Fantasy Vampire Corps of Eldergaard (Ooc)

[Mikotsuhime]

Her heart is in the right place, it really is. I feel so bad for her.

 

[Reynarda]

The last time Alyx broke down and cried was the first time she lost a fledgling in battle and that's been nearly four years, so she has about four years of pent up tears at this point

And poor Leo is going to feel so betrayed, but Alyx just wants him alive, she doesn't care if he's angry at her because then at least he's not dead

 

[jones573]

ooooh what is this thing they never speak of

also..... how long has this war been going on?

 

[Reynarda]

Haha, they never talk about how Astrid's mom told her to either grind Alyx Draya into submission or get her killed


Mmmmm dang, don't ask me that. I was thinking around 6ish years? So, for the first year, Eldergaard lost horribly, then the generals went to the clans, and then maybe sixish months to quickly train the commanders, and then they had them out in the field, wreaking havoc. (I'm basing this entirely around the fact that I've had Astrid and Alyx "sailing" together for 4 years, so please add your input if a different time frame works for you!)

 

[Reynarda]

Sorry, Georgiana, but Alyx was struggling there

Also I wasn't sure if Leo wanted to wake up or keep sleeping blissfully unaware, so if not, feel free to say they fell asleep like that and move on to the next morning...

Unless Georgiana had anything she wanted to do in the lab?

 

[jones573]

me: mwahahaha make all the characters sad

also me: nooooooooo too sad

 

[Reynarda]

Bahahaha, I know, I was giving myself palpitations writing that

Don’t worry, they’re gonna figure something out

 

[Mikotsuhime]

It’s all fun and games until the characters are really hurting

They’ll be fine! Leo will NOT allow Alyx to disadopt him that easily. He is like glue he sticks around.

 

[jones573]

yes, Gigi is going to go back to the lab and do Science™ for a bit but we dont actually have to include that- Her plan is to return to her room eventually and get a 1-2 hour nap in before sunrise, so she will be around if Astrid wants to come yell at her

which Gigi will NOT appreciate- I'm the bad guy here? Lady I'm not the one holding your friend, her family and her friends prisoner for an indefinite period of time and condemning her to a futile existence, gtfo my room

 

[jones573]

You mentioned you had a more technical explanation for vampireness? I would def appreciate that so I can figure out what sort of breakthroughs Gigi is gonna make

 

[jones573]

ALSO

re: length of war

I was def thinking this was a shorter war, like maybe two years or three? Though it is also possible that there had been border squirmishes and conflicts and Allaria didn't really consider it a 'war' until they started losing and/or it became a prolonged conflict...


re: Fredrick & Maskim relations

I have been waffling a lot BUT i think Freddy should be mostly obedient?

He would not have disclosed his identity to Maskim, as he would abhor the idea of getting any sort of special treatment. (also he gave his sigil ring to one of the other squad leaders, so that is why gigi is certain he's dead- one of the unidentifiable bodies was wearing a squad leader coat with Freddy's ring in the pocket, so). He was prol chosen to be turned because he's significantly stronger looking than the rest of them- I've determined that the royal family is 'tall', and he grew up with multiple meals every day and healthcare and shit, whereas a lot of the other men on the frontlines did not have that luxury so

also Fredrick is STUBBORN AF about his morals and his individuality cuz he is a foil for Gigi so I cant imagine him being willing to hurt Allarian troops. He gets punished for it? Sometimes doing the right thing has consequences. Maskim and/or the other fledglings get punished for it? He will tend to their wounds or try and mitigate the damage as best he can, but sometimes doing the right thing has consequences.

(this is why anyone accusing Gigi of black-and-white thinking is HILARIOUS because she is VERY flexible and willing to adapt to situations and Freddy is just... Not.)

anyways i have more thoughts on this but i have to go attend a zoom meeting so

 

[Reynarda]

I can just imagine Alyx trying to shove Leo over to the princess and Leo being like, "NO! You adopted me! If you want to get rid of me, you'll have to try to get me killed like the last person who adopted me!"

And Alyx will just freeze. And then hold Leo very very tightly before storming Vesper manor and kicking doors in and being like, "YOU DID WHAT"


ALSO I would like to remind everyone that this whole thing was Jones' idea, so don't come after me when you find out it's WORSE than Alyx thinks, m'kay

But what if we want more Delilah being dubiously ethical and ethically dubious

I should probably also mention that the elders of the clans are going to expect a Overview of the Terms of the not-alliance so I hope Gigi is prepared for a small speech.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Oh god I cannot imagine Alyx meeting Leo’s father. It would be terrible. Especially because he doesn’t actually think he’s a bad father!!! He’s like ‘I never hit my children which is more than some can say they should be GLAD I am so GENEROUS and LENIANT with them’ and he’s just. He is not a good parent.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Also I cannot wait until this party gets crashed. Chaos everywhere.

