ all the time and especially in her vicinity

I personally think that he would have a Japanese name that would only be used by Garmadon if it was a serious situation. And that name would be Katsuro, which means the victory of the son. Very fitting if you ask me

Thanks to his oni and dragon blood I think he would age a little slower than normal humans would like maybe 3 years slower than his peers.

Over the years he’s gained lots of scars on his body but his most noticeable ones are probably the large one of his face that goes from the top right of his forehead to his left cheek(from an the volcano incident, as in as Kai was on his way towards Lloyd a rock fell and slashed his face), many on his hands from many different things(burns from forgetting to put in oven mitts, scars from scabs being picked at over and over again with his constant scratches, accidentally cutting his palm open trying to help Zane cook, etc.) and some on his forearms from more scratching

His eye color is red but when he’s using his energy powers they glow green and when he’s using his oni powers(or is just really pissed) his eyes glow purple

He has a long tail, horns, elf like ears, along with vampire like fangs

He uses make up, sometimes it’s just a little bit and other times he does a bit more🤷‍♀️ he’s very simple with his make up

He’s just been growing his hair out for a years, and it’s pretty long so Nya likes to help him put it in ponytails and braids

He has anxiety shivers

I, personally, think that he’s pretty fucking tall because of his dna and he stands at 6’3(192 cm) and is taller than all the other ninja except for Zane

He has a playlist to correlate to his moods, his sad playlist is the longest one out of them all..one song that shows up is ‘worthless by eli’

Like his father he is bisexual

I like to headcanon that during the time that Lloyd got hit by the tomorrows tea he was like 12/13 years old physically

^^he also bit the ninja(specifically Jay) lmao

He has a special desk with a big mirror in the room he and the ninja share because he obviously needs space to do his makeup

The other ninja(Cole and Zane)drag him to therapy with them every other Saturday

He’s a little gremlin who likes doing what he’s told not to, so now he plays BL games out of spite and plays the dialogue extra loud around the other ninjas, turns it up more during the sex scenes

He has a monthly thing where he just forces the others to watch titanic with him because the plot is everything(he definitely doesn’t just watch it because Jack and Rose are beautiful people that enchant him)

He plays Minecraft and Genshin Impact, and has an unhealthy obsession with Itto, Zhongli and Raiden Ei.

He’s legitimately the most flexible out of all the ninja and he always wins Twister to the dismay of Kai and Jay

He really likes to paint, so whenever he has free time he paints while the others watch him in awe

He has a beautiful singing voice, but he hates karaoke and won’t do it, which annoys the others to bits because everyone deserves to hear his angelic voice

He gets really nervous when he’s pressed/pinned to/against walls so he tries to ‘ease the tension’ by saying stupid shit like “A-Are we about to kiss?” Or “ You know now that we’re really close right now..you’re kinda pretty/hot.”

He curses like a sailor

He craves physical touch, but he’s also like repulsed by it so now he just sulks around, the only people who don’t repulse him are his father, Uncle and the other ninja

All the ninja are like his protective older siblings, Kai being the most protective out of them all

Snakes don’t scare him, he just despises them

He absolutely despises Harumi, like if he could kill her, he would. And he also had a picture of her in his room, which he throws darts and knives at when he’s angry

Also because of Harumi he’s prejudice against all princesses

He’s a shipper, and he ships the other ninja together hardcore. His OTPs are Nya x Jay, Kai x Cole, and Zane x Pixal

He has feminine hips

He’s worn things like corsets before because he thought they were pretty cool

Because of his dragon side he has a heat cycle and gets it once every 6 months, it always leads to him being out of commission

After he had to banish his father he kept a lot of his father’s things inside his and the ninja’s shared room

He cried when he first saw that Harumi’s ritual failed and instead brought his real father back, and not like Harumi said

After his father came back from the departed realm, Lloyd slept in his rooms for weeks because he was scared that he would disappear when he woke up, and just wanted to make sure he wasn’t dreaming

Did mention that Garmadon taught him how to use makeup

#ninjago headcanons #lloyd garmadon #ninjago garmadon #ninjago #harumi #misako is a bad mom #i love lloyd with all my heart dude #kai smith #jay walker #zane ninjago #cole brookstone #nya smith

