#watching castlevania nocturne has me thinking things

[guys-in-distress-database]

You ever just look at a character and think “he’d look so good bound, gagged and helpless?”

[bunnyluvx]

hii could you write castlevania nocturne alucard x fem!reader💗maybe the reader is a vampire or speaker/witch

enchant me, lover. ♡

featuring: adrian fahrenheit ţepeş / alucard x f! vampire, speaker & witch! reader.

summary: you're stargazing with your husband, and he doesn't get the chance to wish on a shooting star. you know just what will cheer him up.

warnings: minors and ageless blog dni regardless of content. i made the line dividers, so please don't use them. | support divider: @cafekitsune | wc: 2.3k | ao3

tags: fluff | hurt/comfort | domestic fluff | one-shot | stargazing | established marriage

a/n: i'll do you one better, friend, and combine ALL OF THEM!! >:D i'm trying to make my way through my requests, so there will be lots of castlevania stuff for awhile! this is set a couple of years before adrian left to track sekhmet. i hope that i did you justice, anon, and please enjoy, dear friends!!

date started: 7:08PM, february 16th, 2025. date finished: 8:45PM, february 25th, 2025.

The moon cloaks itself amidst the twilight to leave room for the stars to illuminate the sky. Thousands gather closely together to observe the night's events, and whisper gossip that the breeze tells them. A castle, tall enough to hold the heavens and older than most museums, resides within the forest. Its worn stone enjoys the scenery's tranquility, and the surrounding wildlife serves as a reminder of its reason for standing.

There are two occupants in this castle; The legendary Alucard, A.K.A Adrian Țepeș, and you, his lovely wife. You have been married for almost two-hundred years, and there is nothing that you would change about the life that you have built together. You both enjoy travel, so the adventures that you go on together are eternally endless. Adrian has solidified himself into your soul, and he is part of you that you never wish to do without. In moments where you felt like you couldn't go on, his face came to mind and you remembered just how strong you are.

Adrian knows that the connection that you share will last far beyond the relevance of your immortal lives. Not even at the chance of death will your love's resilience waver, for it is a force stronger than any enemy that you have vanquished together. If you were not in his life, then he would not laugh, smile, ponder or explore as much as he has in your company. Adrian Țepeș is not a man who fears much, but the idea that plagues his mind into restlessness is how much darker his world would be without you in it. Imagining a reality where he lives without your rants about all of the things that he wouldn't think twice about, paired with its angelic echo chanting off of the walls of your home would send him into madness, if not for the comfort of your body lying asleep by his side in your shared bed.

Every day that you spend together is a day that you both cherish, and today has felt particularly special. From dawn 'til dusk, you walked through the forest and discovered things that you hadn't noticed before; The different flowers blooming within the grass or unfamiliar streams, for instance. You have lived in this area for some time now, yet when journeying with Adrian, all sorts of new encounters appeared. It was very fulfilling to wander out with him to see what awaited you.

Now, your exciting day has come to a close, and both of you agreed that the best way to wind down before bed was to stargaze together. You stand on one of many bridges of the palace, your hands resting on the cold stone railing while your eyes sparkle just as brightly as the stars you stare at. Adrian stands not far behind you, a smile gracing his pale lips as he admires the great darkness above. Every once in awhile, he will look back at you and treasure the warmth that pools within his chest. Your joy while looking up at the stars is more beautiful than any twinkling light in the sky, and if he spent his night watching you like this instead, then he would be just as content.

Occasionally, you'll point out an exceptionally bright star, or a constellation, and Adrian's eyes will follow where you lead them. You'll tell about the story behind how the constellation was named, and anything else that comes to mind in relation. Being born into a group of Speakers has left a lot of room for you to acquire all sorts of knowledge about a variety of different subjects, and at one point in your life, you found yourself very fascinated with everything related to space. As a result, you did a lot of research on the subject so that you could share it with your family, and anyone crossing your path willing to listen.

Both of Adrian's parents were people of science, so he gathered quite the bounty of information himself, but he would always make an effort to listen to you. No matter how many times you repeat the same tales and facts, he will nod along and asks questions as if it's the first time, just to prompt your endless, passionate rambles. Gaining the opportunity to share your wisdom grants you an ethereal, excitable glow that he will gladly blind himself with, if it means that the last thing he ever sees is your smiling face.

A comforting quiet lingers in the air while you both gaze up at the stars, cherishing the night's delightful weather that provides you the freedom to enjoy this moment together. Sky's stillness suddenly dispels when a star swiftly descends from the shadows, and immediately, it catches Adrian's attention. A blissful, child-like smile graces his lips as he takes a step forward, then points above while announcing, "Look, a shooting star!"

Instantly, your head whips into the direction where Adrian's finger follows, and you see it. Fortunately, before it leaves your view, you are able to make a wish. Many would see it as silly for an over three-hundred year-old vampire to believe in wishing on stars, for you have lived long enough to know that not all myths are true. Regardless, you like the hopefulness that the idea brings; That someone, somewhere is listening, with the goal of helping you achieve your dreams.

Wherever this comet is going, it's in a hurry, for it's leaving as quickly as it came. You squeeze your eyes shut and hold your breath, thinking about what you want most in the world. When you open them, you release the wind trapped inside your throat at the realization that the shooting star has disappeared over the horizon. Disappointment dwells in your heart and on your shoulders briefly before you spin around to look at your husband, whose arm has lowered. His face illuminates with a gentle joy as he gazes into the distance, a display that lightens your disheartenment and replaces it with bliss.

Long ago, you swore that you would commit all of Adrian's smiles to memory, so you take this time to do just that. The radiant expression that he wears is one of wonder, faith and longing, as if he wishes to chase that star to the ends of the Earth. You think that he looks so adorable like this, and you would hate for him to stop, but you become curious as to if he made a wish too, so you ask him, "Did you make a wish, Adrian?"

Blinking out of his awestruck state, golden eyes meet yours. You are so glad that during all of this time, the color of Adrian's eyes never changed. You think that it gives him individuality, and they remind you that through every hardship, you will always have someone at your side to endure it with. Sunshine dims into a soft sadness, which rawly clenches at your heart. Adrian's eyes glance to the ground, a frown on his face while he admits, "Oh, no. I didn't get the chance to."

The vessel which keeps you standing feels like it is being brutally mauled through at this response. Now, Adrian gazes out into the sky with furrowed brows, and your own face falls as his does. While he is skeptical about the idea of wishing on stars, he does find it fun to do sometimes. It didn't even come to mind when he saw it passing by, and seeing just how disappointed he is hurts more than any wound you could ever receive.

You use your quick-thinking skills to come up with something to cheer the dhampir up, when it hits you. You have been studying human magics for one-hundred years, and while you are quite skilled, you do not practice enough to fully achieve your true potential. Typically, you only use your magic on occasion when you're bored to make fun shapes, or when you're in combat with no other choice, but this is just as vital- no, even more-so. This is more dire than any foe that you have vanquished, more monstrous than any beast you have slain; Your sweet husband is sad, and as his wife, you want to make him feel better!

So, you cup your palms together and hold them out in front of you. Adrian notices the shift of your body, and turns to watch as you close your eyes. You focus on your desire, and think about the way that a star feels. You feel a tickling sensation spring its way up your back, as if stardust brushes your skin. Slipping into a deep state of concentration, you reflect on your early studies of magic when a yellow spark erupts into your hands. Adrian watches with fascination while the spark begins to brighten; It begins to take shape, until a thin, golden diamond glows in your grasp.

Adrian is completely blown away by your demonstration, his mouth hung open and eyes gawking widely at what you've just created. You open your eyes and smile at the dumbfounded look on your husband's face, giggling. "Make a wish, Adrian."

Realistically, you both know that this isn't what a star looks like, but that doesn't matter to your man. What matters to him is that it's yours, and it's perfect. For a moment, Adrian is silent, too bewildered by your manifestation to summon his voice. He knows that you are a very talented magician, and he has seen your capabilities at their finest. The fact that you have forged something so precious just to make him happy deeply touches Adrian. A smile adorns the man's face once more, eyes holding a love that is reserved only for you. He reaches a hand over to the side of your face to allow gloved fingers to graze your skin while he leans forward, and presses a gentle kiss to your lips.

You watch as he melts before you, your smile growing wider when seeing that he's happy again. Unexpectedly, he gives you a kiss, and this makes you feel even better. Adrian's lips have a very dastardly power to make you weak; One brush of them, and you feel like you could faint on the spot. His lips are soft, and he tastes of the most captivating spell. You would have dropped the illusion and wrapped your arms around him to properly relay your passion, if you didn't know how meaningful this was to him. Heat crawls its way into your cheeks, and your shoulders have hiked up from surprise, but they slowly lower themselves as you allow your body to relax. You return his kiss and tilt your head slightly to enhance the experience for both of you, and you stand like this for a moment to cherish how perfectly your lips mold together.

Albeit regrettably, Adrian is the one to back away. The sun of his eyes shines brightly with admiration, and the smile on his lips is tender. "I don't need to," He murmurs sweetly.

Seeing this look on the dhampir's face is everything that you could want out of tonight. You have shared a wonderful day together, but this has been the best part of it by far. A crooked grin curls its way your lips, and you give him a knowing look when you decide to tease him, "If you say it's because you have everything you could wish for right here, I'm going to hit you."

Adrian's posture straightens as he throws his head back to laugh. Light blooms within your chest at the sound, one that you would listen to every hour for all of your days if given the chance. Tilting his head upright, he meets your eyes and responds, "Alright, I hear you." Then, he leans over to examine the star in your hands more closely, asking, "Could we save it?" Your husband aligns himself upright again, reuniting your gaze to his while adding, "For my next wish."

You smile at the man, head slightly tilted while fondly gazing at him. Any request of his is one you will gladly satisfy, so you tell him, "I think I can do that."

The look on your face causes Adrian to soften, his shoulders noticeably relaxing a bit more at the sight. "Good." He then turns so that his side faces you, and offers an arm for you to take. "Shall we head to bed now?"

You squeeze your eyes shut and press your lips together harshly, charging all of your energy into the little splendor in your hands before hopping up. With your little bounce, the star shoots up into the sky, stardust hot on its trail, before it lowers down to settle itself floating slightly above you and Adrian. The dhampir turns around to recognize what you've done, that same stupefied expression on his face. You see it and laugh, an arm coming over your stomach as you take a step back and point at him. You gather yourself shortly after, and brush away any lingering dust on your clothes before you turn to face where Adrian is to take his arm. "Let's go."

It's only when you make contact with him that your husband comes out of his shock, his face relaxing when seeing yours and a smile decorating his lips. "As you wish."

With that, you head into the castle to begin your nightly routine. The star you created twirls around you both the entire way, and you laugh at mystical friend's enthusiasm. Love has brought you two a long way, and you guarantee that it will take you even farther. In every life, you know that Adrian would do anything to make you happy, and he knows that you would do the same.

@BUNNYLUVX ,, all rights reserved. do not copy/plagiarize any of my works or submit it into ai. any and all support is appreciated! <3

[fallloverfic]

Finished the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne and loved it! Spoilers below.

Angry boi PROTEC HIS MAN!!!! Just his running to Mizrak, so worried. Even interrupted his revenge. I just love that his serpent form came back T-T And multiple times!!!

The fight scenes were so good!!! Just so many amazing ones!

ALSO WHAT DOES ADRIAN MEAN NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU SAVED MY LIFE???? I AM-!!!!

(So happy they know each other and I think it's hilarious my fic could potentially be a prequel now alkdjalkdjaljdalj)

Everyone cute. Annette and Richter were just awww. Glad Edouard and Annette get to stay together, and Edouard can go home and get his bass player :3

Also so many gorgeous Adrian bits. Truly. Him coming out of the river was so mmmm. Also loved all the magic he got to use XD And the music was fun!

Also loved all the Egyptian stuff. The soul count was a little... (I was like why are you saying just 2 or 3, there's more than that...?), but apparently the # of parts has changed over time (it's not just 4 or 5) and it's you know, vampires during the French Revolution, so sure, whatever. The trip to Duat was fun! And Ammit's form was pretty cool.

Poor Tera. Bye Emmanuel, no one misses you.

Loved that we got some dragon fighting. Also that the dragon didn't die. Was worried. Though I will say, Sekhmet punching it was kind of funny aldkjlaj I felt sort of bad when Juste, Richter, and Maria were all boosting its breath like, "That can't be too comfortable for the dragon..."

Just think it's funny we have animated Robespierre joining forces with the son of Dracula to defend Paris from a crazy Hungarian serial killer noble who believes she's the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian goddess lol

The return of Drolta was really fun. I was sad she was in so relatively little of season 1. This was really great.

