#mizrak i love you so much

[fishingisuniversal]

Cannot take Mizrak seriously, he'll be out here like "Only God can judge my true soul and when the time comes I hope I am found worthy of the Kingdom of heaven, as everything I have done is in service to Him" and he'll be saying this with complete seriousness to the serial killer vampire he just had gay sex with

[sneepity-snoop-snorpity-sneep]

I gotta blabber for a sec about how much I appreciate how unique and SO not-simple of an antagonist Olrox is.

like he's introduced as the Vampire Who Kills Richter's Mom, and it was a straight-up murder. Like he fully sought her out, she was in the process of sending her kid overseas most likely because she knew he was coming - even before we fully get Olrox's side of the context, we can tell that shit was personal. Right down to the vivid green eyes, he's giving weirdly chill disney villain vibes. But the entire rest of the show? He's the dude in the bad guy car of the villain train just sitting and judging (OH is he judging) every other person there.

Olrox tracking down and killing Julia Belmont is the most confrontational we ever see him get. Every other scene he's in? He's watching, assessing, sometimes philosophizing, and eventually pulling his own chess moves, but fighting? Rarely! And the additional context of his character makes him even more fascinating!!

Olrox is really one of the only vampires in both Castlevania and C: Nocturne that seems to hold onto a connection to a human's life - even after he's no longer one. He reminisces to Mizrak about being a human during the fall of the Aztec Empire, he chooses to spend his time more like a human than any vamp since Lisa sent Dracula traveling like a human way back when.

Homeboy crossed the Atlantic by fucking ship, at a time when the trip took literal weeks and weeks and he can't even leave his quarters except at nighttime (granted, idk if he *has* a faster way to cross the ocean but it kinda seems like he'd do the ship trip anyways) he chooses to rent a room at an inn instead of staying at the chateau (and boink a cute human in said room, cough cough), and really seems to avoid other vampires - although I'm not sure if that's cuz he just doesn't vibe with 'em in general, or because he really doesn't vibe with the current hot vampire philosophy of the century, which seems to be very heavy-handled colonialism + elitism

I kinda wouldn't be surprised if it's both honestly - given that the only other vampire we meet besides him who spent time in the americas/new world was a literal plantation owning slaver (and unless I misremember, Annette says there were multiple vampires among the rich in St. Domingue), it seems pretty likely to me that whoever turned him was probably a vamp who had a direct hand in the downfall of his nation - coming to the New World specifically for conquest and to seize resources seems like it would be hella appealing for vampires. It would make a LOT of sense for Olrox's standoffish behavior around the other vamps to go back to him having been turned by someone very similar to them, who was probably not just an enemy to him, but part of this massive wave of destructive change in his human life.

like he really gives an impression of actively disliking and withdrawing from every other villain's motivation in this show - and it makes a lot of sense if my speculating is even a little bit close. The vampire's goals in Nocturne would be very nearly the same thing that drove the fall of the Aztec Empire - desire for power and control, justified by some """""natural order"""" hierarchy which really just boils down to 'we want all of this and we're going to indulge in making up a dramatic jerk-off reason why we're entitled to it, since you can't stop us taking it anyways and we've got time'

Dude seems to make little effort to be vampire-like - we rarely see him revel in his power like many other vampires do, as well as seeing him nonchalantly rubbing elbows with humans. He speaks fondly of a man he loved, who he fell for while said guy was still human, TO the other human he is currently crushing on! And I do mean crush, like he doesn't react to or treat Mizrak like a plaything, almost every time we get an Olrox lore-drop it's because he's talking to Mizrak sincerely about things that matter to him. He LIKE-likes this human, to the point of jumping directly into a fight to whisk Le Crush to safety in front of a vampire so powerful he won't directly oppose her! Absolutely fascinating behavior all around.

MAN but I want to see some flashbacks from this guy - as far as we know, vampirism is completely an Old World thing - Europe, Asia, Africa, every other vampire we've seen in both Castlevania shows has been from these continents. Were there even any vamps there at all before europeans landed on the shores of the americas???? I mean, I've heard of one of the old religions in mesoamerica having a suspiciously vampirelike god, but how would that connect to Olrox getting vampirized as a 30ish Aztec man?

MAN OH MAN but I am looking forward to seeing what Olrox gets up to in s2 -I'm burning to know if he's gonna survive the series or not, because despite him being the first villain we meet in Nocturne and doing a deed that usually gets villains the 'karmic death' ending, overall he's not really being written like a bad guy the audience wants to see go down. especially since he's not actually in opposition to our protagonists and has a vested interest in keeping one of Team Good Guys newer members alive. My guess is he's either going to get a similar ending to Isaac, a villain that we root for who actually catches a break and doesn't die, ooorrrrrrrr he's gonna get a Highly Tragic sort of death

[forbiddentaako]

ok im making the post bc my roomate confirmed i'm not being dramatic but its short and mostly me complaining

My enjoyment for nocturne season 2 was so severely held back by feeling like they did Olrox so dirty this season. Like I found his storyline and character in s1 to be extremely interesting and a great setup for season 2, but it feels like he was so pushed out of the narrative this season and lacked a lot of the subtext related to the themes around him that were present in s1. He just isn't having substantial moments that build on what was set up previously and I feel like the only context he really existed in this season was related to mizrak when his position in the erzebet/sekhmet storyline was also SO IMPORTANT/INTERESTING.

Like yes he had moments that were related to it but they didn't feel nearly as impactful as the s1 scenes, and overall Olrox simply didn't interact with other characters enough or even have interesting scenes on his own. Not to mention even in the scenes with him and Mizrak I felt like there really wasn't substantial progression or an arc building off of season 1 either, which overall made me feel disappointed at them not doing anything interesting with what they set up in the s1 ending. And that just made the s2 ending with him and mizrak in the last episode feel so insulting.

[ifishouldvanish]

This is probably me reading waaayyy to much into things BUT I'm presently being haunted by Thoughts™ of that last scene with Olrox and Mizrak.

Like Mizrak spends the season doubting his standing with God and trying to atone for the role he played in realizing the abbot's plans. He's wracked with guilt and knows that hell is waiting for him.

And then we have Olrox who knows this, knows what he's done, knows how he feels about it. We see him physically hold Mizrak back and force him to stop and look at what he has wrought. Yet every time Mizrak dismisses him, Olrox returns to basically yell, "I know! I know, and I still love you!" He's extending the grace Mizrak is certain he does not deserve in the eyes of his God.

One of the more crucial myths about Quetzalcoatl is a story in which humanity has been killed off as punishment for vice and greed, or even just as collateral in a spat between deities—but Quetzalcoatl believed in humanity so much that he went to the underworld to retrieve everyone's bones, and, through the sacrifice of his blood, gave humanity the gift of life again.

And I keep thinking about the line, "the devil is easy to cheat".

Of course, the mesoamerican pantheon doesn't have a 'devil' per se, but it does have Mictlantecutli, who is the ruler of their underworld. And a key part of this myth is that when Quetzalcoatl went to the underworld for everyone's bones, he didn't want to give them back. Quetzalcoatl had to use trickery to steal the bones and escape with them.

So I keep thinking about this shot in particular:

To me, it echoes this one from season 1:

I've already written about the symbolism of Olrox's introductory scene at some length, so I won't repeat myself here, but I liken this shot of Julia to a sacrifice. So, you know... by proxy I'm now likening Olrox in this last scene to a sacrifice.

But this time the roles are effectively reversed. Julia, a human sacrificed to a god, and Olrox a god (or at least an avatar of one) sacrificing himself for a human, for someone he believes to be deserving of life.

Like I look at this scene and I think about these things and this shot of Olrox seems to say, "drink of my blood, feast upon my flesh". To say, "your God won't save you, but I will." To promise, "if the devil tries to take you, I will venture into hell to steal you back. I will offer myself to grant you life again."

Of course, the life Olrox is giving Mizrak here is a dark and twisted thing, but it's also an achingly beautiful expression of a god's unconditional love.

