#But like. I feel like I'm pretty competent at Isaac

[snakepitzz]

Also I haven't made much progress lately,, 💔💔 I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place, I only have to do Jacob and Esau for Mega Mush but I just cannot stand playing them I'm sorry, and then on the tainted side I'm still struggling with Tainted Laz Boss Rush and Hush bc I keep getting. The worst RNG every time I get to boss rush.... All Champion boss rushes or bad waves on my weaker Laz or that DAMN LAYOUT WHERE THE ITEMS ARE SURROUNDED BY SPIKES WAHHH

I haven't been playing much n when I do it's never been for marks bc I just haven't felt in the mood to torment myself lately 💔💔

[gryficowa]

Remember to boycott Disney and the Olympics

Unfortunately, 100 people at the UN school (While in hiding) while praying were murdered by criminals (Israel), I know they will romanticize it (Because they prayed before they died), but still, it's a tragedy, it shouldn't have happened (I hate romanticizing tragedy, that's why I don't like Polish history, because when they talk about it, they say how wonderful it is that people died for their country, and those who wanted to survive? Traitors… Sorry, I'm allergic to romanticizing death)

Please don't romanticize the tragedy, Israel is the perpetrator and these people should live, they didn't deserve to die, especially children (Because there were children among the victims), they should have fun and not be afraid of death (Much less die), that's just it children died… Whether they prayed before they died or not, they should not have died, they shouldn't live in fear of death, no one should, not even adults and teenagers

I can't describe my feelings (ASD), but that's all I could say, I just worry more than I can describe…

Now that I have your attention:

[beevean]

So when Shinji mopes around and loses all will to live he's a cringy crybaby

When Guts does pretty much the same thing in the latest chapters he's a tragic figure (which he is of course)

(hah, funnily enough, the quote at the very beginning of the page is about shitting on Shinji)

And not to make it all about NFCV, but I need to put here whay they say about it because it really sums it all:

Hector and Isaac. Isaac is sharp-witted, hypercompetent, and a badass fighter, so despite him being openly evil and seeking to wipe out humanity, he receives a lot of audience praise and sympathy. Hector, on the other hand, is equally sympathetic. As of Season 3, however, Isaac only grows in competence and fandom praise, whereas Hector is manipulated and brutally enslaved by Lenore, with many fans and critics alike dismissing him as incompetent and stupid. Similarly, Lenore and Hector receive this. Lenore is a demure woman who is threatening and competent, effortlessly beating him in a Curb-Stomp Battle fight and stringing him along in her plans. Due to this coolness, many called her a highlight of the season and disliked Hector. This is despite her being a cruel and manipulative woman who openly states she intends to sexually abuse him, though we don't know if she actually went through with it.

(funny to me how this example hasn't been updated since S3. I'm sure they would have sucked Isaac's dick even more. "hypercompetent" call him gary stu because that's what he is)

The openly evil characters get sympathy and praise only because they're "badass fighters" and "competent", while the more morally grey dude, unfairly victimized, is hated for being "incompetent and stupid" - and as I've complained about, it's the reason they briefly "fixed" Hector in S4 by making him all cunning and backstabby even if it was painfully OOC.

And this is what really makes the difference, doesn't it? This sort of shallow coolness that boils down to pure physical strength.

Guts and Shinji both go through hell. They are abused, victimized, ostracized, have serious breakdowns, and yes, they do nearly unforgivable acts because of it - including, in both cases, molesting a girl. But Guts is also a hella cool dude with a sword that can cut down dragons and usually keeps either a cool façade or shows badass destructive rage, which makes the rare moments when he cries hit harder, while Shinji is a much more realistic depiction of a depressed 14 yo teen, and that's not cool to watch I guess. That's not "interesting". He hasn't earned the right to cry and have panic attacks, he hasn't earned the right to be felt sorry for, because well, if you cry too much, no one cares anymore.