For historical things, I appreciate that they referenced how folks in France sold and bought food to watch executions. I also appreciate the reference to the trend of European obsession with eating mummies.

I will be thinking about Mizrox's future. I feel bad I'm mostly happy Olrox survived the season lol I like Mizrak just fine, and I like that Olrox likes him, but my priority is Olrox, not Mizrak, sorry lol Clearly they have some things to work out XD Should be fun (for someone, I hope). Someone else pointed out they never talked about the animal/soul stuff, and it was kind of just... Mizrak getting over it (or side-stepping it) and not apologizing to Olrox about it. And Olrox just... kind of accepting that the guy he's in love with is like this. I think it's funny that after having written You reluctant demon back in 2023, where they do have a conversation about it, I completely forgot it as a thing I wanted to happen lol Cause in my mind the matter is settled. Like the show, quite frankly, feels like neat fanfiction to me at this point (that's not what it is, but that's how my brain works, it's part of why I wasn't as anxious about season 2 releasing as I was for season 3 of the first series releasing). It's great in all the things it does, amazing stuff I never could have thought of, which is far better than a lot of the stuff I did in my fic (and those fight scenes, dang). But yeah, I do agree, they should have talked about it. And they don't. And it's... mm...

Another thing is that Mizrak maybe still has some racism to unpack. There's that line Olrox has about when his people were massacred by the Spanish, and Olrox says, "And our terrifying gods could do nothing to save us." And Mizrak replies, "Perhaps your gods were the problem," and it's like what the fuck Mizrak lol I don't know if it's part of his struggles with his own faith, which is very obviously happening, how if a god exists, they're allowing all this stuff to happen, that Emmanual failed so hard, and believing in a god - which is his issue - is causing so much of his issues (it's making him believe his affection for Olrox is false, that Olrox doesn't have a soul, and/or it's not saving him from what he believes is a wrong attraction, idk). Or, from a semi-logical standpoint, that Olrox's people were attacked because they weren't Christian, and that the Spanish wouldn't have attacked Olrox's people if they were Christian. Or simply that "well it's your fault for not being Christian", I have no idea. It's a weird moment. We have really not moved past the "animal" conversation all that much. Olrox is very, very forgiving. And I am way more forgiving because I forgot I resolved most of this in my fic over a year ago lol I don't know, relationships are messy, I enjoyed what I saw of them. Olrox running to Mizrak's side was a lot and I loved it. The way Olrox is like, "I thought you wanted to know" killed me.

ANYWAY though... it was a good season. Really, I liked it.

[chibicharlie95]

Random Late Evening Thoughts

Olrox and Mizrak

Spoilers for Castlevania Nocturn S2

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Soooo I think I may start doing some media analysis and thoughts here so please bare with me as I manage my thoughts and rambles.

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So I really love Castlevania as a series both the OG and the sequel series in Nocturn. The series has a tendency to address really hard-hitting topics in a way that is approachable, but doesn't skimp out on the beautiful animation or action sequences, and it is just a top-tier show for me personally.

That said Castlevania nocturne has a specific reoccurring theme throughout as IT addresses morality and the impacts of immortality on that morality.

In season 2 it really focuses on a lot of the religious aspects of this concept happening within a time period of intensive discourse and strife about those very same things. In season 2 there is a large focus on characters who are facing a crisis of morality.

You have one character who as their life is revealed is shown to be a true faithful to their deity, who gets lost in their feelings of obligation and personal loss, that they lose sight of the mission their deity had imparted to them. Another character faces the difficult task of dealing with personal devastation and how that impacts their relationships with every single character that they interact with be that positively or negatively. This character is one who from the beginning of the series seems to embody everything that is good and righteous and innocent, so seeing the show take that same innocence and just utterly devastate it to the point that that character faces an intensive moral crisis was just a super interesting plot point.

Which all of this is to say, bringing myself to the actual point of this ramble, I think my favorite character in this second season and as far as my personal relatability is probably Mizrak. My reason for this is actually really really simple, I am a person who grew up within a highly religious atmosphere, and so I'm able to relate to a lot of his understandings and struggles within himself and with the situations that he is inevitably faced with. He is a character who is embodying the sense of moral uprightness or like Christian uprightness, or at least the perception of that from the view of the Christian person. Mizrak sees the corruption and that which can be perceived as evil throughout the story, but he feels as though it is his duty to his faith to uphold this so-called mission from who he believes to be a higher powered servant of God. And throughout the show we watch a deterioration of that trust in not only his faith community, but in himself, his fellow man, and eventually his God.

A big character point for him is his sexuality, which is again something that I really understand and relate to coming from a highly conservative religious environment. The second season hammers home in a very delicate way the fear that he has balancing his desire or love with his overwhelming sense of personal conviction. On the one hand he is supposed to represent this all for God very faithful, almost militant aspect of Christianity, but on the same token his so called "sins" are very human in nature. In the first season we watch him struggle with feelings of lust and an initial trepidation with his faith community, and the second season we see that completely fall apart.

By the halfway point of the second season Mizrak understands at least in his mind that he is in love with a vampire, but even more than that he's in love with a man. Which is something that from his conservative militant Christian upbringing, would be something so against god, against the natural order of things, against everything that he believes he stands for, that it messes with his head. And we witness him do everything he can to avoid thinking about it, to try to run away from his truth, and even to fearfully accept it.

At the second season's end, I found his story to be incredibly poignant and sad. Because on the one hand you have him facing this terrible battle, and being stricken down, only to be saved by his friends and the love of his life. But he is very clearly dying, and so there is an option put to him that he can either die or can continue on as a vampire. The problem that we see and that isn't solved in the last few minutes of the show, is the fallout of that decision. I say fallout, because Mizrak though he admits he is terrified of death, because he knows that he is a sinner according to his understanding of God and sin - and he understands that as a result of the choices that he's made and the love that he feels, that he is probably going to go to hell. He freely admits that fear, but he never asks for Olrox to change him verbally. And until the offering of an alternate end is given, he seems to be ready to accept that fear of death.

There is an argument to be made that he kind of just lets him do it, but the final scenes again have a multitude of interpretations. One could read his expression and body language as very angry, because the choice was taken from him. But on the same token you could read it as him just being a new vampire and having a craving for blood. We're not really given enough to make a final judgment call on that. But as someone who has only in the last several years started to deconstruct the very deeply rooted things I was taught, I'm leaning towards him being very angry. Because while he is terribly afraid of death, there is an assurity that he has in that death that his God exists, and that he lived his life serving that God in a way that he believed was just. By becoming a vampire, which is the antithesis of everything that he has been raised to believe in, he is being met with a very confronting set of options about the realities in the world. Mizrak is a person who sees the things that happen around him, and still tries to adhere to a singular idea of how the universe works. So when that is all called into question because of not only his heart, situation with the other characters, and lastly his untimely end, he is faced with a rather alarming dilemma. Either everything I know is correct and I die in agony, or everything I know is false and there is an anger there in having spent so long and so much of himself, including his life, in believing and practicing that.

I don't think we're going to get another season of the show, because unfortunately ratings are just not high enough for the series, but I really wish that they would and address the other character situations, and really let us see the ultimate impact of this whole situation with these two characters. Because there is something incredibly sad about their love. Not that it could not end well, but their entire relationship has been based on one of mistrust, and in transforming Mizrak, Olrox despite his love, has put a very steep barrier between them.

It's just going to show that the kindest gestures, the most heartfelt feelings that we have, can be incredibly detrimental to other people if they are not presented at the right time and the right place. Do I think that they will ultimately end up together even if the series is not ever completed, I think so. At least with a hopeful mind they would, that they would be able to overcome everything that they have faced, and the trials and mistrust that has formed their relationship - that perhaps with time they would overcome those things and maybe lose each other only to find each other at the right place at the right time again.

But also there's a very compelling narrative of hate growing between the two of them due to this misplaced idea of love when it was the wrong time and given in the wrong way. And as Castlevania leans more towards dark than hope, there is something to be said that this would likely be the narrative path they would choose.

But I'm going to sit in my corner and ship them all I want. LOL

That was my 30 minute rant using talk to text. So if there are typos, errors, or sentences that don't make sense please forgive them.

[apocalypse-boogie]

CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE SHIT THAT I LIKED WHILE WATCHING THROUGH S2 (SPOILERS)

- this is technically my live commentary as I was watching each episode, though there are some edits that I made after my first watch and some general commentary sprinkled throughout.

- there’s also some things I didn’t like in here, but there’s less of those opinions overall

- also featuring my heavy Drolta bias.

No vampire on this show seems to be able to handle the loss of a loved one normally (except for maybe Olrox, but that’s debatable considering his relationship with Mizrak; and I mean this from a Mizrak lashes out at Olrox a lot and an Olrox fell for him very hard in a short amount of time perspective, not from the viewpoint of me personally disliking Mizrak). They’re either carrying around their spouse’s rotted dismembered head or carrying their entire corpse around; none of these people can let go. Erzsebet had every right not to though, don’t get me wrong; I too would’ve been too devastated to go on without Drolta.

Love the horror strings taking over the background music when Drolta is finished being brought back to “life” but hasn’t yet come out of the forgemaster machine.

Yes I absolutely did rewatch her walking out of the machine and her scene right after multiple times.

Drolta’s got inches, just the curls on her corpse were long as hell. I need my hair like that in the next five years🤞🏾.

I love Drolta’s new design about as much as her old one, except for the wings. They're fine enough, their roundness just mildly vexes me. And I do mean mildly.

Drolta backstory!

Human Drolta! Her being dedicated enough to go to war for Sekhmet. I liked being able to see the circumstances that broke Drolta, that led her away from the path of a healer and corrupted her compassion and ceaseless dedication into bloodthirsty hate and misled obsession.

The first six minutes alone of “Angel of Death” S2E2, period.

The sequence where Drolta takes flight over the water and tests out her new body in front of Erzsebet. Erzsebet clapping for her, feeding off her elation because that’s her WIFE (EDIT: little does Erzsebet know she as a person is barely a passing fad to Drolta though).

Drolta saying “it is delightful” in response to feeling the sun for the first time without pain in centuries. The little smile on her face. That was cute, I love her.

I actually like Richter more this season. Not that I disliked him in season one though.

Him and Annette buzzing uncertainly around each other is cute too.

Whatever weird ass beef Drolta and Olrox have going on now (it was there in season one too, but now the tension feels heightened).

EDIT: And the fact that it’s Drolta who continues to question Olrox and poke holes in his stories instead of Erzsebet (who calls him “my dragon” and who acts like he’s more loyal than he is) really makes me think that Erzsebet would’ve ended up back confined if Drolta wasn’t such a good backbone for her. How much she predominantly only cares about killing and bringing about suffering for little reason other than she can and thinks she has a right to blinds her — and made her pretty un-intimidating to me as a result. She’s a big physical threat but it’s like she’s got nothing beyond that desire to hurt ruling her and it makes her sloppy and unimpressive whenever she tries to be intimidating (especially whenever Drolta’s not there).

The shot of Drolta rising up before Olrox to proclaim that hunting the French military during the day would be more fun than waiting to do it at night.

The entirety of Drolta tearing apart the soldiers and clearly basking in it. She is serving absolute looks while going on a bloodthirsty demenated binge and I love her all the more for it. Why shouldn’t she be allowed to tear off the top of a man’s skull if she wants to, yk?

Olrox stopping Mizrak from trying to fight Drolta essentially one on one was sweet (even if I don’t necessarily like Mizrak).

The continued stressing of the fact that Drolta is more of an abomination, even more unnatural than before, since being resurrected and going through the machine.

THEORY (I’m currently on “Angel of Death” S2Ep2 as I write this bit): I think Drolta knows more than she’s letting on about resurrecting Sekhmet and that she’s planning to bring her back to life in the only way she can, with Erzsebet’s body. I think possession and full bodily transformation is the endgame, and I don’t think Erzsebet’s figured that out yet. It’s highly possible that she loves Drolta more than Drolta even cares for her as a person; Drolta only cares for her body insofar as it’s capabilities to successfully contain a goddess’s soul. Though this may be my general distaste for Erzsebet (and need for Drolta to be better than giving the soul of an Egyptian goddess to the palest white woman she could find) poking its head out so idk.

OH MY GOD DROLTA'S SWORD PROOF?!?!?!??!!!!!

I mean she was proven to be bullet proof, yeah, but that has less oomph than her brushing off a sword attack.

Ahhhhh, and she’s fucking huge compared to humans!!! How delightful!! *giggles uncontrollably for a few seconds*

Olrox liking Mizrak enough to hold him while he cries for the people Drolta is slaughtering en mass is good shit. Him holding on to Olrox for dear life as he breaks down whilst he’s soothed as much as he can be is also good shit.

