#night attack at targoviste

[coffeewithcutcaffeine]

Okay, but here is the thing with Vlad Dracula:

I know that there is this popular notion that the war in 1462 and the subsequent famous night attack at Târgoviște was Vlad’s own risky endeavour to settle personal beef with Mehmed once and for all. No matter if painted as a hero or a villain, we see this vengeful guy who cannot stop thinking about his past issues with Mehmed (and the country he represents) and keeps looking for the right opportunity to start provoking the Sultan and settle the personal conflict.

I know, I know. It adds the angst, the flavour. However, it’s not only a very incorrect way of looking at Vlad’s character and the pretext of the war, but it also takes away from his brilliance as a ruler and a strategist.

First and foremost, Vlad was a voivode of an entire country. As the ruler of the land, the fate of Wallachia fell on his shoulders. Any sovereign has to detach himself from any personal feelings and conflicts and put the matters of the state first. Vlad was not only a highly intelligent man, but his rule was definitely marked by ambitious reforms to push the country forward. To wage a war just to settle personal issues would be an insanity, a sure way to not only dig his own grave but to dig a grave of the entire country as well.

Also, we do in fact know what Vlad’s role and motives were regarding this war, and we should not omit those facts. The war of 1462 was the planned Step One of a much larger Crusade. Vlad knew the Ottomans well, knew the risks that the Wallachian attack would bring, but he was promised significant help from another, much stronger state. He was needed for his knowledge and skills. He really took the big step forward only when the help was promised.

Especially from the preserved correspondence addressed to Matthias Corvinus, we can easily tell that Vlad kept his side of the deal and was persistent on making others stick to their promises as well:

You know that our land is a neighbour to your land... You also may have heard that the Sultan has set up a huge army against us. If this land of ours is subjugated, please, realise that they will not stay content with our land but will immediately make war on you, and the inhabitants of your land will suffer great misfortunes at their hands. So now is the time: by helping us, you really help yourself by stopping their army far from your own land and by not allowing them to destroy our land and harm and oppress us.

Maybe it’s time people stopped showing Vlad as an angry, angsty avenger who pushed his country into a freaking war just to kick the Sultan’s ass out of personal issues. Let’s show it instead for what it really was — an opportunity to change the politics of the time, with Vlad being one of the most important links of the campaign. And let’s show the personal nature of the events for what it was, too — a man who stayed true to his words, did what he had promised to do (and did so valiantly), and then was betrayed by those who promised him aid.

(Also, his subsequent imprisonment and the whole slander campaign obviously shows that he was devoted to the cause and to staying loyal to the allies, but the allies had to get rid of him fast because his involvement was becoming too inconvenient.)

[ghxstlly]

Do you have a general summary of the vampire AU? Like their dynamics and everything? I feel like I don’t know much about that one compared to the other two

Thank you for your patience!

I hope you can accept my apologies, I've been highly slow with sharing stuff about my vampire AU 😭 But here's some now!

Lord Nikolaevich III — Stolen from his home as a young man and sired by the fearsome, cruel vampire lord Byron Nikolaevich, Friedrich was little more than a lowly thrall for a long time. Weak, timid, he was forced to carry out menial tasks for his vampire lord master and was content to stay on the down-low. However, when a crusade led by the Church of Targoviste stormed Lord Byron's castle, intent to kill him, the vampire lord, determined to preserve the Nikolaevich bloodline, passed all his titles and power to Friedrich... who just so happened to be in the room. When Byron was slain, the castle was destroyed, leaving Friedrich and a handful of thralls loyal to the Nikolaevich bloodline as the only survivors of the attack.

Rising then as the new Lord Nikolaevich, Friedrich had little idea what to do. He wasn't cut out for the cruelty and mercilessness needed for being a vampire lord at all, and opted to hole up in a different castle nearby the small village of Tusavichy, where he tries to pretend he doesn't exist.

Juliane Lecarde — Juliane is a young woman who lives in Tusavichy, a friendly face in a cold mountain village. Though by day she is a simple peasant, a husbandless one at that, by night she is a secret witch, spending her time reading and learning the art of medicine. Though not particularly superstitious or religious, she does harbor a healthy fear of vampires, and finds herself frustrated and mistrustful of the efficacy of Tusavichy's defense against night dwelling creatures.

Sir Idris Trantoul — Idris, the Knight Commander of Tusavichy, is a fiery spirit who harbors a deep-seated hatred for evil. Having been selected as his predecessor’s squire after his fighting spirit was noticed, he rose through the ranks as his victories in battle grew in numbers. Unfortunately, however, he finds himself needing to prove his worth to the people of Tusavichy as a shield against the darkness, for an attack by a werewolf one night left him severely defeated and humiliated. Thus, he has vowed to stop at nothing to kill the elusive Lord Nikolaevich, the one called The Ghost of Tusavichy— the vampire that no one has ever seen— to prove himself a worthy protector and Knight Commander.

Adella Viscardi — Adella is a sireless thrall— a weak vampire with no master. Having witnessed her own brother, Friedrich, be stolen from her family when she was younger, she could not understand why he never came back for her. And when she was stolen away and turned into a vampire herself, she heard that he had become a powerful lord and felt betrayed and hurt, slowly growing a resentment for him which culminated in a plan to usurp his powers and titles.

Elie Lavaude — A mysterious, suspiciously powerful vampire, Elie was discovered by Adella during her efforts to find a way to destroy her brother. Though she was highly intimidated and afraid at first, to her surprise, Elie was willing to hear her out and was rather easily convinced to join her cause. Apparently seeing it as a mutually beneficial arrangement, Elie's intentions are unclear, though she did seem particularly swayed by Adella's promise that she'd never have to hunt for her own food again if they succeed.

[beevean]

Top 5 dumbest NFCV moments (that don't include Hector otherwise it would be too easy), including both series?

lmao how to go from Easy Mode to Expert mode

5) Isaac doing all that it takes to get to the Magician's mirror, which leads to the deaths of hundreds of innocent villagers, to spare himself a two week journey... only to randomly decide to stall for six weeks. And I do mean randomly. He had no reason, from the moment he found the mirror, to suddenly think "mhhh i think i want to change my morals now".

4) Carmilla and Lenore doing absolutely nothing to stop Hector from stalling for a month and a half, even though they could easily threaten him to take away his privileges. (hey Hector is not the dumb one here :P)

3) Annette insisting, multiple times, to go out during the night to attack vampires. Even after the first time when she caused Edouard's "death".

2) Dracula and Isaac letting Carmilla live after her outrageous introduction and catering to her requests because muh depression and "it might stop her from doing mischief".

1) The Abbot allying himself with Sun Thundercat and Drolta to stop the "godless" revolution. No amount of "muh complexity" can convince me this makes any sort of logical sense.

I'm sure the Trephacard gang has dumbass moments, but I honestly forgot all about their plots. I could only think of Sypha parking Dracula's castle on top of the fragile Belmont Hold lol

I also refused to count things like the people of Targoviste ignoring Dracula's warning or the guards cornering Isaac, because I refuse to engage in the story's misanthropy.

[vee-vee-writes]

Reading time (Alucard x reader)

As the child of a stone mason education had not been high on your father’s priority list for you. However, once hell had been unleashed upon the earth you were thankful for the physical skills you had learned. Your family had been caught up and killed in the first attack on Targoviste. Fearing Dracula's wrath, you had not attended the Archbishop's festival celebrating the death of the dhampir's wife. Instead, you had hidden in the sewers to avoid Dracula's wrath. You had tried to convince your parents to come with you, but your father had foolishly believed the church would protect you all. It had not and soon you were travelling alone on the road, desperately trying to survive.

In your search to replenish your dwindling supplies you had come across Gresit and the Speaker dilemma. You admired their talent for memorizing oral histories but found it foolish that they were willing to risk their own deaths to help those who blamed them for Dracula's wrath. Despite your vocal opinions on their residing in a town that hated them, they had given you a hot meal and a safe place to shelter. You had soon become acquainted with the thirteen Speakers, with Sypha, the elder's granddaughter, telling you legends of a Sleeping Soldier. A mere day later you found yourself foolishly tagging along on her quest to wake him. It was not long into your search that a bright flash of light filled your vision, and the world began to fade to obscurity.

The next thing you knew you were coming to next to Sypha with a strange man standing above you. To your shock he revealed himself as Trevor Belmont, the last male heir of the House of Belmont. You were not sure if it was shock of being in the presence of nobility or the stench of beer and sweat that made you wary of the man. Despite your reservations you allowed him to lead the two of you back to the Speaker's residence.

After the saga with the Church and the villagers trying to burn the Speakers to death as 'penance' for their 'role' in releasing the night creatures upon Wallachia, you had fallen through the ruins into a strange metal and magic world. Trevor was instantly suspicious that the three of you had landed in Dracula's castle, but you were not so convinced. Why on earth would Dracula's lair be under Gresit of all places? Trevor's fears had further been exacerbated when a gorgeous golden-haired man had raised from a coffin in the room you had reached.

You had instantly been taken by the dhampir, though slightly hesitant. You had only ever heard nightmarish myths about dhampir so meeting one in the flesh was as frightening as it was exciting. Your fears had been heightened when the Sleeping Soldier had almost killed Trevor. However, after some brief introductions and planning, the four of you had teamed up to defeat Dracula.

As your quad travelled Wallachia in search of Dracula's castle you had begun to get to know Alucard. He was a surprisingly kind and mellow man, though slightly standoffish. Adrian went out of his way to check on how you were doing and always looked out for you when facing off against night creatures. Your upbringing as the child of a stone mason had left you unprepared for fighting. You were much more skilled when it came to trapping and wildlife knowledge. In the beginning of the journey this had you feeling like a useless burden but as the four of you travelled on, your knowledge proved invaluable. Supplies came and went but your knowledge of edible plants and trapping skills kept your bellies full. The trio were thankful for your skills and knowledge. Evenings spent in front of the fire bonded you all closer, until finally you made it to the Belmont estate.

The Belmont Estate once again left you feeling useless. Your lack of reading ability hindered your usefulness to the mission, though Trevor was not much more helpful. Sypha searched through the records while Adrian mulled around looking for magical objects that may aide them. You made yourself busy cleaning up debris from when the Estate had burned down.

On one occasion as you stood admiring the shelves of books you had put back Alucard spoke from behind you, "I don't mean to be rude, but it seems that you've put the books in the wrong order." His voice startled you, you had not heard him approach from behind. "Oh Alucard, you scared me. I didn't hear you coming" you laughed lightly, "it probably would be a good idea to put them in the order of the catalogue. I would have if I could read." Alucard was unsurprised by your admission, outside of the speakers, church, or nobility there were not many who were taught to read.

"Would you like to learn?" he simply offered as he began to help you rearrange the books. The offer took you off guard. "You wouldn't mind" you questioned quietly. "We can start off slowly with the basics. Do you know the alphabet?" Alucard inquired. His eyes were kind, and you knew that no matter what you answered he would not judge you. "No. Nobody ever taught me" you admitted. Nodding he took in what you had said and began to think about the best way to begin.

"Wait here. I'll go look in the catalogue to see if there is anything simple that we can begin with" Adrian ordered and with that he retreated towards the center of the library. Leaning up against the shelf you rested your head against it, closed your eyes, and took a deep breath. Your hunger to learn to read was finally going to be fed. Footsteps, although light, disrupted your excited thoughts of learning. Alucard had returned with a few books tucked under his arm.

The two of you found a comfortable reading area in a small nook. You bundled up next to Alucard as he began to outline letters and phonics to you. You appreciated his efforts to teach you, nobody had ever done you such a kindness. Alucard flourished as a teacher, he was compassionate and patient whenever you struggled. If you got frustrated, then he would calm you with gentle words of reason. After several days of learning while you waited upon Sypha, your ability to read slowly began to prosper until you were beginning to read simple literature. Adrian was proud of you and openly celebrated every small step that you made. It was reassuring and only fueled your growing feelings for him.

After the hard-fought defeat of Dracula, you had decided to remain behind at the castle with him. Watching the fading outline of Trevor and Sypha's, Adrian broke the silence. "Why didn't you go with them." Bashfully, you began to rub the back of your neck as your brain began to string together your response. "How could I leave you here all on your lonesome. After all you've done for me the least, I could do is keep you company for a bit. I know you'd miss me" you teased, "Besides, I would miss our reading sessions too much." Adrian snorted, but a faint blush crept up his neck and splayed across his cheeks. "Well, we better get back to it then hadn't we."

