#psychic vampire

[blackrosesociety-vampyres]

Vampire Community Research: Social History and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires

This article has originally been published on Black Rose Society's website: https://blackrosesociety.sauromatos.com/vampire-community-research-social-functioning-and-narrative-identity-themes-within-self-identified-vampires/

We interviewed our very own Luna Luv about her ongoing research project on the narrative themes in identity development and social history of people within the Vampire Community. In providing you with a closer look into some of the goals, challenges and other details pertaining to this research effort, it is our hope you will be motivated to be part of the survey and tell your friends.

Black Rose Society is assisting Vampire Community Researcher Luna Luv with hosting a survey that hopes to identify trends in the social history and identity formation of self-identified vampires. The results of this independent study will be drafted up into an article/paper titled “Social Functioning and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires,” which will be published and distributed exclusively within the vampire community, including the Black Rose Society’s website.

You are invited to share the link to this survey between your friends within the community. We are looking for responses from all corners of the Online Vampire Community

Our purpose: Self-identified vampires, that is, people who choose to identify themselves as a vampire or as possessing vampiric traits, often come from vastly different philosophical and ideological backgrounds. This survey asks for historical accounts from individuals who identify as vampires (or vampire-adjacent, i.e. medsangs, vampirekin, etc.) which pertain to both their identity and social development. Responses, while anonymous, will assist us in finding trends in social history and identity narrative development that may exist between identity types, or further serve to individuate them.

This survey will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete. Responses cannot be saved to come back to later, so please set aside appropriate time for yourself to complete the survey. Please provide as much or as little information as you are comfortable.

NOTE: SIGNING INTO A GOOGLE ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED TO PREVENT APPLICANTS FROM FILLING OUT THE SURVEY MULTIPLE TIMES. NO ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED OR RECORDED BY THE RESEARCHERS INVOLVED.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Interview with Researcher Luna Luv

BRS: What motivated you to conduct a survey?

Luna Luv: I’ve always had a lot of interest in why people do what they do, vamps included. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a concise answer to that question, but I do think that there are ways of getting a little bit closer to that understanding in some cases. Extending from that, I thought that this research area might be very valuable, especially since psychological perspectives have generally been considered distasteful within the community — and definitely not for no reason. Most articles in psych journals mentioning “real vampires” are often sensationalist or align us all with sexual deviancy and/or pica, which in my opinion displays a fundamental misunderstanding or perhaps disinterest in our psychology. I thought a survey like this would be a way of showing the community that a psychological approach isn’t intrinsically invalidating, and can actually serve to provide us with meaningful insight into what makes us align with the archetype “vampire.” I figured a survey would be a good way of obtaining some qualitative and quasi-quantitative data on the topic.

BRS: How have the responses been so far?

Luna Luv: I’ve really been surprised by how much interest this has gotten. The survey has only been out for around 3 months and we already have close to 60 responses. I definitely see us being able to hit our goal of 100 by the 1-year mark, and hopefully if this keeps up we’ll be able to greatly surpass it. I’m really humbled by how many people have reached out to me and expressed the potential value they see in the study, and I’m so excited to share what we find with the community.

BRS: Can you tell us about your background?

Luna Luv: I’ve got a Master’s degree in mental health counseling and am currently working out of the US, with hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology in the future. Consider this survey practicing for my thesis, haha. As for my relationship to the vampire community, I’m a lifelong medsang who only discovered the word roughly 5 years ago. I’ve dabbled a bit in the offline scene but I’ve made my home in the online spaces, primarily Black Rose Society.

BRS: What are your goals for this survey?

Luna Luv: My primary goal is to identify if the existing relationships we’ve seen between one’s social development (how they learn where they belong) and identity development (how they learn who they are) can extend to the development of one’s vampiric identity, and if so, what the primary influential factors are. What lessons have we learned to tell ourselves, and when did we learn them? Or what other struggles may run parallel — perhaps our vampiric self-discovery coincided with other unique discoveries about ourselves, such as our gender identity or sexuality. I believe it would be worthwhile to see if we can find any significant correlations in these areas.

BRS: What is the timeline for obtaining the results?

Luna Luv: Initially, I wanted to run data collection from March 2024 to March 2025 and have the paper out by the end of the year. However, considering how much traction this survey has gotten thus far, and how we’ve only recently begun expanding to other social media sites, that deadline is likely to be pushed. I wish I could give a definitive answer — all I can say is that I’m going to try for December 2025, but this may not end up being feasible. 2026 at the latest! Haha

BRS: What challenges did you encounter while organizing this survey in the OVC?

