#Carmilla Movie spoilers

[set-wingedwarrior]

Same energy

[lost-in-the-gay-all-day]

Carmilla (2019) is so fucking good

[livefromcastledracula]

Book Carmilla vs Adaptations (SPOILERS)

Here are a few 'interesting' adaptations. I like some of them for their own merits, but mostly dislike them as Carmilla adaptations for the below reasons, with some notable exceptions: Vampyr: The Dream of Allan Gray (1932 film): The first Carmilla inspired movie, although it keeps almost NOTHING from the novella except 'female vampire'. In this case, a creepy old lady rather than a charming young lesbian. This is a really moody, slow, acid trip of a film though, a treat for fans of vintage vampire film. (3/10) Hammer Karnstein Trilogy: The Vampire Lovers is the gayest and most book-accurate. Carmilla still kisses/seduces men before killing them, boo. The second one her identically-named reincarnation is blonde and has sex with / falls in love with a man booooooo. She's not in the third one at all. It's all very 70's and nowhere near queer enough, but at least we got the incomparable Ingrid Pitt in the first movie. 5/10. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust: 'Carmilla' shows up as a surprise third act villain. She's an elegant and imposing vampire queen with a castle called "Cjethe" and the Vampire King offed her previously for being A Bit Too Extra. She's... Bathory. She's Elizabeth Bathory, right down to the name of her historical castle, the elaborate gowns and the blood-bathing. Bathory in Castlevania Nocturne even looks a lot like this one. Cool scary vampire lady, but Carmilla In Name Only. 4/10 Castlevania (Games): She's fine here, but mostly just kind of a big Dracula groupie like most of the other non-Dracula vampires. Often depicting as a flying skull or mask crying bloody tears, with optional succubus-like figure reclining on top of it. Cool. Rondo of Blood has her appear together with a ninja vampire Laura with bunny ears because why the hell not. 6/10 Castlevania (Netflix show): Baddass, angry Karen. She's amazing in the first season when she's scheming against Dracula, but after that she just sort of sits on her butt sipping wine and griping about men for a whole season until Isaac storms her castle. A cool character but not a great Carmilla, because Carmilla for me is defined by how much she loves women, not how much she hates men. Still amazing voice work by Jaime Murray though and her last stand was insanely baddass. 7/10

Carmilla Web Series / Movie: My favorite adaptation. It's obviously playing waaaay fast and loose with the canon and reframing her as a charming antihero in a zany urban fantasy, but there's deep current of love for the source material, especially in the movie. Natasha Negovanlis has charisma off the charts and the Hollstein romance is adorable. This Carmilla might be a black-leather-wearing snarky millenial goth with a Canadian accent, but as the show goes on it peels back layer after layer of the romantic, poetic, wistful, world-weary immortal hinted at by the novella. This show redeems LeFanu's lovelorn villain in all the best ways. 10/10. 2019 movie / Styria movie: I still haven't seen these, have heard good things about the gothic cinematography on the most recent one but not good things about the rest of it. The trailer looked moody and pretty though, I may watch it at some point.

[bacchanal-if]

I've been tagged by @if-mirrormine to do this fun game!

make a poll of your favourite female characters and see which your followers like the most.

I will be tagging @brightest-stars-if, @night-market-if, @shepherds-of-haven, and @darkfictionjude, whose female characters have an unfairly critical (not to mention sexist) time of it in her asks. There is, of course, no pressure or expectation for any of you to play along! I am merely curious as to your answers! 💜

On to why I chose these... (be aware of spoilers)

Annie Wilkes:

She is absolutely terrifying. Just when you think you've figured her out, she proves you wrong, and I adore her for it. Of course, when I say adore, I do not say I agree! Merely that I love how her character is written. She takes a lot of assumptions it's easy to make (or hope for) and tosses them out the window. Phenomenal. I still need to watch the movie!

Carmilla:

Absolutely the most one dimensional character on this list, but a sweet, seductive, sapphic, 19th century "we're just friends but we sleep in the same bed" vampire who was in all likelihood an inspiration to another, more famous vampire story, Dracula? Forgive me this indulgence 😌

Elizabeth Bennet:

A "basic" choice, but a popular one for very good reason. She lives, she breathes, she is her own person and will not compromise for it. Miss Bennet is strong and self-possessed, but she is also vulnerable to her feelings, making her more than just that.

Elle Woods:

Another popular choice, but how many female characters do you see who are strong, competent, and aggresively feminine? She was groundbreaking. Even when she tones down her wardrobe by the end of the movie, she still wears designer and bright red lipstick, and it's her knowledge of the beauty industry that gives her a decisive win. And you can't forget how female-positive she is with all the other women, turning the stereotype of women being catty to each other (her ex's new fiancee) on its head.

Marge Gunderson:

She's a bit similar to Elle Woods but in a different vein. She is heavily pregnant, a fully supportive, sweet, and tender wife who will cook breakfast for her husband, and she is acutely aware of the world around her, showing incredible ability to connect the dots, which makes her an incredible detective.

Blanch Devereaux:

The slut-shaming jokes at her expense are endless, but they only make her stronger and you love her for it 😂 She is unapologetically up for a good time any time, but she isn't just a slut (affectionate), she has a career she is proud of, her own vulnerabilities, and some of the most cutting lines in the show. I wish there were more sex-positive female characters like her.

[that-ari-blogger]

Ascension (Whatever It Takes)

Let’s talk about active and reactive characters, and what that tells us about a given story.

Whatever It Takes sets up Vaggie and Carmilla as… foils? Parallels? Opposites? The series is open ended in this field, it gives us archetypes, and invites us to draw our own conclusions.

As such, these two are protectors, but the way they go about it is both similar and wildly different. It’s complicated.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (Hazbin Hotel, Castaway)

The difference between an active and a reactive character is in the name. An active character takes actions and pushes the plot forward to further their own goals, while a reactive character responds to others and acts in accordance with that.

For example, Zestial is a fundamentally reactive character. He responds to the floor shifting underneath him in the previous song with damage control.

He watched the person who is ostensibly closest to him get undermined, so he tries to pick her up. In that way, he’s a pretty decent friend. He offers aid when she’s feeling low, and whatever he gets out of it, the man’s primary goal here is to help.

