#Through the power of yaoi and nothing else

[duncanor]

Yes it did! It saved Livio and Razlo.

The yaoi saved them and it matters !!!!

[velvees-archive]

Making my case for ManoSouta, Ace Attorney’s token doomed yaoi

Bronco knew, and still he told nobody.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 full game spoilers ahead!

Chalk it up to lucky guesswork or my expertly honed writer’s intuition (sarcasm), but so rarely do I latch onto side ships that when I found myself gravitating towards Bronco (Manosuke Naito) x Simeon (Souta Sarushiro, hence ManoSouta) simply because of this line, I knew something was up…

…and boy was I right.

Simeon Saint’s fall from grace was a direct consequence of subjection to a corrupt justice system and equally as corrupted individuals. There was his father, who saw Simeon’s existence as a means to an end (the end being a pharmaceutical “recipe” book that could cure Gusto’s affliction and a shiny world class confectioner title), his best friend, who kidnapped him and almost killed him on his dad’s orders, and—if that wasn’t enough to destroy someone’s psyche—there was the presidential assassination trio, who tormented, interrogated, and dangled their judicial and executive power over him like a special-brand curse.

This is a character who hit rock bottom so long ago he believes nothing is left of him except agony, paranoia, and anger. He crafts an intricate revenge plot that dishes Simeon-esque justice to everyone who wronged him. The acts are performed mercilessly, too, no hesitation, regret, or unnecessary feelings involved in the flawless execution of his plan.

Well, almost.

There was one person in the same boat—no family, no longstanding companionship (barring each other)—who set Simeon’s descent in motion. Ironically, it is also through this person that we’re shown what remains of his humanity.

For me to talk about Simeon’s feelings as shown before we found out he was the mastermind, though, we have to see how he reacted after the big reveal. Upon being fingered as the villain, Simeon makes it clear he does not feel remorse towards any of the people “he” killed. After all, they drew first blood; Simeon firmly believes retaliation was warranted.

That is, until Miles clarifies the following points surrounding Simeon’s kidnapping, his memory loss, and the fate of his and Bronco’s fathers:

The reason Simeon was kidnapped wasn’t so Bronco’s dad could kill Simeon’s; Bronco was only meant to stall Simeon so he couldn’t help his dad win the confectionary competition finale

When a murder did occur, the victim of the murder was not Simeon’s dad, but Bronco’s.

This is how Simeon responds:

“He deserved to die!…Didn’t he?”

This line, in conjunction with the contemplative flashback shown in the video, conveys Simeon’s uncertainty/regret about inciting Knight’s murder, though one could argue this is only in reaction to the revelation rather than a lingering attachment to Knight, who he “stopped thinking” was his friend 18 years ago.

But then he follows it up with this.

“Then what was all this…for…!?”

At this point, you have to ask yourself why Simeon is questioning his entire plan (keyword in the quote is all, not just Bronco’s death) because he realized whose father actually died. Technically speaking, Bronco did still kidnap him. On top of that, everyone else Simeon exacted revenge on still wronged him, so it makes no sense to say this unless Bronco’s supposed role in “Simeon’s” father’s death was pivotal in Simeon’s decision to proceed with his whole plot. In other words, the reason Simeon questions his plot after Miles’ clarification is because this fundamental misunderstanding was what pushed him to take revenge on everyone in the first place. Bronco’s betrayal weighed so heavily on him that Simeon had no choice but to kill him in line with his principles, but he didn’t actually want to.

I’m not saying he wanted to spare Bronco because of the power of friendship or some misplaced sentimentality. It was inevitable that Bronco would die by Simeon’s hand because Simeon vowed to get his revenge on everyone who hurt him. What I am saying is that Simeon’s resolve is clearly shaken once Bronco’s role in his suffering is cleared up. As soon as Simeon realized Bronco’s dad didn’t murder his dad, he regretted killing his only friend. This is the only time Simeon shows remorse.

You might think Simeon’s hatred for Bronco stems from his kidnapping and its consequences, aka setting off the chain of events that would ruin Simeon’s life outside of “his” dad dying. However, Simeon doesn’t hold a grudge over Bronco for anything other than the kidnapping. The statement, “If you hadn’t detained me 18 years ago…it wouldn’t have had to…end like this” is vastly different from “If you hadn’t detained me 18 years ago, none of this would have happened.” His “hatred” for Bronco was a personal grudge he had against his best friend, who also happened to be the son of his dad’s killer. Bronco was on Simeon’s list because his betrayal stung Simeon most. “What was all of this for” really meant, “I wouldn’t have gone through with any of this if I knew you weren’t involved.”

Had Simeon truly hated him, it’d be difficult to justify why he snuck away from his carnival preparations to talk to Bronco. Why did he pay such an incriminating visit when he’d already delivered Bronco’s chess set during visiting hours? And why did he tell Bronco he snuck something into it, leaving him vulnerable to counterattack should Bronco tattle?

