#forgemaster posting

[dammonsforge]

Alright. Finally taking the time to sit down and write this.

CONTENT WARNING FOR VARIOUS FORMS OF BIGOTRY (h*mophobia, tr*nsphobia, z*onism, etc) IN PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND SCROLL IF NEEDED.

Hello. For those of you who do not know me and have not looked at my page, my name is Dammon. I am a fictive alter in a medically recognized DID system. I am sourced from Baldur’s Gate 3 and anyone in the fandom who has been online recently has likely seen everything happening with my VA, Frazer Blaxland. It should be noted that I am not discussing this without evidence to support my claims, so screenshots and a thread relating to the matter will be available below the cut.

It has recently come to light that Blaxland is a TERF, seemingly homophobic, and supports Zionist creators and posts. This is obviously an issue, especially when the fandom is taken into consideration. Many of the vocal members of the fandom are queer in some way, along with some of the cast of the game itself. He has taken to profiting off of groups that he is hateful towards, and that is downright malicious if you think about it. Similarly, a large majority of the fandom is vocal and actively Pro-Palestine, which is currently experiencing a genocide (as we all know). The fact that he has such a large platform and is using it to be vocally against marginalized groups is very very dangerous.

As a fictive of a character that he voiced, I am taking this moment to remind everyone that my page is a safe space for Palestinians, people under the queer umbrella/lgbtqia+ umbrella, and people specifically under the trans* umbrella. I despise that the character I am sourced from has any connection to him, and hope that we can try to fix the hurt he has caused for this community.

Here is the text thread mentioned, and below are tweets showing different ways that Blaxland has been treating fans and the type of content/creators he has been interacting with.

Other posts I reblog/make about this subject can also be found under the #regarding frazer tag.

[chasseurlegendaire]

🗡️ Traitors don't deserve happy endings. Your days are numbered, Hector. You had your chance.

Talk to Hector! (send 🗡️ if you want)

Sometimes he hears that voice. His old Master. But Hector had preferred to just assume that it's not him, it's all his head toying with itself. Trying to rise paranoia in him.

It's been like this for years. He would hear Dracula's voice echoing in his mind, feel shadows over him having weight, his body remembering hands on his shoulder. On his knee. On his...

They really were gentle, like a lover. But they also were moments away from grasping his neck, tearing fang and burning gaze. His flesh is permanently marked in a way different than his partner. He existed for his Master's pleasure. Serve him and his needs in exchange... Hector would never be preyed upon again.

If only he could truly see that it was the Master who preyed upon him the most.

"I am aware." Hector speaks to the image of Dracula, in the middle of his mind. Should he stare, he's piercing through him. He is a phantom. This is his addled mind to make a prison for his darkest thoughts. Here he heals by destroying these images violently until there's nothing left and he can be left serene, naked to the light. Pure again. at least he can be.

In his head.

"Yet. I do not feel the need to be afraid anymore. I accept my fate."

[honeyed-lord]

tragic: the worst series you know has some incredibly cool power systems

[beevean]

So we were saying about N!Dracula being somehow more sympathetic than Dracula because he cares about his friend

[pinkmirth]

❤︎ ⋆ ࣪ ˖ 𝒞𝐻ℰ𝑅𝑅𝒴-𝒫𝐼𝒞𝒦𝐼𝒩𝒢!

𝒮𝑌𝒩𝒪𝒫𝒮𝐼𝒮 ⨾ a little looksie into the castlevania men and their particular preferences . . . aka, the unavoidable “ass or tits” question!

𝒞𝒪𝒩𝒯𝒜𝐼𝒩𝒮 ⨾ ( 800+ words of . . . ) multi!castlevania men x fem!reader (black coded); adrian ‘alucard’ tepes, trevor belmont, richter belmont, isaac laforeze, hector forgemaster, count olrox, mizrak, & vlad ‘dracula’ tepes; missionary, doggy, mutual masturbation, thigh-fucking, bdsm (spanking), explicit language, lowercase intended, minors shoo!

𝑀𝒴 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸 𝐿𝐸𝒯𝒯𝐸ℛ! ⨾ yes, i am being trivial and shallow because it’s fun & that’s a good enough reason! inspired by this post here; i just had to whip up something for our favorite wallachian men >.< please enjoy, and thanks for reading! 🎀

𝒜𝐿𝑈𝒞𝒜𝑅𝒟!

it’s far too obvious, i think; but he loves. him. some. boobies! adrian’s a tits man through and through, even if he’s got too much decorum to admit it. his actions say it all, though— he loves to lick them, knead them, tease your nipples with his teeth, rest his head between them, gently cup either one whenever he’s embracing you from behind . . . he’ll even motorboat them if he’s feeling naughtier than usual. now, that’s all out of pure habit. intimately, though? slotting his twitchy cock between your boobs is surely his favorite; and then there’s those times when he’s got you laid upon your back while he's situated between your spread legs, fucking into you from above. his cold palms lie at your waist, grip going tight whenever you squeeze around his pulsing dick, and his golden eyes are glued to your breasts like it’s all they’re good for. the way they bounce and jiggle with his pace is nothing short of mesmerizing. coming all over them in the end will make him lose his fucking head. whether it’s an unaddressed mommy kink or otherwise, he just can’t get enough of you (and the girls!) let him suck your titties and his entire day is made.

𝒯𝑅𝐸𝒱𝑂𝑅!

ass. completely, absolutely, undeniably, ass. he’ll smack it, eat it, grope it, anything. trevor pinches your butt whenever he wants to get a rise out of you, just to see how much you’ll blow up at him. (so what he finds it cute, sue him!) and, smacks at it whenever you’re feeding him an attitude. if he starts grabbing at it with rough palms, you already know what he wants; to fuck your shit up. unexpectedly, doggy’s the first position he’ll think to fold you into once you reach that bed. trevor curves over your arched frame, grinning at the ripple of your asscheeks against his pelvis. he’ll spit pure fucking venom into your ear while you take him. seals it off with coating your plump, pretty ass with his seed. the happiest man alive, he now is.

𝑅𝐼𝒞𝐻𝒯𝐸𝑅!

both! there are men out there who simply can’t bring themselves to choose, because both are far too precious; and richie’s one of them. how could you even expect him to pick? both parts of you are so soft, round, and feminine . . . if you allow him to get his hands on either, he wouldn’t mind in the slightest. this belmont’s skilled with his hands, might i add; his breast massages make you slump into him whine for more, and spankings don’t even feel like a punishment with him. as long as he can kiss down your body, mark the canvas of your flesh, and caress anything you’ve got in a pair of two, rich’s all yours.

𝐼𝒮𝒜𝒜𝒞!

thighs! it isn’t exactly a given option, but then again, this man isn't like the others. he loves the fullness of them, how warm to the touch they are whenever he rests a hand at your lap, and finds them to be the greatest pillow the entire world could offer. you stroking at his smooth scalp while he nudges his face into your thighs is his idea of paradise. speaking of, this man is king of thigh-fucking!!!! slots his cock in between the warmth of your inner thighs, urges you to keep them closed tight, and makes a mess of them by the time he’s done. his cum releases in streams, and spurts out to drip down your lap. but don’t worry, his tongue’s already out; as a gentleman, isaac always makes sure to clean up his messes.

𝐻𝐸𝒞𝒯𝒪ℛ!

tits! they’re perfectly squishy, which helps considering that he’s got loads of stress to rid himself of. one-finger less isn’t stopping him from giving the girls their much deserved attention! he’s slipping under your bra, brushing past your nipples, and kneading the mounds like he’s got nothing better to do. you know what’s his favorite thing to do with you and the girls? having you on your back with him kneeling above you, desperately tugging at his cock right before your face. you bring a hand down to swipe at your clit and match his pace; god, he swears you’re drooling. you suckle at his tip, and it’s enough stimulation to bring him to his peak. he’s then cumming all over your chest, some reaching your spit-streaked lips. has he ever mentioned how beautiful you look this way?

