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#oh AND Striga and Morana are just fine
abstractednotebook · 25 days
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Slavic Spring Deities (Post no.1)
Vesna and Kresnik (Vesnik)
Vesna
(VEES-nah) “Lady Spring”, “Lady of Spring Resurrection”, or “The White Maiden of May”
There are about 15 other names for this deity, the ones that I will focus on in this post in particular are:
Vesna
Name that means Spring
Derived from the Proto-Indo-European “wésr” meaning Spring.
Zlata Maja
Name means “Golden Mother of Life”
Zlatogorka
Name means “Golden Hill”
Marjetica
Name means “Daisy”
Fun fact! The daisy is also a sacred flower of the Norse goddess Freya!
She is a glowing radiant goddess, often described as having long golden hair. Vesna is also associated with the day that the Swallows return on approximately March 9th called Strinenija. At this point in the year, another goddess named Striga(Mora, or Morana) would be reborn as this Spring Goddess. The dates however, will vary depending on the climatic differences in the various Slavic countries.
She loves music, dance and song; as well as sensual pleasures (intercourse). She bedecks herself with a flower crown, and the land itself with beautiful flowers. She may be found naked dancing in a meadow, happily surrounded by birds and butterflies.
Like all the tales of Slavic Deities, she too can change her form to the animals she most connects with. These animals happen to be white birds, rabbits, or singing larks. These are also her messengers!
Quick Facts!
Does she have a sacred day? Time? Holiday?: Yes! They are Fridays, the entire month of May, and especially May Day!
Sacred Space(s): Literally; any flowery meadow, garden, or hill!
Sacred Animals: Rooks, Robins, Cranes, Mice, Shrews, Cuckoos, Fire-flies and Glow worms.
Sacred Plants: Maple, hawthorn blossoms, and wild roses.
Offering ideas: Honey cakes, flowers, apples, goat’s milk, flower crowns, bird sculptures (especially of her sacred birds).
Kresnik
(kre-ES-nik) “Living Fire”, “Lord of Spring Resurrection”, “The Lord of Life-Giving Light”.
There’s about 11 names for this Deity!
In folktales, Kresnik can transform into a bird, or really any shape he pleases; or become invisible! He rides in a golden carriage across the sky on a winged horse. We see him in Slovene folk tales wielding a “golden axe” and causing lightning.
Like his female counterpart (or in some tales she is his partner or twin), he too has golden hair (and mustache), he is bright and radiantly handsome; however he is sometimes described to have golden hands (sometimes going as far as to have golden wings).
Oh! And, he lives on a golden mountain where there grows an apple tree; but it’s not just any old run of the mill apple tree—it holds the golden apples of immortality! (Are you sick of the word “GOLDEN” yet?)
The firefly is a sacred animal to him, and I’ll let you guess why.
Quick Facts!
Sacred day, time, or holiday: Spring Equinox, May 6th, Summer Solstice (June 21 or 22), and oddly enough, December 6th and the Winter Solstice. In short, the Winter Solstice was considered his “birthday,” and then he was celebrated at the Summer Solstice with bonfires!
Sacred spaces: Hills.
Sacred Animals: Roosters, goats, red cows, bulls, bears, wolves, boars, oxen, dragons, horses, flying horses, dogs with white spots (specifically over their eyes, but any white spots will do just fine), woodpeckers, and lynxes.
Sacred Plants: Apples, yellow “corn marigolds,” grapevines, buckwheat, blackberries, red cranberries, asparagus, wheat, hay, and various other fruits.
Sacred Objects: Spoked “sun wheels”, flutes, fiddle, a golden hand (think Thanos), a winged white horse, a candelabrum, golden axe, or a club.
Offering ideas: Yellow apples, wine, cooked buckwheat, grapes, candles, incense, Frankincense, wheat sheaves, cranberries.
END POST
P.S: If you have any questions, always remember to ask them!! If I personally cannot answer it, I'll find sources that could help you out!
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WE'RE WINNING TONIGHT BOYS
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rabidpotato · 3 years
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I have Castlevania brain rot send help
Ho boy. I have FEELINGS.
Season 4 spoilers and (longwinded) Discourse(TM) below the cut
A happy ending? In MY Castlevanias? It’s more likely than you think. With as grimdark as the series has been I fully expected to have my heart torn out and shat on, so to get an actual satisfying happy ending was a whole lungful of fresh air. Gimme that sweet sweet rush of Everybody Lives Nobody Dies, I need that shit pumped straight into my poor serotonin-starved brain.
What a hell of a season. There was enough material there for at least two seasons (and I would have LOVED to have two seasons, but that’s just because I’m greedy and want more…) and I was skeptical that they could even try to wrap up all those threads..and then they DID IT. Hot damn.