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adelarsims · 1 year

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sages' apprentices

In my world every sage must have an apprentice who can eventually take their place - in case that something happens to the sage, or a temporary replacement is required when the sage is absent for whatever reason, or the sage simply decides not to be a sage anymore. Longevity, and especially immortality, is not something that spellcasters simply have like vampires, they artificially maintain it with magic and potions, so they can refuse it at any moment, and many spellcasters eventually do. Cases of apprentices dueling or even killing their mentors to take their positions also happened in the past, but the latter happened in old and dark times, nowadays it’s considered barbaric and the successor won’t be accepted by other spellcasters. Succession by duel is still legitimate, but only on agreement between apprentice and their mentor, and with two other sages’ approval, so you can't simply come over to your mentor and tell them to defend themselves.

Their names (i’m in love with their names, they were randomized by the game, i only saw these guys and gave them a little makeover and a part in a story) are Beth Looney, Axel Magee and Davion Gallo.

Beth is Simeon's apprentice, but she’s the most playful of them all, a jokester and a spark plug, she hates seeing people in sour mood and will always try to brighten it, but she doesn’t always read the room and can be unintentionally tactless. Beth’s photos are usually a wide assortment of stuck out tongues, winks and finger hearts. She’s the oldest of the three and will always stand up for them because she thinks of herself as their older sister. Beth lived on a street for a few years and can survive on practically nothing if needed, and often teases others for their need of comfort. She also cooks for all of them (including all sages), but because she cares, not because she’s told to or thinks that it's her responsibility. She’s not above lies and tricks for securing important outcome. For example, when Beth dueled with another young spellcaster for apprenticeship under Simeon, he was better, but she cheated. He hates her but can't prove it.

Davion (in the middle) is Morgyn's apprentice. He’s the most serious of the three, sometimes too serious even in Morgyn’s opinion. He’s very practical, good at grounding the other two and reasoning with them when they get carried away, and if there is a leader in their group, it’s Davion. He’s known as the most talented of them, even prodigious, but he gets a little patronizing because of it sometimes, and he absolutely hates jokes on his expense. But he never refuses to help if he’s asked for help, even when he’s on somewhat bad terms with the person who asks. He refuses to talk about his past, but you can figure out that he’s not proud of it. He also reads an awful lot. But in public it’s always studying and always something serious. If he reads fiction for fun, he does it in secret (recently I’ve found “Wands of desire” in his inventory that I didn't put there, lol).

Axel is Elle's apprentice, and the youngest of the three. He’s not a trickster by nature, and putting up with his mentor's antics isn’t easy for him, but fitting in and being accepted is so important for him that he tries to look more chaotic and trickster-y, and acts like he’s extremely laid-back and doesn't have a single care in the world. This is why Axel often gives off a vibe of insincerity and untrustworthiness (probably he shouldn’t even try to keep up with carelessness of a half-fairy), even though at the core he’s a soft and caring person, if a little hot-headed and anxious for attention. He gets bored and distracted easily. He comes from a wealthy family that supports him both emotionally and financially, of course without knowing that his "school abroad" teaches magic, but somehow he’s the only one with an actual (part-time) job. Not for money though, just because he tried the job for fun, people liked him, and he stayed for being liked.

#adelar’s storytime #spellcaster apprentices #the sims 4

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diabolikpersonals · 1 year

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who is yuri

(it's technically written "yuuri" in the same way shu would be "shuu" but the fandom tends to shorten those names so I'm just gonna say yuri ok)

a long long time ago, in a place called rotigenberg, there lived a low demon class called ghouls. a lot of these guys are kind of similar to zombified humans and they became ghouls when Karl Heinz Did a Genocide, but they've also become a proper demon race in the sense that like, children can be born ghouls. the other demon races (vampires, adlers, etc) don't respect these guys at all. they're the lowest class on the demon social ladder. they're discriminated against wherever they go, and the place where they live, rotigenberg, sucks ass. food doesnt grow there, it smells awful, and there's gas leaking from the ground that (according to rumor) comes from purgatory??? all around, it's a shit life.