“What weighs on your soul, old friend? I explore you to share the load.”

At this point, I feel the need to explain my bias towards this character. Zestial is one of my favourite individuals presented in Hazbin Hotel, and it’s not because he’s benevolent, or powerful, or composed. It’s not because of his design, or his writing. It’s because I am weak, and his voice is smoother than the ocean at night. I don’t have to explain myself further.

Zestial is also reacting to the power dynamic being presented by the Vees. They didn’t do any damage, but Velvette felt comfortable making threats, and was utterly unintimidated by Carmilla, so Zestial feels like he needs to start moving his pieces to counteract that.

“If it was thou who slew the angel, why not let your fear be known?”

Essentially, Zestial needs to get himself and his friend back on top, and back to being untouchable. He wants to go back to not having to act at all.

But a side note here, notice how the rhyming scheme in this section is slanted, that’s because rhyming wasn’t always a thing in English poetry. It was ported over from other languages as previous poetry conventions were focused on the musicality and other elements of the words.

It doesn’t map out exactly, rhyming grew to popularity during the medieval times, and judging by Zestial’s dialect, that’s where I’d put him historically. But it does convey a sense of age to his words that adds gravitas to what he is saying.

When Carmilla starts singing, the music itself backs off to a quet guitar. She’s being vulnerable, rather than all powerful, and that contrasts with Zestial to exacerbate their differences. Zestial’s oomph makes Carmilla seem smaller, and Carmilla’s pensiveness amplifies Zestial in return.

As an example of an active character, Charlie and Velvette are fundamentally active characters whose actions make up the majority of the plot. Charlie pursues her dream, makes bargains, offers forgiveness, and Velvette… well she has one song, but Carmilla and Zestial’s actions are in direct response to that song’s ambition.

However, here’s the kicker. In my opinion, there is no such thing as active and passive characters. It’s a gradient.

The classification exists for a reason, it helps audiences understand, but in practice, nobody exists only on one side of the equation. Being reactive is a biproduct of existing in relation to other stuff. Chuck Noland, from Castaway, despite being the only character on screen for most of the movie, reacts to his environment and to his situation like a human being. Even if a character chooses to ignore their surroundings, that’s still a reaction to something. The decision to do nothing is still a decision

On the other end of the spectrum, all characters are active, because otherwise they aren’t characters. Being active is simply the practice of doing things. In the first Ranger’s Apprentice book, Baron Arald and Sir Rodney are generally pretty reactive characters, but their choice to challenge the Kalkara is an active decision.

In that sense, Zestial is a character who leans towards reactivity, but is still motivated to take action when threatened.

For the sake of visualisation. I have a graph.

We can start by putting Zestial and Charlie on opposite ends and filling in from there. I would say Husk is pretty reactive as a character, usually acting in response to Angel or Alastor, while Velvette is active in terms of antagonism, but she reacts to the death of the angel. Vox responds to Alastor by taking action, Adam responds to the death of the angel with violence, etc. Eventually, our graph looks a bit like this:

Now, you may notice that there is a gap in the middle. Despite all appearances, I am analysing Whatever it Takes, so guess which two characters go there.

This was actually a pretty difficult choice, and it comes down to my grievances with this episode, and my critique of the show as a whole.

I laid this out in more detail in the previous post but suffice to say that Hazbin Hotel is too short, and that hinders episode three because the series doesn’t have enough time to capitalize on anything that is set up here.

Carmilla suffers enormously because of this, because the dynamic with Vaggie doesn’t go anywhere (other than Out For Love, but we will get there when we get there), and she doesn’t have much screen time beyond this, so we don’t really know where she sits on the scale.

The song that I have been dancing around sets up a place in the centre of the graph and makes them parallels because they fit in the same slot here, but then Carmilla isn’t in the rest of the series much, so she ends up falling further towards the reactive end of the scale.

The reactiveness itself isn't what I have an issue with, its the inconsistency.

Once again, I blame this on management not understanding their own product, but it’s important to understand how that has affected the end result.

So, the key metaphor established in this song is that of the keeper and armour. The protector and the guardian, and that is what sets up their place on the scale.

Armour isn’t a character, and even in terms of what it does, it’s not a particularly proactive item. You can’t hit someone with a helmet unless you really want to, and even then, it's going to be less effective than most of your other options. But what armour does do, is get in the way.

Armour interposes itself between you and danger, sacrificing its own wellbeing for yours. It’s a guardian, a protector.

Vaggie is positioning herself as a someone who will do whatever it takes to save those she cares about. She is the knight who will stand in the darkness and ward it off to protect the light. She is not a disgrace. She is vengeance. She is the night. She is... Batman!

I’m humanising an inanimate object here, because Vaggie is doing the complete opposite. For Vaggie, love is putting her partner above herself, to the point of self-sacrifice. It means that she is willing to let go of her will to live to get in the way of any danger coming towards Charlie. She is dehumanising herself and saying that her desires are forfeit for Charlie’s dream.

“I’ll be your armour, Do whatever it takes, I’ll make the mistakes I’ll spend my life being your partner”.

Now, Charlie has done absolutely nothing to persuade Vaggie of this. She has been supportive, if a little headstrong. Vaggie has reacted to Charlie putting herself in danger and decided that was how she was needed.

There is one scene that I’ve seen pointed to as Charlie re-enforcing Vaggie’s attempt at self-sacrifice, that being the training scene. But that’s just asking for help, that’s not manipulation, that’s shared responsibilities on a task. That’s teamwork.

Yes, Charlie is oblivious to this side of Vaggie’s motivation, but that’s because Vaggie hasn’t told her about it. Vaggie vents on an abandoned boat, alone, singing to herself. Charlie doesn't know that because Vaggie is convinced that if she is vulnerable, she won't be useful.

So, if it isn’t Charlie who told Vaggie that her individuality is worth sacrificing, I wonder who did. Maybe a military leader of some kind who values subservience above all else. Maybe someone who surrounds themselves with masks so that they don’t have to realise that people are individuals. I wonder who that points to.

Carmilla, meanwhile, positions herself as a keeper of secrets, a profession and a type of action she can take. She sets herself up as responding to news and stamping it out, taking action to hide things.