Luna Luv: Honestly, and I should’ve expected this — mistrust. Which is entirely fair; the Vampire Community holds anonymity as something sacred, and in designing this survey it was my intention to preserve our respondents’ anonymity as much as possible. The purpose of utilizing Google Forms to host the survey, in addition to not having access to a more secure survey-hosting site at the time of development, is to prevent (or at least minimize) the submission of multiple responses. However, this requires a respondent to log into a Gmail account, which a few people were not thrilled by. This is why I make a point to emphasize that no account data is stored or recorded by any of the researchers involved in the study, and the email address utilized to access the study is not collected.

BRS: Are there any potential biases, either from your role as the survey organizer or among the participants?

Luna Luv: Oh, absolutely. The primary one being that the survey is being shared almost exclusively through social media, and as such the majority of the responses involve people who primarily participate in the online community. Unfortunately, I personally do not have much access to offline community spaces which may be able to blast this study to community members who may otherwise not see it. Regarding my own biases, I definitely have my own perspective on vampirism based in my personal experiences and knowledge-base. I do not intend on hiding this fact — rather, I simply wish to add my own perspective to the pool of discussions surrounding the nature of whatever it is we’re all going through. Perhaps we will find a more substantial relationship between the specific flavor of one’s vampiric identity and other common factors in their social development history, or even demographic information.

BRS: Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to our readership?

Luna Luv: I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to even look at my little project. I’m not trying to pretend that this is some extremely thorough and well-put-together study that’s going to have groundbreaking ramifications on the community… This is just something that I’m really interested in and passionate about, and I’m so humbled by how many people have expressed interest in what I’m doing. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the support I’ve gotten. Thank you all so much for reading, and participating if you have!

BLACK ROSE SOCIETY 2024

[saccharinesensuality]

My go-to resources for vampyres demonic and otherwise:

These resources will be in 3 sections. Sanguinarian, Psychic/Psi and misc. I made sure these resources were for free and readily accessible for all that may be newly awakened, forced to be solitary with little to no information or just want to learn what's going on with your vampyre friend donor or not. There will be updates to these free resources and the links will be underlined and colored red.

For sanguinarians:

The Red Cellar is a website in which you can find all the tips and tricks for your feeding needs. It has topics including but not limited to: Practical advice (safety when dealing with🩸and caring for cuts, precautions with donor-sang relationships, how to get 🩸and handle it safely from your local butcher), Recipes and Health and Wellness. This is also a great resource for "med sangs" or vampires that believe that they require blood for health reasons. (Thank you lexsang for tipping us off.)

The Misanthropic Vampire is for the more demonic vampires. It is a more spiritual approach than med sangs as its written by a Luciferian vampire like me but it still has a lot of great material. There's explanations and resources of/from the vampire community, vampyre book recs, the myths and legends commonly used, glossary of terms (incubi/succubi are classified as sanguinarian subsets here), and rituals to become one with your true self "the divine/beast/dragon/demon etc" and sit on the throne of your soul. Although the author has since abstained from being a practicing sanguinarian from personal reasons, they still mention the symbolism and sacredness of the intimacy between 🩸donors and the vampyre.

For Psychic/Psi vampires:

The Old Vampire Codex is free on sacred texts donated from the author themselves. From what I know, M Belanger founder of House Kheparu is actually publishing an updated edition of the newer "psychic vampire codex". But before that happens, I recommend this because it's pretty much still the basics. The foundations haven't changed. Everything from awakenings, dreamwalking, feedings, energy work and healing is here.

Miscellaneous links

The Vampire Jack Townson has two different guided meditations. One is a basic one where you clear your mind, the other is putting your troubles to the side for a bit and going to your sanctuary to relax awhile. If you'd much rather relax in your soul's sanctuary then use this. Misanthropic vampire's throning ritual can be intense for newly awakened vampyres/demons etc so this is a nice alternative first step.

Orlee Stewart's Incubus/Succubus Playlist has a lot of things about incubus and succubus spirits. She talks about what they are, how to get them, the types of spirits she's encountered matching this description, how to encorporate their energy and become like them etc..

[anarchysin]

in the vampire community the main agreed upon types of vampires seem to be sanguinarians, psychic vampires, hybrids, and lifestylers but i think we should include autovampirism/clinical vampirism & otherkin/alterhuman vampires as well. maybe vampgender ppl too. otherkin seem to make up most vamps these days but seem to be separated from the real vampire community for really no reason imo. there are way more types of vampires than people usually include and i feel that they are just as important.