 

[Reynarda]

Alyx would just like... slap him

There would be ice on everything because she sucked all the energy out of the air and she is about to GO OFF ON THIS DUDE

YAAAASSSSS Especially since this CHANGES EVERYTHING and there's nothing left for it but to team up and save the world

Prepare yourselves. Biology discussion coming

 

[Reynarda]

Ehehehehe, you asked for it. I used to joke I was going to write my master's thesis on how vampires are scientifically plausible and my family was only about 51% sure I was joking until I finished a thesis on fish xD

*prepares powerpoint*

Alright, so vampire blood and human blood is not going to look the same under a microscope because human blood does not have a nucleus with DNA, but vampire blood DOES (all animals but mammals have nucleated blood, why is this? Supposedly to carry more oxygen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ). *begins to pace* SO these vampiric blood cells act very much like a virus (too soon?) and inject their DNA into the cells of the human (I can go super duper nerdy and talk about binding and stuff, but I will REFRAIN). This DNA gets stuck into the human DNA and transcribed and translated like human DNA (which happens with many viruses), which results in the changes you would see after the "Turning". So, technically a turned vampire is a vampire/human hybrid, BUT vampire DNA is always dominant and never recessive SO. (Plus, that would mean genetically the sire is the parent of the fledgling so do with that as you will)

*waves laser pointer* Now, you might be wondering why I don't just say "lol, it's a virus". BECAUSE I hate that trope and prefer them to be a separate species, thank you very much. Besides, there is a "cancer" (for lack of a different term) in dogs that spreads from dog to dog to and reproduces that way so let me have my fun okay. Plus, it doesn't reproduce like a virus because it reproduces the entire *cell*, not just some DNA/RNA and a protein/lipid coat. And viruses are not *alive* okay.

Now of course this means that the Turning™ is not fun, because it's basically a systemic infection and their body will naturally fight it even if the poor immune system has no idea what the heck this nonsense is. *takes a sip of coffee* If the sire takes good care of their fledgling during the turning, there's usually few complications. If they are left on their own, there's complications. Maybe the fledgling doesn't have enough energy to survive it, or DNA gets inserted in the wrong place, or they go into a cytokine storm and die from shock. But, the sire/fledgling bond (which is straight-up magic--there's some neurotransmitters in there [oxytocin of course], but we don't really even understand the parent/child bond in humans, so. It's kinda like that.)

ANYWAY *waves coffee tumbler* the idea of a vaccine is close because to keep a person from turning into a vampire, you would have to figure out a way to keep the vampire DNA OUT of the human DNA. We (irl) do this with antivirals (which granted, are not the best drugs human kind has come up with, but we got pretty good at anti-retrovirals like the ones for HIV). You can do this by blocking binding which blocks entry, blocking DNA insertion, blocking cell division, blocking transcription, etc., etc.. I would advise a cocktail of three of those just to make sure it gets good and blocked--especially since they can't arm humans against EVERY commander's DNA (which would be like trying to guess the flu, which is why people still get the flu even if they had the vaccine--there's thousands of different strains).

*turns off laser pointer* Make sense? ;P

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Hmmm, it’s good! I enjoy it. Very sciencey. I took eleventh grade chemistry and that was about it lol. But I dig it, it’s pretty easy to understand and plausible.

 

[Reynarda]

*bows*

Ehehe, I'm so glad

 

[Mikotsuhime]

And yeah, Leo did not... have a very good teenhood. I’ve been thinking about what he did to get his dad angry enough to finally say ‘I’m done’ and abandon him and I’ve decided that he definitely had some substance abuse issues. BUT I also realize that is a very sensitive topic and I don’t want to dig into it if it’s triggering or upsetting to anyone here.

 

[Reynarda]

Ooof, yeah, I was actually like, "I should have warned them that Alyx was going to have a panic attack better" so thanks for your thoughtfulness.

But I am very much the sort of person who likes to tackle these sorts of things with fiction, lol. It's cathartic for me, but I also know that's not the case for everyone. So, I'm cool with it if you both are.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Yeah, me too. As somebody who does have really severe panic attacks I always find it really... nice, in fiction, when somebody has one and their friends and family help them through it, if that makes sense. Like ‘yes, you get the support and love you need to get through that! You’ve got this!’ Lol.

 

[Reynarda]

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I should have mentioned it!!

But, ugh, yes, panic attacks over here too. Astrid's response is almost spot-on one of my best friends dealing with mine, ehehehe. But yeah, I get that. 100% give my characters issues and give them people to help them through those issues for self-comfort reasons.

Also, as a warning, Astrid's going to mention a time she had an anxiety attack just to remind Alyx that there's nothing wrong with struggling.

Oh, and I should mention that Maksim's older brothers are physically and emotionally abusive, and I won't show any of that, but it most likely will get mentioned, so if you need me to not do that, lemme know ^.^

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Nah it’s all good! I had a feeling it was coming so it’s fine. I don’t have any triggers in particular that really really get me, so we’re fine here.

And yes, it’s surprisingly really helpful to just. Give a fictional person problems and then have them work through it lol. It’s Good.

 

[Reynarda]

Length of war

I could retcon and say it's only been an "official" war for threeish years?

I've also been kinda toying with the idea of Leo being one of the first Alyx turned (traditionally, I had a very Lorge man named Amos as the firstborn), and that could have been what lead to all his complications, but I'm not sure (thoughts, Miko?) But we'd have to constrict the timeline I had originally (which is totally fine), so I was thinking we could work that in there possibly?


Maksim + Fredrick

So, I'm hearing non-consensual improper turning with will still intact? Or partially intact?

Maksim will 100% get in trouble for his vampires not behaving (it's that Eldergaardian chain of command), but he's pretty used to getting knocked around, so he'll just be grumpy about it and won't take it out on Fredrick or anything. He is very much so going to be in hot water for Alyx, Cyn, and Gigi escaping, but he'll be fiiiine

 

[Reynarda]

Right? Why is that so Good, haha

Like, look at them surviving hell, nicely done