so imagine yuri as a little ghoul boy, living with his dad in rotigenberg. then this little orphan vampire boy shows up, and the ghoul kiddos are like "ew a vampire!!" and they beat the shit out of him. yuri's dad takes this kid in, and raises him and his own son as equals. this kid is kino!

but kino isnt JUST a vampire........he's also the son of karl heinz!! that makes him really powerful, and it also means he'd have a legitimate chance at the throne. if kino becomes vampire king, he can save the ghouls! so yuri's dad puts him on a very high pedestal and goes, "hey, check it out, kino is a christlike figure!! he will lead us to the promised land!! everybody follow him!!" .............and yuri was demoted to kino's servant.

in LE/CL, yuri is kino's closest servant...but he's still a servant. in their childhood they were so close, but kino's become twisted after all these years, and yuri blames himself for that :( so in those games, yuri will usually be faithfully (and sadly) carrying out kino's evil plans. secretly, kino is very lonely and he'll be in a Super shitty mood if yuri isn't nearby lmao

yuri's the most important in kino's LE route, obviously, and I won't spoil it for you. I recommend you read it yourself, it will rip your heart out!! :D

#text

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lucem-stellarum · 7 months

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Summit spoilers below the cut. Excuse my southern, but holy fucking hell Y'all. I cannot wait to see the theorizing after that ending!

There's so much to unpack here this is shaping up to be an amazing arc. These aren't all my thoughts, it's gonna take some time to organize everything. But here's the first pass.

First of all, the Inversion was 2 years ago, and Sunshine is still trapped in the basement. That's just Rude, Mr Redacted.

Second, Alexis isn't the old friend who invited Porter back. It wasn't Sam, and it Definitely wasn't Vincent. So that pretty much leaves us with... William. I'm actually glad he left Treasure out of this, but then what the hell was all that gaslighting Vincent and Sam for? Between him "handling" Alexis, manipulating Sweetheart and the Shaw Pack, and "staging" the fight with Vincent at the end I'm thinking he's very good at this sort of cloak and dagger bullshit. It makes sense why William would want him back in town to help the clan, because Vincent isn't as good at that sort of snide subtlety. So, the bit with Treasure was to distract Vincent and Sam during the lead-up, but from what? What was he up to while they were prepping for the Summit?

Speaking of William, he's completely left Vincent to the metaphorical wolves (I will not apologize for my puns). Not even a friendly, "I trust you can handle this," just radio silence. I had my own theory about that here, but it's still a dick move.

We finally get to meet Alexis?! I'm torn between calling her a bitch (derogatory) and a bitch (affectionate). Ngl, she has very much "step on me" energy and I love that we get such a strong female character. She wanted someone so badly and did everything she could to keep them in her life, and because of that lost it all (just like Blake. Do we have another set of character parallels? 👀) I feel awful for Darlin having to face her alone, but she does show how much of a coward she is for waiting until Sam is away to start needling at them. I wonder what the exact wording of William's invocation was to her, since she clearly still cares about Sam? I feel like I need to brush up on fairy litigation to deal with all that mess.

The House of Baus (spelling?) trying to drive a wedge between the Shaws and the Solaires? I mean, it's a fair tactic, trying to cast doubts on the Shaw-Solaire relationship to try and make a vacuum where they can swoop in and steal such a powerful ally for their own disguised as "friendly" advice. It wasn't what I was expecting after Vincent's glowing praise, though. They kinda have a point about William, but he's been King for... how long, now? I might need to expand on their specific criticism later. Also, is Lovely not the first pretty face that got Vincent to spill the magical beans to lol? Boi has a bit of a reputation, apparently. Also also, are we taking bets yet on whether or not Quinn is going to make himself a problem again? Not just his friends, but himself?

The Bennetts! Like, it couldn't have happened to a nicer King, but damn it had to happen on Vincent's watch? It's murder mystery time! We've already got a great cast of potential suspects. I don't have a final guess yet, I'll have to write it all out and go over the details and motives Detective Poirot-style. But I wonder... was William expecting something like this? How did Porter know about the Bennett connection to Close Knit? If it was William who tipped Porter off, was that why he invited the Shaw Pack? As a way of setting a scene where "Vampire justice" could be served regarding the Inversion without waiting on the slow wheels of the department while at least paying lip service to making sure it's legitimate with a side dish of "revenge: it's personal"? Why the hell would vampires align themselves with a predominantly human comprised demon-hating cult group anyway? If anyone could potentially remember what the Sovereigns were actually like aside from demons, immortal vampires are also on that list.

