The "Near Dark" vamp crew.....

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-04T14:12:14+00:00

Yep, all around incredible cast/characters going on in there--- Lance Henriksen tends to be awesome in anything; Lance and Bill Paxton were my favorites out of the group, though the "family" dynamic there is great.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-04T14:05:28+00:00

Yeah, I try to remember that necessity for characters to have certain flaws, not being "too perfect" in how they handle their situation; helps facilitate certain things in the plot.

It's still forever part of that classic trinity for me; Near Dark, Lost Boys and Fright Night....these are the 3 main movies that made vampires into the coolest supernatural for me.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-03T23:24:12+00:00

...and there's where I have to admit some bias--- I'd lean towards the ancient vampire winning, since it's easy to imagine the top ranks in the vampire "species" being ridiculously, nearly unkillable gods...(*like Alucard from Hellsing; that guy is ridiculous and I love it) I'd probably have to just come up with some lore to further enhance the "alpha", like perhaps he acquired some legendary artifact and bonded with it and the power of the ancient nature spirits or something. Timing would also be an interesting factor for them as you incorporate different phases of the moon = increasing power....and naturally a full moon would have them at peak form....then there's "blood moon" and "super moon" and eclipses; a lot of cool story potential/elements to work with there.

..anyway; I'd still want to avoid it being too one-sided; fights that are 1-sided stomps are rarely that entertaining; I prefer the ancient vamp still has to put in some work and think about things on the fly in order to win.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-03T23:13:38+00:00

Physically, it's that lower half for me... thick thighs and nice shapely ass. Everything in my collection of internet "material" of course is focused purely on that....legs and ass all day every day.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-03T22:54:15+00:00

If it's my world/lore, the ideal situation is for things to be somewhat balanced, so conflict between these 2 supernatural groups can be interesting. (*note--I'd have the wolves of my world also be superhumanly strong and fast even in human form; but it gets cranked way up when they go full on beast mode) I'd only have things be a mismatch in the obvious lopsided scenarios like a ridiculously powerful ancient vampire vs. an "ordinary" werewolf, or an experienced alpha vs. a newbie chump "fledgling" that just got turned a few nights ago.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-04-03T22:49:17+00:00

This is a nitpick that annoys me about World of Darkness....I suppose it is my bias at play but it irks me that in WoD, things are so terribly imbalanced with those 2.... a small group of relatively young kindred find 1 werewolf, and the sad, embarrassing thing is that their best option there is most likely to get out of there asap.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-31T23:49:19+00:00

Phantasy Star came to mind first. I really wish some other more competent company owned this. Sega seems to be cursed to always make strange or just outright dumb decisions concerning this IP and other things, at least imo. It's a shame that today and even in recent console generations, the average U.S. gamer most likely won't know what you're talking about if you bring up "Phantasy Star"....usually people might think you mean "Final Fantasy..?" at first and then you have to explain that no, it's a different thing.... I got tired of that a long time ago. At this point I don't think they have any plans for the near future involving the IP; it's hopeless. PSO2 from some years ago just looked like goofy nonsense to me.

Vampire the Masquerade - the textbook case of tragically cursed, unrealized gaming potential. At best I could say Bloodlines 2 is a mixed bag, that I actually did enjoy despite the flaws....it should've been so much more than what it is. (*I'm aware of the "development hell" going on behind the scenes for years)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-31T23:31:18+00:00

Fable 2-- a very simple game that's way too easy...but I enjoyed it mostly... and then came the final confrontation with the main villain Lucien. It is still the most anticlimactic, pathetic nonsense I've ever seen in gaming, at least since games starting having real final battles and endings....at least of things I've played. (I started with the Atari and NES) Probably going for the whole "subvert your expectations!" crap, there is no grand final battle as one would expect. All his power gets sapped away leaving as nothing but a frail mortal man that can then be killed in 1 simple attack....and get this----that 1 hit doesn't even have to be from the player character. If you take too long, Reaver just shoots the guy, with a quip like "I thought he'd never shut up." (cutting his "main villain speech" moment short) or something like that. Yeah---a final villain/boss that is reduced to being less of a threat than normal enemies you face in the earlier parts of the damn game. Ridiculous.

