#relationship autarky

[autuboho]

Amatomativy Partner culture has ruined men

The friendzone wouldn't be a bad thing wouldn’t exist if friendship was seen as equal to love romance partnership

[milk-crafting]

Watching tumblr kill the quality on this even when it's not great in the first place is insane to me, but here we are

This is Rosin, a Lamia neonate who was embraced when she ran off to the woods (in Sequoia/King's Canyon National park because that's my fave hehe) in 1990. She was running away from a shitty relationship, planning on not coming back if you catch my drift, and was jump-scared by her sire-to-be. She fell down a cliff, hence all the scars, and her sire (who was an Autarkis and had planned on embracing her much more 'gently' than that) ran to the bottom to embrace her before she could bleed out.

Her sire, Beryl, lived in the national park with a Harbinger named Alessandro, staying in a couple different caves and old, long-abandoned cabins where the both of them could work on Allessandro's research away from the Camarilla and its political machinations.

Rosin would set out on her own after 20 years, and would join the Camarilla to find a sense of stability. She'd become a bodyguard for hire, a pit fighter, and an occult scholar. She's trained in Camarilla dueling, and uses a hunting knife that was a gift from her sire.

She's loyal to the Family first and the Camarilla second, and finds herself in San Diego currently, but she's bound to set off and travel somewhere else if the city doesn't have the purpose she's looking for in her unlife.

[vtm-character-gacha]

vtm character scouting guide

this blog currently uses v5 of Vampire: The Masquerade. more editions and splats may come in future. no homebrew will be used at this time.

these characters are made by hand by a sapient, fleshy adult humanoid who is occasionally busy. some parts are randomised with dice. vtm is a special interest that the mod has indulged for over a year, but they do not know everything, and they are not a machine. please keep in mind that full character sheets will take the longest.

if you would like options within a range, state all options within the range (e.g. fledgling/neonate/ancilla). if you do not specify a range, within a category, it will be assigned at random as necessary.

MANDATORY:

aspects: full character sheet (FCS) (includes everything) | attributes & notable skills (ANS) | Discipline Powers (DP) | predator type (PT) | advantages & flaws (AF) | name (N) | physical appearance (PA) | biography (BIO)

OPTIONAL:

species: kindred/lick/vampire/cainite | ghoul | kine/human

gender identity: [specify gender identity here]

age: fledgling | neonate | ancilla | elder | methuselah | [specify apparent age range and/or ghouled age range here]

location: [specify city or country here]

clan: [specify clan or lack thereof here]

sect: camarilla | anarch | sabbat | independent (hecata) | autarkis

status: prince/baron/archbishop | seneschal/primogen/councilmember/bishop | sheriff/scourge/templar | harpy/sweeper

toggles: antitribu on (AT ON) | rare bloodlines on (RB ON) | loresheets on (LS ON)

additional notes: [any additional things the mod should know, such as restrictions or character relationships]

thank you for reading. you may now send your scouting ask.

[feministdragon]

"Obviously, it is not enough to say that all women are exploited and oppressed by men. There is not only the hierarchical division between the sexes; there are also other social and international divisions intrinsically interwoven with the dominance relation of men over women. That means the feminist movement cannot ignore the issues of class, or the exploitative international division of labour, and imperialism. On the other hand, the old argument, put forward by scientific socialists, that the ‘woman question’ is a secondary contradiction and belongs to the sphere of ideology, the superstructure or culture, can no longer be upheld to explain reality for women, particularly since everywhere the feminist rebellion was sparked off around the issue of violence.

The unresolved questions concern the relationship between patriarchy and capitalism, in other words, the relationship between women’s oppression and exploitation and the paradigm of never-ending accumulation and ��growth’, between capitalist patriarchy and the exploitation and subordination of colonies.

These are not academic questions. They concern every woman in her everyday life, and the feminist movement in its political goals and existence. If we are unable to find plausible answers to these questions, the danger arises that the feminist rebellion may be co-opted by the forces that only want to continue the destructive model of capital accumulation and which need the vitality of this movement to feed the slackening ‘growth’ process."

...

"In the course of time, it became clear to me that the confusions in the feminist movement worldwide will continue unless we understand the ‘woman question’in the context of all social relations that constitute our reality today, that means in the context of a global division of labour under the dictates of capital accumulation. The subordination and exploitation of women, nature and colonies are the pre­ condition for the continuation of this model.

The second thing which became clear was the realization that women in their struggle to regain their humanity have nothing to gain from the continuation of this paradigm . Feminists everywhere would do well to give up the belief expressed by scientific socialism that capitalism, through its greed for never-ending accumulation or ‘growth’, has created the preconditions for women’s liberation, which then can be realized under socialism. Today, it is more than evident that the accumulation process itself destroys the core of the human essence everywhere, because it is based on the destruction of women’s autarky over their lives and bodies. As women have nothing to gain in their humanity from the continuation of the growth model, they are able to develop a perspective of a society which is not based on exploitation of nature, women and other peoples."

Patriarchy Accumulation On a World Scale, Maria Mies, p1-2

the pdf of this book

[villainy]

for everyone if that is okay :3

What clan is your OC?

5. Who is their sire?

6. What was their relationship to their sire? Were they close in any way or mere strangers?

11. When was their embrace?

of course! this got a little long so answers are under the cut

1. what clan is your oc?

fair: toreador

kefka: hecata

more: ministry

monday: ravnos

5. who is their sire?

fair is entirely unaware of his sire's identity; his embrace was the result of a half-drunk hookup, and he cannot recall even his sire's name. what little information he's gathered seems to imply his sire was an anarch based in san diego who had been passing through los angeles when he embraced fair.

kefka's sire is an incredibly isolated frenchman by the name of félix chatel, an autarkis who devotes his time almost exclusively to personal studies of necromancy. he descends from clan cappadocian.

more's sire is edouard chambet -- a criminal fixer and supplier of various vices to the kindred and kine of tucson, arizona.

monday's sire is veli kontula, an operative and assassin for hire once based in london, england, who now drifts through various european cities. largely independent, he's willing to get his hands dirty with just about anything so long as the price is right.