𝐵𝒪𝒩𝒰𝒮!

dracula simply adores thighs! a man of culture, this one is. as for olrox, he loves him some (man) titties. a nice, broad and firm chest is enough to put a smile on his face and a tent in his pants. then there’s mizrak, the ass-lover. grabbing it is his favorite past-time >.<

© 𝒫𝐼𝒩𝐾ℳ𝐼𝑅𝑇𝐻! ⸻ all rights reserved! do not steal, plagiarize or repost any of my works. please and thank you! 𝜗𝜚

[getosfavoritewife]

The Sun Always Rises

✮⋆˙ General Jing Yuan has a way of bringing sunlight to you, regardless of how much you avoid the warm rays. (1.5k words)

✮⋆˙ A/N: first post!! jing yuan has such a lazy/cozy feel and I'm still trying to gauge his personality so sorry if it's a bit ooc!!

✮⋆˙ Warning(s)/Content: forgemaster!reader; implications of mental health concerns (nothing heavy); can be read as platonic or romantic; fluffy fluff, teasing

✮⋆˙ jing yuan x gn!reader

Hearing three knocks against your door on a sunny winter evening could only signify one thing.

Not even trying to conceal the lack of surprise on your face, you open the door for your expected visitor; as usual, Jing Yuan greets you with a pleasant smile, hands comfortably clasped behind his back as he strides in like he owns the place, opens the curtains, and makes himself at home.

“Arbiter General,” you murmur, almost as if scripted.

“Forgemaster,” he replies in turn with a twinkle in his eyes, also as expected.

You don’t ask if he wants tea, opting to pour two cups and place them on the table as you both sit down. Forgemaster Yingxing had always taught you to be polite to guests, but that was a very long time ago, and Jing Yuan wasn’t just any guest.

“There’s a festival in Aurum Alley this evening,” Jing Yuan muses as he eyes the tea with interest, picking the small cup up as he gives the hot liquid a gentle blow and careful sip.

You know where he’s going with this, so at this point, the best course of action is feigned indifference and avoidance. “And you came all the way over here to let me know? Especially during such a busy day at The Seat of Divine Foresight?”

You take a ginger sip of the tea, grimacing as it burns the tip of your tongue, before placing it back down on the table. Master Yingxing’s tea was far superior to yours anyway—if he could see the hot garbage you’d brewed, he would have scolded your skills all afternoon.

Jing Yuan’s voice brings you out of your thoughts. “Astute as always. You should get out of the house more.”

“I leave the house,” you try not to sound defensive, squinting at the man sitting across from you. “I go to the forge every day.”

“Other than there?”

“And… I went to the market last week,” you grumble, rooting around in your brain for excuses. Lamely, all you come up with is a throwaway line about being too busy that you know Jing Yuan won’t buy. Anyone else would accept the lies that rolled off your tongue like second nature, but not Jing Yuan. He knew you and your habits all too well.

He stands up, dusting his pants off with a lazy smile. “Wonderful, grab your coat.”

“No, Jing Yuan. No.” You respond too quickly, shooting up as you wrack your brain for an excuse.

The softness with which he calls your name is lost to the roaring silence of the room and you know what face he’s making without even looking.

That corner above the cupboard really needs dusting. Master Yingxing would sneeze because of the dust, and he’d blame allergy season. Maybe tonight—

“Only for a little while,” he coaxes, as he swipes a strand of hair from obscuring your eyes. Maybe that’s what makes you meet his eyes: golden and full of life as usual, albeit with his dark circles that seemed worse than before.

“I’ll think about it,” you sigh tiredly, reaching up to run your fingers under his eyes. “You should sleep more, Jing Yuan. You look tired.”

A laugh rumbles out of him at that as he closes his eyes and leans into your touch. You can’t help but let the corners of your mouth quirk up in response. “Don’t let the others at The Seat of Divine Foresight hear you say that.”

“If only you would stop sneaking away at the sight of paperwork, maybe they wouldn’t be so wary of your work ethic,” you scold halfheartedly.

Jing Yuan simply watches you, an adoring smile peeking out that makes you want to push him away from you, embarrassed. Instead, you card your fingers through his hair, murmuring how his ribbon is coming loose as you free it from his snowy locks.

He sighs, letting his eyes flutter shut as you tug through his fluffy hair, replicating his usual hairstyle with practiced ease. You let your thoughts wander to when you used to re-tie his hair every day after it came loose during sparring while Master Yingxing went to go meet with sword master Jingliu and the others.

“How’s Yanqing’s training coming along?” Breaking the delicate silence, your voice always sounds unfamiliar these days; the results of less use, you suppose.

A golden eye cracks open to peer at you, and Jing Yuan lets out another sigh, this time more rueful. “You know how he tends to be. It still surprises me the speed with which he is able to pick up on new techniques and skills, but that obsession with winning and losing…” Jing Yuan trails off. “It’s like I say, if you treat him as a child, he'll put on the airs of an adult. If you treat him as an adult, he'll show the temperament of a child.”

“It’s a difficult age. Remember how you used to be?”

You bite back a snicker at the mock-offended look Jing Yuan shoots you.

“I don’t quite remember it like that,” he says. “I believe I was a joy to be around at every age.”

“I’m sure you remember it like that.”

“How else could you remember it?”

You take a break from playing with his hair to flick him on the forehead, at which he lets out a soft hiss, rubbing the small red mark and catching your hand before you can give him another one. “So mean.”

With a scoff, you make no move to remove your hand from his grip, letting yourself relax in his grasp. “You were nothing short of a terror. Anytime I tried to hang out with you it was always ‘Let’s spar here!’ or ‘Extra training is basically hanging out!’. I got so sick of you that I told Master Yingxing to stop meeting Master Jingliu when I was around.”

“Was I… really like that?” You can’t help but laugh at Jing Yuan’s face, ignoring the smile creeping onto his face at the sight of your laughter.

“All I’m saying is that he’ll grow out of it, just like you did. Kids are desperate to prove themselves at that age. You ought to praise him a little more,” you advise him softly.

“I give praise where it is deserved,” Jing Yuan places your clasped hands on his chest with fake affrontedness, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he huffs in amusement.

“Yet I am expected to praise you even when you are undeserving?”

“I hadn’t realized there were times where I was ever undeserving of praise?” You can’t help to smack him with the hand that was resting on his chest as he pretends to ponder.

“Speaking of Yanqing though—” you start before Jing Yuan interrupts.

“I thought we were speaking about me?”

The roll of your eyes seemed to simply be an intrinsic reaction to Jing Yuan’s teases after all these years of dealing with his painfully fatherly sense of humor.

“General.”

The pleased smile on his face only curled higher. “I’m listening.”

“As I was saying, Yanqing’s birthday is approaching this month. Maybe it’s time he finally receives a sword from the Forgemaster on his birthday this year?”

“I can already imagine his tears of joy. He still asks when he can meet you sometimes. I admit I have yet to give him an answer in fear that he will spend every moment not used for training to instead bother you incessantly at your forge.”

“Like father, like son, I suppose. Send him around—it’s truly no bother. It would also help me figure out a suitable blade for him.”

You pretend to not see the way Jing Yuan’s brows knit together at your teasing jab.

“Come watch us train sometime soon. To help you gauge his fighting style, of course,” Jing Yuan remarks lightly.

“Of course,” you echo. Giving him a look before sighing, you grab your coat off the hook, opening the door for him as you slip it on. “Only for a little while at the festival, please. And no buying or winning me anything while we’re there.”

Jing Yuan doesn’t even try to hide the smile unfurling on his face and you know the next words that come out of his mouth are bound to be an easy lie. “Wouldn’t dream of anything else, Forgemaster.”

From spending every free minute together as kids to only seeing him when he came knocking on your door every single day. No matter what happened, the sun always rose the next day. And no matter what happened, your Jing Yuan was always there.

thanks for reading!! ✮⋆˙

[candyswirls]

The Unbound Flame Pt 2

Previous - Next - Master Post

I got to see my nephew and newborn niece last week, so I got more ammo for this story! I get to see them again today!

Cute infant and an entire legion of Salamanders doting over him. Sometimes, in the grimdarkness of 40k, you need pure fluff.

Within just three days of his birth, a nursery had fully been set up. A crib and rocking chair had been forged rather quickly. The best scaled hides had been given to the infant primarch. He was swaddled in one and rested peacefully within his new crib. The flames underneath kept him substantially warm and cozy.

Tu'Shan leaned on the edge of the crib, watching the sleeping baby. Pouting lips occasionaly sucking the pacifier in his mouth.