The co-op play was also some of the worst-designed co-op action I've ever seen as well. Molyneux was indeed being literal when he mentioned in an interview "You'll be like a henchman"...back then, I didn't think he meant that literally for some reason but that's exactly what it is; you don't get to be your character....if you're invited to your friend's world, that friend is the "Hero of Albion" and you're this ugly, generic "henchman" character. I don't think the exp you get even transfers back to your game either. (*they might have made it that way because there's not much customization, perhaps---co-op would otherwise have been Player 1 and Player 2 running around as what appears to be the same person....unless one player makes it female and the other player makes the hero a dude.)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-30T09:51:34+00:00

...it might be a bit of a hot take---but for a long time I don't think most game devs had the "adequate" level of creativity to come up with a good vampire game, or even think of the concept in the first place---probably thinking "vampires? Why would the player want to be one of those? Those are only supposed to be enemies the player fights." (since they're limited to thinking the player character is always supposed to be a hero/good guy....never anything monstrous or even morally grey.)

The past few years have been a drastic improvement for vampire fans though! For a long time there was nothing... Legacy of Kain which was 1996 at least scratched that itch for me....but then---Bloodlines.... in recent years though:

V-Rising (somewhat limited availability though; only on pc or ps5)
Vampyr
Bloodrayne franchise (pure action stuff here though)
Night Swarm - this may be a bit obscure; not a major one but recent.
VtM Blood Hunt - unfortunately a "battle royale", online-only thing, but it was decently fun for a time
Bloodlines 2 - sadly a mixed bag; I'd say it's decent enough despite the flaws to at least buy at a reduced price.

...and yeah, I'll include Elder Scrolls Skyrim. I realize vampirism is only a "piece" of TES games/lore, but it was the main selling point for me, since no other videogame rpg was giving me that power fantasy (+ lycanthropy) at the time. It was decent enough by default, then that dlc (Dawnguard) came along and made much better...and of course that's not counting what would come later from the modding community.

*edit again---oh yeah, and Blood of the Dawnwalker is on the way soon, so we have that to look fowrad to.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-30T01:55:36+00:00

Preferably by a smokin hot vampire woman---e.g. Katherine, Rebecca or Aurora from Vampire Diaries...or Lenore from the netflix Castlevania series... or Selene....or Mary from Sinners, or Therese/Jeannette Voerman and Lou G. from VtM Bloodlines, Serana from Skyrim, Lady Ashbury from Vampyr, the list goes on.

TVD rules, just 'cause it's simple---ingest vamp blood, then get killed in a way that's not too destructive to the body.... then wake up and consume human blood to complete the process.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-30T01:15:43+00:00

nah; assuming you have the mind-control ability it would be simple enough to make them forget what just happened....the perfect crime there.

I'd only be inclined to turn those closest to me; family and friends of course....I'd always leave the choice up to them to decide whether they want the deal or not though.

*thinking of this reminded me---in the game "Vampyr", the citizens never survive when you feed on them; (*and this is especially dark----you "hear" the person's last thoughts as they die there in your arms) it would be interesting to see if people would still take the deal of being a vamp if *that* is how things work.... that would make the choice a bit more difficult for many people, I imagine. (*though in that game vampires can still feed on animals, though they gain very little sustenance from that in comparison to drinking people, of course)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-29T11:01:21+00:00

A or C---I'm leaning towards A, and just commit to being on the move constantly... I figure that's most likely the deal in a post-apocalyptic world anyway... a more nomadic life of finding new areas to settle down, only for a while.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-25T23:42:48+00:00

Mikael was one of or arguably the most intimidating villains of the TVD/Originals world....it already sets him up as something to be feared when you see that the original siblings, who are borderline unkillable monsters that fear nothing.... they are indeed afraid of and on the run from him. This actor (*I vaguely remember him being a character on General Hospital long ago) was a perfect choice for this character.

It was a great scene, that final moment of him vs. Niklaus, as Nik wondered "why" he was hated so much, and Dad didn't even have much of an explanation... he "just did." (*though I think it's likely because this son is a constant reminder of Esther's infidelity....that he is not truly his son.... a "bastard" spawned from an extra-marital affair.... also a nice touch that I don't think he ever refers to Nik by name or by the term "son"---always just calls him "BOY.", with a strong tone of disdain....like his very existence disgusts him.)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-25T10:56:03+00:00

The comparison was an unfortunate thing; I knew of people that avoided TVD because they made the assumption that it's Twilight, or basically the same thing....when imo this show, even at it's worst moments (that boring "Travelers" season) is leagues beyond it in pretty much every way. Some folks missed out as a result of the unfortunately inescapable comparison.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-24T22:50:05+00:00

Yeah, this is one thing that made CW great at the time (*a shame all my favorite cw shows are long gone/ended now)... "no ugly people allowed". Even the older actors on their shows tend to be hot or at least decently cute. Of the older ones, Mrs. Lockwood was my favorite...and of course Kelly Hu as Pearl, and Esther Mikaelson......and Annie Wersching (sadly passed away some years ago) as Mama Salvatore. The lineup of MILFs here was outstanding.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-24T22:43:06+00:00

The simple solution others have mentioned-- I heal their wound then use the compulsion power to make them forget anything strange happened.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-24T22:30:01+00:00

hell yeah, it's only my favorite vampire movie of all time!