[redacted-coiner]

Sanguine vampire(link), Both types vampire(link), Psychic vampire(link)

Otherspirit(link), Allamorine(link), Dreamin(link)

Altervexo(link), Casshuman/Cassbeing(link), Otherflicker(link)

DNI is listed within my pinned post. Please go read it before interacting with any part of my content. Ask to tag!

@gender-mailman , @mogai-sunflowers , @kinnie-thots-flags , @vesicelestial

[theic-manic]

Some rough notes for my Vampiric Grimoire (planning stage) feel free to use and/or contribute your own perspectives.

"Energy vampire" is a misused term since all feeding in energy feeding, just in different forms.

So I've made some brief notes on Vampire subgroups I've made for a grimoire I'm planning.

🩸Sanguine vampires

Your blood suckers, these vampires need plasma (in small amounts) to access energy.

Since there's an abundance of literature on Sanguines, I won't reinvent the wheel here, however I'll remind everyone of the importance of consent & safety.

🍆🍑Tantric Vampires

Aka Succubi & Incubi.

Similar to Sanguines, however they feed via different bodily fluids.

The main difference between Tantrics & Psi Vampires (to be covered below) is their need for erotic contact & fluids.

Again, remember consent & safety.

Unawakened tantrics may engage in hypersexual or sex-addict like behaviours.

💔 Emotional Vampires aka Emphatic Vampires

These are usually mixed up with Psi/Psychic vampires as the latter can feed via emotions, in a limited capacity.

The best metaphor for these guys is the movie Monster's Inc. & how the factory converts screams (& later, laughter) into energy.

Emotional Vampires may feed by deliberately triggering people however many discover pleasant ways to feed such has becoming comedians or musicians.

Also typically found in Political & public speaking careers.

They also make great trauma counsellors.

They can feed in a similar way to Tantrics, however they end up getting really hurt and/or manipulating others when hungry...

🔮 Psi Vampires aka Psychic vampires, Pranic Vampires, Strigoi

We're the energy omnivores in that we can feed in the same ways as other vampires however these other methods aren't as effective.

The downside of this is it can take us longer to awaken as Vampires, we may get caught up in the "fluffy bunny" (the love & light toxic positivity) community and/or end up going through hypersexual stages like our Tantric kin.

Unlike Tantric Vampires, we can feed via online interactions & be fairly satisfied.

We best feed when close to someone we can establish a link with, physical touch can also enhance this.

Unlike others, we can distance feed either astrally or via meditation though this takes discipline.

Similar to emotional Vampires we can feed from crowds, though we send out our "tendrils" to nibble from the crowd's auras.

This isn't as effective as "deep feeding".

We can benefit from learning Reiki & other energy work however we must be careful to avoid unawakened vampires who work in those fields.

Feng Shui is critical for our living spaces & we benefit from learning what our Ayurveda Doshas & Humors (Greek medicine concept) are, adjusting our physical food diets according to those.

Unfortunately we are probably why it's believed that vampires burn in sunlight since we are especially sensitive & weakened by the sun & sensitive to other weather events due to the type of energy involved.

That said, due to our relationship with energy we are especially good at Weather Manipulation, witchcraft & energy healing.

While we may be drawn to careers in healing, we're often found in toxic workplaces due to our ability to feed from & transmute negative energy.

While we CAN feed via emotions like our Emphatic kin, we can become really unwell if force fed large amounts of negative emotional energy, e.g. people in crisis.

📝 Note on naming conventions;

I'll eventually expand upon these in my personal grimoire, and once digitised I can make it available either as a Google doc or even a Tumblr post.

I plan on updating the naming conventions to be more accessible to wider audiences

ie each "type" will be given a plain English name, an "old country" name inspired by old myths & a spiritual name for those more accustomed to spirituality.

E.g.

Psychic vampire naming conventions might resemble

Psi Vampire (Plain English)

Strigoi (Old country/mythos)

Prana Vampires (Spiritual)

The fun challenge will be creating a 3-name system for Sanguines 🩸🧛‍♀️

Art by Justin O'Neal.

[lorddocmarten]

Hey sanguinarians/otherkin/anyone who Is A VampireTM, I have a question for you! How do you see the experience of feeding on someone (psychic, tantric, blood, etc.). Would you only do it with a partner? Is it clinical? Etc. Like what is your relationship to a donor? Thanks in advance!