[pinkmirth]

❤︎ ⋆ ࣪ ˖ 𝒞𝐻ℰ𝑅𝑅𝒴-𝒫𝐼𝒞𝒦𝐼𝒩𝒢!

𝒮𝑌𝒩𝒪𝒫𝒮𝐼𝒮 ⨾ a little looksie into the castlevania men and their particular preferences . . . aka, the unavoidable “ass or tits” question!

𝒞𝒪𝒩𝒯𝒜𝐼𝒩𝒮 ⨾ ( 800+ words of . . . ) multi!castlevania men x fem!reader (black coded); adrian ‘alucard’ tepes, trevor belmont, richter belmont, isaac laforeze, hector forgemaster, count olrox, mizrak, & vlad ‘dracula’ tepes; missionary, doggy, mutual masturbation, thigh-fucking, bdsm (spanking), explicit language, lowercase intended, minors shoo!

𝑀𝒴 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸 𝐿𝐸𝒯𝒯𝐸ℛ! ⨾ yes, i am being trivial and shallow because it’s fun & that’s a good enough reason! inspired by this post here; i just had to whip up something for our favorite wallachian men >.< please enjoy, and thanks for reading! 🎀

𝒜𝐿𝑈𝒞𝒜𝑅𝒟!

it’s far too obvious, i think; but he loves. him. some. boobies! adrian’s a tits man through and through, even if he’s got too much decorum to admit it. his actions say it all, though— he loves to lick them, knead them, tease your nipples with his teeth, rest his head between them, gently cup either one whenever he’s embracing you from behind . . . he’ll even motorboat them if he’s feeling naughtier than usual. now, that’s all out of pure habit. intimately, though? slotting his twitchy cock between your boobs is surely his favorite; and then there’s those times when he’s got you laid upon your back while he's situated between your spread legs, fucking into you from above. his cold palms lie at your waist, grip going tight whenever you squeeze around his pulsing dick, and his golden eyes are glued to your breasts like it’s all they’re good for. the way they bounce and jiggle with his pace is nothing short of mesmerizing. coming all over them in the end will make him lose his fucking head. whether it’s an unaddressed mommy kink or otherwise, he just can’t get enough of you (and the girls!) let him suck your titties and his entire day is made.

𝒯𝑅𝐸𝒱𝑂𝑅!

ass. completely, absolutely, undeniably, ass. he’ll smack it, eat it, grope it, anything. trevor pinches your butt whenever he wants a rise out of you, just to see how much you’ll blow up at him. (so what he finds it cute, sue him!) and, smacks at it whenever you’re feeding him an attitude. if he starts grabbing at it with rough palms, you already know what he wants; to fuck your shit up. unexpectedly, doggy’s the first position he’ll think to fold you into once you reach that bed. trevor curves over your arched frame, grinning at the ripple of your asscheeks against his pelvis. he’ll spit pure fucking venom into your ear while you take him. seals it off with coating your plump, pretty ass with his seed. the happiest man alive, he now is.

𝑅𝐼𝒞𝐻𝒯𝐸𝑅!

both! there are men out there who simply can’t bring themselves to choose, because both are far too precious; and richie’s one of them. how could you even expect him to pick? both parts of you are so soft, round, and feminine . . . if you allow him to get his hands on either, he wouldn’t mind in the slightest. this belmont’s skilled with his hands, might i add; his breast massages make you slump into him whine for more, and spankings don’t even feel like a punishment with him. as long as he can kiss down your body, mark the canvas of your flesh, and caress anything you’ve got in a pair of two, rich’s all yours.

𝐼𝒮𝒜𝒜𝒞!

thighs! it isn’t exactly a given option, but then again, this man isn't like the others. he loves the fullness of them, how warm to the touch they are whenever he rests a hand at your lap, and finds them to be the greatest pillow the entire world could offer. you stroking at his smooth scalp while he nudges his face into your thighs is his idea of paradise. speaking of, this man is king of thigh-fucking!!!! slots his cock in between the warmth of your inner thighs, urges you to keep them closed tight, and makes a mess of them by the time he’s done. his cum releases in streams, and spurts out to drip down your lap. but don’t worry, his tongue’s already out; as a gentleman, isaac always makes sure to clean up his messes.

𝐻𝐸𝒞𝒯𝒪ℛ!

tits! they’re perfectly squishy, which helps considering that he’s got loads of stress to rid himself of. one-finger less isn’t stopping him from giving the girls their much deserved attention! he’s slipping under your bra, brushing past your nipples, and kneading the mounds like he’s got nothing better to do. you know what’s his favorite thing to do with you and the girls? having you on your back with him kneeling above you, desperately tugging at his cock right before your face. you bring a hand down to swipe at your clit and match his pace; god, he swears you’re drooling. you suckle at his tip, and it’s enough stimulation to bring him to his peak. he’s then cumming all over your chest, some reaching your spit-streaked lips. has he ever mentioned how beautiful you look this way?

𝐵𝒪𝒩𝒰𝒮!

dracula simply adores thighs! a man of culture, this one is. as for olrox, he loves him some (man) titties. a nice, broad and firm chest is enough to put a smile on his face and a tent in his pants. then there’s mizrak, the ass-lover. grabbing it is his favorite past-time >.<

© 𝒫𝐼𝒩𝐾ℳ𝐼𝑅𝑇𝐻! ⸻ all rights reserved! do not steal, plagiarize or repost any of my works. please and thank you! 𝜗𝜚

[sabaldax]

olrox theory

i think there's a deeper meaning to alucard telling olrox "he's a good man, keep him safe" after mizrak gets wounded. i think it might actually be alucard giving olrox permission. more under the cut

we know olrox's past lover was a mohican man with a strong connection to his people and his country. he was an idealist and a revolutionary. the way olrox describes him in s1, he sounds like a hero. i don't think julia belmont would have a reason to kill the man olrox is describing in that scene.

but olrox isn't talking about what happened after he turned his lover into a vampire.

imagine this: olrox's lover - a goodhearted, strong man with good morals and dreams of peace and freedom - is mortally wounded in a revolutionary battle. olrox can't bear to lose him, so he turns him. olrox doesn't ask - there's no opportunity to - if he doesn't act now, it will be too late. his lover comes back to him as a vampire. at first, olrox is overjoyed. he'll never be alone again. his love story never needs to end. he can love without question or shame and be loved in return, forever.

only, his lover comes back wrong.

if we think of "becoming a vampire" a bit like "rolling the cosmic dice on whether or not your soul will stay intact"? olrox's lover just doesn't pass the check. he's still very much in love with olrox when he comes back - if anything, he's more in love than ever - because olrox just gave him everything he needs to turn the tide.

he goes off the deep end. olrox stands aside and watches in quiet resignation as his lover starts killing indiscriminately, even the revolutionaries he'd previously fought alongside. he becomes the monster in the night, the thing everybody is afraid of. and with good reason: he's killing men, women and children, annihilating the invaders. restoring his people and country to how they were before, how they were always supposed to be, unmarred by colonists.

olrox watches on, unwilling to intervene. but quietly, he's heartbroken that this is what he turned his lover into - that the honourable, peaceful man he fell in love with lost himself somewhere between his deathbed and his second life.

that's why julia belmont comes for him. it's why she targets olrox's lover, but not olrox himself. because olrox, the aztec vampire, is low on the radar compared to the current and active threat decimating entire populations in new england. and olrox still comes for her in due course - still takes her life to avenge the only man he's ever loved. but, deep down? olrox understands why she did it.

so fast forward to now. in s1, when mizrak says "because he was a vampire, and you did that to him. did you even ask permission?", olrox gets angry. that's not something we see him do anywhere else. he's always calm, always calculated, until mizrak hits that sore spot right on the head. did you even ask permission? no, olrox didn't. he didn't have time to. he was going to lose him. he couldn't lose him. you did that to him. olrox did. olrox did that to him. because he put his needs first. because he couldn't lose him. because he was a vampire. but his lover wasn't just any vampire, in the end. he was a nightmare unleashed. he became everything he used to hate in the world, when he was alive - and that was because of olrox.

maybe that's why olrox answers mizrak with a lie:

"and is that what you have planned for me?"

