dhampirwomen

[dhampirwomen]

way too presumptuous VA TV show conlang ~analysis~

okay so as someone who studied linguistics in undergrad the conlang for the new vampire academy tv show is super exciting to me, because it's combining my two favorite things. keep in mind everything i say could be wildly wrong because we have exactly two images of the conlang to work with from the teaser/trailer. here goes:

these are the frames i'm basing my hypotheses on ~Moroian~ off of:

starting with the most likely conclusion first, at the top of the tombstone is the dragons surrounding a crest with a letter on it, and that letter is replicated in the names written in ~moroian~ above the english translation. it looks sort of like an H in english with a hat. because it’s in the crest and at the leftmost side of the second (and longer) word in moroian, that word is likely “dragomir”, but what makes it almost certainly “dragomir” is that it’s on both rhea and eric’s tombstones. as such, we can assume that symbol in the crest stands for a /d/ sound. thus, the language is written most likely written from left to right

additionally, /d/ is only one sound that we can connect with a symbol, though. the first symbol in the top word on rhea’s tombstone in moroian is kind of like a backwards N in english, and it shows up in the top word in eric’s tombstone as well, just in the middle. both rhea and eric have an /r/ sound, but if we’re comparing the placement of that symbol to where it would be in english, it doesn’t match really well. rhea and eric seem to share three symbols on the top word on their tombstones, so it really could be any of them

BUUUUUT

if you look at the second word on both, presumably “dragomir”, there is only one symbol repeated, and that’s the backwards N. there’s only one repeat sound in “dragomir”, so we can assume that symbol is an /r/ sound

the rest is a lot less clear, especially because the tombstone images themselves are so low quality, but if you look at the straps on the masked figure in the second image and on the tombstones you’ll see some little markings above the letters. that to me seems to indicate diacritics, which are common in a lot of languages (including russian and especially romanian !) to adjust the sounds words make, particularly vowels

in addition to the presumed diacritics, the symbol shapes themselves as well as the confirmed used of specific russian vocabulary (molnija, burya, etc), indicate that the language will be rooted in russian and/or romanian. it’s also a lot easier to build a conlang based on one (or more) established language(s), and it fits the heavy influence of russian/romanian culture and history that exists for the moroi in the books. so, i’m assuming that beyond the orthography (writing system), any spoken elements we get of the language will bear some resemblance to russian and/or romanian

tl;dr: the language will probably be read left to right, we can guess at a few of the consonant symbols already, it will likely use diacritics, and based on those factors, confirmed russian vocabulary, the orthography and symbols in use, the source text, and how much easier it is to build a conlang using an existing language, Moroian is likely rooted in russian/romanian

if you made it this far, congrats, you should definitely consider studying linguistics, because this is the type of stuff you do all the time with real (and made up!) languages and it's super fun! also if someone knows the resident vampire academy tv show linguist plz introduce me because i have SO MANY QUESTIONS for the person with my literal dream job

#vampire academy #sorry it took me this long to rt after talking abt it but *chef's kiss* analysis #vampire academy show

[dhampirwomen]

hathaways appreciation post, can't wait to see sisi and lorna bring rose and janine to life on vampire academy <3 <3

#vampire academy #rose hathaway #janine hathaway

[dhampirwomen]

if the vampire academy show gets multiple seasons, i really hope it changes the direction of the rose/adrian relationship bc i can’t think of any good reason to write a show where a black woman is villainized and used as a plot device for her white oppressor's manpain. regardless of your personal feelings on rose or adrian, the concept of a narrative where the black heroine is put in a bad position at the end of her own story to set up more angst for her white ex-boyfriend is a bad choice, for both meta and story reasons.

wrt meta reasons why keeping things the same as spirit bound/last sacrifice is a bad idea, following the books faithfully would prob open the door to a lot of fandom antiblackness and sexism against rose as a character and sisi as an actor. rose is already an overhated character in book fandom and reviews bc of the rosdrian subplot, with many of the same people who don’t see an issue with adrian’s sexually harassing or objectifying rose calling rose an abuser, manipulator, gold-digger and a mix of sexist and racist slurs for not returning adrian’s feelings and/or for not being loyal to him. ofc this isn’t behavior that’s unique to adrian fandom bc all fandoms have sexism/racism problems, and i’m def not saying all adrian fans are anti-rose or that anyone is bad in any way for liking adrian. imo you can love/appreciate adrian as a character and still see that the va show is better off avoiding the books’ take on the rosdrian subplot. black characters- esp black women- always get more flack from fandom and their choices are judged more harshly, rose/sisi is already getting a lot of hate from racists who hate the show reality that rose hathaway is a black woman, and there’s no need to stoke the misogynoir flames even more by making rose “at fault” for how her dynamic with adrian plays out.