[sangaverage]

1. Vampirism as a Condition

Its finally here folks, My long awaited and long Text attempt at writing up something I've promised for a little while

This will be based on more personal experience and the experience of a primarily sanguine Vampyre, there may be a few mentions of other feeding methods here and there

(as far as I know) There is a word limit so I shall try to cram as much in as possible here!

Lengthy and somewhat messy post under the divider (Credit: here!)

Feeding:

Yes we drink blood, or at least the Sanguinarians and Medsangs do, some feed on energy, some feed on both and much more.

There is a genuine Need when it comes to "IRL" vampirism, sure it won't kill us but it makes it incredibly hard to function properly sometimes and the symptoms can be intense.

Now the symptoms are different from vampyre to vampyre so I can't give an exact list...

Some symptoms however can be found Here!

How it may feel to feed Here!

(Thank you: as-others-were, and sauromatos )

What Causes Vampirism:

It has yet to be proven but the general agreed on consensus here is that for some unknown reason A vampyres body either fails to or cannot produce a specific thing it needs well on its own, for Sanguinarians my guess is Something in heme iron is what gives them what they need and as heme often equates to blood, its the most logical thing to consume and also gives us the most of this energy that we need, for psychic vampires it's theorised something in prana (aka a person's life force) is what gives them the energy they need.

Despite what some "Fluffier" sources may tell You, this is not parasitic behaviour, we are not to be shunned/feared/ to be constantly protected from! more often than not the Vampyre and Thier Feeding partners/ Donors can come to a symbiotic agreement! Though many who can detect our energy signature do have some form of stigma or are otherwise unnerved around us.

More in this type of feeding relationship sort of in This post.

See This post For more details as to possibly why.

See This post As to a funky theory that it's also possibly something to do with our eyes,

no it's not the scleric ring theory!

(Thank you to: fugamextenebrae and Confessionsofabloodfreak )

it is also theorised that vampires suffer a damaged solar plexus and thus cannot adequately hold on to or break down the energy they need well themselves due to this.

Vampirism is not thought to be genetic nor can someone be "turned" in the sense you may be thinking, there is however something known as the awakening.

The Awakening:

Despite what you may be thinking The Awakening is not a 100% sudden occurrence! Sometimes it takes the individual Vampyre several "mini awakenings" before the true realisation/ finally ignoring the doubt happens and the confirmation and learning process can begin proper.

The Awakening itself is hard to describe to non vampiric, but is often explained as some form of realisation or coming into ones own, generally around or just after puberty (some can be much earlier and some can be much much later) where the individual realises that they need said energy source to remain "fit and healthy" in a sense, an unawakened Vampyre or Vampyre coming into thier awakening is often called a "latent".

Usually, being around other vampyres is said to be the catalyst that leads to an awakening, however in some cases, be it lack of vampyres in an individuals area or other external factors, this is not entirely needed. And some vampyres can awaken solely on their own, this is said to be a slower process however...

Are Vampyres Spiritual:

Many of us are, yes but not all of us, first and foremost, Vampirism is not a religion!

Ones vampirism can be incorporated into spiritual practice or Those who are not vampyres but have weak energy systems, can still practice vampirism and are willing to do so spiritually!

Many but not all vampyres are attracted to Predatory spirituality at some point in there lives, vampyres are more instinctual, after all but not all vampyres do this, some are pagan or wiccan, some are Buddhist, etc etc some aren't even spiritual at all!

(more on predatory spirituality and how it equates, Here! And Here! Thank you: fugamextenebrae and Xerxeswitch )

Common misconceptions:

-We have reflections, can be filmed and have our pictures taken

-we do not set on fire or burn to ash in sunlight, hower some of us do suffer heatstroke more easily or are more prone to sunburn and eye strain in strong sunlight

-Stakes to the heart will kill us, but they'll kill pretty much anything

-Religious symbols and other holy items do not bother us, however there is a theory that faith can bother some of us, but that is just a theory, we do not spontaneously combust on church ground

-we can mostly wear silver and eat garlic, allergies do exist though

-we are not immortal and live and die as you do

-we can get sick, we are not living corpses despite the fact we may look "dead" sometimes (I am not a morning person lol)

-we do not have Supernatural superpowers, however some of us do have well developed clair senses

-we are chill with "werewolves"

-Animals do not hate us more than anyone else, however there is a theory some animals are sensitive to odd energy signatures so may behave a little strange in our presence (prolonged eye contact, overly friendly etc)

-we can cross running water (if it's shallow or we can swim lol)

-we can enter places uninvited but it's common courtesy and manners to be invited in anyway

-many of us do not "bite", let alone hard enough to puncture skin, we are still biologically human and bites can and often will cause infections, rather we use sterile tools should we need blood or substitutes

-we do not die without the ingestion of blood/ prana etc, we can also eat human food

-we don't all "get off" on blood, though some of us vamps can have a fetish for blood, fangs or biting, we're biologically human after all and there's no harm in it!