"of course not, mizrak. i'm not in love with you."

olrox lies, because he can't bear to face the truth: that he's in love again, and he would do it all again. every bit of it. that if mizrak were dying - a good man, an honourable man with good values and morals, a good man who could so easily become an unstoppable bloodthirsty killer - if mizrak were dying, olrox would still gamble his soul rather than let him go. olrox is willing to roll those dice.

((it's different this time, though. genuinely different. old man coyote presumably wasn't waiting in the wings to take olrox's past lover's soul, the way he is for mizrak. maybe olrox would have let mizrak pass on otherwise. i like to think so, honestly. i think he'd have honoured his previous lover by not repeating the cycle.))

and we know alucard and olrox know each other. they have at least some amount of history. and since olrox told mizrak about his previous lover, it seems fair enough to say olrox is willing to talk about it provided the other party is a very handsome man. it stands to reason that he's told alucard.

so let's say alucard knows. alucard knows that olrox's last lover was dying, and olrox saved him, and his last lover came back wrong. more to the point: alucard knows what olrox is thinking.

i don't know what to do. i can't bear to lose him but i can't bear to see him come back wrong.

so alucard says what he needs to hear:

he's a good man. keep him safe.

i'm not sure what that means yet. maybe alucard's saying, "he's a good man, a genuinely good man. this time it will be different. so don't let him go to old man coyote. keep him safe from that hell." or maybe alucard is saying, "he's a good man, too. just like the last one. so don't risk losing him to the darkness. don't roll those dice."

or maybe i'm just deeply, profoundly mentally ill, and season 3 will roll around and they'll reveal an olrox backstory that's completely different to any of that.

... but i know what headcanon i'll be building into at least one of my mizrox fics.

what do you think?

[mysteryanimator]

Breaking down "Even the Iron Still Fears the Rot" (almost) shot by shot!

The fan-animatic can be viewed here!

HEADS UP: This is a fan-made content. I am a fan. I just love Castlevania/animation a lot and I love storyboarding nuances and making people cry over character dynamics. Also apologises for any grammatical/spelling mistakes!

I wasn't planning to do another breakdown of my own work, simply due to imposter syndrome but I genuinely put so much love and care into this animatic! I want to talk about it! Also, people have been really open to hearing about my inspiration and notes, and why I take the directions I do for my work, even if it's fan-made, so here we go!

(Also the reciprocation of my animatics has been so kind and uplifting, and I'm really glad that there's a lot of love for them as much as I love doing them! I learn and grow with every single board I make, it's been really fun! I hope I get to shine this much passion in the future in actual work!)

Since this is also an adaptation of a fan one-shot by Aquila, (which you can read here!) I knew I wanted to evoke what they had written and interject some of my own nuances/personal readings to their story to elevate what they had! In turn, kind of created this monster (positive) of a fan creation haha. There are some changes/rearranging the placement of aspects of the one-shot to strengthen the existing tension going on!

With this out the way, let's begin!

(heads up, for any shots I completely skip over, it is because I'm reaching image limits here)

I wanted to evoke that strong halo light you see in a lot of media. Often than not, this visual is used to depict the character as a divine force of nature and/or when a character is bobbing in and out of death. It can also be a very very terrifying image, as, for example, s02e8, Mizrak is literally all dark with a brightly lit background. It is scary- BUT people will say hot because it's Mizrak but hey, look, all I can say is I fully understand haha. It all depends on your intentionality and what follows before and after to give context to your scene!

Mizrak is dead. Well, undead now. Olrox is the so-called angel giving him life and love and this halo of light gets repeated a few times!

By the end, not only do their literal positions switch, but their roles shift too so I hoped to convey that visually by also giving Mizrak that halo glow for the second last shot. At the start, Olrox consumes Mizrak’s love, and then it ends with Mizrak consuming Olrox’s love. Guh I love blood themes in vamprisim.

This shot honestly took me a bit to do, since I was going a lot cleaner than usual, the expression for Mizrak was super important for me to get right. I wanted him to look like he was about to die- yet still have an unwavering amount of life in him. (Also I hadn't warmed up drawing in this cleaned-up style so it definitely was me messing around). It was important for me for this to feel like a POV shot to contrast the first scene so we can get inside the mind of Olrox!

This too is where I only have sound effects since I can't have voice so I limit my SFX to the only most vital things to elevate things I personally find better elevate the scene with audio. It only happens TWICE. The heartbeat. His wrist is shown and from context clues from not only S01 of Nocturne with Tera's turning, but a whole bunch of other vampire media- the wrist is a place where the dead accept their new life of immortality!

Also, the pulse effect was definitely inspired by the transformation of Sekmet! I'm not sure personally if this went to a further stage I'd want to keep this since I'd personally want something more unique for vampire turning, more specifically for Olrox, HOWEVER, I think it still does a good job conveying the supernatural pull for the time being!

Wow who saw this coming HAHA

Immediately when I saw the line where Olrox said he went to straddle him immediately, my mind went to go and try to parallel this scene again! I don't have much to say about this shot rather than the feet are purposefully cut out for animation convenience's sake HAHA.

Jumpscare for sudden Olrox character layout (even though he's really off model and sketchy here HAHA)

I was again, wanting to depict Olrox BATHED in light and since this animatic is purely in greyscale (with accents of colour), I could really push for dramatic lighting when it called for it! This is also why some of the scenes just do not have backgrounds at all. I wanted to make some of the scenes as "heavenly" as possible and for Mizrak to be embraced by the light because Olrox is giving him a new a life.

If this were to ever be animated (I won't be since it would take too much of my time, but it's still a good thing to note when boarding anything... maybe I'll do cleaned screenshots since those are a breeze, or animate ONE scene from this animatic... we'll see what I have time for. I unfortunately don't have proper time to try and figure out the layout of s02e8 bgs and paint them. I did consider quickly doing a 3d mock-up but no haha), the light in the background can probably be lit with candles since it was already pre-established in s02e8! Also, the windows can reflect light into the room so there's that too since Mizrak was backlit in that episode too!

Fun fact, this entire scene was the first thing I ever thought up and why I started even making it. I thought about how cool of a visual it would be to have Mizrak's eye in the reflection.

I wanted to imbue the fact that Mizrak does not fear Olrox holding a blade, hell, he's not even looking at the blade. He's looking at Olrox. What is described as a relic from a terrifying past, Mizrak is not scared. Mizrak is not scared of Olrox.

This is where the heartbeat occurs AGAIN. This is mostly to signal to the audience what Olrox actually has planned. He's not feeding Mizrak from his wrist but from his actual chest, especially with how gently Olrox runs his hands over it.

I debated a lot on where the initial cut should go. The heart, for sentimentality, under the breast in the same way Christ had been pierced, etc etc- however I landed on just dead set in the middle so it could form a cross that would grow bigger and bigger as the animatic went on. (Fun fact, the blob of blood turns into a little heart as he squeezes his chest)

I wanted to put some weight to the repressed catholic guilt, so I thought a cool visual way to showcase that Mizrak has only known how to love is via worshipping God which has consumed his entire being and self. God has given him faith, a companion in the hardest of times when the world has abandoned him.

Now, once again, his world has abandoned him. The Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God is gone. In the face of death and fearing the devil will be waiting. Olrox has given him love, and he will be a companion in the hardest of times. He will not abandon Mizrak.

This aspect of the cross in the animatic gets expanded upon as time goes on. Both literally as the cross literally turns into a pool of blood more closely to the symbol Mizrak bares, but also it slowly expands upon Mizrak feeding off Olrox's love! I'll add some more of my personal notes when we get there!

Also by far one of my favourite scenes I've drawn. It's still rough but it decidedly made me go a lot cleaner with the rest of the storyboard!

This is supposed to be suddenly jarring because it cuts midway through Olrox in a midshot to a close-up of a hand! We need to see him actively halt Olrox for just a moment, but also to show that even when it's sudden- its not hostile, it's gentle.

This shot does a couple of things!