Some of the nursing serfs offered to be wet mothers and help anyway they could. Many had great uncles or brothers who were astartes. Some were their mothers, taken care of in their old age.

One had even made a hat for the little primarch to keep his head warm. Woven together in traditional fashion. Each Salamander had a hat like that when they were infants. Made by a family member.

The old woman who had presented it did so with the utmost care and pride. He'Stan had taken it, knelt on one knee, and kissed her upon her forehead with gratitude.

Tu'shan dared to reach down and stroke Pyre's cheek with a finger. The babe intook a quick breath but didn't wake. He had to resist the urge to hold him. Others were waiting for when naptime was over.

There was no shortage of eager arms to hold and take care of the babe when he was awake. Especially as other companies and successor chapters flocked to the ship and learned that the relic was an infant. Others already waited on Nocturne for their arrival. He was eager to see their shock and rejoicing.

Many brothers would rush to finish their tasks, dress in casual clothes, and come racing down.

Guards had to be posted at the door and access limited. So many battle-brothers just wanted to see and gush over him. Pyre would sense their combined excitement and get upset.

The door slowly slid open and barefeet tiptoed in. No matter how sneaky and careful a marine was, armor was too noisy.

Vulkan He'Stan moved next to Tu'Shan, beaming as soon as he saw Pyre.

Still sleeping soundly? He'Stan asked in sign.

Tu'Shan answered, Yes. For an hour now.

He'Stan nodded.

Napping is needed for a baby, but I also want him awake and seeing everything.

I am in agreement, Tu'Shan nodded. I don't think he'd share the same sentiment, though.

The forgemaster nodded. Pyre was more than willing to fall asleep. Waking him, however, was like unleashing a flame thrower. He was incredibly grumpy and would cry if his slumber was disturbed.

A ferocious yet cute salamander.

It was best to wake him when it was time for feeding. It helped calm him down, but that would not be for a bit.

No other legions have been notified yet, He'Stan informed him. Once on Nocturne, I want only the Primarch Roboute Guilliman notified of his nephew. We must protect The Unbound Flame at all - look at his expression!

Tu'Shan looked down to see Pyre scrunching his brows. It was very cute, but he wondered why he'd make such a face. The answer came as the babe grunted, and a sound near his bottom happened. The little primarch then relaxed, having accomplished his mission.

He'Stan stifled a laugh.

Tu'Shan sighed, I fear we will run out of diapers before reaching our destination.

He'Stan was about to answer back when Pyre grunted again, followed by another fart.

The forgemaster sunk to the floor as he covered his mouth.

Pyre whimpered and began to squirm. Pink eyes fluttered open, and he began to cry.

"Why, hello there!" Tu'Shan greeted.

He picked him up and held him close to his chest. He'Stan chuckled lowly.

"Let's get you changed and head out. I am pleased you woke up on your own." Tu'Shan said.

Pyre just cried. Unhappy at his creation just now and the fact that he was awake. He practically demanded a clean diaper.

Once changed, Pyre was brought out of the room. His angry crying alerted everyone of his coming.

Rows of eager astartes lit up upon seeing the infant. Each vying for the chance to hold him. The deck was dead silent so as not to scare him.

Suddenly, they parted, allowing a serf to bring forth a large bottle of milk wrapped in scale leather.

He bowed, "The head matron bid this be brought to the infant."

"Thank you," Tu'Shan smiled as he took it. It was boiling hot, just how Pyre liked it

He handed Pyre over to the first unarmored brother before him, who had been waiting patiently. The baby whimpered but subsided.

Pyre caught the smell of the steaming milk and began crying again, pursing his lips to ask for it.

Tu'Shan removed the pacifier and replaced it with the bottle. Pyre calmed down and kicked a leg.

"Someone certainly was hungry," he chuckled. "Not too fast, little flame. You'll spit it all up."

Pyre let out little hums as he ate. His pale eyes opened and looked up at the astartes holding him.

"Hello, little flame," he cooed. "I'm one of your big brothers. How cute you are."

Others crowded around the two.

"He's going to be big like our Father," one commented.

"I always loved how newborns' eyes are pale and not fully red yet," another added.

One reached a finger down to the little Primarch's hand. Pyre grabbed it tightly.

"A strong grip," he chuckled. "He will do well in the forge."

Pyre finished just before the bottle was empty. He smacked his lips and began blowing white bubbles.

The brother holding him laughed and adjusted Pyre across his chest and shoulder.

"Easy as you get him to burp," one said.

The brother with Pyre assured, "Worry not. I will be gentle. My prosthetic is covered, so he won't feel the cold."

Pyre blinked, taking in his surroundings and the view over the shoulder. Tu'Shan moved in closer so that he could see him.

"Hello, little flame," he grinned. "All better now?"

Pyre burped, and spit up came out.

"Hope that doesn't corrode your prosthetic, Sa'Kan," a brother teased.

Sa'Kan smiled as he continued patting Pyre's back, "Forged this arm myself. I'd be more worried about the finish of the floor."

Brother Chaplain Kaj'Un came forward with a rattle.

"And how is our little Unbound Flame?" He cooed. "Oh, is he so much better now that he's eaten?"

He shook the rattle slowly, and Pyre's eyes grew wider.

"Gah," he said. "Ah gah."

Kaj'Un nodded. "Oh, really? Is that so?"

He tried scooting forward but still lacked the motor skills to do such. Kaj'Un chuckled and pressed a kiss to his soft chubby cheek.

Pyre hummed, then made another sound, "Oooh."

Several other Salamanders copied him, chuckling at his surprised expression. His head wobbled, Sa'Kan helping to brace his neck.

He made another test sound, and the battlebrothers copied once more.

His little face scrunched up; lips pouting, eyes squinting, brows furrowing. Soft cries escaped him, and a chorus of "awww" followed.

Kaj'Un shook the rattle again, causing Pyre to forget being upset momentarily.

Tu'Shan eyed the ever growing group of astartes.

"I assume you've completed all your duties for the day?" He asked aloud.

Some astartes froze, and others began stammering about taking a short break. A few nearly slumped as they retreated. But his favorite reaction was Pyre's. He lifted his head a bit, recognizing the chaptermaster's voice.

A pang of sorrow went through his hearts. They needed to find the other relics and fast. He didn't know if he could bear the thought of their Primarch missing out on anymore of his child's life. Especially at this stage.

A serf caught his attention. He sat to the side and had paper and charcoal in hand. He was creating a likeness of Pyre. Yes. They would document as much of this as they could. He was so very cute after all.

[kradogsrats]

The Mystery of Blacksteel Sanctum: A Retrospective

So, I loved TDP: Xadia, right? And my no-question favorite region was the Border: best environments, best NPCs, best-ish puzzles (look that ones a close call, okay), and best, most lore-rich story... which, in true TDP fashion, winds up raising more questions than it answers.

This post, and the thought I've put into it, are kind of my love letter to that story... and the other people who loved it, or could have loved it.

So: let's talk about what was going on in Blacksteel Sanctum.

Catch-Up Summary for Non-Players

If you played TDP: Xadia during its brief lifespan, you can skip this section. But to bring anyone who didn't up to speed:

In the Border region, a joint effort is underway to establish and secure reliable routes for crossing between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms. This is challenged by two fronts of enemies—magma crawlers, an aggressive part-bug and part-crab pest species infesting the area, and Saranar and the Dawnbringers, a faction of rebel Sunfire elves hostile to the new peace. The missions for the region are thereby divided into two "plotlines" directed by accompanying NPCs: the crawler plot, led by human rogue zoologist Mervyn and ending with the Crawler Queen boss, and the Blacksteel Sanctum plot, led by Sunfire elf Knight Ravna and ending with the Blacksteel Forgemaster boss.

Got it? Okay.

Digging for the Truth: Blacksteel Sanctum Basics

After first encountering the (sealed) Blacksteel Sanctum beneath the surface of the Border, Ravna expresses shock that not only is the Sanctum here, but that it's even real. She summarizes its story as:

This is a fairly standard Atlantis-style story—a place of legendary technological or magical wonders, brought low by some calamity and its secrets lost forever. In this case, it's reportedly where the Sunfire elves started their journey as master smiths of magically-enhanced weapons and armor, but also largely considered to be a myth.