Hot Takes:
In this house we stan Greta and will tolerate no disrespect against our sword-and-hammer wielding queen. I love her, and I love her and Alucard’s dynamic with the deliberate parallels to Dracula and Lisa. I think she’s good for him.
TREVOR AND SYPHA UGH I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH I’m out here crying ugly tears at how much this stinky himbo and tiny nuke love each other ;______; Battle Couple OTP.
I would watch the shit out of an entire season of everybody building the new village and Trevor and Sypha learning how to be parents and Alucard and Greta getting closer and everybody just being HAPPY. This is because I am trash, not because there would actually be any storytelling value in such a thing. Same thing with onscreen kisses between Trevor and Sypha. Is it necessary? No. Doesn’t mean I don’t want it. But hey, that’s what fandom is for, right? I’ll just be over here drawing beetus-inducing fluff and being vaguely disgusted with myself.
Papa Trevor would be so soft. I think my ovaries just exploded.
I 100% expected Trevor to die and leave Sypha grieving and pregnant with the way they teased it in the trailer and the way it would have thematically fit with the rest of the series, and I am SO GLAD he didn’t. I’m tired of sad endings. I really love that he gets to be part of this world of people who know how to build things.
“I love you.” “I know.”
That single flash of Sypha’s face as he’s fading out knowing he’s going to die and being at peace with it, augh my fucking heart. T_T
Horse is secret MVP. That horse knows things.
Isaac confirmed for a) stand user and b) monster fucker. King out here living his best life, you love to see it.
But for reals tho, Isaac’s arc was one of my favorites. Nice fakeout with the conquest line in the trailer. The philosophical discussions on the nature of humans and night creatures, the way he comes to realize that he (and Hector, and by extension his own night creatures) is/are more than a tool to be used in the hands of others, the way he reclaims his own agency and decides he’s going to live...I fucking loved it. (Also paves the way for post-series forgehusbands…)
SO FUCKING HAPPY FOR STRIGA AND MORANA. I was holding my breath expecting them to get horribly killed the entire time and then they just...weren’t. The hot vampire wives got to literally ride off into the sunset (sunrise?) together, in a way that made sense. The General and the Organizer looked at the data on the ground, discussed, and made the calculated decision to stick with what really matters to them, not just Carmilla’s ambitions. More of this, please! Would have loved to see Striga fight more than once, though. Also I would shank a man for Morana’s cape.
Respect for Carmilla for going out on her own terms, even if it did feel a little heavy-handed. The cinematography of her and Isaac’s fight sure as hell made up for it though- that was one of the prettiest fights of the series.
Reunited trio’s fight was the other prettiest fight of the series. Holy fuck, what gorgeous animation.
I actually liked that St Germain’s lady friend never spoke- it reinforced the way that he has mythologized her to the point where she’s not even a person, just an ideal. It was also exactly what he deserved that she turned her back on him in the end. She’s just not that into you, bro.
Varney is a hoot. A greasy, flea-infested slimy hoot. Nice twist, too. Death’s design is *chef kiss*
Loved the themes of moving on and rebuilding and change and how there’s a pretty clear split between the people who are able to adapt and change (and live), and those “relics of the old world” who can’t or won’t. Ratko was criminally underused in this respect. I think there just wasn’t enough time.
Quibbles:
Pacing. I know Castlevania is notorious for uneven pacing, but in this case I think this is on Netflix- they should have been given a full two seasons to wrap this up, just to give things a chance to breathe. As it was, though, I think the writers did the best possible job given the constraints they were under.
Zamfir should have lived to learn the lesson about caring for the people who are still alive, and been the one to take charge of rebuilding Targoviste for the living. Having her die was straight-up pointless in a predictable way.
Did Trevor just straight-up forget he has TWO weapons with range when fighting Ratko? You have like a 30 foot reach what are you doing bro
Lenore is Problematic, and I wish there had been more tension between her and Hector. Like, I know Stockholm Syndrome is a thing, but he’s weirdly chill with her in a way that glosses over just what she did to him. Also I would have liked to see more self-awareness of “Oh, being a pet in a cage really is shitty, no matter how nice the cage. Now I know why what I did to you was wrong” before she dips. Her ending sure was poetic, though.
Wasn’t Trevor’s left arm broken in that last fight? How the heck is he even able to use it at the end? Also damn dude it’s been two weeks you should probably at least have washed those gaping wounds by now. Do you want sepsis? Because that’s how you get sepsis.
