#theyre watching Saw franchise

[craigularory-joe]

Day 15

[nerdie-faerie]

Back on my Werewolf!Rose bullshit in preparation for spooky season

[unicornsaures]

shoutout to all my moots/friends that watched/rewatched saw because im being insane about it

(special shoutout to bk for making an edit of adam...u a real one..)

[robotpussy]

missed the opportunity to watch talk to me but saw x and the exorcist 4 (?)/reboot are coming out this week and next week.... do I go ahead and watch them? 🤔

[hyper-revenge-sio]

I apologize ahead of time for who i will become after Saw X and Five Nights at Freddy's come out later this year. I'm literally so excited for both of these

[sol-flo]

im now a final destination (2000) apologist btw

[motherdanger]

i'd say i trick my friends into thinking the saw franchise is gay so they watch it but when they do watch it theyre like "this is gay" so yeah

[aaaawic]

no funny video for this games birthday, mostly because i dont have time, but also because this game just. means more to me compared to the first game lol

gonna put my sappy rant under the Keep Reading button. again

picture this: youre Me, an 8 year old child. its the start of 2015. unsure of the exact day or month but it was 100% before March. Wednesday, the day that my dad takes my brother to therapy while mom stays at home with me. mom is taking a nap on your room, as she usually does. youre in the living room, tablet in hand with a couple of small baskets full of pony and various animal toys. you open google, not remembering what you were going to search in the first place. an article title catches your attention.

"Infamous Horror Indie Game, Five Nights At Freddy's, Gets A Long Awaited Sequel."

you blink, not knowing what that game even is. you, instead of searching on google or even on youtube what fnaf is, you decide to go to the tablets play store and download the game yourself. the first game isnt free and you know youre not allowed to buy games, so you go and download the free demo of Five Nights At Freddy's 2.

you grab your moms old shitty phone and two ponies, an official Rarity and a McDonald's glowy Applejack and start recording your tablet with the two ponies in front, acting like theyre playing and reacting to what happens in game. due to you being only 8 years old, you dont understand what any of the texts or what the weird guy talking on the non visible phone is saying, thanks to english not being your first language. you tap everything, and once finding the cameras, you flinch and leave in fear when you go to Cam 11, the Prize Corner, where the music box plays.

a few minutes later, theres a warning symbol flashing in the corner. you freak out, you fumble, checking the vents, checking the hallway, putting on the mask. it eventually stops. in the background you can hear a faint music box version of the song Pop Goes The Weasel playing, but due to your talking you dont hear it. you then get jumpscared by The Puppet. you scream, it was a genuine scream. you feel your eyes tearing up and your heartbeat increase. you shake it out, acting like the ponies fainted as they complain about the game being too scary for them. you stop recording and move on with your day.

when bedtime comes, you start struggling to sleep. whenever you close your eyes, you can see the puppets face close to yours, and whenever you fall asleep, the face appears in your dreams, scaring you awake. this keeps going for days, maybe even a full week. you decide to try the game again, as well as search for any videos of the game. as much as youre scared, you start to be fascinated by the games, the characters, the stories. you start looking at fanart, tracing any ones you like and taking them to school, and to your surprise a few of your classmates are familiar and even Like fnaf. you start making fanart yourself, doing crossovers with mlp and fnaf, drawing ships, drawing mmd model designs on the characters. you watch countless videos, ranging from gameplays to gmod gameplays to sfm and 2d animations to mmd dancing videos to animation memes to tributes to character theme songs to headcanon voices.

the reason i draw and post my art online is thanks to this game franchise. the reason i have some of my friends is thanks to this game franchise. in reality i should be thanking the first game, but the second is So special to me. its the one i first saw, first played, first saw discussion and theories of. i was there when people were playing the trailer backwards, hearing withered foxy scream Freedom, and hearing Mike Kill All during the end of the reversed trailer. i was there when people were freaking out over the teasers, calling the Toy Animatronics as [insert fnaf character name here] 2.0. i was there when people were debating toy bonnies, mangles and the puppets gender. i was there when such iconic songs like It's Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, Five Nights At Freddy's Pt 2 by SayMaxWell, The Puppet Song by Tryhardninja, all of the [insert fnaf character name here] song by Groundbreaking, Five More Nights by JT Music, Mangled by NateWantsToBattle, and so so many more. i was there when the iconic Tony Crynight series came out.

so as much as i thank the first game for existing, i thank the second game so much more. the puppet is my favorite character for a reason (even tho it is tied with ennard lol) and the second game is my favorite for the same reason.

anyways, enough yapping. yes im gonna wish every character a happy birthday again.

happy birthday to Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle, The Puppet, Balloon Boy, Withered Freddy, Withered Bonnie, Withered Chica, Withered Foxy, Golden Freddy, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Fritz Smith, Shadow Freddy, Shadow Bonnie, JJ and Purple Guy. happy 10 years of Five Nights At Freddy's 2.

