#but it's how I got into Castlevania in the first place :3

[zorostitties]

Aurora; 7 (m)

⤕ Your existence had been an endless night, where shadows whispered long forgotten secrets. Trapped in a golden cage, your fragile mind and shattered memories were chains that kept you from dreaming of freedom. Then, he appeared with the first light of dawn, like a gentle sun warming your cold skin. In his gaze, the promise of a new beginning; in his presence, the sunrise your soul had longed for.

In which Alucard saves you from Erzsebet.

pairing: alucard (castlevania) x (f) reader

genre: angst, romance, slow burn, eventual smut

warnings: violence/blood, explicit language, mental health issues, grief, physical abuse.

rating: 18+

word count: 5k

A/N: HELLO Y'ALL!!! This one is coming a little earlier than usual because I am more anxious to update than y'all are anxious to read lmao Past chapter had so many comments!!! I'm glad you guys liked it so much. It was such a fun chapter to write! Hope y'all will like this one as much! ALSO checks page HOW MANY KUDOS??? WHAT THE HELL??? 😭😭 Thank you so much!!! It truly means so much to me 😭😭 Anyway let me shut up lol enjoy!! <3

⤕  Chapters: check masterlist in bio!  ⤕ Also on AO3

Guilt was a feeling Alucard avoided vehemently.

After you reach a certain age, you realize that there are some feelings and situations that you should avoid for your own sanity. One of them – perhaps the most important – is to avoid thinking too much about the past. One thing is to cherish the people you’ve met and loved, to keep some moments close to your heart; another thing is refuse that they will never come back and to avoid facing the present. Alucard knew quite well that this can sink you. That’s why he was constantly busying himself – traveling the world, meeting new cultures, learning new things.

Another thing he avoided – this one took him a long time to learn, a whole lot of grief to understand – was to… get too attached. And yes, this made him lonelier than ever. Yes, this wasn’t entirely healthy. He knew about all that. But his mortal heart wasn’t strong like his immortal body, and there was a moment in his life when he decided that he couldn’t take much more pain anymore. Stepping away from the Belmonts was… difficult, but was what the needed at the moment. He needed to let his heart heal, and the only thing that heals is time. Perhaps much more time than he first assumed.

And then there was guilt. Alucard didn’t like to feel guilt because it meant that he failed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t someone that could fail. His ways of life, his fights, the things he stood for usually involved countless innocent lives, so he couldn’t give himself the luxury of failing. Alucard was methodical, precise, insistent – not to say stubborn. Because yes, he could he stubborn –; he only accepted perfection of himself. Him succeeding meant no one suffered. Therefore, no guilt.

That’s why Alucard was partially hating himself at that moment. He’d felt more guilt in the span of 48 hours than in the last few years.

He almost couldn’t look at Ruby in the eye.

Luckily, she was sitting behind him as he guided the horse on the streets of Paris, so he wouldn’t have too see her for some moments – but her arms around his waist and the warmth of her body were a reminder that she was there.

His feelings were a bit… chaotic at the moment, to be honest. On one hand, he was glad – relieved – that Ruby had healed. On the other hand, he knew that the reason why she got so hurt in the first place was because of him. He told her she wouldn’t get hurt and he weren’t there to protect her, even if she claimed to have jumped in front of a night creature to save Annette. And then there was the other part of him (the methodical, precise and stubborn part of him) hissing that he shouldn’t be wasting time going to the Louvre because there was an army of vampires coming and he had to act.

But Alucard couldn’t tell her no. Not really. Not when she looked at him with that glow in her eyes – a glow of hope he hadn’t seen in her yet. Alucard couldn’t bring himself to be so cruel. Especially not after what she’d been through mere hours ago.

He owed her that.

Ruby was becoming a bigger mystery to him in more complicated ways than he first assumed. It didn’t involve only her unknown past, but also her behavior. It was difficult for him to understand how she was acting so normal after what she had just suffered. Sure, the methodical part of him was thankful to that – he had to act fast; quite frankly, he wouldn’t have time to wait until she recovered. If her healing took longer than it did, he would have a real problem at hands, and if she was frozen in shock, it would also be a problem.

But then there was his mortal heart speaking into his mind, too. It never shut up, unfortunately.

There was something so deeply wrong with Ruby.

The more time he spent with her, the more he watched her, the more he heard her heart race and her fingers shake at the most casual situations – like walking into a crowd or mustering courage to speak –, the more he realized that Ruby didn’t have any care for herself, the angrier he got.

Alucard also avoided getting too angry. Anger was a form of attachment as well; it tied the ones he despised to him. Anger could take a person like him – eternal and powerful – down a very dangerous path. Anger led to wrath, which let to hatred.

But again… it was getting hard for Alucard to keep his feelings in place. Not when he could still feel the now faint smell of Ruby’s blood.

In fact, he thought she was going to die.

Her blood was everything Alucard could feel the moment he stepped out of the Seine. He knew it was Ruby’s; he got quite familiar with it due to that scratch on her heel as they walked to Juste’s cottage. It was so strong that he almost could see the air turning red. It must’ve drawn the attention of every vampire in the area.

And then he rushed to the palace and saw her in that state.

She can heal, Alucard tried to convince himself, but could she, really? He’d seen her heal from cuts, not multiple fractures and mass bleeding. Those wounds meant death to any human and vampire, unless they could drink blood to strengthen their healing process.

Alucard barely knew her. He was still a tiny bit suspicious of her – of her cloudy past, at least. And yet, the thought of Ruby dying scared him.

Not many things scared him.

Death was one of those things. Not the fear of facing death himself, but having to watch someone close to him die. Alucard was far too familiar with the feeling and he never got used to it.

If Ruby had died at that moment, he’d carry that scar with him for a long time. She didn’t even had a chance to live. She didn’t even remember if she had lived before her imprisonment. If Ruby had died, it wouldn’t only be painful; it would be unfair.

So yes, he got scared. Yes, he held her close and tried to ease her pain – Hell, she looked in so much pain, even if she didn’t scream – because it was the only thing he could do. The Universe couldn’t be so cruel to that woman to just let her die like that. It… it couldn’t.

To his utter relief, Ruby healed. Her skin closed the wounds, the bleeding stopped, she finally passed out and slept for a bit.

Mixed with his relief was also confusion.

Her healing was far more powerful than Alucard first assumed. Alucard didn’t know many vampires that could heal from injuries so serious.

What was Ruby?

Why did she have this strange condition? How did she achieve it? For what end?

Alucard wanted to know. He needed to know. Erzsebet must’ve had a reason not only to keep her, but also to want to retrieve her.

The white-haired vampire instinctively held the reins a bit tighter as he remembered Drolta.

Ruby’s face of pure panic. Fuck, he couldn’t take her expression off his mind. The way Drolta was twirling that necklace around her finger. A ruby necklace. Everything made sense at that moment.

Her nonchalance after getting injured, the little care she had for herself, her fear and hesitance…

These things were growing on him in an ugly way.

A week ago, Erzsebet and Drolta were just two maniacal cult leaders that needed to be stopped. It wasn’t exactly personal. Alucard had dealt with vampires like them many times in his life.

Now, however, he not only needed to stop them – he wanted to kill them.

And this time, he would make sure that they were gone. He would personally make sure that Drolta was actually dead. He would make sure to slash her head off her neck and burn her body to ashes.

He would make sure to shatter that necklace to pieces.

Alucard couldn’t heal Ruby’s soul, but he hoped that their death, at least, would bring her some peace.

Alucard pulled the reins and made the horse gallop significantly slower until it stopped.

“What’s the problem?” Ruby asked close to his ear as she tried to peek ahead over his shoulder.

“The streets around the palace are blocked.” Alucard tightened his eyes a bit. Soldiers barricaded the entrance to the front square of the Louvre, trying to keep a crowd of curious people away. The man let a tired sigh. “Well, I guess I should’ve expected it.” He looked at her over his shoulder. “We’ll have to sneak in by foot.” Ruby nodded. She dismounted from the horse first, being shortly followed by him.

Alucard wandered his eyes around the crowd. They chatted suspiciously among themselves. “I heard an attack happened,” someone said, while another person murmured that “my cousin’s a guard, he told me it were the royalists that wanted to avenge the King,” or someone else said “This is all fake! It’s just to keep our attention here. Another faction is planning to take the country overnight as we speak!”

But then, some young voices caught his attention the most. Three boys discussed excitedly among themselves.

“He’s obviously lying,” the boy in the middle said, crossing his arms and frowning. “Don’t believe him.”

“I’m tellin’ ya!” The shortest of the three insisted, gesticulating excitedly. “I saw a dragon flyin’ inside the palace. Then, some minutes later, I saw another winged thing flying away!”

“It could’ve been a bird.”

“It wasn’t a bird! Never seen a bird so big in my life!”

“Your eyesight isn’t even that good anyway. He said he saw a crocodile in the Seine last week, remember?”

“Hey– you said you saw it, too!”

Alucard couldn’t help but feel a bit of his tension dissipate. The sight was... a bit familiar.

He made a sharp whistle, immediately calling the three boys’ attention.

“Do you lads mind watching my horse for a while?” Alucard said, still holding the reins with one hand. He shook the small coin pouch in his palm.

Their eyes immediately gleamed excitedly. They clumsily made their way to approach him, bumping into each other and grinning.

“Of course, sir!” The shortest one saluted Alucard as if he were a soldier.

The tallest one, noticing Ruby standing near, bowed awkwardly, pinching the tip of his worn out beret. “Mademoiselle,” he said in a high pitched voice. Then, his eyes rapidly traveled from her to Alucard, and he coughed. “I mean– madame.” The two other boys imitated his action like tiny echoes, all equally clumsy.

They earned an endeared smile from her. She held her skirt and bobbed a small curtsy graciously in return.

The three blushed.

Alucard inhaled a small chuckle.

“We won’t take long, so stay in the area.” The white-haired vampire said, catching the boys’ attention again. The shortest one seemed to be some sort of leader of the group, as he was the one to approach and hold the reins. Alucard swiftly placed a coin on each of their open palms. “Rest of the payment when I get back.”

“Thank you, sir!” They said in unison, eyes glued in their shiny coins.

The one that looked the oldest tightened his eyes. “Hm, may I ask, sir, what exactly is your business here? The palace is blocked, as you can see.”

Alucard tightened his eyes at him, too. “I certainly see that it’s blocked, and I certainly wouldn’t advise you boys to get any closer to it.” Then, he dropped his voice, his tone picking their attention once again. “I wonder, however, if you were to get closer to it, which street would you pick?”

They eyed each other. The tallest boy coughed again.

“Well, if I were to get closer to it, I would pick an alley behind the Perrault street… most people don’t gather around there, so…”

“...Less guards,” the oldest completed.

Alucard nodded. He placed one more coin on each of their hands. They giggled.

He pointed ahead with his head to Ruby. However, as he was turning around to leave, he stopped and looked at them.

“By the way, what you saw is correct,” Alucard said in a quiet, serious voice. They all froze. “But that wasn’t a dragon; it was a demon. The city is in danger. When we get back, you boys should get your families and hide.”

He didn’t wait to see the boys’ reaction. Ruby, however, lingered her gaze a little longer on them before following him.

A quiet sadness clouded her eyes, made her shoulders drop a bit. She interlocked her hands on her lower stomach as she walked. It seemed to be a standard quirk of hers, besides the one of gripping her skirt when she was nervous. This specific movement as she walked, however, was very… polite.

Alucard didn’t exactly like it.

Not because he didn’t appreciate good manners. Ruby was, in fact, very gracious in anything she did – from her impeccable posture at all times to the way she sat or the way she ate, the way she held cutlery, the way she never raised her voice too much, or even how she insisted in calling him sir when they first met. She had the good manners of a high society lady.

But Alucard knew that all of this was a product of what she had endured. Making herself smaller, quieter, imperceptible. Ruby didn’t do any of that to impress anyone or to fit into some sort of societal standard. She did it because she was afraid of bringing any attention upon her.

The more he observed her, the more he caught himself silently wishing Ruby would… slouch. Raise her voice, show anger or tiredness or boredom. Make it clear when she didn’t like something or voice her opinions without becoming a puddle of anxiety.