Knowing that Blacksteel Sanctum was real, can we determine what was actually being made there? Well, there's a prominent crossroads location in the Blacksteel Sanctum mission maps, a setpiece room featuring a massive, gilded statue:

(That's not the room, but it is the same statue. Because of the way the game's camera and controls were set up, the statue was excruciatingly difficult to get even halfway-decent screen captures of in its in-game setting.)

Between the statue and the prominent, repeated use of the rune from Janai's Sunforge blade sheath as a decorative motif, it seems likely that Blacksteel Sanctum is the place where the first of the so-called "Sunforge" blades were, uh, forged. That technique was then either passed to or replicated by the Sunforge smiths.

There's even an answer for how Blacksteel Sanctum could compete with the Sunforge in magical power: in one of the magma crawler storyline missions, Mervyn concludes that "the same primal magic that led the ancient elves to build Blacksteel Sanctum here has attracted the crawlers." That source, whatever it is/was, made Blacksteel Sanctum's forges powerful enough to craft the first of the ever-burning blades that would later only be achievable with the Sunforge.

However, what should be considered the real trademark creation of Blacksteel Sanctum (as we shall see) is one Ravna is entirely unfamiliar with: those autonomous combat golems. She initially assumes they are strange suits of armor, and is astonished when they are able to move and fight, which suggests that not only did this technology never leave the Sanctum, it wasn't even preserved in the legends... and may have been deliberately excluded. At the same time, the golems are clearly the weapons the Dawnbringers are looking for, with Saranar stating her intending to march an army of them to retake Lux Aurea (after eliminating the humans and loyalist Sunfire elves securing the Border, of course). This raises the question: how exactly did the Dawnbringers find out about them? (Put a pin in that, we'll come back to it.)

Bearing Her Mark: The Forgemaster

In what is learned from exploring the Sanctum, a single significant figure emerges: the Forgemaster. She appears in a couple of recurring murals (technically they're on the floor, probably since that's the easiest area for the player to see), depicted as a radiant, almost queen-like leader of legendary stature:

Who appears to even send her people into battle:

This could just be figurative, in that she's sending forth Sunfire elf warriors through equipping them with the best and most powerful weapons. It's also very unclear who the enemy they are fighting actually is—the blocky, hooded figures contrast with the horned elves in a way that suggests they might be humans, possibly including dark mages?

Possibly confusing the timeline even more, the clearest reference to the Forgemaster as an actual person is the Signet of the Forgemaster item and its text:

All of Lux Aurea knew that armor bearing her mark would be as strong as her will.

From this, we know that the Forgemaster lived at a time contemporary with Lux Aurea—which doesn't actually tell us a huge amount, given that Elarion stood for a thousand years or more and Lux Aurea is no doubt even older. Did she leave Lux Aurea to establish Blacksteel Sanctum? Was this before the Sunforge, or maybe before the Sunforge was an actual forge-forge? If magical smithing was unknown to the Sunfire elves before Blacksteel Sanctum, presumably the Sunforge either didn't yet exist or was used for other purposes.

The problem is mostly that we don't have any real concept of what "ancient" means to elves. If we the Blacksteel Sanctum murals depict dark mages, that would mean that it can't have been buried more than 1,000 years, unless we're going to reject the conventional understanding of when dark magic entered the picture. Is 1,000 years ago considered "ancient" for elves? I wouldn't expect it to be, but realistically we just don't know.

(That being said, for Blacksteel Sanctum to have been founded shortly after the continent was split for the expulsion of humans would explain things like the discovery of a buried source of primal magic, unearthed by the massive geologic shift. The part I can't wrap my head around is the idea that the Sunfire elves didn't discover magical smithing until the same time that humans were being given dark magic... but I could get used to the idea.)

Anyway, in addition to this mysterious figure of the past, there's also, y'know... this Forgemaster:

I.e., the "Blacksteel Forgemaster" golem, the first region boss encounter for the Border.

Story-wise, the Forgemaster golem is first referenced in an encounter with a Dawnbringer group that it exterminated, where the dying captain speaks of a "gleaming giant" defending the lower reaches of the Sanctum from exploration. Ravna confirms this account, and declares that the golem must be eliminated for further investigation of the Sanctum. Even at this point, it's not exactly a secret that there's a connection between this golem and the Sanctum's master smith:

This is made even more explicit after defeating the golem, when Ravna reveals that she went to inspect its remains, and it reactivated at her touch to deliver a message:

Now, Ravna seems to think that this was essentially a pre-recorded message stored in the golem, which is otherwise autonomous, but mindless. However, having played a video game or two with very similar plotlines... even if it's not where things start out, someone always eventually starts stuffing souls into these things. Personally, I have no doubt that this was the Forgemaster herself, or whatever shreds of her remained. This is also the first place we get an explicit reference to the Sanctum's downfall—that the Forgemaster herself went too far, and that horrible act, whatever it was, led to the Sanctum being abandoned.

Ravna is sympathetic to the Forgemaster golem's plea to let the Sanctum's secrets remain buried, and decides that once the scattered remnants of the Dawnbringers are cleared out, all exploration will end. She intends to return her full attention to the mission that really matters: securing the Border crossings and the shared future of humans and elves.

This is a fairly typical "act one" soft ending for a video game plotline that will be picked up again later—I very much doubt that it was intended to be the final, decisive ending of the story of Blacksteel Sanctum. My bet would be that the eventual TDP: Xadia roadmap would have included additional story arcs for each region, with new bosses and some new missions, maybe another mission map... something like that. These would be either a new story, probably sharing some of the same characters, or a continuation of the first "resolved" story from that region. For example, I would expect the Far Reaches to have a second act not centered around the Natamus, since that plot was pretty well wrapped up (though it could be opened again), but possibly following up on Zeph's mysterious backstory and departure at the end of the first arc.

For the Border and Blacksteel Sanctum, an obvious hook for act two would be for the Sanctum's true secrets, their awakening set in motion by the Dawnbringers, to finally started crawling up to the surface. Because I don't think the Forgemaster's golem was there only to keep intruders out... there's something down there that she was also intended to keep in.

Shadow and Flame: The Sanctum's Fall

(Oh, did you somehow think you were getting out of this without a Khazad-dûm reference? You were wrong.)

So the Forgemaster golem confesses to Ravna that she and her smiths did "something unforgivable," spurred by their own arrogance in considering themselves all-powerful, and their continued hunger for more knowledge and power in spite of that. However, there have also already been hints of a dark secret to the Sanctum, probably related to its decline and/or fall.

One is made nice and obvious in the form of the Sins of the Sanctum item, presented as a book and providing a one-line excerpt:

"... its moral heart did die and rot, but oh! Its fire and flames did not..."

Another, a bit more subtle, is the region armor set shared by Soren and Viren, which offers three ominous lines:

Something echoes in the metal. Does it sing, or does it scream? What did they bury down there beneath the earth?

Finally, and most importantly, there's what I'm just going to refer to as the "dragon forge." At the end of a story-oriented mission to escort Ravna herself while she explores the Sanctum, she calls out the final room in a pretty suspicious way:

Ravna links the Sanctum's most prominent forge with dragons, while Sins of the Sanctum links dragons, or a dragon, with the Sanctum's fall. There's also the reference in her original summary of the Sanctum's legends that one possible reason for its disappearance is that it was "destroyed by jealous dragons."

The draconic theme isn't the forge's only unusual feature, either:

It's worth noting that she delivers the line about its size immediately after you've defeated a giant mission-boss golem, so she's familiar with just how big those golems get. Based on the size and power of that golem, she also comments that her ancestors "clearly wanted this particular forge protected." We're meant to understand that whatever was made in this giant, dragon-themed forge was somehow special, and likely tied to the Sanctum's most prominent works... including the one that led to its downfall.

This is the room in question, by the way, or close enough to it:

I'm not sure whether the stuff around the very perimeter is the same as in the game, but the dragon-themed forge itself and the floor pattern are accurate.