Taglist: @awkwardspontaneity (ask, message, or comment if you would like to be added to my Castlevania taglist)

[spiritgamer26]

[CP] La bande-son du jeu indépendant Wallachia: Reign of Dracula

Pixel Heart et Just for Games ont la joie d'annoncer la sortie prochaine de la bande-son du jeu indépendant Wallachia: Reign of Dracula au format disque vinyle.Hommage aux jeux d'action / plateforme de l'ère 16 bit, Wallachia: Reign of Dracula est développé par le studio indépendant Migami, et édité par PixelHeart. Just For Games a eu le plaisir de co-éditer et distribuer des versions physiques sur Nintendo Switch et Playstation 4 de ce jeu de chasse aux vampires. Sa bande-son entraînante et reprenant le style distinctif des jeux de cette époque est aujourd'hui mise à l'honneur avec un pressage inédit au format double vinyle couleurs rouge et blanc, aux superbes effets splatter rouge sang.Première sortie vinyle de l'éditeur PixelHeart, le vinyle 2LP Wallachia: Reign of Dracula sera disponible à l'été 2022.

À propos de Wallachia: Reign of Dracula (Original Soundtrack) :

1462. Le prince Vlad Dracula est déjà à 6 années sanglantes de son second règne. Après avoir perdu le trône une première fois en 1448, Dracula a juré de ne pas laisser cela se reproduire. Après des années d'exil, il reprend le pouvoir en 1456 et commence à purger le pays de tous ceux qui pourraient s'opposer à lui… Mais une jeune fille lui échappa. Son nom était Elcin Floarea !La bande originale du jeu composée par Jeffrey Montoya (Migami Games) est disponible dans une version double vinyle sanglante éditée par PixelHeart. Retrouvez une sélection de 23 titres qui font l’ambiance intense de ce jeu inspiré de l’univers de Castlevania. Plongez-vous dans l’obscurité, allumez quelques bougies et laissez-vous porter par le son de la Valachie…

SIDE A1. Wallachia Theme 2. Elcin's Resolve  3. Barbaros  4. Scorched Earth 5. Diavol RidersSIDE B6. Targoviste in Shadows ft. Junki Sakuraba 7. Targoviste Dungeon 8. Chindia Tower 9. Night Attack 10. War DragonSIDE C11. Unwanted Cargo 12. Marching to Death ft. Timothe Catlin 13. Dragomir 14. Mount Cetatea 15. Cetatea Cavern 16. Death UncagedSIDE D17. Poenari Cellar 18. Yvonne 19. Levitating Tower 20. Elcin's Resolve Revised  21. Dracula  22. Head of the Dragon 23. The End

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[vladdocs]

ENG:

Original letter of the governor Vlad Draguli Tepesh dated October 31, 1448.

"Wise and beloved brothers and friends.

We inform you that the noble lord Nicolae of Visakna (Ocna Sibiului, Ocna Sibiului) wrote to us and invited us to come until his majesty Janos, ruler of the kingdom of Hungary, returned from the war. We cannot accept his invitation, because last Wednesday (October 29) the brother of the ruler of Nicopolis came to us and confirmed that Murad, the Turkish Sultan, had fought without interruption for three days against Janos and on the last day he chased him behind the wagons in the camp. The emperor personally got down from his horse among the Janissaries and attacked and killed all who were in and around the camp. If we go to you now, the Turks may destroy us on the spot. Nevertheless, we ask you to be calm, to wait a little while until we find out where Janos is now. For there are doubts whether he is alive. If he is free and has left the battlefield, we will find him and make peace. And if you will go against us and in any way become our enemies, then for that you will bear the responsibility before God. Written in Targoviste, on the night of All Saints' Day, in the year of the Lord...(1448). "

__________ RU:

Оригинал письма воеводы Влада Драгули Цепеша от 31 октября 1448 год.

«Мудрые и возлюбленные братья и друзья.

Сообщаем вам, что бл��городный господин Николае из Визакна (Окна-Сибиулуй, Ocna Sibiului) написал нам и пригласил нас приехать, пока его величество Янош, правитель королевства венгерского, не вернулся с войны. Мы не можем ответить согласием на его приглашение, потому что в прошлую среду (29 октября) брат правителя Никополя приехал к нам и подтвердил, что Мурад, турецкий султан, бился без перерыва три дня против Яноша и в последний день загнал его за повозки в лагере. Император лично спустился с лошади среди янычар, напал и убил всех, кто был внутри и вокруг лагеря. Если мы сейчас отправимся к вам, то турки могут нас уничтожить прямо на месте. Тем не менее, мы просим вас быть спокойными, немного обождать, пока не выясним мы, где же находится нынче Янош. Ибо есть сомнения , жив ли он, если ж он свободен и ушел с поля боя, мы найдем его и заключим мир. А если вы пойдете против нас и каким-либо образом станете врагами нашими, то за то ответ нести будете перед Богом. Писано в Тырговиште, ночью дня всех святых, в год Господень…(1448).

________

The Letter in Latin:

"Providi et honesti viri fratres et amici nobis sincere dilecti. Scire damus vobis quomodo egredius1) vir Nicolaus de Vizakona scribit nobis ad eum accedere vellemus donec magnificus Johannes regni Hungariae gubernator veniret de bello. Hoc ideo facere non possimus, quia feria tertia proxime praeterita2) frater Nayph de Nicopolio venit ad nos certissime dixit, quomodo Omrath dominus Turcorum in tribus diebus sine omni intermissione contra ipsum dominum Johannem gubernatorem pugna habuissent, ultima die inter curros taboritarum inclusisset, pedester solus imperator inter yanicaros descendisset et omnes extra et intra currus taboritarum percussent et interfecissent. Si veniremus nunc ad eum, Turci statim nos et vos destruere possent. Ideo petimus vos sedentes pacifice [S. 266] quatenus habeatis patientiam donec videbimus processus ipsius domini Johannis. Dubium est de vita ipsius, si autem enascitur de bello liber secum conveniemus bonam pacem faciemus, si autem nunc nobis contrari fueritis, siquid tandem fiet, sint in detrimenta animarum vestrarum et periculum coram deo respondeatis. Datum in Tergouistia in vigilla omnium sanctorum, anno domini et cetera XLVIIIo. Wlad, partium Transalpinarum vaivoda, frater vester in omnibus".

[kkeidawrites]

Castlevania spoilers!!!! If you don’t want to know how the show ends in season 4 please refrain from reading the rest of this post because I’m not holding back! Also I’m writing this as I watched so, this is my raw review!

Okay, so first off I want to say personally, I loved how season 4 brought heat to the finale of the show. Although I’m sad as hell that this is the last season for a great show.

Episode 1: Murder Wakes It Up- I thought that it was cool to see Trevor and Sypha fighting again after what happened in S3, obviously they are tired from the long four week journey of fighting night creatures, skeleton zombies, vampires from different countries, etc. but clearly the end game is that humans and vampires alike are working together to bring back Dracula. Like seriously, y’all might not know this but I hate, HATE when children become involved in stupid shit like human sacrifices like I can’t. Not the children. Please, not the babies. Sypha complaining she’s becoming like Trevor, and she’s so cute when she curses lol. Then when they arrive in Targoviste we have some new faces as potential enemies. I thought they were lame honestly lol I couldn’t take Barney-Larney whatever his dumbass was; he was mad annoying.

Then they shift over to Alucard…I have never seen a more broken beautiful drunk man in all my life. Like I had S3 flashbacks. He’s asked for help from a messenger who ended up dying on the way to the castle but his horse made sure he continued the journey and Alucard received the message for help in Danesti. Alucard fights with the horse, I thought that was funny. He was thoughtful enough to bury the rider, that was very sweet of him.

Also, shirtless Alucard will be engraved in my mind for life. Whew, chile that’s one fine man. He’s beginning to talk like Belmont and I can’t help how hilarious that is.

Episode 2: Having the World: Quite honestly this episode to me was meh. Hector talking with Lenore about how he needs this and that to create his hammer to continue forgemastering then Lenore talks with Carmilla and the white haired bat talks about how she is going to rule the world and what not, clearly losing her sanity.

Then it shifts over to Trevor and Sypha and they are fighting in a barn and new character Zamfir. Her character for me was also meh, but it’s nice to see more PoC in the show.

Episode 3: Walk Away: I liked this episode a lot. Issac altogether was nice enough to sit down and talk with a night creature and tell him/them that they were free of their original program, which was: eating humans, causing destruction, used as tools to forge masters. But man when he received that berry from Issac he realized that there is still some kind of humanity in them.

Issac is contacted by Varney to bring back Dracula but, Issac wants no business with that; he doing his own thing and seeing him being sassy again is so refreshing.

Morana and Striga scenes!!! I loved them, and then there was Striga’s day armor, man listen…I have never felt more closer to watching Berserk again than in that moment. They are hesitant to return back to Styria when Carmilla calls them, and it puts them in a bind to return home to continue through with Carmilla’s plans.

Sypha being annoyed by Zamfir was me the entire time. How you gone run a kingdom again with out a kingdom. Like girl, help the people instead of the royals, my god.

Episode 4: You Must Sacrifice: A cute little Trevor and Sypha scene. They decide to investigate Targoviste more before helping Zamfir. The scene shifts and Alucard is riding towards Danesti, donning a shield and a longer cape. Monsters are attacking the walls of the village, villagers are on the other side waiting to defend themselves. Some Castlevania popular screenshots appear here.

Then we meet Greta…Miss thang…that’s one beautiful woman okay. And she’s the chief of the village, cares for her people? Y’all I present. Her. And the fact that she is sassy too? I rock with her heavy as hell.

Saint Germain meets Alucard and I have a weird vibe coming from him. We see Saint Germain’s backstory or what little it will show us; he had a whole girlfriend, she a baddie too. Apparently she was like him? And she was the silhouette we saw in S3. Cool scene, inside the Infinite Corridor and I liked the library scene a lot too. Now he’s on a rampage trying to find access to the Infinite Corridor again to find his girl and he also wants to bring back Dracula? The fuck?

Refugees arrive at Danesti, and Saint Germain is acting very strange indeed. Like he’s desperate to go to the castle to help with the village “defenses”. Alucard agrees I guess? And he says another Belmont comment which I was happy to see again in the season.

Episode 5: Back in the World: Alucard leads Greta, Saint Germain and the villagers to his castle but, encounter a couple of night creatures on the way. Greta does Saint Germain y’all and I’m with her 100%. Alucard’s powers have definitely improved from last season. It was kind of interesting how Alucard willing told Greta what happened with him and you know who, kind of early in my opinion. Greta is bisexual?!!!! I love her 1000% now! I sense some chemistry between Greta and Alucard. I like that a lot.

Lenore really like annoys my soul, I do not like this mini bitch. I didn’t really care what Lenore and Hector talked about🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️sue me. Bruh Greta, beating that monster’s ass with just a hammer and a sword?! And Alucard impressed by it?! I’m here for it!! Some cute moments between Alucard and Greta got me gushing over here😝😝. Poor puppy😢😢. Alucard decides to “grow up” which I think is a nice step forward. Saint Germain is really making me mad.

They arrive at the castle and here goes Saint Germain acting like a fan boy, I mean who wouldn’t but you know…Greta killed me when she said the castle was ugly as hell lol. Another little cutesy scene between Alucard and Greta. Like I really like their chemistry y’all I’m sorry.

Trevor and Sypha demand that Zamfir take responsibility to help the people and I forgot what it was called but, before that they are attacked and Zamfir has something placed on her neck by a night creature.

Then Issac, he’s ready to fuck some shit up. And I’m here for it. Get em, bitch!

Episode 6: You Don’t Deserve My Blood: Carmilla’s castle is attacked by Issac’s night creatures. Lenore old punk ass running away does not surprise me in the slightest. Hector betrays Lenore and locks her in a cage. Hector has contact with Saint Germain like what? I don’t understand but, Issac comes in and it looks like Hector has given up, wanting to die honestly. Issac decides against killing him and Hector asks for his knife. This boy cuts his ring finger that the Lenore placed the ring, in front of her. That scene was meh, I thought he would get pissed at her for what she’s done to him in S3 but, I guess not.

