#st germain

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

you know how you did bg3 types of yanderes, could you do that for castlevania? Like the trio and isaac, hector, dracula/lisa, carmilla, st. germain??

A/N: For reference, here is the one I did for BG3 villains, and here is the one I did for the BG3 Main Companions. Also, this is unedited as hell so if you see grammar mistakes, no you didn't. 

Castlevania Characters as Yandere! Types: 

Yandere! Trevor: 

Defensive. Calucative. Hardened. Trevor’s seen far worse than you, from humans and monsters alike. He knows the terror and the cruelty that lurks out there. He wants to shield you from it all, for as long as possible. He has this overwhelming need to prevent what happened to his family from happening to you. Even then, he knows your innocence won’t last; it couldn’t possibly. So long as you’re tied to him, you will know hardship. So as much as he babies you, and refuses to grant you complete independence, he is also distant, and frequently unaffectionate. In his line of work, people don’t die of old age; neither of you will be in the other’s life forever. Just let him love you the way he needs, when he asks for it, please. Everything else is so difficult in his life, you don’t want to add to that. Make yourself into the one piece of his life that is easy. And enjoy the easy while it lasts. 

Yandere! Sypha: 

Confident. Feisty. Unyielding. Sypha is always sure of herself. Everything she does, she does with 100% effort and full intent- your relationship is no different. From the moment she sees you, she’s sure she likes you, and she’s certain you like her. Any behavior that suggests otherwise on your part must simply be beginning relationship nerves. After all, she is a scholar and a Speak Magician. Her infectious optimism seeps out of her every pore. Her love for you knows no bounds, and she will not hesitate to throw herself into danger to prove it. I mean, she can conjure fire and ice instantaneously in her own two hands! Who wouldn’t want to be her partner?  Only some sort of complete and total asshole would try and turn her down, or worse, fight against her. She fights for what is right, and what is just. You wouldn’t fight against what’s just, would you? 

Yandere! Alucard: 

Intellectual. Sharp. Melancholic. Alucard is not a stranger to romance nor heartbreak. Losing the people closest to him has left him vulnerable, both emotionally and physically. Instead of processing his feelings, he bottles them up, until he can no longer bear their weight. He feels such pressure to remain composed, remain controlled, not animalistic, to go against the programming of half of his biology. At the same time, he is starving, desperate, and filled with an insatiable thirst for closeness. Such a complicated, disconsolate man, Alucard needs you to stay, more than anything. His life has been so lonely, and so hard; at times it feels like all he knows is loss and the cruel impossible whispers of desire. You need to stay. You need to choose him. He cannot take another heartbreak. It’s quite possible, given his role throughout history, that humanity wouldn’t survive another one of his heartbreaks either.  

Yandere! Isaac: 

Keen. Precise. Self-Righteous. Isaac has journeyed far on his quest for revenge, coming not only into a new land and new role but a new self as well. Gone is the former subservient, sacrificial lamb, who has risen into a stronger, wiser, seemingly benevolent king. Do not mistake this kindness for weakness, however. You must be either admirable or too kind-hearted to pose a genuine threat. Once you’ve caught his eye, prepare for an odd game of cat and mouse, you being the mouse of course. Isaac is not used to having friends, much less romantic companions. You must be patient as he learns the intricacies of your psyche. Surely, you must know he’s been analyzing it since you met? Be an honest, positive presence in his life, and he will keep you safe from all others who may do you harm. Treat him as the wise king he now sees himself as, and perhaps, he will ask you to be his queen. 

Yandere! Hector: 

Reclusive. Embittered. Suspicious. Hector has been forced to toughen up. Too late did he realize at the end of the road, that it is the people, not the zombies you command that can make or break a man. That is where you come in my dear. Following Lenore’s death, Hector’s purpose is up in the air, he is suddenly a puppet, free of its strings. He feels much wiser, but just as lonely. Hector cannot help but latch on to you, the first “normal” person to view him as human. He yearns for a simple quiet life, with a dog (a live one) and a partner to call his own. You’re perfectly plain, or perhaps, you’re just odd enough to make him look normal, and he relishes that. You have to understand that he can’t share much about his past. He can’t possibly tell you about his old life, no, no, no. He’s hiding it from you, hells, he’s hiding from it with you. He loves you dearly, he does. But he can’t trust you, not fully. A man with a history like his cannot truly trust anyone. 