the show could write any number of new subplots where (assuming the show wants to keep the canon endgames intact):

(if adrian’s behavior is changed) adrian has unrequited feelings for rose for a while but they don’t actually date, he takes no for an answer after some flirting and his romance shifts to adrian/sydney once sydney takes a more active role in the plot

(if adrian’s behavior is changed) rosdrian date, but they do it in a casual, no-strings-attached way where they break up at some point before they get together with their endgames. there are no hard feelings between them

(if adrian’s behavior stays the same) rosdrian’s trajectory stays mostly the same but the breakup is abt rose getting some catharsis calling adrian out for objectifying her, which could kickstart adrian’s redemption arc. this option would prob be closest to canon, but rose gets a mini-arc that culminates in her standing up for herself against a royal who disrespected her and adrian realizes he needs to start acting better with women who are lower than him on the moroi social hierarchy, which would pay forward with adrian/sydney

this is just me floating a few options and i’d love to hear other ppl’s suggestions wrt how this subplot could go if y’all have any. but the most important point is: no matter what happens or how adrian is written, rose shouldn’t cheat on adrian and shouldn’t be written like the breakup is her fault, like she’s responsible for adrian’s feelings, or like she "owes” adrian a chance at any point. even if adrian is written like a legit nice guy and doesn’t coerce rose in the show, the main issue with the cheating plot is richelle m using rose as an “ex who broke his heart” plot device to give adrian more tragic backstory in a spinoff, without giving rose any of the detailed catharsis, recovery and healing she wrote for adrian in that new series. the va show, like the main series, is rose’s story, and it needs to stay rose’s story without sacrificing her character development or marring her hea so it can contrive more angst for a white supporting character.

#vampire academy #rose hathaway #tweeted something similar to this but posting slightly expanded thoughts here bc twitter is horrible for archiving and referencing things #anti adrian ivashkov #for posterity bc stuff like rose calling adrian out for harassing her is canon but ik ppl don't like to see that stuff #i don't think it's technically an anti adrian take to suggest the sexist narrative bias from the books should change #or to talk abt his canon actions even if they happen to be the shadier ones #but yk better safe than sorry #last sacrifice spoilers #vampire academy spoilers #tw fandom racism mention #tw fandom sexism mention #i might type another post later wrt the story reasons for why this ending was a bad idea #and did a disservice to both rose and adrian's arcs #but that's a post for another time

[dhampirwomen]

daniela nieves icons

like or reblog if you save please

[dhampirwomen]

Welcome to #VAFicFest! We’re creating fanworks to celebrate the premiere of the new Vampire Academy show in September 🧛🏼‍♀️

Prompting begins TODAY! Submit your ideas here: Google form

PS— remember Dimitri’s iconic line, “some people read books for fun?” 😉

LINKS:

Twitter

Ao3 collection

Prompt submission form

#vampire academy

[dhampirwomen]

some thoughts on dhampir commodification

one of the most interesting threads in va is the way dhampirs are valued almost exclusively for their bodies: it’s repeatedly reinforced in the series that the only way dhampirs can participate in moroi society is by becoming guardians or doing sex work, and both types of labor mean giving over their bodies to the service of royal moroi. there are dhampirs, mostly women, who opt out of this, but they’re still expected to use their bodies to have kids who will become guardians or beget more dhampirs (e.g. mason’s mom chose to be domestic and worked with humans, but she still sent her son to guardian training at st. vlad’s and lost him to strigoi). dhampirs who don’t want to become guardians, do sex work or devote their lives to raising more dhampirs have to self-exile and live among humans. they have to cut themselves off from the culture they grew up in, and are seen as disgraces who abandoned their duty by the people they left behind.

dhampir women who live in communes and/or do sex work are usually given the deragotory label of “blood whores” and receive the brunt of social stigma, even though the current system would collapse without their labor: moroi exploit them for sex and use their kids to bolster guardian numbers while denying them full rights and personhood. and dhampirs are prevented from forming any kind of class solidarity because of the way guardians are taught to look down on commune dhampirs.

even though the guardian-or-sex-worker dichotomy largely affects dhampir women, it’s also in place for dhampir men: ambrose didn’t want to run off or become a guardian, so he became a sex worker, indicating that "guardian” “sex worker” “runs away” are the three limited options for all dhampirs. (instructors at st. vlad’s fall under the “guardian” umbrella because they’re guardians or former guardians who teach novices.)

guardians aren’t immune to having their romantic/sexual lives commodified by moroi, especially royal moroi: there are two examples in the series of a royal moroi pursuing a romantic/sexual relationship with a dhampir, adrian with rose and tasha with dimitri, and both relationships are transactional. adrian gives rose money on the condition she give him a romantic chance (after trying to leverage gifts and personal favors into touch and sexual attention), and tasha makes an offer for dimitri to be her guardian, with a sexual relationship and bio kids as a side “arrangement” after he starts working for her.

and within moroi society, there’s the way dhampirs’ place in the public sphere is segregated (dhampirs sitting in the back when the queen visits st vlad’s) and their private spaces are controlled: dhampir instructor/guardian housing at st. vlad’s doesn’t have kitchens while moroi instructor housing does etc, and it’s another way that dhampirs’ standard of living and comfort is put below moroi's.

