#aboutadrianmeta

[bastardsunlight]

//LONG-ass headcanon sesh for D, Alucard (Hellsing) and Adrian (CV’s Alucard) all kinda rolled into one.

So, since I don’t have radiantDecay anymore, I’ve sort of pulled back from the verse where Adrian BECOMES D. There was a lot of movement and timeline adjustment that had to happen for that one, and while it is in some way still possible, I’m not terribly interested in upkeeping a unique interpretation for a character that’s never really going to come into play. If you’re writing with D, it’s thousands of years after he was Adrian. If you’re writing with Adrian, it’s pre-1999 pretty much.

So, I have some documents someplace that I had written regarding D’s origins. The novels heavily imply that he’s somehow enhanced—y’know the movies hint at him just being super powerful Mary Sue turbo ultra dhampir simply because he is the son of “Our Sacred Ancestor” whomst we all pretty much know is Dracula himself right? Certain novels even hint that Mina Harker is his mother, if they don’t just outright state it. It might be the clunky translation (they really should have been more carefully transliterated because WOW some of those sentences just… don’t), but thus far it’s not been made CRYSTAL PERFECT CLEAR. However, I’m more than willing to run with that idea.

Dracula is, by the time Mina et. Al. come up against him, quite old, nigh ancient. I think that the Dracula of the Bram Stoker novel is or, rather, was the historical Vlad III Dracula Tepes (the impaler), born in the 1420s, “died” in the 1470s, iirc. Supposedly, the sultan at the time… Mehmed Fatih, kept his head in a box for a while before pinning him up on the walls of Constantinople, which the Turks controlled at the time. Ugly period in history for Eastern Europe… With Wallachia and Transylvania, in particular, two kingdoms in Romania, times were triple trouble. They were sandwiched between the Ottoman Empire to the east, then west was Eastern Orthodox Christendom—further west was Roman Catholicism and if you think THOSE guys didn’t fight, ding dong ur wrong!

BUT this period of violence produced one of the most well-known and controversial heroes (sometimes called a war criminal) of all time. Also he had a great ‘stache. Now when I write Hellsing’s Alucard, I roll with this same lore, so D and that Alucard could absolutely exist in the same ‘verse. It’s kind of a “darkest timeline” deal, a world in which the Belmont clan never existed. Before that even, Lisa never made Dracula’s acquaintance so the guy’s motivations are a little different. In addition, he is NOT Mathias Cronqvist, a tactician during the first crusades in 1090 AD. In that case, he would have revamped (PUN) his whole personality and integrated himself into one of the other great houses of Wallachia/Transylvania and re-emerged four hundred years later as Vlad the Impaler. That could work fine—not like he hasn’t got time—and that would have been around the time he met, and lost, Lisa. Now whether THAT part of history looks the same is dubious, since Vlad’s exploits during the period of his reign/deposition/reign/deposition/beheading are pretty decently documented. In this case, I’m going to say the Belmonts’ existence is in a timeline where those conflicts also may have played out differently. As these are all fictional worlds, I guess this’s up to ME atm. Nice.

So this is part “how I write D” and part “how I’d be inclined to write Alucard (Hellsing) in interactions that take place BEFORE the manga—like WAY before”. Since Adrian would have been a major contributing factor to the Belmonts’ strength from Trevor onward (so in the games idk if folks know this, but Adrian is Trevor’s father, with Sonia Belmont being his mom), that would also have contributed, at least in part, to the ability of the Belmonts to stomp Dracula and his minions.

With D, there is no need to include Mathias and his ebony/crimson stone conundrum, which does tend to throw a small monkey wrench in the ol’ gears (but not big enough I can’t adapt, trust me). The difference, aside from lack of Belmonts, is the origin of vampires. Clearly, they’re a magical construct or a spell-woven form of sentient life in Castlevania. In Vampire Hunter D, it’s heavily implied (once again, not outright stated) that the Nobility, some of them anyway, are simply a mutation of humanity (Dark Gene vs Light Gene, Lina’s whole deal, among other passages here and there), who also happen to be allergic to garlic, crucifixes, running water, and basic-ass Bram Stoker weaknesses. They’ve even got labs full o’ Nobles tryin’a conquer the sun issue.

