#anyway this was mostly to get like carmilla lore out there and for me to share my thoughts on it more in depth

[carmillatism]

achilles, it's been like half a year since this poes and ur info and opinions may have changed since then but i just need to say that ur so fucking right. she's not an exactly easy character to talk about due to just how complicated she is. it doesn't entirely help that we have such little information about her (i am constantly scrounging around for more info).

i think i'll go through this maybe like point by point, but yeah, the morality switch is genuinely so fucked up i have no clue where the fuck it came from (irl). like, why would they just add that- but it is extremely interesting. the fact that carmilla found humor in the extremely fucked up events surrounding brian's backstory is... concerning to say the least (fighting off the urge to talk about how she's grown more apathetic over the years as she meets and looses more people and creates more mechanisms). it's said she thinks that the dichotomy between both sides (brian vs. the priest) is humorous as both think they're right which. girl, they shot him into the void, why is that funny?😭 also, the fact it's implied she does it on a whim, for frivolous reasons (finding it funny) is concerning if not somewhat indicative of an underlying problem. because why would u want to give someone that sort of limitation and total change in their humanity (on top of the already huge change of making them an almost robot)? i have speculated it was a way to control brian as he was probably the most useful to her in terms of him having his own medical expertise along with his mechanical prowess, and it could be a way to tampen down any rebellion that seemed all too common with any of the other mechanisms at the time (i.e. jonny). (side note, i believe the carmilla era included jonny, nastya, ashes, ivy, brian, and ts (mechanized/joining in that order).) um, but, either way, not something the most stable mother would do for her child which, yeah, not surprising when you look at other aspects of her story. there could also be parts with the morality switch of her wanting to have a relationship with someone that was much easier to control, for things to not go so wrong as they seemed to do in every other relationship she has (though, this is a lot more based on my own speculation).

also, shot, right, so most of carmilla's story doesn't seem to be clouded by an unreliable narrator. when we learn about her (at least for the examples you have given), it's usually from a perspective of a viewer simply taking in what we're seeing played out in front of us (as you mentioned), and even so, i have always thought that the crews short biographies had been written by ivy (as she is the archivist). biggest reason i think this is due to jonny's own description which has him talking directly to ivy. also, ivy's own biography seems to call directly from the memories she receives upon falling asleep, with her maybe having written them right after she woke up when they were still fading. most of the other crews' profiles seem to be written by themselves or by sources related to them (nastya's seems to be almost a new broadcast about herself). so if brian wrote his own backstory, i don't exactly see how his unreliable narration (and this assumes he has some in regards to carmilla which i can see but also... little bit of morality switch manipulation can do a whole lot) would take away much from the fact she installed a morality switch into him.

next of all: THANK YOU SO MUCH. SOMEONE FINALLY BROUGHT UP THE HOMESICK LIVE, MY BELOVED-BEHATED. that fucking live makes me insane but is also some lovely pointers to carmilla as a character. ur descriptions of it are really good and make a lot of sense. jonny is obviously scared of her and it's for a reason (even if he pushed her out of the airlock, it seems to be about something even more than that). along with nastya's extremely uncomfortable reaction to carmilla in lashings (along with just the general air or something wrong), there's definitely some sort of problem in their relationship. also, just the fact that jonny has pushed her out of an airlock for a short amount of time and is implied to have done the one that got her off the ship for a long while, it seems that there is some sort of reason that they are discontent with her. even if most of the lore we consume about her is unreliable (which i believe is doubtful), i think it can be understood that there is a reason for that unreliable narration in the first place.

also, taking people on their death beds and making them immortal with some weird fucking ethics and disregard to the autonomy does feel. weird, at the best.