It showcases how gently Mizrak is reaching out to Olrox

It helps to continually establish Mizrak submission to vampirism. He is constantly placed on the bottom from the composition, or we as an audience, are always looking down at Mizrak! Seeing parts of Olrox here really cements this fact as Olrox towers over him to the point we don't even see him fully!

It helps to lead into the Fallen Angel reference!

This shot makes me sob because it is so gentle. Despite being placed constantly much higher in the composition in the animatic, therefore making him the most powerful in this dynamic- in no way Olrox is intentionally made out to be an intimidating figure. He is comfort. He is a companion. He will not abandon Mizrak. The act of turning Mizrak might be read as selfish. It may be read as cheating the natural cycle of life, it may be everything wrong and doomed as your mind makes it to be, however, it is done out of love. Morals, whether good or bad, no longer matters because Olrox is in love. Love has such a strong chokehold on this series, so I'm shoving as much love into these characters as I can. Both literally make these characters so sickly desiring love that it will be their doom and saving grace, but also me as an artist deeply putting love and thought into this board because care a lot about how to convey these complex emotions! Sure it is quite easy to churn out boards without care, but without putting care into your boards, your characters and stories lack life (in my personal opinion).

Immediately, this animatic shook me and told me to put in a reference to The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabnel!

Also, how does one portray the soul? EYES. Eyes are the window to the soul. Mizrak’s eyes are also considerably the most important/crucial part of his design. His eyes in both seasons ‘glow in the dark’ due to the highlights in his eyes. Mizrak is considerably really emotive too and that was important to me to emphasize. I wanted to capture his essence, his soul if you will, into this shot.

This is also why this shot is done really prettily if you will.

The reflection of Olrox's eye in Mizrak's is important here! Olrox is here to act to comfort Mizrak. Even when Olrox is not on the screen with us, he is majorly present here. He will not abandon Mizrak. Also, since it is coupled with this line, people can choose to infer what they wish with Olrox! It can symbolize Olrox does have a soul, it can symbolize how Olrox and Mizrak are now intertwined together, it can symbolize Mizrak reciprocating Olrox's love. The list can go on! I give that room for open interpretation (same as the rest of the animatic, the only reason I'm going through, breaking down almost shot by shot is that I deeply care about this sort of thing, and I know other people do too!)

This shot, is deceptively simple but it's here to actually initiate a bunch of scenes I wanted to happen after this!

Firstly, I needed a very nonchalant but easy way for Olrox to let go of Mizrak's hand without needing to overcomplicate. I needed something that gave it just enough importance for the hand kiss BUT not too much where it is the sole focus on the shot.

Secondly, I needed a way for Olrox to lean down to Mizrak and initiate him being way closer to him.

Thirdly, it acts to parallel another shot that happens with Mizrak where instead of going diagonally down, he goes diagonally up!

This is one of the points where I visually slightly deviate from the one-shot! I really REALLY wanted to emphasize Olrox's dialogue here so I chopped up and elongated the scene to make it that much more intense and tender. Which is why we get the next two close up shots!

Look it was very VERY important to me to have Olrox cup Mizrak's face and intentionally cut off his eyes. The important part I wanted to focus on solely was his hand and Mizrak looking up because genuinely, Mizrak's eyes are 'distracting' and it would remove the focus on the gesture! Also I am saving Mizrak's eyes for the next shot haha

After this shot too, you may notice the blood from his neck disappears for the rest of the animatic. This is because, after this, it began to take too much of a visual focus away from the blood on Olrox's chest since it is bright red against greys in the shot. We can chalk it up to Olrox wiping the blood off when he goes to cup him.

"The most beautiful soul a vampire can posses."

It was so important to me that we get a BEAUTIFUL shot of Mizrak. I needed the audience to see his entireeee face close up, unobscured by anything. Olrox is holding a beautiful soul in his hands. He's holding Mizrak. Actually makes me sob.

This shot by the way has been repeated 3 times with slight variations by this point. Yes, this is a very pretty shot so how could I not help but repeat it? HOWEVER, I was trying to make a reference to how Mizrak has said Olrox's name only 3 times in the show with a variation of what was said around it. After that, Olrox calls him my love, basically unlocking a new stage in their relationship.

So here, three times when he looks at Olrox, he's mentally calling out his name. After this, Olrox brings him to a new stage in the relationship.

Also in Catholicism, a lot of things are in 3s. One of the major ones is that three times, Christ fell over carrying the cross. On the third hour of that day, he died and on the third day, he was resurrected from the dead. The three sacraments that welcome someone into the Kingdom of God are Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation as they all build off one another! I could go on both those are the main points AND I feel you might get the gist now!

It was very important to me that when Olrox makes this promise, we HAVE to see his full face. This is why it's a close-up.

It lets for no shadow of a doubt that Olrox means what he says here. He's looking AT Mizrak. He's telling the truth to him.

This is a parallel to a much earlier shot of Olrox! He moves closer to Mizrak by going from top right to bottom left, while Mizrak moves closer to Olrox by going from bottom left to top right! You also both see them exit the screen too!

In this shot, we bring back that halo vibe but also this is a reference to S01E04 and S02E08! The curtain! It is BOTH their first-ever shots to establish a new scene, so I wanted to go “Hey this is establishing a new scene- a new life for Mizrak and Olrox.”

The camera is super purposefully cut just below the eyes. You can see them open then closed, but we will never ever get to see the look he had in his eyes, the single decision in his brain that let him indulge. That’s only for Olrox, and only Olrox will know.

From here on out, A LOT of the shots of Mizrak get segmented/have his face hidden for that reason too (except for one shot, also done intentionally).

When Mizrak actually closes his lips around the blood- it’s on the growling sound in the song. Mizrak has turned into the animal that he’s been calling vampires. In this new life, he is now given the choice to be freed from the man-made shackles of shame and guilt. To be untamed and unrestricted. A wild animal so to speak!

Honestly, I spent a lot of my time here (besides the pretty Olrox frames) because I was super particular about how I wanted to portray Mizrak giving into sucking the blood. The way he accepts vampirism is vital because it sets the tone and mood for how the rest of the board feel since his face gets hidden and you now have to infer from when you saw his face last.

If you have seen my analyses or my work before, you will know how much I enjoy having a frame within a frame. I loveeee my boxes! They're in the box! TOGETHER! THE CENTER TOO! There are no real divisions with the exception of Olrox's head which is important because it's not Mizrak we're focused on at this point in time, it's Olrox~

This is because the one-shot, even in third person, is mostly through Olrox's perspective!

Also, the camera is moving around in this shot, and the following subsequent shots! It hopefully gives off the "hand-held" feel, which often is associated with feeling as if you're right there in the moment with them.

Why pillows?

This is me shaking you to say how the blood-drinking is an allusion for sex if that wasn't already obvious enough. So showing pillows coupled with Olrox groaning really goes "Yes they are technically doing it."

Originally this shot (and the previous shot) was supposed to be way more pulled out, but I was saving it for the very last shot of the animatic so I went to pillows with the tinest hint of their body in the frame to make it seem super scandalous. Like what on earth could they be doing for me to cut them mostly out of the frame? Also also, the pillow was supposed to have an embroidery of a painting from 1790s or earlier BUT, for the life of me, I could not decide what I wanted and I did not want to keep reusing the same references I have had in past work. I didn't want to fuss about it for too long since its more of an easter egg rather than adding to the story. The main point is pillow = fucking HAHA.

Side tangent, you can get away with SO MUCH by having blood drinking be an allusion to sex. Like obviously when you have an age rating you must abide by, you must be creative with how you go about mature topics (my age rating is YouTube hahaha)! Not only is blood drinking in vampirism just inherently queer-coded, but the intimacy of it can convey so much more if it was just a regular ol' sex scene! I actually deeply enjoy conveying nsfw topics into art because you can discuss character dynamics at a much more vulnerable, raw state that literally bares them to just their essence and their current desires/needs. However I am getting off-topic, let's get back to it!

This shot was actually heavily inspired by the statue Adoration by Stephen Sinding!