Issac literally stole this episode, from his fight with the vampires and night creatures to Carmilla that shit was -chef’s kiss- magnifico! I loved the animation the fight scenes, yooo I was hyped the whole episode.

Morana and Striga make their decision to go their own way, living their own lives in the west so, bittersweet ending with them, I wanted to actually Striga fight the main trio but, whatever I guess.

Hector still has plans to bring back Dracula and asks Issac if he’s doing the same. Issac has other plans obviously, and tells Hector that they need to find their path in their lives. I feel Hector never knew where he was supposed to be placed in the world but Issacs words are very inspiring in my opinion. May have woke Hector’s dumbass up a bit.

Episode 7: The Great Work: Varney and the other guy, I really forgot his name found out about the catacombs and head there. Trevor and Sypha demand Zamfir take them underground, which to me I think it’s nothing there but her shit. Sypha gets mad at Zamfir and I’m with her, how you part of the royal guard when the people above need your help girl my god.

The cutest scene ever in this episode, was when the kids from Danesti wanting to play with Alucard and this boy jumps off the highest part of the castle just to show off. There should be more scenes of soft Alucard with children. Saint Germain is placing these weird stones it looks like in the castle walls. What is going on with him?

More Alucard and Greta moments please and thank you. The artwork in the castle is fucking phenomenal work. Saint Germain just gave the location to a vampire it looks like, from episode 4 maybe? He looks familiar.

There is a freaking army coming to the castle…lord Jesus. Like can they catch a break please? The kids just got settled.

Trevor and Sypha go to the catacombs and it’s just as bad as the people above grounds. New weapon acquired for Trevor, pretty dope. The king and Queen are dead and Zamfir is officially insane. She really thinks that the king and Queen will come back alive and protect their people like she’s done them. Sypha tries to talk to her, that puts her in a weird daze, Trevor is just being Trevor. Varney and his lackey, come to the catacombs looking to kill I really do not know that man’s name y’all so I apologize for not giving a damn about him lol.

The castle is about to be under siege, I’m not ready. Having a whole heart attack over here from nerves.

Episode 8: Death Magic: Varney and his partner attack the people in the catacombs, Varney is looking for a giant mirror? Why I don’t know. Poor Trevor and Sypha they are soooo tired, I feel so bad for them. Zamfir is actually not bad of a fighter, I like that. Sypha still the goat, no cap.

The castle is under attack, it’s actually nice to see how diverse the vampires are in this show, you can tell what countries their from and I think that’s dope as hell. And then every time a human dies their souls are transferred to Saint Germaine? So is this another S3 human sacrifice crap again? Omg…I’m so sick of that. Saint Germain uses the key he received from the woman in the Infinite Corridor and it creates the symbol of the corridor’s portal.

Here goes Alucard being a badass again, I never tire of him being one. Greta holding it down too is really cool, I don’t care what nobody say, she is that bitch. Her and that hammer, a force to be reckoned with.

Everyone is overwhelmed and have no choice but to evacuate to the castle, right before those doors closed Alucard nods to her to leave him out to fight and she looks at him like boy bye. Get yo ass in this castle. Greta pulling Alucard in just shows they are compatible for one another. Even the playful banter between them is cute.

The discovery of the stones in the walls leads Greta and Alucard to his childhood bedroom and they find Saint Germain where he reveals he’s opening the Infinite Corridor to bring back Dracula by using death magic. Petty Saint Germain, I do not like him bro.

They have to deal with him later though to fight off the night creatures that got into the castle. Greta still holding it down.

Trevor and the vampire guy is still fighting but, Trevor being so tired he’s slowing a bit, and honestly I don’t know how he’s still able to function at this point. Sypha shows off her powers like a G that she is and Zamfir is doing some great damage with the knives she’s got and that’s crazy how little knives can do to the body.

Did Sypha always have lightning powers? I don’t remember. If it’s new I love it! Trevor’s almost killed but a woman and child save him in time but, unfortunately Zamfir is stabbed in the stomach when the vampire moves to kill them both. I’m going to be honest I didn’t really care for Zamfir’s character she was just…there lol.

Then that scene with Sypha basically incinerating the rest of the monsters is fire!!! No pun intended lol. Varney finds the mirror and steps through it where Saint Germain is. Trevor and Sypha goes through the mirror as well but in a different location in the castle.

Episode 9: The Endings: This whole episode was literally the best of the best in any other seasons. The fight scenes, the banter, the main three…oh my God I loved it all. Noooooo, the dolls!!!!!! You bastards!!!! Trevor and Sypha’s entrance was perfect. Muah! Perfecto! The rock monsters really confused me on how they were killed but you know what who cares?

Alucard has wings?!!!!! What?!!!!!!!!! The general of the caravan have brought in the man woman thingy to Saint Germain. Death has appeared. His character design is dope af. Noooo not mom and dad!!! Nooo! Poor Alucard had to witness his parents literally in pain and of course Trevor ends it again, somehow Saint Germain redeemed himself almost?

The four vampires fighting the main trio had me running for my money. I liked the whole scene it was nice to see at least one or two vampires almost have the upper hand on the main trio.

That general vampire? His fight was wild, throwing his arm as it was about to explode and use it against Trevor was genius. And main trio…they don’t need to have a plan to fight they just work so well together that it works out in end.

Trevor vs. Death. Also was that the first time Trevor told Sypha he loved her? I can’t remember. Anyway, back to the final battle. The quality of the fight, the sheer power between both characters, and then he goes and sacrificed himself like Trevor are you deadass? You deadass died? Unacceptable. And then episode just ends.

Episode 10: It’s Been a Strange Ride: Lenore died so lame, and she was drunk as well when she died. I really won’t be missing her because she was just a character I very much disliked. Hector is finally free, little dumbass.

I wanna see what Issac is up to and Morana and Striga seems appropriate. But oh well, I hope they are happy wherever they are.

Tombstone for Trevor, it’s not real. He ain’t dead, I don’t believe that. Omg, Greta and Alucard are together?!!! Whoooooo!!! And the village kids are calling him father? Yasssssssssssss!!!!! I’m here for it. Alucard saying he’s not used to people is 100% me in public I don’t like being around a lot of people and it doesn’t help I have anxiety either. Sypha being pregnant was a given she looked a little thicker in the hips from episode one. She can’t leave…we need her. Really Castlevania creators? Y’all gone play with all our hearts? Thinking Trevor was dead and he gone pop up on a horse?

And look at this⤵️⤵️

He’s smiling, happy, soft, has a boo thang I’m….😭😭😭I’m so happy.

Y’all….all in all this was a great ending to the show…a great ending…

Oh wait…wait…wait wait wait, mom and dad are alive?!!! But how? You know what I don’t care their going to travel to England and their heart shaped embrace is everything. Oh no I’m crying again….

[aion-rsa]

Castlevania Season 4 Easter Eggs Explained

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This Castlevania article contains spoilers.

The endgame is finally here in Castlevania season 4, which sees Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard face off against the forces of evil that wish to wipe out humanity. While the story takes a few interesting turns you’re not expecting, fans of the long-running Konami series will likely notice quite a few connections to the original video games.

As you’d expect, that all means that there are quite a few easter eggs and references to the games as well as real-world history in Castlevania season 4. Here are all of the easter eggs we’ve found so far:

Varney

Although Varney seems like a two-bit vampire thirsty for glory at first, he turns out to be the main villain of the season. It’s a surprise twist worthy of Malcolm McDowell, the legendary actor who brings the character to life.

While Varney doesn’t appear in the games, the character does have a long history in vampire fiction. The vampire was first introduced in a series of penny dreadfuls titled Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett and published between 1845-1847. The series spanned 232 chapters and 876 pages, and while it isn’t remembered today as a must-read vampire story, it is responsible for many of the tropes later popularized by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and other horror classics.

Varney the Vampire was the first vampire story to establish that these creatures of the night had fangs which they used to puncture the neck of their victims. It was also the first story to establish many of the powers vampires are known for today, such as the ability to hypnotize their prey and enhanced strength. Like Dracula, Varney preys on sleeping women in the night.

Throughout Castlevania season 4, Varney is constantly complaining that he hasn’t received the recognition he deserves as the loyal soldier sent to conquer Targoviste for his master. This is a bit on the nose since the character he’s based is hardly a household name today despite the fact that he influenced the much more famous Count Dracula in a big way.

The Grim Reaper

By the end of the season, Castlevania has dropped its big twist: Varney is just a disguise for the Grim Reaper, a vampiric being who feeds on the souls of the dead. Also known simply as Death itself, the Grim Reaper has been a staple of the video game series since the very start.

Originally one of Dracula’s minions and a boss in 1986’s Castlevania for the NES, Death eventually became one of the main villains of the series. The Reaper’s plan to resurrect Dracula is also ripped right out of the games, especially 2005’s Curse of Darkness, which sees Death manipulate Hector and Isaac into resurrecting the Lord of Vampires.

Zead

Death using Varney is a disguise is also very reminiscent of another major plot point in Curse of Darkness. In the game, the Grim Reaper disguises himself as a priest named Zead, who aids Hector on his quest to kill Isaac. Secretly, the Reaper needs Hector to kill Isaac so that Dracula can posses the latter’s body and return to life.

Greta

While Greta is an original character for the animated series, her role in season 4 as the unofficial fourth member of the group of heroes who fight Death’s forces at the end will likely remind some fans of Grant Danasty, one of the four playable characters in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse and a pirate who is very skilled with a knife. Greta also happens to be the head woman of the village of Danesti, an obvious nod to Danasty.

Christopher Belmont

In the original continuity, Trevor and Sypha have two children, one of which becomes the parent of Christopher Belmont, the protagonist of two Castlevania games for the Game Boy, 1989’s The Adventure and 1991’s Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge.

In the Lords of Shadow alternate timeline, Trevor and Sypha give birth to Simon Belmont, the protagonist of the 2013 Nintendo 3DS game Mirror of Fate. In the original timeline, Simon is also the protagonist of the very first games in the franchise, the 1986 original and 1987’s Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest for the Famicom and NES.

Okay, this is getting confusing. Moving on.

Read more

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Danesti

Look on a map and you’ll find that Danesti is a real place. In fact, there are several communes and villages named “Danesti” in modern Romania. Danesti may also be a reference to the House of Danesti, one of the two noble lineages of Wallachia. The other noble lineage? Draculesti, the line that bore Vlad the Impaler, the main inspiration for Count Dracula.

Targoviste

We also visit the city of Targoviste in season 4. The city is in ruins after countless battles with Dracula and his vampire horde. Fortunately, the city is in much better shape in 2021. It is located in the region of Muntenia, Romania. It was also the capital of Wallachia in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Rebis

The Grim Reaper’s plan is to transport Dracula and Lisa Tepes’ souls out of Hell and into the Rebis, also known as the divine hermaphrodite in ancient alchemy. The Rebis is a symbol of the “great work,” the ultimate goal of the alchemist, which involves “spiritual transformation, the shedding of impurities, the joining of opposites, and the refinement of materials,” according to Learn Religion. In ancient alchemy, the Rebis represents “a reconciliation of spirit and matter” and has “both male and female qualities.” The “great work” is also used to describe the alchemist’s mission to create the philosopher’s stone, a mythical substance that was said to turn base metals into gold or silver.

This is a bit outside my area of expertise, but as it relates to Castlevania season 4, it goes back to Count Saint Germain, who is an alchemist who has strayed from his path to find the love of his life in the Infinite Corridor. But when he meets a fellow alchemist in the corridor (actually Death is disguise), she tells him that the only way for him to find his love is achieve the great work, in this case creating a literal rebis that will act as a vessel for the souls of Dracula and Lisa Tepes.

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Rosa

Rosa, a supporting character in Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness, doesn’t actually appear on the show, but Carmilla’s appearance in episode 6 –red dress with sword in hand — does remind me of the Rosa boss fight in those games. Carmilla’s chamber is also drenched in blood…just like Rosa’s flowers in the game.