Yandere! Dracula/Lisa: 

Nurturing. Captivated. Smothering. Dracula was not keen on humans before meeting Lisa; she bewitched him body and soul. And now the two of them have become enthralled by you. Dracula has learned the ‘other’ humans are not to be trusted, not with you, and certainly not with his wife. Lisa finds it unfortunate how she is no longer able to treat her former patients in Lupu, but she’s also incredibly thankful now that she has you to take care of! Ever the eager student, she still wants to learn so many things, and how wonderful of a practice dummy you are. Dracula is also eternally grateful that his wife will not be completely lonely; he knows how much helping her fellow humans means to her, and now that you’re here, Dracula no longer has to worry about keeping his wife (and by extension, you) to himself for eternity. 

Yandere! Carmilla: 

Prepared. Calculating. Cruel. Carmilla is a sadist at heart, there’s no denying it. She loves feeling the power she wields over all other people, humans, and vampires alike. For you to have caught her attention, surely you must be something special. Either you are particularly gifted in something she’s not (negotiations, necromancy, art, etc.) or you’re just so unbelievably precious, that she can’t help but want to steal you away for herself. She sees you as a possession, as a rare and beautiful gem, not a person. Even if she did ‘hear’ anything you had to say, she’d simply consider it further fodder to be used in manipulating you should it all come to that. She is not a woman who is denied, not by God, not by man, not by Dracula, and certainly not by you. Chin up, pet. Things could always be much worse. You could be thrown in the dungeons and left to rot. How lovely of Carmilla to instead treat you to more luxury than your kind could ever dare to deserve. For your continued safety, may I suggest showing a little gratitude? I mean it’s not like your life depends on it or anything. It does. 

Yandere! St. Germain: 

Wise. Inquisitive. Obsessive. St. Germain is a man who knows his mind. He knows a great deal about alchemy, and that alchemy, at the end of his days, will be his greatest work. That was of course, all before he met you. You opened up a whole side of him that he didn't know existed. Before you, his conquest was kings and courts; his acquaintances were mages and scholars! But now, in his effort to keep you from himself, you have become his conquest; his acquaintances are vampires and demons, all practitioners of dark magic. To him, it’s of little matter, so long as he can secure you, his one true love. To him, it’s the most important to have someone to share all his knowledge with, all that he’s achieved. To bask in the victory alone does not hold the same merit. He needs you at his side, he needs you to be invested in the great work. Without you, without your love, he fears he cannot achieve it. As such, he will do whatever it takes to get you by his side. And I do mean- whatever- it takes. 

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[autumnmobile12]

Feminism in Castlevania

One of the things I liked about this series was how it represented both positive feminism and toxic feminism.

The positive elements are small and carry their weight through the tone they set, as they should. If displays of feminism are over-the-top, then they become pandering and discredit the message they are trying to send.

Despite this series's flaws, I will forever appreciate the hell out of the fact they didn't go with the 'reformed chauvinist' character arc for Trevor. When he's first made aware of Sypha, she's just the Elder Speaker's 'grandchild.' Gender neutral term. And when he finally meets her and realizes she's a woman, his only reactions is, "Granddaughter, then." There's no overt reaction, there's no patronizing comment of how 'it's too dangerous for a woman down here.' "Granddaughter, then," is the only comment he ever makes that she's female, and that's all the series needed to set the tone for that part of his character.

It shows he's not against women fighting.

It shows he doesn't view women as weaker or inferior.

It shows he's aware women are capable of fighting and sees nothing wrong with that and sets the building blocks for the fact that Belmont women were fighters and this is nothing new to him.

It shows he's doesn't blame Sypha for putting herself in this predicament with the Cyclops by going down there in the first place. (Actually, considering he went into the catacombs under the assumption she was dead, he was probably relieved he didn't have to haul a corpse back to the surface.)

Show. Not tell.

The only thing he really questions is why she was sent down there alone, but he ultimately decided it wasn't his business. And he figures it out later when it's revealed she's her caravan's only mage.

The other part worth considering is while he's perfectly willing to insult Alucard, he never insults Sypha the same way.

He also doesn't make a habit of protecting her. They are both equally balanced in watching out for each other during their fights in Season 3 and Season 4. The only time Trevor says he'll protect her is in the Hold and that's only because he knows she's busy setting up a complicated spell and carrying out the bigger part of their master plan. In this context, he's not even her protector; he's just back-up.

Alucard's treatment of Sypha is similar, but they sadly don't have too many moments where they talk one on one. He's polite to her and I honestly feel this is his parents' influence of raising him to be a gentleman. (I mean, Lisa doesn't hesitate to call out Dracula for his lack of manners during their first meeting.)