Drolta literally squeezing the life out of the revolutionary army’s captain and popping her like a stress toy. Go off Queen.

“For every suffering, a wisdom is gained.” *end of episode; cut to black* OMG?!!!

Drolta’s voice lines being performed so well every time? Glorious, end of discussion.

Why is Olrox so invested in Mizrak? Every interaction he’s had with that man has ended with Olrox upset. Like, he’s literally not fucking worth it.

Drolta just letting Alucard lead her to Sekhmet’s mummy. Why work hard, you know? Especially when she’s clearly been carrying Erzsebet’s entire plan.

Drolta saying “I was born three times. The second time a vampire, and the third…a new and glorious thing,” and then pressing a kiss to the forehead of the newest female night creature. Like, bitch, I want that to be me.

Oh yeah, Edouard is going to start an uprising. Erzsebet and Drolta Them are fucked. When that army turns on them that’s gonna be the end.

I know Olrox is mad about that brand, and shit, I’m mad for him. That would’ve drove me insane. I wouldn’t want to cede that much of myself to Erzsebet either (especially since she’s not even actually Sekhmet yet). But just in general it sucks that he was branded both against his will by Drolta and for a cause that he doesn’t believe in or want to follow.

Alright Maria, embrace your darkness! And then mellow out a bit, that step is crucial here. She’s got the spirit though, and that wolf is beautiful.

Maria going “who are you” completely baffled when Juste shows up and attacks Tera is killing me. I’m laughing too hard, I had to pause it for a minute.

Tera’s control is immaculate for such a new vampire.

This is probably bad, but good for Maria. A coming of rage might be good for her. Sometimes you just want to kill your shitty harmfully delusional father; no, that wasn’t kind of cathartic for me at all /s.

Drolta being the one to turn Erzsebet. Truly all the power that woman ever gained after being confined was because of Drolta. That’s…something.

You know what? As Drolta started to fight Alucard I immediately realized that I really do not want to see Drolta die again. I know she probably will, all things considered, but still.

I understand that Tera left because she personally sees that she’s a bad influence on Maria, and she wants to protect her daughter from that side of herself until she has her own darker impulses under control. But how tf was she so sure that abandoning her child wouldn’t’ve pushed Maria right over the edge? Honestly I’ve never liked when parents do shit like run away from their kids “for their own good” unless they’re literally turning into uncontrollable monsters; like, you know what’ll really go great with this trauma sandwich? A nice tall glass of trauma lemonade with a special shot of abandonment issues mixed in! 🙄

Not Olrox offering to take that man with him. Omg. I bet you Olrox will come back and risk his life for Mizrak, and maybe even be killed doing it. At least let him be the one to kill Drolta (I have to accept her inevitable death atp, and at least let it be at the hands of the man she branded so that he can go out with a win and so that they can have a good ass fight beforehand).

EDIT: Okay, so I lost that bet but I’m super okay with that. And like, I get the Mizrox relationship I guess, but it’s just not for me.

I think the nicest thing Mizrak ever said to Olrox without immediately following his words up by calling Olrox a disgusting soulless monster was after Olrox said he was leaving for good. Don’t switch up now bitch, I just hope by the time someone else comes around you're done with this ‘lashing out, existential crisis’ shit.

The spirits overwhelming Annette was a nice touch, but I can tell the spirit world stuff will make me uncomfortable so I’m going to stop watching as it is now night.

Richter being so attuned to Annette whenever she’s in distress (even when it’s silent) and rushing to make sure she’s okay every time. He’s not always correct when he makes an assumption about why she might be disturbed when he’s reassuring her, but that’s mostly just because he doesn’t have all the information.

Annette being attuned to Richter enough to pinpoint when he’s feeling insecure and then assuage his feelings. Annette constantly using reason to defuse any possible tension between Alucard and Richter, and being just as fully prepared to call Richter out when he screws up as she is to come to his defense.

Them coming to mutually understand and respect both of their circumstances and the trauma they experienced growing up.

“Mephisto” is unsettling imo, but Olrox’s interaction with him was interesting. Olrox just has such a calm demeanor even when he’s technically outmatched or upset, and it’s very engaging.

Drolta kicking Alucard into the river. Just her kicking with her hoofs in general, she does it a lot throughout the season and I love it every time. The move is just such a finisher that I can’t help but find it appealing. It’s a competence thing, I really can’t help myself.

ABOVE THIS TEXT IS MY COMMENTARY FOR EPISODES 1-5 & BELOW IT IS EPISODES 6-8

Annette, girl, every bit of your story is riveting! Like, there’s legitimately so much here and that feels crazy. I love it! I shall cherish this fictional black woman being allowed to have negative traits (s1) without being demonized for it and then being given actual time and dedication in her personal story and the show’s overall story.

Just— ALL OF EPISODE SIX. The whole thing’s going on the list.

Alucard teasing Richter about his affections for Annette.

Richter moving the cushioning into place for Annette to sit on when she stopped hovering.

Fuck, is Sekhmet going to be the one to kill Drolta? I hope it brings her peace before she dies at least (even if she is a villian, yes).

Fuck, Olrox hasn’t left yet. Sorry, that’s more commentary than anything but I am legitimately scared for what he’s going to do.

Alright, magical girl transformation! Not, Sekhmet being ready to come for Erzsebet. I’m not going to argue.

Hold on is episode seven the first time Edouard's face hands lift? It’s not right? Am I tripping?

Edouard's singing in episode seven. It’s probably the most effective his spontaneous singing has been, and adds to the scene and themes with a lot of purpose.

Drolta looking like a spider at 05:30 in episode seven when she decides to fight Alucard.

Maria falling right into Richter as she lands and her and him hugging.

Omg, Maria tamed the dragon thing. Beautiful. I knew all she needed after the fall was to mellow back out and the power up speaks for itself.

Drolta’s nails turning into a fucking SWORD! EDIT: SWORDS!!???!!!

The insanity of Drolta’s laughing after Alucard cuts her “living” hair. I’m in pain for her, and she’s laughing that shit off?

Richter making an ice claw to keep from blowing away during his fight with Erzsebet (who’s got the two souls of Sekhmet by now).

Drolta headbutting Alucard.

OLROX!!!! Holy shit! He came back, and he’s helping Alucard!

Awwww, Richter using his ice magic to cool Annette (and thus Sekhmet’s third soul) down after realizing that she was literally burning up after collapsing. King.

I’ll never undermine the merits of getting to see Erzsebet essentially curb stomped by the majority of the gang.

Shit, Mizrak just got hit badly and I think he’s dying. Now are they gonna let him die or is Olrox going to turn him? I don’t like his ass, but if him dying will upset Olrox too much then I suppose I’ll deal without being too pissy.

Annette’s fight directly correlating to Sekhmet’s third soul’s ability to retrieve the rest of her souls.

Maria, Juste, and Richter team up. That’s all.

Richter rushing to take the brunt of Erzsebet’s attack on Annette.

Oh shit, Mizrak isn’t dead! Good for him.

Erzsebet getting tore the fuck up!

Sekhmet full scale telling Erzsebet she wasn’t ever shit. And then Drolta telling her the same thing before killing Erzsebet is crazy. No hate fr, but no love lost either (not even a little).

Drolta’s little monologue before she kills Erzsebet. A beautiful performance with beautiful animation.

Oh boy, not Drolta losing her shit too. Goddamnit. This isn’t going to end well at all. Fuck!

Third Drolta form though! That’s exciting, now she’s larger and a cross between her vampire form and her night creature form (with obvious feline features). And this time she’s been called an obscenity! And by Sekhmet’s third soul no less. She’s like a Pokémon kind of.

How is she still so pretty!!!!???!!!!!!😍😍😍 *squeals*

Drolta kicking Erzsebet. Hehehe.

Anyway, she only just got any amount of Sekhmet in her and can already pause Richter and Alucard mid strike and grow back the hand Richter so smartly cut off (it was a smart move, I’m not being sarcastic). All I’m saying is that she might be unhinged, and she might need to get her ass beat, but she’s still more powerful than Erzsebet despite having had far less time with any power that wasn’t mortal in some manner. Once again: Queen.

“Unclean thing”. Yet another insult lobbed onto Drolta. I’m just collecting them atp.

I like Sekhmet and Drolta having a conversation. Drolta crying does pain me though.

Richter letting Annette go 😭🙃. Him respecting what Annette agreed to (or did she agree?).

Drolta’s scream of anguish and rage and who knows what else. Fucking amazing. Elarica Johnson did not miss once this whole season (EDIT: and she didn’t last season either, don’t fret). Also it’s crazy that I actually recognize Drolta’s VA from the one episode of P-Valley I ever watched.

Drolta being able to stab Alucard with his sword was nice. I don’t know why she didn’t just cut and run though, I guess she’d been unmoored enough to not care anymore and just be lashing out but idk. Don’t know if I like that character beat for her, but yeah.

Jesus, they split my woman in half. Fucking hell.

Olrox came back for that last hit on Drolta. I don’t know why, but he did. He deserved that one though, I can’t be mad.

Alucard and Juste’s conversation. Uncle Alucard!

Annette’s fight in the “spirit world” was good, but I didn’t really comment about it because it didn’t really have any different beats to highlight.

I’m going to be honest, as much as I like these characters I know for a fact my interest in the show going forward will wane without Drolta, but the journeys of the other characters are still nice to see.

OKAY so I didn’t call exactly how Drolta would turn against Erzsebet, but that’s alright.

Well Mizrak is a vampire now. So long as Olrox is happy I guess. *big sigh* More angst to come though, so that’s (maybe) fun.

EDIT: And no hate to the Mizrox shippers, all of this shit is my opinion, I haven’t seriously cared about policing what other people ship in a decade.

Apparently “Mephisto” and Tera are in cahoots. I don’t know what’s going on there. Also, “Mephisto’s” shadow form occasionally having teeth is wild imagery.

Overall as a Drolta fan I’m pretty satisfied.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why the Pacing in Castlevania feels slow - but actually isn't

Okay, based on my long, long write up from yesterday, where I went into the theory of pacing narrative media, I want to talk quickly about one thing. Because I love Castlevania, and I think - outside of season 4 - the pacing in this show is pretty spot on. Mind you, the pacing in Nocturne is a bit better than in the original show, however, the reason that a lot of people feel that Nocturne is much faster paced than the original four seasons.

But the reason why people have this feeling is... actually kinda funny.

It is the editing. I say it right now: Castlevania is edited in a way that is untypical of how visual media is edited. And to this day, I am not fully certain who made the call. Was it Warren Ellis or was it one of the directors? I am not sure. I am assuming it was Ellis, given that the directors are the same in Nocturne - and the editing is very different in Nocturne - but that is just me assuming things.

So, what do I mean by this?

It is fairly easy: Usually TV shows have episodes with an A plot and a B plot. At times there is a C-plot too. And those two plots are interspliced. Meaning, you usually get a scene in A, then a scene in B, back to A, back to B, then maybe a bit of C, then back to A, then B, C again, A, B... You get the idea. This is usually something that is still around because it was needed in more episodic storytelling, but even in serial storytelling these days the idea remains. And as such, the creators try to engage the audience a bit more, by switching between the different plotlines. There is more change, hence the pacing subjectively feels faster.

Castlevania does not do this. Castlevania goes about the different plotlines more in the way a book is going to do. Basically, a large chunk of plotline A will play out, and then a large chunk of plotline B. If there is a third bit for the episode, then also a large chunk of this.

So, in each episode of Castlevania, it usually goes like this: We first spend about 8-10 minutes with one or two characters. And then 8-10 minutes with one or two other characters. And eventually at some point maybe 4-6 minuets with someone else.

The one episode that does this differently is season 3 episode 9. Yes, the rape episode. Where the intersplicing of the scenes clearly tries to communicate something - which is a lot more clearer here, of course, because the show normally does not do this.

When we go into actual analysis however, Castlevania covers about as many plot beats as most other streaming series do, per episode. It just feels slower, as it feels as if the scenes last longer - just because we linger with the characters. Mind you, if you ask me, the pacing is actually still too fast, because of streaming. As I said before: Ye olden days, when shows got 25 episodes per season were better. In a nice world, what we got as Castlevania, would have gotten at least like 50-55 episodes, with some good old fillers in there, that would allow us just to get to know the characters a bit more.

There is just two issues here.

For once... I do not know how else to put this, but: Yeah, people are tiktok brained too much these days. Basically a lot of folks feel bored with an episode lingering with one thing for almost 10 minutes.