Ravna doesn't comment on the floor pattern, but I'm going to, because that center floor image is the main section of another mural that appears repeatedly throughout the Sanctum environment. It's on walls, banners, and floors, basically anywhere that a space needs to be filled. (The Forgemaster murals appear far more rarely, really only in specific areas.) With screenshots being both difficult to frame and not the best resolution, this non-game render is the clearest image of it:

It's easy to look at this and say "well, obviously that's the confrontation between Ziard and Sol Regem," except... it's not. Or if it is, it's not a depiction that makes any sense at all. Because look, if Sunfire elves know how to represent one thing in their decorative and architectural motifs... well, okay, back up for a second. If Sunfire elves know how to represent one thing, it's the sun. However, if they know how to represent two things, those are the sun and Sol Regem's horns. So unless everyone down in the Sanctum somehow forgot what Sol Regem looks like, that's not Sol Regem.

(There are actually no visual references to Sol Regem's horns in the entirety of Blacksteel Sanctum, aside from statues of juvenile dragons with only two horns in the same shape. Considering just how many there are in all other Sunfire architecture we've seen? That's weird. Like weird to the point that I wonder if it indicates some kind of schism between the Sanctum and Lux Aurea specifically about dragons.)

Additionally, the mural shows a massive, jagged hole in the dragon's chest, which is not something that happened to Sol Regem in the confrontation with Ziard. It's not 100% certain, but it seems to me that it makes more sense to interpret the central orb as being ripped from it, rather than being thrown at it. This is the imagery that is centrally and visibly featured in the dragon forge.

So we have 1) some terrible act by the Forgemaster, 2) the Sanctum's most prominent and unique forge being dragon-themed, 3) depictions of a dragon rent asunder, and 4) references to something buried in the depths, with fire and flame persisting beyond mortality.

Just to seal the deal, we also, if you do the kind of extensive ArtStation dive that I did, have this piece of concept art:

As Ravna says, the dragon forge goes "beyond armor and weapons for elves," and in this concept we have what appears to be pieces of armor for a dragon. Obviously it would be a pointless exercise to arm a dragon with forged weaponry, but could they have tried to armor one? What would be so unforgivable about dragon armor?

But wait, what did Ravna herself mistake for armor, when first entering the Sanctum? That's right.

They built a goddamn dragon golem.

Furthermore, as with the Forgemaster golem, they definitely put some piece of an actual, living dragon into it. Whether that was its heart, or its spirit, or something else, it was torn out and caged in metal. This could have been a malicious attempt by the Forgemaster and her smiths to enslave a dragon into their own control, or it could have been an altruistic attempt to save the life of one that had been torn apart by something else (dark mages?) by playing god. Either way, it seems that it went... quite badly. Badly enough that the Forgemaster not only had the Sanctum sealed and abandoned, but also put herself into a golem the same way, so she could stand as an eternal guard against her creation ever escaping or being freed.

Unfortunately, I would bet money that the dragon golem has already been awakened (probably by the magma crawlers). Remember the question of how the Dawnbringers knew about the golems? Well, as Saranar lies dying, the golems having proved to be uncontrollable and turned on her, she says this:

Someone a) knew about Blacksteel Sanctum, a place Ravna wasn't certain was even real, b) knew about the golems still remaining there, something Ravna had never so much as heard legends about, and c) promised the Dawnbringers power and victory, should they breach the Sanctum and take the golems for themselves. This could be the plot of an unusually well-informed external actor manipulating the local gang as cannon fodder to access some heavily-guarded secret, except they already ran that exact plot in the Far Reaches with Vant and Margot over the Natamus. I think it's more likely that the dragon golem has found a way of communicating with the outside world, and brought the Dawnbringers to the Sanctum knowing that they wouldn't stop digging for more power and weapons until they inevitably went too far and unearthed it. With the Forgemaster golem defeated, the last true line of defense for either direction—into the Sanctum or out of it—is now gone. Like I said, it's an excellent set-up for a second act.

I mean, as the Dragonbreath Embers item puts it:

Go on. Let them out. Surely nothing bad will happen.

So yeah! We'll also probably never find out if any of this is correct, since even if the game never re-launches or continues, anyone who could tell us anything is almost definitely legally prohibited from doing so... but we may have been robbed of an eventual epic boss battle with a golem dragon, among the countless other things that were in TDP: Xadia's future. THANKS, NETFLIX.

—

Speaking of people under NDA, here are the TDP: Xadia artists whose public portfolios were invaluable to researching and making this post:

Marvin Tischler

Alice Cho

Jacinta Vu

Guillaume T. Delbarre

Margaret Dost

Nelson Dou

Rebecca Blessing

Sara Lansdell

[alpaca-clouds]

Some Observations about Nocturne Trailer 2

Netflix, why are you doing this to me? Why can't you be normal about this and just release like two scenes as a preview before the release - instead of dropping a whole new trailer on us three days before season 2 drops. *sighs* Why are you doing this? My hyperfixation forces me to write an analysis. Also: Why so many complicated shots? This makes it so hard to reduce it down for tumblr's 30 pictures per post. *goes to scramble pictures together*

So, yeah, to keep it under 30 pictures, I put screenshots together. Just so you know.

We start of the trailer with a couple of shots of Erszebeth. It is not quite sure of those shots are from one scene or multiple scenes. Though it seems to me that at least the two I edited together above might be from the same scene, probably in the first episode of the new season. Erzsebeth learning that Drolta is dead, from all that we can tell. And it is noticable that Erszebeth is back to her normal form once more. A bit more on that later.

We then see multiple shots of our protagonists in some ruins that from all we can tell are outside of Machecoul. It almost looks from some of the things that the ruins might be the Chateau de Machecoul. Though I am not sure if that makes sense. The position should be about right. If it really is the Chateau it is funny, because it actually belonged to Gilles de Rais once. As you might know, I wondered when Nocturne was announced was announced whether Gilles de Rais would show up, given it is France and Gilles does feature as a villain in some of the games. It does not seem so, but at least my history nerd self wanted to call out that this castle once belonged to him. :P

I am certain that this scene also is from episode 1 of the second season. Probably one of the first scenes int the new season, as they probably check in with Alucard exchanging information about what happened and so on.

We then get a couple of shots that seem to all come from the same scene: The resurrection of Drolta as a night creature. The lighting makes it clear that it is the same scene, and it is the hell machine that Emmanuel somehow got. I do wonder if we get an answer this season where that machine came from.

At least this seems to make it clear, that indeed vampires can be turned into night creatures. At least with this machine. Not quite that sure about the forgemasters like Hector and Isaac.

Something I am starting to wonder: Is it part of this specific machine that it just puts the same soul back into the body again? Because we know it for certain that Edouard, Jacques and now Drolta have the same soul once more in the same body, despite the monster transformation. So this makes me wonder if EVERYONE revived with the machine has the same soul again...

We also see the eclipse end and several shots of Erszebeth grimacing, which makes me wonder if she loses the control over her god-form right at the beginning of the episode. Not quite sure about what is happening there.

We have a couple of shots of Alucard, Richter, Annette and Juste in front of Juste's home. In some of them the house is burning, in the others it has stopped burning. I am going to assume that after the first check in everyone parts ways and Richter decides he wants to check on Juste - so this group heads over to Juste. We see a couple of dead bodies. I am right now not quite certain if the dead bodies are the vampires that Richter and Juste fight together in S1 or another bunch of vampires.

Then we have a couple of shots at the Chateau of the Marquis with Erszebeth, Tera and Olrox. I would also not be surprised if this is in episode 1 or 2. Fairly early at least. Something that is noticable: Erszebeth and Tera are out in the light during what looks like day, while Olrox still sticks to the shadows. It would make sense that Erszebeth is immune to sunlight and that Tera has now inherited this from her.

We also have some shots at the Chateau at night, where Emanuel and the night creatures are there. Also noticable, as @mysteryanimator pointed out: Thyme is here. The girl that Drolta picked out for Erszebeth in season 1 (and who now is clothed in the same colors like Olrox). I wonder if she is a vampire now.

And there is anohter shot sequence at the Chateau, once more clearly a different scene. We see night creature Drolta fly over the Chateau and then an army of night creatures and vampires. I am fairly certain that this is a scene that takes place fairly close to the finale. Basically the typical mustering of the army that so often happens before a big finale. Though I guess... I am not sure. If they do not have a transmission mirror, an army at the time would march at least two weeks to reach Paris from Machecoul... And I am fairly certain that the finale happens in Paris.