Unpopular Opinions:
Look I love Dracula/Lisa as much as the next shipper but “Hey we’re alive again for some reason!!” was totally out of left field. It felt like something out of a fix-it fic and it was just kinda baffling and jarring. Also go see your fucking kid, jfc you two are terrible parents.
Is Lisa just...kinda fine with the fact that Dracula tried to commit genocide in her name and almost killed their son? That must have been an awkward conversation.
I’m actually cool with Alucard spilling his life story to Greta on the march. He’s starving for human interaction, who’s to say he wouldn’t just want to TALK about what he’s been through? It’s treated in a way that’s a bit flippant for my taste, but we’ve seen enough of his trauma onscreen. I want to focus on his healing.
I’m hesitant to kick this particular hornet’s nest, but I really don’t think the ot3 has to be sexual? If it is, it damn well be an ot4 polycule with Greta. I see them more as two couples that are close friends and found family. But that’s the great thing about fandom! Rock on, shippers of all flavors, there’s room enough for everybody.
In Conclusion (jesus fuck how much did I write)
Castlevania pretty
Have you seen my braincell I think I misplaced it
Moar plz
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fandomn00blr · 2 years
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The Halloween ‘Sisters’ at the End of the Cul de Sac
I had a bunch of unfortunate Life™ happen this weekend (some of it is still happening), when I intended to finish this up for the last day of Strigana Week (@striganaweek​​) in the bits of free time I thought I might be able to find (I didn’t). The prompt was “Halloween & Dreams of the Future,” and I had a lot of fun with this one...a bit of 80s Kid nostalgia creeped in here, but I noticed Sunday night, as I was passing out candy, that a lot of the same costumes that I remember being popular in the 80s are still popular now (again?). 
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Anyway, this is the first half of the one-shot I had in mind for this prompt..the second half is still being revised/finished up (I’ve shared snippets of it here, already, but I won’t spoiler it for those who haven’t seen it!). When I think it’s done, I’ll reblog it and post to AO3!
---
“It’s fun, Sissy, I swear. They’re just a couple of spinsters who get a kick out of messing with us,” a boy, around eleven years old, wearing a hockey mask pushed back on top of his head and wielding a machete made of cardboard and duct tape tries to explain to a much smaller girl in a long dark dress and cape, who stands hesitating outside the old, creaking iron gates that are wedged open just enough for a single person to pass through. “Now come on! We have to catch up with the rest of them!”
“I think they’re married…” another kid corrects him as she squeezes through the gate ahead of them. She’s painted her face like a skull, and the white makeup glows a little more wickedly in the yellow-orange of the last light on the street when she beams back at them through the dark iron bars.
“Why do people call them sisters, then?” the boy asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest defiantly.
“I dunno…” She shrugs, then sticks her tongue out at him, a startling pink against the black of her lips. “Do you think you’ll at least make it to the door this year?”
“Yeah…” he mutters. “The only reason I didn’t last time was because of all those stupid crows!”
The little girl’s eyes go wide, and she takes a tentative step toward the gate. “Crows…?”
“Yeah!” Skull-girl exclaims. “Well...ravens, actually. Last year, they had real ones up in the trees and they’d swoop down at you and try to steal your eyeballs…”
She makes claws with her hands and tilts her head, looking at the little girl and creeping very jerkily and bird-like back toward them.
The little girl takes a deep breath, her eyes shining with strange delight in the gentle green of the glowstick hanging down around her neck.
But then the older girl abruptly turns her attention to the boy and leaps at him.
“Hey!” he shrieks. “That’s not funny! I’m like, really scared of birds! Ever since I saw that stupid movie…”
“Nah…” Skull-girl winks at the younger girl and she has to stifle a small giggle. “They were fine. The worst they did was grab a couple pieces of candy. I think they like the shiny wrappers…” She turns and grins menacingly back at the boy through the bars.
The little girl watches as he shuffles his candy around in his bucket, trying to hide the pieces wrapped in foil. She looks down at her own bucket, and is pleased to see that she has quite a few shiny pieces sitting right on top. Skull-girl nods approvingly and offers her a hand as she steps the rest of the way into the overgrown yard of the estate.
“Hey, wait up!” the boy calls out to them, pulling his mask down over his face as they begin to make their way up the path through the thick hedge.
...
“Morana, quick!” Striga calls out over her shoulder. “Come see all these wretched little creatures who’ve made it through our maze!”
The children giggle nervously, shuffling around in front of the door as they try and get a better look inside the mysterious old mansion.
Morana appears with a tray of delicious-looking candied apples, all different kinds with various edible decorations, wrapped up in cellophane. “Oh, your costumes are magnificent!” she exclaims.
“I’m a gremlin!” one of the children declares gratingly from behind a plastic store-bought mask.