So to know D, we gotta know his dad first. At the beginning, Vlad III is born to (big surprise) Vlad II. He and his brother are sent to Edirne as part of the Ottoman Empire’s “tribute” of however many young  boys from noble houses, to be trained in the ways of Islam and Turkish mannerisms, etc. This is more for pacification of that region of Europe, which is still Eastern Orthodox, than it is for real “peace”. It’s “peace because you guys are a good buffer zone between us and the rest of Eastern Orthodox-dom”, anyway. Every _voivode_ of Wallachia has to swear allegiance to either the Ottoman Empire or to the Eastern Orthodox church. While most of that area is EO, it’s in their best interest to swear to the Ottoman Empire. They’re bigger and closer. Vlad’s dad has done some underhanded shit, but he’s also a member of the Order of the Dragon and has propelled it to new heights within the EO and that’s where Vlad gets his name: Dracula, which is Son of the Dragon. So Vlad II’s immediate family are known as the Draculesti, which is fucking cool—it’s like “children of the dragon” and that’s not even his like, NAME name—it’s a frickin’ nickname, or sobriquet, as is Tepes.

In the world of Vampire Hunter D, vampirism appears to be a genetic phenomenon—ironically, a mutation. No Noble is going to admit that, OBVIOUSLY. And while it’s true, they were probably born that way, they’re still a mutant human derivative. Rather than mutating due to radiation or whatevermstthefuck like the actual mutants in VHD, they’re just born that way. So what I’m rolling with is Vlad III was born with that particular mutation and, kind of like my OC Toby, who is also a genetic vampire, it takes a violent or unnatural death to trigger the actual symptoms, else you’re just a normal-ass person. In fact, in this interpretation, I’m going to say that maybe quite a few people are BORN with that mutation, but if they live to a ripe old age and die, it never triggers. Most likely, the body is too enfeebled to handle it, maybe it dies after menopause/andropause? Either way, the body has broken down too much and there’s no material to work with.

That might also go a long way to explain the animosity many old vampires have toward humanity. Sometimes it’s straight up contempt, of course, but every single time, it seems to be a removal. Carmilla is a good example. Most of the time, her backstory involves a vicious assault that might very well have killed her. Imagine dying that way and waking back up to find that you had to KEEP living in the world that did this to you, that death is FAR far off. I can understand being VERY PERTURBED, to put it mildly. By the same token, what about war? How many folks die in war? Thousands? Millions? Of all those, how many have the mutation? Probably quite a few. Some folks might not figure out what’s going on and stay where they are, buried for decades, before just wasting away without sustenance—Vampires DO require blood, after all, to keep doin’ their thing. Plenty more are probably just torched in the sun. Since they were KIA, it might be rough finding their bodies in the first place…

So Vlad is beheaded—now this part intersects VERY well with Hellsing’s Alucard in my portrayal—and Mehmed Fatih keeps his head close at hand for a bit, probably talking to it. What happens when it starts talking back? We know Dracula has some SERIOUSLY kickass abilities and putting himself back together would definitely be one of ‘em, in my humble opinion. Mehmed dies not long after he achieves “victory” over Vlad the Impaler and no one knows where Vlad’s remains are. Maybe they up and walked the fuck away, hm? Maybe it was HE who ensured Mehmed’s destruction. How poetic would THAT be? Spoiler alert ||very||.