#vampire academy #vampire academy meta #dhampirs #been sitting on this one for a while bc i wasnt sure how good it was but im saying eff it and sharing it lol #tagging this #anti adrian ivashkov #anti tasha ozera #bc the post highlights some of their negative canon traits (tasha i still love you lol) #tw lack of bodily autonomy #tw cissexism

[dhampirwomen]

vampire academy + the onion part 4, "dhampir trauma conga line" edition

#vampire academy #va shitposting #roseson #or rosemase #idk what the most common rose/mason ship name is #tw violence #queue*

[dhampirwomen]

vampire academy + text posts, "kissed by shadows" edition

#vampire academy #va shitposting #rolissa #a few of these are already on my twitter but twitter is terrible for archiving so putting them here too #queue*

[dhampirwomen]

vampire academy + the onion part 3, "how tf were the dashkovs the only ones who saw this coming" edition

#vampire academy #va shitposting #romitri #tw: student/mentor relationship #ik this can be an irl trigger for ppl so doing my best to tag lmk if y'all want other tags #again theres zero pic quality sorry but not sorry bc this is still funny #queue*

[dhampirwomen]

#rose hathaway energy

[dhampirwomen]

canonically rose mostly wears jeans and tank tops but i think she deserves more hot girl fashion looks

[dhampirwomen]

rose and lissa being baddies at st. vladimir’s

more doodles because i haven’t had time for another fully fledged drawing so enjoy some vampire academy

[dhampirwomen]

vampire academy + the onion part 2 (first book)

#vampire academy #va shitposting #queue* #quality zero but these are fun so i'm not stopping #yes i'm using the cinnamon roll meme unironically lissa is precious

[dhampirwomen]

vampire academy + the onion headlines (cr @captainandor for the graphic novel pics)

#vampire academy #va shitposting #queue* #here have some more terrible memes lol #rachel and smols this is 4 u

[dhampirwomen]

happy father's day

#vampire academy #va shitposting #queue*

[dhampirwomen]

"the ivashkovs were a royal family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful. they were the kind of people who thought they could get anything they wanted and walked over those in their way."

-rose hathaway, frostbite

#vampire academy #the ivashkovs #the ivashkovs are prob the best example in va of the way royal moroi exploit dhampirs and reinforce cisheteropatriarchal moroi supremacy #the unjust and oppressive standards of their society are believed and reinforced by all characters to different levels #but it really hits its peak with the ivashkovs #as the family with the most power in the series they're symbols of the inherent injustice and corruption of that power #(anyone and everyone below them including other royals like tasha aren't immune) #tatiana daniella and adrian are sexually interested in dhampirs (ambrose and rose) but that doesn't make them any less moroi supremacist #in fact the way ambrose and esp rose are objectified is one of the biggest way moroi supremacy and misogyny is reinforced #daniella wants dhampir women enslaved with compulsion #tatiana's idea of a compromise is putting 16 yo dhampirs on the front lines #she slutshames and threatens rose's career for having the gall to be *checks notes* sexually harassed by tatiana's royal nephew #nathan's casual constant supremacy and support for oppressive policies speaks for itself #and adrian direspects violates and gaslights rose while telling himself he respects women's consent and did it all for love #one of the most fascinating levels of adrian's character is the way he mirrors the rest of his family tbh #and i feel like it gets disregarded bc it doesn't make him sympathetic even tho it makes him more interesting #(from a watsonian analysis pov) #his contempt/resentment for dimitri a working class dhampir man long predates last sacrifice #he always disregards rose's will and happiness if it conflicts with his own #and he has double standards for dhampirs even if he has no moral ground to stand on #(it's ok if adrian tries to seduce rose while she's dating mason but it's an outrage when rose cheats on adrian etc) #i should prob tag this #anti adrian ivashkov #even tho it isn't really an anti take but ik his stans prob won't want to see it #queue*

[dhampirwomen]

OKAY LISTEN I know Richelle wrote it canon Dimitri was on top and Rose was on bottom but she was wrong.

#vampire academy #rose hathaway #dimitri belikov #romitri #a summary of their entire relationship in one pic lmao #adding to my tags bc the stake holster strapped to her thigh like a garter is *chef's kiss*