While there are a lot of differences now simply because Mizrak is at Olrox's chest, I still hope that the vibe of that statue is still imbued. It also gives the sense of not only Olrox adoring Mizrak in this very moment, but Mizrak is too despite not seeing his face. Again quite intentional because it's only for Olrox to see.

Also, a lot of people have been telling me how Olrox is breastfeeding him, and in technicality, they're not wrong, he's feeding blood, from his chest. It is the funniest thing ever LOL

This shot was important to really focus in on his throat and how, much like in the one-shot, Mizrak is literally not taking breaths and is just continually consuming Olrox.

Wet sounds fill the room as his throat bobs with each steady gulp...He doesn’t stop, doesn’t take a moment to gasp for breath.

I also just wanted to make this scene feel very slow in order to contrast with a much more passion-filled desire that consumes Mizrak in this animatic! Also hopefully the descent of blood and the descent of the camera helps to strengthen the idea of Mizrak descending into vampirism!

It felt really cheesy to have this close-up shot of his eye HOWEVER at the time, I thought this was by far the clearest way to convey the immediate switch from gentle devotion to devouring devotion and how suddenly rapid it is. In my brain, the stylization for his eyes open would be textured and pulse in the same way Olrox's wrist did, which is why it's just outlined. I'm once again not 100% set on the pulse look and it probably needs some iterations if I ever came back to it again.

Also, the green hearts in his eyes only come through when he's actively consuming blood from his chest! The heart motif comes back later when Mizrak ends up throwing up the blood!

Here's the cross again, except it is growing bigger. This was very important to me that you see how "gentle" the blood-sucking is at first. A gentle devotion despite the "terrifying" shadow of Mizrak. Also, super an excuse to have kiss marks in my animatic, I love painting them in my art because it can say a lot with placement and how aggressively smudged they are!

Also, I thought it would be SO FUN to have Mizrak's turned self literally have his eyes overlay where Olrox's eyes are. It conveys how Mizrak and Olrox are now switching roles in this animatic! For the first half of this animatic, Olrox has been placed pretty high up in the shot composition, or where the camera looks up to put him in a high place of power! It makes him appear way more etheral and otherworldly, while Mizrak was placed lower in the composition, always looking up at him! Which I'm hoping invokes religious imagery of a God and his worshipper/follower!

When Mizrak's transformation is set, the dynamic switches up. For the rest of the animatic, Mizrak is now placed at a more supernatural/otherwordly position, while Olrox is just there passively, letting Mizrak BE in this position. He does not fight it, he embraces it, embraces how Mizrak reciprocates his love, his desire, and all his messy complications, much like how earlier in the animatic, Mizrak embraces vampirism.

Also if you slow it down enough you can see how I accidentally left my perspective grids in it HAHA, but it goes by fast enough it doesn't really matter! (I guess it's also kind of indicative of my natural style when it comes to digital painting too, I genuinely like having my sketch still peek through into the final painting!)

Wow even more shots to cement the new role switch AND how much much of the passionate need to consume is controlling his urges! Free to consume at his leisure, he is no longer bound by human nature (for now)!

This shot and his leg shot help to really strip Mizrak of his humanity. Faces in a shot really help to connect people to the characters because we see the emote, we see them breathe, we see them live. Especially for a character like Mizrak? He's super expressive face-wise and I'm purposefully not showing you the defining features of Mizrak. Here I am basically going "Mizrak is no longer human."

This is why in horror/thrillers with antagonist characters, we don't see their faces much and are saved for only key moments (usually, again your intentionality matters). It doesn't allow us to connect with the character on a much more human level. Think of Count Orlok from Nosferatu (2024). Purposefully a lot of his character is shrouded in darkness, focusing on his hands and other aspects, never his face, and even then it is really hard to make out because so much of him is obscured. It makes him that much of an imposing intimidating character! Otherworldly and something that we cannot fully understand.

This is a flipped version of Mizrak's close-up eye shot much earlier when he asked if his soul would remain. Again to hark on how Mizrak and Olrox are switching roles in this animatic! Olrox is looking at Mizrak's soul as we speak.

Despite us not seeing Mizrak's face, we as an audience noticing how unhuman Mizrak has suddenly become, Olrox looks quite gently at him and that was important to convey!

Woo! Lot's of horizontal lines here! While the camera is moving towards the left, Mizrak is moving right!

Originally this shot was going to have Mizrak's teeth sinking into Olrox like a very cool Olrox throwing his head back and Mizrak's fang reveal HOWEVER, I want to leave the "carnage" and bloodshed of the feeding out of the frame and only have it show up in very specific moments so I can have those moments actually have their proper impacts. I did not want to show any part of the front of his face at all since it would dampen the effect later on, so I opted for this instead. The legs give a sense of "something is happening but we don't know what, but it's to a point where Mizrak's entire body is moving oh jeez." Won't lie, this looks very sexual and I'm purposefully toying with that line again because blood drinking is an allusion to sex.

Also, I'm continuing the concept of having aspects of Mizrak's face only for Olrox's eyes. What does he look like when he's actively consuming him with such passion? Idk, Olrox you tell me.

This is everything I was building up for when I introduced the small crosses! The physical manifestation of how Mizrak reciprocates.

My thought process here was that Mizrak only knows how to love by fully devoting himself because that's all he's done for God. So he applies it here. He is reciprocating love, but it is FULL ON. It is intense. It is all-consuming.

The face once again is obscured for all the reasons I have mentioned before, but also it REALLY helps to really hard cut to Mizrak choking on the blood after because before it seemed like he was doing just fine. He is literally looking DOWN at Olrox, he takes up A LOT of the screen with just his back and head. He literally gets pulled into full focus while Olrox is blurred in the background. He appears like he is in control of the situation, however it could not be further from the truth.

Also, I was mostly inspired by the insane amount of bible verses talking about blood, so I'll drop some of those here!

John 6:53-56 ESV

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

Ezekiel 16:6 ESV 

“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

Matthew 26:28 ESV

"For this is my [Christ's] blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Absolute contrast to most of the other shots, not only because I decided to add way more character acting here, but it's because we actually see his FULL face. It's intentional because Mizrak realizes himself now so we need to see him have this reaction. I wanted to show that he is still a person. He still has a soul. He may not be human, but he does have a mind that can think and a heart that can love. He still retains human qualities.

He's choking on all the blood (a physical manifestation of love) and his body is rejecting it. He's not used to consuming this amount of love and he's not used to being self-indulgent. It's deeply overwhelming.

I wanted to say I LOVED drawing blood it is SO FUN, planning the camera movement, and how Mizrak coughs at specific moments was sooo fun. I wanted this to be MESSY AND INTENSE. I wanted the audience to feel the weight of Mizrak's sudden distraught. I wanted to throw him around and to really hark on this line from the one-shot.

What has he done? What has been done to him? What has he become?

It helps to deeply contrast with how still and gentle the next scene is!

Yes, that is right, Olrox's pupils are DILATED :)

Coupled with the fact that the blood splatters are hearts! They're outlined in cyan! Olrox has a massive heart-shaped blood splatter on his cheek while Mizrak has a few heart-shaped splatters BUT there are gaps in his bloodied mouth that create heart shapes as if Mizrak spewed out those hearts!

Firstly this is because Mizrak literally eats at his chest where the heart is. Secondly, I'm again pushing for Mizrak to consume and throw up his love due to how overwhelming it is. Not only is Olrox's love for him literally beyond his imagination, but Mizrak is trying to love back in with that same amount of passion and utter devotion. A lot is happening for this new-born vampire that is pushing and pulling at him. His emotional state is so overwhelming that it is manifested in physical form.

The green reflections are shown to visually communicate Olrox anchoring Mizrak back, as, throughout the animatic, it is one of the things that ease or calm him down. I could not portray it through voice BUT I can portray it via visual (guys walk with me here, imagine the insane combo of audio and visual, it would be so tasty). The sole reason why I did not have hearts in his eyes here is simply because I reserved the heart motif for when he's actively drinking out of Olrox's chest (so he's literally consuming his love) or when he's spitting out the blood!