Skeletons

One of the most basic enemy types in the Castlevania games makes an appearance in the first episode of the season. Trevor and Sypha fight these skeleton soldiers, which are armed with swords and shields, on their war to Targoviste. Throughout the years, Konami has introduced countless variations on the skeleton enemy, but Trevor and Sypha only really have to deal with the regular kind.

Hunchbacks

Super fast, hopping hunchbacks are constant thorns in Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard’s sides throughout the season. While one of these tiny enemies might not be a challenge, hunchbacks tend to attack in groups, making it harder to keep track of each blade-wielding baddie as they hop around you. Hunchbacks have been part of the series since 1986.

Golem

Mighty golems charge into Alucard’s castle during the final battle against Varney/Death and Dragan. They’re essentially giant man-made monsters made of rock and clay, formidable opponents for any Belmont. Golems have appeared in many of the games, either as bosses or regular enemies through out the levels.

Gergoth

Gergoth is one of the most gruesome monsters featured in season 4. Introduced as a boss character in 2005’s Dawn of Sorrow, Gergoth is basically a rotting dinosaur that shoot a laser beam out of its mouth. The half-dead beast is basically kept alive by magic, even as its flesh continues to fall off. The meaty red stump where its tail used to be is particularly grotesque.

Cross/Boomerang

Trevor finally acquires a cross-shaped boomerang weapon for his final fight with Death. The four-sided blade weapon is a callback to one of the Belmonts’ signature tools of the trade. Since the very first game, these vampire hunters have used the cross/boomerang (the name differs depending on the game) to vanquish monsters inside Dracula’s castle.

The Dagger

Belmont also finds a dagger that he later uses to finish off the Grim Reaper. This is another weapon you’ll find in most Castlevania games (sometimes simply referred to as “knife”). Like in the games, Trevor is able to “upgrade” the dagger in order to land a killing blow during the final fight.

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!

The post Castlevania Season 4 Easter Eggs Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[a-deadly-serenade]

overall this season was pretty decent. i have some thots whats new so im gonna share them below the cut if anyone’s interested :)

so!! first off i’ll say that there were a lot of things i did really enjoy from season 4!

the action was super fun as always!! i loved all the crazy enemies and callbacks! the skeleton fight and all those little goblins they kept killing throughout were a nice touch ;) sypha’s use of her powers is INSANE her ice-chainsaw?? her WALL of fire?? electric balls?? come on. and the animation was NICE. i really wanna know who did most of the fight scenes bcuz the style is so different and it just POPS but in a really good way? 

my favorite fight has to be ofc when everyone is REUNITED yes im basic. but the THEME song going off and well, im a whore for sotn references and i CAME when i saw the leap stone ref w the winged cape or when alucard turned into a hoard of batss AND THEN HIS WOLF FORM OOOOHH BABY!!! actually episode 9 is just a straight banger.

STRIGAAA. STRIGA. oh mama i was sweating during that fight. mad kudos to her va for them growlsss

carmilla vs isaac was a lot of fun and i loved the visuals but my hype was instantly ruined when i saw her kill herself 😭but thats smth i’ll complain about later.

not all the lines were bangers, some of sypha’s swearing seemed even a bit too much at times, and it was especially jarring to be having a face-to-face death-math with literal Death and hes acting like a naughty little 5 year old thats just learnt to swear. maybe cut back on the fuck-isms? just a bit? BUT when they hit they did GOOD. “the fuck what now?” yes

ISAAC. you weren’t in this season as much but man do u still shine through. i loved his introduction back in the town where he has his night creatures digging graves and rebuilding the city 😭 and then the conversation he shares w his flyman?? obsessed.

Hector chopping his finger off and giving lenore and carmilla a good ol FUCK YOU!! as he helps isaac. we love to see it

Trevor and Sypha’s “I love you!” “I know.” <3

DEATHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

oh! alucard actually having a story & purpose in the plot? :) luv it love to see it. that being said... the Plot. 

its... ok? it’s kind of split up into 3/4 parts, as the story progresses, one eventually merges with several of the others kind of? cohesively? while leaving the other to sort itself out.

now, i didnt have too many qualms with it, it was pretty straight forward. dracula is going to be resurrected and we have sypha and trevor looking in on it, while alucard helps the nearby village and hector and isaac go on about bringing on their inevitable showdown. however, the way the story was paced and some of the decisions they made... werent so great.

st. germain for example, brought the ENTIRE momentum from the last few episodes to a halt. you have sypha and trevor fighting through heaps and heaps of monsters only to find themselves back in Targoviste where they meet the mysterious Zamfir!! and Alucard!! he’s been asked to help save this village!! all jam-packed with crazy action and animation that leaves you fired up!! and then episode 5 comes to a screeching halt and we spend nearly the entire thing on st. germain’s backstory and explaining his motives for the rest of the season

like. imma be real with you chief: he didnt need to be here lol. you could have just left varney as the main vamp in charge of bringing back big daddy drac and he could reveal to his.. idk henchmen or something that he’s death. but u gotta fill them ten 20 minute slots somehow!! he just fell so flat and unfortunately, a lot of the side-characters suffer from this this season.

i enjoyed great and zamfir, i love their desgins esp, but they really could have been fleshed out more. zamfir is shown as nothing but a spoiled brat the majority of the time she’s on screen but they wait till she’s about to die to try and turn her character around? huh? greta is given a bit more screentime but this sudden confession of feelings in the last episode felt so... huh?? why couldnt she just be dedicated to her people and show that u can love someone w/out necessarily being their partnr? i thot that was her whole thing; taking care of her people. it’s like. where did this come from. they cant have known each other more than a week at most dog 😭

it sucks they dedicated to much time to scenes that didnt really need to be there where we could have gotten this proper development, like maybe have a scene zamfir and sypha connect over struggles they’ve dealt with in the past and that has her open up about how traumatizing dracula’s attack on her city was. u could have expanded upon her role in the court and WHY she worshipped the monarchy so much instead of making it a throwaway gag about her being “crazy”. but why have that when we could instead spend the first 5 minutes of said episode watching a monotonous back-and-forth b/w varney and that big burly russian vampire who’s name im sure mor than 98% of the audience cant even remember? 

just a lot of fat that needed to be trimmed so that the actual MEAT of the story could be slow cooked to perfection. people really arent kidding when they say less is more. 

another big problem i had was there... i dont even know what to call it, re-humanization? redemption? of Lenore. like lmk if im wrong but she manipulated hector, yeah? coerced sex to slip on that ring that binds him to her?? orr whatever weird shit warren’s into. but the way they interacted, ESPECIALLY in their first major scene together was sooo uncomfortable to watch lol at first i thought perhaps hector was only playing along because well. hes enslaved to do her and carmilla’s bidding. but no, he actually LIKES her. he spares her when isaac comes around, he says that he wants to keep her as his own. and in the meantime, lenore finds time to complain to a man that’s been beaten and enslaved how upset it makes her that carmilla got angry at her 😭 or says thats she tired of isaac keeping tabs on her and wants to escape this ‘cage’. to  aman thats literally been imprisoned since youve known him 😭her death is seen as peaceful, calm, they even try and tug at ur heartstrings by swelling this sad, dramatic music as the sun rises. really? LENORE?

and carmilla’s death happened WAYY too early imo. she was the villain for practically 3 seasons and this is how she goes? isaac couldnt get more than a stab at her? his night creatures couldnt take a nibble? HECTOR couldnt even be given a chance to do somethng like come on

the resolution was... strange? it was cute!! and happy!! but i dunno if they really needed to have lisa and vlad coming back, but, like i said; it was cute! definitely not the ending i was expecting. 

i’m glad that they put their focus back on what made the show so much fun and that was the FIGHTS. they definitely helped add some much needed spice to things when scenes started to drag, but im a gal that really luvs a good story and even though reviews were raving that this season helped closed the lid on all the themes theyd been exploring, i just didnt really see that. which isnt necessarily a BAD thing, i knew i wasnt gonna find some deep introspective themes in this hack n slash horror-fantasy, its just what can turn somethng like this from an ok show to a GREAT one. 

in the end, im glad they stopped at this one and im curious to see if they really DO go ahead on making spin-offs. bcuz unfortunately, i will always be down for som new castlevania content

[cynicaldesire]

So what are your thoughts on season 4? Lay them on me!

My husband and I binged the entire Season 4 over the course of the weekend. We watched 6 episodes, then the last 4. We had a lot of feelings on it for a lot of reasons, mostly because I’m a writer, my husband is an artist, and we’re both critics because we have created work in the past.

My husband’s final rating was 6/10, wouldn’t watch it again but he wanted to give credit to the animators and staff that worked on it. I said I would give it a 4/10. It was so... disappointing. I’m gonna go on a bunch of rants about why I was displeased, so if you want to maintain your positive experience, you don’t have to continue.

So, before I get into the writing, I just want to point out that the sound design, music, and voice acting were all either poorly mixed because of COVID in-home booths or just shitty. The music didn’t pop off with any homages to actual game music and I couldn’t hear it most of the time. The voice acting of most of the cast was pretty great, but I hate Alucard’s voice. The murmuring breathy whispers of most of the cast is just annoying to me, but that’s a personal preference, I know. But a lot of other things didn’t have proper weight or punch to match what was happening.

The animation was also wildly inconsistent. My husband pointed out, again, COVID, so the animators were all probably working from home on deadlines and the Art Director, the guy meant to keep all the art on-model and consistent, probably wasn’t available to check work and send it back to the animators for changes. Or, there wasn’t sufficient time between when the animators sent there work in for changes to be requested. Don’t get me wrong, like with the voice cast, some of the animation was fucking sick, but it was just weighed down by all the poorly masked 3D shortcuts or off-model art.

(One of the things I kept thinking of when gore would happen was the Mortal Kombat devs that got PTSD from having to look at images of gore for the Fatalities. And I was like this isn’t worth all that. Fuck.)

Greta was fine, but she seemed flat. I’ve made her character before and been disappointed in how cool and nonchalant she is. She seems to be too good and relaxed at everything going on. That might’ve been the voice actor, but honestly? She fell flat for me. I didn’t not like her, she just didn’t feel very... well written? Like I said, she reminded me very much of a character I would make at first pass. And while I don’t mind or disagree with the choice to make her a love interest or even a close friend of Alucard, there was not enough buildup for it. Probably because she felt so flat to me.

Overall, on the writing front, I will say that it felt very... first draft. Like no one had an opportunity to look it over and say “Maybe don’t give Saint Germain’s whole motivation and backstory in episode 3?” Or not telegraphing the Death inclusion, or like... There’s so much that was just so poorly handled to me. There’s so many ways I personally would have done it differently or how it could’ve been handled better. There were so many characters that just stated their motivations and repeated them over and over again.

Isaac: ends last season hating humanity and having no reason to challenge that belief. Hates Hector for betraying Dracula. Full of hate and rage. This season: Opens with all his Night Creatures repairing a city, earing berries, and completely at peace with his past and his life. Flyseyes is there for ONE scene and never heard from again. And Isaac literally goes from that to invading Carmilla’s castle to DISAPPEARING. WHY?

The sequence with Isaac invading Carmilla’s castle was hilarious, too. Who the fuck is the hot demon? Some demon from the Wiki. Whomst were the fuckin human blokes with crossbows? Literally just human blokes with crossbows that they hired from a town somewhere else because apparently they didn’t have enough forces??????? The ring Hector ends up cutting off is never actually shown to force him to do something against his will? The fucking slave ring is also openly displayed in a bunch of other places and never utilized. It’s a useless McGuffin.

Carmilla descended into madness, or progressed through her logical steps violently due to solitude? And then when Lenore asks her what her motivations are, Carmilla tries to be coy and not answer the question so they end up having the same dialogue like 4 times? Lenore is somehow SURPRISED? Like, all of these people were human at some point, and that shit is never addressed, or if it is, it’s not remembered.

Hector was also here. He made a night creature, helped Isaac kill Carmilla - why did she explode so violently? - and then chilled in the castle the rest of the time. Like, nothing bad happened to him other than his finger. Which, show his hand every time he’s on screen, remind the audience of his injury. Isn’t it cool and edgy and shocking?