I don't want to put either character down. I love Guts because he's fleshed out and relatable beyond his over-the-top badassery, but I also think Shinji is painfully well written, because he is meant to be a very uncomfortable look in the mirror. And I feel the need to defend him, because complaining that Shinji is "a whiny bitch" and he should be "cooler" is... pretty much thinking like Gendo, in a way. You're missing the point of the whole story. It's like saying Bojack Horseman sucks because the protagonist is a jerk who never learns his lesson lol.

[chumpovodir]

To piggyback on your uncomfortableness about Lenore's design, I think the real skeevy part of the sex scenes is how Alucard and Hector are described

Hector gets constantly compared to a child (or a puppy...), we are constantly reminded that he never grew up, and his wide eyed naiveté is his main character trait

Alucard is, on text, a teenager in a grown man's body due to his dhampir nature, which I suppose explains why he's so surly and bitchy

The two manchildren, and only them, get graphic sex scenes where they are deceived due to their innocent/good nature

If they were women, I am positive they'd be called "minor coded" and the whole scene being accused of covert pedophilia or something like that. In any case, it's just... gross on so many levels. Those two characters were done so unspeakably dirty

(i really let 3+ weeks go by without answering this huh. okay.)

yeah, there's nothing here i don't already agree with. mmmmmaybe if you really want to swear up and down these two characters are supposed to be quite literal manchildren then. definitely don't involve them in weird graphic sex scenes that both turn into rape by deception...?

but also on the other side of this, it's frustrating, now that i notice it, that the show itself really tries to tell us they're manchildren but doesn't seem interested in actually following through by showing us any of this. it even gets pretty contradictory at times imo this is a bit of a tangent tbh but i feel like it's another criticism worth addressing because it just...bugs me that there's this consistent pattern of decisions being made carelessly and it's a net negative no matter how you look at it, which i'll explain in a bit:

so especially in Hector's case, the manchild angle always came off as kinda weird to me - like first off, he's introduced to us as killing his own parents as a child. wouldn't that lend itself better to a narrative that he had to grow up too fast, his innocence clearly lost at such a young age?

i'm pretty surprised, having re-watched S2, that he comes across as more competent than Isaac, the way he actually attempts to strategize and come up with a plan of attack, while Isaac is mostly just coddling Drac and moping and scowling in the background. (most of Hector's S2E2 lines are just him arguing with the council and trying to push some kind of resolution forward) and hey, Drac is even interested at Hector's objections to the one time Isaac brings up a plan! so... why do they then spend the next episode dunking on him being a "manchild"? at this point, Hector has actually done more for the war effort. that doesn't really sound like being a manchild to me? sure, all his objections are tinged with his principles of ensuring there's as little needless suffering as possible, but that's hardly an immature stance to take. and how is it even Hector's fault that Drac lied to him, he even admits as much? narrative darling Isaac is the one that comes off as being immature to me in all this, only sharing his knowledge of alucard's whereabouts and the possibility of a Belmont being in the picture after Hector disagrees with him and catches Drac's attention, which to me read as Isaac trying to one-up Hector in this scene. wouldn't it have been to the entire war council's benefit and even Drac himself if he volunteered that information sooner? the way Carmilla blows up on Godbrand should tell you all you need to know about the urgency of the matter, yet Isaac is choosing to keep this information to himself and only brings it up when it would seemingly benefit his own standing in Drac's court. doesn't seem very mature to me :/ (and seems weirdly ooc for him?) he doesn't even act on this information by, idk, volunteering a troop of night creatures to raid the Belmont Hold, again this falls to Hector to deal with (under dubious circumstances, sure, but he actually does something about it)