#redacted asmr #redacted monarchal summit #redacted solaire clan #redacted shaw pack #spoilers

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perotovar · 8 months

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AHHHH PEDRO PASCAL ASKS LETS GO!!!

2,3 and 8 ☺️💕✨

Sending you all my love dearest Erin! 💌

EEEEE thank you honey!!!! and all the love back to you, erika <33

2. What character first brought you into the Pedro fandom?

officially, joel. but the first character of his i ever saw was jack. i consider jack to be my first love when it comes to pedro lol

i always liked him from a distance after that; i saw him in ww84 and thought he was the best part of the movie (still think so) so i knew he was an amazing actor. i never saw mando when it came out because i'm not a star wars girlie (gn) but my mom had! and she kept telling me to watch it because "he's a space cowboy bounty hunter, erin, he's your type" (boy, was she right) but i just never got around to it.

then he was cast as joel and i went "HMMM....... he's a great actor, he could probably pull it off" but i was cautiously optimistic because tlou has been my favorite video game for years and video game adaptations are notoriously awful. then he was amazing and after episode 3 i was hooked lmao

3. Max Lord or Max Phillips? Marcus Pike or Marcus Moreno?

ok i know i just posted a max phillips gifset and i'm a slut for vampires in any universe, but i'm gonna pick max lord. i will not hear any slander over his cheesy 80s suits or any shallow opinions on his appearance. maxwell lord is attractive because pedro is playing him and you cannot tell me otherwise. he's a deeply tragic character and pedro SLAYED the acting ok.

and i choose marcus pike. he's such a sweet character and the most boyfriend-coded man he's ever played. marcus moreno is a total sweetie and i love him, but i am not the target audience for that movie so it's hard to watch 😭

8. Be flirted with by Agent Whiskey or Javier Peña?

ERIKA, YOU'RE EVIL FOR THIS.

both would have me on the god damn floor jfc. i legitimate can't pick between the two of them.

on the one hand you've got the charisma and swagger of jack who would give me the sweetest of petnames that would turn me into a puddle.

and on the other, you've got javi who would whisper the filthiest shit in my ear that would have me blushing so god damn hard and giggling like a school girl.

i can't pick. can i have both? (at the same time?)(can i have them kiss each other?)

#sorry for the wall of text that is these answers jfc #kedsandtubesocks #asks

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crownedinmarigolds · 10 months

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🕷🔫💖 for khloe? (spider, pistol, sparkling heart)

MY BABY GIRL! MY HONEY! MY SWEETIE!!! I was so excited to see you ask about her!!!

This ask is for my Vampire the Masquerade character, Khloe Osbourne, a Ventrue Thinblood!

(Yes, Ralph-boob was necessary)

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

Khloe's biggest fear overall is letting down her coterie. She loves her boys deeply and definitely has unhealthily latched onto them, and the thought of them dying due to her mistakes or even just being hateful of her presence scares her immensely. She was just a lonely data-entry clerk homebody who suddenly has a closeknit community with a cause, she does NOT want to lose them. Possibly upsetting Christian - who she knows rationally is a good man who would understand and not hate her - makes her sweat. Breaking Ralph's heart? Oh God. Letting down Kyle who had helped her so much to get used to this shaky new world? Devastation.

Khloe does have a more IMMEDIATE and legitimately threatening fear: The Sheriff of Atlanta, Sir Godwynn Forrester. The coterie while trying to get some Thinblood hostages to safety came across him, firebombed him, and thanks to this MF having insane Fortitude he came out like a burning painting coming full T1000 at them. The coterie was like "Yeah that shouldn't be allowed to live." They got out of there, but the image is forever haunting them.

🔫 PISTOL - do they trust people easily? how easily will they turn their back to someone? have they been backstabbed before? will they betray someone if given an ultimatum?