Now, one scene that I am not fully sure about: We have a French Repubilican army (Blues) in a daylight fight scene. We do not know who they fight - outside of Drolta that is. So right now I am very confused about the context. This is probably a mid season action scene. But I really have no idea right now where this fight might be happening.

Now, I am assuming we are still in 1791~1792 like season 1. But still, the fact that the show takes place in Machecoul is probably not an accident, as it is the place where the War in the Vendée (the biggest massacre of innocents in the French Revolution happened) took place.

We also have a couple of shots of people in a street (Annette, Richter and Alucard among them), with Blues standing guard. I would argue this is close to the finale and Paris.

Now, here is something interesting: We see this beast in the trailer, which seems to be the same beast as in the poster. And it is not a bear, it is a wolf. I have heard some speculation that it is the Beast of Gauverdan, but I do not think so. Though I am wondering what is up with this wolf.

This happens in the same stone circle as Maria's introduction in the show - and the same scene we also see Juste and Tera fight in the trailer. And if you direct your attention between the legs of the beast, you see Tera is standing there.

So I am going to assume that Maria is crashing the fight - and then somehow this beast shows up. Probably one of hers. It is clearly magic. But right now... I am not sure what is up with it.

Then we have these shots of Olrox and Mizrak, this time in what looks like a sunrise. And in an interesting reverse of the scene in the last episode of season 1 now it is Mizrak who is crying while looking at Olrox.

I have no big theories here, but I am just so looking forward what the two of them will do in this season.

We have also these shots of night creatures marching. As the sky is read above, this seems to be also in the finale - as the red sky shots are pretty certainly happening in the big finale.

I am assuming this is Paris, as I said. And I might be mistaken, but I think the building to the right of the first screenshot might be Notre Dame?

But it is nice to see the night creatures fighting on the good side as well.

Then we have a couple of shots of Juste - clearly from a couple of different scenes.

Again, we had this long discussion about what flowers that are. And I will still argue: To me this looks like Prunus 'Kanzan'. A variant of the Japanese cherry blossom. There was some discussion whether it could be a peach flower or an almond. But the Kanzan bloom looks the most like the one in the screenshot.

We also see that Juste has this one ring - more later. And again the screenshots of him and Tera fighting.

Also, is it me or is he using Alucard's sword in the fight scene?

Then through the trailer there are a couple of shots that seem to be from the same scene of Maria fighting someone in a church and then summoning Seiryu there, while her eyes turn black and her magic looks quite different as well.

And now with this scene I am not quite sure when it could happen within the show. Because this looks like the church in Machecoul (if it is the same church that stands there today, the church is by the way named St. Meme, which I, a millennial who is too much online find quite funny).

But I really wonder why Maria is back in that church. Does she confront Emmanuel again? Is she gonna kill him?

Then there is this short scene of Alucard warning a group of formally clothed people of the army of vampires and demons approaching. And I do not want to lean to far, but I am almost certain that these people might be the National Assembly in Paris. If it is, this would be interesting, because it would mean that some interesting historical figures might actually show up in this!

There are these two money shots, but they are clearly during the final battle. What else is there to say? Mirroring between Alucard and Richter.

We then also see Alucard commanding the Blues probably also during the Battle of Paris, clearly against Erszebeth and her army. That army we also see a couple of shots.

I kinda love the color layout for those shots from the finale. With all the colors except red and blue being very desaturated. Love that style going on.

And mind you. Of course: Red is the color of the vampires here, and blue the color of Richter. But also Red, White and Blue are the tricoleur. Which is just A+ for theming for the guys at Powerhouse!

There is also this shot of Mizrak running towards a battlefield. From the colors going on this is probably the battle of the Blues against Drolta and whoever Drolta is fighting together with. There is another shot after this, which shows Mizrak being shocked. And I am almost certain that the scene of Mizrak and Olrox we saw earlier takes place after this battle.

I am wondering really who the Blues here are, and why Drolta is fighting them. I am assuming Mizrak might try to warn them that they are about to fight demons and is too late? I am not quite sure.

Then we have this sequence of Olrox being forced to kneel before Erszebeth finally. This seems to take place at the Chateau of the Marquis - so still in Machecoul. So I am gonna assume that this also takes place fairly early. Probably within the first four episodes.

I am going to go out on a limb and say this scene does not end well for Olrox. Because I am almost certain that Erszebeth and Drolta kinda know already he is working against them. He might have to flee in the end?

Okay, let me talk about something. We see this one scene of a Black woman in Egyptian garbs raise a chalice and also shots of a woman turning into something after having drunken from a chalice. Some people guess this is both the same scene and is the turning of Drolta, but I am not fully certain.

Mainly because the one woman has straight hair and also a bit lighter skin than Drolta. Though I would not be surprised if the chalice is the same. But yes, I am sure that the screenshot of the kinky haired woman is in fact Drolta's turning, which kinda makes me think that I am right and we will indeed see the backstory of how Erszebeth and Drolta met and how Erszebeth came to drink from Sekmet! :P

As I said, I am almost certain that the reason that Drolta is back is because we need to learn from her how Erszebeth came to be.

Though I do have to wonder what the context is. Because we definitely see Alucard and Richter fighting Drotla underneath a red sky in what probably is Paris. Which would probably mean that Drolta is still fighting with Erszebeth during the finale...

Then we have also these few shots. Which is clearly some sort of museum or private collection where Richter and Annette are fighting some night creatures. It is an Egyptian collection, and I guess they are there because they try to find out what the hell is going on with Erszebeth and what is up with Sekmet. Probably somewhere in the middle of the season.

Given that Maria is not here, I wonder if the "Maria in the Church" scene might happen in the same timeframe.

Some more shots from the battle - probably in the finale. Bonus point for the street barricade. Do you hear the people sing?

There is also this very short shot. And this one makes me wonder. Because this does not look like a collection or a museum, this looks like it happens outright in Egypt. Of course there is a chance that this might happen either in the Otherworld (I might have very much the suspicion we might have the characters go there). But it could also be that Alucard has travelled to Egypt before coming to France trying to find something out about Sekmet. And this could be a flashback then? I am not sure.

There is also this shot. I think this is in the church in Machecoul, which might also mean that he is with Maria when she summons Seiryu. The thing glowing here is clearly the ring that we saw before on his finger. Given that in the game he has a matching bracelet with Lydie and Maxim, it might be a callback to that.

I am assuming too that this is the scene in which he regains his magic - as later on we see him using magic.

Then there is this sequence with Annette. This clearly is in the "realm of the anchestors". And I am going to go out on a limb here: I am almost certain that "realm of the ancestors" and "the otherworld" and such will probably be the same place here. We saw Annette there once in season 1, but as I said before: I assume that Richter and Maria might also eventually learn how to connect to this.

And I am assuming that here Annette is going to have some sort of revelation or her ancestors might be showing her something? Probably episode 5 or 6?

The trailer ends on this in-air fight between Richter and Erszebeth. Something that you notice if you slow it down: Erszebeth in this already has lost her left arm. So this is probably very close to the end of the fight. It looks fun and dynamic - and yeah, probably happening in Paris.

Another assorted shot is this one - Mizrak protecting Maria. I am not sure where this happens, but my best guess might be that this is also connected to the Seiryu sequence and that Mizrak might be with Maria and Juste during these events.

Given that Maria seems to be in a rather dark mindset, I do wonder if this is before they get Tera back?

Then we have also a shot of night creature fighting night creature with Jacques showing up in the battle. (Also, note, that the detail of design is very different on main-character night creatures than on the background cannon fodder lol)

Lastly a couple more screenshots I just put into one picture, because tumblr limits me to 30 pics per blog. lol Two of them is Juste doing magic, which I am assuming is during the finale. And while the one with Maria using a very different one is in the same set of scenes towards the end of the trailer, the background clearly is the church again. I do wonder though what is happening with her magic there.

Then also we have a collapsed Mizrak in the arms of a pissed looking Olrox under a red sky. Again: Red sky is probably during the finale. So I am going to assume dear Mizrak will get wounded. It would be interested to see if he might get so gravely wounded that it might become a topic of discussion whether or not to turn him into a vampire? That would be interesting for our personfication of Catholic guilt.

And yeah, that's it.

My hyperfixation is happy. Three more days to go.