6. what was their relationship to their sire? were they close in any way or mere strangers?

fair had hardly known his sire for a few hours before he was embraced -- their relationship was incredibly shallow for all the trouble it gave them. at times, fair does wonder why he was embraced at all, and he assumes coincidence is his answer.

kefka had never met his sire prior to his embrace -- félix found him half-dead on a riverbank in the middle of the night and found himself smitten with kefka. though he had been reclusive his entire unlife, having hardly interacted with other kindred, he embraced kefka as an act of both kindness and selfishness. when kefka awoke, changed, félix found he was quiet and borderline... empty. though félix remained enamored with kefka, he chose to focus on passing down his knowledge to kefka, including an advanced understanding of necromancy. when kefka had learned all he could, he disappeared from félix's haven.

more's relationship with edouard was... strained, at best. more worked with edouard during his life for a handful of years, as edouard was, at the time, posing as some sort of store manager where more worked as a stocker to get closer to him. after more's embrace, he found himself simultaneously resenting edouard and desperately wanting to please him. he never truly felt as though he could be kindred, let alone a minister -- perhaps that is why he threw himself into edouard's criminal empire so eagerly. to earn a place.

monday knew his sire for years before he was embraced -- veli was his domitor for four years. their first meeting was random chance, a lost sixteen-year-old monday lost and in need of help. veli found him, protected him, and covered up his mess. only a year later, monday took his first drink of veli's vitae. he was his ghoul for four years, carefully learning the art of hiding a body, wiping away fingerprints, mopping up blood, constructing lies. once a lost child, veli took time to turn him into a fixer and killer.

11. when was their embrace?

fair: 2004

kefka: 1833

more: 2000

monday: 1983

[nostalgiachan]

1, 2, 6, and 25 for leon & anima!!

[for those who don't quite remember my undead babies]

What clan is your OC?

Leon is Toreador, Anima is Ravnos

2. What faction is your OC? Do they conform to a group or are they independent?

Leon is part of the Las Vegas Camarilla, though he tries not to get involved with all their wacky vampire war shenanigans (beyond being an excellent source of scuttlebutt).

Anima, meanwhile, is Autarkis - while she's on good terms with Anarchs in the area and will help Cammies if it benefits her/she has to/they ask real nicely, her only real alliance is to her own family.

6. What was their relationship to their sire? Were they close in any way or mere strangers?

Leon had met his sire, Marina, at a few Seattle warehouse raves.

Anima was her sire, the Viscount Casimiro's, captive, simply a means to an end to lift his own vampiric curse.

25. How often do they cause a masquerade breach?

Leon, for his part, is usually good about not breaching; he's got a nice little club that brings him plenty of snacks, and even if he finds himself in a position where he has to Be a Vampire in Public, it's easy to explain away weird shit when you live in Las Vegas.

Anima, however, didn't reach 250+ years of age by not having her shit together.

[swoomoo]

1, 2, 3 for Amare and as an extra question, did you also chose that name because it means Love as well? I ask because I have an Amara.

Hi it's nice to see you here :)

1. What clan is your OC?

Lasombra

2. What faction is your OC? Do they conform to a group or are they independent?

She is currently Camarilla. She went Sabbat > Autarkis > Camarilla. Amare is socially distant but not by choice. She would happily conform to a group if given a chance. She is desperate for a since of community or family and has a strong desire to be loved. This is not evident though due to her lack of these things she grew up forcefully distanced from others which has caused her to be awkward, creepy, socially unaware (of her own mannerisms not others) and sadly blunt.

3. Answered!

Extra. did you also chose that name because it means Love as well?

Yes I did! She is my go-to OC. Her basic concept is a woman that is utterly obsessively in love with Vesper (@informaltorching OC). How we navigate this relationship varies between what system we are playing. Ultimately, she is a love letter to Vesper's player whom I am married to in real life. (sorry Vesper simps)

[ryttu3k]

Ship it meme, Crossover Edition: Astarion/Beckett.

[ship meme]

Ohoho, interesting! Let's go with this AU for it, where Astarion is a Lasombra Embraced around the 1290s, who got involved with the Anarch Revolt and later rejected the Sabbat to stay with his coterie of fellow autarkis.

How would Beckett meet him? Well, there's some interesting figures in their coterie. I think he'd be pretty fascinated in particular by Halsin (a Gangrel who's also a Gurahl kinfolk; a) it's unusual for kinfolk who are Embraced to stay in contact with their packs, but Halsin has, and b) Gurahl are thought to be extinct), Shadowheart (also kinfolk, was part of an Abyss cult), Wyll and Karlach (involuntarily involved in infernalism), and, if he knew about them, Aylin (Salubri. Just… Salubri). Astarion might get some attention due to Cazador's attempts at infernalism, especially if he actually is Azanaeli/Angellis Ater.

So, that's how they could meet in the first place! From there…

Don't Ship It

1. Why don't you ship it?

I feel there'd be some irreconcilable differences in opinion. Beckett, for instance, is very open to using seduction as a manipulative tactic. See: the Dracula thing, where he specifically seduced Dracula to get information and access to his library. I feel that would rub Astarion the wrong way in a bad way, because even if it's been five centuries since then, I don't think he'd be able to just disregard the prior two centuries of Cazador using him for the same purpose. I could see Astarion being a little disgusted by Beckett's tactics just because it is something he used to be all for.

Like I don't feel it's just casual sex that Astarion has an issue with. So long as everyone is consenting and not trying to control him, yeah, he might be fine with that. It'd specifically be the seduction for an ulterior motive thing that would make him go, "…no thank you."

Other than that, they just really don't have a lot of interests in common. Beckett is obsessed with uncovering The Truth and knowledge in general and routinely throws himself into peril for it, Astarion wants to live a comfortable, safe life. His top priority is not being controlled or manipulated, and Beckett has got himself in multiple situations where he's being messed with due to his thirst for knowledge. Astarion would just be. Ah. No. You go throw yourself into the lion's den, I'll stand back here, thank you very much.

If I was to ship Beckett with any of the BG3 characters? It'd be Gale. Both seekers of knowledge, whatever the cost. Of Beckett's coterie, I feel Astarion would be most drawn to his clanmate Lucita. A certain level of sophistication + badassery + willingness for bloodshed + has relatable sire-related trauma. They could sit at the back of the room and snark about the others.