“I always thought that I would keep blood off my face, But when that thing attacked, I had to act To cross that line and keep them safe.”

I want to restate that Carmilla is a hypocrite. She makes weapons and is convinced that her wealth will protect her from the consequences. Or rather, she was a hypocrite.

It took an angel rocking up out of the blue and nearly killing one of Carmilla’s children to jumpstart her character development. Just like Zestial, she was bulletproof, except that she had people she cared about.

The angel made Carmilla think. Her wealth didn’t protect her, the weapons did nothing to stop the assailant, and the violent response to a violent problem only brought about more issues. There might be a war on the horizon within hell, and both sides will have weaponry given to them by Carmilla. If the war starts, both she and her daughter will be killed, and it doesn't matter which side by, they will die at the hands of weapons she made.

As a response, Carmilla takes action, trying to recover her safety by keeping the secret of her vulnerability. She’s still not a good character, but she’s had her security compromised, and that’s a start.

Which brings me to the parallel between Carmilla and Vaggie, and I think that it is limited, but important to note. Both are protector characters; both respond to danger and take action. But that serves to show their differences even more. Vaggie is self-sacrificial and openly vulnerable so that her ward doesn’t have to be, and Carmilla is closed off and defensive all the time.

This is reflected in their music. One of my favourite parts of Hazbin Hotel is the fact that whenever they sing duets or even chorus pieces, its never everyone singing the same set of notes in their own register. In this case Vaggie’s music is more floaty, and according to Musescore, in a different key to Carmilla, who is dynamic, but grounded.

Zestial's design strength comes back here. He has too many eyes and a mouth that's a weird shape. What expression is this? What emotion? Is he confused? Disappointed? What's going on? Having a manipulator character have a mask is good, but making their entire face an unreadable blank slate is even better.

But the difference is also conveyed by their actions. Carmilla is static while she explains herself to Zestial. She is focused on the people she is protecting and the person whom asking for help from.

Vaggie’s section doesn’t really show Charlie at all, except through the geography. Vaggie is constantly climbing when she sings, constantly rising, as if her love lifts her and brings her up from rock bottom. Even though she’s not dancing, the choreography is telling a story.

When the camera shows her face, she is always looking upwards. Charlie has given her hope.

Final Thoughts

Episode three’s problems aren’t its own fault. The episode is setting up elements that never arrived, and that causes it to feel bloated.

I actually like this song, although for a while I couldn’t articulate why. I like to listen to it, but as far as analysis went, I was at a loss. This post has taken me the longest that any has in a while. But I ended up with something, so I’m happy.

But, from the series’ weakest episode, to its strongest. Next week we start episode four, talking about Poison, and… oh boy that one’s going to be a lot.

Previous - Next

[wings-of-sapphire]

ANNY ANNY OHMIGOSH

LIVE CHAPTER 16 REACTION

GO CHECK OUT @annymation’s “KINGDOM OF WISHES” REWRITE

(Spoiler warning for Wish and ig some Hazbin Hotel and The Owl House too since I reference them)

(Regular warning bc MATE THIS IS LONG AS FUCK)

(Oh also swear warning)

That gif of Magnifico in the beginning looks way too adorable to be a psychopath

SCREAMS YES instead of “ow my chest has heartburn” I NEED THE GUT-WRENCHING SCREAMS

LIKE VAGGIE HAVING HER WINGS RIPPED OFF SCREAMS

UGH he’s evil but he loves his wife

WAIT IS HE GONNA BRAINWASH HER INTO BEING A PRINCESS

DRAWING YES IS IT GONNA BE THE MAGIC CARPET

Oh bubbles that works too (also irony)

Imma trust that Valentino made it in a bubble too bc YOU ARE NOT killing off the animal sidekick okay I would rather Magmaya win than Val be killed

YES BABY IS OKAY

Man Dahlia you gonna leave your mother behind?

”ANOTHER PERSON I LOVE” YES GIVE US THAT CONFESSION ASHA

Disney Channel

It’s giving Onward

OOH or Frozen yk Elsa and the staircase scene

NOOO ASTER BABY

“Love of his life” DAM YOU ANNY WHY MAKE OUR BOY SUFFER

Amaya is channeling her inner Gothel rn

Ooh I love Lydia the Bard!

ARGH THEY’RE EVIL BUT THEY LOVE EACH OTHER

Mysterious language? Star dialect?

”Last star I see tonight” ANNY

AHAKSJAKS THIS IN A MINOR KEY

ASTER BABY THE SCREAMS

Oh so they’re becoming Stars interesting

CALLING HER A WITCH OUTRIGHT

Dam Eris was one of my first fictional crushes (bisexual ass) so now I’m wondering if Amaya should be one too

”Hate but also love” it’s giving “Out For Love” by Carmilla

But Magmaya is out for love too… SHEJWJSKJS COUPLE GOALS IF THEY WEREN’T MENTALLY DERANGED

SINGING AT THE SAME TIME >>>>>

THE TROPE EVER

LIKE A MADRIGAL BUT SAME VIBES

Noooo Aster

Hey orchestra of stars above where the heck are you

Aster I love you but they have no humanity left

HE’S DYING ASHA GIVE HIM THE TRUE LOVE’S KISS

YOU BOTH CONFESSED MAKE IT BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Yikes Amaya you’re usually the brains now you’re choosing to spare her?

Ig since you’re in love it would be torture for you but cmon girl

FUCKING “I LOVE YOU” NO WHERE’S THE FUCKING MAGIC OF TRUE LOVE WHY IS HE NOT REVIVING

AGSJAJSKSJS IT’S GIVING LUZ NOCEDA

Oop gotta add a ToH spoiler warning now too ig

Brb

Okay back YK THE LIGHT ORB SHE FADES INTO

AND WE GOT ASHA PARALLEL TO AMITY HOLDING HER SOULMATE’S SOUL GLOW THING

AHSJAJSKS HAVE ASHA GO EDA/ KING FERAL

SHE FUCKING CONFESSED BACK ANNY MAKE THEM ALIVE AGAIN

Omfg battle outfit (AND MORE! THAN! JUST! SPARKLES!)