That’s one of the reasons why Alucard couldn’t bring himself to say no when she asked to go to the Louvre. Most of the time, she wasn’t brave enough to speak her mind and make requests. She felt comfortable enough at that moment to ask him. And… Alucard actually hated it, but he had also noticed that, sometimes, Ruby flinched away from him and seemed scared when he showed annoyance or moved too abruptly. Unfortunately, he still had similar physical traits of the ones who hurt her so much. The fact that she was growing comfortable around him made him feel… content.

Ruby looked down. “Poor kids. Their clothes are so worn out…”

“This is the situation for most children in this country. That is mainly why the revolution started.”

“...I guess Richter was right. How can a king have a palace this big while his people die of hunger?” She took some moments to speak again. “And if Erzsebet succeeds… she will make things worse.”

Alucard nodded. “Yes. But she won’t, because we’ll stop her.” He pointed with his finger to a nearby street. “Let’s go.”

They quickened their pace, keeping silent for most of the way. Most streets were crowded by a mass of curious people; the news traveled fast, and it seemed that everyone forgot about the execution earlier and decided to gather at this part of the city. Paris was drowned in chaos. Most soldiers were too worried trying to quiet down the population. How could they even prepare for the incoming battle?

Finally, they arrived at the alley the boy had mentioned – and the little bastard was right. It was a dirty small alley where most people avoided, only being guarded by two soldiers that weren’t paying much attention to their job.

At last, Alucard stopped walking in a spot out of their sight. The back view of the palace was just ahead. He turned around and looked down at Ruby, sending her a hesitant look.

“My apologies, but I will need to do that again.”

She widened her eyes slightly. “Oh. Okay.”

“...Do you think you can handle it this time?”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll be fine.” She was clearly lying. Well, there was nothing he could do about that.

Alucard wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her up slightly to a point her feet weren’t touching the ground anymore. He narrowed his eyes, visualizing the path he would have to make.

A familiar red glow enveloped his body–

He sprinted through the alley, passing in between both guards so fast that they didn’t even understand what was happening; to them it was just a sudden, violent gush of wind that made their hats fly away and their eyes widen in confusion.

And just like that, they were within the palace’s gardens.

Alucard put Ruby on the floor again. She was visibly dizzy, so he still held her arm for support. She blinked several times, as if trying to fade the vertigo away.

“It… wasn’t that bad this time,” she lied again. It didn’t look like she wanted to vomit this time, though. Alucard smiled slightly and let go of her arm.

“Do you remember in which room you found the artifact?” He asked quietly, worrying that anyone would hear them. He didn’t want to have to confront any human.

“The same where I was trying to hide in,” Ruby looked around the tall building. “The night creature came crashing through the window. We can use it to get in.”

Alucard nodded, trying to remember in what section of the palace that was…

Then he realized that he didn’t need to remember anything, because the scent of her blood was still very much in the air. They didn’t even have time to clean it. Alucard turned his head in the direction where the scent was stronger.

“There. Let’s go.”

They walked fast, Alucard always placing his body in front of her, walking near the wall under the windows to not get caught. They crossed paths with some guards, but luckily were not seen. He wondered why the hell did that place need to be so horizontally big.

Finally, the sight of a destroyed window appeared ahead. As the building had a double height ceiling, it’d be necessary to climb to get through the window. Alucard gesticulated for Ruby to wait. His sword unsheathed itself and floated up; through the reflection on the shiny iron, he saw that although the doors were opened, the gallery was empty.

Alucard once again wrapped his arm around her waist and floated, graciously passing through the window. As soon as their feet landed on the floor, he nodded his head softly; the double doors closed and locked.

He let go of her and she stepped aside.

The gallery was absolutely destroyed; debris and glass everywhere, broken pieces of the wooden crates, rags of once was a curtain around the floor, statues and paintings destroyed… and blood. A lot of blood.

Ruby widened her eyes at the sight of her own dried blood over the floor. It seems she hadn’t realized how much she bled. She gulped and averted her gaze somewhere else.

“It seems they didn’t start to clean things up yet,” she stated the obvious in a nervous tone.

“They’re probably measuring the damage first. It’ll take them a few days,” Alucard crossed his arms, his eyes wandering over the room. He, in fact, felt bad about all that. So many artifacts were destroyed during the fight… thousands of years of art and history went to waste. It was especially outrageous how Drolta didn’t care about the damage at the Egyptian gallery, given that she came from those same ancient times. She had no respect for her own culture anymore.

“Is it here?” he asked, paying attention to her again.

Ruby hummed quietly.

She walked towards the doors, looking for something on the floor. She tip toed around a pool of blood, trying to avoid stepping on it at all costs. Alucard followed her, albeit keeping a good distance so she could scoop the area without his interference.

Finally, she gasped and rushed to grab something at the corner of the room, near the wall. It was hidden behind a destroyed crate.

Ruby turned around, holding a golden scepter with both hands. Her eyes glowed with afraid amazement.

“This is it,” she confirmed.

They approached each other, meeting at the center of the gallery. Alucard analyzed the artifact she held. It was almost as tall as her with a symbol of the sun at its tip. Throughout the entire staff, there were tiny writings engraved. Although it was golden, it wasn’t much adorned; other than the symbol of the sun and the intricate sun rays in the form of curvy spikes, it was very plain. It appeared to be something used in religious ceremonies.

“What happened exactly when you held it for the first time?” He asked.

Ruby looked down at the scepter. “It was covered in rust. I didn’t even know what I was looking at. Then, when I held it, it got… hot. And it shone.”

“It shone?” Alucard quirked one eyebrow up.

“Yes. So bright that I had to close my eyes. And then… all the rust was gone.”

“And after that?”

Ruby pressed her lips together. “...Nothing. The night creature came in and I dropped it.”

Alucard nodded. “Do you feel anything strange right now?”

She shook her head slightly. “No.” She lifted the object closer to his eyes. “But, see? The writings? It’s that same language. Do you recognize what this is?”

Alucard narrowed his eyes. “Can I?”

Ruby handed him the scepter, which he held with both hands. It was quite heavy – actual pure gold. It was a miracle that the royal French family didn’t melt it, or whoever was in possession of the artifact it previously. He brought it close to his face, analyzing the scriptures.

The characters appeared to be organized vertically instead of horizontally, very similar to Mandarin or Japanese structures of writing. These characters, however, meant nothing to him. They weren’t rounded like Sanskrit, weren’t allusive of animals or nature like Egyptian hieroglyphs or ancient Mandarin, and they didn’t resemble the common Latin alphabet. At most, it reminded him a bit of Sumerian writing, given how simplistic the characters seemed to be – but if it really was Sumerian, Alucard would’ve known.

“You know how to read it, but don’t understand the meaning of the words?” Alucard asked without taking his eyes off the scepter.

“Yes.”

“So, each character means a sound.” Ruby nodded. Phonetic, as he suspected, since the characters repeated themselves over and over again.

“Do you have any idea of what it is?” she repeated, sounding hopeful.

Alucard pressed his lips together.

He really missed Sypha in moments like this.

She would’ve immediately known what it was – or at least, had an idea of how to start investigating the origins of this strange language. Alucard became quite good at learning new languages over the years, but not as good as her. Never.

It felt like there was an invisible cold hand pressing around his heart – like it did anytime he thought of her.

“Unfortunately no.” Alucard shook his head. Ruby’s shoulders dropped. “Let’s not be discouraged. This artifact definitely has magic in it; I can feel it.” Yes, it vibrated under his palm in a high frequency – a metaphysical frequency, like all magic things did. It didn’t reek of demonic magic or negative alchemy either. It felt quite neutral; Alucard couldn’t tell what type of magic it stored.

The white-haired vampire frowned.

“And it certainly doesn’t like me.”

Ruby tilted her head to the side, visibly confused. “What?”

There was a strange sensation in his gut. A certain aggressiveness. Alucard didn’t feel like the scepter could actually hurt him, but the bad feeling was there anyway. He handed the artifact back to Ruby; the moment it left his hands, the sensation was gone.

“Some magical items don’t accept being touched by anyone. Some can only be touched by their masters.”

“Like your sword?” She asked, eyeing the weapon that was still protectively floating near Alucard’s body.

“Precisely.” Alucard shrugged. “Or it just doesn’t like me because I am part vampire.” At her utter confusion, he decided to elaborate. “In magic terms, my existence is an aberration. A half-human, half-vampire being goes against the natural order.”

She pressed her lips and looked down. “...But it’s not your fault.”

Alucard chuckled softly. It sounded like she felt bad for him, which he found quite endearing. “The scepter doesn’t know it.”

They were interrupted when someone tried to open the doors. Both turned around immediately, Ruby visibly startled at the sudden sound.

“Who’s in there?” a male voice was heard from the other side. “Open the doors!”

“Let’s go,” Alucard hurried towards the window again. Yet, she froze in place.

“Do we take it with us?”

“Of course.”

“Isn’t it stealing?”

He couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed at her. Alucard stepped closer again. “Everything here was stolen from some other country, Ruby. They won’t miss it.”

And then, he was holding her close to his body again, floating out of the palace through the window. The sword obediently sheathed itself again. However, when he stepped foot on the grass, he didn’t let go of her.

“I’ll have to…”

“Yes. I understand,” she nodded before he could finish, tightening the scepter close to her chest.

Alucard felt a tiny bit bad for a moment before sprinting out of the palace’s gardens in a red blur. She seemed to handle the post-dizziness a bit better this time, though.

They hurried around the streets. Ruby held the artifact with nervousness.

“This thing isn’t exactly subtle,” she said between gritted teeth. Indeed. An object made of gold wasn’t something you could hold around and act nonchalant about.

“I can hide it under my cape if you want,” he offered, to which she shook her head.

“No. If it makes you feel bad, I’d rather not.” It seemed she really didn’t think before saying that, because she froze for a moment and immediately avoided his gaze.

Alucard knew that if he chuckled it’d make her feel bad, so he swallowed it.

They didn’t take long to reach their destination with their fast pace. The street appeared a bit less crowded now. And there they were – the three boys sitting on the sidewalk, the horse obediently beside them. They got up in a jump.

“Here it is, sir!” The tallest presented.

“We took care of it. See?” The oldest boasted.

“Some men even wanted to take it away, but we fought valiantly!” It was the youngest’ turn to lie with a grin.

Alucard opened a small smile and took the reins again. “You did a good job, indeed. As promised, the rest of the payment.”

Their grins got even bigger when the white-haired vampire deposited two more coins each over their open palms.

The shortest of the group then cleaned his throat and stepped further towards Ruby. He had both hands behind his back and an already apparent blush over his cheeks.

“Hm, sir! Respectfully!”

“Respectfully!” The tallest one reinforced. He fiddled with his beret nervously.

“We got madame a gift!”

“Out of respect!” The oldest one reinforced again.

The three eyed Alucard with much apparent nervousness, waiting for his… permission. Ruby looked down at the boys with quiet confusion.

Oh, this was getting funny.

Alucard shrugged and nodded. The three boys smiled again and turned to Ruby. Once again, the shortest cleaned his throat.

“Madame! We were attentively taking care of the horse when we saw something that could suit you!”

“I saw it,” the oldest one elbowed him.

“But it was my idea,” the short one hissed back before turning to her again. “Anyway, hm, here it is!”

Finally, he unveiled what he was hiding behind his back in an extravagant gesture: a lily flower.

Alucard looked behind them. On the other side of the street, under a windowsill, there was a vase full of lilies. He had to cross his arms and lower his head, trying to muffle a laugh.

“It matches your ribbon, madame,” the oldest remarked.

“I was the one to pick it. None of them could reach it but me,” the tallest said with pride.

Ruby watched the three boys with a bit of shock for some seconds.

Then, she smiled.

Not one of her small, timid smiles. For the first time, that smile reached her eyes, too. For the first time, it seemed that she wasn’t embarrassed for smiling; for the first time, her giggle wasn’t dry. Wasn’t clouded by sadness.

Alucard knew that it was the first time he was seeing the real Ruby – the person she was underneath the trauma, the fear, the anxiety; the person she didn’t even know she was yet. And at that moment, the glow of the golden scepter got pale in comparison to her.

Ruby lowered herself to get to their eye level. She took the flower and placed it inside the small pocket of her vest, right above her heart.

“What are your names?” she asked.

“Victor,” the tallest said.

“Pierre,” the oldest one.

“Oliver,” the shortest.

Ruby repeated their names, then patted their heads, rubbing their hair softly.