2. What would have made you like it?

I feel if Beckett made it very clear he was into Astarion because he was very attracted to him, and that any sex would be solely due to that and not to Get Something Out Of It, Astarion would be more into the idea? Like so long as it's not transactionary, it'd be much more palatable. I can't see an actual romantic relationship developing, but friendship / maybe FWB could work.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

If Astarion could be persuaded to go on an adventure, the sheer amount of Chaos these two could get into would be incredible :D Their alignments at this point would just be. Chaotic. Yes, I know True Chaotic doesn't exist but it does now. (No but really I feel Astarion starts out Chaotic Evil due to sheer... lack of knowing how to People otherwise, but is much more Chaotic Neutral by the end of the game. Beckett I see as Chaotic Neutral-Good. So even if their interests and personalities clash, their alignments aren't too far off, at least.)

[autuboho]

I'm sick of the portrayal of platonic = friendship/family romantic = partnership/marriage if anyone is bold enough, please rewrite them in your own interpretation.

[milk-crafting]

For Lazarus! <3

2. What faction is your OC? Do they conform to a group or are they independent?

6. What was their relationship to their sire? Were they close in any way or mere strangers?

18. What are their thoughts on thinbloods?

Ty ty!!!

2. Laz is technically an anarch right now, but he's still a pretty fresh defector from the Camarilla. He would become an Autarkis if he wouldn't get Immediately torpored or ashed by someone for it (he isn't particularly useful, sneaky, strong or smart xD). He had a very idealistic view of the Anarchs and that's kind of morphed into him (unfairly) thinking they're "just as bad" as the Camarilla (a Prince he had a crush on got ummm. Deposed beheaded so Laz is still pretty angry about that). He really does fall into that very Tzimisce mindset though of "leave me alone and let me do weird shit".

6. It's complicated, and even despite a 60 year old one-sided blood bond Laz will admit that. Recently in-game he has been told that he can't pour from an empty cup, and his response was just that he doesn't think his cup is meant to be full and that he just needs to get better at coping with that. :). He loves his sire, and in his mind his sire loves him too but just not as much as he wants or in the way that he wants him to. His sire knows almost everything about him, but he knows very little about his sire on any level except a superficial one, even after decades.

18. He's a clannist asshole tbr xD but so far his only experience with thinbloods is them trying to kill and/or diablerize him! If he met one who wasn't like That he would probably just feel bad for them--but also he would think the alchemy is cool.

He doesn't fall into standard high clan/low clan clannism, its mostly based on who he's the most wary of. Like he has a lot of respect for Nosferatu and Ravnos (maybe even Tremere, but he doesn't give them much thought), but thinks Lasombra are untrustworthy and Toreadors are annoying.

[katowashere]

Icons of my WoD OCs! I'll put some info below, tho it's full of in-game terms 🤡

Blackbird (With-Friends-on-the-Other-Side), Theurge metis garou from Children of Gaia tribe.

Čížek, Sheriff of Darwin, Australia. Mysterious malkavian of unknown generation rumoured to be a survived ravnos antediluvian.

Golden Magpie, Anathema. Polish partizan embraced during WW2, 8th generation nosferatu Autarkis, previous Anarch.

Fénix-Otis Merlo-Ortega, 10th generation gangrel caitiff, shovelhead on the loose who managed to retain his 9 dots in humanity.

Robin, vampire hunter who targets Tremere clan only. De jure a ghoul of one young lasombra antitribu, de facto involved in a complicated slow-burn relationship.

Tiger of the South, Ductus, 9th generation gangrel from Australian Sabbath. Fénix's Sire, although they never met after the embrace.

Diablo, Priest, 6th generation tzimisce diablerist from Australian Sabbath. Follower of Wild Heart path.

Alva, nocker, run away from her parents after Chrysalis. Was picked up by an old samedi vampire who later became her parental figure and probably role model.

If you'd like to hear more about them - my DMs and askbox are always open.

Ps. I'm fairly new to WoD community and wouldn't mind to chat about other WoD characters and stuff 👉👈

[vespulok]

If by commercial relationship you really mean remaining out of our territory and not meddling within our affairs political or economic then of course.

Financial transactions with xeno entities are not permitted. Economic autarky must be maintained.

Ugh...

Attention wider galaxy. As punishment for my actions I, Bo-Ru, have been assigned to the penal duty of operating Exterior EM-COMM Station 1 on behalf of the Vespulo Hive Kingdom. All xeno communications towards the Vespulo Hive Kingdom are to be directed at this station. Any attempt to commune with any EM-COMM device within our borders other than the one on this station will be disregarded. That is all.

[bimalewife]

Walter and Jesse are close...asterisk. Even stripped of context, there is a fundamental power imbalance throughout the show. Jesse starts as Walter's platform into the drug trade and, after Walter quickly eclipses him, he transitions into his henchman. That's before we get into their personal dynamic.

Jesse is desperate for a father figure that will love and respect him on his own terms, and we do see Walt indulge that and even get caught up in it himself (what that says about his relationship with Walter Jr could probably fill a treatise) but it is never earnest or meaningful when it isn't convenient to Walter. He freely berates and abuses Jesse as a tool whenever it is useful to do so, and any justification is post-hoc. When push comes to shove, Walter is fighting for himself. Jesse is a bonus that occasionally clouds his judgement.

Finally, the central theme of the show rears its ugly head: Walter is a frequently-emasculated middle-aged man with no legacy and no accomplishments that meet his own standards of what a man should achieve in life. He has been given the means and justification to reinvent himself as an ageless, hypermasculine patriarch over all that he sees, and he relishes the opportunity to become that Übermensch. Meanwhile, Jesse is a young, futureless wastrel desperate to prove his status as a real man with real talents as a proxy for declaring that he deserves to exist and be happy. He resents that the people around him either think of him as an immature fuck-up or don't think of him at all.

Jesse and Walter do genuinely bond in their pursuit of masculine autarky - as men, as colleagues, as cooks - but this dynamic is inherently tenuous and artificial.