Saint Germain being just a shitty carnal entity was boring. He had a girlfriend he wanted to save so he could get laid, SNORE. When they showed her, she looked like Maria from Symphony of the Night, which has an ending that heavily implies her and Alucard hook up, so I was irritated that they coopted her appearance for this woman with no speaking lines that led Saint Germain to the Infinite Corridor.

Like, everything around Saint Germain’s story was pretty cool. If they hadn’t shown up literally in episode 3 through a sudden flashback his story and his motivations and also he’s the villain, the mystery of what he was doing was interesting. And for it to all just be told to us upfront? And then he just fucking died?

I had no fucks to give for Varney/Death. Death is not mentioned at any point before this season, he shows up seemingly randomly at the end as the Big Bad, and he’s just a big skeleton asshole. Ratko was at least a little interesting, but also wtf was he there for?

I also didn’t much care for Zamfir. I felt like there should’ve been two characters in her place. If one of them was crazy and the other was following their orders without knowing they were crazy? Cool. If she was crazy and didn’t ACKNOWLEDGE she was crazy? Better than what we got. The knights and the Underground Court and all the shit with Targoviste? Boring. Because, specifically, it demands a lot of suspension of disbelief that I didn’t have at that point.

Who the fuck was Dragan? What were all the monsters attacking the castle? Awful convenient for Alucard to have a shield now. He also had a bunch of skill from the SotN game, like the wolf form and the winged cape. Why did that one vampire have big bat wings and never again? Why did Varney call like literally everybody on the mirror phones? Why did he know to do that? Why did Saint Germain know him? WHERE DID TREVOR GET THE OTHER WHIP?

Trevor and Sypha were honestly probably the best handled. Sypha was herself but bigger and stressed. Trevor was also very tired and still a monster hunter. My husband was very happy with the “We’re just two sides of the same coin” philosophy Trevor had with Death, like Geralt feeling like a monster because he’s a Witcher. The idea that they aren’t exactly human and cause so much death but to the monsters. He wanted that explored. I was too busy being frustrated at the huge flashy animation fight to even remember that Trevor had said anything like that.

The magical weapons in Targoviste were cool plot devices. Much like with Varney and the mirrors and so many other things, it felt like they were there because the plot demanded it, not because there was some natural story for it outside of when Trevor and Sypha showed up.

But the single most disappointing thing was Vlad and Lisa living at the end. They didn’t want to see Alucard, absolute shit move regardless of their reasoning. The fact that they still went by Vlad and Lisa Tepes was bound to get back to Alucard somehow. And I... Being in Japan and engaging with a lot of Japanese media, I understand the way they use God is similar to the way they use Spirits, or Kami or something. God being used by a Western author makes it so wildly different. But I’m also... pretty against the idea of God in general, so the whole idea that “God” said Dracula and Lisa deserved a second chance is boring. Like, there’s so much wrong with this ending. It was only there for the shippers, probably.

Anyway. 4/10, wouldn’t watch again.

[omgsquee2001]

Chapter 3: The Missing Speaker

~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Current Read ———->

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

The Elder smiled. 

“Thank you for your kindness and, I think, your restraint.” The Elder said. Trevor smiled slightly.  "You're welcome, Elder. Can my friends and I accompany you to your train?” He asked. The Elder shook his head. 

“We have settled here in Gresit. No caravans. But I would be glad of your company on the way to our lodging.” The Elder said. He held out his hand, gesturing for the three to follow him. They did so. 

“How many are you?” Meilė asked. 

“Eleven, though I insist we be counted as 12.” The Elder said. Ramybė lifted her eyebrow in slight confusion. The Elder noticed this. He smiled at her. “One of us is missing, you see.” They walked to an old rundown building. “This is where we live. Please, come inside. Meet my people.” The Elder said. Meilė smiled at the man. 

“Thank you for your hospitality.” She said as she, Trevor and Ramybė walked in. Once they were in the house, they saw more Speakers. One young Speaker walked up. He had dark skin and dark brown hair. 

“Elder, we were worried about you.” He said. “I told you it was too soon to go outdoors.” He said. The Elder nodded in recognition. 

“And I told you it was necessary to offer aid to the people, Arn. However, I was met by some of the Christian priests.” The Elder said. Arn’s eyes widened. 

“Are you all right?” Arn asked. The Elder smiled and nodded. 

“Thanks to this man and his companions here.” The Elder said, gesturing to Trevor, Ramybė and Meilė. The Elder then frowned. “Although I fear there may be trouble ahead because of it.” He said. Arn narrowed his eyes at the three strangers.

“What did you do?” He asked. Ramybė frowned and placed her hand on Meilė’s shoulder. 

“We didn’t do anything. However, Trevor is a little out of practice.” Ramybė said.  Meilė stepped out of her sister’s hold and smiled at the young man.  “They're both still alive.” She said. Arn’s eyes widened in disbelief.  “You used violence on them?” Arn asked. The Elder placed his hand on Arn’s shoulder, silently telling him to calm down. 

“The younger people believe that words can speak louder than actions.” The Elder explained. Trevor shrugged. 

“Well, you're Speakers. Words are what you do.” Trevor said. The Elder looked astonished.  “You know of us?” He asked. Ramybė placed her hand on Meilė’s shoulder.  “Our family, as well as Trevor’s, have always been on good terms with Speakers.” She explained. Meilė nodded. 

“Although, Trevor’s father once got into a fight with one.” She said. Arn narrowed his eyes.  “True Speakers do not fight.” He said.  “When he tried to convince a Speaker to have your oral history transcribed on paper.” Trevor said, looking out the window. The Elder chuckled. “Ah, yes, we are quite protective of our ways.” He said. “History is a living thing. Paper is dead.” The Elder said. “Would you three like something to eat?” The Elder offered. Ramybė held her hand out and shook her head.

“That’s a kind offer, but no thank you. My sister and I aren’t hungry.” She said. Trevor held up his hand.

“I'd prefer something to drink.” He said. Meilė sighed and rolled her eyes and shook her head, knowing that Trevor only wanted some alcohol. The Elder looked at Arn.

“Arn, bring our friend here some water.” The Elder said. Trevor froze.

“Oh, the, never mind, then.” He said, taking back his request. Meilė chuckled at her friend’s actions. Trevor smiled. He loved the sound of Meilė’s laughs. They always sounded like bells. Beautiful bells. Ramybė looked at the Elder and the rest of the Speakers.

“Maybe you can tell me why you're here.” She said, placing her hand on her hip.

“Speakers live anywhere they deem right. You must know that.” Arn said. Meilė nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We know Speakers are nomadic tribes.” She said.

“You seem to have been here a while.” Trevor said, walking over and standing next to the Twins.

“And how do you know that?” The Elder asked. Trevor held his hand out, tilting his head.

“Because the locals are blaming you for the attacks.” He said. The Elder frowned.

“That's the church's doing. They need something to blame.” The Elder said. “To divert people from the truth, that the church itself brought Dracula's hordes down on the land.” The Elder said. Ramybė cocked her eyebrow up in slight interest.

“Really?” She asked.

“There were Speakers, in Targoviste one year ago. The church burned Dracula's wife at the stake as a witch.” The Elder said, looking down sadly. Meilė and Ramybė gasped, eyes widening. Trevor sighed and looked down.

“Shit.” He said. The Elder laughed dryly.

“That is indeed one way of putting it.” He said. Trevor looked at the Elder.

“But you didn't answer Ramybė’s question.” He said.

“There is no structure left in Gresit. No doctors, no aid,” the Elder looked at the three. “If you know Speakers, then you know we can't turn away from those in need. That is why we are here.” The Elder said. He sat on an overturned bucket. Arn looked down at the Elder.

“May as well tell them the rest.” He said. The Elder sighed.

“In Speaker history, there is an old story, a legend, probably.” The Elder said. Trevor shrugged.

“I like stories.” He said. Meilė and Ramybė chuckled at Trevor’s childish behavior.

“The story says that a savior sleeps under Gresit, a great hero who sleeps until he is needed, until there is a darkness upon the land.” The Elder explained. Meilė raised her finger.

“Oh, we’ve heard that one. The Sleeping Soldier.” She said. The Elder nodded.

“It's a local legend.” The Elder said.

“Sounds weirdly convenient to me, if you know what I mean.” Trevor said.

“Exactly how much do you know about this, sir?” The Elder asked.

“I'm a Belmont,” he gestured to the twins. “Ramybė and Meilė are Gelbėtojais.” He said. The Speakers looked at the three in astonishment. Ramybė stepped forward.

“We know you're a nomadic people who gather knowledge, memorize it, carry complete spoken histories with you.” Ramybė said. Meilė nodded.

“We also know you gather hidden knowledge and have practitioners of magic knowledge in your tribes.” She explained. Arn looked at the three.

A Belmont, a-and Gelbėtojais? I thought your families had vanished.” Arn said. Trevor looked at him.

“If vanished is the polite way of saying exiled, hated, and burned out of the ancestral homes, then,” Trevor said, listing all the ways his and the twin’s families were chased out by the Church.

“Then you know something of magic, and so you know that just because we found a story in our past, it doesn't mean it originated there. The wisest and cleverest of our magicians know that dying is not absolute, that it is possible to hear stories from the future.” The Elder said, looking at the three. Ramybė looked at the Speakers.

“So, you think there's someone that can save the city asleep under it, and you're here to wait for him?” She asked.

“One of us went to look for him.” The Elder said. Meilė stepped forward.

“This would be your "missing" Speaker?” She asked. The Elder nodded.

“Yes. That one went into the catacombs under the mausoleum west of the church.” The Elder looked down sadly. “Has not returned.” The Elder said. Meilė frowned. Remybė frowned.

“Isn't there a head man in Gresit you could go to?” She asked. No one saw or heard Meilė slip quietly out the door.

~~~~~~~

Meilė made it to the mausoleum. She sighed and closed her eyes, looking down. “Trevor, Sister, please forgive me. But I cannot leave a person alone to die,” she said to herself. She walked in and found a way up into the Catacombs. She slid down a slope and went down stairs. Once down, she saw the headless corpses of what looked to be soldiers on the floor. They had been turned to stone. Meilė’s eyes widened. She looked at the center of the room and saw the statue of a Speaker. Meilė walked up to the statue. “I have a bad feeling about this.” She said to herself. A clanging sound caught her attention. She turned and found a stone-eyed cyclops. “Well, that explains it.” She said. Taking some water from her water skin, she made a water whip and stuck the cyclops on the chest. The Cyclops looked down at the place where it had been struck. Meilė’s eyes widened, realizing you had to strike the eye of the Cyclpos to kill it. She formed an ice shard and was about to pierce the Cyclpos’ eye, when there was a flash of purple and then, black.

~~~~~~~~

//Dun, dun, dun!! What do you all think will happen next? Will Meilė and Trevor finally share a kiss? Find out by reading Chapter 4: The Bishop’s Warning and The Night Creatures//

[darksunrising]

Sola Gratia (8/?)

Masterlist

Rating / Warnings : General audiences, no particular warnings.

Fandom : Bram Stoker’s Dracula, BBC’s Dracula, various Dracula and vampire lore.

Part 8/? (2033 words)

Author’s notes : A bit shorter, but big one coming up next !

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As soon as I dismissed the class, chatter started filling the small auditorium, along with chairs dragging to the wooden floors. The sun was almost set, and everyone, including me, was exhausted, and so the room emptied itself fast. Vlad, who sat at the back during the whole day, went down the stairs and joined me at my desk, a coy little smirk on the corner of his lips.

“Well, what did the expert think ?”, I asked as I started putting away my stuff.

“A few kinks to work out here and there, but overall, not too bad”, he commented, leaning back against the blackboard. “However…” He raised an eyebrow. “I see you snaked around a certain historical figure. An important one, if I do say so myself.”

I groaned. “It didn’t mention what didn’t need mentioning in this class.”

“You know, and not to be a narcissist, but there is a good chance half of your students took that class hoping to learn about the Infamous Impaler”, he commented.

He looked so smug. If I didn’t know what he was, he could just have been a nerd way too much into role-play. With great fashion tastes, and nice hair. Anyway.

“Actually, I did promise them last semester that we would do a class on that subject”, I told him, turning to face him, sitting back on my desk. “Then, I took a holiday, which somehow had me change my mind.”