“This is very sweet, boys. Thank you so much. I promise I’ll take care of your gift.”

It looked like the three boys forgot how to close their mouths. They stared at her in awe, their faces completely red, their three little hearts beating at a rapid pace.

Alucard couldn’t blame them. Not when his own heart missed a beat.

Three hundred years didn’t make him much better than a little boy, after all.

“Ruby.” He called quietly. “We should go.” She nodded and straightened her posture. Alucard turned to the boys, and they all seemed utterly embarrassed when his gaze fell over them. “I wasn’t joking about what I said earlier. Tell your parents about it. After the sun goes down, do not leave your homes.”

The three tensed up at his words, but nodded accordingly. The short one – Oliver – seemed to be the smartest, too; he was the only one that paid attention to Alucard’s mouth and had a fast glimpse of his fangs, which made him get pale. Well… if that helped send the message across, he was fine with it. They finally started walking away.

Ruby waved them goodbye and they waved back, clumsily bumping into each other and elbowing one another. At last, they ran into the crowd again.

A ghost of that smile still lingered on her lips as she turned to him, touching the flower with care. Alucard mimicked her small smile.

“You just made their day.”

She looked shy again, and it made Alucard regret saying that a bit; he didn’t want her to feel embarrassed of herself, not after what he had witnessed. “No, you made their day by paying them.”

Alucard shook his head softly and closed his eyes for a moment.

“It doesn’t even compare.”

He looked down at her again.

This time, instead of the skirt, she gripped the scepter nervously.

Still, Alucard sustained her gaze for a few more seconds. He… enjoyed this. He liked how her attention was frozen on him, even for these brief moments. He liked the sensation of having the world around him blur as if he entered a parallel universe until she’d finally look away.

Alucard knew himself all too well. He didn’t bring himself the trouble of being in denial about anything. It was also one of the things he learned over the years, for the sake of his own sanity.

He understood why the entire mission was becoming personal to him very fast. He understood that, behind his growing anger towards Drolta and Erzsebet, there was something else growing, too – though he wasn’t sure if he’d act on it. No; it was way too early to assume anything. There were still many mysteries to solve, too much at stake, too much trust to be gained on both ends… and way too many traumas to get through, too.

For now, Alucard was satisfied with these small moments of sweetness.

Finally, he took the reins again, and then they were in a crowded street of a city in chaos, and not in a quiet parallel universe.

“Let’s go… madame,” he said jokingly, imitating the honorific the boys repeated over and over again. Ruby chuckled, at least.

Alucard was under the impression that, if Ruby knew what the implications of being called a madame meant, she wouldn’t be so calm about it.

He’d like to keep it as his little secret for now.

[belnads]

please let it be known my muses are based MOSTLY on the netflix series, as I have no prior knowledge of the games, I've been watching clips of said games here and there but yes I am mostly netflix based.

[imperiuswrecked]

Castlevania: Nocturne thoughts that keep me awake below the cut

1. I don't know why I've seen people act like Mizrak only just met Richter and Maria in S1, like it's pretty clear from their first interaction they know him and he knows them. Tera, Maria, Mizrak, The Abbot all lived in that town for years, probably their whole lives as far as we know for Maria, The Abbot, Mizrak. While Tera and Richter lived there for years. Which means that Mizrak knew Richter and Maria when they were kids. I bet Maria used to show up just to find someone to play with at the Abby, like the Chruch was a central point of focus for community in those days. Mizrak could have been like a older brother/cousin to her when she was little, and he was younger. He could have been patiently sharpening his sword, while she made a crown of flowers and placed them on his head. He probably would try to teach her Bible verses or encourage her and Tera to attend church, but gave up after a while. Mizrak pulling little Maria out of scrapes, or taking her home when she got into trouble. Then one day she shows up with her cousin and he has double the work of keeping them out of trouble and he's like a 20 something monk knight. So now he has like 2 kids trailing around him, asking him endless questions, making fun of his serious nature, he practices in the courtyard and Richter begins to copy his moves. So he ends up teaching him how to sword fight so he can protect Maria and Tera when Mizrak isnt around. Like why was there even monk knights to begin with in a small town. The Vampires. He and his brotherhood of knights were the towns protectors, the Vampires werenr many but it was enough for people to want there to be knights, to give money to the church to house and feed and cloth them so they could focus on their work. He'll, I bet Mizrak's heart nearly exploded when he first catches the cousins taking down a Vampire in the woods he was hunting. He then sometimes teamed up with them on the occasional hunt. Mizrak has no issues just falling into the group dynamic and he even takes up the role of provider, getting them safe shelter, clean water, and hunting food. Like that is a man who took on the older cousin/brother role to Richter and Maria years ago but no one really noticed because it felt so natural, and Mizrak is a quiet guy who doesn't talk much, or show his emotions, he tries to be an example to them through his morals and character and faith.

2. Just because The Abbot, Emmanuel, is a cowardly bitch in current times doesn't mean anything. Tera literally said how she was shown kindness when she got to the town. As a speaker witch who lost her whole family, her sister, being an outcast and hunted probably, a normal nice guy would have been catnip. They probably had a love affair but the Abbot was younger too, he probably was like "we can't have a child out of wedlock, etc" like it's very The Scarlet Letter vibes: Outcast woman lives on the edge of town with a baby girl, no one knows it's the priest whose the dad, the priest suffers internally for years and tries to repent but whatever they do it's not good enough to make up for the fact that they are a coward. The Abbot's moral failing didn't start now. It started years ago when he chose his priesthood over doing the right thing for his child, and the woman he loved. Maria killing him for being a deadbeat dad is all the excuse she needs, even without Emmanuel giving up Tera to Erzsebet. It's why Tera tried to appeal to him even till the end, because she spent years still in love with the young man who was kind to her once, a long time ago, and she thought she could still reach him, not knowing his moral decay and fervent belief that he was doing God's Will had crushed that once kind man.

3. The same theme runs true for Drolta. A priestess corrupted over time, until the end goal she was working towards for so long is so far removed from where she started, but she is so deep into her centuries long belief that what she is doing is right, and it's what her Goddess wills, that no matter what path she takes, what means she uses to reach her end, it's all worth it because she is her Goddess's most faithful servent. The confusion at the end when she's confronted by Sekhmet and reality comes to rip down her entire being blindsides Drolta. It's very tragic because Drolta did start out as a healer too, she wanted to help her people, to serve her Goddess, but life is not kind, and she chooses her dark path every step of the way, leaving more and more of that once good woman behind. The road to hell is paved with good intentions is something both Drolta and The Abbot shared once. Was Drolta aware at some point she had lost her path? Did she care? Did she grieve her former self? Or did she ignore and rip out all those soft emotions because she had spent centuries trying to bring her Goddess back and to admit it was all for nothing meant her corruption was for nothing? Like it got to the point she genuinely believed that she was the only person worthy of becoming Sekhmet, but only after she was sure she would not die like all the others who tried, only after Erzsebet's use was over, and Drolta was a powerful NightCreature did she dare to take that power. Cowardly in a way that she didn't want to give up her immortal vampire life to try and be Sekhmet's vessel.

4. Olrox's time in S2 really felt like the writers didn't want to let him go, but they didn't know what to do with him, especially compared to how much his character was a force that pushes Tera, Richter, Annette, and Maria to confront the Abbot and his main character arc (other than not romancing but really romancing Mkzrak) since stepping off the ship in France has been to see what the fuck is really going on. He's too old to fall in line and worship the latest power hungry Vampire lord/lady wannabe but he needs to see what sorta threat is he up against. The instant he's off the ship, he tells them he'll be along, and goes off on recon. He knows Mizrak's name the next day and abiut the Night Creatures, which mean he probably spent that first night toying on the Abbot and the Monk Knights. He was intrigued by Mizrak and thinks to use him as his source for more information but didn't expect to fall in love with him, but does as time goes by. However you do see he still has his own thing going on, he lurks around the dungeons, he finds Edouard, he finds the book, the machine, he is playing a dangerous game with Dolta and Erzsabet. His character arc is tied to The Machine which was not destroyed in S1, and the main characters even forgot about in S2 because they are young or prehaps they think without The Abbot it can't be used, but Olrox is a very focused Vampore and he doesn't forget, he destroyed the book, but The Machine is still there and he has no means of destroying it or sending it back to Hell. Olrox being a shadow that dances around the main plot and trying to get people to focus on the real issue in S1 vs how little he does in S2 is a glaring difference, but if there is a S3, Olrox and The Machine needs be addressed otherwise it's a waste of perfectly good character and plot build up. I do hope we also see more of Olrox's history in S3 because he is such a great character. Even if we just get him talking more about his past, I'll be happy. I seriously think with how long he's lived, what a morally grey character he is, that creators could do an entire spin off show based on his past. And can we PLEASE get a name for his past lost love?

5. Erzsabet is like the perfect main villainess for the show, she is everything the revolution is fighting against. She's a noble born lady who used her power to prey on theninnocrnt while she was a human and then later continues to do so as a powerful vampire. The fact that most of the Vampires are, the Aristocracy who are the "blood sucking leeches in charge" males so much sense in terms of the setting of the show. They are draining the kices out of the oppressed working/peasant class. Erzsebet is not smart or cunning like Drolta. In fact she is quite lazy as a character, expecting everything to be done for her because she was born and raised in that life of privilege, she expects and craves worship and adoration as her due, and believes Drolta every step of the way because Drolta does know how to manage her. Erzsebet doesn't even try to control the Nughr Creatures instead waits for Drolta to come back to deal with it. This doesn't mean that Drolta groomed or tricked Erzsebet, no, Erzsebet was already this way when Drolta met her, and in fact it's because Erzsebet is a stupid, lazy, power hungry nonle woman with no care for who she hurts to satisfy her own wants, that makes her the perfect tool for Drolta's own goals. Erzsebet never sees Drolta's betrayal coming because she truly believes herself to be worthy of being Sekhmet. It's why she breaks in the final battle because she can't comprehend the fact that she is just another rich woman who doesn't get what she wants, and reality smacks her down and shows her that all that power and strength means nothing. Honestly??? It's really refreshing to have a villain character who doesn't know everything, I think I'm so used to villains always having a plan, always know what the heroes will do next or being smart enough to counteract them, and especially villainess's have to be twice and smart etc to prove what a threat they are, but Erzsebet is like "I should have everything I want because I deserve it, but I will let my servants do all the work because what do you mean I have to work to achieve my goals? It's enough that I've proven myself by not dying." Like zero awareness, just a beautiful dumb villainess who thinks 'might makes right". It really is refreshing to have someone like Erzsebet because she is still a major threat.

6. Annette really carried all of S2 and it's perfect, it's beautiful, her getting a lot more spotlight felt only natural and I loved seeing her journey, I'd do wish they hadn't kept her and Edouard away all seasons that's like my main issue because they were friends and we didn't get to see that again until the end and the same holds true for Edouard in that zi feel they didn't know what to do with him this season like Olrox, they couldn't let Edouard fade into the background because he is important to Annette, but they could have had Edouard turn the Night Creatures against Erzsebet and Drolta imo. Still Annette's arc was the strongest of all the characters and very well done. I'm only sad because I wish we had more episodes to explore her journey.

7. I really hope we get to see more of Tera in S3, I do think she wasn't utilized well in S2 when we had the promise of he becoming Erzsebet's faithful servant at the end of S1 which would have set it up nicely for some heart breaking moments between Tera and the others. And while I know Richter is the main character, I don't really have any thoughts for him because he's not a character type I particularly enjoy or find interesting wnough. He's ok to me.

8. I hope Alucard and Juste get to stick around and raise Maria, even if there's a time skip and S3 has Maria an adult, it's fun to think about. Her arc was really good in S2 as well!

[alpaca-clouds]

How do gods, vampires and the afterlife work in Castlevania?

Okay, now with Castlevania: Nocturne season 2 I absolutely get to speculate a bit more about how the worldbuilding in the world of this anime actually works.

To catch everyone up with my speculations up until this point, let me quickly get you to speed. So far I assumed the following:

Vampires in this world probably go back to some sort of magic or alchemy, which has to have happened before 1500 BC (given that we know Morana was turned around that time).

There is only one afterlife, where every soul ends up, no matter what they believed in and what they did in life.