Also there's that one time Jesse, horrified at what he has done and terrified of what he will find when he gets home, asks Walter to go go-karting with him. OBVIOUSLY Walter refuses and is clearly perplexed that Jesse would even ask something so irrelevant. Cut to Jesse, spinning around in a dark go-kart track alone, at the edge of tears, before eventually giving up and returning home to a scene that is the closest thing the show's visual language can use to present fire-and-brimstone Hell.

Walter would refuse to buy Jesse anything at the gift shop, not just because it would be a rip-off, but because Jesse shouldn't want a stuffed animal and possibly wouldn't feel that he has yet earned one.

walter white i can refuse the murder and the drugs but i draw the line at being mean to jesse :(

[robotslenderman]

Ok, so I've played VTMNR a few times now, and I've noticed something which I think is interesting. Near the end of the book, if you've romanced Lettow and choose to fight the SI with him, you'll have the opportunity to kiss him in the hallway. If you decide to kiss him again, or just return to the room with him, there will be one retainer left. Depending on your relationship with Lettow, he'll act differently here. If your Lettow/Camarilla relationship is moderate (3 dots), he'll become cool and composed in front of the retainer. Additionally, he'll touch your wrist in a lingering way, which you realize he's doing in order to check your watch. If your Camarilla relationship is high (5 dots), the part about about him being "cool and collected, even in the presence of a single retainer he is the Eagle Prince" is not mentioned, and Lettow will touch your face instead. In my opinion, the nature of the relationship is more unclear in the 3dot interaction. Personally, I find that it feels more manipulative (though I'm probably not clever enough to explain why). With 5 dots, I follow him to Egypt everytime, but with 3 dots I still follow him. I'm just much more wary about how "happy" their relationship will be. Will he sacrifice my character to the Sabbat if needed? Who knows! Although, really, who's to say you're not being played by him the entire story, even with a full relationship meter.

Another variation I've noticed is during the confrontation with Donati when Lettow flutters up the steps, he will A) see you and force himself to stand, B) stand (because he's an elder), or C) rise to his hands and knees, but is too weak to get up more. I'm not sure what the trigger is for whichever action he takes (or if there are more variants of this), but my more moderate relationship characters got either scenario A or B, while my high relationship character got scenario C. When I played through it, I personally liked scenario C the best because to me, it feels like he trusts the main character enough that he's willing to afford a moment of weakness around them. Afterall, he's still able to attack Donati no matter if you get A, B, or C, so he's clearly not that close to the brink of death.

While I love Lettow and his romance, I'm pretty confused by it all. First of all, I don't really understand his character or ambitions too well. Despite how friendly and trusting he seems in the the first chapter (showing you Jasper's death? Why?), he's suspicious of the courier from the start (if you spy on Carlos in the parking garage, he'll reveal that Lettow thinks you might be an SI agent). And I don't think that suspicion ever goes away, it just evolves. He dismisses the idea that you're SI, but then he thinks you're allied with *potential diablerist* Julian (even if you aren't) then quickly seems to realize it's you (maybe by sensing her in your blood?). He continues to suspect you, until he seems to REALIZE realize that you diablerized Aila. Before the final confrontation between you, Julian, and Lettow, there's a moment where Lettow is reading his book and asks you in a tired, soft voice "I need to know why you--". He never gets to finish that thought, but I'm pretty sure he's asking why you killed her. However, after the warehouse meeting, Lettow decides to spare both you and Julian?? Because he's tired and lonely?? I dont get it, what's his agenda? Why spare them? From what I know, the traditions say that killing/diablerizing a fellow vampire is punishable by death, so isn't Lettow actively going against the Camarilla? I can kinda understand if he doesn't want to kill the player character, since he thinks Aila is in our veins, and he's potentially formed some sort of attachment to us (though I think at this point, Julian's formula has completely eradicated any traces of Aila from our blood, so surely Lettow can detect that?). However, I can't really understand why he spares Julian. Maybe he does it because the author wants to highlight that Lettow is a rare breed of kindred, one that's truly benevolent with a high humanity, but that's the only reason I can think of. Really, I'm just not sure what type of person Lettow is, or what his game is. Julian is clearly depicted as being pretty manipulative and as having these huge ambitions that he needs the courier to help him achieve, but I don't think that's true for Lettow. Asides from running packages, he doesn't really benefit from them (asides from the whole "maybe Aila's reincarnated" thing). So maybe he's manipulating the player at this super high level, but you know, maybe he's just actually a great, merciful person (except he did actually kill a ventrue in his court for having conspired to diablerize Invidia Caul. So what's up with that?)

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this monster of an ask, and please let me know what you think!

THANK YOU ANON FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ASK.

TL;DR at the bottom!

If your Lettow/Camarilla relationship is moderate (3 dots), he'll become cool and composed in front of the retainer. Additionally, he'll touch your wrist in a lingering way, which you realize he's doing in order to check your watch. If your Camarilla relationship is high (5 dots), the part about about him being "cool and collected, even in the presence of a single retainer he is the Eagle Prince" is not mentioned, and Lettow will touch your face instead. In my opinion, the nature of the relationship is more unclear in the 3dot interaction.

Honestly, personally? I just write this off as him not trusting you nearly as well. "Lingering" suggests he *wants* to touch you, but the biggest giveaway is that he doesn't seem to have the need to check your watch at all in the five dot one (if I’m understanding you correctly). That tells me that with five dots, he just openly wants to touch you and isn't afraid to show it (aww), but with three dots he's a little more reluctant and is just *pretending* to check your watch.

He's got walls up in three dots he doesn't in five.

Another variation I've noticed is during the confrontation with Donati when Lettow flutters up the steps, he will A) see you and force himself to stand, B) stand (because he's an elder), or C) rise to his hands and knees, but is too weak to get up more. I'm not sure what the trigger is for whichever action he takes (or if there are more variants of this), but my more moderate relationship characters got either scenario A or B, while my high relationship character got scenario C. When I played through it, I personally liked scenario C the best because to me, it feels like he trusts the main character enough that he's willing to afford a moment of weakness around them.

That's my exact same impression too -- there's trust with five dots that doesn't exist with three.