also, i know. way too much about carmilla pre-mechs so let me just: from carmilla's album exhumed and {un}plugged we learn about carmilla's (at the very least) emotionally volatile relationship with a woman named loreli (that's implied to have made her a vampire (immortal-turning that doesn't seem to have the happiest ending: where have i heard that before?)). (also, yeah that's the spelling of her name; the lyrics on bandcamp spell it that which i think is kind of fun.) there's a lot of codependcy, allusions to toxic relationships, and even at times abuse that imply that their relationship was not good with carmilla taking the brunt of the bad things occurring. in the same album, the song homesick (ow ow ow) talks about how she went (or wants to) back to her home plane of terra to kill her father which i mean (there's also a bit of somewhat hidden yet uncovered lore that explicitly made him transphobic towards carmilla), and it speaks on similarly bad relationships with her sister and brother. her mother has been a point of contingency for my opinions on her relationship with carmilla though i have come to the conclusion that it was probably one of the better ones (as she shows extreme concern and sympathy for her), though there could be a strain from both of their endurance of her father's mistreatment. the line talking about her is at the very end of the songs (right after she says she's come to kill her father). it's repeated twice and is, "oh mother! what have they done to you?" and as a cynical person in nature i have personally interpreted it as something akin to feeling that her mother has become similarly bad to the rest of her family whilst carmilla was gone (though it can be seen in a more sympathetic way where carmilla is asking about how badly the rest of her family has hurt her). her family's a topic that's a bit iffy, specifically her mother since we have one songs about them with 4 verses so. take that as u will!

she also had rocket girl who seemed to be one of her first, if not her first, loves which was quite good at first until rocket girl is implied to have left without her. this just represents another relationship that ended badly in a long line of bad relationships.

i absolutely believe her history of unstable and abusive relationships could have skewed her own actions in future relationships, specifically with that of the mechanisms. i am also of the line of thinking that she doesn't usually intentionally hurt the mechanisms, they're her kids afterall. but never being given the time to understand relationships or even be given one for her to have in the first place absolutely could have led her to not knowing how to treat her kids when she made them (i mean making kids from dying humans that your turn immortal again doesn't feel like the most healthy coping mechanism for your history of bad relationships). i am absolutely of the belief that she wants to and tries to be a good mom but she fails spectacularly because she has no clue what she's doing. she's only ever truly known pain in relationships, and it's easiest to replicate what you know best.

um, so, the cycle of abuse used a literary theme throught the mechanisms makes me insane- anyway, i just think that she's just sooooo interesting, and i love how complex she is. she's so...

would like to make a quick disclaimer with all of this that this analyzation is in no way me implying that every abuse survivor is going to be or is an abuser. abuse victims go through so much fucking shit and then have to deal with the aftermath of what happened to them forever onwards and many people-- most people-- do that without ever replicating what happened to them. however, it doesn't mean that the cycle of abuse is rendered null and void either. it can happen, and it fucking sucks. as someone who has my own experiences and a lot of self-doubt about everything that has happened to me and my own thoughts, i find her storyline extremely fucking compelling and an interesting look into feelings i may experience or think. hers, of course, end up becoming actions, but a lot of survivors do have feelings that they'll become as bad as their abuser, or already are, so that is just something that does deeply concerns me and my experiences and that i take a lot of interest in analyzing. i just love that she's a character that exists that's just so. human (even though she isn't lmao). she really feels like a real life person taken from the world with just as many fucked up problems even as she tries her best to understand herself. i just think the mechanisms talk about shit people don't like to hear in a way that's respectable and understanding, and i feel carmilla really helps get both the concepts of the cycle of abuse and even mentalities gained after abuse that is so fucking interesting and well done.

anyway, mini-rant, inside of my long rant, over. i just don't want people to think i'm talking out of my ass and that like these aren't thoughts swirling around in my head every day (moreso the carmilla ones than the trauma ones). and don't fucking blame victims, and don't ever think that they are pre-dispositioned to hurt others. this idea simply understands that if someone hurt hurts others, they aren't excused for their actions but there is a long a complicated look you can take into why they do.

uh, anyway, hi, achilles. sorry for ranting about carmilla on ur 6 month old post.

(unedited. will be soon.)

Okay in regards to this poll I'm going to do some Doc Carmilla analysis because I don't like having back and forth conversations in tags. This is long, I couldn't really find a way to cut it down

The biggest thing that fucks me up about her is Brian's morality switch. The concept of a morality switch at all is horrifying to me, taking that control away from someone. Brian's about page on the mechanisms website says the reasoning was because Doctor Carmilla found it "amusing" which. Makes me hate it even more. @x-ca1iber pointed out the fact that Jonny is an unreliable narrator, which is a good point. However, I doubt Jonny wrote everyone's bio and I don't think either morality mode would really let Brian lie about it, lying is wrong and I can't come up with ends that would justify it. Brian could be wrong about reasoning, of course, but I'm not sure why he would be. Because a lot of that second half is speculation, *please* let me know if there's anything to agree or disagree with any of it.