At least the "old gods" are real, possibly by some variation of the "clap your hands if you believe" rules. Meaning: It is possible that gods have started to exist, because people believed in them.

So, let me quickly go over the different aspects - on the basis of what we now know from Nocturne season 2.

Vampires

Now, we definitely do not get any answer so far with the question of where vampires come from in this universe. But we got a confirmation for a suspicion that I had all the time: There were not vampires in the Americas before colonial contact. (Though I might note, that this also means that the excuse a variety of people used to make up for the fact that the first four seasons had tomatoes and bell peppers - vampires had already been to America - was also wrong.)

In Nocturne we also do not only see one person being turned into a vampire, but in fact three different people. Tera, Drolta and Mizrak.

From this we can gather that generally speaking the universe works under the established rule of the "baptism of blood", as established in the Dracula novel. Meaning: If a vampire wants to turn someone else into a vampire, that person usually needs to be bitten first, before needing to drink the blood of the vampire. This seems to hold true for Tera and Mizrak at least - though we do not technically see Olrox feed Mizrak his blood, though it seems to be implied.

Drolta in this regard is interesting. Because from the sequence that sees her turned, she does not seem to get bitten. While the vampire injures her, there does not seem to be a bite. She only gets some of his blood and drinks it of her own volition.

I have seen some speculation if there needs to be some will or want involved in the turning of a vampire because of this. Does someone have to want to be a vampire - or at least want to not die? I am not sure, but it is interesting.

We also know with season clearly that whatever we assume a soul is: Vampires have it.

Other than that... We do not know how often vampires need to feed. However, given that we know they can journey over the Atlantic, it is probably not quite as much, given that the travel between Europe and the Americas in the time took about three to four weeks, and if a vampire would need to feed too often, I doubt that would end well. (Vampire feeding for the most part is a very logistical problem - but that is a topic for another day.)

Other than that, it seems that outside of the general inability to go out into direct sunlight, most typical vampire weaknesses do not seem to apply. They can go into churches, they seem to have a reflection in the mirror, and they can cross water no problem.

The Afterlife

So, from the very beginning I have been firm on one thing: While everything the show establishes seems to suggest that there is heaven and hell, I do not believe this. I was very sold on the idea that there is only one afterlife basically since the beginning, but especially since season 3.

The reason are two: Firstly, we know of at least one vampire in this world (Morana) who very much predates the concept of hell, which only came up in the 4th century. Sure, technically you can argue that Hinduism and some other religions also have a hell or a "bad place" to go after death, but generally, hell as known in Abrahamitic believes only came up in the 4th century. Given this is the case and this world does not ignore the fact that the rest of the darn world exists, it would make a lot of sense if hell was not real.

Secondly, we know the stories of two people ending up in hell, that in my understanding should not be there. That is Lisa for once, and also FlysEyes. I am sorry, but for what sin is Lisa supposed to be in hell? And she definitely is in the same place as Dracula, who definitely should be in hell, given the whole genocide and murder hobo thing. The same holds true for FlysEyes. Did he betray his friends? Yes, but he did so under torture. I am sorry, but I am not gonna assume that God really was so darn petty. Isaac also points that out in the dialogue.

However, Nocturne does bring up another possibility. And this possibility is, that this works rather under a varation of the "Clap your Hands" rules, specifically the one that American Gods seems to use. Which is basically: There is tons of different afterlives, and you will end up in whatever afterlife you align with the most. The reason for this obviously is, that we definitely know that the Ancestral Plane (a variation of which is part of a variety of both African and Asian religions) is a thing, as well as the Duat from Egyptian mythology.

And if we go by those "Clap your Hands" rules, it is obviously possible that FlysEyes ended up in what he perceived to be hell, because he felt guilty for betraying his friends, while Lisa might have wanted to go to hell, to meet with her husband again eventually. This would be interesting of course, because it would then mean that Mizrak would indeed have ended up in hell - just because he felt that he should.

The big question is, what this means right now for Forgemastery. We know at the very least that even vampire souls can be called back through it - both Drolta, and the resurrection of Dracula in the end of SV S4 proof this. But do souls for Forgemastery actually have to come from hell, or could forgemastery actually draw them from any hell whatsoever? That would be interesting to know.

Gods

In terms of the gods, Nocturne definitely so far implies some things about them. We definitely know now, that at least some of the "Old Gods" (I kinda love that the terminology used is the same one I keep using - not gonna lie here) are real. Namely we definitely know that Sekhmet, and Ogun exist, as well as Karfu and Papa Legba. If we all are not wrong about Olrox's background, Quetzalcoatl also very much exists or existed at some point. We also absolutely have some implications that at least some of the Christian demons and devils seem to exist to some extent. We already saw those fallen angels escape hell back in season 3, and now we have some more implications for maybe some other devils might exist for real too.

Ironically speaking though, we have so far absolutely no proof in one direction or the other, whether the Abrahamitic God with a capital-G exists in this world or not. Which I kinda understand - it is an iffy question to deal with in writing.

The question is, by which mechanic the gods exist. Does it work by "Clap your Hands if you Believe"? Or is there another mechanic that keeps them existing and presumably immortal? What happens to Gods, if nobody is left to believe in them? What happens if even their names are forgotten?

I talked a lot already about the Gaulic gods, who are a really prime example for this. There is plenty of gods from the Celtic pantheon of whom we found depictions in art, where we do not have the slightest idea how they are named, what their function was and so on. We know: "Someone painted this deity onto some pictures/made some statues" but that's all we know. What would this mean for this world?

It would be an interesting thing to find out. I wonder if we will ever learn this, should there be a season 3 or possibly another Castlevania series.

[lolziesitsame]

Okay I'm about to yap get ready guys (nocturne season 2 mahoosive spoilers)

Fucking I'm obsessed okay so first absolutely love the drolta backstory I was already in love with her but omg after all that ? Yes pls

Then alucard god I missed him and all the fucking fight scenes with him were so awesome (well talk more about that in a minute ) and cmon the scene where he comes out of the water with his hair all wet? Kill me

Speaking of that holy shit the art and animation fucking stunning like I loved the og series style but oh my god nocturne improves on it so much ESPECIALLY with richters fire and all of the scenes with Annette in the spirit world

Speaking of Annette god my girl she's so strong when she met her mother in the spirit world Ngl guys I cried and god her kicking that snake guys ass in the lake boat scene beautiful

Now richter time god I love him so much like Ngl on the first season i wasn't the biggest fan of him but oh my god he KICKED ASS this season and don't get me started on how dorky he was with Annette that whole romance was so cute and I can't wait to see more of them in season 3 (please)

Maria' oh my god girl summoned a godamn DRAGON and like as bad as it was for her mental health I'm glad that her father is gone bc that fucker is the Bain of my existence and the whole reason this shit happened in the first place and Tera my god the stuff with her is crazy but we'll get to that in a bit (I say this a lot I have a lot to say)

Now for the guy who's totally not my favourite olrox ...him and Mizrak oh my god I felt like I was being edged the entire time with those two like one minute Mizraks crying into his arms and the next he's insulting olrox crazy times .

The scene where like olrox is being branded I was like "nah they aren't actually gonna the next scene will show that somehow he got out of it-"

Then his sad face when it was shown he DID get branded and at that point I was itching for erzsebet (hope I spelled that right ) to get beaten to a pulp

Speaking of that let's talk the last two episodes and a bit more

(I'm nearly done I promise )

So when olrox was shown Yk on the boat about to leave I was sad bc he was leaving Mizrak and I was wondering what the hell was going to happen AND THEN

When everyone was fighting in the last 2 episodes I said "if olrox comes back to help fight I will scream " and boy did I my mum thought I was being murdered

Fucking that whole ass fight scene was fantastic like I see why this took two years to make Castlevania animators you're like gods actually

Bloody erzsebet girl would NOT stay down and then she was rescued ONLY for drolta to go " nah my turn now" girl I thought sekmet wouldn't win until season 3 at that point but I was quickly proven wrong

When like Mizrak was injuring and olrox came running I think like something like shattered in me my god the love sublots in this season were fantastic

Speaking of those two I did NOT expect olrox to make Mizrak into a vampire but it was a welcome suprise

And finally before I exceed tumblrs word count the twist that tera is possessed by that old man demon dude ??? God I can't wait for season 3

Anyways if you read this whole thing thanks sorry for the yap

[lieutnt]

hi hope you're doing well

I got reminded of my obsession with Castlevania :0 and reminded of how much poor Alucard suffered :((

So gentle Vampire male reader x Alucard

I just want reader to focus on Alucards pleasure , doing everything he asks for , because he deserves to be treated like royalty Reader is just pampering him with kisses while making him a whimpering mess And ofc the best aftercare in the world for Alucard <333

Also I hope you're having an amazing day <333

deserving

Adrian Tepes x Vampire!Male Reader Summary: Pampering and gently fucking Adrian. Warnings: NSFW, 18+ Only. Top!male reader, bottom!Adrian, gentle sex, praising, lots of kissing, unprotected anal, riding, orgasms, aftercare, set after season 3, reader is at least strong enough to carry Adrian.

“Adrian?” His eyes screw shut tighter, chest stuttering with uneven breaths while tears of frustration sting behind his eyelids. You lean back slightly, attempting to rub soothing circles into his hips with your thumbs. “My love, we don’t have to-”

“No,” he interrupts, the grip on your arms tightening. After a few deep breaths Adrian manages to open his eyes, a pink flush slowly blooming across his face with the way you so gently look down at him. “I want to do this, I…” 

You understand his hesitance - once he told you about Sumi and Taka everything had snapped into place, and the reason why he was so reluctant to get close to you at first became perfectly clear. 

“How about we try something different?” You ask, his nervousness bleeding into the room. Normally with Adrian so quiet you would tease him, but when he simply nods, you don’t, instead encouraging him to sit up so you can press your mouth against his, his anxieties ebbing away as his head grows foggy. 

Slowly, you manoeuvre your bodies until you’re the one pressed into the pillows and Adrian is on top, straddling your waist as you hungrily lick into his mouth, lowly moaning when he reciprocates with just as much vigour. When you break apart you barely manage to contain your grin as a noise of discontent rises from his throat, unhappy with the loss of your mouth.

“Is this better?” You whisper, and Adrian takes a moment, blinking dazedly before sitting up and looking down, realising where he now was. He can feel your cock, hard and hot, poking him, and the blush trails down his chest. Hands falling down to his waist you gently squeeze, bringing his attention back to you. “We go at your pace, whatever you want to do.”

Overcome with emotion he surges forward, bringing you into a hungry kiss, tongue trailing over your fangs with excitement. When one of your hands moves to tangle in his hair and cup the back of his head to keep him pressed against you he moans into your mouth, hips unintentionally grinding down against your stomach. He’s hard against you, and when your other hand travels to his cock, thumb collecting the drops of pre that had gathered before you begin to stroke him, Adrian breaks the kiss, forehead falling into your shoulder as he gasps at the contact.

He revels in the pleased hum that rumbles in your chest, your mouth now paying attention to his neck, allowing your fangs to gently drag against the skin before you begin to lather at a certain spot, intent on marking his neck.

You don’t get the chance, your head falling back when Adrian takes you in his hand, stroking your shaft as you twitch in his hold. With new found confidence he shuffles back, looking at you with blown pupils and only a thin ring of gold in his eyes when you finally tilt your head back up. Your chest contracts with a sharp intake when he holds your cock to his hole and begins to slowly sink down until he’s flush against you, the slide easy thanks to the prep you did earlier.

Neither of you move, basking in the presence of each other while you wait for Adrian to adjust, hands trailing over every inch of skin you can reach before settling on his waist when he testingly moves his hips, hands falling to your chest to keep himself up.

With the absence of pain he starts moving, rocking back and forth above you, your cock dragging against his walls and filling him completely. When the pleasure starts to build he leans back to rest his hands on your thighs, bouncing himself up and down and giving you the perfect view.

Small, pearly drops leak from the tip of his cock, gathering on your skin. Although you haven’t been fucking him long Adrian already feels the building of his orgasm and you’re right behind him, the teasing you had done before wrecking your stamina.

Grinding his cock against your stomach Adrian whimpers, the small pool of precum on your stomach steadily growing as he climbs closer and closer. When you wrap a hand around his cock he cries, breathing growing heavier as he pleads. “Please please, I’m close, keep going.”