“Why, yes! You are!” Morana places a caramel-dipped Granny Smith apple in the child’s bucket, and then the other children line up, holding their own baskets out for a treat.
“And I’m an undead skeleton!” the girl with the skull makeup exclaims proudly when it’s her turn.
“Very spooky…did you make your costume yourself?” Morana asks. “Or perhaps someone else raised you from the dead?”
“Well, my dad helped me with the makeup…” the girl confesses, as Morana selects a red apple drizzled with white chocolate from the tray for her.
“And what are you, little one?” Striga asks, eyeing the little girl who hangs back from the cluster of children crowded around the door.
She peers wide-eyed at Striga, then glances over at Morana, who is staring expectantly at her, as well. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out, except a set of false glow-in-the-dark teeth with fangs that are far too big for her.
“She’s a baby,” the boy in the hockey mask groans. “This is her first time trick-or-treating with us. Mom said I had to bring her along.”
Striga nods and places an apple in the boy’s basket.
“Oh, but she has been very brave to have made it through our maze!” Morana insists. “She deserves a treat, too!”
The other children puff up their chests a little, elbowing and accusing each other of wanting to turn back at the spider nest or the spooky tree or the empty coffins in freshly-dug graves.
“Vamp...vampire…” the tiny girl finally murmurs, after re-inserting and adjusting her teeth. She pulls her cape tightly around her shoulders and tries to narrow her eyes menacingly at them, and quickly becomes embarrassed and tries to duck back behind her brother. But he’s already following the other children down the porch steps, leaving her to face ‘The Sisters’ alone.
Striga raises an eyebrow at her, and smiles, revealing just the tips of her fangs. “The best costume we’ve seen all night, wouldn’t you say, my love?”
“Yes,” Morana nods, grinning at the girl to reveal her own sweetly-fanged smile. She looks down at her tray of apples. “Oh yes...I think this one, most definitely…” She picks up a beautiful blush-colored Pink Lady with flecks of gold leaf and stripes of caramel over the clear glossy candy coating and places it in the little girl’s basket.
“Fank you…” the little girl lisps through her oversized fangs, and then spins around, hurrying to catch up with the other children, who are already discussing their next stop -- the Becker house, where the old widow is known for handing out full-size Baby Ruths and, being that she is practically blind, you can usually grab more than one.
“Don’t forget to brush those fangs, darling!” Morana cries out to her. “With all these sweets, you wouldn’t want them to fall out before you've had a chance to grow into them!”
The little girl turns around to wave, but the two women have disappeared. Instead, a large black bird stands on the porch, its eyes fixed on her as it tilts its head curiously, accompanied by an oddly elegant-looking brown bat swooping above it, chittering excitedly. She swears she sees the raven wink one dark glowing eye at her before they take off together into the night.
...
“Did you see the apple they gave Josh’s little sister?” the gremlin asks one of its ghostly companions.
“Yeah. It’s not fair she got the prettiest one!” the ghost huffs beneath her sheet.
“They probably just felt sorry for her,” a kid wearing a single sequined glove and a red leather jacket waves dismissively.
“My mom says not to eat any candy that isn’t factory-sealed,” one of the other children, dressed in a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a broom says. “You never know what someone might have done to it. There are a lot of sickos out there...”
“Oh, come off it, Lindsey! Last year they gave out those fancy little cakes and nobody dropped dead or choked on any razor blades...” Skull-girl, who has already unwrapped hers and is about to take a bite, says.
---
Dun dun DUN! (No, they didn’t poison the children...)
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macgyvertape · 3 years
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Castlevania kinda had a pacing problem
spoilers for all of Netflix’s Castlevania. I haven’t seen much analysis for the show on tumblr, im honestly curious if discussions I had with irl friends mirror what fandom talks about
tldr: Castlevania seems inconsistently paced from season to season, and within season as well, leads to a lot of characters motivations feeling unclear so characters repeatedly explain why they are doing something while they’re doing it
overview of the seasons:
S1 I know somewhat of a test for Netflix but it has good main trio character establishment and sets the scale of the conflict
s2: pretty complete emotional arc for most characters and resolves the plot of killing Dracula while setting up additional characters to continue the story. Isaac, Hector, Carmilla all established with the audience as characters whose story would continue
honestly I would bet this is the most popular season
S3: s2 did a bit of worldbuilding, but this season really fleshed out the world with both a wide range of locations and exploring the question of “what now, Dracula is dead but vampires and night creatures remain”.