Greta introduces herself as the headwoman of Danesti.  Nobody questions that. Hell, St. Germain even comments it's a shame someone with her talents was wasted in such a provincial area like Danesti. Rude, but this is more of a dig at Wallachia being a backwater, uncivilized sty and nothing at all about her being a woman in charge.

We can also see this to a lesser extent with Zamfir being the unquestioned leader of Targoviste's resistance, but again, we don't get a lot of info.

I've already done an earlier post on Carmilla, so I'm going to reiterate a few of those points here: A huge part of Carmilla's character and motivation is her disdain for men.  Hector is a just a tool to her.  Dracula’s Generals are made up of men.  The vampires are ruled over by a ‘stupid, old man.’

There's also the fact she just doesn't care about her sisters. She refuses to give credit to Morana for her part in handling the logistics of their invading army, which Striga calls her out on. So she's still putting herself above the others. But the really telling part is her reaction to seeing Isaac in her final episode. If she cared about Lenore in any way, she would have demanded to know if she was still alive, did he kill her, what had he done? Instead, she's still shouting about how the world is full of idiots and she's better than everyone else.

This isn't feminism. This is pure arrogance, bitter vindictiveness, and plain narcissism.

Unlike Morana, Striga, and Lenore, Carmilla never talks about their plan of conquest in the terms of safety or security. It's always to the tune of vengeance or even just to prove she can do it. It's always about her fury of being treated as 'less than' because she and her sisters were just women. And it all culminates in a cowardly suicide because she couldn't stand the thought of losing to a lowly human like Isaac.

I don't want to be too harsh with Carmilla. I do like her as a character and I think she's a brilliantly written foil to Sypha as far as the feminism angle goes. This is also the medieval period where the conventions of society more often than not benefited men. I get it, I really do. But a tragic backstory still doesn't excuse toxic behavior.

[tsuki-no-miko]

the three horsemen of the girlpocalypse, the nerd the geek and the whore also we're doing Utena now?

[twopolars]

Now that st Germaine using Tsurugi facade, I can not yet imagine Tsurugi being obsessed with Kuro...

[diemelusine]

Rue de Furstemberg, Paris.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Celette

[she-doesnt-even-go-here]

Now why did I just learn that Count St. Germaine was associated with New Orleans, a place known for supernatural and urban legends?

I just thought he was some random european Count with legends associated to him like with Countess Bathory and Ivan The Terrible 💀

[notnormalme]

I wanted to start this by saying that I have some free time but I don't have it ALL I HAVE IS MOTIVATION

Anyway, I decided to do a bigger analysis of St. Germain

Germain was a special interest of mine until I almost got involved in a cult and had to take a break, but I'm eager to use my knowledge of this topic to analyze Teacher

ALSO THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WITH THE HELP OF MY SISTER I WILL DO A SMALL ANALYSIS OF OGIER

There were a few things that interested me about him and when I discussed it with my sister, we came to some interesting conclusions

[meisterdrucke]

St. Germain b. Tunis by Paul Klee (1914, Aquarell)

[centre-cannot-hold]

[autumnmobile12]

Predictions for Nocturne

(some serious speculation, some silly)

Imagining that one scene from Symphony of the Night where Alucard ends up fighting the fake Trevor, Sypha and Grant (Greta.) Cause him being in a situation where he has to kill an enemy that looks, acts, and fights exactly like the people he loved three centuries ago seems suitably heart-wrenching.

Wondering if Nocturne's going to partially follow the plot of Symphony where Richter is captured and controlled by Shaft the dark priest, so Maria and Alucard are searching for him. I'm basing this solely off the female voice in the teaser (possibly Maria?) saying, "We're looking for someone called Belmont."

So Richter's character arc would be him attempting to regain his honor after all the harm he caused under Shaft's influence?

Part of me legitimately wonders if St. Germain is gonna be back. Yes, this is a nod to his Curse of Darkness design, but his clothes here are not medieval. (More Victorian than anything?)

Nocturne is supposed to take place during the French Revolution, the first of three beginning in 1789. The top hat is believed to have been invented in 1793. French gentleman wearing the latest fashion?

The series never specifically says St. Germain is from the same time period he wound up in after his first encounter with the Infinite Corridor. Is this why he knows about stuff like toilet paper and is constantly looking down his nose at all the filthy medieval people? Is he just being a whiny bitch about being sent back in time?

He tells Trevor that he knew his family. Is this because he met the descendants? (I suppose this could be his twisted reconciliation about betraying them since he's seen the 'future' and he knows the line endures and Alucard is still alive.)

This is wild speculation that probably won't be the case, but I kinda really want this to happen since Alucard's reaction to a human he thought was dead for three centuries just casually showing up out of nowhere would be priceless.

