Three inches of snow today. It's beginning to look a lot like... National Pizza Day?

WandaVision theory

I have no idea, I'm just along for the ride.

Happy New Year!

Let's make it a better one.

Ho ho ho

And now the annual "checking the new DVDs and Blu-Rays work, by which I mean watching them" begins.

I can now confirm that The Woman In Black (the first TV version) works.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas...

i love you grogu don't go

From The Ashes 6

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes

Dalton held up his end of the deal, so he could hunt in the gang's part of town and Laura could get bags from a clinic near a college, fresh from poor students.

Ella took Dalton to meet Broughton, the backroom blood seller. He was a thin man with dark rings around his eyes, looking more like a vampire than they did. He jacked up the price for a new face. "Supply and demand, you know how it is."

Ella brought two bottles back to Laura, who drank from them after eating a barely warmed steak and some vegetables. 

"Nothing tastes quite right."

Dalton went into town to a club, meeting up with Rain to make sure he got in. And Rain spotted someone inside. A Camarilla loyalist, maybe looking around the gang's holdings after the attack the night before.

They discussed options. A show of force would mean someone from the Tower knowing Dalton's face. So they decided to follow at a distance.

Laura and Ella talked about how this had happened.

"I feel more alive than I did before. By which I mean I hurt a lot more. But... I hope I stay this way, so I can look after the baby."

"I'd heard this could happen. There was this travelling Church of Cain guy..."

"Caldwell?"

"That's the one."

"He's hunting me."

Dalton trailed the loyalist's car back out of gang territory, and followed further with more care. He went to another club - a much fancier club - and he figured an unfamiliar vampire going into what was probably the Rack wouldn't be a good idea...

From The Ashes 5

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes 

"So, was the idea to let them know this place was burned?" Dalton asked, deadpan.
"I think it was to find out what they were bringing in." Rain shrugged. He braced himself as Dalton sideswiped the pursuing car.
"Must be something valuable..." Dalton grunted as the pursuing car scraped along a road barrier.
"I'm sure these guys will have no idea." Bullets cracked the passenger window.

Ella looked around the restaurant to see if she could spot the woman. She was talking to the wine waiter again. And as she snuck around, she spotted the woman's companion coming out of their car, looking for someone. Could he see her?

The gang car pulled a U-turn and slammed into the car full of gunmen. Dalton could hear groans and smell blood. "They're done. We should move before all this noise gets us noticed."

Ella watched as the waiter handed the woman his car keys, and she stepped out of the employee door, her driver joining her. The woman looked around with bright, alert eyes, and Ella figured better hide even though human sense couldn't see her. All she could do was get the waiter's license plate.

Dalton burned the car out once they were out of town.

Laura, who had been sitting up watching the local news report a car accident and a search for a hit-and-run driver, looked at the new car Dalton and Rain returned in.
"So that was a roaring success, huh?"

Ella made her own way back.

"If nothing else, they lost some gunmen and a drop box."
"And does that lead back to us...?"

Thanksgiving

Turkey sandwich eaten in solidarity. Happy Thanksgiving US-connected folx!

From The Ashes 4

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes 

Dalton left early to go with Rain, Ella and the downtown gang to a restaurant.

"Taking me for tacos?"

"Cam front," the gang leader explained.

"Am I staying in the car?" Dalton asked, making it sound advisory rather than questioning. Ella gave the boss a 'that would be best' look.

"Okay, keep a lookout for our kind of people." The gang left one of their own in their car as well. She didn't seem interested in making conversation.

They headed in through less than obvious routes. Rain looked down through a vent and nodded to one of the kitchen staff and the wine waiter. "Whoever's coming will talk to one of them." They withdrew to the cars. Ella stayed out, unseen.

After about forty minutes, a grey car pulled up. "Second most common car on the road," Dalton noted. "Good choice."

A large man helped a slender woman out, opening doors for her as she strolled in confidently. They sat at the bar and the wine waiter picked up a bottle and approached. The man paid, rather generously, and the woman passed along a note, then got up to leave, the man moving quickly to get the door.

She stopped as the man held the car door for her, glanced around, and looked straight at Dalton.

The gang's driver started their car, redlined it and aimed it at the woman.