And also... look, streaming and the "binging model" has really, really messed with how people consume media and how they expect pacing to go. Because in general pacing these days is too fast. And because of this, the audience is given way less chance to linger with the characters. And that is not a good thing.

And yeah, I will admit, this is topic that starts to annoy me. My two favorite movies from last year (outside of Wicked) were Heretic and Conclave, both of which I watched in December. And reading through the reviews of both movies, I saw so many people complaining about how supposedly slow the pacing in either movie was.

And... Okay, I will openly admit: The first half of Heretic is slow. Like, it about 40 minutes of people just talking around a table, before the "horror" aspect of the movie starts. However, I will argue this works very well, because it builds up properly.

And meanwhile Conclave? Frankly, this was one of the fastest paced movies I saw last year. Just there was no action. But the plot? The plot was in constant movement. Like, there was an important plot development literally every few minutes for the entire two hours. It is just, that of course most of this happens through "people talking".

But guess what: In a lot of media "people talking" will move the plot forward. Not everything needs to be action with fast editing.

To come back to Castlevania: The one season I will argue was not ideally paced is season 4. Because it is fairly clear that Ellis at least hoped to have a few more episodes. I talked before about how neither Sypha, nor Hector properly get to finish out their respective character arcs. Sypha's arc is set up in season 3, and then just gets abandoned in season 4. And Hector's arc mainly plays out off screen. We never get to see him going from: "I am miserable and I was used and abused" to "Okay, I need to do something about this". We get the information that his happened at some point in the 6 week time skip between the ending of season 3 and the beginning of season 4. But we never get shown it. Same with Carmilla's descent into madness and how exactly Striga and Morana got to the point they are in episode 4. Other than that, season 4 is not particularly rushed. Basically it is just that the time skip skips about stuff, that would have been nice to have. But then within season 4? The pacing is fairly okay. Not quite as well as especially season 2 and 3 (mostly because it is fairly uneven), but pretty alright.

But overall? Castlevania is fairly well-paced. Just in terms of how many plot and character beats happening per episode. It is just presented in a way, how you would normally present the story in a book or maybe even a comic - rather than in the way that is way more common for visual media. And because of it, it feels slower.

And in the end I will say one thing: As an autistic person, I actually gotta say, I do prefer the way those four seasons present the story - with the long chunks, rather than interspliced. It gives my autistic brain a lot more time to focus and get into each scenario we get per episode, rather than having to switch back and forth between different scenarios.

Ironically it does remind me a lot of early 2000s Japanese horror media (including anime), that often was edited in a similar way. Though I do have no idea if this was somehow intended or not. But in general the pacing does remind me a lot of Ayakashi, Mononoke and their peers.

[comicaurora]

I watched Castlevania: Nocturne the otger day and liked it a lot less than you seemed to, so I want to hear a more detailed opinion if you have one. Am I in the wrong to think it was more shounen and less "deep" in some way?

I'd say it's definitely more shounen. Introducing the "Richter can't do magic because unresolved trauma" thing right from the jump meant a Believing In Yourself powerup was pretty much inevitable, but I liked the execution of that scene enough that I didn't mind much.

It doesn't quite have the backbone of the original Castlevania, which was grounded so strongly in Dracula's apocalyptic grief - a motivation the audience is directed to find deeply understandable from minute one - that it gave the characters a solid thematic core to play off of. This let the writing stay pretty tight by letting Trevor serve as a foiling mirror for Dracula in their mutual disgust with the failures of human kindness, Sypha for Lisa in their altruistic use of their knowledge and their vilification for "witchcraft", and Alucard in the middle torn between worlds.

Nocturne is more loose and character-driven, but it still has a core theme - the argument over "the natural order" and how that plays into a fear of change from those currently on top. However, Richter doesn't really have a horse in that race, since his motivation starts and ends at Kill Vampires while everyone around him is more complex, trying to overthrow the aristocracy and free the enslaved and such. I think this makes Richter feel a little less important than Trevor was, narratively, because he sort of stands apart from the core philosophical debate at play. It took me a few episodes to get what his deal was and start caring about his self-actualization, and I think he's definitely got further to go. Possibly Alucard's presence in season 2 will give him more to play off of.

I think Nocturne has several independently interesting villains instead of one really good villain, which is a complaint I also saw about Castlevania season 4 - I liked Death just fine, but he really didn't work for everyone, and the secondary villains like Saint Germaine were much more interesting and complex. Nocturne does, however, pull off something Castlevania didn't as much, which is most of the characters acting on their own internal consistent motivation without cleanly falling into the "good guy" or "bad guy" box, causing them to slide into and out of conflicts and alliances depending on the circumstances.

I feel like Bathory is kind of a weak core villain with almost no human-level motivations or ideas beyond General Villainy, and the extent of her development being a darkest hour shonen villain powerup/frieza transformation doesn't help much, which is why I'm kind of holding out hope that they just bite the bullet and bring back Dracula. He's the nemesis from the Castlevania games, and while they gave him and Lisa a happy ending in Castlevania season 4, I don't think they need to keep him on the bench forever. It's been 300 years, Lisa is almost certainly long dead again and Dracula doesn't need to be full Mad With Vengeance Burn Down The World to still be a credible problem in need of a little Belmonting.

I had fun with season 1 of Nocturne with the understanding that the first four-episode "season" of Castlevania wasn't representative of the final shape of the story either. Sypha's character, for instance, was very flat before she and the gang went on their season 2 bonding adventure, not much more than some banter and infodumps. I think Nocturne did solid setup of the cast and the theme they'll be unpacking, and it has lots of room to explore these characters in interesting ways once they energy-ball-tennis Bathory out of the way first.

[avaelangel]

I absolutely fucking love Castlevania: Nocturne.

It's fun, it's bloody, lots of anction and lot's of soul, like in the original.

I love every single character. I love having my boy back, even though he looks younger after 300 something years. Love my new ungreatul wanker. Sypha would have been proud of him and Maria. Annette and Edouard? Are you kidding me? If the show was about them, I would cry every episode. Turns out, I don't hate opera that much.

But let's agree, Erzebet Bathory doesn't measure up to Dracula. (Who's Dracula?) And her motivation also really doesn't. Carmilla held the same broad goal as Dracula did: Revenge. Compared to that, power about power for vampires isn't as fun. To put it nicely, Bathory lore and Sechmet lore seem so far from each other.

And what's up with Drolta? Don't mind me, she's fucking gorgeous. But she's also an eyesore. She goes from a very glorified owner of a goth club to a Baldur's gate succubus type character. Yeah, she has that dress, but it is also not...anything time appropiate. Glad she's dead. Very curious to see what Tera would look like as Erzebet's apprentice or whatever.

The whole Abbot thing is fine. I'm glad he's suffered. Watching Mizrak's world crumble with Abbot's integrity was very intresting. I hope Mizrak doesn't die. I can't handle thinking about loneliness Olrox endures.

So, yeah. I would forever detest Netflix if this one doesn't move on to the second season and many more after. As if i'm in love with Netflix, but still.

[ruiniel]

Hidden

Fandom: Castlevania series (2017-2021)

Pairing: Alucard x fem!reader

Rating: 🔞

Count: 1.3k

Tags & Warnings: rating changed, sexual intimacy, banter

Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV

V. Wilderness

Your destination for the night is close to that very same lake. The burning colors of sunset dwindle to cold twilight, and the water surface is a mirror, reflecting the tall dark silhouettes of evergreens. You stand on the shore, turning to follow Adrian when he calls.

Not far, there’s a ragged stone formation overlooking the water, the face of a cliff with a set of stairs carved into it. Intrigued, you climb. This place is not steep, but still high enough to offer a delectable view of the lake and the forest around it, hailing on forever across the lands.

“My parents would take this route sometimes, in seasons when the weather allows.”

“Oh,” you turn, following until you step up from the hewn stairway and onto a flat platform. 

“We’re here.”

There is—or used to be—the mouth of a cave. Two bolted wooden doors have been built to fit it. Adrian produces a key, unlocks them and draws them wide open. The entrance is not very high as you both must stoop to enter. Inside, you see a cot built against the wall. The ground is dry. Rectangular recesses are carved into the rock, used to shelf things. Adrian prepares and lights a lamp lying in a corner, then places it by the doors. Veins of red and pink slither across the stone, visible in the playful light. 

“... this is… unexpected…” you say, wide-eyed. 

“I hoped you’d like it,” Adrian says, retrieving a blanket from his bag and folding it over the cot. He sits, looking at you with a warming smile.

You make your way next to him, and for a while watch in silence as more stars appear in the sky. 

“I’ll gather some firewood,” he says, nuzzling you briefly, “then finally going for that bath.”

You’d leaned with your head against his shoulder, making yourself much too comfortable. “Bathing?! Now?”

He chuckles, looking so very careless and unwound. It appears this change has done you both a world of good… despite the complications you refuse to dwell on now.

“You forget I’m nocturnal as well, and the cold affects me differently than it does you, my dear.”

My dear. He said the last part slowly, stressing each word with deliberate care, as though tasting it and the truth it conveys. Your body heat must’ve spiked, and you ‘hmph’ into him to hide your fluster. “Yes, yes, lord your fantastic abilities over me, why don’t you.” You nose at his shoulder, loath to be deprived of the comfort. So much changed, and in so little time, it’s laughable.

Adrian tilts your chin up, smiles with a show of fang. You like it when he does that; you like it more than you want to admit. “The water’s not cold, if you’re considering joining. Do be careful descending the steps, though.”

He’s already rising and heading down by the time you think of an answer. 

The flames spit merrily at the mouth of the cave as you sit cross-legged watching the stars spilled over the skies. For lack of another occupation, you’ve taken the noble task of trying to catch a glimpse of Adrian in that lake, and failing. 

Waiting here, alone, thinking of him, becomes pressing after a while—and… he is taking his time, isn’t he? You stop yourself at the last thought: this didn’t sound quite like you. You’ve never been a possessive person, nor do you fear for his safety. 

Then, what is it? 

Whatever it is, there’s only one way to tame it, which is why soon you’re stepping off the last stone stair, legs bare, toes digging in the soft grass. It soothes your weary feet after a day’s journey, and this place has a charm close to those enchanted groves one hears about in stories told by the fireplace. 

Standing on the lake shore, you listen. Your voice is hushed as you call for him. “Adrian?” 

No answer at first, but a ripple here and there tells of the direction to take. You call his name again, this time louder.

“Here.” His voice is low, smooth as morning light over sleepy skin. You still can’t see much in this darkness. “Decided to try the water?��

“Something like that,” you mutter, and after a second’s hesitation, draw your clothing and then your undershift over your head. It’s long since you’ve bathed in nature. Besides, you’re both adults in your own right, and this likely won’t be an issue for him. “I’m not getting my shift wet.”

A beat of silence. “I understand.” He sounds like he’s smiling; it sends your heartbeat racing.

Well, that takes care of that. “Speak to me… so I know where to come.” 

“You’re doing well,” Adrian says, a humorous inflection to his words. “Very well.”

He was right, the water is lukewarm rather than outright cold, and the season allows for this indulgence. You wade over to him until a larger hand reaches for yours—but his movement stops there. “I’m not dressed, either.”

“Oh.” You understand now—he’s asking permission to… “All right. Can you… will you hold me?”

His fingers interlace with yours and without hesitation Adrian brings you in. His naked arms wind around you. Feeling without seeing has its own gains, you discover, as his hands glide down your back in the water, as your breasts press against his warm chest.

“Is this actually happening…?”

“I’m here, and so are you.”

You might’ve heard a soft sigh as he kisses the top of your head. Your fingers glide over the tension in his biceps, down his back. Before, on lonely nights, you’d think of him this way, and what it would be like, but this is… “Can I say something?” 

“Please, do.” His voice has a strangled quality to it, but he’s remarkable in his… stillness. 

“There’s… there’s so much of you.” You hide your face against him as laughter shakes his chest. 

“Really?”

“Not that I can tell much of a difference, I haven't ever...”

He's still giggling, the bastard? “ ... do you think that will pose a problem?” 

“N-no... I don’t know? I mean…” You’ve begun tilting your hips left and right, wondering where this boldness is coming from. 

Within, it comes from within. 

“... did you say something?” 

“... No.” He sounds less sure of himself than before, but he’s also holding you tighter as you move.

It’s incredibly intoxicating: him, hard and tense beneath his skin as he embraces you with only the slightest pressure of his fingers on your hips; you reach down, guiding him between your thighs and squeezing them together.

His chest hitches against yours, and a warm gasp brushes your forehead; he tilts your chin up. “As much as I… enjoy this, I…”

Indeed… hearing and feeling but not seeing has its own charm.