[skunkes]

ok ok i have another way to word my thots about the movies thus far:

i think Art is pretty iconic design wise. Im not against gory slashers I think we should have more of those and I like that a series so "shocking" is doing so well...its more like.

The franchise establishes pretty immediately that it's not Serious...as mentioned the first movie has a naked woman sawed in half from crotch down so idk how you'd even make it to the 3rd one without knowing How It Is. But with how the first one barely has any plot, and the second one has A Bit More but drags on and on...its like... SO FAR (because I haven't seen the 3rd one) these movies aren't Fun to watch ykwim.

I know Saw isn't a good comparison bc its a different genre within horror but the franchise really is like a telenovela... its so stupid (good) and it has lots to complain about and pick at in the FUN way, like poking fun at peepaw and his warehouses and home depot purchases, going "are you kidding me thats so dumb" at that scene where hoffman manages to be snuck into the station in a body bag to start killing people. Varuous moments of stupid ass dialogue writing. Im not saying it cant be boring or unliked but i think it has a good balance of everything (eyerolling moments, plot, "lighthearted" and humorous moments, intentional or not) even if its not a masterpiece in the writing department.

And that's just within the series, I usually avoid bringing up fandom bc that's obviously a different beast I rarely even touch but its more about how its fandom actually has that foundation to go off of. Like you know enough about peepaw's backstory and such to springboard off of, regardless of it being good or not

Here it's like man there's a hot cool clown, lots of gore, really corny and cornily acted out writing, and its not even FUN? 😭 2 movies (again I haven't made it to the 3rd) and I wouldn't watch them again, not because of the gore but because despite not being serious, reinforced by that very drawn out over the top kill in the second one, it's not even fun... you cant even attach to the silly dialogue because the whole rest of the movie is a drag. Does this make sense? It's like. Everything combined to make it Not Fun. Whereas at least with Saw you can start joking about how someone just wasn't trying hard enough to win peepaw's foundationally silly ass "you tried to kill yourself now you're in the try not to kill yourself" trap.

It's at odds with itself. I've seen like one Halloween movie and can barely even remember it but I know all the jokes about outrunning Michael Myers (and that cat and mouse is also Fun)...theres also like 50 of those movies I KNOW theyre probably also fun to watch and complain about the absurdity... I think the issue here might also be the straightforwardness and point A point B of it all. There's not really much anyone can do against Art, which is fine, some saw traps are literally unwinnable after all. But Terrifier doesn't even give you the chance to, like, boast about how you definitely could have survived the Silence Circle trap because you're not an idiot... it's just not Fun. To me.

I think Art himself is fun and the corny dialogue are fun. I'll even go ahead and say the gore is fun because again like come on the clown literally rips a guys cock off its Absurd... but they seem to be trapped in movie(s) that so far aren't fun

[bathroomtrapped]

ohmygod i literally just made an account on letterboxd bc i watched saw (2004) and loved it so much and ur interview was so inspiring to me and ive been on an absolute craze trying to reblog like every single saw post on tumblr and i somehow found your account what the heck?!!?!?! ur art is AMAZING and i absolutely love ur takes on saw as a franchise and its significance to the queer community. i hope to be as knowledgeable of this franchise as you are one day despite me only being a baby saw fan!!

i had a quick question; i found on the saw heritage post blog that they thought leigh/james/someone else confirmed that saw (2004) did not actually occur the day before 9/11 despite the phone given to them being set to that date. however, when i asked them if they knew where this source was from (bc im so curious!!! i want to know everything!!!!!!) but neither they nor i could find the actual source for that so i was wondering if maybe u knew??? just curious :3

regardless ty for taking the time to read this and dedicating so much time to this fandom!! i love that horror fans like you exist in a fandom that i previously thought would be weird and slightly disturbed film bros (i had a lot of incorrect preconceived notions about saw that have been quickly resolved i promise)

thank you!! im glad that people feel the same way about it as i do but even if people thought i was some crazy transexual making everyone else woke and pronouns, i wouldnt care. the story, especially lawrences but adams as well, really resonates with me as a trans person for so so many reasons, more than i listed in the interview. to me, i cant read his character without filling in the gaps with trans subtext. it not only explains but also enriches the personal experiences of these characters as well as their dynamics with each other. theyre both characters that are defined primarily by how theyre seen by other people, themselves, and eventually each other. the narrative is soooo focused on perception and masks and who u truly are, i find it hard to separate any kind of queer theory from that.