Damn this one is an intense one. Khloe is a bit in a jam. She definitely doesn't trust people EASILY, but she did fall hard and fast for her coterie companionship. Perhaps it's how gently they helped her transition to this new life while also not holding back the information she NEEDED to know. She trusts her coterie with her life - whether or not this will be a good or bad thing has yet to be seen in the Chronicle! Everyone outside of the coterie gets the hard side eye, and she runs through the board's (coterie's) opinions a few times over before deciding what to do. Thanks to the few encounters with Fullbloods she's had, she basically has a permanent distrust of every single one she meets. Khloe is a ride or die, and would have an awful time turning her back on those she's promised to. It would have to be extREMELY heinous of a situation for Khloe to give up. Khloe has had the normal "backstabbed" situations, very light and melodramatic, but she definitely hasn't fully experienced REAL backstabbery... yet. Her life before her Embrace was very mild and easy-going and she's still only a few months old. If given an ultimatum... it depends. Khloe was raised Christian, and while she's agnostic she's finding a bit of faith again, and it's giving her a bit of a martyr complex. She'd probably pick the grave over betrayal.

💖 SPARKLING HEART - are they a subtle or a showy lover?

Khloe probably LOOKS like a subtle lover because her current lover - Ralph, a Nosferatu Thinblood - is so out there and show-offy that probably all else looks pale in comparison. Khloe is an open and loving woman who isn't embarrassed of her partner! She's had a few partners before that were pretty standard and normal, and while a private person she isn't SHY about PDA, but Ralph is a whole other animal and she's definitely getting more and more "YEP. THIS IS MY MANS. DEAL."

#personal #ask #kentuckycaverats #khloe #thinblood #vtm #vtm oc #vampire the masquerade #the poisoned peach: atl by night

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murfpersonalblog · 1 year

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My Ranking of Anne Rice's Books

Full disclosure: My ranking is totally not based on the quality of AR's writing (which I absolutely love); it's just reflecting my own personal preferences for certain characters, plots, and themes. Some of her books I deliberately chose not to read; while some I only read once and didn't care for them, hence their low rank on my list. (I saw the Feast of All Saints movie but never read the book.)

S Tier: The Witching Hour, The Vampire Armand, Taltos, The Wolf Gift, The Wolves of Midwinter, Blood Communion

A Tier: Cry to Heaven, Servant of the Bones, Blackwood Farm, Prince Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Memnoch the Devil

B Tier: Realms of Atlantis, The Vampire Lestat, Lasher

C Tier: Blood & Gold, Interview with the Vampire, The Mummy

D Tier: Blood Canticle, Tale of the Body Thief, Merrick, Angel Time, Of Love and Evil, Pandora, Vittorio, Violin

(I used the tier template here as my base.)

MY THOUGHTS (I tried not to spoil anything):

S Tier: Spectacular!

13/10 The Witching Hour

My favorite Anne Rice book. The plot was utterly insane. The buildup surrounding the mystery of The 13, and the Door, and what exactly Lasher was and what he wanted was SO good. I thought Rowan was a effing idiot, but I LOVED seeing Michael slowly realize what his purpose was, in the face of this loooong tragic history about the "eunuch" Mayfair husbands. Julien Mayfair is really the GOAT! I was on the edge of my seat; it's a legitimately scary ghost story! IMO Lasher is AR's best villain, cuz he's so awful. (I'm waiting for Season 1 of AMC's Mayfair Witches to finish before I watch it--I'm already bummed from the changes I heard about. [EDIT] I watched it, and it's trash. 🤦)

10/10 The Vampire Armand

I am HELLA biased. TVA was one of the very first AR books I read in full, and I was hooked. Marius/Armand are my favorite vampire ship, leave me alone--the Renaissance was a different time; read a book. Armand and Lestat are my fave vamps, cuz they're both fabulous and crazy. But I empathized with Armand more, because he was so YOUNG. I saw the IWTV movie before I read TVA, and was so shocked that he was just a kid! (Antonio Banderas was fiiiiine AF though!) I was fascinated by Marius since TVL, and getting to see him in his natural habitat was such a treat, as he tried to deal with his feelings for his beloved black-winged angel/demon Amadeo. Plus we got to learn A LOT about the Children of Satan/Darkness, and it was SO effed up what happened with M/A & Santino.