-we look just like any other human and no we don't sparkle (unless we use body glitter or something)

I think that's everything really!

For stuff I didnt cover, please check the "general living Vampirism" section of my Important posts as it may be there!

More posts like this possibly in the future!

☥

[dammit-theclown]

Hey vampire community!

(and any other folks with the Need To Feed™)

What are your favorite and/or go-to blood/feeding substitutes?

I always find myself ordering blood sausages like sundae (순대), kishka, and jelito, plus duck blood dishes and nutrient-saturated/whole organisms like oysters, clams, crickets, and intestine/tripe dishes. Meal replacement drinks and strong/tangy/iron-rich teas, fruits, and meats will also work in a pinch.

Curious to hear what psi feeders have to say about this!

[nonhuman-things]

I love being nonhuman I don’t ever want to be a human and I have never wanted to be a human.

[ask-rosesociety-vampires]

she ok @anideterm3

[xerxeswitch]

Honestly, this is one of the best examples of explaining vampirism to others. It's with respect and it's pretty accurate. I'm impressed! I am surprised she explains the things that I already do consciously anyways. I do recommend this video for anyone who's curious, as a PSI vampyre myself. (This is mostly on vampire magic or psi vampirism, as a heads up)

[malachitelibrary]

Preliminary Vampiric Energy System Notes

“Vampire” is an incredibly broad term that can be used to refer to beings that feed upon the energy and/or blood of others.  This post will summarize observations I have made on the energy systems of human vampires through direct energy reading.  Basic Definitions:  Psychic vampires are a type of energy feeder who need to source their energy from other living beings. More information is in…

[saccharinesensuality]

I've seen so much talk about the vampyre community in July alone to the point where it's interesting. I started talking about my experiences because lust vampires are barely mentioned unless it's to tell you how "scary" we are now people are starting to be vocal. This video is more nuanced (I havent heard a non-vampire mention med sangs in awhile). They bring good points about the cons of the vampire community as it stands right now. Unfortunately, there's horrible people in every subculture but you can feed on negative energy while simultaneously healing them.

[jesterjunkie]

Immortality, hedonism, elegance, love of the unknown, fear, romanticism࿐࿔★⋆.

[redacted-coiner]

Time Traveler + Vampire

[PT: Time Traveler + Vampire]

A flag for someone who accounts themselves as a IRL Vampire and​ IRL Time Traveler(link)

Example of Vampires: one, two, three

[Flag ID: in Alt text]

[Symbol ID: in Alt text]

[Tag] @kin-flags, @radiomogai, @liom-archive, @nonhuman-archive

DNI is listed within my pinned post. Please go read it before interacting with any part of my content. Ask to tag!

[lexsang]

Can I ask what your take is on Sebastiaan and Sabretooth? I don't really know anything about the established groups beyond House Kheperu.

Sorry for the wait. Life and work have both been busy, and I also wanted to do some more research so that this could be more than just my opinions. But here we are!

So first of all, my opinions of Father Sebastiaan are mixed. I don't like the way that he does things, I don't think they are inclusive or representative of the whole community, but I also recognize that, as one of the biggest names in the community, he has done a lot to make the community what it is today, for better or for worse.

Sometimes people ask where to start with learning psychic vampirism, and the answer almost universally is Michelle Belanger's Psychic Vampire Codex, but Father Sebastiaan also has a number of books that are helpful too. However, all books on vampirism are either based on the writer's personal experience with it, which varies greatly, or their group's dogma, which can be misleading. It can be easy to read any of these books and believe the author knows exactly what they are talking about, the history of vampirism, etc. They don't, they only have a part of the whole picture, and Father Sebastiaan's part is entirely exclusionary of the sanguinarian experience. Without fail, in every one of his books, there is a section devoted to how sanguinarian vampirism is basically a sin in his eyes. His opinion is always rooted in how he believes that it is a guarantee for disease and in his own words "blood drinking is the most highly dangerous activity you can do" (From the end of this short vice documentary called 'The Real Vampires of 'True Blood'?' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XmdsiyjbT0]). I can understand how people coming from an psychic/magical vampirism perspective see blood vampirism as a lesser choice. They see the act of drinking blood as a roundabout way to take in the life energy that is in the blood, so they see taking that energy in through psychic feeding as a better way to do it. That's not a problem, but the way that Father Sebastiaan does it has been a large factor that has led to the schism in the community, the ridiculous, elitist ideas coming from people on both sides, that only one of these vampiric experiences is the 'true' vampiric experience. And if he actually knew anyone from the sanguinarian side of things, he would quickly see how careful we are. We know that blood can carry diseases, so we test, and we communicate with our donors, easy.

