c-h4nn

[c-h4nn]

the past lover's first death

(version with blood below)

[c-h4nn]

Of all the interpretations and creations of Olrox's past lover, Sioketa is without a doubt the one that enchanted me the most.

I just needed to do my own reinterpretation of this character. Go and check out the profile of the creator of this oc, @c-h4nn . You won't regret it.

[c-h4nn]

Wait reverse Indiana Jones where a Native American goes around stealing sacred objects stolen by White Museums named Indian Jones

[c-h4nn]

would love to know more about sioketa. Do you have any more “lore” or headcanons for sioketa/olrox that you haven’t posted here yet? Also what pronouns does sioketa use? Thanks :)

I have an ongoing Olrox/past lover fic series! But there's only so much I can fit into art or a fic chapter LOL.

In my previous post's tags, I mentioned that I headcanon Olrox's past lover to be Two-Spirit, and so I write Sioketa implicitly (and once it comes up naturally in the story, explicitly) to be Two-Spirit as well. The Mohican language doesn't differentiate masculine and feminine pronouns, so in his native tongue, he is automatically referred to as 'they'. Mohican speakers learning English would default to using 'he' for everyone, and it just stuck with him. So, his pronouns are he/they but split between languages.

"Two-Spirit" varies vastly by tribe, and I haven't been able to find information beyond the typical roles of women and men in Mohican society. However, Waunthut Mennitoow/Wauntheet Monnitoow (the Great Spirit/Creator) is genderless, and some neighboring tribes recognize forms of being Two-Spirit. During times of war, Two-Spirit people (in other tribes) occasionally filled in positions of demand, but as Sioketa was too young to take part in the French and Indian War, he was raised largely by the women in his community and mentored into their roles. But more than being mentored, Sioketa holds a flexible Spirit, genderless by nature, able to mold itself into what is wanted or needed from himself, his family, and his homeland. He leads as such - he is a brother, a mother, a hunter, a craftsperson, a healer, a steward. He is a man, his Spirit more nebulous. In addition to his general feeling of cultural loss and isolation, as he forgets traditional ecological knowledge and the Mohican terms for plants from disuse/adopting English over the years, it grates against the core of his Spirit. It's especially distressing for him with how attuned he is to the environment and other sacred or spiritual beings (e.g., Olrox).

Sioketa's facial tattoos are based on stamps on Mohican basketry! This is another link to him being Two-Spirit, as it was women who tended to make basketry crafts.

(P.S. He does not fall anywhere under the trans umbrella! Being Two-Spirit is a separate thing. The lived experiences of being transgender and being Two-Spirit do often overlap, but not all Two-Spirit people consider themselves LGBTQ+. Sioketa is not nonbinary, bigender, genderfluid, etc., nor would he consider himself to be.)

I'm also ignoring the whole bit about the past lover being a soldier in the Revolutionary War on the colonists' side. Historically, many Mohicans converted to Christianity and sided with the Patriots to maintain their people and lands, but Sioketa (and, undoubtedly, the past lover) has directly witnessed erosion inflicted by the colonists. Leading up to the Revolutionary War, there was already pressure in Stockbridge, MA, from settlers for the Native population to leave. Following the war, the Mohicans were cheated out of their land in Stockbridge. It would be far more impactful for the past lover to resist settlement entirely. Sioketa would fight against the Redcoats and the colonists to the bitter end, and Olrox would deeply respect him for that, more than he would for Sioketa just being a revolutionary soldier.

Also, they have a little height difference :) Assuming Olrox is over 6ft/190cm, Sioketa is around 5'8"/175cm, which is actually taller than average.

[c-h4nn]

(: don't whitewash olrox

(: definitely don't whitewash olrox and then block the ppl who point it out in ur comments

[c-h4nn]

olrox/past lover doodles

[c-h4nn]

*whispers in your ear* what if Olrox's only braid was made by his anonymous Mohican lover and for that reason, he refused to undo it

[c-h4nn]

yadilah being in the castlevania nocturne fandom as a Native is rough bc why have I seen like every major Indigenous stereotype be applied to olrox

[c-h4nn]

As a young girl at the Shubenacadie Residential School, Phyllis Googoo found a special way to hang on to her Mi'kmaw language: talking to ladybugs. 

In the documentary Phyllis & the Ladybugs, Googoo explains the bugs were actually potato bugs. She would make roads for them in the grass and sing them lullabies.

"I'd take care of my babies. I'd say, 'Don't be afraid,' because I was afraid," she says in the documentary. "I wanted to be treated how I was treating the ladybugs."

