opensummer | Castlevania and Anachronism

Got a comment of history's longest suicide note pointing out that coffee drinking is anachronistic and I figured I'd write some meta on it.

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SO I did actually consider throwing in a line about a speaker caravan having carried it back from the east and Sypha getting into it then but decided not to for two reasons. One is the handwavey something like 50% of castlevania is anachronistic, ~~do not get me started on Trevor’s short sword it makes me want to tear my hair out~~, and therefore other anachronisms are more or less acceptable.

Two, though, is the one I actually thought about, so hold on to your socks. So my theory of the castlevania world is that it doesn’t track with our historical development for three reasons.

Vlad Tepes the historical figure was born between 1428-1431 and died between 1476-1477. The action in the series kicks off with Lise’s appearance at the castle in 1455 and Dracula is explicitly stated as having been hundreds (if not thousands) of years old when he meets her, which means who knows what else they’ve messed with.
Magic! They have magic that allows people to farsee, to teleport, and as sypha demonstrated the ability to use magic to clear land. Extrapolating from that I suspect they have lots of mundane uses for magic (building roads and house, creating timber, heating water, etc.) Because of those two factors I suspect that Castlevania’s world in 1475 was much smaller than ours was at the same time period.
They clearly have some concept of globalism. Dracula’s generals are supposed to represent, as far as I can tell the Viking/Celts- Godbrand. India/Pakistan region- the female general in the headdress and sari? I think it’s a sari and the male general in turban. Hector is greek and Isaac is african. I personally like the idea of Moroccan!Isaac but I’m open to arguments there, and wiki tells me the disappearing female vampire’s name was Cho, which is a Korean surname. So I fall on the side of the argument that they haven extensive land networks. (And the reason that there are no New World Vampires is that they can’t cross the ocean to get there.)

So I decided that Sypha as a nomad would have encountered coffee either through her own travels or be trading with another speaker caravan. Alucard, I decided was introduced to it by his mother, who got addicted when she first starting living with Dracula and he refused to tailor his hours to a human. So Lise discovered coffee as a way to make it through all the all-nighters she had to pull- Dracula’s Magical Kitchen has Everything, and never quite kicked the habit after. (Her pregnancy incidentally was the Actual Worst because she went eight months cold turkey. Her first request after naming Adrien was for a cup.)

My headcanon for Trevor is that after the Belmont Estate went up in flames, he did the whole soldier of fortune thing and never had the money for coffee and the few times he did, he spent it on booze instead. So Sypha and Alucard are both a little addicted and expect a cup in the mornings and Trevor takes good care of his ~~husband and wife~~ team by providing it to them.

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Well damn, now I'm gonna actually have to watch the show! *grumbles halfheartedly* Because I haven't quite gotten to the 'magic' part of the show. I got to the part where Trevor rescues Sypha (I think, my memory is a little fuzzy) but I sensed an incoming death-of-a-beloved-older-figure incoming and flinched away for a while but now I need to go back! Because I haven't gotten to the magic part! And I don't know if the church is against all those who use magic or just those who use magic and who are also women OR if all the ones who use magic are either Speakers or With The Vampires.

I'd have to watch the show to really dig into the specifics of magic and how it might have manifested in the world and how that might affect the timeline alongside the effects of vampires and super advanced (though hoarded) technology that most of the humans in the world might call magic anyway. Haha, so, as I am clearly out of my depth in this case, I'm going to bow out haha.

I'm really glad you enjoyed our gleeful discussion of meta, and thanks for the subscription too!~

Historically, the Church didn't like competitors on the miracle market. Especially if those competitors were women unaffiliated with the Church. We do see priests and bishops blessing water that can harm vampires and the armies of the night in show, which is pure magic lbr. So both? Both is good.

Happy New Year and thanks for the subscription too!

Who did you think was gonna die?

I thought grandpa was gonna die, or the whole Speaker group, really. Sometimes I see people on screen and I start caring a little more about them than I should, so when they die, it affects me in a way that can be uncomfortable at times.

They're fine. They're all alive and well even until season 2 as far as we know.

Speakers are safe and sound as far as we know.

Thankfully only two named characters die in the second season and both are antagonists

If you get around to watching and have thoughts i am always down to squee about this sort of stuff!

Castlevania and Anachronism

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