10/10 Taltos

This is the payoff I was waiting for after The Witching Hour. I could care less about Lasher--ASHLAR was precisely the type of Taltos I wanted to know more about. I loved getting his perspective on all the Celtic lore about the Picts and Stonehenge, and the dwarves, etc--it was so mythological; I love it. And the whole icky background about the Talamasca, and the lengths they went through to get the Taltos together...dang. SUCH a good story. 10/10.

10/10 The Wolf Gift & The Wolves of Midwinter

These two are tied--the WoMW sequel flows perfectly from TWG, and I never read one without reading the other immediately after. AR is famous for her vampires, but IMO her werewolves are her very best immortals. They're just really well-adjusted to immortality, and are a big happy wholesome family, the way the rest of her immortal species are NOT. Like, there are very few setbacks to being an AR werewolf, compared to other types of supernatural--especially if you have Margon and the Goldings looking after you (Stuart, you lucky bum!). I want to live at Nideck Point, throwing holiday festivals and carousing with the woodland creatures. I guess kinda like WoMW slightly more, because it continues following the pack as they settle in together, but TWG sets up AR's werewolf universe so perfectly that it gives it that slight edge.

10/10 Blood Communion

I hate that AR was so nasty to fanfic authors and scared a lot of the fandom away, cuz all I want is 500k+ on The Chateau Era, as the vampires live together being fancy and lavish and finally getting their ish together. Blood Communion only gave me a taste of that, cuz it was so dang short (the illustrations were such a cute touch!). But my favorite part was definitely when Armand flipped the eff out over Marius--I was like YES! FINALLY!!!! ^0^ I was so tired of this will they/won't they thing that had stretched out between M/A ever since QoTD, and I just wanted them to come clean about how they REALLY felt. Plus, I was glad/relieved that Louis & Lestat finally ironed everything out; I felt really bad for them, for once! I just wanted more, but I kinda felt Blood Communion was likely where AR was gonna end everything, and TBF it was a really good stopping point.

A Tier: Awesome!

9.5/10 Cry to Heaven

Who knew reading about castrati could be HOT!? This book made me cry--the title was apt! Guido is one of my favorite AR characters; I felt so bad for him!!! Tonio reminds me a lot of Armand, but...I felt worse for Armand? Like, yeah, being castrated sucks, but Tonio got to have this amazing career, and the book ends on a high note--LOL! But Armand was literally psychologically tortured for 300+ years and never really recovers--he gets Trinity Gate & Night Island & his coven, but he's clearly unhinged and maladjusted. I just felt that Tonio was lucky to have a support system in Guido & his patrons, and Armand was decidedly more unlucky, and hence more tragic? Whatever--this was a really good book, even without any supernatural elements.

9.5 Servant of the Bones

I looooooove this book~! I'm a sucker for mythology and world religions and immortality and all of it--this was SO GOOD. If supernatural creatures were real, I legit think AR might be on to something--you can't tell me SOMEONE didn't do human sacrifices like that, trying to make their own "genie" or whatever. VERY Solomon's Ring. And I love how AR threw in all these historical events & characters--making deals with the "devil." It was so creepy; yet thoroughly tragic, as usual with this woman. I just wish we got a bit more clarification on what exactly Azriel was--cuz there's NO WAY he's an angel/djinn/demon, if everything that happened in Memnoch & Angel Time was legit. Is he just an incredibly powerful GHOST, like Lasher??? 🤷 (Azriel would beat the dog snot out of Lasher in a fight, IMO. He's just way more experienced.)

9.5 Blackwood Farm

I LOVE AR's ghost stories. Between Amel, Lasher, Azriel, and Goblin, I pitied Goblin the most. He's VERY similar to Amel, but because of the way he was created, and how he had to exist, I just really felt for him and just wanted to give him a HUG--my poor baby! :( I enjoyed seeing Lestat in a domestic sphere, with the grandma tryna adopt this whole vampire living under her roof, cuz the Blackwoods are like: meh, what's another spook; we're used to weird shenanigans in this family. XD And Mona Mayfair--she won me over here, cuz I did NOT like her around Michael & Rowan; get friends your own age, brat. I'm mad at what AR did with Merrick Mayfair though, like really???