He winced, and took the sorriest puppy-dog face I had ever seen in my entire existence. For crying out loud. “Don’t play victim with me, jerk”, I grumbled.

“Why, is it working ?”, he teased.

Before I could reply anything witty, I was interrupted by a voice timidly calling out my name. A pale, tired-looking student was waiting awkwardly at the foot of the podium, expectantly looking up at me. I had no idea who he was, which was a bit frustrating, as I always paid attention to that sort of thing.

“Do you have any questions about the lecture ?”, I asked him, inviting him to step closer. “Remind me your name, I'm sorry, I can't seem to place you...”

“Stephan Helder”, he told me with a little smile. “I just transferred here.”

Well, at least, it made me feel a little bit better about the looming prospect of Alzheimer's disease. I vaguely did remember an e-mail from Laurent informing me I'd have a transfer student from London taking my course, but I didn't think it went further into detail.

“Do you want the notes for last semester’s courses ? I could e-mail them to you.”

“No, actually, I didn’t come here for that, I have something I’d like to ask you about”, he nervously told me, as his eyes kept darting to Vlad.

“That’s fine, go ahead !” I tried to give him a reassuring smile. “This is professor Balaur, from the University of Bucharest. He might be able to help too. He's very... Savvy on the subject of this class, to put it mildly.”

I gave a quick look towards him, to which he responded with a half-wink.

“I am thinking of doing my master’s degree here”, Helder began, seemingly a bit less tense. “I talked to professor Laurent Rasab, and he agreed to tutor it, but I would like to have your tutorage as well.”

I was taken aback for a moment. No student ever asked for my tutorage on anything, not even advice on the assignments I gave out. Which wasn't very wise, as I always offered, and always ended up correcting soul-sucking essays that made me want to retire before I even reached 25.

“I don’t know that I’m qualified for that”, I told him with a laugh.

“I’m very interested in your field of study”, he exclaimed. “I would like to study the real involvement of Vlad Tepes in the fight against the ottomans, maybe try to draw the line between fiction and reality, considering his reputation, even to this day. You’ve worked on the attack on Targoviste, right ?”

At least, the lad seemed motivated. Behind me, I could hear Vlad fighting off a fit of laughter, that he hid in a cough. I took a deep breath, turned my attention back on Helder.

“Listen, why don’t you send me an e-mail, and I’ll look at my schedule to fix an appointment ? I’ll get Laurent on it, and we’ll both discuss that with you.”

He nodded, thanked me, and bolted, not before a last, strangely intense look at Vlad. I waited until the door clicked behind him, and let out a long sigh.

“You will be the death of me, you know that ?”

He stepped closer to me, and moved my hair out of my shoulders. I shivered as his fingers ran through the whole length of the strands. “Not with that high a neckline, you can be sure of that.” As he stepped back, he let his knuckles slide down my spine, and denied all responsibility when I protested. Bastard. I put my laptop in my briefcase, and went to turn off the lights.

“By the way, when were you born ? Sources aren’t clear on the date”, I asked as we made our way to the exit.

“March 14th.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I was born the first time on march 14th, the Year of Our Lord 1430, amen.”, he dramatically declared, signing himself upside down.

“You are being childish, for a 590 year-old man.”

“That was fast math, I’m impressed.”

Couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic. I opted for a classic, and rolled my eyes at him.

“I was hoping to see that delightful girlfriend of yours, Leah, was it ?”, he told me as we walked through the mostly empty corridors of the old building.

I sighed. “Not my girlfriend. She's at work today, and believe me, I would rather have spent the day with her.”

“I will pretend I didn’t hear that”, he hissed, falsely offended.

I was starting to get used to his company. Without being so drastic as to enjoy it, his presence at my side didn’t seem so ominous anymore. During my lectures, he had been listening intently, nodding along when I was in the right. I don’t know if he even noticed he did. Before every pause, he somehow slipped out of the room, and came back right as I dismissed class with coffee, and a written list of every historical character I mentionned, commenting on their personality, or their quirks. The whole time, he spoke in a hushed voice, half in french, so that no one but me would hear or understand. As a french person myself, I had never thought having a foreign accent was as sexy as everyone seemed to believe, which is why I worked on mine constantly. However. When he spoke french, the way he rolled his ‘r’s, or pronounced some words, sent darts to my chest. I sometimes had to gather all the strength of my will to listen to what he actually said.

Lost in thought, I almost didn’t notice we were almost at his car. As usual, he opened the door for me. For once, I didn't debate him, and just got in.

I plugged my iPod into the radio, and set my ‘driving at night’ playlist, masterfully crafted over the years. Not necessarily sad, but definitely not upbeat. Vlad didn’t say anything, but I caught him mouthing the lyrics of the chorus, once he caught them. I nestled into my seat, letting my head press against the window. I watched the street lamps light up the raindrops on the glass as they rolled down. The whole ride was quiet on our parts, but it didn’t feel awkward, as it often does. When he stopped in front of my building, I stopped the music, and hesitated a second. Before I got out, I turned to Vlad.

“Five minutes, wait for me at my window.”

Not leaving him the time to reply, I got out, and through the front door. I don’t think I ever climbed my stairs so fast. Locking behind me, I hurried to feed the monster, already trying to climb my leg in outrage, and shut myself in my room. As I expected, he was waiting outside, on the fire escape stairs. I opened the window, kneeling on my bed. He sat on the windowsill, waiting for me to talk.

“If we are to continue this…” I tried to find the appropriate term.

“Relationship ?”, he proposed.

“If we are to continue this”, I rephrased, gesturing to put emphasis, “I have to make some things clear.” He nodded, and I took a deep breath. “First, we don’t tell Leah what you are. I don’t want that on her mind. Second, you don’t murder people. I just can’t go around being friends with someone who drinks humans like Capri-Suns every night.”

“How do you suggest I feed, then ?”, he asked. I didn’t think about that. He leaned closer, grinning. “Are you offering yourself in exchange ?”

Instinctively, I jerked myself back to the edge of my bed. He apologised. Squinting at him, I sat back where I was. A bit too soon for that sort of jokes.

“Can’t you ‘go vegan’ ?”, I asked, air-quoting. “Eat animals ?”

He sighed. “I could. It doesn’t do me well, to be honest.” He looked... embarrassed. “You saw it firsthand. The horse just made me hungrier. Less… controlled.” He took a pause. “I would rather murder some humans than put you at risk again.”

I felt a tiny pinch to my heart. Ah. “Does it hurt ?”, I asked, in the only tiny whisper that managed to get out of my throat.

He snapped his head toward me. “I beg your pardon ?”

“Does it hurt, when you feed ? The people you feed on, I mean”, I added, a bit louder, yet still coming out squeaky.

He seemed to take a moment to debate his answer, taking an inspiration, and deciding against it a couple of times. “It does not”, he finally breathed out. “It takes you away, where you want to be most.”

A beach, infinite. A dark sky and a setting sun. Soft waves, and golden sand.

“Can you at least promise you won’t kill anyone ?”

“Ah !” He sighed, seeming relieved, and a bit disappointed. He looked back at me, with a soft smile. “They will dream, and not remember, or feel a thing. I promise.”

I slowly nodded, and propped myself up on the windowsill, feet still safely on my bed. I looked up at him, and his expression softened ever so slightly. The moon and the lampposts cast a blue and orange light on his features, playing along the curves and sharp edges of his face.

“Is that all, dear ?”, he asked.

“Don’t call me ‘dear’”, I instantly retorted.

“Fine, darling.”

I groaned, throwing my head back as I heard his soft laughter. As I brought my head back down, it was to find his hand, curled under my chin. His thumb brushed lightly past my lip, almost by accident, to finish on my cheek. My heart stopped a second. He hummed, and placed a kiss on my forehead.

“Sleep well, Eris.”

I breathed in, but just like that, he was gone, leaving me to look out for a bat, quickly vanishing in the night sky.

Someone, close, was also looking out for the bat as it flew over the rooftops. A ray of moonlight caught a glimpse of silver hair, the frost of a blue eye. It couldn’t happen again. Not after the last disaster, and the one before that. The thin, long fingers clenched so hard into their palms, drops of red tricked down, slowly. Before any drop could be lost to the ground, a pale tongue took care of it.

The Council wouldn’t be pleased.

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Taglist : @carydorse @angelicdestieldemon @bloodhon3yx @thewondernanazombie @battocar @moony691 @mjlock @thebeautyofdisorder @festering-queen @my-fanfic-library

[maddmuses]

Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş

Age: Immortal (Physically Early Adulthood) Aliases: Alucard Fahrenheit Ţepeş, Genya Arikado Date of Birth: 10/31/1456 Place of Birth: Transylvania, Romania Occupation: Vampire Prince, Vampire Hunter Species: Dhampir

(Combined anime and video game canons, defer primarily to the anime)

Appearance Pale and presumed sickly, like all Dhampir, Alucard’s appearance is often regarded as haunting, with similar angular features and a naturally handsome appearance. Though some qualities of his face are less exaggerated, such as a less prominent noise, and slightly softer shapes. Alucard wears his hair long, brushed back, and falling freely in a way that frames his face. His hair color is a similar platinum blonde to his mother’s, with eyes of a similar color.

In typical vampire flair, Alucard often dresses in finery, particularly favoring long cloaks and capes, as well as the color black. His clothing is often intricate in design, and finely crafted, accompanying his regal bearing nicely. This creates a contrast between his garments and alabaster skin. Unlike his father, Alucard prefers to keep cleanly shaven. Notably, Alucard still possesses the fangs and pointed ears typical of a vampire, though they aren’t as large as the likes of his father’s, and in the case of the former are often accused of being more ornamental than practical, though with a thought he is able to extend them, and bring them to a size that matches a full-blooded or turned vampire.

Despite being very thin, Alucard’s actual build is very muscular, reflecting his body’s superhuman strength and agility.

Personality Aloof and cool-headed, many believe Alucard to have a certain detachment from the world in a fashion similar to his father, or how humans assume vampires to be. And while this coldness towards humans is largely the case, this is a result of his mother’s death at the hands of a Christian Order. Due to his nature as a Dhampir, Adrian tries his best to remain detached from even those close to him, as he feels his and his father’s conditions were the cause of Lisa’s death, and this is simply the nature of their existence; to lose those that they love for being creatures of the night, despite their sapience.

Pessimistic and strongly determined, Alucard has made it his personal mission in life to stop his father’s plots, and curb the domination of the world by the creatures of night. Though, he largely is indifferent towards threats that don’t stem from a vampiric leader, or make use of vampires themselves.

Despite his aloof nature, Adrian is known for being very calm and kind, being slow to anger, even in the heat of battle, often showing mercy to humans, despite what they’ve done to hurt his heart in the past. While he’s known to take justice seriously, believing like his father that blood should be spilled in retaliation for his mother’s death, he doesn’t believe that the innocent humans who had nothing to do with it should die for the actions of one bishop and his mob.

Although a man of intelligence, Alucard’s respect is always lent to those who are strong, have bravery, and are firm in their convictions. This allows him to give some measure of respect to even the likes of Trevor Belmont, and his own father, allowing him to treat them with the appropriate caution, regardless of his personal feelings towards them.

Biography Alucard was born as Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş to Vladimir Dracula Ţepeş and his wife Lisa Fahrenheit, in the 1450s, growing up in the Romanian countryside until his teenage years.  Growing up initially in Dracula’s castle, Adrian was often exposed to things of a dark and frightening nature, which would prove to steel him against the horrors of the night from an early age, though he would not grow up without the affection of his parents. From his parents he grew up with a wealth of education, being taught many things along the lines of medicine and magic by his father, and a respect and inquisitiveness for the sciences from Lisa. Many believe that Alucard’s percieved “softness” as a vampire is directly the fault of Lisa and how she reared the young dhampir.

During his early adolescence the family would move into a cottage on the outskirts of Targoviste, the city in which he would spend some time apprenticing as a bookbinder, while his mother worked as a doctor. It was during this time as well that Lisa would ask Vladimir to travel abroad, beyond Romania, and learn of humanity, their worth, and the reasons for why they deserved the benefits of his knowledge. However, in 1475, after some years of suspicious murmurings being rallied into a cry for blood by the area’s bishop, a mob would spring upon the cottage in the dead of night, during the time of day in which Adrian was typically working for his master, under the guise of being an albino, and would lynch Lisa. While he did not bear witness to the burning of their home, he did see Lisa’s burning at the stake, and very nearly acted upon his worst impulses in the moments of her death, only stopping himself upon hearing her words, beseeching Vladimir to not take revenge for their ignorance.