There were basically 4 plot threads: 1) Sypha/Trevor investigating the cult & Saint Germain; 2) Hector & Carmilla (also introducing Lenore, Striga, Morana); 3) Isaac’s journey of revenge & self discovery; 4) Alucard sits around the castle and is betrayed.
overall characters roughly feel like they are in the same place if not worse. A big criticism I saw at the time, which hold up after rewatching this before s4 is nothing felt resolved for the main characters
I would say this season is where the pacing issues start to become apparent, juggling 4 plot threads that lack a central theme or even mutual character connection. If there was a central theme it would be “humans are awful to each other”. The Judge doing Hot Fuzz style murders, The Wizard in the tower, Sumi & Taka
S4: it starts with the same 4 plot threads, though upfront it is made clear that the plot theme is “people are trying to resurrect Dracula”, and the progression of the plot works to resolve unrelated plot threads until the main trio reunites for the boss fights. To me and my friends watching it was obvious that the show would reunite the main trio, the question was how and how far into the run time.
Season 4 is why I’m writing this essay, for the past 2 days I’ve been like, yeah that character sure explained their motives repeatedly maybe with some philosophical discussion, but it’s just such a weird place considering where they were in s3
Alucard’s arc:
Where he was left in season 3, it was after killing people he had trusted in self defense and impaling their corpses. It was clearly meant to parallel Dracula’s dislike of humanity. However overall his character lacked a proactive motivating force.
Honestly the most interesting thing I found in s3 was Alucard clearly misses Sypha and Trevor, however they don’t miss him or refer to him
One reason Sumi & Taka betray Alucard is for the secrets and power of Castlevania. After inviting the village including St Germain who Alucard was warned of into the Castle, Alucard makes 0 effort to secure anything, not even his personal childhood room. Guess he really learned nothing
Discussing St Germain, I think it’s funny that they had a several minute flashback sequence for his lost girlfriend (who doesn’t have a name or a voice actor), to remind the viewer of who he is, and to justify how he’s suddenly back and down for murder.
In s4 there is the call to help the village, and the walk back to the castle is a montage of Alucard opening up to Greta and becoming friendly literally overnight. He laughs off the impaling, and basically all of the darker things he went through in season 3, which has me asking what was the point of his season 3 arc then? 
Honestly writing this I realize the biggest parallel he has with Dracula is the call to action from a bold woman with a dramatic entrance speech which then leads to a romance
Isaac’s arc:
in s3, with all the other themes of “humanity sucks” I was always unsure if the townspeople were meant to appear irrational while attacking a larger force instead of letting him pass through an leave, or him not caring about how he’s provoking them is meant to show his insanity
ive seen the discussion elsewhere, curious about the Discourse here
is s4 Isaac has the whole monologue about how he now has agency but him gaining that agency was his s3 arc. In s4 he’s already at the point of accepting it. By the end of s4 he’s one of those who comes the furthest from his first character appearance to his last.
s4e5 where of Isaac attacking Carmilla in Isaac’s 2nd appearance had him resolving like 4 plot threads at once (Carmilla, Striga& Morana, Hector, and Isaac himself).
but i do wonder if Trevor, Sypha, or Alucard even know any of these people exist. I think not
I was honestly confused if I missed a scene from his dialogue about building something and what is inherent nature, to “My plan has evolved, my plan is now conquest” because he only conquests the one castle and the rest is left unclear
Upon rewatch the connection there is “killing [the wizard] felt just ... I liked that feeling”, so the show says that Isaac in the end attacked Carmilla for the sake of justice and not revenge.
Isaac in his last conversation expresses the theme of s4 “build something new on these old bones, where people can live for the future”
however, his arc honestly feel scenes were cut, and then dialogue was written around it. He’s the only living character who doesn’t show up in the epilogue and the sentient night creature “what if I could empty hell” dialogue was some of the most interesting worldbuilding. Night creatures with sentience and possibility of regaining memories!!!!
The Council of Sisters & Hector’s arc:
oh I’ve already seen s4 discourse about Lenore/Hector while searching for character analysis, a chunk of it seems to be rationalizing the absolute difference between how s3 ended with these characters and s4. It was extremely confusing for me and my friends; wondering if 1) was Hector showing more emotional intelligence than before and putting on a facade to cover up hatred? Nope 2) did more time pass than 6 weeks for there to be some kind stockholm syndrome? No, Hector seems fine to let Lenore kill herself
The slave control ring: played up in the climax of s3 and easily solved s4. s3 Lenore says if he tries to harm them, flee, or take it off it would cause crippling pain, in s4 Hector just easily cuts off his own finger.