Now imagine going through everything he did—the guy had a tumultuous life. He might be one of the few, lucky ones who figure out that sunlight is a no-go, hide himself away, eventually go back to haunt his castle in the mountains between Transylvania and Wallachia. Now fast forward to the 1800s, MODERN TIMES (heehee okay) and one very ambitious realtor who wants to sell a creepy old abbey to some weird foreigner. Seems legit. Anyway by now we can see that Dracula’s gotten kinda nutty? He has three scary “wives” but he doesn’t seem to care much for ‘em. They’re obviously vampires, too, though I cannot recall if they’re turned by him or if they’re LIKE him—anyone who’s read it recently, do feel free to refresh me.

He’s kinda senile and while he’s crafty, he’s outsmarted by a dandy, an ancient-ass doctor, a dude who cannot stop fainting, a man named Quincey (my husbando), and Jack Seward—nuff said. He has some kind of congress with Mina, though ofc it’s the Victorian age so the only penetration is that of his li’l toofers on her poor neck. Nom. I don’t think Dracula banged Mina Harker. I think that, in THIS world, a dhampir is a nigh-impossibility, because at this point (and their cool-ass vampire science might’ve changed this), vampires are The Undead™ and therefore cannot CREATE LIFE. Not even if they have a raging turboner (that’s a turbo boner, for those of u not in the know). So he bit Mina, but before he did that, Mina married Jonathan—like as soon as he got home. They were married and living together and doing the frickle frackle, presumably, before Drac shows up in London to mess up their day.

In this case and for the sake of sanity, to create a dhampir, the vampire must chew on a pregnant lady. The curse lifts from her when the master is killed, but his blood has already entered and changed the child; the process is much longer and more involved for an adult human, who has an immune system and much more ground to cover. If the smol bean was in embryo stage or even fetal, it had no defense and mom’s body provided it with everything, Dracula’s blood, included. The final set of letters in Dracula mentiones a young boy, Jonathan and Mina’s son, Quincey, named after their fallen friend. So little Quincey is a dhampir!

Now, a bitten vampire cannot, in this universe, turn anyone else. They can feed and create thralls, but they can’t make VAMPIRES. In Hellsing lore, if a vamp bites you and you’re a virgin, you become one—if not, you become a ghoul/zambolio thingamajigger. Integra narrates this for us pretty early on. But it’s not Alucard’s venom doing this. It’s the vicar of Cheddar Village, who is a manufactured vampire. He’s not a true vampire, not like Alucard. Now, Alucard DOES ask Seras if she’s a virgin ‘fore he kills and bites her, which makes sense… IF HE LOVED MINA.

Hear me out. So, he saw this strong-ass bitch and thought “goddamn I’m sick of my whiny, vicious wives UGH I need me a woman like that”. So he’s gunna turn her. It probably takes longer since he hasn’t been powered up by Hellsing and their dark science-magic shit, or whatever it was… OR as he chomps on ‘er, he realizes “well fuck me she’s preggo, so even if she changes, I can’t have her”. Pregnant blood has GOTTA taste different, all those hormones and shit, even early on. I think he did have some weird admiration-affection for her. His arrogance and greed, however, has taken him over, so perhaps he decides to change her slow, to make the fellas suffer. They’ve fucked with him so he’s gunna fuck with them, but I think it pains him a little to do so, because lbr Mina’s the woman of his dreams.

So when Quincey is born, he’s perfect, healthy, rosy-cheeked, and by god only Mina knows something’s amiss. Damned if she’s going to say shit to Jonathan, who’s liable to faint, the absolute fucking walnut. They live fairly well, having taken over the real-estate business from their wonderful, generous, dead benefactor. 

Much like Carmilla’s weirdo ghost, however, Dracula’s spirit absolutely lives on.

TL; DR D was born Quincey Harker. 

[bastardsunlight]

She Restoreth My Soul

//once again, some HC stuff copied from radiantdecay by the beautiful, talented @terebas

 “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

 What is Sonia to Alucard? In the relatively obscure Japanese guidebook of CVIII {here} it is revealed that Dracula took his son’s soul to gain more power. Roughly translated: “Those who tainted their hand once don’t know when to stop. Count Dracula was not sastified with the power he already had after selling his soul and body to the devil and he wanted to have more. The contract he made with the devil was also applied to his own son.“ Now, since the CV canon doesn’t like to include Sonia and I think that’s bullshit, I’m going to submit an alternative to the rest of this story. AHEM. 