As Adrian tried to convince his father to reconsider the intended actions of wiping out humanity, it quickly became evident that the two were inherently incompatible in this ideal. Despite having Lisa’s dying words behind him, they still came to blows. It was during this battle that Adrian would be injured, and he would be forced to retreat, hiding himself in Wallachia, beneath Gresit. It was at this time that the dhampir decided to take an ideology opposite to that of his father’s, protecting humanity from the night, and reversing his name to go by “Alucard” as an indication of this.

Abilities and Skills -Intelligence: Naturally keen, thanks to his father and mother, Alucard is an intellectual. Despite not being as learned as his father, he was able to, with the assistance of Sypha and some research, was able to seal off Dracula’s castle effectively. With access to the Belmont library, and Castelvania itself, he has become learned at a similar level to Dracula. Preferring the life of a scholar, Alucard often favors study over combat, and will seek avenues beyond violence to resolve issues, unless they involve vampires.

-Swordplay: A master of combat, Alucard is particularly skilled with the blade. When fighting against other skilled fighters, who may use traditional or unorthodox styles, or even a rapid mixture as was the case with Trevor Belmont, he is able to hold his own with ease in many cases.

-Bookbinding: Having apprenticed for several years as a bookbinder, Alucard is capable of binding books in a masterful way, so as to ultimately record any of his research, or new information that he comes upon.

Superhuman Powers and Abilities -Dhampir Physiology: As the son of a vampire and a human, Alucard is physically capable in an excess far beyond that of what humans may naturally achieve. --Superhuman Strength: Alucard’s physical strength is such that he can easily send large men flying with a single hand. Additionally, he can effortlessly move boulders, and is strong enough to injure Dracula without the aid of weaponry, though in return he is far weaker than the other vampire, and presumably most vampires who aren’t considered weak themselves. --Superhuman Speed: Much like his strength, Alucard is much faster than any normal human, moving so quickly that human eyes have a difficult time tracking his movement, only managing to perceive dwindling images in the wake of said movement. Many regard his speed as more akin to teleportation than actual speed, and he is faster than many other vampires, though not as much so as his father. --Superhuman Agility: This case is similar to his speed, Alucard is extremely deft and is able to move in complex and graceful ways, seemingly with little effort. This makes him particularly difficult to strike directly, and allows him to close the gap caused by other, stronger, monsters, while also allowing him to more easily overpower humans. He’s able to utilize this to frightening effect when combating a foe, notably by blocking an enemies attack, only to seemingly appear from nowhere behind them for an attack of his own. --Superhuman Endurance: Alucard does not seem to tire easily, and engages in long battles. This is also notably in his battle with Dracula, particularly in his ability to quickly recover from fatigue and injury to return to the heat of combat. It’s presumed that due to his physicality he may simply not fatigue at all, without injury. --Superhuman Durability: Humans are unable to injure Alucard in any significant way without weaponry. This is notable when Trevor Belmont, a particularly strong human, kicked him in the genitals to little effect. Blades, other vampires, and such types of attacks seem able to injure Alucard, though, preventing him from being truly reckless. It is noted, though, that even mortal wounds, for humans, cannot singularly bring down the dhampir, and presumably he must suffer extensive injury, or be decapitated, in order to be killed. --Superhuman Regenerative Factor: When injured, Alucard is able to quickly recover from them as any vampire might. His wounds can recover almost instantaneously if they’re superficial, or are not fatal. In less than a year, Alucard was able to recover from a fatal wound dealt by his father. He cannot seem to recover in the heat of battle, though, as his regeneration seems to derive from concentration, meaning that Alucard can allow himself to be killed, and that if he’s pressed in battle it may be easier to kill him.

-Magic: Taught the discipline of magic by his father, Alucard tends to use the dark magics that he was once taught, though with an opinion that magic is a tool, and cannot be inherently evil if used for good purposes. His powers are considered inferior to his father’s, though, and so he cannot solely rely on it. He has mastered most of the offensive magic that Dracula could use, such as Hellfire, Dark Metamorphosis, Tetra Spirit, and Soul Steal. Through his magic he can also alter his own appearance. Though he uses his magic for good, he cannot use it to heal others, and it seems that the majority of his magic tends to be oriented around combat. --Levitation: Through magical means, Alucard is able to negate the force of gravity, flying as he wills it with precision, and at high speeds. This ability seems to require little focus, as he’s able to do so in the heat of combat with both Trevor, a challenge, and Dracula, a vampire who is ultimately more powerful than himself. --Telekinesis: With a thought, Alucard is able to move objects through the air. He does this with both light things, and to manipulate his sword in combat. One application that he enjoys is fighting multiple foes by keeping the weapon suspended in the air, slicing and parrying without his hands, as he faces other threats. When dueling, he can also use his telekinesis to further shore the force with which his blade moves, though this doesn’t serve as a perfect substitute for his natural strength. --Summoning: Through channeling his magical energy into Relic Cards, he can summon many different creatures as depicted on those cards.

-Shapeshifting: Without the aid of magic, Alucard is able to change himself into several alternative forms, such as a wolf, a bat, or a shroud of mist. These forms are greater in power than their natural abilities would imply, though, and their abilities seem similarly superhuman when compared to that of their counterparts. For example, his wolf form is so fast that it can outrun a fired bullet, his bat form can shoot fireballs, and his shroud of mist is a toxic vapor that can kill targets when overexposed. Notably, he has another form that he uses when petrified, becoming a solid stone gargoyle that is naturally resistant to most forms of attack. This form is draining to him, though, and so he refrains from its use in most circumstances. Another version of his bat form allows him to take the shape of many bats, though they do not retain the ability to magically attack as does the case with a single bat, and like his gargoyle form, he quickly grows fatigued with its use.

-Superhuman Senses: As a dhampir, Alucard’s olfactory sense is very keen in regards to blood. He is able to recognize someone from the Belmont clan simply by being in the presence of their blood. Similarly, he can easily determine and discern the presence and location of blood, with no visual or auditory cue.

Weaknesses and Limitations -Running Water: As-is typical for vampires, dhampirs are unable to cross running water, or submerge themselves in moving water. While this doesn’t prevent him from bathing it can prove to be an annoyance at the least.

-Solar Aversion: While it will not have the same effects on him as a typical vampire, Alucard is averse to sunlight, its presence making him uncomfortable, akin to having a sunburn that hurts at all times.

-Energy Dependence: Like humans and vampires both, Alucard needs to sustain himself. While food is suitable, it doesn’t serve as an efficient replacement for blood, though Alucard notably does not have to drink blood to benefit from its life energy. Instead, he is able to directly consume the lifeforce of others through magical means, and often does so with rats, wolves, and other creatures that are regarded as more susceptible to evil forces, as they provide him with greater nourishment. He has drank blood on one occasion, but has since then sworn it off, as this instance was not consensual.

Equipment and Support Gear -Fahrenheit Wahrheit: (roughly. Truth in Experience) An heirloom blade of the Fahrenheit Family, Adrian inherited this weapon from his mother. It is a longsword of longer than 4 feet in length, with a very thin blade. This sword’s type is an estoc, which was first seen in use during the 14th century, and was still popular in use during the 15th century, in which Alucard fought his war against his father. A traditional estoc is designed to fight against plate and chain-mail, usually with only a stabbing tip, though this one has been designed with a cutting edge as well, at which Alucard is notably skilled in the use of utilizing. Its handle, like other estocs, are made with sufficient grip for two hands, though Alucard most commonly uses it with a single hand. Either as a component of the sword’s original design, or just as likely due to modifications later by himself or his father, when Alucard makes use of the sword it remains durable enough to sustain itself despite the power of his blows, and in fact seems to change lengths, making a strong case for the sword having been either reforged with a more durable material, and then being magically enhanced, or more likely solely the latter. Another argument for the case of magical enhancement is that Alucard is able to literally teleport himself with the use of this sword in short distances, often using it to appear behind a foe.

-Alucard’s Shield: A magically enhanced shield that Alucard also inherited from his mother. This shield’s properties allow him to deflect almost every form of attack in brief moments, by channeling magical energy through it. However, with the assistance of a certain magical rod, Alucard can also create a blast of concentrated light that can vanquish most creatures of the night on contact. This shield is rarely on his person, though, as it slows Alucard’s movements down, negating one of his greatest advantages when fighting stronger opponents.

-Alucard’s Mail Armor: A suit of armor that Alucard owns, though much like his shield he rarely wears it. This armor is known for being highly resistant to attack, and can in fact resist many forms of magical attack as well. The reason he frequently forgoes its use is the same as why he sets aside the Fahrenheit family shield.

-Dragon’s Helmet: A mask and helmet designed by Alucard himself. An enchantment in it allows Alucard to imbue fear into creatures of the night specifically, by causing him to appear as the effigy of a great dragon. This helmet helps little against sapient creatures of the night, though, who can see through the illusion.

-Midnight Mantle: A cloak that he was given to him by his father, Alucard’s cloak is notably able to resist magical attacks, and through channeling energy into it, like much of his magical equipment, he is able to shore its defensive properties even more. Distinctly unique is this cloak’s enhanced resistance to dark magic, and apparent ability to save Alucard’s life by a narrow degree, seemingly granting him uncanny luck for short periods.

[vampirivanator]

So here’s a rough timeline for what’s canon to this blog. If something from the games is not on here I probably forgot it in my research of the games or I’m still trying to figure out how to fit it in. This is just a rough timeline and it can change if I see fit owo.

Sometime before 1094: Elisabetha Cronqvist passes away while Mathias and Leon are away fighting in the Crusades. Mathias comes home to his deceased wife and vows vengeance on God for stealing his wife away from him. He devises a plan to become a vampire.

1094: The events of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence happen.

Sometime after 1094:

Leon travels to Romania, following after Mathias. 

Mathias abandons his human name and takes on the name Vlad Tepes also known as Dracula. 

Dracula builds a castle, known as Castlevania that creatures of darkness could come and live in refuge and be well taken care of.

The castle can also travel via the use of alchemical devices and magic.

Early 1455: Lisa of Lupu first meets Dracula and they fall in love, get married.

1455: Nicolae Moon is born.

Late 1455: Adrian Tepes is born.

1457: Malachai Tepes is born.

1460: Nicolae’s pack is ransacked by an unknown illness and he is sent away to avoid getting sick and possibly dying due to how young he is. After months of wandering, he comes upon Castlevania and the Tepes family and starts living with them.

Sometime before 1475 and when Trevor was 10: 

The Belmont Estate is attacked and all that is left is Trevor and the Belmont Hold deep underground. 

The Moon pack runs off from their home in the woods surrounding the Belmont Estate in fear they would be caught.

1475: 

Lisa is burned as a witch and is killed by the Church of Targoviste. 

Dracula warns the people of Wallachia that they have a year to run or face his wrath. 

Adrian tries to stop him, but gets injured in the process and so he, Nicolae, and Malachai run away to hide underground to let Adrian rest and heal.

1476: 

The events of Castlevania 3 happen

Alucard takes a long centuries long nap after the events of Castlevania 3

1476-1479: The events of the Prequel manga for Curse of Darkness happen.

1479: The events of Curse of Darkness happen.

1576: The events of Castlevania: The Adventure and the supporting comics happen.

1591: Soleiyu is kidnapped by Dracula and the events of Belmont’s Revenge happen.

1669: Simon Belmont is born.

1675: 

Simon’s parents are killed by creatures of the dark and worshippers of Dracula and Simons runs off so he doesn’t get killed either.

Days after, Malachai hears of these events from where he is and sends Nicolae to try and see if the young Belmont is still alive. If so, Chai tasked the werewolf with raising Simon and teaching him how to fight using the Vampire Killer.

They both teach each other things. Simon teaches Nicolae what it’s like to be a human and Nicolae teaches him the ways of being a werewolf. Simon also learns to communicate with Nicolae’s wolf form. Simon learns a more reckless and not as careful way of fighting through Nicolae.