The two other things that make me not willing to chalk all of anti-Doctor Carmilla sentiment up to unreliable narration and character misinterpretation are the end of this video and near the end of Lashings. The first video shows Jonny cut the music and, sounding somewhat frantic, ask Carmilla what she's going to do about being thrown out the airlock. When she doesn't respond, he backs away and accuses her of planning something. This is something that isn't attributable to unreliable narration because the premise there isn't that it's a retelling but an actual event occurring. Also, the way Jonny is on edge, expecting her to do something but not knowing what/when and having to just kind of act like it's fine really makes me read it as a bad relationship for him. The end of the Lashings performance shows Nastya stressed about various other things and Doctor Carmilla coming up behind her and hugging her. Nastya visibly tenses and remains as such for the entire interaction. I've seen people argue that this was due to the aforementioned various other things, and it could very much be that! This is definitely my least compelling piece of evidence. But it's worth noting that Doctor Carmilla doesn't back off from the hug and remains sort of in Nastya's face until Nastya steps away. The situation is either Nastya being generally uncomfortable with physical contact at that moment (or in general) and Carmilla not caring, or Nastya being distrustful of her in general. Either way doesn't reflect well on their relationship.

None of this is to say that I think she's trying to cause them harm. She does see them as her kids, in her own way. The only other close relationship she had that I'm aware of is Lorelai (please let me know if you have any more information on this! I'm always open to corrections) and that wasn't exactly healthy. She could very well not know any other way to treat them, and I really do think she meant well. The problem with meaning well is that is doesn't change the ramifications of your actions. The best of intentions don't change the fact that you hurt people. This is, in my opinion, especially prominent in parental figures, which she is.

That is all about her as a person, though. As a character? She's fantastic. Trans lesbian vampire scientist with dubious ethics? Great!!! And all of the things I just talked about that make me dislike her as a person make me love her as a character. That disparity is what makes it really hard to answer the poll I linked at the beginning, because holy fuck morality switch but I love her as a character

Tags that inspired this under the cut

[synesindri]

what are some of your favorite/most interesting vampire folklore stories? or legends/myths/stories about vampires?

alright, my beautiful, patient anon, let’s talk about vampires >:D

(this is going to be mostly historical accounts, but i’d be happy to talk more loosely about common features of vampire stories or just to spit hot takes or whatever too, just let me know!)

my #1 recommendation is to look into the american vampire folklore tradition from the 18th and 19th centuries. most of these stories are about vampirism spreading within family units. there is usually blood involved, but there is rarely explicit blood drinking (there is nothing consistent about vampire lore...they are very much a ‘i know it when i see it but damned if i can define it’ monster lol) — instead, new england vampires were more about unseen contagion and disease. a great example of this is the story of mercy brown, who is usually mentioned as the “last” “real” new england vampire. i also suggest the article “vampires and death in new england, 1784 to 1892″ by michael bell, if you’re interested in an academic take on this stuff. people (rightly) associate vampires with central and eastern european folklore, but the american stuff is really cool and very creepy, and if you’re interested in weird old vampire stories you might like it!

okay so now skipping actually over to central and eastern europe, there are a number of accounts of “normal” vampire encounters that started getting written up around the 17th-18th centuries that seem like good examples. a few good ones are: petar blagojević (1725), a serbian vampire who killed about 9 people as a vampire and made himself a nuisance to his family; arnold paole (1725), the source of an epidemic of vampirism in his serbian village; “the shoemaker of breslau” (1581) [cw for suicide in this one...a pretty common theme in old vampire folklore], a german revenant/nachzehrer/”ghost” who caused a ruckus in his town post-mortem; and löwenstimm’s account of justina yschkov (1848), a young russian woman suspected of vampirism because of the circumstances surrounding her death (namely, cholera and pregnancy). there’s also joseph pitton de tournefort’s vrykolakas story from greece about watching some people, uhm, deal with (dissect, basically) a vampire. 

i have more if you want them but i think these are some of the best (well, ok, justina’s isn’t that good or easy to find material about but i wanted to include a lady vamp and there aren’t that many of those from this tradition). it’s hard to get really good accounts of these types of vampires because they were mostly peasants from regions that kept changing hands politically. most of the stories got written down by german people cataloging to-them unfamiliar superstitions of people now under their empire’s rule — often first-hand accounts, but definitely with some foreign sensationalist flavor.

