Chiaroscuro

It's not "listen to the most marginalized person in the room", it's "listen to the people who have actually had the experiences being discussed, instead of assuming what those experiences are like".

It's not "stop having an opinion, shut the fuck up, and absorb uncritically whatever a marginalized person has most recently told you", it's "everyone knows their own experiences best, just like you know your's, and it's important to listen to different perspectives in order to truly understand the problem".

okay

Okay, let me prephase this with one important message: Castlevania Nocturne made me really happy by making the plot all about colonialism, as colonialism and its fallout and how it influences us to this day is a topic that I am very passionate about. We do not talk enough about it. The US does not talk enough about it because it could make white people feel uncomfortable. And here in Germany we do not talk about it, because we act as if this had nothing to do with us at all.

But the show talks about it and I love it.

And I honestly also gotta say that I love that the BI_PoC character have a concrete cultural heritage. Olrox is Aztec, Annette is Yoruba, and Drolta is Egyptian. Other shows: Please take notes!

But let's talk Olrox, because he is so fucking interesting and amazing!

We know about him that he is Aztec and also that he is 250 years old. Or roughly that old by the time he kills Julia. Which would put either his birth or his turning somewhere around 1530.

Now, the fall of the Aztec Empire has a very exact date: August 13th, 1521. But you should keep in mind that this does not mean that on that day the Aztec's are extinct. To this day there is still 1,5 million people speaking Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and preserving some of the Aztec cultural traditions. It was just that on that day the empire construct fell to Cortez and the Spaniad conquistadors and a lot of Aztecs went into exile to flee the genocide that Cortez was bringing upon them.

The question of course is: Was Olrox still human at this time or was he already a vampire? From his dialogue it is clear that he was at least alive and grown enough to remember the fall of the empire and the distruction Cortez and his men brought upon them. But you can bet it was very traumatic.

I also am assuming he was turned by a white man. Because so far my assumption is that vampirism is an old world thing that got brought to the new world through colonialism. (Mostly because in Dracula's court we do not see any new world vampires.)

Now, the other interesting thing is what he says about his dead lover. The one Julia killed. So, first the "town in Massachusetts" he speaks about is clearly Stockbridge. Which was the town in which many Mohicans have settled during the colonial times, as well as other people from the Iroquois Nations. Now, it should be noted that the Mohicans were not part of the Iroquois alliance and in fact went to war with the Iroquois, but by the time colonialism really geared up there was some cooperation between the Mohicans and Iroquois.

Due to this they were in an alliance with the Oneida (who were part of the Iroquois) by the time of the Revolutionary war. Now, the Revolutionary War created a lot of conflict between the Iroquois nations, because they did not agree which side they should fight on. Of course both sides promised that they could keep their land, but the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca did not trust the colonists and hence sided with the British, while the Oneida and Tuscarora (and through them also the Mohicans) sided with the Colonists.

And the dead lover clearly was among those siding with the colonists. Now, a quick refresher for the non-Americans (and the Americans who slept to history class, which is understandable). The Revolutionary War lasted from April 19, 1775 to September 3, 1783 (which, yes, also means that Julia and Richter probably were in the US during the war the entire time and the "evil" Julia was fighting probably was linked to it). And of course we all know how it ended for the Indigenous people: The colonists won, countless Indigenous folks died on both sides, only to get booted of their land soon after. The Oneida und Mohicans were made to move westwards not soon after the war ended. So, yes, Olrox would have seen that happen.

Now, an interesting thing in his dialogue was when Erzebet said: "We will create a new world." To which he replies: "I have heard that one before." And she says: "This time we are going to make it to last."

And the big question is to what this is refering. Is it refering to the colonialization or is it refering to the revolutionary war? Or something entirely different. In both cases it would be possible. And yes, the American Revolution definitely were claiming to create a new world. But was it that what he refered to or something else?

His polycule broke up (died of old age) so he took a depression nap (entombed himself for a 300 year slumber), bleached his hair (lost all his color from said slumber), and switched up his style (put his tits away in a frilly shirt).

He really is one of us.

Okay, after my post-yesterday I saw in the reblogs and comments a couple of things where people get their history a bit mixed up. So let me try to clear this one up.

The world did not look like it does today in 1792!

As I said, there is quite a bit of dialogue that implies that he comes from Jerusalem. Which makes sense, because the Knights Hospitaller are from there. (For a quick explanation about what's up with the Knights Hospitaller, have a look here.) It also makes sense with his name.

Now, his name is a bit more complicated as some people make it out to be. While the name Mizrak today is most common in Turkey, it is actually a bit controverse where it originates from. There is some argument saying it came from the Slavic name Mizlav, but there can also be an argument made that it comes from the Ethopian name Misrak. Both still kinda make sense with it being so common in Turkey these days, because... Welp, the Ottoman Empire was freaking giant.

And in the late 18th century, Jerusalem was in fact part of the Ottoman Empire.

(This is the closest date in maps I have found to the setting of the show, but the bigger changes would not come until Napoleon did his thing in the late 1790s.)

Now, the show also mentions Malta in relation to the Abbot and his knight-monks. So how does that fit in?

Fairly simple.

There was a bit of a conflict happening between the religions in Jerusalem in the late 1770s. Now, please keep in mind, that in general Muslims were for most of history a lot more chill about other religions being around, than Christians historically were. But never the less: Some of the Knightly Orders and the local Kalif got into issues, there was fighting. It ended up with a lot of the Knightly Orders leaving Jerusalem.

The Knights Hospitaller moved their headquarters from Jerusalem to Malta in 1779.

So I kind of wonder - would meeting the locals push Mizrak further down the road of "maybe we shouldn't ally with people who are literally and metaphorically bleeding the less fortunate dry"? Would he overcome their suspicion and find common ground with the Orthodox Catholics? Or would he end up getting into disagreements over who has the right pope and correct version of God?

DRAWTOBER #26 - Baba by @crownofpins

Deep in the wilds, mysterious things wander through the lands on mysterious trails. Dracula isn't the only legend that walks their earth. In stumbling across an abandoned village that seems too good to be true, Trevor stumbles across himself, too. Lucky for him and the lives of the countrymen riding on his success, Alucard and Sypha are there to pick him up.

Happy Ace Week!

This week is asexual awareness week, a week to celebrate ace people and their identities, as well as learn about, educate, and raise awareness of asexuality. And part of that for us means talking about ace history! This 1973 picture shows lesbian activists at Barnard College in New York suggesting a whole list of labels for people to choose from - including asexual.

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Seriously when did this

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