He doesn’t go on, choosing a deep, open-mouthed kiss instead. You renounce any pretense at standing, instead using him as your support, your thighs pressed together and grasping his cock tighter as it twitches. His hands dig harder into the flesh of your naked hips, holding you pressed up against him. It’s not much, but the decisive way he does so breaks you at the seams all the same. He ends the kiss with a soft bite on your upper lip.

“... what did you want to say?” The incompleteness of this, prolonging the wait just a little more, feels exquisite.

“Come back up with me,” he says, or pleads? His voice, so familiar, is both tender and rough. He sounds like a man who’s silently abandoned reason as he lifts you easily by the waist, leading your legs to wrap around him. 

“Finally,” you hide your face against his neck.

“Yes… finally,” he says, and to you, that means so many things. You know he’s smiling as he carries you towards your refuge.

TBC

[ifishouldvanish]

Some Olrox Analysis & Headcanons

Have you seen this man? Now you have! 🥰

I have a lot of thoughts about Olrox Castlevania Nocturne and I'm dumping them here.

DISCLAIMER: We know so little about Olrox's past and I am but a humble stan looking at an expressionist painting and projecting my own deranged nonsense onto it. I'm fully prepared for 90% of this to get jossed in season 2, but for now I'm just letting the worms in my brain wiggle and send me beautiful visions of what could be 🥹

1. Olrox Was a Commoner and Does Not Respect Hierarchies

I've seen people point to his manner of speech and dress as evidence that he must come from a privileged background, but I think he displays too much contempt for the wealthy/nobility to have been one himself. I think these things are just symbols of power he has learned to use to his advantage.

Of course, there's everyone's favorite quote: "I prefer my blood blue." But he also demonstrates virtually no respect for authority or symbols/institutions of power in general:

He refuses the escort sent by the marquis when he arrives in France and insists on staying at the inn because he likes to "keep his ear to the ground". He would rather be around 'the people' than accept anything from the wealthy.

When Drolta is reminiscing about her glory days as a priestess, there's really not any nostalgia or sentimentality when he interrupts and says "and now those temples are half-buried in dust."

For as good as he is at presenting himself as a Gentleman of Status, he cannot bring himself to even pretend to enjoy himself at Erzsebet's lil debutante ball at the chateau.

When Erzsebet insists she is a goddess, his response is "Of course you are, sweetie 🙂"

His whole speech to Mizrak in the morning-after scene is basically a deconstruction of what power means, and how it is only a perceived vs tangible thing, a temporary position vs an immutable one:

"There are petty demon princelings you can haggle with and cheat. There are demon charlatans whose faces you can laugh in, spit in. There are demons who once were gods... And those who still are."

Foucault? In MY anime adaptation of a vampire video game?? It's more likely than u think 🤔

(continued under the cut bc this got long as hell)

2. Olrox was an Adult when Cortés Arrived

(I don't have a relevant screenshot for this point, so here's Olrox being pretty for no reason)

I've seen it float around some places that if we adhere to historical timelines to a 'T', it would make most sense for him to have been a child, but I'm of the opinion that it's more useful to take what the text itself gives us and fill the gaps with bits and pieces of the actual history where it's convenient. At the end of the day, this is a work of fiction/fantasy. So what does the text tell us?

He lived a long time as human and vampire

As of 1783, he'd been a vampire for approximately 250 years

Now, if we want to take this 250 figure literally, that would put the year of his turning at 1533. But I think we can give ourselves +/-15 years leeway because 250 is just the kind of rounded, even number one would use in natural speech in place of "267" or some shit like that. It's just how believable dialogue is written. So what lies in this +/-15 year window? The invasion by the Spanish, 1519-1521.

Now, he tells Mizrak: "Long ago, when I was still human, I watched men wade ashore from ships..."

I think this is another case of how important dialogue is. Because if he was a boy at the time, this line would likely have been written as "Long ago, when I was just a boy..." or something like "One of my earliest memories is of..." instead. "Still human" implies not only was he a human, but that he had been human for quite some time already. That the events he's describing fall in the stretch of time leading up to "still human" no longer being true.

tl;dr: the Spanish arrival and him becoming a vampire happened within a few years of each other, and if turned vampires stop aging, then he would have had to have been an adult at the time.

3. Olrox Became A Vampire Willingly

I assume that vampirism is something that was introduced to the Mexica by the Spanish in the same way it was introduced to Haiti by the French, in Annette's case.

However, rather than vampires creating spawn left and right, the persistent lore (in the show at least) is that to be turned is to be accepted into the sort of elite in-group of vampire society. (Carmilla questioning why Lisa was never turned, the Count never turning slaves, etc). Vampires feed on humans, they don't view them as potential spawn to have in thrall or whatever.

The Spanish weren't going around giving natives The Bite, because vampirism is power. So what I think, is that Olrox recognized that power, and decided to take it for himself. Rather than being the passive 'recipient' of the 'gift' of vampirism, he pried it from some Spanish vampire's cold, undead hands. (i.e., he drank their blood)

Do I have any proof of this? No. It's just what the worms in my brain are telling me 🤷 But!!

Do I think it would be a sexy little inversion of the way Erzsebet drank a god's blood to obtain her power? Yes.

Do I think it would be thematically very appropriate for a morally grey character who seems to have a very... Interesting relationship with power (individual power vs institutional powers, the subverting of power, the weaponization of symbols of power, etc)?? Oh absolutely fuck yes!!1!

[sickos.jpg]

4. Olrox Was a Priest, But Not Like That.

Priesthood in the Mexica empire was largely dominated by the nobility, whose children would be sent to the calmecec to learn how to read and write, speak the noble dialect, perform rituals, etc. But if the circumstances were right, the children of commoners could also get in!

Olrox says he's never been much of a believer, but he's highly intelligent and incredibly good at reading people. Even if he was never a man of faith, the priesthood was still a powerful institution where one could climb the ranks and earn influence over the nobility. No doubt someone as sharp and charismatic as Olrox would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to get a good education and maybe try to undermine the system from within/play a bit of political games while he was at it.

Also... Olrox's weapon of choice is the dagger. Obviously a dagger is an appropriate weapon for a character who's kind of rogue-ish, but also consider: Aztec warriors used a lot of weapons in combat: clubs, spears, arrows, axes—but an obsidian dagger? That's something that would have been used by a priest during rituals.

5. Olrox is a Bitch™ Who Knows Just What to Say to Get Under People's Skin

A common myth is that the Mexica welcomed Cortés at first because they thought he was Quetzalcoatl. But this is a misreading of the way Mexica social conventions/the noble dialect worked, which was kinda ~passive aggressive in a way, such that the more loftily and overly politely you spoke with someone, the more you were actually telling them to go eat shit and die. I think Olrox's dialogue demonstrates this beautifully in the scene where he meets Erzsebet:

"Taker of Souls, Vampire Lioness, She Who Mauls, The Messiah of--" / "Yes, charmed to meet you 😒"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you." / "Flattered. For a god to have heard of me. 🥱"

"I am a goddess!" / "...Of course 🙂"

His words are receptive, respectful, docile, even... but his tone and delivery are completely the opposite. Compare this with the way he speaks with Richter and (in later interactions) Mizrak—which is more informal, open, confrontational. He's more direct with them because he actually respects them.

As far as reading and getting under people's skin with pinpoint precision, I present the following interactions:

When he catches the marquis' severed head in the catacombs, he reads him (and potentially also Drolta) like a book: "This one? He was just an opportunist, following the messiah because she's powerful. But there are those who love her [looks to Drolta]. So I'm told."

When Drolta gives him a verbal slap on the wrist for feeding on the wealthy, he says "mY Ap0LoGiEs, I didn't realize how invested you are in keeping the mortals happy." - To which Drolta goes on to grumble about how their alliance with some of the mortals disgusts her.

When Erzsebet is waxing poetic about how everyone will see her beauty and worship her, he has the balls to—without missing a beat—say "PaRd0n mEe, but you mean to do this through an alliance with a man who will never worship you? 🫢" right to her fcuuckin face mgod I love him so much (this is the point where she whips out the big guns and yells "I am a goddess!!" while threateningly flashing her orb of darkness btw. Like she did NOT like that)

6. Olrox Has an 'Eye for an Eye' View of Justice

A prevalent theme in Aztec religion is the idea that like... ain't nothin' in this world for free. Sacrifices to the gods weren't symbolic gestures of devotion, but an act of paying the gods back for providing humanity with the means to survive.

The idea that everything has a price pervades the dialogue he has with Mizrak in the morning-after scene:

"What was the cost? Who pays it? Just him? Or all of you? Will you? Which demon will claim his price when all this is done?"

And it's also present in the very first scene where we are introduced to Olrox:

"You see, your mama took someone from me I loved, just as much as you loved her. So, she had to die."

What's interesting about this scene is also how... calm he is the whole time—before the fight, after the fight. Yes, he's motivated by the murder of the man he loved, but he brings zero of that passion to this confrontation. It's just an execution, something inevitable that must be done.

That he's fine with confronting a terrified Richter immediately afterwards to explain what just happened (and is completely unapologetic about it) is also telling. It suggests that Olrox views this kind of thing as just 'the way of the world'—a hard truth that Richter will be better off for having learned sooner rather than later.

I think this also helps explain why, years later, Olrox seems to treat Richter with a little more.... Familiarity than we might consider appropriate. He approaches Richter in the catacombs like he's just an old acquaintance, as though Richter should have no reason to be terrified of him. When Drolta mentions the incident later, he seems kind of lightly amused by it. Then, when he drops off the book, he's visibly/audibly frustrated that Richter starts gearing up for a fight. To Olrox, the whole "killed your mom" thing is water under the bridge, nothing personal.

7. Olrox is a Vampire of Prominence in The New World

Obviously, he has to be kind of a big deal to give a Belmont a run for their money. But let's go deeper into the IMPLICATIONS!!

"In 250 years, do you know how many vampire hunters have promised to slice me in two?"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you."

"You will be her guide into America."

He's enough of a big deal that countless hunters have promised to kill him. Enough of a big deal that Erzsebet has not only heard of him, but sees him as a valuable ally who knows enough about America to guide her as she builds her empire across it.

Olrox wasn't just a powerful vampire who got entangled with the politics of colonial Massachusetts and happened to cross paths with a Belmont. He's presumably had a hand in matters across the continent. Erzsebet refers to the colonists as "American upstarts" but for her, this is a conflict between humans vs vampires. The American colonists aren't allies or even rivals to her—because they're not vampires. They're just more pesky humans to be dealt with. (Also??? 'Protestant Vampires' as a concept is just hilarious to me, I'm so sorry)

So.

What the worms in my brain are telling me is—And this is Big!! This is a Steaming Hot Take!!!

(...seriously, tin foil hat tier headcanon incoming)

Olrox has established a network of indigenous vampires who are resisting the colonial threat. He's been turning them (or at least select individuals who are into it), and thereby redistributing the power he took from the Spanish colonizers to wield against the British colonizers.

(Look I have 0.01% faith in this actually being canon or anything. I just think it would be cool as fuck.)

Anyway.

Thanks for coming 2 my Ted talk or whatever. 😘

[veilder]

My thoughts on Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2

Welllllllllllllll! I just watched all of this pretty much in one go and it was good! Quite good. But it still doesn't really measure up to the first show, lol. Look out, (very long) review incoming.

I have to say, the fight scenes really looked spectacular, especially in this season. For the most part, anyway. The animation through the whole show was a little bit hit or miss for me tbh, and definitely not as smooth as the first show, but it was passible at least in the jank bits. And when it looked good, it looked very good! In particular, I though the backgrounds and scenery almost always looked spectacular, they were very very pretty. The character designs too were very cool, though… I have to say, the main villain, Erzebet, looked very… strange. Not the biggest fan of that design tbh, but whatever. (Also still not sure why Alucard has white hair now instead of his canonical blond, that was never actually explained. I guess I'll just have to keep with my own headcanon about it, lol, but whatever, he's still very pretty. XD)

The story was… weird, lol. Although, it wasn't really atypical of a regular Castlevania game tbh, what with the French Revolution and Egyptian deities being the basis of the whole plot, omg. XD But it still was just oddly setup and paced imo, and had a lot of really… weird exchanges and back and forths between characters? Like, some of this definitely could've been more streamlined I think, particularly all the stuff with the Abbot and whatnot. And as much as I loved Olrox and Mizrak, basically all their scenes leading up to the finale were just Mizrak wanting to rush into something idiotic, Olrox saving his ass, and then Mizrak calling him a monster or saying he doesn't know how to love, lol. It did get a little repetitive after a few times, though I get they were trying to up the tension for the finale. And honestly, they remain my favorite part of the whole show, so I'm happy to give them a bit more leeway. (We love the toxic gays around here, lol.)