a third group of vampires worth talking about are the central and eastern european nobles. it’s funny that vampires have become such a classy monster considering mostly the folklore is about poor working people, but anyway, there are three main notables in this category. most people probably know about vlad iii aka vlad the impaler aka vlad dracul (1428/31 – 1476/77), famous for defending wallachia against the ottoman empire and for, well, impaling a fuckton of people on spikes. another is countess erzsébet báthory de ecsed (1560–1614), who ~allegedly~ held prisoner, tortured, and bathed in the blood of hundreds peasant girls from her lands. finally, and probably least well known of the three, is princess eleonore von schwarzenberg (1682-1741), who was basically just a weird lady whose death made everybody extremely paranoid (to the point that she was not even buried with her family like other people of her rank and lineage usually were! i actually visited the church were they ended up burying her...nice place lol). 

and finally, some older short story/novella recs, because why not? carmilla (1872) by sheridan le fanu is great; the vampyre (1819) by john polidori is less great but still fun (the main character is wonderfully soft and dumb :p); good lady ducayne (1896) by mary elizabeth braddon; dracula’s guest (1897) by bram stoker; luella miller (1903) by mary e. wilkins-freeman; and for the blood is the life (1911) by f. marion crawford. (actually, all of these are in the penguin book of vampire stories edited by alan ryan, which is a great collection btw!) 

(also, weird shout-out to the novel the manuscript found in saragossa (1805) by jan potocki, which is...not about vampires exactly, but is also definitely about vampires imo? i haven’t actually finished reading it and i might not ever but the creepy isolated dreamy vibe is impeccable if you’re into it)

i hope this response makes up for how long it took me to get around to answering you, anon!!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Reviews: What Is a Man

I wanted my next review to be The Invisible Man but i keep putting that thing off. I think it’s the pacing. it’s kind of funky. I’ll get around to it eventually. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty interesting so far. In the meantime, i finally caught up on a show that dropped and didn’t see when it first released; Castlevania! I passed on actually reviewing he first two season, well, season and a half. That first season was, like, six episodes. This ain’t the BBC, son. Thirteen or bust! Anyway, since we’re about three days from being under marital law, i figure i got time to revisit and review the series so far. Plus, i mean, i need to catch up since the fourth season has already been announced. F*cking Netflix, man. In that vein, pun in tended, here is my review of the series as a whole so far.

The Good

This show is not anime. It’s not. Avatar is not anime. It’s not. This is a sanitized facsimile of what the Japanese do with their animation. Stop calling this sh*t anime! That said, on it’s own, outside of that hilariously unflattering comparison, it can be pretty dope. I don’t think this sh*t holds a candle to studios like Trigger, Madhouse, Gainax, or Shaft, but it’s the best animation coming out of the US i’ve seen in years. The fight scenes in particular are absolutely gorgeous. You can really tell that Netflix invested the necessary resources to make this show look dope, even if the framerate is a little iffy between set pieces.

Now that i’ve died on my anime cross, i just want to acknowledge how good this show looks. It’s f*cking gorgeous, man. I mean, the world, alone, is a feat for the eyes, but i am absolutely in love with the character designs. If you google the characters from the games they are mad cluttered and full of extra nonsense. I’m never a fan of, like, flair on my characters. That’s why i hate the look of Mortal Kombat. That sh*t is gross. Castlevania has that same issue, culminating in the design vomits of Judgement. That game was gross to look at. Gross. This show takes the ludicrously gaudy designs of the games and make them presentable while still paying homage to the core design of the games. Sh*t is miraculous and i can’t help but marvel at that ingenuity. I mean, f*cking Carmilla, dude. Just look up Carmilla in the games and tell me this show ain’t good at it’s job.

Castlevania’s writing is kind of miraculous. As a cat that’s been playing these games since the late 80s, I’m mildly aware of the interconnecting lore between titles. It’s a mess. It’s a goddamn mess. There’s a dope story there, in the muck, but it’s so mired in melodrama, retcon, and years upon years of independent development, it’s completely lost. I appreciate Konami giving storytelling a shot during a time when gameplay was the principal seller of games, they didn’t have to do any of that, but, at some point, clean your sh*t up with a manga or reboot or something, man. The later titles do this sh*t fine. I adore Shanoa and Soma. Their games got the best of both worlds. The Belmonts? Not so much... This show does an amazing job of cutting through the bullsh*t and sharpening that story to a fine point. This is Trevor’s story, the first Belmont we take control of in game, so watching his line grow through the years, with this quality of storytelling, is mad compelling. I mean, you get right into it and it grips you from start to finish. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

The character work in this show is pretty legit. I was thoroughly surprised since the games themselves are rather bare bones and nauseatingly campy at times. Not this show. Nope! This sh*t is grim, dark, and violent. I love it! You can feel the plight one people and the rage of the vampires. Each main character s is beset with pathos and trauma and consequence, for two seasons. Season three is kind of light on growth but does a decent job explaining certain things. Like, this is Belmont’s tale but Sypha is definitely the most interesting character in the show. Everyone does a great job but there are, of course, a few standouts.