as for the 9/11 question thats such a dumbass pet peeve of mine. its one of the things that makes me shout UMMMM ACTUALLY at the top of my lungs. my blood pressure sours to inhuman levels when someone confidently says the movie takes place not just in 2001 but the day before 9/11. not because of some interview or confirmation from any of the crew because my knowledge of old fandom history is incredibly spotty. old sites and interviews r a mystery to me for the most part BUT! the reason it is for sure not before 9/11 is because during the flashback of pauls trap (during lawrences monologue about jigsaw) kerry tapp and sing are all at the scene with other officers and i believe its kerry who holds up an evidence bag thats labeled 2004. the scene takes place 5 months before the events of saw 1 so its not possible that it takes place 3 years before that. it just seemed like a funny (but insanely bold considering how 9/11 was only 3 years before) joke and easter egg for people to catch on to, not actual lore meant to be taken seriously.

if u want to look for the interview, i would honestly just listen to the commentary tracks bc it mightve been said there. i know in the one with leigh, james, and cary they discuss plot holes fans complained about, questions fans had online, the fanfic they read (briefly LOL). ive only seen that one (and once) but theres at least 2 other commentary tracks with different people that i havent gotten around to for fear of like. completing saw? idk i cant bring myself to watch all of the commentary tracks but theres a chance they discuss it there! i can only speculate on the reason, all i know is that saw 2004 takes place in 2004 based on actual evidence from the media itself

if u have any other questions let me know. i still have the original draft of the interview which had more questions and longer responses bc i couldve gone on for days abt the lore and saw queer theory and ill never shut up about it

[cyberdragoninfinity]

saw your arc-v livepostings on twitter n' your z-one/aporia posts and now i really wanna get into the show and into ygo in general. do you have any recommendations on where to start so that it won't be too confusing for a poor sap such as i if you can? please and thank you (:

WAHHH IM HONORED THAT MY SILLY POSTING HAS INSPIRED YA TO CHECK OUT YUGIOH!! ;w;

yugioh really is something truly special and an absolute blast to really dig into, but it IS a very big franchise.... forgive me for being a bit inexperienced at giving recommendations, but I shall do my best!! here's some pointers that I think could be helpful if ya wanna get into the show(s) (not getting into the mangas too much on this, for the sake of brevity LOL) (the spinoff mangas are fun reads, though!)

ok so the thing with yugioh is there are Eight Different 'Main' Yugioh Series (and a few little stray other series but we ain talkin bout those right now)--my recommendations are focusing on the first five series, since those the ones i've seen (though ive heard glowing reviews for VRAINS and Sevens and you could certainly go check either of those out if you wanted to! You don't really need to know anything about the plots of the other series to follow those stories)

as a yugioh fan i am of course obligated to recommend Duel Monsters as a starter. It's the OG, just absolute Yugioh at its most tried and true Yugioh, it Is that good, the dub and sub are both classics--but IF i am being my most honest true self, if my arc-v postin and zoneporia chattering have got ya ygo hooked then I would recc maybe taking a gander at one of the spinoff series first instead ;3

(In general what's cool about yugioh is you can basically pick up any of the series as your 'first' ygo experience to start with and have a great time with it! I know tons of people who've all started with different series/only are invested in 1-2 series,Theyre all made to be their own self-contained plots, and there's really something for everyone among 'em! you could honestly just read wiki blurbs on each series and go with whatever one sounds most interesting to you, and that's a fine start right there.) (though sometimes youll see characters from one series show up in another one, the Entire Storyline isnt Hinged on that--i.e. a bunch of alternate version GX/5D's/Zexal characters show up in ARC-V, but you dont need to have seen all those series to watch arc-v or follow its plot.) also idgaf what anyone says, the dubs are just as wonderful a watch as the subs are when it comes to ygos--you have to deal with some scene censorship or dialogue changes, but to me it doesn't really impede the experience. (in fact I almost want to recommend the dubs MORE for someone just starting to get into yugioh--it can be easier to follow the duels sometimes. AND a lot of the dubs are free on Youtube!!)