after all this, why am i supposed to believe Hector is a manchild? if S3 and S4 had gone any other way, i might have interpreted it as the narrative trying to show how everyone around Hector underestimates him due to his more merciful nature (paralleling Lenore's character) but yeah, because nothing comes of it, it just makes the implications of an already uncomfortable scene even worse. and then there's Alucard and the "teenager trapped in a grown man's body"…i don't know what to think of this line, honestly. taken at face value it obviously opens a whole can of worms for their choices in S3E9, but it also kinda just feels like a throwaway line for comic relief…? the whole sequence it happens in is part of some light banter between him and Sypha, and yeah it would explain the shit attitude he has towards Trevor but also. this is NFCV Trevor - he's kind of a shithead to Alucard every opportunity he gets, is it really any wonder Alucard would be less than friendly with him…? i can buy that Trevor's unique brand of off-putting is enough to get under Alucard's skin, considering all the emotional turmoil he's going through. why not just sink to his level and blow off some steam by matching his energy y'know, even if it is ooc as hell again, not disagreeing with any of your points, more just showing how even if you try to devil's advocate for the show's decision, it ends up not making any sense either. bad writing and bad decisions all around, how is this 'the adaptation of all time'

[chasing-storm-s]

Routes I've done for Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Vampire, Ikemen Villains, and Koihana Bakumeiroku. To be updated from time to time.

IkeSen Routes completed:

Masamune: romantic | dramatic | eternal (fav guy and fav routes)

Shingen: romantic | dramatic (not my type but damn I'd be lying if I say I didn't fall for him in his routes)

Nobunaga: romantic | dramatic (rather have you as an older brother figure, but you sure can be fun). sign me up for a late-night konpeito heist.

Sasuke: Romantic & Dramatic (routes SUPER fun. Guy's also super fun). Preferance: dramatic. Side story for both full love bonus is awesome!

Mitsunari: Romantic (the incomparable angel)

Keiji: Romantic (feeling: complicated. Sometimes I hate him, other times I like him well enough. His route is different but in a good way I guess?)

Kenshin: Romantic, Dramatic. (was worried but I think I like MC in his route. Ngl did fall for him despite his yandere-ing. Although, it's probably because I expected worse). Prefer his romantic cause we get to see them all plotting to bring him back, Mai as the Goddess of War. Ah, that was such a cool scene.

Motonari: Dramatic | Romantic (boy is he wild. But nope, not my thing - looks hot tho). I surprised myself by finishing both his routes this early hahah. Liked him much better on my 2nd gameplay but gosh will I always dislike that first couple of chapters.

Hideyoshi: Romantic | Dramatic (an extremely much needed break after the prev 3 guys. Worried I would dislike his route. But I love it. Him too. Very much. Fav parts: MC saying she will not send him a letter & her threatening Mitsuhide)

Ieyasu: Dramatic | Romantic Annnd that's my first Ieyasu route completed (dramatic). Enjoyed it more than I expected since Tsunderes aren't my thing, I was worried that I would've dislike his route but it turns out alright. I am a little sad that there weren't much of Sasuke fanboying moments but yeah overall things are still fine. Not sure yet how it goes in my ranking of routes I've done tho. Romatic: i've left it too long between reading and writing this.. so I'm sorry but I really forgot how things go. BUT. I think I enjoyed dramatic more.

Yoshimoto: Romantic (very dramatic. And it's not even the dramatic route. I love it.)

Yukimura: Dramatic | Dramatic (sometimes, you need to get yourself an awkward, tactless, yet super sweet guy who'll chase after you and call you dummy. Not fav LI but my 2nd fav route to play).

Mitsuhide: romantic. ohoho. I am warming up to this guy.

Kanetsugu: dramatic | romantic. His smile. His SMILE. I melt every time. Both routes were awesome! But I'll pick dramatic over romantic cause of that one Azuchi mother hen-ing scene 😂

Kennyo: Dramatic. That was pretty good actually.

IkeVamp Routes completed:

Leonardo: romantic | dramatic (is he the sweetest guy ever or is there someone who competes for this position?)

Vlad: dramatic (quite the bittersweet route. I love him)

Jean: romantic (boy be breaking my heart with his story. Extra love given to this man.)