Omg yeah the dress fits so well with the star-chest thing

SHE HAS PUPILS idk why I was so hyped about that

IT’S GIVING “You’ll Be in My Heart”

VAL BABY

Wait next chapter? This seems like the conclusion Anny I’m scared

Omigosh these two royal idiots in love

I I bet they’re giggling and holding hands while destroying precious memories of their citizens

”Feels something changing” eh? Sorry it’s just canon!Wish didn’t give us much but the novelization is very AshaxDahlia heavy

YES SIMON HELPS THAT WOULD’VE MADE HIS MOVIE COUNTERPART BETTER

HE STANDS UP AND SINGS AND PROVES HE’S WILLING TO GO AGAINST MAGGIE

THE YOUNG GENERATION IS SINGING IT, BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

Although Asha has her Sabino… maybe ghosts/ spirits of her loved ones? I always imagined the scene “A Wish Worth Keeping” would have her family’s spirits (in blue) smiling and cheering her on… sparkly ofc

YES this scene in the movie was my favorite bc it FELT DRAMATIC

I said before “Knowing What I Know Now” was my fav but Anny I changed my mind “Wish (Reprise)” is my favorite

YES TAKE BACK YOUR KINGDOM FROM THE STRAIGHT WHITE FOLK (Amaya is Greek… what is Magnus? I’m assuming white too)

SWORD YES make it Prince Phillip’s

Gotta admit that falling wish scene in the movie was gorgeous, reminded me of Wall-E

Wait omigosh Asha looks so pretty in that photo where did you get that

*stares at it for hours bc she looks gorgeous*

Referenced as a wand now!

Smiling as she falls bc she knows HER BAE WILL CATCH HER

HOW are they not dead. The gays only have the power of plot armor

So it was nighttime okay

AW HE CARES FOR HER

Yep definitely giving Belos

NOW I WANT TO SEE A KOWxTOH CROSSOVER

Told you idiots you shouldn’t have spared her. Pride really does come before the fall

Seriously Gothel wasn’t a pussy she stabbed Flynn why didn’t you stab Asha (sorry bby just wondering how they’re so stupid)

THAT’S what you’re worried about man

HE WANTS TO KEEP AMAYA SAFE IN HIS ARMS AND PROTECT HER AT ALL COSTS

Lol I’m just imagining a giant whoosh of power and light and Amagnus squeezes their eyes shut waiting for a painful death and then they just. Sneeze. Itchy magic glitter poof

Is this a reference to a past Disney movie? They’re really going the PJO route huh

DAM ANNY THAT’S HARSH

Uh. Wow. Okay Aster I guess they did kill you

Yay we have the citizens standing up!

Wait you make your wish at 18 was this women pregnant really early orrrr

Later? Oh goodness I’m worried for the next chapter

Uh Starsha is being a bit sadistic and Amaya is sobbing for her love…

MAGGIE TURN AND COMFORT YOUR WIFE

Oh btw is Magnus part Spanish? “Mi vida” since Amaya is Greek…

NO NO DANCE PARTY I DON’T TRUST YOU YET

Someone get Gabo some therapy mate

NO WHAT

ASTER WHAT

NO THE STARS WILL COME DOWN AND LEGO BATMAN HIS ASS

VIOLIN-STAR TELL THEM THAT THEY FOUND LOVE AND THEREFORE THEY WILL STAY

WHY DID HE SAY IT SO SOFT AND MATURE WHERE IS MY GOLDEN RETRIEVER BOY

DID HE HEAR ASHA TELL THEM SHE LOVED THEM? DOES SHE HAVE TO DO IT TO MAKE HIM STAY?

”Love is all they needed” Amaya you’re clever but this was all sort of your fault witch

FUCK YOU MAGNUS COMFORT YOUR WIFE OFH WAIT TOO LATE

Tbh I would’ve agreed with Gabo had they injured Val in some way

YEAH THEY DESERVE IT BUT THEY GOT THE PERCY JACKSON HEPHAESTUS CHAIR TREATMENT

Discord DID turn to stone too… how about they turn to stone and THEN get pushed off a cliff

OKAY that was long but it was good

Uh I’m scared for the next chapter? We get Amable’s backstory so do they escape? Will Asha become the FG? Will Aster get LEGO Batman-d by the school marching band of Stars? Is their magic the North Star magic? SO MANY QUESTIONS

Overall though great job Anny! This has been an amazing journey and I can’t wait for the final chapter!

[imadethisaccounttpostonething]

i have opinions on half the new songs from hazbin and i'm telling them to the void known as the internet SPOILERS

don't worry guys. i know, i know you've ALL been waiting for MY opinion on the last two episodes- me, someone who doesn't even have a pfp picked out for this blog yet and whos only post is a bad edit i posted just to get the hyperfixation thought out of my head but- you've waited long eneugh. i'm here! i'm FINALLY going to share all my thoughts on the last two episodes of Hazbin Hotel... well, okay, mainly the four songs cause that's more my expertice but. whatever. buckle in bestie, we're going for a ride...

like i said, i'm mostly a song girlie, and as established you don't know who i am so me going "oh i thought that one line was cute" probably won't matter to you. so imma skip right to the first song, "Out For Love." AND HI! HELLO! I HAVE OPINIONS! THERE ALL NEGATIVE! okay, that's not true. i like... the person who plays Camilla's voice?? i think she sounds... nice? but oh my god this song was just. such a missed oppurtunity?