ANYWAY Z-one and Aporia are from Yugioh 5D's!! The, Last twenty episodes or so. Of 5D's. 🥴 <--the suffering nicherfaverrrr. So if you want to meet them properly you Do unfortunately have to be in for the long haul (i am of course biased and will say: Worth It.) 5D's is all around fantastic though; it has its slow spots, but the duels get crazy fun on those damn motorcycles, so even if you do buckle in for the All of It you'll have a good time--there are some chunks in the second half of the show that never got dubbed though (sad!) which is just something to keep in mind.

RE: Arc-V! since youve seen me tweetin about it, I will say, the first 50 episodes or so of it, that first season, does make for a really great crash course intro to yugioh and its worlds/how dueling works, since it touches upon all the main types of summoning as part of its plot, and talks about how they work. You get to learn about them as the characters do, which is really cool! My main hesitance from suggesting it 100% as a starter series is that it gets. fucking Bonkers. like characters from the other series showing up aside there is just So Much Going On in Arc-V At Any Given Point. IT CAN BE A BIT OVERWHELMING. AND APPARENTLY ITS ENDING IS. NOT VERY GOOD. which might not be very fun for a first time ygo experience 😭BUT BY ALL MEANS GIVE IT A WHIRL IF YOU'RE INTERESTED. I'm having fun with it at least, hehehe.

OK HONESTLY. HONESTLY. I think if I have one good recommendation to take away from all of this: watch Zexal. Zexal is a fantastic starter yugioh, I can't recommend giving it a go enough. Yuma as a protagonist starts out dogshit at the game and gets better over the course of the series, and that really helps the viewer follow along with the card game and start to understand it at a nice pace without getting confused over all the finer points of it. It does a really nice job of explaining how things work imo! It's also just, a gorgeous show. It's one of the most beautiful cartoons ive ever seen art direction wise. It's so kind and so fun and goes hard as hell and the characters are so full of love and personality. AND THE WHOLE DUB IS FREE ON YOUTUBE. BTW. BONUS.

THIS ENDED UP SO LONG SORRY tl;dr you can pretty much start with whatever yugioh sounds most interesting to you personally as your first series and you won't be missing any critical lore! Also Zexal is one of the best, consistently good and really easy to pick up. I think if you could only ever watch one yugioh make it that one.

also this is a less a recommendation and more just "little things about watching yugioh to keep in mind" but: don't let the card game aspect intimidate ya too much! the show really does it's best to explain how cards work and keeps it engaging; it's a show geared towards kids so of course it tries to keep things pretty easy to follow along, game-wise (also do not listen to the 'The Duels Arent Important' Crowd they are Wrong. yugioh is a sports anime but the sport is a card game. that's the crux of its storytelling. and it's genuinely really cool!!!) And if you're interested in giving the game itself a whirl, Duel Links is pretty beginner friendly imo!

I HOPE THATS AT LEAST SOMEWHAT HELPFUL the trials and tribulations of recommending where to start with a franchise that boasts some 1000+ episodes across 8 series is mighty but that should give ya some sort of idea!! whatever you end up going with I hope you have a ton of fun! YUGIOHHHH

[t4tails]

hi ik ur a bit of a horror aficionado so i was wondering .. have u seen all the saw movies and if so do u think any past 1 are worth viewing or are they cash grabs. i watched the first one on principle and didnt think id like it but i did, tho im not necessarily scrambling to watch the next ones if theyre not as good as the first

im a fake saw fan ive only seen the first 3 and really only remember the first 2 😭 however from my time surrounded by bigger fans of the franchise i will say some general consensus thoughts that may help you decide: while the first is rather tame, the movies do get progressively gorier and earning of the "torture porn" moniker, while the other main thing that gets progressed through the franchise is jigsaw lore - so if youre interested in john kramer, his apprentices, his backstory, etc, and can stand and/or enjoy hardcore gore, the sequels may be your thing!

[ispyspookymansion]

ive only seen the first 3 saw movies, do you recommend watching the entire series?

this is a complex question. on one hand yes absolutely 100% on the other hand 1-3 are my beautiful girlfriends and yes they smoke weed. theyre the most solid and cohesive of the franchise and provide a satisfying overall narrative arc. BUT i really like the rest too, honestly! every movie (except maybe jigsaw) has some real shining moments as long as you dont go in expecting the same thoughtful balance of character and horror as the first trilogy. i will always recommend doing the whole franchise. plus then you can get hype for saw x with us, which will def need some later movie context even set in the early days of the franchise!