You jerk him off faster, his cock shining and wet with arousal. When you flick your wrist just write and angle your thrusts to pound into his prostate he’s almost sobbing as he cums, splashing across your torsos with a soundless cry. Fucking into him to prolong his orgasm Adrian eventually moans out loud, cock kicking with each rope of cum.

Slowing your thrusts as he comes down Adrian quickly notices you haven’t cum and fucks down on you faster, reigniting your orgasm. “Fuck fuck fuck, I’m close, I’m close,” you chant, rapidly losing control over your encroaching orgasm. “Where do you want it?”

“Inside, cum inside me.” Adrian begs, rapidly bouncing up and down on your cock to bring you to the edge.

With a final hoarse cry your body arches up to chase the tightness of Adrian’s hole as you cum, the tip of your cock knocking against his prostate with every thrust as you paint his walls in thick globs. Hips jerking into his your body vibrates with pleasure, steadily filling him until you’re a panting mess, Adrian faring no better as he trembles above you. 

The both of you remain still as you enjoy the ripples of pleasure, only moving to rake your fingers across the tops of Adrian’s thighs while he catches his breath, cock still snug within his walls.

When you pull out and go to move Adrian stops you with a hand on your stomach, curiously grinding back to feel your hard cock nestled between his cheeks. “You’re still hard?” He asks incredulously.

Your smile turns sheepish, body more than ready to go for another round. “Yes, but we don’t have to go again, I can-”

Adrian quietens you with a scoff. “What do you take me for?” Using his strength he flips you both over, legs widening to make room for you and arms pulling you forward until your cock is pressed against him. “Do you think I would leave you unsatisfied? You really must-”

Cutting him off when you push back inside Adrian chokes on his words, hands fisting the fabric of the sheets into his fingers, a broken moan forcing itself out of his chest. When you start thrusting again your body feels everything, more sensitive in the aftermath of your first orgasm.

With his head thrown back in pleasure you leap at the chance to take in Adrian, mouth slightly apart as moans tumble from him, skin shining with exertion and blooming marks beginning to form on his neck. 

You never understood how people could devote themselves to others so freely - but now, with Adrian splayed underneath you, golden hair surrounding him like the sun itself, you understand. With emotion boiling in your chest you lean down to capture his lips once more, pleasure crackling up your spine with how he clings to you.

Reluctantly pulling away when Adrian tilts his head back to moan you move to his neck, nipping and sucking at the skin as his legs tighten around you, the edges of your orgasm slowly creeping in. You push up onto your hands, hovering over him while your thrusts gain speed, skin slapping against skin as you chase your release. Adrian scrambles to hold onto your shoulders as his body jostles with the force.

The knot tightly builds in your stomach, thrusts growing wild as you pound into him. “I’m close,” you manage to warn, short grunts following each thrust.

Adrian digs his fingers into your shoulders, leaving crescent shapes as he pants. “Again- cum inside me again.”

With a few more thrusts the knot snaps, rhythm stuttering as you feel each rope of cum fill Adrian’s hole, his body tensing around you as if to milk you for all he can. The feeling triggers his own orgasm, cock twitching against his skin as streaks paint his stomach, body shivering with intensity.

Trembling with the aftershocks of your release and barely able to keep yourself up you collapse to the side, spots dancing behind your eyelids and an arm automatically surrounding Adrian when he shuffles next to you, resting on your chest.

He clings to you in the afterglow, simmering in pleasure as he loses himself to the way you gently run a hand everywhere once the spots have faded - light fingers following up his spine, across to his shoulder and then down his arm until you take his hand in yours, thumb softly running across his knuckles. When he regains some control of his body he glances up to see you already smiling down at him, a question on the tip of your tongue. “Are you ok my love?”

His head falls back onto your chest, too heavy to keep up. “You ruined me, you brute.”

Adrian rises and falls with your chest as you laugh, one hand combing hair off his sweaty forehead while you plant a kiss on his temple. “I’m sorry, let’s take a bath and I can make it up to you?”

He sinks further into your body, limbs struggling to respond. “I can’t move,” he pouts.

“You won’t have to, I’ll be right back.” Disentangling yourself from Adrian is harder than you think, but once free you look over your shoulder to catch his eyes hungrily sweeping over your naked body and send him a wink, quickly disappearing out of the room and into the attached bathroom.

Turning on the water you allow time for the bath to begin filling, and when you return to Adrian he’s shifted onto his back, waiting for your return. Planting one knee on the bed he has little time to react before you’re moving one arm under his knees and the other across his back to pick him up, Adrian’s arms flying to wrap around your neck. He huffs, burrowing his blushing face into your neck as you carry him. “I can walk by myself.”

He can’t see the grin plastered across your mouth but he can hear your amusement. “I thought you said that I ruined you, that you couldn’t move?”

Adrian groans, burrowing further into your neck. Arriving at the bath he reluctantly lets go as you lower him into the water, switching off the gushing taps and encouraging Adrian to lean back and relax. With another kiss to his temple you disappear for a few minutes, quickly stripping the ruined bed sheets and replacing them with fresh ones.

Reappearing in the bathroom you coax him forward just enough so that you can settle behind him, pulling him back to rest against your chest as your arms encircle his waist, hugging him close to you. The hot water eases the soreness in muscles, and soon Adrian is twisting his head to seek out your mouth, body relaxing as you kiss him slowly, gently.

You spend the remainder of your bath pampering him - cleaning every inch of his skin, washing his hair, muttering praises into his ear. By the time you’re both clean Adrian is completely lax in your arms, fighting to stay awake. Pulling Adrian up as you stand you help him out, grabbing the nearby towels and drying you both off, Adrian dazedly watching as you throw the towels in a corner to deal with later and link your fingers with his, pulling him back to bed.

Adrian settles under the covers first, lying on his side and pointedly waiting until you lie next to him. He quickly encourages you to engulf him, making you shift onto your side to face him so he can move one of your legs over his and cuddle into your chest, arms wrapping around you to hold you close. Once your arms envelop him and your chin rests on the top of his head his breaths soon even out, the lull of sleep too hard to resist knowing he’s entangled with you.

[wandringaesthetic]

ugh okay

Netflix Castlevania Nocturne season 2 trailer commentary and rampant speculation:

(mostly about Alucard we all have our faves)

I love how he's animated. He is so still most of the time. Not that he can't move incredibly fast, but there is no wasted movement, does not flinch, at all, ever, facial expressions are certainly there (his little smile when he mentions Trevor, cut out my fucking heart Sam Deats et al), but very subtle. He sounds so much more sedate than he does in the other series, but the dry humor is certainly still there (who are you to call anyone sarcastic, sir?). He has seen and lost so much. Nothing surprises him. Nothing is worth any wasted effort. The impression of incredible age and weariness.

As ever, I like the fact that he is supposed to be incredibly strong but it's usually depicted in a very understated manner, like this has been true since season 1 but it took until it was drawn attention to in season 3 for me to notice he has been wielding a longsword like it's a rapier this entire damn time.

He is literally sitting like an old man exactly like those two football players in that video. What? I'm comfy. Sort of like a bat, too.

He is kind of giving me death flags??? Like more or less saying to Richter that he's got to finish the job if he can't (the reverse of Symphony of the Night where Alucard has to finish it because Richter couldn't and oooooooooo are we going to get evil/possessed/"master of the castle" Richter I must KNOW) A character like Alucard is difficult because he's OP and isn't technically a main character (anymore) so one way to solve him overshadowing the actual main characters is KILL HIM. Also, being passively suicidal in Symphony of the Night is kind of Alucard's whole thing. Like, Again, overanalyzing the 30 seconds he's in in the last season. Stating he has a kill count in the hundreds thousands?? Big if true. He's been spending most of the last 300 years killing vampires. Castlevania vamps are generally not portrayed as obligate evil and he's often defensive/admiring of vampires in series 1. What happened? (I do not like the most obvious potential answer to this. Like, I won't hate it if that's what happened but agh I want him to have had one happy lifetime, at least. Especially if we, again, take inspiration from Symphony and have him fighting their shades/reanimated corpses. Like. I would love/hate that.)

Are we ever going to explain Maria's powers in any way? If we have evil/possessed Richter I do very much like the idea of her marching in to save him.

maybe the single frame here that intrigues me most is Olrox holding back Mizrak. Toxic bara is back, baby. Perhaps it never left.

I am intrigued re: what we're doing with Juste, because, hmm, the Juste/Lydie/Maxim situationship is more or less the same as the Cecil/Rosa/Kain situationship, yes? But we got the bad ending where Lydie and Maxim are dead or worse and Juste probably killed Maxim. Like if y'all had just accepted the homoerotic rivalry as homoerotic maybe you would not be so weak to demonic possession/brainwashing/whatever and it probably wouldn't have to be like this. In contrast with the might-as-well-be-canon trephacard polycule. As ever, I'm fascinated by the implications of something that is probably never going to play out on screen. Aren't we all.

I'm glad Drolta's back, she was fun. She's the sort of character that doesn't need a reason to be back because she didn't have all that strong a reason to exist in the first place she's 99% vibes and that's ok. (though oh. ohhhhhhh. she's the succubus analogue. let's torment alucard with illusory hellworld, yes?)

[astoldbyaja]

The Serpent and the Sunflower - Part 1 (Castlevania Nocturne)

Olrox meets a water orisha who accidentally leaves her mark on him on their first meeting. Now sometime later they meet again.

Part 1 - First meeting / Reunion

Part 2 - Smut

Part 3

Part 4

“Let us celebrate here.”

“Earth… it’s tainted, no longer inhabited by humans and animal alike.”

“Yes the demons that they have named… vampires have come and tainted the earth.”

“True but there aren’t many vampires in this region… human colonies have yet to even colonize it. It’s been too long since we were in the realm, besides the vampires are no match for the power of us Orisha….

The water flowed gently as it welcomed me into the land. It’s the 16th century currently. Oh, how things are different from when I was here 200 years ago. I could see the sun through the ripples of the water and finally, I pushed my head from the water and looked around at the vast forest. It’s silent and calm. But it is not safe. My kin were right, vampires are in this area. I crawled from the water, my tail slowly parting in two, spreading legs. When I enter the earth realm through the water, I always appear as a fish creature. My gills closed and my lungs began to breathe in oxygen. I am being watched…

I looked at my palms and watched the scales fall away and my webbed hands transitioned into regular human fingers. My eyes moved down my chest as scales fell off my breasts and stomach. My glowing blue tail begins to fade away into that of two legs.

A vampire has already found me. It hasn’t approached, so for now I will not kill it. I began to wiggle my toes and place my hand on my chest to ensure my heart is beating.

The creature is quite fast already, my senses tell me. They take over and I shoot my arm out grabbing the neck of something cold. I pulled this creature right over my body and wrestled it down to the ground beneath me where I sat right on… his lap. I hissed and so did he. His scent flooded my mind, and I could identify him by smell and by memory from my times in this realm.

Aztec?

He’s tall, dark-skinned, with long black hair and green slit-like eyes, like that of serpent and I frown gently at him. I see his sharp fangs, and the ear jewelry in his pointed ears. He is in purple garments of this time. He tries to swipe at me with his other hand and I catch his wrist. He seems moderately caught off guard. He’s speaking in a language I am not familiar with. I am using some of my power to weigh my groin down so he cannot throw me off. I could tell he was trying by how his hips bucked into mine.

My blue eyes focused on his green orbs. He’s talking too fast; and I cannot understand him. I can see his face scrunching into a snarl, showing his annoyance. I look down at his mouth as he speaks. This is highly annoying, and I had a celebration to travel to. There was only one way to communicate. I lean my face into him, and he lets out a snarl of warning. I do what I always do. I give his mouth a quick lick which catches him completely off guard, and I press my lips into his. He growls heavily again, but my hands still hold his wrists, his claws trying to somehow get me off.

My tongue slips into his mouth, and I taste everything from the blood he’s had before to the taste of other things. But I care not for any of that. I continue to explore until our tongues finally meet and I began to tangle my tongue with his.

He bites my tongue, some of my blood pooling into our mouths and now his green eyes widen as his frustrated groans turn into sultry noises. Because he didn’t understand the situation that was happening, I was going to show him mercy for biting me. He was now sucking on my tongue trying to drink more of my blood. He began to stop struggling. I got what I needed as the cut in my tongue healed and I leaned back.