[4ishere]

Idk why I’ve put off what watching castlevania for so long but this shit is so fire. I’m at the end of season 3 and I love so much about it.

1. Alucard- my sweet lonely boy 😭. Just a genuinely sweet soul that did not deserve anything that has happened to him.

2. Sypha and Trevor- I love them give me 15 of them right now. I love their chemistry and how well they fight together. I see why alucard is so attached

3. Just Sypha by herself- what a badass character. Love how creative they get with her magic. Love her accent it scratches my brain nicely.

4. Love the world building and how each character has their own motivations and character growth.

5. Actually cool antagonists. I’m going to be honest Dracula is not my favorite antagonist so far. I didn’t think we honestly got enough build up for him as a character- they were really just setting up Carmilla’s and the forgemasters storyline.

Anyway, I’ll probably make another post once I finish season 4. 

[chasseurlegendaire]

🗡️

If you could meet your past self for ten minutes, the you that still lived in Dracula's castle and served him, what would you tell him?

Talk to Hector! (send 🗡️ if you want)

Oh. What he would tell his younger self... Despite how he felt about it, Hector manages to remain stone faced at this. He has to. He must not show emotion for this, as he thinks of his Master. Seeing how he would be handled, shaped and primed for any and every thought that crosses the Count's mind.

"No matter what I choose to tell him, I feel that I wouldn't believe myself. My past will tell me in return that I am blasphemous for even attempting to sway him - to sway myself - from my Lord's loving embrace. After all, he cared for me when I was thrown away. He took me in when I was desperate for anyone or anything that can give me the power to show them. Those who wronged me."

And the first one to love me in a way no man nor woman had.

"I doubt I would be listened to. I was hard headed and drowning in Dracula's teachings, devoted to him and what he gave me. I was his favorite soldier and I prided myself in it. Even at the expense of others, unfortunately. So... I am unsure what exactly I could say to get through to my past self?"

"Perhaps death would be preferable than the events that I caused happen."

[whumping-valentine]

PEOPLE WHO ARE FANS OF WHUMP AND CASTLEVANIA LOOK AT ME DING DING DING

FORGEMASTERS AND THEIR NIGHT CREATURES

Whumper forgemaster and whumpee night creature, but the night creature used to be forgemaster's enemy.

Did they bring them back to life to save them? Perhaps they realized they couldn't live without them. Whumper turned caretaker hoping whumpee will never remember who they were before. Hoping they could start anew.

Alternatively, whumper killed whumpee and then turned them into a night creature so they could be forced to be loyal to them. Do whumpee's memories come back or not? If they do, do they remain loyal as they should be, or do they turn against their forgemaster? Whumpee turned whumper?

How about a caretaker forgemaster who turned their deceased loved one into a night creature to save them. Lots of angst as caretaker tries to get them to remember who they are and who they were. Big "Came Back Wrong" vibes. Big "how could you do this to me?" Vibes if they get their memories back.

I'm gonna start eating the furniture

Also there are literally only two posts under the tag "castlevania whump" CASTLEVANIA WHUMP FANS WE CAN CHANGE THIS!!

[beevean]

preach it <3

NFCV is not fun to analyze because the writing just tells you everything. These people do nothing but talk! And sometimes fight! But mostly they talk! And say stuff they shouldn't know or shouldn't need to know! Just to do exposition! (related example, shout out to the flashback with Isaac and Dracula where Dracula asks Isaac to tell him about the time he saved him from brigants. dude? you already know this? why are you forcing him to tell you? bro????)

The only time i was remotely interested in reading subtext was with N!Hector and things like his love for dead animals, but that was because Ellis simply didn't care enough him so he left us the job to fill in the holes lol. In his case, he told us through other characters that we were meant to see him as a stupid manchild, just like he told us through N!Alucard that we were meant to see N!Trevor as the haha funny drunk penis man, instead of a tragic victim of persecution who was learning how to still do good as his family creed dictated.

So when the narrative gets me used to the fact that it will often sit me down and patiently hold my hand to tell me in big colorful letters what am I supposed to feel, I don't see lack of explicit information as nuance, but as "the writer didn't care enough".

(example: I still can't even begin to define what the hell N!Hector was feeling for Lenore by S4. Not because the writing was subtly conveying the complexity of being a victim of abuse. because dude stopped being a coherent character and they just made him say things for the sake of plot or Feelings™ :V)

And that's N!Isaac. He's so in your face that it's embarassing. He gets told! Twice! That he has changed! I get it! I'm not fucking stupid! If this asshole last episode was slaughtering people while laughing maniacally, and now he has wasted six weeks burying people, yes I can tell for myself that he has changed!

Imagine if Kojima in this panel:

made Isaac specify that he brought two swords because he wanted to have a fair fight with Hector. No, she doesn't say it! You see the two swords, and you conclude that he wanted a fair fight with his rival! And from that, you can deduce that pre-insanity Isaac was a honorable man despite his loyalty to Dracula!

Or imagine if she showed us this page:

And added some narration that said "Sadly, Isaac was no longer the rational, honorable man he used to be before the Curse got to him..." no shit i can see that!!

Sorry but I just. Ugh. I felt so insulted by this alleged profound writing so much better than the stupid games!

Oh and ofc his “change” is just him being like “eh whatever i want to touch grass now” yeah alright cool uhhhhh anything to say about the mountain of corpses you left behind you? no? kay. even hector in the mangas had the courtesy to feel bad about it. even in game dude almost lets himself die, I can see that he feels profound guilt!!

(as @hypermascbishounen pointed out, wanting to "better a flawed humanity" is still a villainous goal lol. But I didn't even get that impression. He only cares about his own agency and his own power and his own future. It's all about feeling good about himself.)

Anyway. Yes, sadly the mangas are semi-obscure and while they're more or less accessible nowadays, I can imagine that they were less so in 2005, especially PtR which was never translated. The same goes for the Japanese manual of CV3 that has all the lore of that game. But that doesn't mean they're not canon and they should be ignored: again, PtR was written by someone who personally worked on those characters, so it's safe to say her vision is canon and to be considered.

And even not considering it? Even just playing the game vanilla? Isaac is not just a flamboyant leather daddy lol. He implies that he suffered due to Hector's betrayal ("You stripped of my pride, my home"). He immediately calls Abel back as soon as Julia intervenes, instead of attacking Hector while he was distracted. Julia knows that Isaac respected Hector: how does she know that? Death mocks Isaac for his alleged inferiority, which can be seen as a hint in-game of his inferiority complex. He's also much smarter than you would imagine, able to play Hector like a fiddle while telling him nothing but the truth.

The plots in CV are fairly simple on the surface, and sure sometimes they waste some great ideas because the games are not very plot-driven. But they leave you enough room to imagine and interpret, and unlike NFCV, it feels rewarding. CoD doesn't scream in your face that Hector is a parallel to Dracula and that's why he nearly becomes his vessel: it lets you connect the dots with your own intelligence.

And that's one of the biggest tragedies of the show (that and the... well, everything): it could have expanded on elements that the games left in the background. Alucard's childhood. Lisa's personality beyond "Dracula's dead wife". Hector and Isaac's friendship before the betrayal. Julia. Instead its solution was to cut everything and actively worsen things (good god what did it do to Lisa and the relationship betweein the Forgemasters)

oh and n!isaac is little more than jihadist hector. y'all blorbos ain't that special. do not @ me because i'm right.

I'll be honest: going from the Sonic fandom, when fans frequently and eagerly mix up games and "adaptations" that are often Sonic in all but name and fight to see them as canon no matter how much they screw up the timeline or the characters, to people like this in the CV fandom that reject prequels written by people who worked on the main series (I'll let you pass the MF manga, but Prelude to Revenge was written by Ayami Kojima, who's pretty much the characters' co-creator, and sold as promo material along with the OST of the game), fills me with very confusing feelings.

Not that I trust the opinion of someone who apparently read the mangas and believes that "it still results in Isaac being a one note villain". lol. Kojima couldn't have been clearer about the tragedy of Isaac's loss of sanity, and even Kou Sasakura put a lot of emphasis on Isaac's inferiority complex that makes him obsessed with Hector. Just because Isaac is still his fabulous self by CoD doesn't mean they don't add a tridimensionality to his character.