9.5 Prince Lestat

AMEL. O_O I was already fascinated by whatever Amel was when Maharet gave her backstory in QoTD, but once AR started fleshing (LOL!) him out in the Prince Lestat trilogy I was like yaaaaaaaas~! I need DETAILS! As much as I like the other VC books, I really enjoy reading QoTD and PL back to back, cuz it's just a natural continuation of what happened to ALL the vampires afterwards. And it's effed up. Lestat's one bold soul, cuz I would NEVER.

9/10 Queen of the Damned

The hype was real! Maharet's lovely, but Mekare's the GOAT. I was TOTALLY on board with Akasha's plan though, NGL. But you could tell that she was crazy, too. However, getting Amel's perspective in the later books, and seeing what happened with Rhoshamandes, I sympathize with Akasha even more, cuz how much of that was REALLY her???? But yeah, she had to go. (I cannot wait to see who AMC casts--no one can beat Aaliyah's performance, but I want to see them at least try to prove me wrong.) However, the build up to the concert and facing Akasha was a bit too drawn out for my liking (I could care less about Tough Cookie and Killer and all the random AF auxiliary vampires that showed up at Armand's, or the compound. And I DO NOT like Devil's Minion--I love Armand to pieces, but Daniel was INSANE, and vampirism ALMOST turned him into another Nicky, which I was NOT feeling).

8.5/10 Memnoch the Devil

Dante's Inferno meets Dracula. I like this book. But it was confusing, because I was like what was the point? I would've tried WAY harder to keep Lestat in Hell, if I was serious about making THE Devil's Minion. I felt like MtD was an elaborate excuse for AR to bench Lestat, so she could focus on Armand & Marius & Louis for a few books. Like, we know Lestat's trash, but dang--just leaving him on the floor like that? XD And Memnoch's even more mysterious than Azriel in SotB, cuz what is he really? He was able to psychologically torture Lestat in that church from...another dimension?? WHERE was Lestat's eyeball REALLY? Were they LEGIT demons? Like...? Cuz I had the same questions about Louis in Merrick, like, was what he was seeing REAL? We know powerful vampires like Armand can use the Mind Gift to create whole worlds in people's heads. So who knows what actually happened to Lestat.

B Tier: Bravo!

8/10 Realms of Atlantis

I like the alien plot--SUE ME. It's weird AF, and I don't really like what happened to Amel (I'm undecided about trusting that he's redeemable and if he can be excused for being a literal MENACE), but I enjoyed getting those final answers. In TVA Armand said he saw a city of glass when he turned, and I nearly jumped out of my seat when I read RoA, cuz it tracks! And the alien parasites made sense. Look at what happens when regular HUMAN ghosts gained autonomy in AR's books. Look at GOBLIN in BwF. Look at Memnoch even--whatever he is [EDIT: I'm not buying AR's weak AF retcon that he's a ghost Replimoid, cuz then what was Angel Time for?]. Of course a whole extraterrestrial species would have drastic consequences on humans.

8/10 The Vampire Lestat

A must-read for context and mining information, but TVL's never been a book I ever go back to just cuz I want to reread it for funsies. But I enjoyed it WAY more than IWTV, mostly cuz the tone was drastically different.

8/10 Lasher

Anne Boleyn. Really? XD And folks wanna complain about aliens? XD I was not here for Lasher--let the devil speak and tell his story blah blah blah. I was with Michael the whole time, just counting down to when Lasher would stfu already so we could get back to business. There was NOTHING Lasher could say to make me care. Regardless of what he was when he was alive, in death he was thoroughly EVIL. Lasher's a very interesting parallel with Lestat, who was also very religious and wanted to be a priest and was physically & prematurely ripped from his home and from his life. And yes, vampires are mass murderers, and Lestat likely killed way more people than Lasher. And they're both totally selfish; parasites feeding off the living. But it's the METHOD that bothers me with Lasher. Vampires killing just to drink blood is one thing. But Lasher RUINED that family--it was SICK, the things he did to the Mayfairs--both in the past, and present. He DELIBERATELY drove people crazy and abused people for sport and strategically hunted the "eunuch" husbands and turned women into his sex toys, and god knows what he was up to with Julien--and for WHAT??? Lasher was NOTHING like St. Ashlar, and it shows. Bye, Felicia.