Speaking of my girl, did i tell you that Sypha is f*cking amazing? Ma is the most adorable, most badass motherf*cker in this show! I thought she was going to be kind of a weenie, like she is in the games, but nope! Ma is out here, burning motherf*ckers alive and slicing dudes up with ice blades, all the while being her peppy, adorable, kind of bloodthirsty self. F*ck, love Sypha and her voice actress, Alejandra Reynoso, is perfectly cast! She bring a levity and vulnerability to a woman who can take on an army all y her lonesome. I love that sh*t!

I have to mention how dope Dracula is in this how. He’s f*cking badass and, surprisingly, hilarious. His wit is as sharp as his fangs. Even with such overwhelming power, dude is still amazingly human, often time reminding you that he is just a broken, lonely, man. It’s incredible to see. you actually empathize with an entity hellbent of slaughtering humanity. I couldn’t believe that sh*t. A lot of that has to do with the writing but Graham McTavsh does an excellent job delivering those subtle emotional cues.

I feel like is should say something about Richard Armitage’s Trevor Belmont. Dude is dope. he’s how i always imagined Trevor to be. And Armitage is a seasoned veteran at this voice acting game so he does a great job. I’m not blown away or anything but he’s dope. Considering dude is kind of a supporting character in his own show, i think my indifference is warranted. He’s good, though, don’t misunderstand. I’m not decrying his performance or anything. Gold star for sure.

The best thing about season three, outside of my darling Sypha, is Lenore. Holy sh*t is she a great character! I was thoroughly surprised by how brazenly manipulative she turned out to be. Lenore is a f*cking genius and her feigned naivety is brought to life by an absolutely outstanding performance from Jessica Brown Findlay. Ma is on the long con and Carmilla might have some competition to look for.

I like Issac. This last season did wonders for developing his character. His arc is probably the best after Syph’s, mostly because he’s the only other character that even had an arc. His voice actor, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, does a great job developing the enigmatic Forgemaster into a character more than his humdrum game origins.

The Bad

This show is not anime! Stop telling me it’s an anime!

Alucard’s arc in season three was a little... me. I thought he was the one character let down by the writing but it’s not a terrible slight. I just felt he deserved more of a exploration than what he received.

Season three was straight up filler. I guess it has that in common with anime, even though most modern anime ha move away from the Filler system. I mean, i liked a lot of what went on and the character work was delightful but none of this is really of consequence. Most characters either didn’t grow or are exactly who we thought they were. It feels cheap.

Hector. What the f*ck, Hector. What the f*ck.

The Verdict

Season One showed a ton of potential. I enjoyed the whole Dracula arc, even though this was more a story about his disillusionment with humanity rather than how he became Dracula. Season two is the Castlevania know from the games. It was dope seeing that narrative removed from the shenanigans of that Konami narrative jank. I thought they id the characters dope ass justice and the story itself, was rather compelling. I didn’t mind the character changes and the stuff they added felt organic. Season three is the closest thing to a slice of life anime i’ve seen in this show and it’s ridiculous. Like, nothing really happens of consequence and it feels like setup for later seasons but it’s easily the best looking of the three seasons.

Overall, as a whole, Castlevnia is really good. It’s easily one of the best video game adaptions available. This show takes it’s liberties, of course, but it does so in a very respectful manner. The core of the Castlevania lore is revered and embellished with creative additions while keeping the characters true to their game selves. For the most part. I really enjoyed thee character of Dracula when he was around and, oh my god, Lenore is the goddamn best! Sypha is the MVP of this show, though, and i need you people to know that. The art style is beautiful, the narrative is compelling, and you’ll fall in love with the character work. Castlevania is dope and you should go binge all of it since there is literally nothing else to do under quarantine.