(also even without his background Isaac is infinitely more entertaining than that whiny pretentious prick and i would have paid money to see him kill people with a smile on his face instead of waxing fake deep quotes about insanity <3)

[the-warmaster]

When we decide to take a moment to ourselves, is when duty calls. Thus, it will often seem that we never have that personal time, for it is always forgone. It is important to remember, that while many may rely on us, we cannot help them if we falter.

It is no different for Skormosh, for when he decided to seek knowledge of his past, a foul treachery calls his keen skills.

JOURNAL ENTRY #15

Skormosh, the Warmaster, The ForgeMaster…The breaker, has once again found his way to Silvermoon, knowing that his quarry would be wise to seek familiar ground. Heavy boot falls abound in the paved roads as steel meets stone, his eyes glancing from both familiar face to shadowed visage.

Taking a pause, we find him at The Wayfarers Rest.

“He is crafty, I will give him that, and for this reason alone my guard shall not fall. He knows I hunt him, and I only hope he is not being harbored, for there must be no trace left to infect. I admit, I treated his condition casually, thinking it was under control, but now that I see the influence spreading, it must be purged.”

“I am no stranger to what ails him and, and I know that it may be removed, through flame or by great force, or death. That is why I take it upon myself, to find Kelaniron, and subdue him. I am sure The Headmaster would wish for me to show restraint, but I find it difficult to fathom. I hope he does not surrender, as it will make my task much easier.”

He orders a rum and cola as the bartender approaches and glances about the room, catching familiar glints and would nod before returning to his business.

“The hunt is never over it seems, and it shall not be so long as I allow it. Kelaniron, I only have one regret, and that is that I should have stopped this before it spread. In my mind, There is no beating the entity which befouls him, and in the end, all shall be taken. Ill portents indeed..”

Skormosh finished the drink in less than a couple swigs and set the glass down heavily.

“I expect anyone to do the same for me, for being tainted is an unworthy condition. Unbefitting for a warrior to be taken in this way. I will give him a clean, honorable death.”

He stood and placed his menacing helm atop his head and addressed the crowd before he left.

-“Some of you know me, and some of you may only know of rumor or likeness. Hear this, I am looking for one of elven kind, his name is Kelaniron, and is one of the Ebon Blade. Clad in red and black. If you see him, bring word to me, Skormosh, at once. It is imperative that you do not associate, for he is dangerous.”-

He turned to leave and turned his head, his voice ringing out in a heavy, apocalyptic metallic tone. -“And, if you choose to aid him, I will find this out too..”- The large, tank-like orc, heaved his giant axes over his shoulders and continued his search.

(This post is meant to be interactive both here and in-game, to all who frequent Silvermoon! If you feel you’d like to add to the story, feel free to approach Kelaniron or Skormosh in game, or write out a post of your own, tagging me!)(P.s., I have tagged those Skormosh has come in contact with in any respect.)

@faydera @vyvienne @dinthoqaf @zalilirah @chillfos @nahisummerhold @nezzokthecollector @sanguinesorceress

[candyswirls]

The Unbound Flame

Tu'Shan laughed as the final seal was removed, and the inner forge began to open. Engraved upon it, in traditional Nocturnian, read: The Unbound Flame: Pyre.

"Another artifact found," he sighed. "We are closer to the return of our Primarch."

"VULKAN LIVES!!" Cheered the surviving companies of battle-brothers.

The thick golden ichor of the xenos of this planet coated each astartes and the ground surrounding them. In the light of the forge, they appeared to glow with the emperor's glory.

The forge bloomed out like petals. The flames and heat still going from when they were first lit near ten millennia ago.

A large oblong shape of metal was in the middle of the flames. Placed carefully amongst the ashes.

Tu'Shan reached out and took it out of the forge. Despite the constant high flames, the artifact was solid. He needed two arms to carry it.

He looked it over, trying to determine what it was. The outside was smooth and it was heavy. But definitely not solid all the way through.

He thought about shaking it but an immense feeling of dread followed that thought.

"Let us return to the ships!" He announced.

Even as the metal cooled in the open air, the artifact emanated warmth. The Unbound Flame: Pyre. What secrets did this artifact of their primarch hold?

***

Upon the ship, many discussed what it could be. Perhaps it was some type of battery? A heat source given its name? A beacon for their primarch or to find the rest of the relics?

Scans were done upon it. It indeed was hollow inside with a large mass. They were reviewing what it could be when a crack echoed around the strategium.

Forgemaster Vulkan He'Stan dashed to the artifact. A long jagged line ran across the top of it. Should it have been kept in the heat?

"It's breaking!" He called out.

Several others rushed to get supplies and tools to prevent it from doing so. He'Stan was about to lift it. There was another crack with another jagged line appearing. The artifact wobbled.

"Somethings in there," one battle-brother said aloud.

The artifact continued to wobble as what lay within tried to get out.

"Like a salamander egg..." another spoke.

Silence filled the room as each astartes held their breath in anticipation at the Unbound Flame. The egg.

A chunk of shell fell off, exposing the molten innards. Then it practically split open. Molten fluids spilled onto the ground, sizzling against the floor.

A soft cry came from within in.

Tu'Shan was the first to move forward. He peered inside and nearly gasped. He gently reached in.

"There, there," he said softly.

Out from the artifact he pulled out a large and squirming mass. It cried at the exposure to cold air. No teeth, squishy face, wispy hairs atop it's head, soft red eyes seen through tears.

A familiar sight when visiting their families back home and seeing new progeny.

The large infant kept crying and squirming. Bits of magma dripping off of him, still.

"By the Primarch," Ajax breathed.

He quickly removed his cape and offered it to He'Stan. Several others removed any piece of fabric and passed it forward. The closest Salamanders cleaned the infant and wrapped him in the cape, remembering the way the new mothers of their families taught them to.

Apothecaries surged forward to aid and check his vitals.

Once swaddled, the babe grew calmer and the rest of the Salamanders moved in. A massive encircling. Arms upon shoulders, all vying to get a view.

Tu'Shan held the baby up for all to see.

"Behold," he announced calmly. "The Unbound Flame: Pyre. Artifact of our Primarch. The son of Vulkan."

"Vulkan lives," the astartes said quietly, not wanting to startle him.

"We must return home to Nocturne," Tu'Shan decided. "We require the wisdom of those who took care of us."

"What do we call him?" Inquired one.

He'Stan answered without hesitation, "Pyre."

Next - Master Post

[astationwagononmars]

Things I wrote down immediately after watching s3p1 of Dreamzzz, but haven't posted until now.

Just a quick disclaimer since I don't know how my tone is going to come across; None of this is criticism! Just my own thoughts, theories, and questions!

Huh. I was sort of right on my Lunia splitting theory- she did get split, but I was wrong about how. I thought she was separated into different creatures, but she was actually separated across different… frequencies? Which we hadn't known about before. That does mean I'm back to square one on who and/or what the masked hero is, though.

So, Mrs. Castillo is Lunia, and I LOVE her. Ironically, I thought the "strange old lady who gives oddly-fitting advice is actually this missing magic person" was TOO obvious a twist, and so I wasn't expecting it to actually be true. Maybe I've just read too many fantasy stories.

How on Earth are the Night Bureau going to cover up this one? Happy App is an international company with tons of employees and popular products. It isn't something they can just disappear overnight without anyone noticing.

Was I the only one who found Andromeda a little sketch? Something makes me think there's more to her whole situation than she was letting on. Especially with the way Phil and the Forgemaster were reacting to her choice of apprentice- specifically, the fact that she was a child, when Andromeda states that she too was a child during her training. This is strange to me because it would imply that either Phil and the Forgemaster disapproved of Andromeda's training as well, or they were somehow unaware of it.

If Dream Keeper is a power passed down from person to person, then how was there a Dream Keeper after Shin? He couldn't have passed down his powers before he stabbed himself, because then he would've forgotten about the Dream World and not stabbed himself. But he couldn't have passed down his powers after he stabbed himself either, because then he was very much dead.

The Undreamt flashes in the colors of dream sand! (Yellow, purple, and blue.) No idea what this means, but it is cool as heck!! very much looking forward to more Undreamt lore.

Overall, I am on the edge of my seat for s3p2! Very excited to see what comes next.