Napoleon: dramatic. A lovely, lighter, more humorous read (compared to previous two).

Isaac: dramatic & romantic (adorable 100%. Need I say more?)

Dazai: romantic (thoughts tbc)

Faust: dramatic. Welp, this is one dramatic, red-flagged guy. Kidnapping, threats, dubious consent (?). Then again, it's pretty much expected/we've been warned. I donno but I was quite excited about playing his route but now that I've finished it.. I donno. I thought I would've enjoyed it more maybe? (This is why expectations are dangerous). I like the drama esp that beginning and learning about his softer sides especially with his interactions with the orphanage children (I love these scenes) but, I'm feeling like there's something.. missing. Maybe it's just me these past month because it has been a very busy, full of change month for me outside of my otome games. Im just here trying to divide my braincell for everything 🙃 . I'll replay his route once I'm properly settled in.

Arthur: Romantic. I love his route, how complicated things are between him and his past and him and Emma. With their very rocky start, how the comes to be be friends and their feelings, all to aware that both could not hope to fall in love with the other. Despite the complications, things aren't messy (I'm not refering to how Arthur himself's a mess). I think the route's written quite well, and it really does messes with your feelings (I like routes that gives me strong feelings, good and bad)

Theo: Romantic. Love how he's so insistent at going to the future for MC. I haven't seen any in Sengoku (not incl sasuke cause he future person) or other Vampire suitors yet that offers to do so. Overall, I enjoyed his route. I wish there were more..

Shakespeare: Dramatic. It's awesome.

Charles: Romantic. Ugly-crying almost the whole time. Is it my hormones? Is it purely Charles? I'll never truly know. But I love his route, though I'll never forgive cybird for that one chapter for toying with my emotions like that.

Vincent: Dramatic. Pretty lovely. It has that pure, gentle feeling like the man himself. Oh but I didn't think I would hate Shakespeare as much as I did in this route. Well, it's for the plot after all.

Comte: it was a fun ride. Got so many new dresses 😌

Interlude: very enjoyable. Nice seeing lots of friendship/family dynamics and more of everyone

IkeVill routes completed:

William Rex: Mad love - I like the story. Warming up to the game and concepts. Guy wise, it's kinda hard to get a proper sense of him through translation apps but I might put him on my like-as-friends or neutral acquaintance group.

Liam Evans: Both Ends - my fav being Blind End. best boy 😭 the sweetest man I could ever ask for. But oh the pain, the hurt, the tragic backstories. The amount of times I cried.

Harrison Gray: Blind Love - did a speed run through so can't remember much right now since I am updating this like after finishing a whole different route later. But. I remember thinking that it gives the most adventurous feeling between the others I've played.

Elbert Greetia: Mad Love - Quite enjoyed the route, though El's back story was disturbing. Love the whole El, Al, and Kate relationship side of things.

Koihana Bakumeiroku

Hijikata - First route I've ever finished and well, there were parts I was confused about but did figured out in other routes I have not finished playing yet (Kido and Katsu). I liked it.

[cononeillbreastingboobily]

Tonight on I'm Throwing Sex Education Season 3 theories at the wall and seeing what sticks:

Maeve would make an EXCELLENT lesbian.

Now, hear me out.

I know that most of you are probably hoping that Maeve and Otis will get together this season, and that's understandable: they've had their little "will they, won't they" for 2 seasons now.

But.

This back and forth will have to end at some point, right? Either with them getting together, or deciding once and for all, that they don't want to be together at all.

And considering that this season Otis and Ruby are gonna get closer, I wouldn't be surprised if that was all the more reason for Motis not to happen. You can only try to go after a guy when he has a girlfriend so much. The probability that the second time this happens Maeve simply loses patience seems very high to me.

Plus another thing, that is actually connected to something I figured out about myself not too long ago.

How many times do you think a young feminist went "oh my god I love women" and then felt it slowly morph into "oh my god I'm gay"?