C Tier: Can't Love It

7/10 Blood & Gold

I was so hyped for Blood and Gold, cuz Santino was just a PLAGUE upon these poor vampires! I got a lot of answers that I really wanted after TVA, but I understand why some people hate Marius, cuz really my guy?????? It really is his way or the highway. I still love Marius, but my opinion of him definitely dropped quite a few notches--I was PISSED at him just like Armand was, all the way up to Blood Communion.

7/10 Interview with the Vampire

Groundbreaking, iconic, never done before, etc etc. But IWTV is one of my least favorite AR books. I honestly think she just got better as she kept writing. But also the tone of IWTV, and especially Louis as a character just never appealed to me. Louis never had a personality other than bitterness, like…. I just couldn't relate to him at all, like what are you complaining about???? If you hate being a vampire so dang much, END IT. Lestat honestly impressed me (Armand's patience was impressive too!), cuz I'd've been GONE, and left Louis to his own devices; eff how pretty he is. The movie--as fun and awesome as it is--definitely didn't improve my opinion of Louis; he was even more mopey, wtf! (AMC's IWTV handled Louis BRILLIANTLY, and went a LONG way endearing me to Louis, where I absolutely LOVE him now--protect Louis at all costs!)

6/10 The Mummy

This was REALLY good, until it wasn't. I got similar vibes with SotB, as ancient civilizations grappled with magic and immortality and the divine and the dead/undead--my bread and butter. But Ramses just reads as way more naive and clumsy than Azriel. It got tiresome, seeing Ramses scramble to fix all the mistakes he kept making, like omg dude--LEARN. And what was the purpose of that girl? Whatever her name was. Like...yawn. And then Cleopatra.... 🤦 Why is she so evil? Is it just the brain damage? What a walking disaster--and Ramses was AGAIN at fault! I couldn't take anymore, it got frustrating.

D Tier: Didn't Care

4/10 Blood Canticle

This book was DEPRESSING. First of all, I honestly don't understand why Lestat was even there? Just let Quinn & Mona & Rowan & Michael deal with it--a drug/gun cartel? REALLY? Morrigan! Ashlar was one thing, but come on, REALLY?? I was so bummed! Then Rowan had the NERVE--! I was disgusted. I never liked her, but even the scraps of empathy I felt for her EVAPORATED. Poor Michael! :(

4/10 Tale of the Body Thief

I was squicked out. There was nothing appealing about this situation. If he was in his OWN body, like if Dr. Fareed could "cure" vampirism, that would be one thing, but this was just...no. And poor David! I liked Mojo though?

4/10 Merrick

God, spare me. I never liked Louis in the books, so this was just one long psychological torture experience I wasn't feeling. Especially since I couldn't really be sure if the ghost was legit when I first read it. But having read so much more of AR's ghost stories, I'm more convinced now that it was the genuine ghost that had it out for Louis, which is awful, cuz that really puts into perspective what was going on in NOLA vs Europe/Paris. So, I feel bad for him--but the most interesting part was getting Lestat's reaction.

3/10 Angel Time

I barely remember what this book was about. It was a murder mystery in a hotel near a church in Cali somewhere and an angel selects some assassin because....? IIRC he went back in time and infiltrated a pogrom or something disguised as a monk? And.... I...don't remember.

-/10 Of Love and Evil

I own it, but literally don't even remember what this was about.

3/10 Pandora

I could care less about Pandora/Lydia/whatever her name was. I do not like this woman. I get that she's bitter about Marius ditching her, but omg. Stop. You don't see Bianca complaining; get over it already. There was something about bees and the Talamasca and Pandora being worshipped and....something.

-/10 Vittorio

I own it, but I literally don't even remember what this was about.

-/10 Violin

This was an impulse buy. I was so hyped at first, cuz I thought this was gonna be about Nicky and Lestat. Then I actually read the summary, and was immediately like wtf. But I gave it a go cuz there's wibbly wobbly timey wimey ghost stuff going on, but.... Nah.

Thanks for reading!

#anne rice #the vampire chronicles #the vampire armand #the vampire lestat #mayfair witches #interview with the vampire #anne rice ftw #i love myself some anne rice but #fanfiction #headcanon #iwtv tvc metas

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