The film was co-directed by Googoo and Ann Verrall. It follows Googoo's story from being forced to attend residential school at 4½ years old to leaving for the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis in March 2022 along with other residential school survivors.

...

"I think that's one of the things that really drew me to it is looking at how the imagination is a survival mechanism and how this very young child was able to engage her imagination to help herself and to survive in that environment."

[c-h4nn]

Hi!

Do you know if orlox’s name is actually Mayan/ Aztec? His name always stood out to me but I’m not sure if his name is correct

"Olrox" isn't a Mēxihcah/Aztec or Maya name. It's derived from Count Orlok, aka Nosferatu, and Olrox himself is adapted from the in-game character. It isn't culturally accurate, unfortunately.

[c-h4nn]

[c-h4nn]

Hi ! I was wondering something that you’ve might’ve already answered but I’m new to your blog, why don’t you ship Mizrak and orlox? As someone who’s middle eastern I’ve always assumed mizrak was some sort of middle eastern Christian that moved to France bc of imperialism. (I assumed he was Palestinian or Lebanese/ any of the Levantine area). I love how you draw orlox and his lover!! Also if you’re not comfortable with this pls don’t respond!

I don't like mizrox for a mix of personal, historical, and canon reasons. I'll break each one down as succinctly as I can below!

I am from a tribe with a long and hostile period of contact with Spanish Catholic conquistadors and settlers. There's a couple hundred years there. Refer to don Juan de Oñate's mission to colonize and convert New Mexico, the Pueblo Revolt, the entirety of the Spanish period of the Navajo Wars, Spanish scorched earth campaigns and slave raids, and Massacre Cave. I am also descended from a Hwéeldi (Long Walk) survivor, as many Diné are. Hwéeldi was a continuation of the Navajo Wars and was meant to fragment, relocate, assimilate, and exterminate my tribe. I am further a grandchild of Catholic residential school survivors. As a result of those schools, no one in my immediate family speaks Diné bizaad or practices our traditions. You can see why I'm not fond of Christianity, especially Catholicism.

The colonization of the U.S. Southwest was an extension of Spain's conquest of Central America. This is what Olrox would have endured. He would have seen these Spanish Catholic conquistadors bring European-born diseases and decimate the Indigenous population. Across the Americas, around 90% of all Indigenous people were killed, owing mostly to disease. He would have seen the collapse of the Aztec empire and Tenōchtitlan, his home, at the hands of Cortés, and how it was looted and buried under a cathedral and Spanish monuments. He would have seen the implementation of the encomienda system, which aimed to convert and subdue the Indigenous peoples, killing thousands upon thousands and crushing Indigenous traditions. Did you know that in the Maya area, due to a libricide enacted by Spanish Catholic priests, only four Maya codices remain? This doesn't even touch on the similar destruction that settler-colonialism and Christianity left on the rest of North America, which Olrox also would have witnessed. I could go on for ages. Nothing could ever, ever summarize how utterly devastating the colonization of the Americas was in the name of God, Gold, and Glory.

And then for Mizrak to spit the same genocidal rhetoric at Olrox that he has undeniably heard for nearly 300 years? When the gears of colonization turn on the dehumanization, eradication, and erasure of Indigenous peoples, for Mizrak to say "You're an animal which lost its soul centuries ago"? For him to blame savagery for the genocide of Olrox's people and the death of his past lover? For the writers and for Mizrak to make Olrox into a villainous seducer (the snake tempting the forbidden fruit) when Indigenous people have long been cruelly stereotyped to be sexually promiscuous and dangerous to Christian purity? For Mizrak to uphold Christianity and preach it in the face of an Indigenous man who lost everything to it, who dared to open up about this haunted past, believing Mizrak to be a good enough man and Christian to understand?

I regrettably don't know enough of Middle Eastern history to contextualize Mizrak's own character better, nor has the show really given the fans much to work with. But regardless of Mizrak's background, he is Christian, and he uses his religion and a colonial perspective against Olrox, who has already been resisting this for centuries. I'm weary of "Olrox can fix him!" or "It's Mizrak's religious trauma! Let them be happy!" or any other variation where Olrox is a tool to help Mizrak reconcile with his sexuality and religion. We get an interesting Indigenous character whose story could easily stand alone, and he instead becomes a platform for the Christian man.

So, I'd much rather think about Olrox and his past lover!

[c-h4nn]

entwined

[c-h4nn]

I love your fic and I’m glad you had annoyance by Olrox story in castlevania and I’m glad you are writing the story of his lover and not jumping to ship him with a white person Alucard it so frustrating to me cause I believe that the period of his life is fascinating but will never see animated. Though I gotta say as someone who Algerian Mizrak story is confusing to me cause there a lot of things that don’t make sense but I don’t think the creators care a lot about the portrayal of middle eastern characters which is so unfortunate but no surprise I’m used to it.