Shoutout to the composers for another great soundtrack, btw? I really loved how they used actual classical pieces a lot as sort of backdrop music for the aristocratic parties and, while I won't say I necessarily loved all of Edouard's opera pieces, there's no doubt that the singer is very very talented. Though, a particular standoud there was definitely that Creole war chant he sang during the big fight at the end. Loved how the beat of the music fit the action happening on screen. I also loved the one game OST they remixed for the show (I think it was only the one...), it went super hard! And also... I really loved the lullaby Annette's mother sang to her and how it's used as a leitmotif through the whole show when she's using her powers. Idk if that's an actual song or if it was written for the show, but it was lovely and the simple melody gets stuck in my head all the time.

Coming back around to the main cast, I really did like them all I think. Richter was, I think, a very interesting take on a Belmont "hero" and I really loved how he reacted to his trauma and overcame it as the show went on. He really came into his own by the end, it was amazing to see. And it was really cool to see how he used his magic once he regained it, love how it was implemented with his fighting style.

Maria was amazing, I loved her so much?! Her personality was great, she was so opinionated and stubborn and willing to do whatever she needed to to see something through. And I love her magic casting style, that was awesome! (And she gets bonus points for finally having the balls to kill that damn abbot, even if it did kind of send her down a mini dark arc, oof.)

Annette!!! Holy shit, I love Annette?!?! Like, her entire backstory was so fraught and visceral and I was so gd invested? And her magic and how it tied in to old African religions was one of the coolest things in either show imo, I absolutely loved how they explored all of that?! It's not something you see highlighted in Western media very much and it's a damn shame because everything about her absolutely fascinated me. And I'm so glad she actually survived at the end, even if I'm still not quite sure how. XD

Of course, Alucard is still the coolest dude around and he's only gotten cooler in 300 years, lol. I love how he presented himself in Nocturne though, how you could really feel the weight of him being alive for so long. Not that he was the most bombastic character in the first show or anything, but he's somehow even more mellow now, lol. Or rather... he's still. Still like he makes no unnecessary moves, like he's learned how to conserve all his energy for when he needs it. I love how he's integrated even more of his vampiric powers into his blade arts, too, and how he seems even more fluid with his fighting now than he used to. (And don't even get me started on when he went all blood rage mode and started teleporting and flinging around giant fireballs like his dad, omgggggggggg! I geeked out so hard when that happened, I literally shouted at the screen! XD) Only thing I wish we had more of was him getting to bond with Richter or Maria or the rest of the team. There was so little dialogue between them and very few moments to just settle. And the one really great bit of dialogue he and Richter had (the one where Alucard basically says he thinks of the Belmont's as family?!), Richter fuckin fell asleep for, omggggggg! He certainly didn't have the same dynamic with this crew as he did with Trevor and Sypha, but I guess 300 years alone will do that to a guy. But yeah, still love him, nothing will change that. XD

Now. Olrox. Whooooooooooooo boy, where do I even start?! Bruh, in a show where I really liked all the characters, there is something to be said for him still easily turning out to be my favorite? Because there was no contest. Like... What a cool fuckin character, right? The very first scene introduces him as this horrible villain who kills Richter's mother right in front of him. But then you see more and more of him as the story progresses, see him scheming, see him forming a relationship with Mizrak, see him helping Richter and co. to try and defeat Erzebet? You find out that okay, maybe he actually... had a legitimate reason for killing Julia Belmont? That he's an Aztec who witnessed the Europeans slaughter his people. That maybe he's a far more sympathetic character than you could've conceived at the start? But it's not just that he's interesting in concept, it's that he has a legitimate character arc over the story? What starts off as merely scheming against an adversary leads to him developing feelings for Mizrak. When he sees that defeating Erzebet is out of the question and decides to run, he asks him to join him. And... when he finds that he can't bear to actually abandon the man he won't admit he's in love with, he makes a heroic turn and decides to fight, coming in at a critical moment to turn the tide of the battle. It was... an exceptional character arc that, all the while, still managed to leave him available as an antagonist for later. Like, his story with Mizrak runs parallel to his story with Richter, where he is a villain who needs to be destroyed, and they manage to retain both in the end?! It's really quite something, I love that he's still not really a good person at all when things wrap up. But gdi, he has his lover with him and they're together now and I'm really actually rooting for them a whole lot. Sorry Richter, I know he killed your mom, but... He's just a much more complex character than you, RIP. 😅

And of course, shoutouts to Tera and Juste and Edourd for also being very interesting and good characters, but the last person I'd like to really shout out in the cast is... Drolta. Because oh my fucking God, what a character?! Like, holy hell, she was really something else, wow! She was horrendously evil and enjoyed the suffering she caused so much and I was just riveted, omg. Like, gd, evil vampire Cardi B sure does have a fuckin presence on stage, holy shit. I loved every moment she was on screen, which I get might be a hot take, lol, but she was just so delightfully, wantonly evil and she was the real standout villain in the show for me. And like... the way season 2 elaborated on her character and her backstory just made it better imo? The way they crafted her origin so that her turn to evil was understandable was really inspired and like... at the very end, when Sekhmet is calling her out for desecrating her temple and housing her soul in a monster, you can see just how much that breaks what's left of her mind. The way she was crying out that she thought this was what her goddess wanted was really affecting, like a child hoping not to be punished. I really liked all the character work they put into her over both seasons and I love how her whole character turned out. (I also liked all her little outfits, too, and she is, of course, hot as hell, but that's besides the point. XD) Really great villain imo, I loved her.

Honestly, I really enjoyed Nocturne! I know some Castlevania fans were disappointed by it or whatever, but I'm not one of them. And, while it definitely didn't measure up to the first show for me, it was still good in it's own right! I think I'd rate it a solid 6/10. The story was weird and the pacing was off and some decisions just baffled me, but there was definitely enough good in it that I'll watch it again. In fact, I rewatched season 1 in preparation for today and I enjoyed it just as much the second go around! Now, the only thing I'm left wondering is if there will be a season 3 going forward. Because they definitely left some hanging threads there they could tug on if they wanted. And I'd like to see more of this cast, too. (Especially if they go in a SotN direction for it eventually, omg. 👀) So yeah, those are my thoughts. Adieu!

[wittyvitale]

It's a Very Castlevania Christmas (A Fluffy, Modern-Day Castlevania Nocturne AU)

Summary: Christmas Eve has arrived in the Belmont household. 10-year-old Richter’s best friend, Annette, is spending the holiday with his family. He’s both excited and nervous, and wants to make sure that Annette feels welcome. Will he succeed? A fluffy, modern-day AU filled with traditional Christmas activities and fuzzy feelings. Featuring a cameo from Santa Claus(?)!

Author's Note: I wrote this in December 2024. I think I have almost all of my Nocturne fics cross-posted on Tumblr now. Enjoy!

***

Christmas Eve had finally arrived at the Belmont home. Julia Belmont’s house was fully decorated for Christmas, the tree trimmed and the halls thoroughly decked. Light Christmas music played in the background and the smell of Christmas cookies emanated from the kitchen.

But the sounds and sights of Christmas barely interested 10-year-old Richter Belmont. He was standing in the foyer, laser-focused on his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of brown slacks. A blue silk tie was in his hand, and he tried to tie it under his shirt collar. He was having trouble putting it on, and he frowned as he fiddled with the garment.

Julia walked into the foyer and saw her son working so hard to tie his tie. It was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. She smiled and put a hand over her mouth.

“Ohhh look at my handsome little man!” Julia crooned as she walked behind him. “Do you need help with your tie, darling?”

Richter sighed, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t get it on by himself. “Yes, please.”

Julia knelt down and draped the tie over Richter’s neck. She expertly tied it within seconds. “There we are, how does that feel? Not too tight, is it?”

“It feels comfortable, thanks, mum.” Richter said gratefully as he looked back in the mirror. He smoothed his hair back, checking to see if anything was out of place.

“Someone’s putting a lot of effort into his appearance tonight,” Julia smiled slyly at Richter. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Annette spending Christmas Eve with us, would it?”

Richter turned beet red. “N-no! It’s just that we’re having company over! You’re supposed to look nice for company, aren’t you?”

Julia lightly massaged his shoulders and chuckled. “Yes, that’s true. But don’t worry so much; you look perfect.” Julia kissed Richter’s cheek and he smiled a little.

“Soooo, when are Annette and her mum supposed to get here again?” Richter asked, trying not to sound too excited.

“Annette’s mum just gave me a call. They should be here in about 20 minutes. Why don’t you go to the kitchen and let your Auntie Tera know.”

Richter nodded. “No problem, I’ll tell her right now!” And with that, Richter made his way into the kitchen.

***

The kitchen was filled with the smell of sugar and spices. The aroma was so intoxicating that Richter temporarily forgot the anxiety he was feeling just moments before. He saw his Auntie Tera and cousin Maria busy making Christmas cookies. Maria was standing on a stool so she could reach the counter.

“Hi Auntie Tera! Hi Maria!” Richter exclaimed. “Mum wanted me to tell you that Annette and her mum are going to be here in 20 minutes!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Tera responded. “They’ll be here when the cookies come out of the oven!”

“That’s the best time to eat Christmas cookies!” Maria chimed in, rolling pin in her hands. She cocked her head to the side and looked at her mother. “What do I do now, mum?”

Tera turned to her daughter and put her hands over her daughter’s hands.

“So you take that rolling pin and push down really hard to roll out the dough.” Tera patiently instructed as she showed Maria the technique. “OK, now you try on your own.” Tera removed her hands and watched as Maria used all of her strength to roll out the dough. After a few rolls, the dough looked nice and even. “Very good! Now we can use the cookie cutters!”

Maria beamed with pride. She loved helping her mama in the kitchen. She slid off of the stool and looked at the cookie cutters on the kitchen table.

“Hmmm, I’ll make a reindeer, a gingerbread man, a snowman… Richter, what are your favorite Christmas cookie shapes?” Maria asked.

Richter walked over to the table and sifted through the cookie cutters. “I like the Christmas tree and the holly.”

Maria grabbed the indicated cookie cutters and carried them to the counter. She pressed the reindeer cookie cutter into the dough first.

“Would you like to join us, Richter?” Tera asked.

“Thank you, Auntie Tera, but not right now. I just got my outfit exactly the way I want it, and I don’t want to risk it getting dirty.”

“Oh, of course. You look very handsome by the way.”

“T-thank you.” Richter replied bashfully.

Maria’s eyes widened in realization. “Wait,” she started, tone of voice becoming cheekier. “Is that why you chose the Christmas tree and holly cookie cutters? Because they’re green and Annette’s favorite color is green?”

Richter was completely taken off-guard by Maria’s line of questioning. “Green is a classic Christmas color!” he sputtered. “And I think Christmas trees and holly are pretty!”

“Just like you think Annette is pretty!” Maria replied in a mischievous, singsong tone.

“Mariaaaaaa!” Richter groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“All right, Maria, that’s enough teasing Richter,” Tera said, trying to redirect Maria’s attention. “Keep cutting out the cookies, we’ll need a lot to feed our guests tonight.”

Giving Maria such an important task was enough to quell her teasing and refocus on pressing the cookie cutters into the dough.

At that moment, Richter heard the doorbell ring. “They’re here early!” he exclaimed, quickly checking his hair on a silver platter on the kitchen table. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you both later!”

And with that, Richter made his way out of the kitchen and back into the living room.

***

“Esther! I’m so glad you and Annette were able to make it!” Julia greeted warmly as she hugged Esther at the door.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Julia!” Esther responded, returning the hug. “Thank you so much for inviting us. Annette’s been excited to come all day, it’s all she’s talked about!” Annette looked a little embarrassed.

Julia chuckled kindly. “Yes, same with Richter. He’s been looking forward to seeing Annette all day.” Luckily Richter wasn’t in earshot or else he would have been mortified.

Richter arrived in the living room and saw Annette and her mother. The reality of the situation fully set in. Annette, his best friend, was at his house for the very first time. They only interacted at school and karate class, so this was a big deal. Richter wanted to do his best to make her feel welcome. He took a deep breath, adjusted his tie, and made his way to greet Annette. The two children were soon face-to-face. Richter looked at Annette’s big, sparkling brown eyes and felt his cheeks turn pink.

“H-hi, Annette.” he said quietly, shuffling his feet on the rug.

Annette smiled back at him, also shuffling her feet on the rug. “Hello, Richter.” 

Julia and Esther watched their children and gave each other knowing looks.

Richter realized that he and Annette hadn’t spoken for a few seconds, which he tried to rectify quickly. “Umm, I can take your coat if you’d like.”