Despite how friendly and trusting he seems in the the first chapter (showing you Jasper's death? Why?), he's suspicious of the courier from the start (if you spy on Carlos in the parking garage, he'll reveal that Lettow thinks you might be an SI agent).

Okay I actually do have thoughts on this.This gets a little bit beside the point of your ask, so bear with me.

Regarding Jasper -- all I can say is, "Why NOT show you Jasper's death"? He doesn't have any reason NOT to show you. It doesn't make him vulnerable for you to know that Jasper is dead, or how he died. It doesn’t give the Courier any kind of edge against him. So Lettow has nothing to lose and everything to gain (your trust) by making you think you’re important enough that you get to watch the video.

Regarding Lettow thinking you're an SI agent -- I know this isn't the point of your ask but I do have thoughts on that, so please humour me for a moment before I go back to your point --

There's something very subtle in VTMNR that is never shown outright. It's very, very subtle but if you think about it, there's a really big reason why Lettow could think you're an SI agent despite being a vampire.

Think about it. Lettow himself points out that he's the only Prince that is as paranoid as he is about the SI, and yet Tucson is swarming with their agents. All the other Princes are emailing and texting and they're not dealing with the SI to nearly the degree Lettow has.

So what's the difference between Lettow and those Princes?

Lettow has an Autarkis in his Domain who's constantly blowing the Masquerade, that's why!

Who keeps calling you and speaking openly about being Kindred?

Julian.

Who keeps pinging the SI in his phone calls, forcing you to switch phones over and over?

Julian.

Who keeps loudly saying things like "WE CAN'T LET ANYONE KNOW WE'RE VAMPIRES" potentially in earshot of the SI, who you KNOW are watching you?

Julian.

Julian flaunts the Masquerade CONSTANTLY. And in doing so, he makes Lettow a target, because Lettow’s the guy in charge of the area!

So what has this got to do with Lettow thinking you're an agent of the SI? I have to admit, I can't quite connect the dots here, but I think it goes back to Julian once again. Julian's operating under his nose. Julian doesn't give a fuck about the Masquerade. Julian has links to you. I wouldn't be surprised if those factors, combined perhaps with stuff happening behind the scenes that the Courier never sees, is why Lettow at first believes you're an agent of the SI.

Basically -- Lettow sees Julian pulling shit, and at first thinks it’s because he’s part of the SI. Lettow sees you have connections to Julian (or perhaps the other way around) and thinks that because of that you have connections to the SI as well.

Later, Lettow does admit the idea is ridiculous, because he sarcastically tells Dove (paraphrased) “why yes, I’m sure that this vampire isn’t helping the vampire hunters.”

(I also believe that Julian is the one that actually SENT the video of Jasper's death to Lettow. I honestly can't think of any other explanation as to who it can be from. Obfuscate doesn't work with electronic devices, indicating the video has been doctored to hide Julian, and who would do that except Julian himself, especially since he tells us that he has video editing skills? Julian knew that Jasper was recording, but didn't wipe the video or take the camera to erase evidence of his crime. So who else but Julian sent that video?)

Anyway, moving on --

Before the final confrontation between you, Julian, and Lettow, there's a moment where Lettow is reading his book and asks you in a tired, soft voice "I need to know why you--". He never gets to finish that thought, but I'm pretty sure he's asking why you killed her. However, after the warehouse meeting, Lettow decides to spare both you and Julian?? Because he's tired and lonely?? I dont get it, what's his agenda? Why spare them?

My impression is that it was just that -- because he was tired and lonely.

At first he lets you live because his couriers are dropping like flies and he needs every one he can get. And as the story goes on, he gets tireder and tireder until he seems on the brink of succumbing to torpor himself. (Bitch is 200 years old and whining about how old he is even though he had an 800YO girlfriend!) At the end of the story, he's exhausted.

And he's also quite clearly severely depressed. And apathy is a strong symptom of depression.

So yeah. I think he spares both the courier and Julian simply because he's too tired and depressed to give a flying fuck any more. Aila's gone, killing the courier won't bring her back. What's the point in killing them? What's the point in killing Julian, when he demonstrates several times he thinks Julian is no threat? (He's wrong, but he clearly underestimates Julian -- he tells Julian that the Masquerade will survive Julian, and he tells Dove that Julian is "just an Anarch.")

I also think his feelings regarding Aila herself are complicated -- it must HURT to survive someone who died via what's essentially suicide. He knows Aila was suicidal. He must have complicated feelings regarding that -- feelings like he wasn't enough, feelings like maybe she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

So yeah. I think he was too tired and lonely and too devastated to care about enacting justice against either of them. I think he just wanted to put it behind him. Run away to the Middle East, let it go, put it behind him, never think about it again.

As for Lettow’s agenda itself?

I’m not going to say he can’t be manipulative. But I do believe he isn’t as manipulative as the other Princes, and that he sincerely does want to do better than they do.

The biggest evidence in support of this, if nothing else, is that Lettow is Gangrel. Gangrel, as a rule, don’t do political bullshit. They tend not to participate in the Jyhad. They tend to be loners, and they often don’t raise their own childer -- so they (often) lack a mentor/mentee relationship that other clans have, meaning that nobody was there to mentor them in ways to survive, let alone thrive, in political bullshit.

So that means Lettow would be drastically inexperienced in manipulation and bullshit outside of what he’d have seen as a mortal aristocrat, and would also probably be way less tolerant of political bullshit than other Kindred. He doesn’t have Dominate to help him. He doesn’t have Presence to help him. Just a magic bird, his own shapeshifting skills and what his friends can give him.

Remember that Lettow became Prince because there was literally nobody else available. He said so himself that he basically stepped into the job because there was nobody else -- he was the one that killed the old Prince (and in a rather extra way, no less) and there were no other Elders in the area.

Plus, by this stage, Aila was dead and he wanted to hunt down her murderers. Or, if I have my timelines incorrect, she was in torpor and therefore vulnerable and in need of protection.

What better way to do that than with the resources a Prince had at his disposal?

I don’t think it’s a complete coincidence that he stopped being a Prince on the same night that he finally confronted her killer.