I also personally have a problem with how his house, the Sabretooth Clan, deals with membership. In his own words, from his own site, he says that "Sabretooths are individuals that share the common experience of having had fangs made for them by Father Sebastiaan, which is known as the Rite of Transformation". And this I think is where the big issue, as well as the misunderstanding is. With other psychic vampire groups, like House Kheperu, vampirism is still something that awakens within you. It isn't a choice. That is and has always been one of the things that has made me feel so close to others that share my experiences. It is great to feel the good that vampirism can bring, but the part that makes me feel deeply connected to other sanguinarian, hybrid, and psychic vampires is that we all suffer in a way that no one else does. I can relate to that suffering and I can help others through it. To me personally, a receipt from a purchase of fangs from a guy in a cowboy hat that always feels the need to mention that fangs, a symbol that is, to me, synonymous with the mouth watering hunger I feel for blood and all of the pain I have gone through to see my own vampirism as a blessing rather than insanity, are a great sex toy, being the thing that gets you into his club, is an insult (that sentence feels like a train wreck, but hopefully it makes sense). I could go on about this forever, but overall, the way that he not only looks down on blood drinkers himself, but forces others to do the same, is disgusting. We didn't all bleed so much to be seen as less than others.

And I am no psychologist, but I do feel like I know where this elitism might stem from. We all know that White Wolf, the tabletop RPG company that developed Vampire: The Masquerade, had a large impact on the beginning of the community. Many vampires met through VTM when it became popular, including Michelle Belanger. Fantastic, a fun IP that has a few things we can sort of relate to in it, which gives the opportunity for people like us to have a fighting chance at finding others who might be able to understand us. But with VTM came a fantasy of big underground vampire houses with hierarchies, territory, etc. and that fantasy mixed with reality for some, it still does. Check out this documentary, called "World of Darkness" which can be found for free on YouTube for a deeper look into VTM, it doesn't directly mention the real vampire community, but sections of it are connected to the way that our communities started [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZbwivA3uj8].

And this idea of the vampiric delusion of nobility isn't just an idea that comes from research. When I was living in Arizona, I started really looking for community, meet up groups, anything. I found one other vampire that was living fairly close, and we joined out efforts trying to find or create a meetup group for the Phoenix area. I looked a number of times for established groups in the Phoenix area, but the little I did find wasn't active anymore. After a decent bit of looking, we were contacted by a group in the area, and instead of a welcome, a hello, or any kind of greeting I had come to expect that people suddenly meeting other people they have things in common with would give, we were told to stop trying to create a meetup group because they were the local house and we were infringing on their territory. Lunatic behaviour. Maybe if we were a part of their court system, that would make sense, but we weren't. In no world is one group of adults under the law of another just because they said so. It was basically kindergarten playground rules. I yearn for a world where, when you visit a city, you can contact the court there and find some connections. If someone is available, maybe you can go out for lunch, or they can show you around. We are all the same, psychic, sanguinarian, or otherwise, right? We have something that ties us together.

In all honesty, I don't mind the pageantry, the hierarchies (in moderation and for sensible reasons), or some of the flowery language. What I do mind is the misuse of these things, and large houses seemingly doing nothing to support their communities other than throwing events. Events can be fun, but 'vampire balls' seem to have become the face of the community and all we do. There are no teaching resources, there are no networks of butchers that might be able to supply clean animal blood, there is no effort to further knowledge, especially not in the realm of sanguinarian vampirism (luckily we have The Red Cellar and the Black Books).

This is probably long enough as is, and I could clearly go on a while longer, so my biggest problem with Father Sebastiaan is that he is seemingly always present for the things that have created rifts in the community, and distorted our use of community. And I'm fully within my rights to hate someone who looks at me and others like me, who have been so good and kind, as lesser, and filthy. I appreciate that he helped build the vampire community into what it is today, but we need people who are willing to care for, accept, and understand others to take the torch and carry it from here.