I'm not saying it happens always, there obviously are heterosexual feminists. I'm just saying that with Maeve, already having so much appreciation for women, feeling how powerful it is when they have each other's backs, it doesn't feel like a stretch to think that she could one day have romantic feelings towards another girl, and for a long time she could be mistaking those feelings for simple appreciation.

And of course, I love Aimee and Steve just like anyone else, they're the healthiest, loveliest, most wholesome couple on the show by a long shot, but I can't help but feel like Aimee and Maeve would also work really well.

They've had each other's backs for years, they know each other really well - having had a friendship like that with another girl growing up I can assure you, that it's really easy to be mistaking love for friendship for a very long time.

And I'm thinking, maybe Maeve could become disillusioned with boys after the thing with the voicemail comes to light. On one hand she's obviously pissed that Isaac did what he did and kept the truth from her. On the other hand however she's pissed that Otis didn't reach out to her all summer, which would've immediately led to them clearing up their misunderstanding. But NO, of course Otis didn't do that. Because, well... he's Otis.

And then, with all this anger and disillusionment, Maeve could turn to Aimee like she always knows she can, and she could feel something new and unfamiliar raising in her chest. Perhaps she could feel these feelings that have been bubbling up under the surface for a very long time.

And, to support my little theory, a still from season 3:

On the right we have an established wlw couple.

On the left we have... two pretty best friends?

Just, I don't know.

This framing of the four of them here does things to me.

And with the fair in season 2 as well!

Aimee asked Maeve to win her the giant pig!!!

And Maeve and Ola were competing at the booth, Lily on Ola's side, Aimee on Meave's.

Just, I know they're probably just besties and I'm talking nonsense.

But.

What if I'm not???

All in all I'm just gonna repeat my point:

Maeve would make an excellent lesbian!!!!

[beevean]

You know what the Belmont's treatment reminds me of?

Samus in Other M

That game wanted so bad to depict Samus as someone with depth, someone who has feelings and enotions and trauma and can cry etc. But the end result had her do jack all in the actual story and for her to be denigrated by other characters who were shown to be more competent.

Except that with Sakamoto I can believe that he genuinely wanted to do Samus justice but went overboard with the weakness aspect because he had his head way too far up his own head

While with NFCV you cannot tell me that the writers don't know that the Belmonts (or others) being treated as sad tragic little meow meows who get treated like shit and need to be rescued/corrected often. These guys are on social media, they are literally part of the fandom and take part in discourse occasionally, so I can't believe they aren't doing this on purpose. Maybe Deats himself doesn't wish for this effect but someone must because it's far too consistent and convenient

... forgive me for what I'm about to say.

Samus in OM is atrocious and we all know that, right? Yes, she has those small cool moments in cutscenes as a token of respect for her skills, but overall she's weak, she's ineffectual, she won't stop praising a man who by all means acts cold and spiteful towards her, she's pretty much forbidden to do anything of substance in the plot, we see this gratuitous sequence of her writhing on the floor in pain after being shot that is nearly fetishistic...

... but the characters respect her.

Well, Adam doesn't, or at the very least, he doesn't respect her as she deserves. But the others? They know who Samus Motherfucking Aran is. Anthony is very friendly towards her. The scientists trusts her. Is it enough? Of course not. But somehow, some fucking how, Trevor and from what I've seen Ricther slip even lower than that level, because they're insulted and laughed at left and right, by their own friends most of all.

I genuinely felt sorry for Trevor who was pushed aside in his own story in favor of Fanservice Central Alucard and Muh Deepness Isaac, and when he was on screen the story beat us over the head that he's a washed up alcoholic who swears left and right and yeah he lost his family but they were weirdos anyway. Richter has a more pleasant personality from what I've seen, but apparently Annette steals the show as expected, the same person who looks down on him and gets away with calling him "useless as fuck", and he doesn't really do anything of substance either.