TL;DR --

Lettow doesn't trust the Courier as much if their relationship with the Camarilla isn't great.

Lettow underestimates Julian, and doesn't think he's a threat at all, even though it's almost certainly Julian that drew the SI to Tucson like flies to honey.

By the end of the story, Lettow is deeply depressed, apathetic, and on the border of succumbing to torpor and ennui himself because of that, and so literally doesn't care enough any more about bringing Julian and the Courier to justice.

Unlike other Princes, Lettow is from a clan that typically is separate from all this political bullshit, has no social Disciplines, and had a motive to be Prince in that his lover was dead and he wanted to find her killer with any resources he could get to be at his disposal. So I truly believe that while he may feel the need to be manipulative from time to time, he truly did want just what was best for the Kindred around him.

[mz-elysium]

Finished Series: City of Fallen Angels

[ID: a photoshopped header, with a weathered and cracked angel statue on the right, with a gold and red title of “City of Fallen Angels: A Vampire the Masquerade Series”, and four pictures of characters’ eyes on the left. The first, a white man with dark hair and blue eyes; the next, a Black woman with makeup and curly black hair; the third, an Asian man with shaggy black hair; the fourth, a young white woman with unkempt curls and freckles. (end ID) ]

GENRE: vampire urban fantasy; gothic-punk; tragedy with happy ending; romance (+gay romance); slice of life

INCLUDES: fluff and angst, Everyone is a Monster/No Heroes, hopeful ending, everyone lives (sometimes living is worse), found family, everyone needs hugs and therapy, vengeance, political intrigue, morals and facing who you are as a person

POV: multi third person

SETTING: Los Angeles, 2003; using Vampire the Masquerade setting, takes place the year before Bloodlines. VTMB events primarily book 2.

Book 1: Sundown: 133k words; AO3

Los Angeles, 2003. The Father of the Revolution, Jeremy MacNeil has abandoned the Anarch Movement three years ago and left his legacy in the hands of Salvador Garcia. The Barony of Angels in Central LA is a patchwork of roving vampire gangs, brutal Anarchs, and outcasts. No one to give orders. No one to restrain the Beast. Survival of the fittest. The Anarch way.

Charlie Bradley is Embraced into this chaos. The Malkavian fledgling digs her heels into what remains of her human life — her little sister, who fell into her care when their mother died last year, and her last best friend. Every night, the human life slips further and further out of reach.

Matthew Monroe has accepted it as his last option. As autarkis and a former Ventrue, he takes no voice in politics, rarely attends social events, and keeps largely to himself. His heirloom ghoul, Miss Audrey Hawthorne, is the last remnant of the sect and clan he misses dearly.

MacNeil granted him dominion over Silver Lake three years ago, when he arrived. But, as Garcia tends to remind him, MacNeil isn’t here anymore. When hunters begin to dog their footsteps, Monroe knows they are on their own.

Los Angeles is a powder keg and the sun is going down.

Book 2: Blackout: 290k words, AO3

December 2003. Los Angeles is under siege. A traditionalist faction of Camarilla, led by the enigmatic Jan Pieterzoon, cunning Victoria Ash, and the once-Anarch Prince Bartholomew Vaughn, has taken the Valley and looks to the rest of the city. Brewing in Westside, Sebastian LaCroix has brokered an alliance with the Voerman sisters and claimed his own crown. What remains of the fractured Anarchs squabble, terrified, and Nines’ Downtown barony hangs together with duct tape and promises. In the dark and dank, Sabbat stir and Tremere plot.

Four vampires tell the story of the cold war struggle over Los Angeles. Matthew Monroe, the Ventrue leader over a growing independent faction in Central LA. Jack Shen, a Gangrel with ties to Downtown and a mage lover who is more ruthless than he imagined. Charlie Bradley, a Malkavian fledgling who begins to explore her identity and place in the night. Zari, a Toreador infiltrator in Prince LaCroix’s court who can’t let her past go.

Blackout is a novel of personal horror and political intrigue. When the lights go out, all of us are left alone with our shadows.

Book 3: Daybreak: 180k words AO3

April 2004. One way or another, Los Angeles will fall. The war has lost its pretense of friendly smiles. Enemies have been declared, battle lines drawn. There will be no surrender. The Sabbat are beaten, but not gone. Camarilla realms of the Valley, Westside, and Angels stand steadfast against the struggling Anarchs of Nines' Downtown. The Middle Kingdom sharpens their claws in preparation. Deals are struck. Old blood bonds creak in the night. Generational cycles are broken. Splintered relationships long to be healed, as others shatter and reform in new shapes. A sarcophagus washes ashore. The Final Nights are at hand.

Six vampires tell the conclusion of the power struggle over Los Angeles. A novel of political intrigue and the power of mercy and compassion, where broken characters find love and learn how to heal each other’s wounds. In the darkest of nights, there is always hope.

Vampires lie. Vampires don’t have friends. All vampires are both knife and wound. When day breaks, we all must be able to live with what we have done.

original writing or fanfiction?

uses Vampire the Masquerade world and history, original main cast, mostly original supporting cast, original plot, and is largely written fandom-blind with exposition. Has tongue-in-cheek references to the game.

posts

Tag, including asks/memes : #wip: the city of fallen angels

A Sword to Fall On finished

Sundown WiP intro (less accurate)

Sundown comic sans powerpoint (mostly accurate)

Sundown finished

Monroe Intro (for Sundown)

Brief Character Intros

Book 2 comic sans powerpoint (most recent/accurate)

Sundown finished (2)

Book 2 intro/announcement for starting to post

Three beautiful commissioned covers

wanna read?

A Sword to Fall On (complete) : AO3

City of Fallen Angels: (1) Sundown (complete) :  AO3 

City of Fallen Angels: (2) Blackout (complete) : AO3

City of Fallen Angels: (3) Daybreak (complete) : AO3

the crew

Matthew Monroe. A perpetual outsider and outcast of noble Clan Ventrue, stoic and unsmiling and unfun. He strives to do the right thing, though has a streak of ruthlessness and anger. Loathing and fleeing the games of political intrigue, he finds himself dragged into them again and again — and, to his horror, learns to like them. Alone for too long, he struggles with feelings for his blood-bonded ghoul, Miss Hawthorne, and they share a tremulous relationship of love and hate that spans the series. Deeply longs for the home he left behind in San Francisco all those years ago, and the brotherhood of the clan he knows has never existed.  INCLUDES: friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, political intrigue, the meaning of leadership, found family.