for a control ring that they take time to show a version being on the Rebus, it doesn’t do much controlling of Hector
also guess the definition of “do harm” just refers to direct action
Lenore in s4: has no purpose in conquest, has that useless remarked on by multiple characters, is imprisoned, then kills herself after a genre aware philosophical discussion. This essay is long enough, but what the fuck happened to this character who ended s3 clearly physically and sexually abusive? Seriously this was one of the biggest writing changes to the point where she was treating Hector as an equal. Compare her last words in s3 “shh the real people [vampires] are talking”. The change in the relationship is actually something I would have taken being shown, or atleast told of what exactly caused this change other than the vague “you adopted him”
Striga&Morana get the best arc of the Council. 3 scenes: the tent argument, Daybreak armor fight & argument resolution, declaration of feelings and turning away. You could argue Castlevania is plot to be connective tissue between fight scenes, but for all the dialogue about human resistance in different seasons it was nice to see it. Overall the scenes were short but had a lot of showing what their relationship is not just telling,
unlike Carmilla. For as much hyping up as they did with her, and as much power as she had, she only appeared in 2 episodes and no other group except Isaac knew about her military conquest.
the map scene where she states her motive for conquest of wanting to take things from old men is the key example of how characterization became tell not show. How interesting was that monologue compared to the past seasons flashback to her murmuring the old vampire lord, or all her repeated insults of men/man-children that shows how she judges people??
That monologue had to carry the weight of justifying the Sisterhood bonds falling apart as well as why her motivation changed from building a human pen from Styria to Braila to world conquest. I think it did so poorly
Sypha & Trevor
really Sypha & Trevor have the main plot in the show. I checked and post season 1 the only episode they don’t appear in is s4e6, which is entirely devoted to the Isaac, Hector, and Council of Sisterhood arc. Their partnership and adventures are the main plot of the show.
Its easy to see what Trevor’s arc was over the show: coming to peace with the deaths of his family, taking up the mantle of being a Belmont, and starting a new family with Sypha.
With Sypha I actually had to scroll through tv tropes for what is her character arc, and I guess hers is disillusionment from adventure and life outside the speakers? My friends joke that Sypha’s magic is what the plot demands to look cool in a fight, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Tangent: the ending of their arc was easy to guess: as soon as Trevor went to fight the final boss alone I literally said “oh i bet Sypha’s pregnant, Trevor’s doing a heroic sacrifice, theyll use the unexplained magical dagger mcguffin, and 60/40 odds that he goes through an infinite corridor to outright come back vs just the implication he might come back”
I guess my final thought of the show, was overall the SUPER Final Boss got my by surprise. It was a good twist I enjoyed. Not that Death appeared, I had guessed that from the heavy foreshadowing, but I was surprised by who it was, because I had thought I thought the characters involved feeling shoehorned into the plot was just more bad writing. The Alchemist who put St Germain on the path or murder for no discernible motive for helping? Sure gotta move the plot along. New Dracula court member Varney who has a whole introduction with almost every character he meets and banter about his smell? Sure thats basically how all characters talk with a snarky and acerbic voice.
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mythicamagic · 3 years
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Hey there~ I was just wondering, how are you feeling about Castlevania's ending? :)
Hii, ghostflora!
Well, it's a mixed bag. SPOILERS BELOW:
I think I'm torn because while I am happy many characters got their happy endings- I'm disappointed because it clashes with the pre-established tone and feels like there are absolutely no consequences for the main characters.
Season 3 and Season 4 may as well be different series for the amount of stuff they dropped or shoved under the rug; 
Lenore being confident and secure in her established role as a diplomat who can also kick ass? Now she's a fretting wilting flower who confides in Hector all her worries and insecurities. Despite him being ya know...her pet in Season 3.
Camilla being a confident, ruthless, intelligent woman? Now she's gone mad with power! Muhohaha! Makes it easyyy
Striga and Morana being die-hard loyal to their sisters? Pssshh they can leave them without a backwards glance in season 4. 
St Germain? Ehhh let's drop all intrigue and just say he's a simp who 'did it all for love' plus he's mad now too. Makes it easyyy
However I think the worst examples of arcs or themes being dropped are Hector and Alucard. Hector is now in love with Lenore despite every abusive thing that's happened to him. This wouldn't be a problem if it was shown as an abusive attachment- something he's done time and time again, trusting the wrong people- but nope, the cycle continues and we're expected to feel something when Lenore dies. Oh such sweet sorrow. 