Also, the reason why I cut to his eyes rather than pan to them is purely because I wanted the violence of his mouth to be suddenly jarring to the gentleness in his eyes. I didn't want the slow reveal, I wanted the "OMG the blood- aw Mizrak...."

"Lulled into a sense of hazy compliance by Olrox’s voice, the former monk carefully lowers himself and continues though not for long."

This final shot was soooo important to me to include. The “musty inn room” was mentioned much earlier during Mizrak’s transformation but there was a poeticism by having what is considerably the blossoming moment of their complicated relationship be the final shot. With the lyrics also ending with "Take me back to Eden" how could I not? Clearly, both the rooms between s01e4 and s02e8 are parallel to each other. The only difference is that s02e8 has the room be both red AND GREEN, while s01e4 is just earthy/green. Olrox has taken them both back to their earthly paradise. This is their Garden of Eden.

Woo ok and we're done! Also yes I do thumbnails for these, it's half the reason why I'm fast (this entire animatic, cleaned and everything, was done in 3 days good lord. Is that fast? I can't tell) I make the barest of bones chicken scratch of sketches to get a feel of pace/vibe, then I do my roughs/cleans and add/take away shots necessary for the story that needs to be told. I normally would not let this see the light of day because these are AWFUL BUT, this post is also half a documentation of my personal process so I'm going to close my eyes and share this HAHA

If you got this far, thank you for reading me geek out about this! I find a lot of joy in the visual storytelling medium. As much as I do enjoy animating, (wow could you guys tell in the name?) I have a deep love and passion for storyboarding personally and I get sit back, and enjoy crafting the entire picture! I still have a long way to go but I'm having fun and I'm pursuing my passions of storytelling!

I desperately want to make more animatics, dealing with different tones, pace etc, but I genuinely have to go prioritize other things for now that will help me build these skills hahaha. I say this but who knows, seeing my current track record haha, look I can do both. I follow wherever my creativity takes me. I may have missed a few things but I have to wrap this up now!

Thank you again! The final takeaway, go watch Castlevania again and go be inspired by animation <33333

[dervampireprince]

i went to bed trying to comfort myself by thinking about olrox and brain went haha bet.

[18+, minors dni]

olrox x mizrak x trans man reader

and instead imagined having a threesome with olrox and mizrak and ive never managed to like mizrak before and then like what if youre just friends and afterwards you feel like you have to leave beacuse you dont wanna overstay your welcome and they deserve their bed to themselves but they tug you down and tell you you're staying and what if over time feelings happen and oh i might finally like mizrak

mizrak's never been with anyone afab before, he'd never been with anyone before olrox. so olrox has to teach him how to touch you, sat behind you with his arms wrapped around you, while mizrak kneels in front, running his hands over you where olrox instructs, large clumsy hands fumbling against your little cock, amazed at how wet you are. this is for him? he's caused this? olrox talking to mizrak about you but never too you. "see how wet he is for you, my love? so beautifully responsive. i think he deserves a reward for sitting so still for us, doesn't he?

olrox being the first to fuck you, while mizrak watches, he often touches you too, but he doesn't fuck you, either you take him in your hand or he ruts up against your front, slides his cock against yours.

the first time mizrak fucks you he’s nervous, worried that he’s going to hurt you. and oh he didn't realise how soft you'd be, how a pretty boy cunt could be so wet and yet cling to his cock at the same time, how heavenly you'd feel.

he cries during sex for the first time when he's buried inside you and olrox is buried inside him, it's so much, both of you telling him how good he's making you both feel, feeling that he doesn't desrve all of this but you both assuring him that he does.

me a couple days ago: "i dont like mizrak and i struggle liking him because of religious trauma" me now: "so like when is mizrak's boyfriend gonna tell him how to fuck me or-" "when's it gonna be my turn to hold mizrak while he cries or-"

[alpaca-clouds]

Let me talk about Mizrak

Yeah, this with all the entire Nocturne brainrot is going to continue for a couple more days at least. But the show has so many interesting themes and characters and I just love it so much. And after getting all my friends to watch the show, I got surprised by one of them being super angry about Mizrak.

Why? Well, because of the last scene with him and Olrox in the season and his words of: "You are just an animal that lost its soul centuries ago." And the friend considered that "being an asshole" and "cruel".

To which I say: Cruel? Yes. Asshole? No.

Let me explain.

First, let me make one thing clear: No, Mizrak is not a templar. I have seen that one too many times. He is not a templar. He is a monk knight of the order of St. John, so the Knights Hospitaller. Like the templars they were very much tied to the crusades originally, but they are not the same thing. There were a lot of orders and types of knights associated with the crusades. Templars were just one of them. (Do you guys wanna hear more about the templars? I can talk more about them.)

We know from bits and pieces of dialogue that Mizrak originates in Jerusalem (which is also where the order was founded). This is a gentle reminder: Israel as we know it today was not a thing back then. But Jerusalem was always a place of religious conflict as it holds importance in all three Abrahamic religions. Which was, what the crusades were all about after all. Before the time of the French Revolution, though, there was mostly some a conflict between the Ottomans and some Arab forces over Palestine. There were some Christian orders accepted within the city though.

Now, the Knights Hospitaller, who were accepted in Jerusalem, had a strong connection to France. Which... lead to problems, when some of the Arabs and the French got into problems. Which let to the Knights Hospitaller leaving for Malta. This too is referenced in the dialogue. (If you guys cannot tell: I am very happy with the amount of historical research put into this show!)

Mizrak looks to be in his early 30s. So I assume he entered the order in his mid-teens (which was a usual age to enter an order like that) and then probably left for Malta within a couple of years after that when the political situation got more charged. And then from Malta to France.

The Knights Hospitaller back then for all intent and purposes lived as militarized monks. That means they made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And this very much shines through with his character in so many scenes.

Of course we see that the entire "chastity" thing does not work out that well for him. But that is also why he clearly is shown to be conflicted about that entire thing. What he tries to uphold, though, is the obedience aspect of his vows. And that is, what his entire conflict is about.

See, what I love about this character is that there is all this delicious conflict.

I will iterate again: I grew up in a very, very conservative, strict, catholic household. Other kids got read fairytales for bedtime. My mother read me the bible. Priests and monks were people we intermingled with a lot. (Heck, the last pope? I met him when he was still a bishop.) And hence I got to make one very clear experience: There are three types of Catholics: Those, who focus on all the horrible things. Those, who focus on the literal stuff written in the bible. And those, who focus on the positive stuff. You know, the stuff with helping people, and being poor, and sharing, and being in general a good person. (Though the three types are not always mutually exclusive.)

And it is pretty clear that Mizrak is of the latter kind. He believes in the good he can do through his faith in God and Christ. But he has also grown up in an Order and a Church that puts a lot of focus on the idea of sin, on the idea of obedience, and the idea of the "natural order".

But there he is, with his Abbot collaborating with demons and vampires to enforce that "natural order", which among other things goes against their own vow of poverty. This is so clearly against Mizrak's believes. Because in his very core, Mizrak is a good fucking man. He is one of the good guys. Who wants to do good through his faith in God. And this conflicts for him.

So by the end of episode 7 he reached the point to go against his vow of obedience, because his faith in doing good was stronger, than his dedication to his vows. He very actively broke his vows in the eyes of his order, standing against his order, to protect those darn kids. Because it was the right thing to do. He is absolutely willing to do the noble sacrifice if that is what it takes to save those kids. And in comes that weird dude and takes this chance from him.

And his entire thing with Olrox... It seems very much that Mizrak is indeed gay. As the series so helpfully points out: Yeah, priests, monks, other clergy, and their vows of chastity were always a thing that rarely worked out. Again, as someone who grew up with close ties to the church: The fact that everyone is secretly fucking is... well known. As well as the fact that yeah, there are a lot of gay clergy. Mostly for the reason that they are shamed for their sexuality and then take the vows to not be tempted into homosexuality. Only to find that a priest school with a lot of other queer supressed men is exactly the place you do not want to be to not be tempted. (And that is all without going into all the non-con, pedophilia and what not. Things that were also already happening back then, I guarantee you.)