Zari Adeyemi-Swan. An Anarch-sired rose of Clan Toreador, Zari finds the chaos of LA much to her liking. Her foster sire, Ashley Swan, is a living nightmare. Snarky. Cruel. Greedy. And such things have ways of rubbing off. Even escaping him after three decades, she has learned to look ahead and never face her past. As a mortal, she left behind a young family — thirty years ago. Now, babies are grown, a husband is wrinkled and white-haired, and life has moved on. Desperate to escape herself, she runs, but finds she is always there first. INCLUDES: secret admirer, the price of immortality, building a family, finding purpose later in life, #Growth.

Jack Shen. A himbo Gangrel with no intelligence but far too much perception, Jack’s crooked smile and mullet hides more than most will ever see. A determined cheerfulness beats back the darkness of his endless nights, as he seems to lose friends at every corner. Damsel, Skelter, the Professor. He finds his lover of fifty years, Ryuko Saito, an old mage clinging to life and youth at the end of his years, far more desperate than he could ever imagine. INCLUDES: personality cults, bickering married couple, magic and ghost busting, the strength of well-worn love.

Charlie Bradley. A new fledgling of addled Clan Malkavian, she grapples for the fast-fading memory of what it means to be human. As her nights wear into her, she struggles to atone for her crimes. A young lesbian searching for purpose and meaning, in a world that has taken everything from her. With everything it has taken, perhaps it owes her, too. INCLUDES: the Cobweb (supernatural schizophrenia), first kiss and first love, grief and starting over, exploring butch/gender, new adult building a life, found family.

[racefortheironthrone]

Thoughts on Powers of X #5

Didn’t quite catch up to Hickman, but I’m still going to get this done!

Can It Be Done?

Let me say off the bat that I think this is definitely the weakest of the HoX/PoX issues I’ve covered to date, although I still think there’s some useful stuff to be mined from here.

Starting with Xavier’s meeting with Forge: Hickman said in an interview that Forge being in his 90s X-uniform was an error, which suggests that this scene is supposed to depict Forge in his popped collar/short-shorts look before he joins the X-Men, which would make sense what with the meeting happening at his Dallas holographic house. (Although Xavier being in his X-movies wheelchair confuses the timeline some.)

Moving on from that, the bulk of their conversation revolves around the logistics of a fifth-generation Cerebro unit - which given that the specs we get later are for the seventh generation, makes me wonder what happened to the sixth.

Xavier claims that the first iteration was “solely my design” but that versions two through four were “Henry McCoy’s doing.” Is he hiding Moira’s involvement here?

We learn that the shift in primary function from location to copying didn’t happen until the fifth generation, which should give us a rough cutoff of how far back resurrections can go.

Forge identifies three key issues: storage, power, (namely, that they would need “an unlimited power source and unlimited storage”) and redundancy. More on this when we get to the infographic.

Xavier wanting five-fold redundancy is another example of five being a recurring number in HoXPox.

The solution to Forge’s issues turns out to be a combination of mutant technology and Shi’ar technology (notably antimatter engines and logic crystals...more on that in a bit), which Xavier seems quite smug about. Presumably this is due to his relationship with Lilandra - a lot of X-tech from the early 90s used “Shi’ar” as their technobabble of choice - but, given what we learned about Shi’ar in Moira’s Ninth Life using mutants as imperial subalterns, I wonder what their broader political interest is.

On a more general note, Xavier is being really manipulative throughout this discussion, but he barely needs to be, because Forge is always going to go for the technical challenge of pulling this off than the broader ethical questions of whether they should.

Cerebro Infographic:

Here, we learn that the current version of Cerebro is Version 7.0 - so at least two major updates beyond what Xavier and Forge were discussing.

The two main differences seem to be that, A. the new system is portable (hence why Xavier is always wearing it in HoX), and B. it no longer relies on Shi’ar power in favor of a Krakoan No-Space vent. This suggests a concerted effort to ground the new Krakoan culture on mutant technology without relying on outside sources (even allied ones).

Speaking of my earlier thinking about Krakoan biomachinery and cultural heroes, Forge will probably go down in the mutant history books for starting the Krakoan scientific revolution and directing it down firmly biological rather than mechanical lines. 

A sign of how sci-fi this all could get is that he’s accomplished the astonishing feat of harnessing a “Krakoan No-[Space] Vent” to provide “an unlimited power source for mutants living on the island,” even before the revolution begins. At the same time, if my hunch about where the power is coming from is correct, it might not be the best idea to use literal hellfire to fuel the engines of your new society.

One sign that Krakoa isn’t at technological autarky yet is that they’re still reliant on “Shi’ar logic diamonds” as the “primary choice for data storage.” This raises two interesting questions: first, who has possession of the digitized Sinister database? And second, is this the technology that Doctor Gregor seems to have gotten her hands on in X-Men #1?

As with The Five, this infographic sets up story hooks by establishing points of vulnerability: the system requires a weekly three-hour backup and a yearly hard backup “during which the process cannot be interrupted and Xavier cannot be disturbed.” This creates opportunities for things to go haywire while Xavier is looking the other way.

There’s a bit more on the issue of downloading the wrong mind into the wrong body, although here there’s more of a suggestion that it would usually be fatal...unless you have a mutation that would allow you to survive. Dunno what kind you’d need tho.

We also learn that skilled telepaths can replace their own minds with previous versions (presumably outside of the resurrection process)...and that Xavier’s done it twice. When he did that is an interesting question, because there have been a couple instances in which Xavier has had to switch bodies, which may have prompted his downloading.

Finally, we learn that the backup locations are really spread out: one’s on Krakoa Pacific, one’s on Krakoa Atlantic, one’s on Octopusheim, one’s on the Mind, and one’s with Moira in No-Space. So definitely trying to spread this system out so that it can’t be easily destroyed.