Alucard though...oh my sweet boy. My sweet sweet boy. The writers have friggin tortured this poor man with trauma after trauma...only for none of it to matter pretty much by the end of episode 1 season 4. He's a 'little' cautious of people but give him a hot second and he's blurting everything to Greta and him impaling people who betrayed him on spikes is treated lightly. Again, he's like Hector in that he hasn't learned. He's trusting so quickly and easily by blurting his secrets because he’s so friggin lonely and desperate for connection. And I get that, I really, really do. But Season 3 may as well never have happened. There is no way he'd open up so quickly again after what he's been through, I'm sorry, it's shitty, rushed writing that undermines what happened to him. Alucard in season 4 is written as someone who is grieving, not traumatised. 
 If you want an example of a character whose trauma is handled well - look at Guts from Berserk. Even in the anime, which doesn't go into Gut's past (enduring rape) you can tell this guy has been hurt, badly. He won't allow touch, and he distances himself from everyone in the group. 
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When he does finally warm up to Casca and sleeps with her in the manga - he's triggered, and it's an extremely harrowing scene. I'm not saying Alucard's trauma needs to be deeply covered but fuck give us something. Otherwise it completely undermines what he went through.
A few - UWU I'm too shy to play with the children moments is so friggin tame. There's a reason the majority of fanfic writers apparently wrote Alucard as distrusting of humans and fearful of getting close to them- Because they get that Trauma. Has. Consequences. But yeah, aside from that I am very happy Alucard is surrounded by people at the end, since he's an extremely lonely character. It's a lovely thing that he gains a village and exactly what he needs. I just wish it had been handled better. 
Greta needed a flashback scene too, I wasn't particularly invested in her but that would've helped. The true MVP of Castlevania is Isaac though. Best arc and best culmination of his journey. His story flows well and I loved watching him.
I haven't been all too interested in Trevor and Sypha since season 2 but eh they were fine. The 'bickering' couple isn't my fav trope and Trevor seems two seconds away from referring to her as 'the old ball and chain.' 
And as much as I love my OTP for the show, my sun and stars, light of my life, monster boyfriend x human loving ass- I do think Dracula and Lisa should have died. And stayed dead. Like show Alucard seeing them in the netherworld being at peace. They could carve out a place for themselves in hell, Dracula has enough loyal followers there to do so. They could be content while also showing there are consequences. 
Because that's what this show used to be. It didn't shy away from showing the masses die and suffer. The main characters were no different. But now in season 4 they're suddenly exempt. I wouldn't mind the happy ending at all if it didn't clash so hard with the pre-established tone of other seasons where the past is framed as something golden and gentle...
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...but the present is awful and people must face harsh realities in order to carry on living.
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Again, if you want more examples of grimdark shows staying faithful to their tone, look at Berserk or Devilman Crybaby. If you want Castlevania's tone to change, then more emphasis on HEALING is needed. And that could be done by confronting trauma and moving on. I like Isaacs journey because it SHOWED that change.
I mean friggin Princess Tutu felt like it had more consequences for characters actions than this show. I personally think an ending similar to Madoka Magica (first series, I haven't seen any others) where everything is 'fixed' but there's still loss would be a more fitting end for what was built up in Castlevania. But yeah...I liked Death's character, Isaac's arc, Alucard’s ending and that the lesbians survived and kicked ass. Striga's scene with that armour was oof. That was cool. I LOVED seeing Dracula x Lisa again too (that scene of them being combined had me screaming at the tv going - No, no, NOOOO!) 
Everything else is like a big mess of feels. I want to like it, but I can't turn my brain off and ignore the writing flaws. So...ultimately I don't think I'll rewatch it again despite really liking the promise shown in the first few seasons. It's by no means a complete train wreck, but it is disappointing to me.
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luckyfirerabbit · 4 years
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Modern (non vampire) Strigana Au
(A great deal of this came out with my husband’s help @kamen-rider-zed, he’s my primary sound board and beta reader, so shout out to him) Also this quite long, so under the cut.
Still takes place in Styria, just modern day.
Carmilla is the owner of several developed properties, including the apartment complex where the others come to live. To her, wine is a legitimate food group.
Lenore is computer nerd/livestreamer. Works from home, kind of a space cadet but still as devious as always. Loves animals and had a tendency to bring home strays with the intention of keeping them or rehoming them. She also moonlights as Striga’s lifestyle assistant.
Striga is former military, medically discharge following a training accident; gunshot wound to the head, left her in a coma for several months and with short term amnesia that is unpredictably recurring. Tried to make it in the culinary industry following her discharge, but the rebounding memory loss saw to the end of that. Still an amazing cook, but hard to hold down a job when you keep forgetting you have one. Eventually she hooks up with another veteran -Welsh- who hooks her up as a bouncer at her club. She understands that Striga has issues and is patient with her. And Lenore helps Striga with a well honed system, namely by regularly texting her, making sure she’s together, and helping her get back home when she blanks.