i already had to cut this section down cause i spent so much time making a list of what purpose musical songs tend to serve, but considering my point is that "Out For Love" doesn't do any of those things, i don't think i should waste so much breath on it. like. every form of media has their pros and cons on how to deliver inforation. books you can have the characters full un filtered thoughts. movies you can see all their facial reactions and little moments. musicals? in musicals, you get a song about them. and these songs, espicially in a show with a tight 22 minute an episode deadline and only 8 episodes total, EVERY song has to pull its weight and teach either us the auidence something or them the characters. and by the latter half of the season, it really needs to do both! and Vaggie, is a character who DESPERATLY needed a character establishing song and... didn't really get one. yeah, theres "Whatever It Takes" but.. she has to split that with Carmilla, who... really REALLY didn't need both the songs in that episode. everything we learned about in her half of the song could have just been a pretty quick conversation with Zariel. and as she tells him that she had to do whatever it takes to protect those we love, THEN we go back to Vaggie and she has her whole own song capatlizing on a similar theme, but also.. more? cause. we KNOW Vaggie loves Charlie. that's like. one of the few things we do know about her. and the thing i hate about "Out For Love" is that it doesn't tell us anything else about Vaggie or even Carmilla! AND IT DOESN'T TEACH VAGGIE ANYTHING! in "Whatever It Takes" Vaggie says she'll be Charlie's armor, which is probably the biggest piece of information we get about Vaggie as a person and who she is. cause she said armor. not a sword, that cuts the danger away. not a partner, that helps their lover through the danger. but rather, armor, that stops the danger from hurting their love, even if that ends up damaging the armor. what she could have learned from Carmilla, and what i think they were trying to get at but didn't, is she has to fight like she has something worth going home for? she can't be Charlie's armor cause she isn't indestructable. if she keeps going to take every hit for Charlie she's going to crumble. if THIS was a duet between Vaggie and Carmilla where Vaggie comes in with her martyr-istic opinions about herself towards Charlie, and Carmilla comes in like "girl. no." THAT would have been just. so much. better? cause with how it is, wtf did Vaggie learn???? like i get Carmilla tught her her fighting strat, but idc about that. the song came across as teaching her a moral lesson but it didn't. it's been WELL established that Vaggie loves Charlie. god. i just. really wish it was better. also, the chorus tries to rhyme "If you want to fight without gloves you better be fighting for love" and i just. like okay homie.

Rosie's advice to Charlie about her relationship was fine and all but god why didn't Charlie and Vaggie have a fucking song about it?? like, i'll get into it in a second but my saphic ass has been waiting all season to get my lesbian duet and i got a thirty second reprise of someone elses song instead of the apology/acceptence duet where they reaffirm their love or whatever. and i'm blaming Rosie. ... which i instantly feel bad about cause i really like Rosie and the song she got out of Charlie but. i have to blame someone so. sorry girlie. i don't really have a lot to say about "Ready For This" mostly cause i've listened to the trailer so many times i just think of it as the trailer song? idk, i did like it but it didn't really hit me as much as i thought it would. i mostly wrote this cause i was so mad about Vaggie's two songs and the other two i think are fine. but i do think Alastor's part was really good cause it helps forshadow whatever the fuck is going on with him. love that creepy bastard.

uggggggh. okay. listen. before i say anything else, i want it well established i'm gay af. i came out of the womb with my Doc Martens and thirty different flannels on and ready for action. my hair is short, i played soccer, insert whatever any other saphic/lesbian stereotype you want. go crazy. i've heard worse from people i know better. you can't hurt me. my point is... i was really hoping to get a Charlie and Vaggie duet, and.. i really wasn't expecting one. so when Vaggie walked into the room with Charlie and music started playing i got so excited....... only for it to be thirty seconds long and it being the reprise of Lucifer's father daughter song. like. am i the only one noticing the pattern of Vaggie picking up a second half of songs about a parent loving a child but applying it to Charlie instead? like... i thought this was cute!! but. there was so much they could have sung about to each other or establish for one another or prepare for or just. do. but it was... a reprise of Lucifer's song??? when it ended, i audily said alone in my living room. "awww. i mean. i'll take it". and that's. pretty much my thoughts still i guess but a little more bitterly? like. Dusk and Angel Dust got a whole duet about being losers together (which was also great and i do ship them at least a little) but the canon and supposedly most developed ship got. a. thirty second reprise as their only duet in the whole season. yay.....

finale was good! i also think Nifty killing Adam in the exact same fashion she stabbed all those already dead angels was like. the most fitting way for him to die if not by Vaggie's hand, and sense Vaggie already got at least slight vengence against Lute, this felt good. OH ANOTHER THING ABOUT "Out For Love"! THEY KEEP SAYING VAGGIE IS CLEARLY ALL ABOUT VENGENCE WHEN SHE VERY CLEARLY ISN'T??? LIKE NEVER ONCE HAVE WE ESTABLISHED VAGGIE IS IN IT FOR THE VENGENCE! ITS BEEN ALL ABOUT CHARLIE. BUT THE SONG IS ALL "OH STOP BEING ABOUT VENGENCE AND KILL FOR CHARLIE" AND IT JUST- okay yeah whatever we've established i don't like that song, i need to calm down. i'm gonna listen to my thirty second saphic reprise that i'll take i guess. maybe i'll share more opinions when i've processed anything better. maybe i won't. peace out homie.

[leoremin]

I just finished watching the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...and I have...thoughts (along with some bad grammar)

This is an overall negative post, so if you don't like that keep scrolling. If you like this movie, go ahead and scroll on past if you don't want to read this. If you want to debate me, then hell, go ahead, I might be wrong in some areas and I'm fully willing to admit that. I'd love to see anyone's take on this movie.

To say real quick, I haven't finished reading Dracula (over 1/2 through tho), Sherlock Holmes, 4 billion leagues under the sea, and a few others.

Also...spoilers...obv

(last note: I am not against retellings or that stuff, I'm just rating it on MY OPINION of these little guys and all that stuff. This is depending on how much I like them from just a writers sense.)

Tbh I really love the idea of crossovers, I love so much seeing the babies all together (I am working on a crossover myself so...) but I feel like this one was just...mediocre

First up Jekyll!

Number one, assuming this takes place after the novella, that is not how HJ7 works. Jekyll turning back into Hyde is not right then. At that point, Henry would be living on a timer rather than Hyde.

Also, little pet peeve...THE POTION SHOULD BE GREEN!!!! THE POTION'S FINAL COLOUR IS GREEN AND THEY MADE IT CLEAR!!!

Also Jekyll is a doctor, he acts like the fucking wimpy Swiss man from Frankenstein. Jekyll is meant to be a (mentally) strong man who experimented on himself and kept good notes during the whole thing. He is a doctor; he is used to seeing some shit.

Also...why would you make Hyde look like that? One of the few clear physical descriptions in the book is that Hyde is much shorter than Jekyll, but he's...hulkish. I don't like that because it takes the monstrosity away, pinning it all on looks and not on action.