The French Revolution was the era of powdered wigs and shockingly fabulous courtly decadence and the Queen having a frickin' boat in her hair.

If we don't get at least one vampire (or Belmont) in a stupidly ostentatious wig, then what are we even doing?

Two schools of thought in my head:

Hoping Nocturne also does not include the Succubus as an overtly sexualized character in the interest of not objectifying women.

On the other hand, a discomfited Alucard looking the demon lady right in the eye and saying, "Madam, kindly remove yourself from my personal space," is a very humorous image.

On a more serious note, there is also the Nightmare scene in Symphony of the Night to consider where the Succubus shows Alucard a vision of his mother right before her execution in an attempt to trick him, so there's potential for a, "How dare you make me relive that!" moment.

Can these two come back? They did not get enough screen time in the first round.

Striga's last line to their soldiers is an order to ride west. France is west.

Also, is it really an accident that Morana's hairstyle in Season 4 is a French twist? Foreshadowing....

[divine-nonchalance]

∞

St. Germain, Channeled by Daniel Scranton

“I am St. Germain, keeper of the violet flame.

You who have the physical lifetime to live need to realize that much more of you is nonphysical and coexists in this moment with this lifetime. You are meant to anchor in more of that which you truly are, and you do that every time you find something in your physical reality to love. When you give your attention to that which inspires love within you, that’s when you know yourself more fully as you truly are. And the trick is to not then become dependent on the object of your affection staying in that lovable state.

The trick is to recognize that the love you feel was always inside of you, just waiting to get activated and waiting patiently to be expressed by you. How you express the love that you are makes you a unique aspect of Source. It’s the same love. It’s the same stuff, but it’s being presented in a variety of different ways because it is so multidimensional, so multifaceted, so expansive, so universal, and so infinite that it requires all the different forms of expression that you and others can give it. That’s why you need not compare what you are doing to what anyone else is doing.

Everyone has their unique expression of the love that they are to offer to humanity, to the galaxy and to the universe. You don’t have to do anything that anyone else does, and how you express is supposed to be different. It is supposed to be uniquely yours. And therefore, when you get inspired and you go within, when you find the spark of Divinity within you and then you express it, you can rest assured that others will respond to it. And maybe it won’t be everyone, but that’s okay. The ones who are meant to receive it will. The ones who are meant to experience your book, your movie, your work of art, your music, will find it and it will find them.

And you will inspire others to then love something that is outside of them, or appears to be anyway, so that they can then access the love they truly are and express it in their own unique ways. This is the ripple effect. This is how we are all connected, and this is the tapestry of life on Earth and throughout the universe that we are all weaving ourselves into moment by moment, inspiration by inspiration and creation by creation. 

Don’t worry about what you are supposed to do or what you are supposed to create, but instead continue to look for that which inspires love within you, and then don’t get attached to it. But instead, relish the feeling that you have inside of you that represents the Source of all of us and that wants to continuously be expressed by you and through you. And that is how you live a life in service to Source. 

I am St. Germain, keeper of the violet flame.”

[vinyl-connection]

DESTINATOIN: PARIS

Saint Germain. A Parisian boulevard where Jean-Paul Satre strolled, or a football team from the same city. Perhaps the French liqueur made with elderflowers. Those of a theosophical persuasion will want to bend your ear with tales of Saint Germain, an eighteenth century mystic, philosopher and ascended master. Whatever that is. While all the above are true (give or take some metaphysics), the St…

[alpaca-clouds]

Castlevania Season 4

Currently seeing a lot of people watching Castlevania for the first time and being as confused as everyone else once was about season 4 and certain story developments.

Spoilers - Obviously.

The story decisions in question basically show up in all the storylines:

Why is Alucard just okay with everything about having talked to Greta for approximately two hours?

What the fuck is the deal with the entire Targoviste storyline, that kinda goes nowhere?

Why are Hector and Lenore just fine after everything that she did in the end of season 3?

Why was St. Germain so easily corrupted? (And why does his love interest not even get a name or voice lines?)

Why does Carmilla so suddenly go off the deep end?

Why don't the four storylines never meet up, ending the story without the main characters (that is the group of Hector and Isaac, vs the trio) ever meeting?

Why is Varney?

And I mean, we are never going to fully know. But chances are good, that Warren Ellis had thought he would get five seasons to tell his story - instead of only four. Now, we never got confirmation for that, but there are a lot of points speaking for it - most notably just that the last season feels rushed af.