[smokeybrand]

Smokey band Reviews: What Is a Man

I wanted my next review to be The Invisible Man but i keep putting that thing off. I think it’s the pacing. it’s kind of funky. I’ll get around to it eventually. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty interesting so far. In the meantime, i finally caught up on a show that dropped and didn’t see when it first released; Castlevania! I passed on actually reviewing he first two season, well, season and a half. That first season was, like, six episodes. This ain’t the BBC, son. Thirteen or bust! Anyway, since we’re about three days from being under marital law, i figure i got time to revisit and review the series so far. Plus, i mean, i need to catch up since the fourth season has already been announced. F*cking Netflix, man. In that vein, pun in tended, here is my review of the series as a whole so far.

The Good

This show is not anime. It’s not. Avatar is not anime. It’s not. This is a sanitized facsimile of what the Japanese do with their animation. Stop calling this sh*t anime! That said, on it’s own, outside of that hilariously unflattering comparison, it can be pretty dope. I don’t think this sh*t holds a candle to studios like Trigger, Madhouse, Gainax, or Shaft, but it’s the best animation coming out of the US i’ve seen in years. The fight scenes in particular are absolutely gorgeous. You can really tell that Netflix invested the necessary resources to make this show look dope, even if the framerate is a little iffy between set pieces.

Now that i’ve died on my anime cross, i just want to acknowledge how good this show looks. It’s f*cking gorgeous, man. I mean, the world, alone, is a feat for the eyes, but i am absolutely in love with the character designs. If you google the characters from the games they are mad cluttered and full of extra nonsense. I’m never a fan of, like, flair on my characters. That’s why i hate the look of Mortal Kombat. That sh*t is gross. Castlevania has that same issue, culminating in the design vomits of Judgement. That game was gross to look at. Gross. This show takes the ludicrously gaudy designs of the games and make them presentable while still paying homage to the core design of the games. Sh*t is miraculous and i can’t help but marvel at that ingenuity. I mean, f*cking Carmilla, dude. Just look up Carmilla in the games and tell me this show ain’t good at it’s job.

Castlevania’s writing is kind of miraculous. As a cat that’s been playing these games since the late 80s, I’m mildly aware of the interconnecting lore between titles. It’s a mess. It’s a goddamn mess. There’s a dope story there, in the muck, but it’s so mired in melodrama, retcon, and years upon years of independent development, it’s completely lost. I appreciate Konami giving storytelling a shot during a time when gameplay was the principal seller of games, they didn’t have to do any of that, but, at some point, clean your sh*t up with a manga or reboot or something, man. The later titles do this sh*t fine. I adore Shanoa and Soma. Their games got the best of both worlds. The Belmonts? Not so much... This show does an amazing job of cutting through the bullsh*t and sharpening that story to a fine point. This is Trevor’s story, the first Belmont we take control of in game, so watching his line grow through the years, with this quality of storytelling, is mad compelling. I mean, you get right into it and it grips you from start to finish. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

The character work in this show is pretty legit. I was thoroughly surprised since the games themselves are rather bare bones and nauseatingly campy at times. Not this show. Nope! This sh*t is grim, dark, and violent. I love it! You can feel the plight one people and the rage of the vampires. Each main character s is beset with pathos and trauma and consequence, for two seasons. Season three is kind of light on growth but does a decent job explaining certain things. Like, this is Belmont’s tale but Sypha is definitely the most interesting character in the show. Everyone does a great job but there are, of course, a few standouts.

Speaking of my girl, did i tell you that Sypha is f*cking amazing? Ma is the most adorable, most badass motherf*cker in this show! I thought she was going to be kind of a weenie, like she is in the games, but nope! Ma is out here, burning motherf*ckers alive and slicing dudes up with ice blades, all the while being her peppy, adorable, kind of bloodthirsty self. F*ck, love Sypha and her voice actress, Alejandra Reynoso, is perfectly cast! She bring a levity and vulnerability to a woman who can take on an army all y her lonesome. I love that sh*t!

I have to mention how dope Dracula is in this how. He’s f*cking badass and, surprisingly, hilarious. His wit is as sharp as his fangs. Even with such overwhelming power, dude is still amazingly human, often time reminding you that he is just a broken, lonely, man. It’s incredible to see. you actually empathize with an entity hellbent of slaughtering humanity. I couldn’t believe that sh*t. A lot of that has to do with the writing but Graham McTavsh does an excellent job delivering those subtle emotional cues.

I feel like is should say something about Richard Armitage’s Trevor Belmont. Dude is dope. he’s how i always imagined Trevor to be. And Armitage is a seasoned veteran at this voice acting game so he does a great job. I’m not blown away or anything but he’s dope. Considering dude is kind of a supporting character in his own show, i think my indifference is warranted. He’s good, though, don’t misunderstand. I’m not decrying his performance or anything. Gold star for sure.