Also why Paris? Why did Hyde run to Paris? There wasn't really a reason for him to do that in a writing sense.

Upside: At least he continues to run on rooftops. All Hydes run on rooftops; it is not optional.

Next on the Chopping block is Dorian.

For a moment there, I really thought they ruined Dorian, but hell yeah! They kinda did it!

I wish they'd had another actor to play him, since the dark hair makes him look a little malicious, which is quite the opposite of what he's supposed to look like. He's supposed to be a child-like and innocent; deceiving.

Also...what the fuck was his ending?? Like he doesn't perish if he looks at the portrait. It literally says earlier that "the last time [he] looked at the picture" which literally contradicts what happens later. He can look at the picture, but chooses not to.

I am glad they decided to not have him redeem himself. That fits a little closer to the book.

For Mina!

Quick thing: I have not yet finished reading Dracula, so I have no clue what's happening there or why she's the vampire (please don't spoil it) so I won't say anything on that (cough cough...should've been Carmilla)

I don't like making women the sole love interest. It feels weird. Literally three people liked her (well only 2, Dorian was pretending) out of five. Make it interesting, make it something someone would ship...there is literally no chemistry between any of them (except Dorian, and we don't even get a proper "oh yeah I hooked up with him" moment. It's only implied. When did that happen???). Also, Mina isn't that kind of person. She's (in book) not looking for romance in that sense, she had a husband, and I'm pretty sure she'd probably stay faithful to him even after death.

Speaking of Chemistry, why tf is she a chemist? Jekyll should've been the chemist. Mina is literally known for being able to write in shorthand, and they could've used that to her advantage. Again, please excuse this if somehow Mina does become a scientist after Dracula, but considering people's views on women in that time period, it's unlikely.

Skinner:

I think that's his name...idk. I have not read the Invisible Man, but why would they kill off Griffin? Like Jekyll dies, but he doesn't have a replacement. I can't say much since I haven't read the book.

I think that's all.

Thank you coming to my Little Leo lecture, and I hope anyone reading agrees, or can hopefully handle this as a mature adult. If you have other thoughts on this movie (whether they agree with mine or not) go ahead and share them, I'd be thrilled.

I may update this as I have things to say, but idk.

[mustlovesteve]

I would love to know what the major differences are between the LATBG that was intended to be published in its entirety in one month and the LATBG of today

So, it turns out I had horribly misremembered everything regarding my timeline for this fic. Whoops!

I found an old version of the document from 09/26/2022, 5 days before I uploaded the Prologue. In that draft, I had apparently written up until when Steve and Eddie meet up at Dustin's house, which is Chapter 20 in the published version. (For reference, until I skimmed that document, I was convinced that I'd conjured up Lucy sometime in early 2023 and that I had only written up until Chapter 13 by that point.)

Each chapter got a major overhaul before I uploaded it, so that Halloween deadline was always a pipe dream, but the events of those chapters remained largely the same.

However, that draft included an outline for the rest of the story. Those events are pretty different from what happened in the final version.

Some major differences between that outline and the final version include:

Vickie was going to be brought into the fold much earlier, for the sake of having a double-date before Steve and Eddie even got together. They were all going to watch the 1970's Carmilla movie, during which Steve was going to make some Interesting and Sad Observations about why that movie was "allowed" to be made. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to do this without Steve and/or Robin coming across as careless about Eddie's safety.

Steve was going to go back to work sooner, which would have provided many convenient timeskips once Steve was Cursed. Thus, events like dinner with Wayne, Steve and Robin getting matching friendship bracelets, Eddie and Lucy tracking down Steve near the train tracks, etc. weren't going to happen.

Lucy's back-alley vet adventure was going to be an entire chapter. This would have explored Eddie's feelings about not being able to talk to his other friends for the indefinite future.

Eddie was possibly going to continue living at Steve's house in the guest room after he reunited with his uncle. Theoretically, Eddie would have asked Steve if his "offer was still good" about letting Eddie stay there. This would be shortly after Steve had a panic attack about his parents potentially discovering Lucy. I was pretty conflicted about this.

Steve was going to wonder whether Eddie had accidentally "Charmed" him with vampire magic and discuss it with Robin at work. As hilarious as that could have been, I'm glad I decided to ditch the idea. I didn't want to deal with the implications of a gay man (in my headcanon for this fic anyway) being suspected of doing something like that, even if Steve was sure that it was just an accident.

The hand-licking was still going to happen, but it would have been in Steve's kitchen instead.

Steve wasn't going to realize that he was Cursed until he saw the clock, because the hallucinations were going to be more subtle.

Whether Eddie ended up living in Steve's guest room or not, he was going to be there the morning that Steve saw the clock. When Steve stopped answering him, Eddie was going to break his goddamn door down.

Eddie was going to be present for the "Steve is Cursed" meeting and it was going to be ugly. Steve was going to essentially throw Eddie under the bus when Eddie alluded to the whole "Steve thinks that Dustin wishes he'd died instead" thing because he really didn't want Dustin to know that.

The Final Battle was going to be totally different...

EDIT: Original Ending (SPOILERS for the finale):

Vecna, who had been saving up his energy all week, was going to actually (albeit very briefly) control Eddie and break him out of the lab. Before Vecna gained full control, Eddie was going to ask Lucy to chew his foot to slow him down. This would have allowed Lucy to beat Eddie to the Upside Down, and luckily save Dustin from a demodog.

Once puppet!Eddie got closer, Lucy was going to start convulsing as she tried to resist puppet!Eddie's commands to attack everyone. Puppet!Eddie would close in on Steve, slam him into a wall and dislocate his shoulder, and taunt him. Steve, in a stroke of brilliance, would decide that was the best time to kiss Eddie for the first time. (There is a specific piece of fanart that inspired this scene lol.) Vecna, seizing the opportunity to be especially cruel, would have chosen that moment to draw Steve into the Mindscape (basically mocking him like "oh u really thought that would work huh?").

El would kill Vecna quickly, but as a parting gift, Vecna would trap Steve in a warped version of the Mindscape. This Mindscape would rapidly erode Steve's sanity, until he would start to beg for someone to just kill him already. El would start to worry that Steve might end up like her mom if he was left there for much longer. Eddie, upon hearing that, would get the idea to bite Steve to buy them some time for El to find Steve and draw him back out.