 Mathias Cronqvist uses the crimson stone to turn himself into a vampire in Lament of Innocence. No reference is ever made, nor explanation offered as to how WALTER became a vampire, but whatever, fuck it, that’s for another lore entry. Mathias–Vlad, rather–gains the allegiance of Death himself (itself? Herself? Themselves?) by wielding the stone. He is thus granted an endless (horribly boring??) life. 

He is a grief-stricken ball of anger whose best friend has pledged himself and his entire family to the task of ridding the world of his evil.You can bet Vlad is surprised to meet a woman, years later, who reminds him of his beloved Elisabetha. Naturally, Lisa enchants the prince of darkness and they settle down. Adrian is born and the couple is elated. Vlad has not felt happiness since he handed his soul over to Death. Well of course the happiness cannot last and with her dying breath, Lisa Tepes ironically begs her son: “Do not hate humans. If you cannot live with them, then at least do them no harm. For theirs is already a hard lot.” 

Her husband then proceeds to do the literal opposite, even harming his own SON. Adrian stands up to oppose his father and what does Drac do? He’s enraged at the loss of his wife. He wants to wipe the earth clean of all humans, but to do that, Death (or maybe in this case, Lucifer himself) demands a soul. Well, Dracula hasn’t one left to give, as he’s no longer mortal and thus does not possess one. He steals Adrian’s, who is weakened by its loss and sent wandering, trying to build his strength to conquer his father. It is in these wanderings that he meets the young Sonia Belmont. Alucard himself is only in his early 20′s, at the most, so he’s still relatively young for both a human and a vampire. 

With Adrian’s soul–which is half human–Dracula has enough power to wipe Wallachia off the map (again) and then, to encompass the world. He unleashes  his demon horde and Sonia’s home is attacked, her grandfather killed–and so Vampire Killer passes to her. 

At this point, Koji Igarashi is welcome to suck my whole, sweaty ballsack.Sonia sets out to stop the evil that is causing this demonic disruption and runs into Alucard again! The two fight, because he is genuinely worried she won’t be powerful enough to stop his father–of course he knows HE isn’t, but perhaps if she can overcome one of his ilk, she’ll stand a chance. She does, and he retreats, saying he cannot bear to watch his father slain. In part, this is true, as Adrian still has the softness, taught to him by his mother. Soulless or not, the young man has a heart and Dracula is still his dad. His lack of a soul severely weakens him, in addition to all this, so the stress put on him by his battle with Sonia sends him off. When she emerges victorious, she brings Adrian’s soul with her–whether she realizes it or not. 

They meet up again, and I guaran-FUCKING-tee you they kiss. I’m going to roll with a “true love’s kiss” vibe here and say that’s what triggers Alucard’s soul to re-enter his body and his body to accept it. They are happy. 

Alucard loves a woman who can kick his ass. He considers her his wife, and she is more than happy to accept this arrangement, despite the fact that the church will not sanction such a union. When she finds she is pregnant, however, Sonia warns Adrian that their life will become that much more difficult. He leaves, but only after they agree that this is for the best. Alucard does not see another Belmont until his son, Trevor, is fully grown and does not even recognize him. He’s grown up believing his father had been a traveling Hunter, or some such–he has no idea of the dark lineage he bears. 

Until Castlevania rises in 1476.

[bastardsunlight]

Dhampir: The True Innocent Devil

//copied (mostly) from RadiantDecay with the helpf of @terebas​ 

There’s been a sort of nebulous question hanging above Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (hereafter referred to as cod, not to be confused with the call of duty franchise) since the game came out regarding the origins and/or lineage/species of the protagonist and antagonist, Hector and Isaac. 