So, try to imagine that entire thing from Mizrak's perspective. There he is, already ashamed and suppressed about all of that and in comes this very, very seductive vampire man, who kinda seems to align with some of his values, but not with others. And who is emotionally unavailable as fuck, outright telling him that he does not love our dear Mizrak. Someone, who clearly is not for the vampires and your abbot, but also clearly not willing to take the other side. The side that you in your heart (even though it means standing against your order) know to be right. And this man, who claims to not love you, then comes in and tries to stop you from doing what is right.

Yeah, no fuck, Mizrak is a bit pissed at him. Especially as in that moment Olrox very clearly goes against Mizrak's ideals, that are all about self-sacrificially doing the right thing.

And I do think that Mizrak is right in one regard: Olrox lost his soul. He lost a part of himself. Through the trauma of colonialism, but he lost it never the less.

So, once more: Thanks the team for giving us another interesting, well-rounded religious character! CV already did so well with Isaac and Mizrak is sofar extremely promising in that regard.

[charls-lamen]

Spoilers for castlevania nocturne season 2

But Orlox and mizrak have the potential for a happy ending. Mizrak has some shit to work on but they both alive and together. But theres also a potential for a season 3 and with that a risk for one of the two dying or this ending tragically in a different way for these two. And I swear if you lot make a season 3 just to make this couple miserable i'll never forgive you.

He's been putting so much effort in this relationship. If there is a season 3 of course I want happy ending for Orlox and Mizrak. But on top of that I demand Orlox get love and cuddles and a Mizrak who can love him without hating himself.

[fallloverfic]

Finished the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne and loved it! Spoilers below.

Angry boi PROTEC HIS MAN!!!! Just his running to Mizrak, so worried. Even interrupted his revenge. I just love that his serpent form came back T-T And multiple times!!!

The fight scenes were so good!!! Just so many amazing ones!

ALSO WHAT DOES ADRIAN MEAN NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU SAVED MY LIFE???? I AM-!!!!

(So happy they know each other and I think it's hilarious my fic could potentially be a prequel now alkdjalkdjaljdalj)

Everyone cute. Annette and Richter were just awww. Glad Edouard and Annette get to stay together, and Edouard can go home and get his bass player :3

Also so many gorgeous Adrian bits. Truly. Him coming out of the river was so mmmm. Also loved all the magic he got to use XD And the music was fun!

Also loved all the Egyptian stuff. The soul count was a little... (I was like why are you saying just 2 or 3, there's more than that...?), but apparently the # of parts has changed over time (it's not just 4 or 5) and it's you know, vampires during the French Revolution, so sure, whatever. The trip to Duat was fun! And Ammit's form was pretty cool.

Poor Tera. Bye Emmanuel, no one misses you.

Loved that we got some dragon fighting. Also that the dragon didn't die. Was worried. Though I will say, Sekhmet punching it was kind of funny aldkjlaj I felt sort of bad when Juste, Richter, and Maria were all boosting its breath like, "That can't be too comfortable for the dragon..."

Just think it's funny we have animated Robespierre joining forces with the son of Dracula to defend Paris from a crazy Hungarian serial killer noble who believes she's the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian goddess lol

The return of Drolta was really fun. I was sad she was in so relatively little of season 1. This was really great.

For historical things, I appreciate that they referenced how folks in France sold and bought food to watch executions. I also appreciate the reference to the trend of European obsession with eating mummies.

I will be thinking about Mizrox's future. I feel bad I'm mostly happy Olrox survived the season lol I like Mizrak just fine, and I like that Olrox likes him, but my priority is Olrox, not Mizrak, sorry lol Clearly they have some things to work out XD Should be fun (for someone, I hope). Someone else pointed out they never talked about the animal/soul stuff, and it was kind of just... Mizrak getting over it (or side-stepping it) and not apologizing to Olrox about it. And Olrox just... kind of accepting that the guy he's in love with is like this. I think it's funny that after having written You reluctant demon back in 2023, where they do have a conversation about it, I completely forgot it as a thing I wanted to happen lol Cause in my mind the matter is settled. Like the show, quite frankly, feels like neat fanfiction to me at this point (that's not what it is, but that's how my brain works, it's part of why I wasn't as anxious about season 2 releasing as I was for season 3 of the first series releasing). It's great in all the things it does, amazing stuff I never could have thought of, which is far better than a lot of the stuff I did in my fic (and those fight scenes, dang). But yeah, I do agree, they should have talked about it. And they don't. And it's... mm...

Another thing is that Mizrak maybe still has some racism to unpack. There's that line Olrox has about when his people were massacred by the Spanish, and Olrox says, "And our terrifying gods could do nothing to save us." And Mizrak replies, "Perhaps your gods were the problem," and it's like what the fuck Mizrak lol I don't know if it's part of his struggles with his own faith, which is very obviously happening, how if a god exists, they're allowing all this stuff to happen, that Emmanual failed so hard, and believing in a god - which is his issue - is causing so much of his issues (it's making him believe his affection for Olrox is false, that Olrox doesn't have a soul, and/or it's not saving him from what he believes is a wrong attraction, idk). Or, from a semi-logical standpoint, that Olrox's people were attacked because they weren't Christian, and that the Spanish wouldn't have attacked Olrox's people if they were Christian. Or simply that "well it's your fault for not being Christian", I have no idea. It's a weird moment. We have really not moved past the "animal" conversation all that much. Olrox is very, very forgiving. And I am way more forgiving because I forgot I resolved most of this in my fic over a year ago lol I don't know, relationships are messy, I enjoyed what I saw of them. Olrox running to Mizrak's side was a lot and I loved it. The way Olrox is like, "I thought you wanted to know" killed me.

ANYWAY though... it was a good season. Really, I liked it.

[wittyvitale]

Tera and Mizrak definitely have some backstory. Just look at the way she teared up after he attacked her and said, "she's a vampire, nothing more." In S1, Tera said that the townspeople were suspicious of her bc she was a foreigner, but she found kindness at the abbey. Mizrak would have been much younger back then, but I'm sure he was one of the ones who showed Tera kindness when she first arrived. I mean Richter and Maria knew who he was in the first episode, greeting him like an old friend. Mizrak knew where Tera lived. Mizrak has been a part of Tera's life the entire time she's been in Machecoul. And to watch someone who's shown you kindness for 17 years suddenly attack you and say that you're incapable of love... that must have been painful for Tera. Poor Tera deserves so much better

[prickly-paprikash]

Castlevania Nocturne really made every character a bad bitch.

Annette? Baddest Bitch who punches slavers in the throat and gets a reckless hunk to fall for her. She's an earth and a metalbender to boot! Plus did you see her hair?????????? Gorgeous. Stunning. Beloved.

Richter? Bro was fighting like Zuko. While everyone around him like Drolta and Olrox were serving cunt, he was serving hands. E for Everyone. Trevor and Sypha would be so proud.

Juste? Depressed GILF with a glorious beard and hair combo? Who wielded the Belmont Whip like it was nothing? Fucking baddie.

Drolta? PINK FIRE HAIR. HER SHOES WITH NO HEELS. SHE WAS SO FUCKING COOL. I loved her so much. Every single scene she was in was a delight.

Tera? Kindly MILF vibes. The mommy next door. Woof woof bark bark. I would die for her. Kill for her. The Abbott is a fucking idiot for choosing a God who can't save him over Mommy.

Olrox? I'm so normal for him. Trust me. I'm cool. I'm chill. I'm not jealous of Mizrak or anything like that hahahahahahahahahahah. I don't wake up flushed in sweat, thinking I had Olrox wrapped around me. No! Nope. Not one bit. I'm cool. I'm a guy. Hahahaha.

Erzsebet? Look she's obviously a lesbian and has no interest in a schmuck like me, but she's so cool. She's wonderful. I despise her with every fibre of my being, but interwoven in that hatred is admiration. She is that bitch.

Alucard? What the hell am I supposed to talk about?

IT'S ALUCARD.

[ifishouldvanish]

Y'all, I can't stop thinking about Olrox's relationship with vampirism.