I scrapped this around 02/12/2023 when I talked with someone on Discord and realized that this made no sense based on what we knew about how Vecna's powers worked. If Vecna died, there was no logical reason for the Mindscape to persist. I was willing to take a lot of liberties (ignoring the spiders and shit), but not to that extent. I came up with the published finale shortly after this!

Other noteworthy changes that I made along the way:

In the very early planning stages, many major plot changes were made because I stopped to consider the ethical implications of certain character choices. For example, the Basement Arc was originally going to be a lot longer, until I realized that Steve couldn't justify hiding Eddie away for much longer while Dustin and Wayne were so agonized over his death.

Lucy was originally going to be more attuned to Eddie's moods, but I decided it was funnier for them to essentially compete for Steve's attention.

Eddie wasn't going to confess his feelings until a bit later.

The night before they planned to fight Vecna, Steve was going to call his parents, only for that to turn into a horrible hallucination. After ending that call, Steve was going to call Hopper and propose the Contingency Plan.

Dustin and Robin's reconciliation-with-Steve chapters were going to happen after they beat Vecna. I wanted to focus more on Steve and Eddie at the very end, so I reworked that.

The final few hallucination concepts were pretty last-minute, so I'm surprised that I liked how they turned out.

This is...likely a much longer response than you were expecting...but uh...I hope it was interesting!

[ladvofthelake]

Hey! I know you're still in the plotting stages for your WIPs but your moodboards and whole aesthetic have me so curious about them! Thanks for taking questions about them. :)

Of your three WIPs, is there a character that are you most excited to write? Why that character in particular?

Do your WIPs overlap in any way? (i.e. The same fantasy world, characters who appear more than once, etc).

For the vampire cowfolk WIP, what are your main inspirations for the story and/or characters?

hello, hello! & thank you so much! i really, truly appreciate your questions! x

1. hmmm, great question! i’m thrilled to be writing all of my characters, though the ones i think about consistently are the leads for my pirate wip, therefore i am the most excited to write them. these characters are the pirate queen, her lover, the admiral of the (unnamed) navy, a captain within said navy, and the captain’s lieutenant (who is, perhaps, a little more to him than just a subordinate…). there’s no particular reason as to why, i just find their narratives absolutely fascinating. explaining further tends to enter spoiler territory, hehe.

2. nope! they are unique in setting. each differ in worldbuilding extraordinarily, which can be overwhelming at times. i do so only because the time periods they are based on deviate so exponentially from one another, and explaining the space in between would be more work than is necessary!

3. ooooooo, love this one! okay, so, my main inspirations for my vampire cowfolk wip are dracula by bram stoker, carmilla by sheridan le fanu, vampire: the masquerade (the tabletop rpg in general, though specifically a campaign my partner produced for my birthday one year), the games fallout: new vegas and bloodborne, and the movie van helsing, directed by stephen sommers!

thank you again! & if you have any more questions, absolutely feel free to ask! i do love rambling about my babies <3 & i would love to hear about your’s as well, if you’d ever want to share!

[matchapig]

i'll be rereading carmilla(1872) and checked my livetwt thread again to see if i'll reread/rewatch the other adaptations but most of them just suck 😭 it's mostly the endings but ig they're just copying the og... (slight spoilers)

2 of the movies (vampire lovers and carmilla 2019) have endings that i never want to see again. ik vampire lovers is in a trilogy but idk they killed her off so what's even next

carmilla(1989) i don't even remember anymore lol at least the ending isn't as gruesome as the other 2.

carmilla wolves of styria uhm we don't talk about her

carmilla & laura was heavy to read for me like the internalized homophobia was hard to get through hdkdhchf it does have good scenes that i always read lol but i never finish rereading it. the other half was like a disney movie to me😭. one of the few adaptations that has a happy ending tho

carmilla webseries(&movie)..i wished i knew about this when i was 14 VXKDHJD i was too late so it feels a little cringy but it was still fun. also has a happy ending so yay. i heard the book was shit tho so i didn't bother with that

carmilla the first vampire (comic) she's a dragon yipee. it felt kind of rushed idk it didn't rlly stick with me hxkdgdkhd and yea she died here too so

[saint-starflicker]

The Moth Diaries [ book/movie review with SPOILERS ]

[thefamilyeldritchabomination]

The Wayfarer: Halloween Special Pt. 1

(This was something I had wanted to do since starting the fan fiction almost a year ago and wanted to do this as a special thank you for everyone who has been enjoying the story so far. I will warn there are some mild spoilers as to how things will go in the story. With that out of the way, I hope everyone enjoys the Halloween Special!)

It was a cold Halloween in Walden of 1989, pumpkins outside were frosted with fresh snow as they glowed softly in the pale night sky. The proud Mancer household was dressed from head to toe in Halloween decorations of paper skeletons and cats with eyes a glow with mischief as the smell of caramel being warmed lingered in the air. The homunculi, Dolly, the horrible clay assholes, and an aged Freddy were looking after the family four year old as horror movies played on the television to fit the mood. It was clear that the humans spawned in the Mancer family bloodline were considerably more feral than the adults were, thus the four year old was having her own little Halloween party at home. Envy glared from their spot on the couch at the elderly Freddy. How dare this asshole end up aging into looking like an awesome wizard was one of the things that ran through Envy’s mind as they fixed their overly fancy vampire top hat for the night. Freddy was, in short, nineties and thriving at this point with no clear indications of him passing away any time soon as Freddy smugly rocked in his chair. Envy got up from the couch, straightening up their costume, and decided to go to the kitchen to bother Dolly and her horrible lions. 