1691: The events of Castlevania Chronicles happen and it’s Simon’s turn to fight Dracula. Simon is injured and cursed by Dracula near the end of their battle.

1698: Simon slowly deteriorated over the years and he’s in search of a way to find the cure to what is ailing him. The events of Simon’s Quest happen.

1730: Juste Belmont is born.

1748: The events of Harmony of Dissonance happen

1773: Richter Belmont is born to Juste and Lydie Belmont

1792: The events of Rondo of Blood/ Dracula X Chronicles happen.

1798: The events of Symphony of the Night happen.

Early 1800′s: The events of Order of Ecclesia happen.

Throughout the 1800′s: I’m a bit neutral about Circle of the Moon, Legacy of Darkness, and 64 being canon so this is mostly just up for debate really. Doesn’t affect my timeline either way.

1897: The events of the book Dracula happen. Quincey Morris and his friends keep Dracula at bay when he visits England and causes a ruckus.

1898: Quincey Harker is born. Throughout his childhood he and his parents learn that Dracula’s influence on Mina wasn’t so hard to extinguish. Thus Quincey was born as a dhampir who’s vampire qualities didn’t kick in till puberty.

Sometime between 1897 and 1999: 

After bestowing the Vampire Killer to the Morris family and the Alucard Spear to the Lecarde family, Adrian travels to Japan with Malachai and Nicolae to learn more about the Demon Castle War soon to come in the next 100 years.

Adrian takes on the identity of Genya Arikado, Malachai takes on the identity of Kai Arikado to go along with his brother. Nicolae just stays the same, not seeing the purpose of changing his name.

1917: The events of Castlevania Bloodlines happens.

1944: The events of Portrait of Ruin happens.

1999: The Demon Castle War happens.

2035: The events of Aria of Sorrow happens

2036: The events of Dawn of Sorrow happens

[ajora]

Yeah so I ended up watching the BBC Dracula. Slowly. Broken up into chunks because I just could not watch a single episode in one sitting. It was that terrible.

Pros:

References to old Hammer and Universal films. As a lonely preteen I saw a lot of old horror films in the dead of night, with the sound turned off and brightness turned so low as to be nearly indecipherable, and I recognized most of those references.

Unfortunately, after a certain point, this got less like a charming homage and more like Newbie’s First Fanfic, referencing everything the author likes

Cons:

Literally everything else

No, really, the casting choice for Dracula was awful. He reads like a try-hard, middle-aged white asshole who thinks he’s cleverer and sassier than everyone else. Or, the Moffat brand of main character. He has nothing on anyone else who has ever played Dracula, and frankly now I’m kinda insulted by the visual reference to the Christopher Lee portrayal. Christopher Lee’s memory does not deserve this

Mina’s portrayal

Van Helsing as a woman could have been interesting, but all that got screwed up by the totally unwanted and unnecessary sexytimes at the end of the 3rd episode

Oh my god, so much of the “cleverness” Moffat likes to do is unnecessary filler bullshit. There was no point in making the sea voyage last that long. There was no point in the abbey sass-off. Hell, there was no point in this entire show.

The butchering of Lucy. That Lucy was treated so horribly, while being cast as a woman of color, makes me want to go to the UK to kick Moffat and Gatiss’ asses personally

Okay so all throughout this, from the moment there was even a hint of bisexuality in this show, I remembered Moffat’s gross comments on bisexuals and that stuck with me. This is extra absurd when you come into this knowing that the original Dracula was likely intensely homophobic

None of the baroque plot twists make a damned bit of sense

The show has the internal consistency of 100 year old moth-eaten funeral clothes left to rot in the attic. Abilities used are never brought up again. Moffat and Gatiss try to logic out vampire weaknesses without understanding the mindsets in the cultures that shaped them, thereby coming across as poorly-researched

There’s one point where Van Helsing II suggests that Dracula is afraid of death because he’s...the weakest in a family of warlords? ??? Y’all, Dracula was based on Vlad III Dracula, nicknamed Țepeș. The Impaler. Even ignoring the vampire connection Bram Stoker made by reading one book, Vlad was famous in his time for being both brutal and pretty clever, tactically. He survived childhood imprisonment and torture. If my jarhead classmate in Geopolitics of Europe was anything to go by, the Night Attack in Targoviste was taught about in military history classes. Vlad III was guilty of a lot of things, but not being weak.

It’s terrible, guys. I could go on, but that would mean me wasting more of my time on shit that isn’t even the entertaining type of terrible. Do not watch.

P.S. Also, Fred Saberhagen did the Dracula interview story better.

P.P.S. Honestly, if you want wittiness and humor in your Dracula mythos, watch Dracula: Dead and Loving It. At least it doesn’t involve the brutal torture of a black woman.

[thenightling]

Daenerys is Dracula and this is not a bad thing...

Just as most of Game of Thrones is an allegory for War of the Roses I am convinced Daenerys Targaryen is Vlad the Impaler in allegory.

Vlad (born in 1428 or 1431 - the exact date is uncertain) and his younger brother were hostages of The Ottoman Turks when they were boys.  Vlad’s brother ultimately sided with the Turks.  Vlad was released at age seventeen and became the ruler of Wallachia (what is today Romania).

Daenerys was sixteen or seventeen when she lead her people (in the TV show version).  That is the age Vlad AKA Vladislaus Dragulya (modernized to Dracula) was when he first took the throne of Wallachia.   

It should be noted that when Vlad ruled Wallachia The War of The Roses was raging at the same time.   Most of Game of Thrones is an allegory for The War of the Roses and while that was happening Vlad was dealing with his own troubles in Eastern Europe, this further suggests that I am right in my belief that Daenerys is based on Vlad the Impaler.   

When the Turks demanded a tribute (which involved gold and five hundred slave boys, annually) Vlad responded brutally.  Vlad was very against the idea of his people being taken as slaves.  Especially knowing that the slaves they wanted were mostly children and many would be forcibly used as soldiers, and others turned into eunuchs (highly sought after type of slave in the Ottoman Empire, men whose male anatomy had been removed).  Vlad was fiercely against this. (Much like Daenerys) And he had brutal punishments for his enemies including impalement, crucifixion, and... roasting alive.

These are similar punishments that Daenerys had for her enemies.   

Also Vlad learned the art of impalement from the Turks when he was a child captive.  Daenerys used crucifixion against those who used that as a form of punishment / execution for escaped slaves.     

Like Daenerys, Vlad took a cruel punishment that had been used by his enemies against his own people and amplified it against them and as a scare tactic against those that might threaten him or his people.   

Vlad’s brutality caused him to be mistrusted, feared, and resented in the West.  Daenerys’ reputation in the North isn’t any better...

Vlad was known as Dracula (Son of the Dragon) where Daenerys was Mother of Dragons.  Vlad even officially used it as his surname as a way to denounce his cousins (House Bassarb), whom he held accountable for his father and older brother’s death.  

Khaleesi also sounds similar to the name the Turks called Vlad, Kaziklu bey (Meaning Impaler Lord). 

Like Daenerys, Vlad made it a point to learn the language and customs of his enemies though he (again, like Daenerys) did not allow these practices in his own land.  One story famously claimed Vlad asked some Ottoman emissaries to remove their hats in his court as he found it rude that they wore them in his castle.  When they refused, saying that keeping their hats on was their custom, Vlad had their turbans and hats nailed to their heads to send a message to any other men sent by the Sultan to leave their customs (Mostly including enslaving his people) in their own land. 

Like Daenerys, Vlad’s sense of justice was harsh but apparently effective such as the story that a golden, jeweled, goblet was placed in the village fountain at Targoviste (His capital) and all could use it.  No one dared to try to steal it for fear of his severe punishments.  

Unfortunately, also like Daenerys, it seemed he was more often feared rather than actually respected.

Vlad the Impaler tragically lost his first wife when their castle was attacked by Ottoman Turks.  Her name has been lost to history but the river tributary that runs under Poenari castle in modern day Romania (formerly Wallachia) was named for her.  Râul Doamnei (River Princess) is a tributary of the Argeș river.

Many people think Vlad lived in Bran Castle but the reality is Romania uses Bran Castle for tourists because it’s structurally safer and easier to reach on foot whereas Poenari has been crumbling for centuries and his high on a hill / cliff.  Vlad’s first wife’s last words were apparently “It is better to be eaten by the fishes than to be a prisoner of the Turks.” before throwing herself into the river tributary under the castle. 

Like Daenerys, Vlad was in an arranged marriage but unlike Daenerys his was with his second wife, not his first spouse. His arranged mariage wife was the  relation (Cousin or sister... or both?) of the king of Hungary.  When Vlad had been imprisoned by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (under false charges of conspiring with the Ottoman Turks) he was only released after he married Justina Szilágyi de Horogszeg (Matthias’ relation) and converted to Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy. 

Also both Vlad and Daenerys have a long stream of names.

Vlad III of Wallachia was known as Voivode (Warrior Prince), Țepeș (meaning Impale, a name given posthumously.)  Kaziklu Bey (Impaler Lord), and Dracula (Son of the Dragon.)  = Vlad, of House Bassarab, Third of his name, Warrior Prince, Impaler lord, son of the dragon. “Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons”

Also Vlad is technically first of his name when you consider he took Dragulya (Modern spelling and pronunciation: Dracula) as his surname.  His father was Dracul.  The A at the end is important as it indicates “Son of” or “little” dragon.  Vlad, like his father before him, was a member of The order of The Dragon, a knightly order sworn to stand against the invading Ottoman Turks. 

In modern Romanian Dracula means “Devil” but in the fifteenth century it meant Son of the Dragon.  His father (Vlad II) answered to Dracul (Dragon).  The root word was probably the Latin Draco (Dragon).   

Historically Vlad was also rather short but fierce, much like Daenerys.

Notice any similarities?

Vlad was eventually assassinated by his enemies and his head delivered to the Ottoman Sultan.  This was early in the year 1477.  

LIke Daenerys there were rumors of Vlad dabbling in black magick and other strange things.

Despite how Vlad’s enemies remembered him, he is still known as a hero in Romania (formerly Wallachia).

Some legends say he’ll return when his land needs him the most (much like King Arthur).   Other modern fictions like Dracula: the Company of Monsters and Fred Saberhagen’s Dracula book series claim loyalists retrieved his head and restored it to his body for proper burial.  And eventual resurrection...

There’s also the popular Gothic novel that tells of him rising from his grave as an undead monster and posing as his own descendant and Count of Transylvania for centuries...

When Vlad’s supposed burial place was exhumed in 1931 (same year the first official film adaptation of the vampire novel was released, starring Bela Lugosi) all they found were animal bones, perpetuating the modern myth that Dracula rose from his grave as a strigoi (alternate name: Moroi) AKA A vampire.  This was first suggested in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and later inferred in the film Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula).

Horror actor Christopher Lee (who famously played the vampire version of Vlad in the British Hammer horror franchise and several other adaptations of the character between the late 1950s and mid-1970s) suggested, in the documentary titled “In Search of Dracula” (The documentary is based on the book of the same name) that Vlad was possibly buried under the floor of a chapel near where he had been assassinated.   

Further note:  His head (which was supposed to have been delivered to the Ottoman Sultan) is also unaccounted for...  

It should also be noted that the fictional vampire version of Dracula had a special kinship with wolves, whom he called “The Children of the Night” and said of their howling, “What sweet music they make!”  He could also turn into a wolf at will and could communicate with them the way Daenerys talks with her dragons.  

In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, the vampire version of Dracula befriended a white wolf at the London Zoo.  The wolf was named Berserker and bears a striking similarity to Jon Snow’s wolf, Ghost.

The fictional vampire version of Dracula could also turn into a bat and communicate with bats.  I don’t know if anything in relation to weather control will come up with Daenerys but the fictional vampire version of Dracula could conjure storms.

And for those who doubt the fictional vampire was based on Vlad the Impaler, and think they just share a name merely because the name was chosen late in the writing of Bram Stoker’s novel I present this quote:  “He must indeed be the Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk.” - Doctor Abraham Van Helsing in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897.

There are as many (if not more) parallels between Daenerys and the historic Dracula, as there are with the Lannisters and the Lancasters in the real War of the Roses (which was an admitted inspiration and loose basis for Game of Thrones and the original novels).