Despite being a vampire, despite occupying a more antagonistic role compared to the other protagonists, he is shown to quite ostensibly 'have a soul'.

He recognizes the inner conflict Mizrak is contending with regarding working with Bàthory to harvest corpses to turn into night creatures. He recognizes that night creature Edouard has a 'human soul' and wonders what he did to deserve such a fate. He appreciates Edouard's singing, rather than being annoyed by it. He refuses to bow to Bàthory until he absolutely has no choice, and questions hers and Drolta's treatment of the other vampire at the vendee (Asking "what did he do?" when they're holding him down and branding him). He tells Tera that it's good she's still following her heart. Tells Mizrak that he is driven by longing, desire, and love and not hatred and disgust.

We spend season two with all of these moments where the characters ask themselves, "Do vampires/night creatures have souls?" "To what extent are they capable of love and empathy?" and we see Olrox repeatedly act as the living proof that despite his inclination toward self-preservation... yes!! Yes they do!! And yes they are!!! The first thing we learn about him is that Julia Belmont took someone away from him who he loved very much!!!

So I keep coming back to his conversation with Tera, and I like that his line is, "welcome to immortality" instead of, "welcome to vampirism" or something akin to that. Because it presents their 'condition' as an arguably value-neutral one. They're not suddenly soulless monsters, they're still themselves, or at least capable of remaining themselves so long as they 'follow their heart'. The true struggle of the vampire is not one of a loss of the self—of being cursed to live as this soulless thing that only craves blood—but how to hold onto one's self over an eternity.

It's a struggle Olrox has embodied throughout both seasons: How do you honor yourself and the people you love when faced with injustice and impossible odds? Where does one draw the line between cowardice and survival? How many times can you compromise parts of yourself before you no longer recognize the person you've become? To what extent can this process be considered 'survival' at all?

We're used to seeing vampirism framed as a moral tradeoff: you can be young and powerful forever, but it will cost your soul/humanity. Or you can be young and powerful forever, but who really wants to live forever? If Olrox believed vampirism robbed you of your soul, it's doubtful he'd have turned his lover—but clearly he doesn't believe that. And evidently, given his proclivity towards self-preservation, Olrox does want to 'live forever'. 250+ years into his life as a vampire, he still loves, and still wants to live.

Which leaves the blood, and the fact that the very concept of a soul as we're used to seeing it in relation to vampirism is rooted in Christianity. But what weight do these kinds of spiritual arguments have for someone who doesn't share this conception of the soul, or the afterlife, or the universe as a whole?

What weight does "you'll lose your soul" have to a person coming from a population whose genocide was justified under the papal "Doctrine of Discovery", which basically said, "it's okay and even encouraged to steal from, brutalize, and enslave the people you encounter on newly discovered lands, so long as they aren't Christians/refuse to convert."

What weight does "but you'll have to feed on the blood of the living" have to a person coming from a culture where everything on earth is seen as part of the flesh and blood of the gods, and where the spilling of blood is seen as repaying a debt to those gods for giving humanity life and sustenance?

What weight does "you'll have to kill people to survive" have to a person coming from a world where capturing people in ritualized combat for the purpose of sacrificing them was considered a noble calling? An act that helps perpetuate the existence of humanity?

What weight do these arguments have coming from people who are stealing, beating, enslaving, and killing you in the name of their own God? People who don't think you have a soul anyway, or at the very least, think that the only way to save your soul is to completely surrender your beliefs, your culture, and your identity first?

You take away these arguments and you're left with the cost of immortality itself: how to hold onto your sense of self over an eternity, how to keep following your heart, how to not lose yourself.

But even this struggle is already how Olrox's people would have understood ethics and spirituality. A soul is not 'damned' or 'saved'. Rather the three components of the soul are constantly in flux, and man's great spiritual struggle lies in teotl—achieving, maintaining, and continuously restoring the balance of these components over the course of their life.

In this context, vampirism can instead present a chance to outlive the very people who are destroying your world by spilling their blood instead your own. In the face of imminent genocide, it offers survival—without having to compromise much of who you are and how you understand the world. It represents refusing to give up the fight against an enemy that wants to eradicate you, wants to destroy any and all traces of your humanity, wants to make you bow to it and surrender the very core of who you are.

How might this perspective help Olrox to justify turning the people he loves into vampires? Seeing his lover be subject to much of the same genocide, cultural or otherwise, that he experienced himself? To give someone he loved the promise of living to hopefully one day see a better future for his people? Seeing Mizrak be suffocated by the confines of his loyalty to the Catholic church—the very entity that effectively signed off on the genocide of Olrox's people—and wanting to show him, "no, I still have a soul, and so will you"? That there's "nothing to fear" in being turned into a monstrous thing? That the people who are doing this to you, who are causing your suffering, already see you as a monster anyway?

[moldybonessmell]

Castlevania Nocturne

Finally got the context to the dialogue of Olrox and Mizrak that goes like:

O: Julia Belmont killed him. M: Because he was a vampire. And you did that to him. Did you even asked his permission? O: I was in love with him. I wanted him to be with me forever. M: And is that what you have planned for me? O: Of course not, Mizrak. I'm not in love with you.

And realising.. they really don't know each other that much.

They only had like one scene with just two of them before, even if they had some action behind the scenes. It was most likely just physical, hence the genuine laugh from Olrox in this scene.

But Mizrak.. Bro, it WAS NOT casual for him. FUCK.

Well DUH, a monk who definitely had a vow-of-chastity thing going on before is going to catch feelings from spending time so intimately with someone.

Ohhh man Mizrak was ALREADY fighting his demons about loving a vampire back then in S1E6.

I've seen a lot of posts about mizrox before I started watching and got the impression Olrox fell first and Mizrak was conflicted about loving him back but IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND

Mizrak fell first and Olrox fell harder.

FUCK. I got feels from that BYE.

[sabaldax]

ok so here's my mizrox fic idea. so it's like an alternate version of olrox turning mizrak into a vampire, or maybe just a canon plausible missing scene, where olrox has fed from him but stops himself before getting mizrak to drink his blood in return to finish the turning. inspired by this dialogue from s1 --

OLROX: I've only loved once before. And Julia Belmont killed him.

MIZRAK: Because he was a vampire, and you did that to him. Did you even ask permission?

OLROX: I was in love with him. I wanted him to be with me forever.

MIZRAK: Is that what you have planned for me?

OLROX: Of course not, Mizrak. I'm not in love with you.

more under the cut

so with that context in mind, it's like i said - it gets as far as the point where olrox is meant to get him to drink his blood too. that's when he stops, visibly conflicted. mizrak clocks it too, even tho he's abt to die from blood loss

MIZRAK: Go on. Be done with it. Pour your blood down my throat.

OLROX: No. [desc] I've been here before.

OLROX: You once asked me if I had Dichali's permission. I didn't. He was human, and I wanted to be with him forever, so I took the choice away from him.

OLROX: You have two options, Mizrak. Only two. One is as you say. Be the Devil's plaything for all eternity, endure agony after agony without release. Or be with me. An eternity of pleasure. As much release as you can stand.

MIZRAK: And all it will cost me is my soul.

OLROX: Look at me, Mizrak.

[he does]

OLROX: Do you really believe I don't have a soul?

[beat]

OLROX: Choose [crying silently.] Please, my love.

MIZRAK: You said ... my heart stirs with longing, desire ... love. You didn't tell me ... what stirs in yours.

OLROX: You're asking how I feel for you?

MIZRAK: Yes.

OLROX: I feel yearning. Hope. Devotion without end.

MIZRAK: And ...

OLROX: And fear [desc] That if you don't choose now, you won't choose at all.

MIZRAK: Answer this, and you'll have your answer. Olrox. Do you love me?

OLROX: Yes [a serpent's hiss.]

[Mizrak's relieved, tears overflowing]

MIZRAK: I'm too weak to bite you now.

OLROX: Then take what you need.

[slices his wrist with a nail, immediately bringing it to mizrak's mouth--extend this]

OLROX: Rest, my love. You'll be strong when you wake up.

what do we think 🥺 worth writing??