“W-why did you do that!” he snarls. There it was. His language was now my language. I leaned back up.

“Why did you attack me?” I asked instead. He looked at me stunned as he finally was taking the moment to look me over. Although, his eyes taking in the sight of me, my curling hair flowing over my shoulders and back in contrast of his straight hair. Our skin were two different shades of brown. I must say, his skin was quite… beautiful even for a vampire.

"You can understand me?" he asked. I nodded.

"I can now, yes." i replied.

“What are you? A being who comes out of the water? I have seen all there is to see in my vampire lifetime and never… whatever you are.” he said. He’s my first vampire and I had to admit he was not what I was expecting. I thought vampire were some huge ravenous creatures. I didn’t have time for this. I had a celebration to get to.

“Find your food somewhere else.” I warned and got off him, the sun’s rays trying to shine down through the tree branches. This vampire remains on his back as he looks at me and I just turned and began to walk around him leave.

“Wait!” he calls out, and he’s in front of me in seconds his tongue running over his long fangs, his hair falling over his face a bit. I noticed the long braid on the opposite side of his face. “You’re running off already after giving me a taste of your lips and your divine blood? Surely you could humor me by giving me your name… I am Olrox.”

I looked the vampire over. I could smell the danger on him, the hidden aggression and savagery he is withholding from me. He is a predator.

“I have many names.” I replied. His eyes remained connected with mine as he tilted his head arching a perfect brow.

“Are you a demon of the water? Are there fish demons now?” he asked humorously. I blinked and shook my head.

“No.” I replied. I could feel his body is tightening. This Olrox leans into me, his face growing closer to mine.

“Then what creature are you that can stop my attack, that has blood as heavenly and intense as yours?” he asks lowly. I could see the mixture of feral and curiosity dancing in his orbs, and I wince with mild annoyance. I did not wish to be late to this celebration.

“I am… a water orisha.” I replied. Now he snorted and arched a brow.

“An orisha? Sounds like a made-up name for some creature… but I guess watching you crawl from the water with a tail, I shouldn’t be so skeptical… I’m not entirely sure what an orisha is, but my interest is piqued.” I looked the vampire over for a moment and couldn’t help but smile some. He was my first vampire after that strange meeting, but who knew that after moment, he was one I would never forget.

1785 Paris, France

If there was anything I enjoyed about visiting the earth realm, it was enjoying the way their clothes started to change. Ever since vampires grew in large numbers, I found myself visiting a lot more, flaunting my mere existence before them knowing that they couldn’t hurt me. Maybe it was because I was of the younger generation of deities. I walked down the cobble stone toward the docks. The familiar presence of his vampire scent followed me here. I paused in my walk gently looking up at the night sky.

“How is it… whenever I enter this realm, you somehow manage to find me?” I asked lightly looking toward the alleyway at the pair of green eyes that watched with me such focus and precision.

“For a while I asked myself the same thing,” his voice was calm, silky and smooth just like the first time I met him. “Every so often, I feel… a warmth in my stomach and it’s pulling me to you. At first, I tried to ignore it, and it works for a while, when you leave the realm, the warmth fades, but it’s never fully gone. It just dies down a little. And when you come back it burns bright in my stomach.”

Slowly his form appears before me. He is more poised now, in cleaner garments of purple.

“It took me a little longer then I’d like to admit, but I realize… it what your blood. It didn’t start until you left me that day.” he said. I could see the bitterness in his eyes. I sighed gently remembering our last encounter. That same bitterness faded just a bit as he looked me over. “You haven’t aged… Your hair’s longer, eyes still as blue as the ocean.” I feel one of his fingers raise up to twirl one of my locks of curls.

“You should have stayed away.” I said. He gave the gentlest of winces.

“I’ve tried! I tried to drink as much blood as I could to somehow rid my body of yours but ever since that day, the blood satisfies my hunger, but your blood… it’s something else entirely of your kind. I feel you in my skin and in my veins.” he said in a strained done. I winced and looked down. I had no idea my blood could cause such an effect on a vampire.

“What are you called now?” he asked. I looked up at him. I went by many names, but there was one I liked a lot.

“Ansara.” I replied. His eyes softened on me.

“Ansara… somehow that name fits you perfectly.” he said in a light tone. I felt my heart beginning to beat faster in my chest, and I was sure he could hear it just like the last time. I looked away now.

“You were the first vampire I have ever met… when I kissed you it was to be able to talk to you. I didn’t intend for anything else to happen.” I replied looking back at him.

“You were and still are the first orisha I have ever met and to this day, I have traveled countless places to study your kind, to find some type of way to get you back to this realm so that I could…”

His eyes darkened just a bit as he looked away. His hand now moved from my hair to his stomach looking down at it with a soft frow.

“I want to forget you, but I can’t not after what we did.” he said lowly. I could smell it on him, that same primal aggression that was making his body tense and ache. It’s what my blood did to him the first time we met. I felt horrible for him. But he was not alone in his feelings. Ever since that day, I couldn't stop thinking about him, the way he was a beast when inside me, his touches, his ferocity was unlike anything I had ever felt. I have only slept with humans only to satisfy the needs of my human body, but this... this was different.

I thought about him in my realm and event he other orisha thought i was insane for even lying with such a creature, but he was unlike anything I had ever felt. When my body achieved its very first orgasm with him I felt completely enamored with that feeling. That feeling of pure pleasure shooting all through my body. No other human could give me that after... and I did not want to lie with another vampire. I only wanted him.

I finally raised my hand to touch his cheek. Somehow an undead creature has warmth to me, and I know he feels the warmth from my skin as my palm touches his cheek. He lets out a hiss and before I knew it my back is pressed against the alley wall, his eyes looking at me with a mixture of desperation and uncontrollable desire. His hands now intertwined into mine, sliding them up the wall and over my head.

He knew I could fight him off, I could overpower him, but I didn’t. I let him control me.

“Ansara…” his words trailed off, but his eyes were beginning, I could see it. He let out a soft snarl as his forehead presses into mine, his lips inches from mine. I knew what he was asking.

Let me have you again.

“Olrox…” I whispered.

Yes.

His growled and his lips captured mine in a heated and savage kiss. Our mouths open immediately, letting our tongues meeting, the heat of our breath mixing together. I shuddered against his body as he towers over my own. I feel his fingers grip on my own loosen as he slowly lets his hands trail down my arms and over my waist. He leans lower to grip my thighs and he lifts me up immediately so my legs could lock around him. Our mouths continue to explore each other and my fingers glide through his hair.

“Please don’t ever leave this long again.” he mutters into my mouth. I gave him a dark, and lustrous gaze.

“I won’t.” I replied, but we both knew that was a lie.

“I have a room at the inn in town… come with me?” he asked. He has to ask me. He knows not to ever try and overpower me or use force on me. I smiled down at him as he holds me to him. I run my thumbs over his face.

“Yes.” I replied and he shows a small smile and puts me down before taking my hand and moving with purpose into the darkness of the alleyway.

Taglist

@angel-hawthorne

@the-tired-potato-hani

@vampiebite

[skrunklowumbo64]

DISCLAIMER: Don't engage with a toxic user that's being called out, just block, report, ignore, & move one.

Remember when I made a public apology for making a callout tweet about a certain Tumblr group of IDW Sonic critics (a certain fox was one of them) on Twitter like roughly 2 years ago?

Yeah, I was in good terms afterwards, but a year later, when I randomly saw the edgy sadist fox man wishing death on a comic book writer showing up in my personal Twitter timeline, I took my apology back from him (plus some of his associates overtime) & gave my two cents about it.

The reason why he wished death on a comic book writer was because the satanically evil boogiestans were harassing & doxing his friend who had cancer. You know the old saying, 2 wrongs don't make it right. This isn't the only toxicity thing he has done & I got several evidence to show below.

CW/TW: Excessive Slurs, Bigotry, SH, & SA

(Uncompressed Image Link)

(Uncompressed Image Link)

BONUS EXAMPLES

Plus archived links to his Twitter & Tumblr accounts.

There are way more than what are shown in the images & I can't expect to find them all. Several or so of them are from a few years or nearly a decade ago, but it does prove that he's always been an heartless irredeemable sadist, even before IDW Sonic existed & before you pull that "years ago" defense card, his behavior hasn't changed for the better, like these for example (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).

What do I think about him?

He's overly smugged, to a point of being arrogant.

He gets overly insecure whenever, for example, any Sonic game gets any criticism &/or negative opinions from people who're either fans of Sonic or not.

Most of his "critiques" are in bad faith.

He has extreme accusatory behavior (I.E. He accuses people of hating Sonic & not playing the games for daring to like anything non-game Sonic related, getting things about Sonic wrong, & making AU fan fics that differs from the games).

He has a habit of blocking anyone over the most pettiest things (I.E. Anyone using the term, Mobius, being told to calm down, people liking transgender Bridget, people liking SnapCube & Team 4 Star (he also wants them banned over it), etc.).

He constantly relies on ad-hominem attacks & vulgar insults whenever he talks to anyone he doesn't agree with, either directly or behind their backs by screenshotting their posts then posting them in his clique chamber to complain about it or both.

He's got this obnoxious Anti-WokeTuber vibes going on despite claiming to be against bigotry.

He gets easily butthurt over people enjoying any non-gaming media or anything in general of not just Sonic, but also Kirby, Castlevania, Dragon Ball, TMNT, & more as well.

He's a massive hypocrite, like for example, he hates anyone making & enjoying non-canon Sonic material while he's faving/making rule 34 fan art & fan fics involving sonic characters voring each other or any other fetishy things (which are also non-canon material).

etc.

If you're wondering if I'm aware about his certain questionable fan fics & favs, I knew already cuz I was the one that caused a chain-reaction on Twitter in the first place by randomly DMing some one rando about it & I honestly wish they shouldn't bring it up whenever they argue with said fox. If you want me to talk about what I think of this Dwai guy nowadays, maybe, but not right now.

How do you think I found out? I just googled the username, checkout their account on some furry site, & went to their profile from some controversial bunny site that's publicly shown on their profile bio out of morbid curiosity. Before you ask, I don't have an account on that controversial bunny site & never will.

My reaction to said content on there was disgust & uncomfortable. I hardly engage with those UCP addict types cuz they're not the most pleasant people to talk to & they're always predictable.

Did you know that he was banned on Twitter seven times, plus all tweets made before 2023 aren't searchable & apparently his first 6 bans had something to do with involvement with you know what? If you're morbidly curious about it, examples here. Remember, don't waste your time trying to argue about it.

The more I see toxicity from him, the more I having trust issues increased & regret making an apology to him, to a point where I think he's too FUBAR to deal with.

If he sees this, he's gonna be like, "TWEEGARD ZNOHVWEHK!", "MUH VWEE ZPEECH/VWEE KONTWEE!", "DOT TEEL MEE WAT 2 DOO!", "PEEOHWEETON!", "KOHTIZT!" "VWEEN/EYEDEEDUBBAHEW STAEN!", "CHUHZT SEH YOO HEHT SAWNIK GEHMZ & GOH!", "YOO HEHT MEE CUZ I KWEETESEYEZD VWEEN!", "CHUHZT PLEH DA GEHMZ!", "SWAENDOHAHR!", "STAHKR & HOHWAZZAHR!" the no you card, strawmanning, "At least I don't (Insert whatever bad thing the stans did)!", ad-hominem attacks, the "Stans are being mean to me!" sob stories, the whataboutisms, screenshotting then whine &/or being smugged about me in his clique-ish echo chamber, & more, guaranteed.

If you're saying I made this because of that one argument or whatever, I always had issues with him before it, not because of different opinions, but because he's the most insufferable individual to talk to due to his arrogant, nihilistic, cuss-happy, & creepy nature regardless if it's about Sonic or not.

For those who're about to ask me to make more callout posts about the people associated with him, I'm not interested & please don't beg me into making them.

If you also have issues with him, share your thoughts here, it also doesn't just have to be about IDW Sonic or Sonic general.

[angelosearch]

Tag game for fanfiction authors!

This one has been in my drafts for a while, I forgot where I got it from oops!! Tagging @tr1ck5 @suleikashideaway @gardengalwrites @aleheartilly @mathiwrites @waltzforthemoon @summonerluna and anyone who wants to join in!