The woman threw herself to one side, and sprang up to her feet. The man went for the car, and came back out with a submachine gun.

Dalton started the engine.

A second car rolled up, windows winding down to reveal more people with guns. The gang car pulled a U-turn and made for the road out.

"Fuck," Dalton said, and backed up over the sidewalk to get away, in a different direction. The second car went after the gang, the first after them.

But it didn't get far, two of its tires had been cut while no-one was looking.

The woman got out and took off running, heading for the restaurant, too many witnesses for anything more to happen.

Rain asked if Dalton could catch up with the gang, even that fight up...

VTM Clan Bingo

Yeah, I think Tanith really does get less than she did for Toreador bingo. But hey, she does have a leather jacket!

"Is it Gucci?"

"... Maybe."

From The Ashes 3

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes

Dalton drove Laura somewhere out of the way, and met Rain and Ella downtown. They introduced him to five vampires. Who, inevitably, asked for something in return for hunting rights in their turf. Not right away, but they'd need a driver soon.

He was back before daybreak, and made sure he wasn't followed. Laura, in turn, made sure he was safe from the sun before he fell to the death of the day. Then she went out, needing nothing more than sunglasses, seeking food and supplies for the human side of her life.

The sun set and Laura was there to see Dalton snap back awake and seemingly alive. They shared the last bag they'd stolen from a blood bank for the trip, and he made a note to check with their new allies where they could get more without making anybody mad.

Rain had his own problems that night. One of his sister's kids had had a run-in with the law. Nothing serious, but if the Prince heard about it he could make sure it became so.

"This is what happens when you still care about people," Ella reminded him.

One of the downtown gang had enough pull with the police to ensure Esteban ended up with a warning rather than a sentence. But it meant Rain and Ella would have to help on that job Dalton was already roped into.

At least Dalton could hit a club, long as he knew which were safe. Safe from vampire problems, anyway. He could still get the angry boyfriend mortal problems when trying to persuade a girl to step out for a smoke...

Laura slept during the evening. She'd gotten used to being up during the day as they drove, and her body was still alive enough to get tired even though the vampire side wanted to be up all night.

Dalton felt bad waking her. And worse telling her tomorrow night he'd be fighting...

From The Ashes 2

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes

There weren't many anarchs in Phoenix, though the number was growing. The Prince kept tight control on the city center, he made a show of the hospitality of Elysium but he was old enough to remember what the revolt was like in California.

Rain and Ella brought Dalton and Laura to a motel to meet with Gloria, the de facto leader of the movement.

"We just need someplace to stop for the summer," Laura said.

"And have the baby?"

"Could be. Normally I'd have a couple months but... who knows?"

One of Gloria's men got her a chair.

"One more vampire, not a big ask. Two, okay. But a Thin-Blood and a baby? The Prince hears about that and that could get us all killed." Then she smiled. "I know a place."

Rain and Ella guided the new arrivals to a shuttered doctor's office in one of the westerly neighborhoods.

"No staff, but all the facilities you can ask for. And a storage center to sleep in. And someplace to park a car." Rain shrugged.

"Thanks I hate it." Laura smiled grimly.

"Should we be expecting the father to show up?" Ella asked gently.

"Unlikely." She rested a hand on her belly. "I don't think he'll ever even know. Better that way."

Dalton scouted through the facility, and returned to Rain. "So who else do I need to worry about?"

"Guess I should introduce you to the downtown crew. Just you for now."

"My trust only extends so far."

"You wanna move the girl someplace I don't know first, go right ahead."

"Let's try that tomorrow."

Thin White Rope: The Ghost

 ALL HELL CAN'T STOP US NOW

From The Ashes 1

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes

Ella, a Banu Haqim street lookout

Dalton, a Brujah getaway driver

Laura, a Thin-Blood runaway

Rain, a Toreador street thief

Dalton and Laura arrived in Phoenix together, heading west from New Mexico in a dusty old Dodge, not wanting to talk about what they saw there. Rain was his contact, Ella working with him to help bring them in safely.

Laura kept quiet as they met, one hand on her belly, the other on the handle of a pistol. She looked young to be having a baby, not to mention that she was a vampire.