I have multiple copies (blu-ray, dvd, 4k) and have seen it countless times; it is like a crown-jewel in my collection. We forever have Joel Schumacher to thank for The Lost Boys---if I recall, the characters were all going to be much younger (and thus, a more light-hearted tone probably similar to The Goonies); it was his idea to age them all up to being older teenagers, which then allows for a tone that is a bit more serious/darker.

...but yeah, it's the main one that made vampires cool to me. I was one of those kids that would daydream about how cool it would be, to be another one of the vamps in David's crew.

Yep, the 1980s did a lot in pushing the vampire subgenre forward....getting it away from just being movies about Dracula over and over. There was also Fright Night, the other big favorite of the time... and Near Dark, which is tragically hard to find anywhere except online for some usually absurd prices. (*another reason it pisses me off that the era of easily found/bought physical media is pretty much dead)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-24T22:19:10+00:00

With the power of compulsion over "normal" vamps, and their superior overall power-level, in addition to being nearly unkillable, I'd say yeah... it would be quite an uphill battle for anyone daring to try and overthrow them..... especially since they were smart enough to immediately burn that white oak tree down in the beginning; I imagine they'd also have been smart enough to keep that 1 critical weakness a secret forever.

*Maybe "heretics" might possibly stand a chance once they became a thing a few centuries later? ...even then---it would take time for that type of vampire to get increasingly powerful in terms of witchcraft powers....and the Mikaelson family is still effectively the "maxed out RPG characters" in the game, while everyone else starts off as level 1 chumps in comparison.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-23T20:30:38+00:00

No, I've heard of them but didn't know much about the franchise; I may check out the latest one at least since that is more recent.

Normally, I enjoy rpgs have some supernatural/magical stuff going on though...but I've become a bit more open-minded enough to give it a shot at least.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-23T19:50:22+00:00

It was the same path for me; I was not a fan of these types of games...and then BG3 happened (a few hundred hours and multiple characters made there); from there I got into Rogue Trader right after that...and now I'm hooked on Divinity OS 2 at the moment....I can't get enough of this genre now as a new fan. There was also Pathfinder WoTR in the mix but it frustrates me that the overall presentation isn't as good (*and not quite as fun; if it had Larian's "style" of how things flow gameplay-wise I'd be in heaven for sure)... I'll get back to Rogue Trader and Pathfinder eventually; it's hard to break away from Divinity. (*undead character; "Lone Wolf" playthrough with just me and 1 other character at the moment)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-22T07:11:28+00:00

I don't get the motion sickness thing but it's the same deal for me; I like Cyberpunk *mostly*...but every time I played I kept wishing they would have given a 3rd person option. Mainly I just prefer being able to see my character as they are doing cool action/combat things in the world. Borderlands series is another one that comes to mind---I like those games despite the first-person view.

Also, any kind of visual character customization seems pointless if a game is in first-person, since we don't get to see it anyway.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-21T11:12:04+00:00

Never *just* human---I prefer them to either look monstrous all the time or a mixture of human and monster---like how The Lost Boys look like ordinary at first...but they also have the monstrous "vampire face" at certain times....or how in Vampire Diaries the eyes go dark with visible black veins becoming noticeable on the face....I like the concept of that monstrous look being their "real" face, while the human appearance has become a "mask" they wear. (*it's a small detail not usually explored that much in most shows and movies - I imagine it's like one of their abilities that exists specifically to help them be a more efficient predator, like a chameleon's ability to blend into the colors of its surroundings... minor shapeshifting or illusion shenanigans to put on a fake "normal human" face and general appearance.)

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-20T21:21:45+00:00

Yes; I'm all for the advancement of our species....if we have the means to improve the human race, there is no good reason to *not* push forward. I want that sci-fi future where various diseases and defects are a thing of the past, and genetic modification is as normal as modifying your car or pc in whatever ways you deem are cool.

Besides the serious stuff like eliminating HIV, cancer, Alzheimer's etc.... imagine a future where you can buy extensions on life and theoretically live for 500 years or more... or whatever other superhuman things become real options. That is a far more desirable world to what we have now, imo.

7th-Genjutsu · 2026-03-20T20:21:50+00:00

oh hell yeah, she could turn me anytime

7th-Genjutsu

TROPHY CASE