Annette took off her coat and handed it to Richter. She was wearing a green velvet Christmas dress. Richter felt his cheeks grow warmer.

“Y-you look really pretty.” He complimented, looking at the floor immediately after.

Now Annette was blushing. “Thank you, Richter. You look really nice too.”

Julia and Esther were practically dying at how cute their children were. But they both knew that they couldn’t stay at the open door forever, so Julia intervened.

“All right, you two, it’s getting cold, let’s get all the way inside so I can shut the door,” Julia intervened, taking Annette’s coat from Richter and shutting the door. “Richter, why don’t you help Annette get settled in?”

Richter nodded, though his mind was a complete blank. What should he do to help Annette get settled in?

Luckily, Annette figured that out for both of them. Her eyes went to the Nintendo Switch under the TV in the living room.

“Do you have Mario Kart?” she asked. Now Richter’s eyes sparkled and he nodded.

“Yeah! Do you wanna play?”

Annette nodded, and soon enough, both of them had controllers in their hands.

***

After 4 rounds of Mario Kart, Richter and Annette were starting to feel more comfortable around each other. They were talking and laughing the same way they did when they were at school. They were on their 5th game of Mario Kart, and they had both won 2 games apiece. Richter was playing as Luigi while Annette had chosen Daisy.

“I think my mom’s finally getting me a Switch this year.” Annette grinned while still keeping her attention on the game. “I saw a present in the trunk, and I picked it up when mom wasn’t looking. It’s shaped like a Switch and feels like a Switch. I’m definitely getting a Switch.”

“That’s so cool!” Richter replied as he dodged a banana peel. “We can do online play! You’ll have to give me your friend code once you get one!”

“Definitely!” Annette and Richter were on the final lap, and they were neck-to-neck. All chatter stopped as they became fully focused on the game. They were almost at the finish line. At the last second, Annette threw a red shell and landed a direct hit on Richter. She crossed the finish line and claimed victory.

“Yes! I win!” Annette exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.

“Aw man, that was so close! Best five out of seven?”

“So eager to lose again, Belmont?” Annette asked teasingly.

Richter was about to retort when Tera and Maria entered the living room holding platters of Christmas cookies.

“The cookies are ready!” Tera announced. “Fresh out of the oven!”

“And I helped!” Maria said proudly, holding her platter a little higher. Tera chuckled and looked at her little girl fondly.

“Yes, Maria was a big help! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her. Come and eat while they’re hot!”

Richter and Annette completely forgot about Mario Kart and were now eager to try the freshly baked cookies.

“My Auntie Tera makes the best Christmas cookies!” he said to Annette, a big smile on his face. “You’re going to love them, let’s go!”

***

After several Christmas cookies were eaten, it was time for the annual reading of T’was the Night Before Christmas. Well, annual reciting actually; Tera was descended from a memory-based culture, so she could tell the story without looking at a book. And Tera was an expert storyteller; she knew when to enunciate, used the best voices, and could really capture a room. Tera’s arms were wrapped around Maria, who was happily seated on her mother’s lap. All of the adults and children were listening to her with rapt attention.

As Tera reached the end, a knock was heard at the door. Everyone turned, and Julia stood up.

“Hmmm, I wonder who that could be,” she said playfully, looking out of the small window in the front door. She gasped and unlocked the door. “Well, I suppose there’s only one person it could be on Christmas Eve!”

The door opened to reveal none other than Santa Claus! But he wasn’t plump and jolly like he was described in the poem. In fact, he was skinny and didn’t look thrilled to be there. He started with a dull, “Ho Ho Ho, Merry Chris-“

Julia elbowed Santa in the ribs and he groaned. He got the message, and his voice became more robust. “Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!”

Julia nodded in satisfaction as the other adults and children chattered with excitement.

“Honestly, Julia, is it necessary to put me through this every year?” Santa (who was actually Julia’s father, Juste,) murmured to his daughter. “Isn’t Richter a little too old to still believe in Santa?”

Julia glared at her father. “Never you mind that. And it’s not just Richter this year, Annette and Maria are here too. Come on, where’s your Christmas spirit?”

“At the pub about 2 blocks from here.”

“Santa has presents for all of the children!” Julia exclaimed, completely ignoring Juste’s last comment. “Gather ‘round, everybody!”

“Go on, Maria, go see Santa!” Tera encouraged. Maria had a big smile on her face as she jumped out of her mother’s lap and ran to the door. Richter and Annette made their way over too.

“That’s not the real Santa, y’know,” Richter whispered. “That’s actually my grandpa. I figured it out a few years ago. Maria doesn’t know though, so don’t tell her.”

Annette giggled. “Oh, I already knew he wasn’t the real Santa. Last year, my cousin Edouard and I stayed up all night and saw the real Santa! It was awesome!”

“Wow!” Richter said in awe, jealous that Annette had gotten a glimpse of the real Santa.

Maria received a sizable gift bag from Santa Juste and rushed under the tree so she could open it. She removed the tissue paper, dug her hands in the bag, and pulled out a big white tiger plushie. She absolutely loved it and hugged the animal to her chest.

“Hi, Santa! It’s good to see you again!” Richter greeted as he finally reached the old man, Annette by Richter’s side.

“Oh, if it isn’t Richter Belmont! You’ve grown so much over the last year!” Santa Juste replied, getting more in-character. Julia hovering over him ensured that Juste would dutifully play the role of Santa. “And this must be your little girlfriend, Annette.”

Both Richter and Annette became very flustered, speaking over each other.

“Gran- Santa! She’s-“

“We’re not-“

“We’re just best friends!”

Santa Juste rolled his eyes, falling out of character once again. “Whatever you say, kid. I have better things to do than get invested in some 7-year-old’s romantic life.”

“I’m 10!” Richter exclaimed.

“Just give them the presents, Dad.” Julia murmured through gritted teeth.

“Oh ho ho, anyway, here are some presents for the two of you!” Juste announced, getting back into character and handing wrapped packages to Richter and Annette. They both thanked him and left to open their presents.

“Anything else I have to do?” Juste whispered in Julia’s ear, itching for the chance to leave.

Julia sighed and waved her hand. “No, no, that’s all, ‘Santa.’ You can be on your way now. I’m sure you have lots of other children to visit tonight.”

Juste was reenergized upon hearing that he was done, and was fully back in character. “Ho ho ho, right you are, Julia Belmont! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! I’m getting a beer!” And with that, Santa Juste shut the door behind him, not to be seen for the rest of the night.

Julia massaged her temples. “That man, I swear…”

Santa’s departing words didn’t seem to have any effect on the children as both Richter and Annette were under the tree unwrapping their presents. Maria was already back in her mother’s arms, showing off her new toy.

“Oh, cool!” Richter exclaimed, holding a book in his hands. “It’s Hanging with Vampires! A Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural! Mum and I saw this at the bookstore months ago!”

“Nice! You’ll have to lend that to me when you’re done!” Annette responded as she unwrapped her present. She took the lid off and saw a pair of earrings in the shape of stars. They were made of green stone and rimmed with gold. She looked absolutely elated. “These are the earrings I saw in the jewelry store in town! I really wanted these!! Not as much as I want a Switch, but I really wanted these too!”

Annette took the earrings out of the box and put them on. She turned her head from side to side. “How do I look?” she asked Richter. Richter’s face felt warm again.

“U-umm, really nice. They look great on you.” Richter replied genuinely, immediately looking at the floor again.

“Hmm?” Annette looked up towards the Christmas tree branches.

“What is it?” Richter asked.

“Is that a mistletoe ornament on the tree?”

Richter followed Annette’s gaze, eyes widening at the festive plant above them. “Oh. Oh yeah. I guess it is.”

Richter and Annette sat in silence for a few seconds, avoiding each other’s gazes. They listened to the light Christmas music in the background, getting lost in the atmosphere. On the couch on the other side of the room, Julia pat Esther’s arm. When Julia got Esther’s attention, she surreptitiously pointed at the two children. Tera and Maria also gathered that something was happening, and they turned their attention to the kids as well.

Annette took a deep breath and made a decision; she moved her head next to Richter’s and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Now Richter’s face was the reddest it had been all night. Annette’s cheeks were tinged red as well.

Richter’s smile got wider and wider. He placed his hand over his cheek, in disbelief that he had actually been kissed by his best friend. And if he was honest… the girl he had been crushing on for months. The adults were trying to stay quiet, but they were internally squealing at the cuteness. Richter and Annette were completely unaware of their audience, as they were only focused on each other.

“Merry Christmas, Richter.” Annette said softly, eyes looking at his.

Richter rubbed the back of his head as he looked back at her. “Merry Christmas, Annette.”

It was Richter’s best Christmas ever.

***

End Notes: The book Richter got is a real book: Hanging with Vampires: A Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural by Insha Fitzpatrick. I found it in the children’s section of my library a few years ago and it’s super fun (Castlevania even got a shout out!). I recommend it.

[hopeymchope]

Hector, a.k.a. the biggest misstep of Castlevania Seasons 3 and 4

I think pretty much everyone was in the tank for Castlevania's first two seasons, and just yesterday I made my feelings on the first season of "Nocturne" clear. But I want to take a moment to discuss the third and fourth seasons—the weirdest seasons, because they have the least to do with any of the video games.

Spoiler for my own thoughts, but: Season 3 is the worst year of Netflix Castlevania by a fuckin' country mile.

Season 2 was partly an abbreviated adaption of Castlevania III, but most of its running time is set on seemingly setting up its direct follow-up — Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. We meet Hector and Isaac, we learn how they came into Dracula's service, and we grow to understand Isaac's undying loyalty to his master juxtaposed with Hector's growing doubts. By the end of the season, Isaac believes Hector is a traitor, and Hector... is enslaved by Carmilla.

I loved this setup. It's a great twist on the game's backstory of Hector having betrayed Dracula because he was disillusioned by the genocide mission; instead, the animated series has his "betrayal" be more of a misunderstanding, but his doubts about the genocide are still very much there, made evident by how Dracula has to lie to him about his true intentions for humanity to get Hector to cooperate.

For the record, I loved Isaac's redesign and new backstory for the TV series. The Isaac from 'Curse of Darkness' an utter clown of over-the-top hamminess. We love him for it, sure, but we also sure as fuck don't take him seriously. :P

And his enslavement at the hands of Carmilla is a great hole to make Hector dig himself out of so he can become the hero we know him as from the games. It's better than the generic "my wife was executed as a witch just like Dracula's was, and it was Isaac's fault" backstory that the game gave him as an initial motivator. So I was amped to watch the story of Curse of Darkness unfold here: Isaac would become dedicated to resurrecting his master, and Hector would inevitably stand against him as he learned to hone his draft of making "innocent devils" — a version of the supernatural creatures he once forged for Dracula that were solely to Hector's will and his fight against the forces of the dark. Seeing a man who once served Dracula become a conflicted hero against his former master's resurrection... it's all I wanted. And the idea of seeing the show's version of Hector and its version of Trevor finally meet up in battle (as in the video game) and realize that they shared a mutual interest in stopping Dracuia had me absolutely TINGLING with anticipation.

....and by now, if you're an animated-series-only fan, you're wondering what in the FUCK I'm talking about. Because obviously, none of this comes to pass. The series throws out all of the games' story in favor of its own, completely different narrative. That's not necessarily an awful thing if you can make it thematically compelling and gripping to watch, but what we ACTUALLY got was slow, meandering, depressing, and unsatisfying.

I will not be dignifying THIS worthless subplot by spending any time writing about it. Y'all get this caption and this screencap; that's it.

In the TV series, Hector never becomes a hero. He spends the entire series tortured and imprisoned, slowly going through a very painful two seasons of hell. He never shows the strength of will he's defined by in the games, only barely beginning to even TRY to break free by the time Isaac shows up to kill Carmilla. That's right: Hector doesn't even get to fight and defeat his own slavemaster and captor! He just sits there and is pitiful while Isaac does all the real work.

If you're waiting for this badass to leap into the fray? KEEP WAITING.

Other elements from Curse of Darkness get introduced to the series in season 3, like the mysterious Saint Germaine and the Inifinite Corridor. But they're not even a part of the Hector-and-Isaac storyline; they're part of Trevor and Sypha's all-new storyline for some reason? See, Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard spend seasons 3 and 4 going through some stuff that's wholly concocted for the TV series. Their material in these years contains some good elements — top-notch action and certainly some wonderful dialogue... but Saint Germaine in particular gets done dirty, acting like two different characters in each of the two seasons. He undergoes a character shift that the writing fails to justify. He's the SECOND-biggest missed opportunity in the show.

