#pretty sure that post was just to shit on netflixvania and yeah whatever knock yourself out

[fallloverfic]

I'm not sure why someone would leap to compare Cait/Vi from Arcane and Mizrak/Olrox from Castlevania: Nocturne, as they're characters from different shows, different story universes, and different studios (Arcane was made by the French studio Fortiche, and only distributed by Netflix, while Nocturne is made by the US studio Powerhouse Animation, which makes a lot of shows for Netflix). Cait/Vi also has existed in a series with two seasons, and were a thing for relatively little of season 1, while Nocturne has only 1 season (season 2 airs at the end of January 2025), and were more of a thing in season 1. It's also comparing an f/f couple and an m/m couple, different dynamics, and the former is a pairing of a white woman/a mixed-race woman, and the latter is two men of color.

CaitVi is a story about classism and police brutality, while Mizrox is a story of European and Christian supremacy, colonization, and racism. The main through-lines for comparison are the analysis of privilege and how opposites meet and attract on a battlefield, and that they're both queer pairings. But whereas Cait is privileged over Vi for being rich and a member of a policing organization (which murdered Vi's parents) while Vi is from a poor background in the slums, Mizrak is privileged over Olrox for being highly ranked in a supremacist European religious organization and Olrox is a member of a marginalized indigenous group, which was colonized by followers of Mizrak's religion. You can compare the writing of the two, but to pretend they're 1:1 just because they're both queer pairings in shows that are on Netflix is bizarre.

And to pretend Mizrox has no build-up is to not have eyes. Olrox is an investigative person who's curious about the world overseas he's been invited to. As a member of a marginalized group now in the hotbed of the world that mass murdered many of his people, he's going to be wary of them and treat the area with suspicion. He knows they view him as lesser, even though he's a powerful vampire (likely he assumes the vampires view him as lesser). He likely wanted an in to learn things that Erzsebet, Drolta, and Emmanuel wouldn't tell him themselves, and it makes sense he'd target Emmanuel's right-hand man as a potential in, particularly if he found the guy attractive, as he seemingly did. Maybe the fact that Emmanuel, this uber-white French guy, had a man of color as his right-hand man intrigued Olrox, too.

Olrox was clearly extra intrigued by Mizrak's training and their conversation in the courtyard, especially when Mizrak didn't attempt to hurt him and just talked to him, and it seemed like he had fun with their tussle (like you can tell from Olrox's expressions he was enjoying the back and forth). I imagine the "this dude is hot and I want to bang"-ometer in Olrox's head skyrocketed. And I don't know how much action Mizrak has been getting in his position, especially when, unlike Olrox, Mizrak has to live around anyone he sleeps with. Olrox is a foreigner and can just go home if he makes a mess. A hot guy who's interested in Mizrak, seems a bit different from other vampires, and has some civility seems like someone who would intrigue Mizrak, especially if he wants more intel on the vampires coming to his city that he won't get from Emmanuel or Erzsebet.

Even if you're watching the story for the first time, the whole set-up for the courtyard sequence is incredibly obvious. Whether it appeals to you or not is subjective, but pretending the later scene of them in bed comes out of nowhere is bizarre. Olrox very clearly invites Mizrak to meet again with sexual innuendo at the end of the scene, and Mizrak is very clearly intrigued, even if you don't have the English subtitles on while Mizrak is staring after Olrox's departing back.

You can just see a lot in his expression. He's not disgusted or repulsed: he's curious. The story doesn't need to show every single moment of them reuniting somewhere, talking more, or perhaps just immediately moving to physical intimacy if one or both of them just really want to get off. I mean I'd personally love more of their story, which is why I wrote my main fanfic of them, but it's not necessary from an overall narrative standpoint. Olrox is introduced at the start of the story, and the team was clearly interested in exploring who he is as a character more. He doesn't have to stalk Richter for the entire narrative to do that, and having him pair up with Mizrak also develops more of Emmanuel's organization because we get to know Mizrak, who has no apparent connection to the heroes other than he works for Emmanuel. It also better develops the vampires as Olrox and Drolta vie for power, with Mizrak as a potential pawn. And overall it makes the different factions in the story feel full of people with their own agendas, ready for a showdown where those agendas don't fully align, but is bound to be interesting when it happens (such as when Olrox appears to stand between Mizrak and Richter in the dungeons).

Also enemies-to-lovers is a very popular trope. And if you haven't heard of people going overseas to get laid um... what rock are you living under? Sudden make-outs/flirting in action stories are also pretty common. Not even getting into the historic appeal of Christian x the vampire as a trope, including opposites attract.

I do think Nocturne S1 had some feeling of rush on it, likely due to the desire to tell something of a whole story over worries of there not being a season 2 (it was renewed like right after the series was aired), and you can make criticisms of just not getting enough Mizrox, but the elements are there and I'm not sure how someone would miss them, especially if they were looking. And I honestly think it still works just fine as a narrative. Most narratives with a cast of more than 2-4 people are going to be a bit tight in TV format. Arcane also had elements of rush, which is likely due to it only getting 2 seasons.

Anyway, as someone who loves both Cait/Vi and Mizrak/Olrox, they're both good pairings.