For the Children:

Finally for the best part of the issue, Emma’s recruitment scene. As befits Emma’s personal idiom, the meeting takes place at the Louvre, as Emma contemplates the Winged Victory of Samothrace. An omen of victory or of the glory of a lost civilization? 

Charles’ three-piece-suit and Cerebro is suprisingly dapper. 

Speaking of Hickman and character voice, Emma Frost is clearly a character that Hickman just gets on a bone-deep level, and despite all the claims that HoXPoX is all exposition and no character work, this scene really is a tour de force for the woman that Emma Frost has become since New X-Men.

Notably, Emma Frost is here to ask some of the big meta-questions in her usual acid-tongued way: is the Krakoan project “heroic” or “reckless” or “both”?

We can see from the jump that Charles is interested in “the Hellfire Corporation” as “an international prime mover;” he wants Emma as the lynchpin of his economic/geopolitical blackmail system.

In order to get Emma - who’s still pissed about what happened with Genosha, as she has every right to be - to sign on the dotted line, Xavier needs Magneto to make the argument that only he can make about this being the opportunity to “make right all the things that went wrong” by using the resurrection system to reverse the genocide.

This is where I start to wonder about Sinister and timeline issues - Magneto talks about getting mutant populations from 198 to 100,000 to 2 million in the space of a year as being “woefully behind” schedule, which makes me think that Xavier and Magneto were primarily concerned with getting their system not only active but in mass production before ORCHIS or anyone else could stop them.

Emma asks the meta-question, “what’s going to make it different this time?” And we don’t really get an answer - beyond showing us the sweeping vistas of Krakoa, we don’t really learn what Emma saw that convinced her this could work, although we do get the more important character beat that explains that Emma gets on board “one more time, then, for the children.” At her core, Emma Frost is a teacher who will fight for the next generation of mutants.

At the same time, it’s not like she doesn’t like money...so the new Hellfire Trading Company will handle the international distribution of Krakoan wonder drugs with a fifty year monopoly giving them a quite lucrative world-wide market all to themselves. I will have a lot more to say about mutant economic policy in the future, let me assure you. 

Interestingly, Xavier considers the “real matter at hand” to be getting the Hellfire Corporation representation on the Quiet Council (most likely out of an enlightened self-interest basis that you don’t really want that kind of mutant socio-economic power on the outside of the tent pissing in when they could instead be given a stake in Krakoa. It’s all very Hamiltonian.

I love the reaction shot when Emma learns that they want to bring Sebastian Shaw back from the dead to “run the black-book operations into countries who reject our sovereignty.” My guess is that Xavier and Magneto look at it as Shaw being a disposable and deniable asset who they could easily throw to the wolves if they get caught drug/mutant-smuggling. We had no idea, rogue actor, will face Krakoan justice, etc.

Finally, we get some good setup for the upcoming Marauders #1: Emma wants a third seat for Kitty Pryde (no matter what the actual title is), whose job it will be to “get the drugs in, get the mutants out.” Speaking of geopolitics...it surely didn’t escape people’s attention how many of the non-friendly nations had coastlines?

Quiet Council of Krakoa:

I don’t really want to spend any time discussing the Quiet Council here, because we get the reveal in the next issue. This is one of the few times where the whole delayed reveal through redacted infographic thing just did not work. 

Hhowever, we do get a sense of future political conflict with “there is some debate as to whether this council will continue in perpetuity or if some other system of government will replace it.”

Xavier Reaches Out:

This is a bit more interesting: here we see the other speech that Xavier gave, the one that went out to mutants rather than humans. (Somewhat annoyed that we don’t have a clearer timeline on this.) As we might expect, Xavier leans heavily on the unity message: “now is the time to put aside all differences and realize we are one people.”

And we see the “invitation” being extended to any number of groups that Xavier has had issues with in the past: Exodus and the Acolytes, Mister Sinister (who’s killed off the other SInisters and walked off with the database...I guess because Xavier’s message set off the psychic “reminder”), Omega Red (who we haven’t seen much of), and Gorgon (only slightly more).

But the meat of this is Namor, who’s the only one actually having a conversation with Xavier. Namor comes off very Nietzschean, implictly describing himself as one of “those beyond” good and evil, and arguing that anti-mutant bigotry ultimately stems from ressentiment. 

At the same time, Namor’s reason for rejecting Xavier’s offer raises the question of whether Moira fully “broke” Xavier of his original philosophy. 

In the Year One Thousand...

Ah yes, X^3. In retrospect, a lot of this could have been more compressed, if that wouldn’t undermine the six-part structure.

Here we really get into the ambiguity of ascension: in order to “ascend,” homo novissima have to divorce their minds from their flesh - only their minds will be saved, while all that lives will be destroyed in fire and lightning. It’s very Gnostic, if you think about it.

Nimrod really goes into Exposition Mode to lay out what Hickman is getting at:

emphasizing how all of these scales end up suggesting an endless ladder of “self-improving, self-replicating machines" - it’s turtles all the way up and all the way down.

Kirbons is a nice touch.

I’ll get into Titan theory come the infographic, but I’ll reiterate that these intelligences don’t seem to be acting very intelligently: “we reached beyond ourselves to to build a world-mind and attract a...protector...instead we attracted a predator.” Predation and consumption sounds way more Jack London nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw.

Types of Societies Infographic:

Titans being “isolationist” is a bad sign, until you realize the alternative.

When Hickman talks about a “Type O” on the Kardashev Scale, I think he’s referring to a “Type Omega-minus” (a civilization that can control “the basic structure of space and time”), since a Type Zero civilization isn’t nearly advanced enough to fit this group.

Strongholds aren’t isolationist but “warring factions seeking to actively destroy or absorb other Strongholds in order to achieve Dominion status...expansion and conquest are the altar at which Strongholds worship.” Two rungs higher than the Phalanx, and we’re still talking about imperialism...

Only with the Dominion are we told (not shown) a civilization that’s truly godlike. The fact that they feel threatened by the Phoenix is definitely going to come back; Hickman loved playing around with Galactus on his FF run, so I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want to take a swing at the purple guy’s opposite number.