[iho6hi2]

1, 7, 14, 22 for ask game!! Sorry if you’ve already done any!

THANKS FOR ASKING <33

1. Favorite character and least favorite character?

- My favorite character (both in ie and of all time) is ENDOU!! Even when I was a kid, just seeing Endou step up to the plate and never back down even when others looked down on him and dismissed him really brought me so much joy and I always used to be the goalie whenever I played football because of him. He might be a traditional shounen main character, but he feels different and fresh — he cares about his friends and is ready to fight for what he believes is right, but knows when to step back and listen. They don't write MCs like these anymore.

- Least fav is that mf Garshield 💀 Everytime I see him pop up on the screen my skin boils, especially considering he's the one who corrupted Kageyama. Kageyama might be the titular villain of the franchise, but Garshield to me is genuinely the more I hate of the two.

7. What is your favorite ship?

- You already know but ENHIRO!!!! The moment I saw them interacting together I knew I would love them and then came the first encounter with Genesis in Kyoto and the whole "I'm in love with those eyes of yours, Endou" thing came up and I knew what my otp would be. Theyre so precious to me and the scene where Hiroto and Endou were saying their goodbyes after the Aliea fiasco and Endou told Hiroto that they will always be friends really warmed my heart. My sons 🤲🤲(holds them gently)

14. Favorite match of the entire franchise?

- The Inazuma Japan vs Little Gigant match :D No matter how many times I watch it, I always get goosebumps and feel emotional. It doesn't get any better than this and what makes it more powerful is the amount of time you've spent with all of the characters, who you've come to love up to this point! Lvl 5 was cooking 🍳🍳

22. Favorite intro and outro?

- BOKURA NO GOAL FOR INTRO AND SHINING POWER FOR OUTRO!!! Never fail to put me in a nostalgic mood

[moon-swag-tourney]

please tell me about your blorbos/myshows i have questions

these are all the series/characters i want to hear more about,,, don't fret if your blorbo isn't on here, some of them i just don't want spoilers for, and others are from things I'm already a fan of!

this is. kind of long bc im curious about a lot of things. but if you spot your guy in here feel free to send me an ask or respond to this!! also this is just in alphabetical order lmao

The main things I'm looking for are:

About the character

The premise of the series theyre in

Please assume this has spoilers, btw!

Aruru Otsuki - Revue Starlight

tbh I don't understand what kind of franchise revue starlight is so that's my first question. But I also see that a lot of people love her and i wanna know what's up with that!! i heard a lot about her experiencing potential found family trauma and that's always interesting to see

Bayonetta

this is kind of a weird one bc tbh bayonetta is rlly popular as is, and it's something i've been wanting to get into for awhile, so my main question is: is it inappropriate for minors or could i watch it and if so what's the best order/sequence to watch the games in??

Cure Moonlight / Yuri Tsukikaga - Heartcatch Precure

tbh im just gay on this one. but I saw a lot of love for her even when she had zero propaganda so i wanna know what makes her so beloved by the precure fans?? and tbh if the precure she's in isn't too long i'll probably watch it

Hisoka Mikage - A3!

I'm gonna let you guys on a secret. this dude is the reason I wanted to make this. he only had one submission but on top of being a long one the amnesia storyline just appeals so deeply to me please tell me how I can absorb info about him and/or watch canon events of him oh my god

Judith - Tales of Vesperia

i think i mentioned it in the ask about her but she's seem interesting!! and im always down for some sapphic storylines!! a lot of it is just that ive heard the tales of vesperia name but never really knew what it was, but off of the descriptions i do have i could enjoy it and wanna hear what exactly it's about?

Moonlight Cookie - Cookie Run

i've. tried to get into cookie run before. but i just couldn't bring myself to care. so i guess my question is can you guys please tell me about how she's a lesbian, as someone who has zero bias whatsoever (lying i am a lesbian) and also just what appeals to you about the story so i can maybe give it a second shot?