Now, a big question is, why it got then cut down into four seasons. There is a lot of speculation. For once there is of course all the shit coming out about Warren Ellis at the time. So maybe Netflix wanted to cut him off, before all of that came out. There is also the fact, that season 4 went into production in 2020 and we all know what happened in 2020. So chances are, that the show might well have been impacted by the pandemic. There is also the fact, that Ellis was allegedly in general hard to work with for some people. Another fact. And, lastly, it might just have been a Netflix thing, even though we are getting Nocturne. (You know... *cries in Inside Job and DeadEnd*)

There is also the fact, that a lot of folks harrassed Netflix and the creators about everything season 3. Especially the Alucard scene and what happened to Hector. And if we look at Rise of Skywalker, we know it would not have been the first and only time that fans harassing a studio got them to backpaddle on story decisions.

But I think a lot of writing decisions for the most part can be explained with simple Story Economy under the idea that Ellis had if not calculated for five seasons, then at least for more episodes in that last season.

I have often heard people talk about "But why are Alucard, Trevor and Sypha even there?", because it is very clear that for the most parts season 3 and 4 are very much the story of Hector, Isaac and the Styria sisters. With everything else kinda feeling more like an obligation. (Even though, unpopular opinion: I do like both the Alucard and the Lindenfeld storylines in season 3.) And this is very noticable in season 4 of course. The entire Varney thing comes out of nowhere. St. Germain's Face-Heel-Turn comes out of nowhere. Death comes out of nowhere.

The simple answer is, of course, that the main trio is the main trio and it would probably not have been within the contract with Netflix or Konami or whoever to write them out. Not to mention that, yes, Alucard is probably half the reason some viewers are there. Hence, they needed a storyline.

Now, again, I am mostly just speculating. But I do assume that at some point the plan has been to pitch Carmilla against the main characters. It would not have been surprising to me, if the original plan was to have her slowly go off the deep end in season 4, have her make a deal with Death and maybe give her a redemption arc in season 5 (because she feels like a too well developed character for the development in season 4 being the original plan).

But given the "end it with season 4" and "main trio has to do stuff, because main trio" requirements that had probably have to be met, a lot of decisions make sense.

Why does Alucard get over his trauma within hours of meeting Greta? Well, because there was no time for him to have a proper recovery arc, before he had to be there for a finale to happen. Maybe, too, because of the harassment and some fans not wanting to see Alucard in a position of weakness.

What is the deal with Targoviste? Mostly just to give Trevor and Sypha something to do, before they could join for the finale. Also to introduce Varney.

Why is Varney? Because there was no character, who would believably get into "making a deal with Death" within just one season. Hence he was just a tool to bring Death into the plot. (Which kinda makes sense, given Death is a main antagonist in several of the games.)

Why are Hector and Lenore just fine? Because here, too, there was no time for a proper recovery arc. Also, maybe, because a lot of people got angry, too, about Hector being put into the position of weakness. So it was just swept aside.

Why does Carmilla go off the deep end so quickly? Because there was no time for a proper corruption arc either. But she needed to be the bad guy for that storyline, because otherwise there would not have been a proper finale for the entire Styria storyline, as it was unable to reconnect to the Wallachia storyline.

And why is St. Germain so easily corrupted? I would assume because some executive decision had been made that he had to be put into the season.

The thing is really, that if you just look at it logically, the plot points kinda make sense - but because they are so rushed, they do not feel right. And of course this does kinda ruin a lot of it, because the ending is what matters a lot in stories.

Now, personally, I am mostly fine with where all the arcs end. I personally am fine with the ending of building a village around the castle. I am fine with Isaac taking over Styria. I am fine with Dracula and Lisa coming back from the dead. And yes, I am fine with Lenore dying. But it does feel rushed and I do not like how the plot gets there.

Most of all, I wished that there was a bit more emotional fallout from season 3. I definitely do not like how Alucard is just suddenly fine - or how Hector and Lenore are suddenly fine. It does feel emotionally... unfullfilling. *sighs*

But nothing to do about it now.

What I am getting at with this ramble: I do not think that Ellis (who is a horrible human being, but also a pretty good writer) has suddenly forgotten how to write stuff. I mostly just think that there was a lot of Drama going on behind the scenes. Partly because Ellis is a bad human, but also because of pandemic being pandemic.

[the-crow-binary]

Castlevania: Curse of Whoreness

[postcard-from-the-past]

St Germain church in Flers, Normandy region of France

French vintage postcard, mailed in 1903 to Vincennes

[notnormalme]

It's so sad that I'll actually never finish this Teacher fanart 😔😔😔

(I lost my motivation)