Oh, and what about Juste? Oh yeah I ain't forgotten about him. Juste, who became yet another Trevor, another jaded bastard after the loss of his family, who can't use his magic anymore, who is a prick to Richter who is a prick to him in return, who can't even help him unlock his magic - no, the memory of Annette does it.

Oh, and do you remember how Dracula recognized Trevor as a Belmont because he threw ineffectual punches at him? How he recognized the power of the Morning Star... who didn't even scratch him? How this sends the implication that the Belmonts kept fighting Dracula... and lost to him? The complete reversal of the games, where the only Belmont who didn't manage to kill Dracula at first was Christopher and anyway he tried again some time later?

Leon so far is the Belmont that came out of it the most unscathed, and even he was reduced to the level of "random crusader who decided to fight Dracula for shit and giggles"

So no. There is an undeniable pattern here. Deats can hide behind the excuses he wants, but again: whoever thought that promoting the show by using Annette's line was a good idea... well, they had to draw that conclusion from somewhere.

also fuck you nocturne for pushing me to say one (1) decent thing about om that other piece of shit game. goddamnit

[beevean]

Hecula. Isaactor. Joaactor ;)

Alright, if I must be brutally honest:

where is the porn?

Like. To me the setup "the Lord and his pretty loyal knights who'd do anything for him out of gratitude" is so damn obvious. I know CoD cannot compete with SoTN or AoS in terms of popularity, but really? Nothing? I was lucky to find any scraps of Isaactor by digging into the 10+-year-old trash of blogs here! Where is the material?! I feel like I'm having visions! Or maybe I came too late to the party 😭

(well, I did find two Draactor fanfictions. they were bad. one of them was pretty good except Hector was so OOC it hurt, and the other was NFCV levels of WTF. so yeah. let's just say they were inspirational...)

anyway I don't know what else to say, Draactor in general has consumed my mind. Isaactor is a fun divorsties ship because I love to imagine how their relationship, potentially solid and wholesome, crumbled apart due to their life circumstances, a tragic case of "they were at the wrong place in the wrong time but they couldn't meet anywhere else". I love how they are very different, but with just enough similarities to mesh together, and those similarities is their brand of toxicity (I want Hector to be more of a bastard lol, down with "meanie Isaac abused poor Hector"). And Hecula just hits all my favorite tropes that make me go "oh this is very gross and bad and disgusting 🥰" while also keeping the themes proposed by CoD about Hector being forced to be Dracula's reflection <3

(special shout out to Isaacula for being an evergreen villain/simp ship!)

Anyway, I know the actual opinion you want :P

Joachim is kind of a freebie, for lack of a better word lol. We don't know much how he'd be free from his cell, let alone several centuries into the future. But I like the proposed version of him being sarcastic, irriverent (too old for Dracula's shit lol), constantly on the edge of snapping, but also still unused to being loved and appreciated. Much like a certain redhead :P so, somehow, the two fit together like a glove. Isaac would not be disturbed by Joachim's nature and appreciate being appreciated. Joachim would simply admire Isaac's qualities like his passion and wit and not compare him with anyone, and himself being touched that he's not considered a "crazy old vampire".

Hector is harder to fit, and it feels like it's mostly "Isaac and his two boyfriends" lmao. However, Joachim would not create that competitive environment Dracula did, the opposite in fact, which might allow the two boys to relax around each other and rekindle that old friendship they had as kids. I like the idea of Joachim seeing himself in Hector (arrogant but so vulnerable to the manipulations of a bastard vampire lord who is keeping him in a cage of sorts) and so gently trying to steer him away from Dracula. Maybe they wouldn't fall in love, they're not each other's type at all, but they could grow close.

also i still haven't grasped joachim on that front but i have my headcanons on hector and isaac's lax/concerning relationship with sex and good luck to the vampire trying to fix it :P

This has turned into a incoherent rant lmao, I'm still trying to sort my opinions here 😂