Sigma Klim - Zero Escape

listen im all for mastermind plots, even if I know the plottwist going into it. ive seen fanart of 999 from an artist i've admired for awhile and it looks like it could be interesting but i don't know what the series is about so please tell me if you don't mind,,

Sirius Gibson - Witch's Heart

im a sucker for games with different endings, and also a sucker for small indie games that have a lot of passion put into them. i'm not actually sure if that's what this, but that's what i assume it is, and it looks interesting enough to give a chance either way? but i don't

Ursula Callistis / Shining Chariot - Little Witch Academia

so uh. fun fact. one of my siblings actually tried to get me into little witch academia once! and then we never continued bc i guessed the plot twist of the teacher being shining chariot, but that was very early on before i'd really gotten attached to anyone. what im trying to say is if you can pitch the writing and/or characters of this that would be epic sldkjf

Vanitas of the Blue Moon - Vanitas no Carte

i honestly can't remember what appealed to me about em off the top of my head, but it mightve been that one post with the gifs going a bit more into the lore of the story? as of now im just a sucker for the aesthetic but i wanna hear more about the premise to see if its my kind of story sdljf

Yue / Yukito Tsukishiro - Card Captor Sakura

i actually have friends who are fans of ccs! well. friends of friends im not super close to but it still counts! i wanna hear more about them bc tbh i both think he could be interesting and im sure said friends would appreciate it :'D i also just don't know a lot about ccs premise though, if you'd like to offer that instead!

[a-deadly-serenade]

nocturne review, ramblings

obvs spoilers for the show down below.

so, i'm gonna be real with y'all; i dont think i would have watched this if not for one of my mutuals spilling the beans about alucard making an appearance 💀 s4 was ok and a fine conclusion to the og castlevania that started this animated franchise, but i dont think i will ever get over the absolute fumble and frankly, insulting way they wrapped up s3. even s4 had its cringe moments, like lenore getting a peaceful sendoff and carmilla getting to kill herself. but, i digress. i was going into nocturne with an already negative mindset and that may have made me more critical of the show. can u blame me though? lmao

i had seen a few clips and screenshots on twitter when they dropped the first 3 eps early and... they only helped solidify my decision to remain skeptical of the staff's writing capabilities. shit was already a little hazy and wishy-washy with their portrayal of isaac in s2 and how they treated hector thruought the show (not to mention the two asian-coded characters in s3). let's just say, the netflix castlevania team doesnt have the greatest track record when it comes to writing poc characters. so, when i saw screengrabs just outright stating that this show was going to deal with historically accurate racism? hm.

obvs as a white woman, i can only go so far on this criticism of the writing, but i dont really understand why they needed to include this? the comparisons and allegory of freedom from indentured servitude to the french revolution, was very weak and bare bones at best. you can keep the motif of the church existing on exploitation and blood of the people-- a whole cross section of the world was involved in the crusades, which is the priests & his entourages whole deal--but, why couldnt annette just be a witch? why did this "historical accuracy" need to get involved with the time period? bcuz the french revolution was name dropped? your main villain is a hungarian countess from the 16th century that made a pact with an EGYPTIAN goddess to become all powerful. like.

and also..... why the FUCK are vampires getting involved with the intercontinental slave trade bro??? 😭 theyre immortal beings that have seen the rise and fall of empires and can do whatever tf they want and go wherever tf they want and they choose to..... own a plantation? give af abut the economy? with selling goods??? okkkkk. also, this line of dialogue is insane to me:

you cant have a central theme of your story be standing up against the oppressors and then make said oppressors fantastical monsters. what kills me is that they've delved into the monstrosity of humanity in s1 and s2, and yet, when you bring in one of the most monstrous things humanity has ever done in its history for the sake of historical accuracy, you turn the very perpetrators into something mythical, and evil that the common folk had no chance of ever defeating even if they tried. its just overall, very messy and they certainly were not the creative team to try and tackle something like this.

speaking of, the writing, again, it definitely left something to be desired. there are moments that are good, don't get me wrong. episode 6 is a particular favorite of mine, shining through with its wonderful character moments b/w annette's soul searching with her ancestors, richter and juste's heart to heart, and olrox's confessions to mizrak. tera's sacrifice to ensure maria's safety is also really well done, as well as maria's final confrontation with her father in the church. however, these were fewer and farther between than i would have liked. a lot of the scenes that played out just fine, were ultimately sullied by this series' incessant need to insert swearing into every other sentence. its something that bothered me nearing the end of s4 especially, and i've just grown tired of it. it honestly takes me out of the scene to constantly hear fuck thrown out every 2 seconds for literally... no reason. i promise y'all can write meaningful and impactful dialogue without having your characters swear lmao