Tell us:

The story you're proudest of: It's got to be Eyes of the Storm. It's a FFVIII AU but honestly, I don't think you need to know FFVIII at all to read it. It's magical realism with a lot of focus on place and nature and that's the kind of stuff I've wanted to write in long form for my whole life. I am so proud of it I kind of want to shake everyone I know and get them to read it.

Your story that's gotten the most love online: TECHNICALLY, Chaos Theory, but that's only because I've been posting it for a while and it's 21 chapters. In terms of Kudos per hits, I'd have to go with Silver Anniversary.

Tease a current WIP or idea you're working on: I'll give you two! First, a bit from A New Beginning's sequel (The Sorceress Awakens). This is from chapter one of three, "The Commander Dreams Again."

Squall nodded as though he’d been dismissed and started walking toward the door. “Hey wait son—I MEAN, son-dier! SOLDIER! No, Commander, Commander Squall? SQUAMMANDER—” “What, Laguna?” “Uh.. I just, uh…” Shit shit shit! He already looks annoyed! Gotta change the subject! “Uhh, what’s Rinoa up to these days? I’m surprised you didn’t bring her with you!” Perfect save, hell yeah! Squall looked away, and then to the floor. “She’s just busy, she couldn’t come.” And before Laguna could ask any further, Squall stepped out of his office.

And then a bit from the next chapter of Chaos Theory, "Part IV: The Edge of Chaos | Suspended Animation"

But there was another face there beyond his own. He could see his father’s features across the terrain of his countenance, filling him with a tightening ball of emotions too complex to name, nonetheless untangle.   Most people told him he, luckily, resembled his mother, but Laguna was there, hiding along his brow bone and around his jawline. His reflection reminded him that he had been behind that man’s face, felt the things he felt, thought the things he thought, and it made it worse to realize how much he and Laguna had in common. It had been simpler to just see Laguna as a man that lived up to the shoddy expectations of the people of Winhill, as a guy who pushed him away and let him down intentionally, and hate him for it. Now an entirely different picture had been painted for Squall, and it was hard to reconcile his long-held beliefs and tinted experiences against the formerly unseen reality.

Also, I have this project I've got bouncing around in my head called "Odine Asylum" which hopefully I'll try to put on a page soon.

Your top 3 fandoms: Final Fantasy VIII, Hazbin Hotel, The Locked Tomb!

Your top 3 ships: Squall x Rinoa (FFVIII), Trevor x Sypha X Alucard (Castlevania), Thrawn x Eli (Star Wars Thrawn novels)

Rec someone else's fic: UGH this is SO HARD so I am just going to go with the fic I've read most recently (there were moments that had me cracking up): Dirty Boots.

Pick one!

Fluff or Angst (but why not both?)

Oneshots or longfics

Canon compliance or canon divergence

AO3 or FF.net

[beevean]

Rank your top 5 Belmonts And if you have the energy/desire to do more: Rank your top 5 Castlevania games Rank your top 5 Castlevania tracks

5) Richter. I don't think much of the guy, but undeniably he is a very important figure, the symbol of the cracking of the Belmont legacy. At first, he's a hotblooded shonen young warrior, full of energy and life and will to fight... and then we learn that the will to fight is actually an issue, because after he defeated Dracula at age 19, he found no other reason to live.

4) Simon. Got higher up to the list in recent times <3 he's the Belmont, without any drama or obvious flaw. But I've come to like that about him, and admire his feats in Simon's Quest that show that he's not just a formidable badass, but a very noble man too, willing to even bury his foe out of respect.

3) Leon. He deserved none of that :( Leon is another Belmont mainly defined by his noble nature, perhaps to a fault (my good man why are you storming a vampire castle without a sword). His shining moment is, of course, him rejecting Mathias' absurd proposal: he may be full of anger against his former friend, to the point of swearing vengeance and dooming his descendants to a lifetime of fighting, but he also refuses to fall into the pit Mathias won't escape from, and has the perfect rebuttal for his inane logic and indirectly Dracula as a whole: "But defeating him... No, preventing others from suffering the same cursed fate... That was Sara's dying wish... Granting my beloved's wish. That is all I can do to prove my love to Sara. Eternity without her would be nothing but emptiness."

2) Juste. The golden child in deep denial :D It's a bit unfair that he gets reduced to "Alucard Belmont" and at most praised for his OP powers, but hey, he's not the only one. He has an interesting personality if you read between the lines, from his brashness that contrasts with his angelic looks, to how fervently he forces Maxim to keep Lydie in the dark. Also he's the king of interior decor :P

1) Trevor. He's the Sonic of Castlevania. He invented the Superpower of Teamwork™. He's kind and helpful to those he considers his friends and a terrifying menace if he thinks you're in his way (he won't ask first). He has the Legs of all time. His theme slaps an inordinate amount of ass. He's shaped like a friend and I love him <3

(a close runnerup would be Christopher, because I really like the concept of an older Belmont, who thought that could retire, nyooming to rescue his son from Dracula's influence <3 a prelude of things to come <3)

~

I was sure I had already ranked them, but perhaps I need to remake the list anyway...

5) Adventure ReBirth. Admittedly it's been a while since I replayed it, but I have fond memories of it as far as Classics go. It's simple, it's well designed, it's fun, it has kickass remixes (Aquarius <3) I wish it wasn't so obscure because I think it's the best entry point for those interested in the genre.

4) Portrait of Ruin. Y'all sleep on this title unfairly. Jonathan and Charlotte are very fun to play as, the gimmick of the paintings allows for new locations rarely explored in the series, it has an interesting mission system that makes the game more fun to master, and an OST that seriously deserves more love.

3) Curse of Darkness. Yes, it's noticeably flawed, from the mindnumbing level design to the obtusity of Forging. It's not a game I can pick up whenever I want, the only reason I can't put it in first place. But aside from that, it honestly feels like it was designed just for me and my tastes lmao. The fighting/crafting/raising loop is incredibly addictive and reminds me of the Sonic Adventure games <3 and ofc, as you could tell, I'm in love with the characters and story :P

2) Symphony of the Night. The one, the myth, the legend. Describing it feels like a waste of time. It's a timeless classic for a reason. It may not be perfect, but much like Super Metroid, I think the atmosphere is so well crafted that it pulls you in regardless of any issues you might have. It's an experience to be had.

1) Harmony of Dissonance. Oh yeah. This game is stupid fun to me. I just pick it up and play it to wind down. The ability to dash in both directions makes it a 10/10, then you add the spells that are fun to experiment with, the breakability, the COLORS FEEL SO RIGHT, the eerie music (yes it's good! it's good!!! fight me!!!!), Maxim Mode...

~

I was also sure I had this list... how could I pick only 5 tracks from this giant, beautiful repertoire...? D:

5) Chapel of Dissonance. Unlike many of the tracks in this soundtrack, this one is perfectly hummable and sweet. It fits the beautiful sky like a glove, and it may subtly reference Divine Bloodlines which is a stroke of genius :)

4) Lost Painting. SoTN abunds in jaw-dropping tracks, but this one feels uniquely magical, and it plays just in the right areas of the castle (a chapel, a library, and icy caves). It sounds like a sad lullaby sung to Alucard, and I hear reluctance to venture further and fight.

3) Garibaldi Courtyard. I have no clue why this mundane area in the game has music that brings me to tears. Similar in atmosphere to Lost Painting and Fog-Enshrouded Nightscape, but with CoD's more modern sound. I don't know how to put into words the profound sadness I hear here.

2) Dracula Battle (SCIV). I cannot gush enough about the genius of this track as the final boss theme. It never gets faster, or drop a harder beat: you only get these long strings and this complex arpeggio for an unsettling atmosphere. I said back then: "It sounds like you're quietly resigning yourself to your fate. You will die. But that's alright. He will die too."

1) Leon's Theme. This could pass for a classical piece. It's perfect in every way. You can almost touch Leon's sorrow and anger - you can hear the fingers pressing on the piano! It gets you pumped to reach the end of the game, and you get to grieve with Leon for the terrible night he's going through. Special shoutout for the part at 1:34 for sounding like the aforementioned Dracula theme.

[yallemagne]

Writer Asks

Tagged by @bluecatwriter

I think I've done this one before!! There's more questions this time, but this is an interesting blast to the past to see how I've changed.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

59 works

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

300,805 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, Dracula. In the past: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sanders Sides, Castlevania, Elisabeth, etc.. If you fuse the fandoms that intersect it's about 18 fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Orice (Dracula, Jonathan has A Time; unsurprising, it is my longest by far)

When Providence Favours Witches (Castlevania [specifically Netflixvania], Trevor gets adopted by Lisa; also not surprising, very popular fandom)

Lückenbüßer (TF2, Trans Scout talks to Ally Medic; shocker!! that's a single-chapter fic!!)

Pseudo-Asthma (JJBA: Battle Tendency, Joseph has a heart-to-heart with his mom; woah! that was only 3 chapters!!)

Bewitching (JJBA: Phantom Blood, Dio genderbend; of course, I can never escape it even if it is a hiatus fic)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah, sometimes even if it is just to say "thank you!!" I like to talk about my writing a lot and comments are the place I get to go into detail about my thought process.

6. What's the fic you wrote that has the angstiest ending?

Vulture in Saviour's Robes, I had people yelling at me for this one (in a good way), so it's really no competition, huh.

7. What's the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

It's gotta be one of the one-shots iojegp. To suggest a less well-known one: A Pitiable Performance, J&H and Dorian Gray crossover, Utterson and Lanyon go to see a play and Sibyl Vane is the lead actress.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not much. Oh wait--- oijegpioerg trauma engaged. Orice got a LOT of hate at some point, someone in the fandom really wanted me dead so they rallied a bunch of people against me. My crimes were: 1. writing a Jonathan POV story 2. supposedly writing Renfield to be a bad guy. None of it reached my comment section thankfully, but when I found out I was very paranoid that someone would dox me over fanfiction.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

For a period of time, I swear that was all I wrote iojgepri. My specialty is dom/sub with plenty of aftercare, though I've also written some dubious consent stuff. Silver Crystal Carousel (Dracula, John/athan dom/sub) is my most recent smutfic, it was so hard to get back into the dirty groove especially since I was writing in first person.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yeah, but not much. I get plenty of ideas for crossovers, but they're pretty difficult to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah. I'd say lost and you'd say love was translated into Russian and posted on ficbook.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Same answer as before: Only one (The Apostles), and it was mostly a self-imposed research project with my friend. They did the research, and I wrote the incorrect quotes and a short Jedas one-shot.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

How could I possibly choose. If you go by fic count it's Jesus/Judas ijopegij. I'd say... JonMina and JonEri. I really like writing already established relationships.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

So many. So many of them. There's some that are barely started!!! To name one y'all will be familiar with: the continuation of An Odd Doctor.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been praised for my characterization a lot recently!! Specifically with VH in Orice, I've gotten a lot of compliments on his characterization being complex. I'm really happy about that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything-- *gets shot* I don't know how to articulate!! Sometimes I get ideas and I try to write them, but it's all in pieces, and I don't know how to fix it into a fully-fledged narrative.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have gotten help with that in the past for Lückenbüßer. I don't do it often, it is difficult to pull off in a way that doesn't take the reader out of the story. I suggest a translation key in the notes. If you aren't familiar with the language and don't have a buddy who is, I'd say it's perfectly acceptable to write the dialogue in your native language and put it in italics.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

There is no way of knowing, truly. On ao3, Greek Mythology and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood. Why both? The Daffodil's Echo was written first but The Shocking Absence of Grief was posted first.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

How does one choose!? I'm very proud of what I've done with the Orice series. Of course, it's not done tho. I'm very proud of finishing Perfidy (Elisabeth and Rudolf crossover)!

Get your ass over here @fitzrove!! You too @company-and-co!!

[spinningbuster98]

Castlevania The Adventure Part 2: -AAAAAAAAAAAAA-

So initially I planned to deal with both of the latter stages in this one video but I had a distinct feeling that stage 4 would cause me a ton of trouble so i decided to split this into two (spoilers: I was right)

If the game had not managed to make you toss your gameboy across the room until now then stage 3 absolutely will

Ladies and gentlemen we are looking at a 10 minute or so long autoscroller here

An autoscroller that moves at a speed that somehow managed to compare to that of the Heat Death of the Universe

Not only is this mind-numbingly slow on its own but the game makes it even worse due to its naturak slowdown

Oh yeah: the Adventure suffers from severe slowdown pretty often whenever there’s too much stuff on screen, especially in this level

Then you also add Christopher’s jog and the fact that this stage is pretty much littered with do or die situations where the margin of error for your jumps and wjop attacks is next to zero with inevitable death being your punishment and you get a level that you’re gonna be stuck in for potentially hours on end

Fun times all around!