 I would endeavor to supply how they fit into my canon for both Alucard (tragicprince) and Isaac (youngnoblemanofmadness) in the world of the Castlevania games. 

We are given little, even when the comic was published, save that Isaac wants Hector’s attention after their master’s defeat at the hands of his own grandson, Trevor. To that end, he spreads a rumor of witchcraft around the town nearby and points the torches and pitchforks at Rosaly, Hector’s lady love. As with several other CV titles, it is the woman’s death that propels our hero into action. 

Isaac makes a point to mock Hector, reminding him that they are the only two in the world who can do what they do, that is, devil forgery. Why? Why are they the only ones who can do this? Also, why does Isaac’s sister, Julia LaForeze, look exactly like Rosaly? Surely if the resemblance weren’t so strong, Hector would not have mistaken her for his deceased fiancée, right?

First things first, Isaac and Hector. Who and what are they? Well they were involved in the cv3 storyline, as Trevor was the one to defeat Dracula in 1476 (cod takes place in 1479). So where are they in 1476? Simple, they are supplying the monsters which populate Castlevania, or at least helping. That is their job, summoning beasts from beyond to attack or defend at their bidding. I don’t know that their presence is necessary for this, but it doesn’t hurt to have a few extra troops, right? Besides, when you have resurrection plans, you want to make sure your possible vessels are powerful, physically and spiritually. Why not teach these beings the art of summoning beasts? Which brings us then to what they are. 

Isaac reveals the plan all along was to use one of their bodies to house Dracula, which is the only way he can return before the traditional 100 year cycle. When Isaac dies, therefore, Zead is able to use it to do just that. Obviously Dracula isn’t at full power and Hector mows his ass down, thus saving the world from eternal night once more. That’s great and all, but it still doesn’t really answer the questions, who and what are Isaac and Hector, really? Well the short answer (lmao too late now) is idk. Konami left this fairly vague. 

For my headcanon (and for both Adrian and Isaac), however, Isaac and Hector are dhampir. Isaac and Hector don’t talk about their pasts because they don’t have any. I theorized once that they are either homunculi, dolls made to store Dracula’s spirit or, more likely, his dhampir progeny by way of the traditional method or some form of genetic manipulation. 

In any case, they’re Alucard’s half brothers, because part of them has to be Dracula, as he would have been conducting these experiments in relative secrecy, or by proxy–that is, one of his cults or individual followers. He rises once in a while and he’s always got the power to lure people to Castlevania… so how difficult would it be to lure a couple of ladies, make sweet sweet vampire love to them and send the poor dears on their way, none the wiser. A Belmont shows up, spanks ol’ Fangs and sends him back to the coffin…Except now there are at least two dhampir sons of Dracula incubating inside their mothers, unaware of their past or their fate. To ensure their survival, they’d be raised as normal children, just like Adrian must have been, until their vampiric nature made itself known. 

 A brief interlude here if I may. Adrian’s childhood is hardcore surrounded in mystery. All we know is that somewhere between Elisabetha and his first tangle with Trevor, Dracula lived somewhere and had a lady love named Lisa. From that, I take that Adrian grew up fairly normally, as a noble child, taught by his mother and father, etc. Now, a dhampir’s nature is not readily apparent. In my canon, he’s basically a normal, living boy until he reaches about his mid-twenties. That’s when everything sort of freezes and he gains his supernatural beauty and the ability to manipulate beasts and men alike. He becomes truly dhampir. 

 Isaac and Hector are half brothers and dhampir sons of Dracula, or random, kidnapped children with no memories of the genetic tampering which infused their blood with that of Dracula himself--for Isaac, at least, I’m leaning on the former. Hector could be either, it makes little difference at the moment. In canon, however, it is always someone of Dracula’s blood (Richter) or spirit (Soma) who is able to be his vessel, in some capacity.