(no subject)

[doyle]

I've been doing a lot of reading about the Jamestown colony (because even me, with my primary school recollection of early American history, say the 1609 flashback in Darla and went 'whuuu?') And it turns out there was a woman, 'Mistresse Forest', who arrived in Jamestown with her servant in 1608 and just vanished from history (the servant ending up as one of the few to survive when almost all the colonists died out the next year). It's all nice and serendipitous but it doesn't explain where the bloody nuns came from.

But now I want to write Darla fic from this guy's perspective. And absolutely not entertain the naughty thoughts brought up by the idea that Darla would have almost certainly have known Pocahontas.

ETA this bit from MSN chat:
Kevin says:
when I read your last post I mistook "Jamestown" for "Jonestown" and spent a good 10mins pondering how Pocahontas was involved in a pseudo-religious suicide cult

Comments

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid I lived pretty close to Jamestown and visited it often. I remember laughing when I learned that Darla became a bloodsucker there because the colony was built way the hell too close to a swamp and the mosquitoes are TERRIBLE. For some reason it struck me as poetic justice...

[fallingfortruth.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh*

I *heart* my geeky friends. ^_^

*hugs you*

[wickedprincess3.livejournal.com]

Darla would have almost certainly have known Pocahontas.
I remember once reading that Pocahontas translates to "frisky" or something which you know made watching that damn disney movie almost entertaining (I have no idea if that's true, probably not but fun random un-knowledge!)

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

I think Joss has a big thing hooking Vampires, Blood, Catholicism and The Church, like there's no church but the one in Rome, and he's never cared enough to investigate the other strains of Christianity out there. Thus, we get nuns in Virginia and a stereotypical Southern Baptists wearing a collar.

Have you ever read the Tales of the Slayer books? In the first one, there's a story, "The White Doe" by Christie Golden, where the Watcher is the Governor of the Virginia Colony and the Slayer was, if I recall correctly, Virginia Dare.

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

One of my friends actually works in Jamestown, so I hit her up for all my Darla backstory needs. Granted, this is probably overkill on my part since clearly what's shown on the show couldn't have been more inaccurate if Darla's death scene had included a walkman, but I'm a geek so there you go.

Of note, the script for Darla originally had the flashback take place in 1607 but it was changed to 1609 by the time the show aired. I can only assume some kind soul pulled Tim aside and informed him that there were no woman in Jamestown period in 1607 and that's why he changed it to 1609, when the first signs of XX chromosomes made their way over ;)

Nuns would not have been there at all since Jamestown was a Protestant colony (and again, let alone the fact that there weren't many women there at all to begin with). I chose to fanwank this by saying Darla was hallucinating ;)

Darla would have also never gone over to Jamestown without some form of family there, such as father, brother, or husband, for her to be with. So the idea that she was the Jamestown whore just isn't going to fly.

It's ironic that the gang felt a need to inject incorrect religious imagery into the whole thing because the colony was extremely religious all on its own. Members were expected to go to church daily, and not going could result in not being given food rations and/or beatings.

One of these years I'm going to do a story for Darla, where I show how she was a prostitute in England who thought she could reinvent herself in the new world only to fail when the harshness of that reality and her past catches up to her. But in the meanwhile I share what tidbits I know for what they're worth. =)

[verucawerewolf.livejournal.com]

Random note that I bet you don't care about, but I live in Jim Jones's birthplace, where he was raised and learned all about religion and such. *facepalms* We're so proud, I tell you. /random