The best thing about season three, outside of my darling Sypha, is Lenore. Holy sh*t is she a great character! I was thoroughly surprised by how brazenly manipulative she turned out to be. Lenore is a f*cking genius and her feigned naivety is brought to life by an absolutely outstanding performance from Jessica Brown Findlay. Ma is on the long con and Carmilla might have some competition to look for.

I like Issac. This last season did wonders for developing his character. His arc is probably the best after Syph’s, mostly because he’s the only other character that even had an arc. His voice actor, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, does a great job developing the enigmatic Forgemaster into a character more than his humdrum game origins.

The Bad

This show is not anime! Stop telling me it’s an anime!

Alucard’s arc in season three was a little... me. I thought he was the one character let down by the writing but it’s not a terrible slight. I just felt he deserved more of a exploration than what he received.

Season three was straight up filler. I guess it has that in common with anime, even though most modern anime ha move away from the Filler system. I mean, i liked a lot of what went on and the character work was delightful but none of this is really of consequence. Most characters either didn’t grow or are exactly who we thought they were. It feels cheap.

Hector. What the f*ck, Hector. What the f*ck.

The Verdict

Season One showed a ton of potential. I enjoyed the whole Dracula arc, even though this was more a story about his disillusionment with humanity rather than how he became Dracula. Season two is the Castlevania know from the games. It was dope seeing that narrative removed from the shenanigans of that Konami narrative jank. I thought they id the characters dope ass justice and the story itself, was rather compelling. I didn’t mind the character changes and the stuff they added felt organic. Season three is the closest thing to a slice of life anime i’ve seen in this show and it’s ridiculous. Like, nothing really happens of consequence and it feels like setup for later seasons but it’s easily the best looking of the three seasons.

Overall, as a whole, Castlevnia is really good. It’s easily one of the best video game adaptions available. This show takes it’s liberties, of course, but it does so in a very respectful manner. The core of the Castlevania lore is revered and embellished with creative additions while keeping the characters true to their game selves. For the most part. I really enjoyed thee character of Dracula when he was around and, oh my god, Lenore is the goddamn best! Sypha is the MVP of this show, though, and i need you people to know that. The art style is beautiful, the narrative is compelling, and you’ll fall in love with the character work. Castlevania is dope and you should go binge all of it since there is literally nothing else to do under quarantine.

[rocksanddeadflowers]

I've been thinking on this last night actually! Definitely considered it being Carmilla's, but it also felt strange to say she did that too? It's definitely possible she's probably done a lot of strange things but. Idk I might just sound silly. I did think it might have a loose Pinocchio storyline! The main difference being more similar to Neverafter (Dimension 20 series but I've only see the first episode I don't have an subscriptions atm) where it just.... Never became a real boy. Or it did and got shifted back anyway? (<- can't actually remember Neverafter) Either way, it was probably built as a wooden Toy Soldier (the life like but concerningly tall size- although, it either having been a child-like creation that grew into a full Toy Soldier dude (all still wood (also maybe metal? Right? Idk)) or it having been like, straight up a nutcracker that came to life and grew at the rate of a human child, are totally options, but they feel very wrong lmao. It could still have been a regular ass nut cracker that turned into a full grown man when enchanted, but jeez I'm overcomplicating this-) (Actually wait take that back would it even LOOK like a Christmas Toy Soldier nutcracker in 1700s France if it was a regular nutcracker???? Just forget all that I'm-)

Anyway!!!! It was some wood creation (I think Jessica Law possibly said Toy was metal with a wood facade? Either way works for this AU tho-) brought to life by magic Pinnochio style!! I feel like in Toy's case, whatever the conditions to be a real person were, it didn't bother (or it did and regretted it enough to try everything to turn back, with wonderful success!). It preferred being a wooden man! Could've totally been Carmilla, since it would match up with her consequences thing (GODS ABOVE her cursing Jonny and then one of her creations destined to save Jonny and the other destined to actively try to prevent it like- holy hell-). But I also feel like Carmilla isn't the only source of stuff like that. (Same will go for Lyf cause I wanna get into that too!!!) Maybe she went full Blue Fairy, or maybe something else entirely unrelated (or mostly unrelated...) brought Toy to life. Bonus points to me if Toy was someone's creation in a small town in Germany and Toy instantly clicked with a much younger Marius. Eventually life changes and they moved to a little town in France? (Gaston gives me born and raised in a small town, big fish small pond energy, but we're already completely rewriting Marius's script so maybe this would work?)