Thank you!! I love Olrox and all his complexities, but I actually don't think he is good Indigenous representation. At least, not in the way the show has designed and written him with what feels like just surface-level research. That's partly why I've latched onto him and his past lover - there is so much potential there for a beautiful, respectful, and distinctly Indigenous exchange of love, which is far more interesting to me than whatever is happening in the show LOL.

I'm not a fan of mizrox or Mizrak due to the way he treats Olrox. It's an exhausted dynamic, and it isn't entertaining for me to watch when my community and many other Indigenous communities have endured his same rhetoric for 500 years. However, I do think Mizrak has similarly been served injustice by the writers. It's shallow and stereotyped research that was put into these two characters that do deserve more for the sake of a compelling story and for the history and cultures involved!

[c-h4nn]

i want to ask if you have trusted sources on the Mohican people?

Sure! The name "Mohican" is thought to stem from confusion on the part of James Fenimore Cooper and his book The Last of the Mohicans. Historically, there was the Mahican (Mohican) tribe of New York and the Mohegan tribe of Connecticut (2 entirely separate tribes), which were likely conflated in the book and during its reception. "Mahican" is more common in historical references. "Mohican" is used more often today.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians does use Mohican, which should be respected. I must emphasize that the Mohegan Tribe is, again, entirely separate. I will also stress that there was never a "last of the Mohicans" - these two Tribes have persevered and have active communities today.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians already has quite a bit of historical and cultural information available on their website. Always refer to them first, if possible.

Language resources: 1 2

Here are four textbooks, if you're really invested: 1 2 3 4

Some information about the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War).

Hendrick Aupaumut's Letter to the New York State Legislature.

Some of the history behind the Last of the Mohicans. Don't use Cooper's book as a reference, though.

The Stockbridge Mohicans/Indians: 1 2

Besides the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians' website, there is little other cultural and spiritual information available. With caution, I suggest referring to the neighboring related Algonquian tribes for that, such as the Lenape. But do take care to not generalize groups and blend them like Cooper did. Natives are not a monolith.

I will also urge you to research the broader context of colonial settlement, westward expansion, and Indigenous displacement during this period, as well as the role of Christian missionaries/preachers and praying towns, wars and colonial policies (e.g., the Indian Proclamation), and tribal relations. There are many nuanced reasons as to why the Stockbridge-Munsee Community is presently located in Wisconsin and not New York.

The first image is of a Stockbridge Indian revolutionary. The last three are of Etow Oh Koam, a Mohican diplomat and one of the four Indian Kings. (The other three were Mohawk.)

[c-h4nn]

white people are on some other kind of shit i swear

[c-h4nn]

Hello I just recently found your tumblr and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your fanfic, you can feel the loneliness of these 2 men, Sioketa feeling even more lonely somehow(isolated might be a better word), also I love aztec culture being treated so well, while I'm no expert I do know the correct mythology but somehow apparently no one else, whenever they make Olrox refer to HIMSELF as a dragon I just think "he would not consider himself a dragon, he's a feathered serpent", also love how you included Huitzilopochtli like yes Olrox IS a warrior he would pay his tributes to him, everyone else just mains on Quetzalcoatl and don't even try to look further into the culture

Sorry for the rant I just wanted to say how much I loved your fic, one can tell when something is crafted with care there's many other things I'd like to say but this is already long enough

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! I love reading people's thoughts :)

A gripe that I definitely have about Olrox fans is the dragon thing. As a mutual of mine on instagram puts it, equating Quetzalcōātl/Olrox's plumed serpent form to a dragon is a Westernized generalization that dismisses how culturally significant this Teōtl is.

I'm from a Southwestern tribe, so I'm not an expert either, but ignoring the rest of the Tēteoh would also be a shallow representation of the belief system of the Mēxihcah and Aztec peoples, especially as it all would have been interwoven deeply into Olrox's daily life. He would've held onto everything he could!! Regarding Olrox's tributes to Huītzilōpōchtli (and the other Tēteoh), this is how Olrox's world - and the Mēxihcah world - turns. Indigenous rites have been demonized and exoticized for so long, and I wasn't going to contribute to that.

And I'm sick of "killing the Indian, saving the man" narratives. To portray Olrox (and his past lover) as having left/forgotten most or all of his roots, or to quietly ignore his cultural background, is too close to that, imo.