the writing itself is what unfortunately makes the first half of the show kind of drag a bit. the story doesn't really know what it wants to do. none of these new characters are really given time to breathe and be really fleshed out, bcuz every time things settle down and we're given the chance to learn more about their motivations, its like they're almost scared they'll lose your attention and any down time is immediately followed up with an intense action sequence. which, dont get me wrong, if theres one thing they dont disappoint with--its the action. but, i dont think that was ever up for debate to begin with. however, i believe that the characters really suffer bcuz of this. if you've never played the games, which, i believe most people tuning in to watch these series never have, you would have no idea who maria or richter are, and, i really don't think they were given enough time to be fleshed out. half the time, richter's dialogue just ends up being naive, walmart trevor belmont sarcastic one-liners and poor maria ping-pongs b/w the blandest, generic, wonderbread toutings of 'revolution' or calling richter a dick, wanker, or anything in b/w. episode 6, one of the better episodes as mentioned previously, is where we really get to see some actual growth around richter especially. there were moments where his trauma could have been further explored earlier, but they kind of got shoved to the wayside in favor of dragging out the interworking bw all the villains. which.....

if i'm gonna talk about the villains. my initial thoughts were that nocturne was going to be a one-and-done, standalone series with its own self contained story that would be wrapped up in these 8 episodes. i was wrong. and i really dont know how they're going to keep this story going. erzsebet is already a very weak and uninteresting and, honestly, confusing ? villain? for more than half of the series, she's talked about as the mysterious and all powerful Messiah and theyre gathering all these sacrifices for her to bring her back and create an army of night creatures. why is she considered powerful? bcause she made a pact with Sekhmet, an egyptian goddess. why did she do this? who knows! why does she have such a devoted cult of loyal followers when she hasnt done anything but kill a lot of people? again, who knows. why did maria's father think that a VAMPIRE would keep him in cahoots during this whole plan and not immediately fuck him over once she got what she wanted...? who fucking knows. olrox is the most interesting of the villains but even he isnt fully explored. the motivations are just not really explained very well and the buildup to erzsebet's arrival was so sudden that i literally thought i missed an entire episode. one minute, shes hiding in the shadows and the next ? waltzing in on a golden chariot and being heralded as the people's savior?? so damn messy and honestly? i really could not have cared less about her. which is insane to say, bcuz shes literally based off of a real countess who's case and life were a special interest of mine. i just... why an EGYPTIAN goddess?? shes from HUNGARY. were there no goddesses in europe to pull from she could have made a pact with? idk man it just makes no damn sense.

i am definitely more than a little peeved that this wasn't even the complete story, bcuz they did such a poor job establishing erzsebet as a villain, that i really dont give af what crazy shit they come up with to extend the story. you show her being a big badass in the very last episode. ok, you as an audience member, are immediately shown why dracula is so feared within the first 10 minutes of the first episode. and all of that wasnt even HIM fighting!!! the worst thing i've seen miss countess bathory do over here is summon a crazy orb and turn into a furry. like, where is the story going to go from here? they fight tera? save edouard and have a night creature alliance? make maria or alucard (yes, i'll get to him) summon the portal again? which btw... machine from HELL? im not even gonna touch that can of worms. somehow bring olrox back to.....? help kill bathory? idfk

and man...... i was hoping against hope that when i found out alucard was going to make an appearance, that it was just going to be some neat little cameo at the v end of the series after the main story had concluded. a little nod, a little treat to the audience that the next series would be encompassing the events of symphony of the night. maybe we'd even get a depiction of maria and richter when theyre older, i dont know, anything but throwing him in there as an overpowered hail mary to save the day. we couldnt just let these new characters figure it out and triumph in their own way? we had to drag him into this, now? i cant even tell you how disappointed i was when i saw that sword pierce drolta. ME! the resident alucard fan since i was like mf elementary school!!! ugh.

i think this is it for me and netflix castlevania lmao im a grumpy old man and miss when it was mainly fun easter eggs to the games, like how they brought in juste or how olrox turns into a big green monster and has an attack that sends flying skulls your way, or the REMIX of RICHTER'S THEME!!! but its just gotten so silly and the writing hasnt gotten any better..... from now on, im going to simply stick to the games that made me fall in love with this series in the first place & let this be the last time i ever feel the need to bitch about new 'netflixvania' content.