But back to the main event here: the lack of Hector and the increasing prominence of Isaac. Instead of Hector becoming a hero who stands against Isaac, it's Isaac — you know, the main villain of Curse of Darkness? — who goes through some sort of redemption arc. I hesitate to call it a full-on redemption when he murders so many people wantonly along the way, but he's the one who becomes the action hero that fights vampires instead of Hector. And the reasons for this are... kind of interesting? Some of his dialogue exchanges as Isaac grows and learns during are pretty engrossing to watch, at least. These conversations are probably the more interesting parts of season 3, which is definitely the show's weakest season. (Isaac's stuff in season 4 isn't as good, mind you. But S4 is still the better of the original series' latter two seasons for other reasons.)

Warren Ellis, the writer of the first four seasons of the show, said that the voice actor for Hector — Theo James — sounded so heroic and yet so vulnerable that he enjoyed torturing his character as much as possible. Which is a pretty wack-ass motivation for a storyline, but it's nevertheless exactly what he did. As a result, Hector's arc is to be the series' "butt-monkey," to borrow a term from Buffy.

Suffice it to say that the result is not faithful to the games even in its basic tone or concept, and worse, I certainly don't find it narratively satisfying. Something that skewed closer to the video games by bringing the Trevor/Sypha storyline together with the Hector/Isaac storyline, making Isaac an increasingly powerful antagonist? That could've easily been so much greater than the path we ultimately went down via the disparate storyline of seasons 3 and 4. It's hard for me not to imagine that world... Hector, Trevor and Sypha in a battle against Isaac and the still-reviving Dracula, now fueled with greater rage at having experienced death, and now having no reason to hold back because his son isn't present in the new fight.

I think if you're going to deviate from your source material as hard as seasons 3 and 4 do, you need to justify it by giving us something better. There are certainly deviations from the established game lore in seasons 1 and 2 as well as in the first year of Nocturne, but I think those deviations acquit themselves admirably. "Nocturne" in particular goes for some big deviations that I was pleasantly shocked to see pay off.

And I'll give season 4 of Castlevania this: Making the final battle for Trevor be Death was a pretty good idea. (It would've been even better if they'd done the Father Zead twist from the games, but... ) Moreover—even though it REALLY fucks up the overall narrative of the video games and kind of screws up all future series/season attempts—giving Vlad and Lisa a happy ending was actually an EXTREMELY narratively satisfying thing to do. Viewing that in its own microcosm, its own universe? That's kind of brilliant. I have to respect it.

But even in its own universe, the new Hector storyline winds up feeling mostly like pointless angst-porn injected with some sexed-up titillation. It's by far the biggest mistake of the adaption, and it positively HAUNTS the show in retrospect; I can't even revisit season 2 without seeing how much that perfect setup was utterly blown. It makes most of season 2 hard to sit through now, knowing where it eventually went... and how much it wasn't worth the trip.

[murfpersonalblog]

Castlevania Nocturne 2x1 Musings - "Monsters" & Souls

Lowkey the Abbot is ticking me off.

Effed up as it is, I LOVE what they're doing with Erzsebet & Drolta.

I effing HATE when people claim that monsters like vampires are soulless amoral animals, just cuz they're evil. As flat & hollow as Erzbet was in S1, CLEARLY she has a soul.

The Abbot said it himself: "You're GRIEVING." But his stupid arse still insists that it's impossible to turn Drolta into a Night Creature or whatever, cuz she has no soul since she's a vampire--this effing moron. After his own wife JUST told him that although she's a vampire now, she still loves their daughter Maria.

Even after he'd JUST spoken to Edouard:

Edouard: "I'm sorry that all your friends are dead." Abbot: "How can a creature like YOU be sorry?... You are Devils from Hell. And when the times comes, you will see me there."

It had already been well established that not all Night Creatures are soulless mindless demons. And it's not just Edouard who's "special" or whatever just cuz he can sing and has an OP character design--these other Night Creatures seem like they can THINK & feel, too!

It's not that humans have souls & vampires & Night Creatures don't. It's about the CHOICES that they make. A big part of Christianity is FREE WILL. Will they choose to follow their base impulses & act on wickedness, or will they fight those impulses and choose to do good?

Maria & Alucard were discussing their p.o.s. fathers, and Alucard was SO right: "I've known human men who were FAR worse [than my father, Dracula]." We got that whole iconic convo in OG S1 from the crooked priests who were read for filth by NIGHT CREATURES for being corrupted a-holes who'd SOLD heir souls for power.

But although I get where Alucard was coming from, as of right now I highkey disagree with him about how "If anything can redeem anyone in this world, then yes, love probably can."

I thoroughly doubt that Erzsebeta's capacity to love Drolta will cancel out her being an evil heifer who can't be redeemed & deserves to die. We've gotten NOTHING from her that justifies WHY she's even doing ANY of this stuff in S1 & S2. She's just evil for no reason, and IDC how much she's grieving Drolta--who's not a good person either, btw.

Cuz like, love redeemed Dracula--even Alucard acknowledged how Dracula realized he loved Alucard during their final battle.

IMO he was 100% valid for wiping out Wallachia--yes even the peasants, cuz they all stood around and watched as Lisa was burned at the stake for "witchcraft," when they all knew good & well that she was just a healer who HELPED THEM. But god forbid she be a fangbanger! DEATH! So even though Dracula was 100% justified in killing the Wallachians, he went way too far when he was like: I'm just gonna start a war & destroy ALL of humanity now. Like...?

Realizing you're capable of loving someone doesn't stop you from being effing evil & deserving to die. And Dracula knew that too. But I was HAPPY when DracuLisa were reborn and got to be together again, so Dracula could EARN his redemption by traveling the world with her and learning to HELP people. He CHOSE to stop being a big scary vampire, and using his powers for good. He knew Alucard was right to kill him, and didn't wanna waste his 2nd shot at life by making things hard for his son again.

But Erzsebeta doesn't have any of this foundational character development--I'm supposed to just feel bad for her cuz she's sad that Drolta's dead? Esp. cuz I have a baaaaad feeling that Drolta's gonna come back even WORSE, cuz of whatever it is that turns Night Creatures into demons. And all this talk about being her "servant" is rubbing me the wrong way, like Drolta might end up ROBBED of her Free Will if she comes back wrong--Erzsebet's already a colonizer stealing African secrets to boost her own powers, so the last thing I need is for her to have Drolta as her frikkn SLAVE. (She SEEMS fully cognizant at the end of the ep, so I hope this means she's ok.)

So I think Erzsebeta & the Abbot are 2 very interesting case studies wrt the degree to which love can redeem a p.o.s. person. I fully expect the Abbot to (try to) be redeemed, at least for the sake of fleshing out Maria's arc. But I think Erzsebeta's just going to get worse, thinking that her actions are fueled by "love," when it's really just her own shortsighted selfishness.

Time will tell!

[beevean]

I'm here to vent to someone because I can't find nfcv-saltmine, but yeah why do some people have to be like this. They completely shit on the source material of the adaptation they watch.

Richter in Castlevania has plenty of depth, he literally had an identity crisis in SotN and acknowledged that he can't be trusted with the vampire killer anymore so he entrusted it to someone else. He showed massive amounts of maturity and humility but wasn't a push over

They deleted their blog. I know them, and they said they just didn't like being too negative and how people used their askbox as a way to bitch about fans. I understand, the fans should be left outside of the discussion.

Now, I have no intention of simply pointing at OP in the screenshot and going "lol look at this idiot". So, if you expect me to do so, I ask you to not share screenshots. But I understand your frustration, not just because "show great games poopoo" which is the bread and butter of r/castlevania, but because the dissonance at work here is fascinating. "I hate when people insult show Richter! They don't understand Richter as a character at all! They clearly didn't play the games! Which were so badly written and thankfully fixed by the show! Stupid purists!"

N!Richter is not Richter. The two have different themes. Richter struggled with the knowledge that, after killing Dracula at 18, his life became essentially meaningless, and because of this, Shaft was able to turn him into a puppet to resurrect Dracula, which filled him with so much shame that the Vampire Killer was passed onto another family for centuries. N!Richter is currently battling both with the grief for his mother and the fear that the Belmonts as a whole aren't needed anymore - and the Belmonts have no legacy in the show, let alone a Dracula-killing one, so there's no way they could properly recreate his corruption arc... which, in fact, is going to N!Maria, apparently. I am still baffled that game fans are still waiting for the show to suddenly snap back into game canon and give us a proper SoTN adaptation, or god forbid an AoS one. it reminds me so much of those poor saps who were sure that N!Hector would have become a gigachad in S4 so that they could finally get the long-awaited CoD adaptation. yeah, about that. I know it would be better if the two factions weren't so neatly separated and at war with each other, but as far as I'm concerned, the show itself decided to drift further and further away from the games to the point where now they just can't be the same story.

I have come to accept that many game fans, especially the older ones, simply don't care about their story. They enjoy the gameplay and think the Belmonts are cool, but reduce every game to "jumping on platforms and whipping candles and killing Dracula over and over". Only on Tumblr I've seen this intense dedication for nearly every character, even the most neglected ones: here people do like analyzing the writing and spreading the word that it's more complex than it lets on! But on the other side, as I keep saying, discussion about Nocturne in particular has been uniquely poisoned due to genuinely bigoted dudebros who don't even bother to hide that they hate N!Annette because she's black or N!Richter because "he's a pussy" (same with N!Hector, after all, who to this day is victim blamed for being stupid). So when this person snarks about the triggered purists, I know which type they're talking about.

Criticizing the shows is one thing, but when it comes to the fandoms, I admit I'm rather burned out. I see the same thing with Sonic, people endlessly shitting on the games because they like the comics or movies more for their "improvements", and it becomes a litany of "this adaptation i like is good because the source sucks lolololololol". What else can I say about it? There's no point in sharing screenshots to point at someone and laugh, unless there's a bigger argument to be made like I tried to make here. So I want to be clear on this. Don't use me as a megaphone just to bitch about specific people, please.

[tseecka]

We started watching Castlevania: Nocturne last night (2 eps left) and it kinda coalesced something in my brain wrt the wank about Jayce and Viktor in Arcane.

Like, fandom and media in general has progressed to this point where I feel like we are no longer really living in an absolute dearth of representation. Like I see videos on my TT algorithm breaking down "are these shoes worth watching just for the lesbian/gay/GNC content" and there are just. So many thumbnails in the background. And certainly there can always be more, and there always SHOULD be more, but it's not nearly as dire as it was when I was growing up; using Brokeback as the watershed when "gay stuff" entered mainstream media consciousness, it's been less than 20 years and absolutely exponential growth.

So I no longer find it a moral failing on the part of creatives when explicit queerness doesn't appear in every place you might expect it; in many cases there is still queer rep present, besides.

All of this to say: once, knowing that creatives behind a project support or even champion readings of characters and their relationships as queer, but are unwilling to depict it on screen, is something I would have categorized as cowardice. Now, though, I don't find it carries the same weight.

I don't NEED Trevor and Alucard (or Trephacard tbh) to be explicitly canon. I don't need that level of commitment from the creatives to know that they are on my side. Was it hinted at excessively in OG Castlevania? Yep! Did the depiction of Alucard as bisexual, and participating willingly in a threesome during a period of loneliness and separation from Trevor and Sypha, imply a whole host of things (and launch a thousand fanfics)? Absolutely! Was I hoping to get some sort of explicit canonization in Nocturne? Yeah, I definitely was!

But it's not there, and I don't mind; and the reason I don't mind is because I know the creatives behind Powerhouse's Castlevania adaptations are on my side. I know Sam Deats ships the hell out of them. I know that when Alucard says things about being in love before, or about the cost of erasing names from the narrative, it's intended to grant permission--not needed or looked for, but appreciated nonetheless--to superimpose Trevor and Sypha onto his words.

We aren't being admonished and told, "It's not canon, it could never happen, you are interpreting it wrong!" It's a wink and a nudge; it's maybe not explicitly canon,but it's also not NOT canon, and it's being done in a way that makes clear it is not cowardice preventing them from making a bold statement.

It's something Castlevania has done really well, and something that I think some individuals on Arcane fumbled. We aren't necessarily living in a world, anymore, where failure to confirm and canonize queer relationships on screen is inherently homophobic or dangerous or rooted in archaic ways of thinking. No one had to come out and say Jayce and Viktor were 100% in love. They just had to not say they absolutely weren't.

(And maybe I'm reading way too much into the Deats' support of Castlevania fans and the Trephacard shippers, and I'm projecting; but at the end of the day that's still the image presented to me, and it makes me feel very safe while watching the show and crying every time Alucard mentions "Trevor" or "Belmonts", because while permission to ship or interpret has never been necessary, it's still nice to have.)