Morana is a lawyer between jobs, primarily because she wants to get out from under her parent’s money and make a name for herself without them. Which also means going without their connections. So she lives out of her car for a while. She has a well versed background in the arts, namely dance, so she tries to get a side hustle with some of the local clubs, but they don’t exactly fit her particular style. What to do, right?
This is where it gets a little hazy, because I don’t have all the details, and if this ever gets written, it’s going to be a silly romance with over the top plot points and stuff. Anyway; Lenore and Morana know each other from somewhere, maybe they had some classes together at university or something. But Lenore invites Morana to come and stay with her and Striga, partly because it’s a good thing to do, and because Lenore is scheming her ass off from minute one because Morana is Striga’s TYPE.
Possibly a fake dating scenario? Lenore is kinda loaded from the live stream gig, and says she’ll pay Morana to ask her lonely-ass roommate out? I don’t know, all I know is that if that’s the case, Lenore is only able to convince Morana to do it by showing her a video of Striga crushing a watermelon with her thighs for a charity event. Something ridiculous like that.
(Unlike Shatranj, where Striga is a clueless demi, in this AU she would be the Useless Lesbian) Striga would come home to the new roommate, hearing her and Lenore discussing sleeping arrangements, and upon seeing said new roommate, Striga goes all monkey brain and blurts out “she can sleep in my bed. I will take the couch.” And she refuses to hear any arguments to the contrary. She simply insists that the couch is just fine, even though it isn’t even close to being big enough for her.
Proceed to Morana being a huge flirt and actually falling in love with Striga and her cooking and her biceps and Striga’s secret love of musicals and movies that Morana just-so-happens to share. “What were your plans today, Striga?” “Oh, I was thinking about watching Fiddler on the Roof and being mad at god for the rest of the day, why?”
Then there’s Striga who is just STUPID because of this beautiful woman in her house that she doesn’t know how to talk to but gets her movie references and accidentally heard her singing and JOINED IN for some reason. Whenever Morana does something SOFT, Striga mutters under her breath in Ukrainian “Marry me”, not realizing that Morana UNDERSTANDS (because I love secret multilingualism tropes) and that just makes Morana fall HARDER.
Then there’s the club where Striga works; Welsh wants to start open auditions on the weekends “We need fresh faces” she says. Striga doesn’t think anything of it until she sees this gorgeous dark-skinned and blue eyes woman on stage in a veil and jewelry making her HIPS do THINGS and then it hits her omg that’s my roommate and well shit, now what? All she can think to do is offer Morana a ride home (maybe she took the bus to get there?) And Striga rides a motorcycle because I said so there’s waist holding because those are the rules.
The flirting eventually turns mutual and it starts getting real and Striga feels like Morana might be the one, and life is good and she feels something like normal and she’s happy and it’s all because of her. But then the memory loss happens and she forgets all about her and it’s awful and Morana’s heartbroken. Never mind how often Lenore assures her that the phases are typically temporary. “Usually we just stuff her with a couple edibles and a xanax to knock her out and when she wakes up again she’s fine.”
Which is all well and good, but Morana begins to question whether or not she could live with that long term. How does one cope with being forgotten by the one you love?
But since I am an absolute romantic bastard, everything works out and Striga and Morana find a way and love each other and it’s awesome and soft and gay.
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drpsyche · 4 years
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I’m mixed on Castlevania Season 3, but I really liked Carmilla. She was a character I was meh on, but I loved how the show just leaned into “She’s got grand ideas and schemes but fucks up in incredible ways unless supervised.”
Her sisters love her, but they also need to make sure she doesn’t get them all killed.
Morana: “Carmilla… please, how much of this did you think through?”
Carmilla: “It was a solid plan, I just didn’t count on the Holy Water-”
Striga: “That you summoned without any means to protect our soldiers beyond ‘don’t fall in’.”
Carmilla: “I still took down swathes of Dracula’s vampire troops!”
Lenore: “And you also could have made an enemy of five different vampire clans from around the world by trying to assassinate their leaders.”
Striga: “And you still sought to fight an immensely powerful monster like Dracula, his crazy castle, a Devil-Forgemaster, and five Vampire Aristocrats... with a Forgemaster you can’t trust and an MIA Godbrand?”
Morana: “A probably dead Godbrand, let’s be fair.”
Striga: “Thank you dear, a probably dead Godbrand.”
Carmilla: “Look, if the castle didn’t cause a tidal wave-”
Lenore: “Even with a full army, could you have taken Dracula, Chō , and the rest? Not to mention any Night Creature the still loyal Forgemaster could make?”
Morana: “We lost our horses for this?!”
Carmilla: “Oh fuck all of you it was a fine plan!”
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