 The kitchen was busy with caramel apples being dipped and popcorn balls being rolled up as the dread monstrous creature called a four year old was attempting to snatch a piece of caramel on the table. It had been Tanya’s idea to host a Halloween party at the grand old household since her grandchild wouldn’t be allowed to trick or treat just yet given some past issues. Ernest and Dorian, being the horrible creatures they were, started injecting the apples with the chocolate blood sauce. Clearly those two were still trying to give Freddy a good scare in hopes one of them would make the screeching wonder pass out. Dolly couldn’t help but shake her head at this as she took the latex gloves off after finishing making the popcorn balls. Like the others, Dolly was dressed as a vampire for the occasion with a Victorian looking, knee length black dress she normally wouldn’t have worn had it not been the advent of the lint roller. Perched upon Dolly’s head was a headband with little vampire wings on top. Envy, couldn’t help but smirk as they took up a seat at the kitchen table to be a giant pest. Halloween was, afterall, a season to cause as much mischief as possible and make some certain people miserable in the process like the Face Fur, Freddy. Clearly, Envy had to make the indestructible old man suffer in some way for still continuing to exist and looking awesome while doing so. Dolly took a chance to glance to notice Envy was now in the kitchen with her, the clay lions, and the four year old that decided licking the window was an excellent way to pass time. 

 “Wayfarer, did you get tired of being around Freddy?” Dolly asked as she placed the plate of popcorn balls ready for decorations.

 “It was sickening to look at him rocking in his chair so smugly there, Fairytale.” Envy admitted as they shrugged, they truly hoped to have had one night without Freddy around. “Well then, you’re welcome to help decorate the popcorn balls with me. I don’t think little Carmilla is much interested in helping out with that part.” Dolly gestured a bit towards the feral child by the window.

 “I swear, that kid is more feral than her grandmother was at that age.” Envy raised an eyebrow as the feral child continued to prove that Freddy was the more reasonable child at that age.

 “Carmilla will hopefully mellow out by the time she’s six, then she can officially go trick or treating without being a terror towards the other kids.” Dolly went to get the ice box image cookies from the fridge to bake next.

 “Don’t you think you’re being a bit optimistic there? Carmillia’s parents are still paying off the settlement suit after Carmilla’s little debut with physical assault on the other kid with a pencil.” Envy gave Dolly a look as Carmilla continued the disgusting slurping of the glass.

 “Okay that’s fair, she did leave a chunk of graphite still embedded in that kid’s upper thigh over a toy.” Dolly paused for a short moment to reflect on just how violent this young child was already before getting the cake pan.

 “Exactly, Carmilla will likely be able to go trick or treating at like twelve given what she’s been doing.” Envy caught wind of the slurping meatbag larva by the window as they carefully redirect Dolly’s eyes to the scene.

 “...Damn it, Carmilla, stop licking the window or your tongue will get stuck in there!” Dolly stopped what she was doing as she watched the child for what actions would be taken next.

 Carmilla gave a soured pout at being told no as she attempted to remove her tongue to the window to only find out that it indeed had gotten stuck. There was a sigh from Dolly as she went to rescue little Carmilla, the violent one from the window. Envy was laughing from their little throne in the kitchen as Dolly had to carefully pry Carmilla’s tongue from the prison known as freezing glass. The very moment the little terror was freed from her glass based prison, Little Carmilla ran screeching out of the kitchen, likely to follow Envy’s lead of tormenting her great granduncle to bits. With the distraction taken care of, Dolly went to wash her hands and then get the latex gloves back on so she could slice the cookie dough. Envy went back to loafing about in the kitchen, their horrid little ears trained for the ruckus that would likely erupt from the other room with glee. At least there would be one amusing thing for Envy to enjoy after being subjected to having to do a Halloween party for a mutant half pint. They just needed something, anything, to spice up Halloween night with and damn it, Envy was going to do just that. It truly didn’t take too long for Envy to cook up something in their mind and it’d be easy enough to confirm to make this little stunt work smoothly. Ernest and Dorian looked up from their handicraft of bleeding apples to notice that look on Envy’’s face before knowing they too wanted in on this.

 Envy, being the monarch of all bad role models, led Ernest and Dorian into the other room, leaving Dolly much confused by this. Of course, Dolly had to see what the resident eternal booger was up to, and began to follow Envy out to see what’ll happen. It didn’t help the situation when Carmilla pounced on the about ready to fall asleep Freddy in his own rocking chair, earning a gasp and a wheeze from the impact. Gluttony looked up from watching the horror movie marathon on the tv, dressed like a vampire too to fit in with the group theme upon hearing the wheezing fit from Freddy. Envy was laughing their little ass right off over the stunt Carmilla pulled right in front of them. It was Lust who came to the elderly Freddy’s aid as she carefully picked up the monstrous child. It was clear on Lust’s face that she was going to place Carmilla in time out for that stunt, much to Envy’s distress. 

 “Come on Lust, you don’t have to place Carmilla in time out, do you?” Envy asked, trying to hide their true motive.

 “Envy, I don’t care if you dislike Freddy, but Carmilla will have to go into time out for it. She could’ve seriously harmed Freddy given his age.” Lust looked over Envy very carefully given that tend to avoid this particular child the most.

 “But it’s Halloween Lust, it’s the time to pull pranks.” Envy protested on Carmilla’s behalf who was kicking about and making inhumane sounds for a small child. 

 “Envy, that wasn’t a prank, that was literal harm to an aged Freddy. Carmilla will have to take time out.” Lust stayed very firm with her decision as she wondered just what Envy was up to this time. 

 “Fine then let me take her to time out instead!” Envy relented, though still determined to implement their own Halloween misdeed. “...I’m going to have to monitor you if that’s the case. Last time I let you do that, you tried to steal from her parents’ luggage.” Lust’s gut was crying out at the suspicious behavior from Envy as they made grabby hands for the human version of a troll. 

 “I can’t help it if they don’t compensate us for the trouble this booger gets into.” Envy admitted since Carmilla was a handful monster child.

 “My point exactly.” Lust still wasn’t going to let Envy take Carmilla to time out by themself given that past incident.

 “I’m still taking Face Fur Jr. to time out.” Envy snatched up the flailing bratty child, their mind made up on the action.

 “Not without…god damn it Envy!” Lust was annoyed when Envy just ran off with Carmilla the Terrible, not giving Lust a chance to monitor them.

 “Am I going to have to be concerned with the aftermath?” Dolly asked as she just watched this scene unfold and was not even sure how to react to this.

[ainokiseki]

Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Elle in The Carmilla Movie.

[wolfwars]

[alpha-release]