Anyway given that the actual ending will be reserved for the next video let’s talk about how this small and simple gameboy game AND Castlevania III which released the same year somehow managed to mess up the plot of the series up until then! Oh yeah!

So according to the manual (including the japanese one) this is supposed to be the adventure lived by Simon’s ancestor Christopher Belmont that was mentioned in the first game’s japanese manual

Cool

But there’s an issue

That manual stated that Christopher lived about 100 years before Simon’s time

Wanna know another game that claims to take place “100 years before Simon Belmont” according to its intro?

Castlevania III

Even though that same intro also states that the game takes place in the 15th century, with Castlevania 1 taking place in the 17th century making it MORE than 100 years before Simon

Some may know that Trevor’s (or Ralph’s in Japan) full name is Trevor C. Belmont

That C is not random as it’s supposed to stand for Christopher

...yet here we see ANOTHER guy named Christopher

Also fun fact: the japanese manuals for both games also state that Dracula was a worshipper of Satan and that’s how he got his dark powers, though the manual for the Adventure does not contain any mention of Alucard or how Dracula presumably sold his soul for power

What seemingly happened is that the developers for both games had set out to both tell the story of Simon’s ancestor Christopher but they failed to communicate properly resulting in the games having this weird relationship

To be fair here I think this is more of an issue with Castlevania III than the Adventure, since it’s the former is the one that decided to take place during the 15th century while ALSO claiming to take place 100 years before Simon, which would have been a logical inconsistency regardless of the latter’s existence or not

Just thought I’d bring this up

[translucent-at-best]

Scatter-brained...

Castlevania an alright show for real. I just started season 3, but judging by how quickly I've been getting through the episodes. I'm going to finish em all by the time I go home this weekend.

Speaking of which... I hope this week flies. I'm so ready to be back around my people. I'm excited for the hugs, fulfilling folks' cookie orders, and the cousins are already trying to plan a quick DC trip. I ain't mad at all.

I read my scatter-brained posts in my voice, but I just realized y'all have never heard my voice. I wonder... do y'all just read them in your voice or did you assign one to me?

I've always known that it was a thing (and that it's a thing that I really enjoy), but I just learned the phrase "parallel play." Like we ain't got to always be up under each other, but it's comforting being alone, together.

Finally got my security deposit back from the old place. Now how we paid $500 two years ago and got $600 back, I'm not sure. But I'm not about to put a question mark where God put a period. And it was just payday? 🙌🏽

I'm itching to buy a plane ticket because since I forgot to expect it, this feels like a surprise extra money. But nooo, I got sponserbileries nshit.

Maybe it's the PMS, but I've been thinking a lot about my first heartbreak recently. I don't know if I've fully dealt with how his sudden switch-up affected my sense of trust. Lord knows I've tried though. This might be something I need to work out with a therapist. Me dealing with it on my own doesn't seem to be working out like I hoped it would.

I slept on Kenyon Dixon, but his Closer and The R&B You Love albums have been in heavy rotation these past couple weeks.

I am my father's child. Give me 15 minutes with a mafia or sports documentary and you won't have to worry about me for hours.

I hate that these phones be listening to us, but the fact that I was just told I need my cabin air and engine filters changed and that it'll cost me $200+ and IG out here sliding tutorials in my algorithm so I can do it myself is clutch as hell. We serve an on-time God.

[makesometime]

twenty questions for fic writers

I was tagged by the lovely @icescrabblerjerky

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 396! I had no idea I was so close to the big 4-0-0.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 1,161,641 since 2011

3. What fandoms do you write for? The top five above the ‘expand fandoms list’ section on my dashboard are: Rusty Quill Gaming, Terra Nova (the terrible 2012 TV show), Assassin’s Creed (Odyssey), Stranger Things and Baldur’s Gate 3. Honourable mention to Final Fantasy 14 which is likely to inspire more in me at some point.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

You are the reason I stay alive (Stranger Things) at 1,557

Hold me deep beneath your waves (Our Flag Means Death) at 1,237

Broken Regrets (Castlevania) at 1,219

Swallow my breath and take what is mine (Castlevania) at 967

You kissed me just to kiss me, not to make me cry (Our Flag Means Death) at 936

Amusingly, none of these feature in the top 5 for comments. Those are all Rusty Quill Gaming, which doesn’t surprise me at all. Of all of them, only 2 feature in the top 10 for comments.

5. Do you respond to comments? I always do, yes!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don’t think I ever write an angsty ending, because I am a happy ending queen. In fact if I search my almost 400 fics for the word angst, it only features in 7. I suppose Shield (An)other (RQG) would count but it was written from a place of bitterness so the angst is really all self-imposed.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? This is actually a harder question to answer, because that’s what I always aim for. The first one that came to mind though was I don't know where this road will end, but I'll walk it with you, hand in hand (RQG) because it was probably the last time I was truly happy with what was happening in RQG and I think it shows in the story. Everything since has been me fixing canon, with equally happy (blissful) endings.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I am very lucky - I’ve only ever had one comment that tended towards the negative and that was because I mentioned a canon female love interest too much in a m/m fic. That one got deleted.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Heck yeah I do. Of all my fics, 179/400 are rated E and 39/400 are M. I write all sorts - from soft to hard kink and everything in between. It’s also the far easiest thing for me to write.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I only have two, my favourite one is probably 34 Tite Street which is a TMA/RQG crossover. I did write a Hades (game)/RQG crossover which is probably a bit crazier.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? There was once upon a time that I’m pretty sure an RQG fic was heavily inspired by one of mine. But that’s okay, I don’t think it got much attention and I wasn’t going to throw my weight around about it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! One of my favourite fics for a very small fandom (Appropriate Punishment from And Then There Were None) was translated into Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Very many things, with some truly wonderful friends <3<3

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Absolutely Zoscar from RQG. Nothing has inspired me quite like them, and nothing has got me so many wonderful friends.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I only have three on ao3 and tbh I don’t really want to finish any of them.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterisation - I have been writing long enough that I can trust if something isn’t working, it’s because I’ve fucked up the characterisation at some point. Whether that’s a line of dialogue that doesn’t sound right, or a whole section of ‘they wouldn’t fucking do that’, I have to fix it to make the fic work.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Like Miri, I hate description so very much. I feel like I’m bad at it and I make it boring. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I don’t mind unless it’s not translated. There have been a few fics I’ve seen in my time where another language has been used as a purposeful exclusionary tactic and no translation was given. (An RQG one comes to mind - the smugness radiating off of it was repulsive.)

19. First fandom you wrote for? Gosh, probably Stargate SG-1. Many many many years ago, you’ll forgive me for not checking ff.net to get a precise date for myself, but it was at least 20 years ago…

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written? This is very hard to answer! I love all my children equally. Most recent favourite? Not broken, just bent, and we can learn to love again for Baldur’s Gate 3. Overall favourite is probably Pieces of me are pieces of you for RQG <3

I'll tag @sky-kiss, @wordsandstrangeways and @gorgongorgeous if you would like to!

[akalimbratic]

Ok ngl the absurdity of 2025 already is genuinely comical if you look at it through a TV show lense.

My explanation below the cut

We opened up in 2016 where the generic villain (and I'm not even making this up, Donald was so hated and mocked that movies DID base their evil ceos off of him) rules over the country before the people prevailed in 2020 at the start of a plague plot. (🎶I sent the pestilence and plague into your house into your bed🎶), and it became a show about surviving that.

About 3/4ths into the 2024 season we get the a beacon of hope to step in and start rallying the people together, things look absolutely fantastic as we get closer and closer to election day.

And then, ✨️ plot twist ✨️, the big bad wins! We don't know why or how, but he wins!

Aaand immediately starts breaking promises btw. Like things started going downhill FAST. People get violent, the world's on fire (literally, my heart goes out to those affected by the fires /gen), it's like hell itself opened up.

TikTok goes down, the one media the united states didn't regulate, indicating that by this point the government is already silencing the people because the big bad evil guy signed the order for it to happen before his first defeat. Then it's back up in 12 HOURS thanking the man who took it down in the first place before he's even president. Like??? Okay so Tiktok's ban was politically motivated, plot twist 2. I mean big whoop really, roses are red the sky is blue and I sincerely hope people remain Xiaohongshu cause the memes are funny and it's great seeing two cultures create community with each other.

BUT IT GETS BETTER/MORE ABSURD.

DONALD DORK STARTS MONOLOGING IN HIS VICTORY RALLY JANUARY 19TH. I watched Luke Beasley's video on it and 5 minutes in, this dude admits the evil plan and says (I'm paraphrasing), "..2026 2028 I'm not gonna be your president anymore, and then they rigged it. And we won." LIKE??? DUDE??? He also went on to comment how good with the evil tech bro (who we were ALL clowning on) is with computers and how due to that fact, they won Pennsylvania by a landslide.

AND THERE WAS FORESHADOWING

•Trump alluding to a secret with Mike johnson

•billionaires dumping so much money into his campaign (they don't just do that unless they know the winning horse)

•"I don't need your votes"

•Elon Musks starlinks were attached to the voting booths

•People reporting their votes never got counted

•Ballots being tossed in the woods

•How the count came in so quickly

•calls from Russia that they tried sweeping under the rug

•Russian bomb threats in major polling locations

AND MORE

I'm cackling. You cannot make this shit up-- EXCEPT YOU CAN. I AND MANY OTHER WRITERS HAVE LITERALLY WRITTEN THIS. THIS IS HOW I'D FORESHADOW A TWIST LIKE THIS ONE.

I am just.

I am that. I am that guy. I was that guy after the election results came in the next morning, I was that guy as people also got started getting suspicious and I began to rub my braincells together in hopes a thought would occur.

So we fast forward to inauguration day, and my god did the directors do ARCANE levels of symbolism. Flags half-staffed at his crowning because we lost a great man (and of course he bitched about it online), it's the coldest day of the year, his wife wearing a god damn funeral outfit, things are still on fire and NOBODY is happy. He didn't even put his hand on the Bible, like you couldn't even do that? If this was in a show, I'd be analyzing every frame, every line of dialog, every episode because this would be a MASTERPIECE if it was just fiction.

But oh, my friends, does this recent episode get delicious.

Because the god damn tech bro boyfriend henchman, threw up the Nazi salute. THE WRITERS ARE BRINGING BACK THAT OLD PLOTLINE. ONE OF THE MOST INFAMOUS MEN IN HISTORY IS COMING BACK IN CULT FORM, BABY! I feel like we're living through castlevania's season 2 here!

But, craziness aside, you know what I will give the writers a good handshake for?

Community.

Throughout this entire mess, there's always been community. When Donvict got elected governors rallied against him and began putting protections in place, they're not afraid to stand up to him. When the fires were raging, while he was making fun of it, Mexico sent firefighters for us, and I cannot thank them enough.

Leaders around the world rallied against us and continued standing up to him, when Donald toyed with the idea of buying Greenland the Prime Minister declined, but said something along the lines of; "we'll happily take some states off your hands and give your people what they need though.", and so much more. World Leaders have our backs, and even the people within. I've seen countless comments from other countries talking about how they weep with us, but are by our side. There's love, community, and we aren't left completely alone.

Even within the United States, there is love and community. The people are not afraid of this man, going as far as to protest outside at the Lincoln Memorial.

Not to mention, when we thought TikTok would be banned people moved to Xiaohongshu. You know what happened? Community. From what I heard, Chinese and American folks are striving to learn each other's languages to talk to each other easier, they ask questions about culture, make jokes, etc. Community.

Jokes, memes, we're all making those aren't we? "If I don't laugh I will cry" you know. Songs and other forms of art just to put a smile on someone's face in this harrowing time. We hadn't stopped creating, stopped sharing, stopped loving. We're afraid, very afraid. But we're together.

We can't forget that, and if this tale goes as I hope it does, that togetherness will ultimately be what saves us all.

So, yeah. The absurdity of 2024 and 2025, looking at it through a writer's lense, it's already one hell of a ride.