I know the details still feel vague, so for the orders thing, consider: Whatever or whoever made it, had the intention of basically enslaving Toy? (I don't see Carmilla cursing it with that intent in this AU, but if something else cursed it that way it could! Or Carmilla did it without knowing how Toy's original creator(s) would treat it?) I haven't fully read Toy's lore but I think the idea of just... someone making it do whatever they want selfishly in a way Toy didn't like parallels with Toy's backstory? Then Toy and Marius getting along- Marius picking up on how Toy is treated and being like "We're getting you the hell out of here," and they run off together until eventually settling in France. Toy's nature, because of its fashion, still demands it have demands to follow. Toy enjoys following orders as long as it isn't made uncomfortable or anything by them (which its original people did plenty). Marius occasionally orders things to keep his bestie Toy happy and healthy.

Also to OP the intent of Marius stepping in for Toy yes absolutely!! I may have started rambling before finishing reading y'alls posts....... whoops..... but you're so so so right about that btw!!!!!!

That... went on longer than intended. Just some thoughts! I still wanna talk about Lyf because YES!!! Alien design Lyf my beloved.... I've been trying to figure out excuses to bring this up and keep it for a while ngl.... just didn't have much to go off of.

Curse is totally a good option! (Sorry I always talk like that- anytime i think of writing I think of as many routes as possible for everything then have the hardest time picking my favorite or the narratively best one.) I just think whoever cursed them kinda screwing it up is so funny to me. I mean since it was meant to curse them to look hideous but the typical alien Lyf designs resemble Fae to me? So, while it would work to an extent (since people are scared of Fae and can't trust them, and even if it wasn't a Fae thing it was still: beautiful yes, but new and strange = untrustworthy) imagine trying to make your enemies hideous and they end up being otherworldly inhumanly beautiful lmao. (I know I probably went in a whole other direction with that but I couldn't help it.)

Also this curse could target a whole town, or just a specific bloodline, or just Lyf.

So while I have open "resemble Fae" and "bloodline curse" on here ........ What if they have actual Fae ancestry? Magic in a traditional fairytale sense is real in this universe, so of course The Fair Folk would be real and active, right? I don't think Lyf would be fully Fae (I'm gonna say that's bc it'd be overpowering for Lyf and not bc I love headcanoning them as part human part Jotun in canon) but I think one or many Fae have tangled with their specific bloodline (maybe other families in this town or kingdom/nation are also common targets for Fae stuff) and clearly left it's mark. I mean Lyf being bloodline related to certain Fae yes, but also minor charms, curses, enchantments, whatever- just an absolute mess of Fae history in their (and possibly others') family.

I love incorporating Fae, but also I will probably adore any excuse to keep Lyf's fun inhuman design. Also, specifically, what traits are we using? Like, pointy strange ears obviously - HEY BTW SINCE WE ALL LIKE KEEPING LYF THIS WAY IS THIS A SAFE SPACE TO MENTION LYF EMOTING WITH THEIR EARS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ITS SO CUTE - but what other specifics? Not picky just curious! I love them have a tail and possibly like those satyr hoof legs and stuff... I don't actually draw tho everything is in my brain so :)

Actually was gonna write a lot of this into the original post today but agreeing with Blaze that that one is becoming a mess lmao ... Still gonna respond on that one when I get the chance (I also have some Carmilla thoughts and thoughts about the regions Lyf's war backstory happens in ("album lore references and Nordic folktale/history autism rant" laser beam 3000 currently charging) i just felt like I rambled enough as is here lol) but the perfect openings were here for me to ramble :)

wait wait wait wait wait in creations and consequences of love is toy soldier still a wooden puppet thing? or is it some random person who kinda just takes orders? maybe it has a curse of its own? i cant see a character like the toy soldier existing without magic of some sort. how did it wind up in some little tiny village? what is it doing there besides being marius's hype man? im thinking it used to be a normal person at one point and got cursed pretty young so it really just views it as normal, it made its way to a small town because big city would carry a lot of risk of someone taking advantage of it. marius probably stepped in on its behalf pretty early to make sure none of the villagers got any ideas and theyve been besties ever since

@rocksanddeadflowers @blazeismyname thoughts?