Why did he bother saying goodbye?

Simeon’s actions betray logic because try as he might to hate Bronco with all his heart, he cared. Bronco Knight’s betrayal was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but imagine if the misunderstanding had been sorted from the start. Simeon's reaction to wrongfully killing Bronco was a stellar portrayal of his desire for genuine companionship, and a peek into what remained of his humanity before he was unmasked. He really was all alone.

If you’re still not sold on them being the doomed yaoi representatives of Ace Attorney, if a misplaced desire for revenge cutting their time short doesn’t make this tragic enough, then consider this: Bronco legitimately cared for and trusted Simeon, but unlike Simeon, he was left completely in the dark.

He’s legitimately excited to see Simeon’s performance. He happily awaited Simeon’s chess correspondences because he just likes being around him!!

Perhaps the biggest sticking point in all of this is that Simeon admitted he put something in his chess set, Bronco definitely opened his chess set, and yet when it came time for Fifi Laguarde to interrogate him (aka when she discovers the chisel), Bronco does not tell her he doesn’t own it, he does not tell her he’s been set up, and he does not tell her his best friend—who the precinct knows visited him—is the one who put it there. Why didn’t Bronco tell her?

That’s the greatest pull of their dynamic: we don’t know. Maybe everything happened too fast. Maybe he did try to protest. Maybe he ratted Simeon out but Laguarde was already in hysterics. Maybe Bronco didn’t understand why the chisel frenzied the warden so, and paid the ultimate price for it.

Or maybe, just maybe, Bronco already knew the moment he saw the chisel. Maybe he died a knowing victim of Simeon’s retribution. Maybe he thought it better that the knowledge of their past—Paul Halique’s ring and Simeon’s secret hatred— dissolve with his last breath.

Worse yet, maybe he couldn’t believe Simeon would do something like this. Maybe he continued to have blind faith in him despite the damning evidence. Maybe he believed in him.

[mellohiizz]

Heh.... guess whos back to yap even more.... (its glitchduo anon) if this is too long and you dont want to reply thats totally cool however i saw you were interested in ashs character and i just HAD to assist...

(Everything neg here is about the characters not ccs btw, most of it is /aff anyways :3)

Ok so im assuming you know the general gist of s4 which is kind of all i know about it aside from like one or two vods ive fully watched. You also probably know about swagdoons which are the enemies to lovers (sometimes) of lifesteal and they try to kill each other but kiss afterwards..... they are the yaoi ever but ill try to be less insane about them to keep this rant focused

most of my REAL info about ash is from mid s5 and s6 which is when i started watching streams more than the videos, however i know he tries to portray himself as the big scary villain in s4 but honest to god he was apologizing PROFUSELY for the smallest things that guy is NAWT a truly heartless villain although he is pretty selfish and greedy but. Well:

before getting into his character i thought he like fully hated everyone, would never try to help someone else, was a general asshole etc etc but the more i paid attention to him the more i realized that yeah i guess he is those things but there is at least one person he gives a shit about (squiddo) and by god does he care a LOT about her

he also is pretty pathetic actually.... when his peace thing in s5 didnt work out he immediately went back to trying to be evil and selfish in s6... hmm its almost like he reverts back to hating everyone before they think hes a loser hmmm... its also really funny because this guy can BARELY pvp so he's very all or nothing on his dramatic gestures (eg he cant take over the server with pvp so he does it with the wormhole which imo is 500% more impressive, although i dont know very much about pvp)

despite him being pathetic he is def a force to be reckoned with, hes very idle until provoked and the provokation is usually out of spite and malice but that guy will stop at Nothing to get what he wants once he has a good enough motive (and doesnt have collage work)

he also gives me false god vibes but like... hes sort of AWARE hes a false god but does not want to admit it At All. i think its really interesting that the season after he became god he was made a host for a god (he actually confirms hes possesed by the commisioner/overseer/lifesteallord when he talks as them btw absolutely wild) and i think it would be cool if that was intentionally to like. Humble him. Show him a real god, not just an immortal guy with flying powers

(This is a little more of a headcanon but i think its feasable) i think that since his s5 loss, being his first major loss in any season ever, hes lost a sense of self in lifesteal, sitting in his house thats too big with empty walls and emptier reasoning. not to mention hes teamless and his only ally/friend is squiddo and thats not even official 😭😭

so yeah my guy is Going Through It... someone get this man hot chocolate and a warm blanket or maybe a picnic with his Best and Only Friend 🙁🙁

(Oh yea if you want a general idea of s5 onwards and dont have time for streams or really long cinematic videos i would recommend squiddos videos on it, theyre rarely over 15-20 minutes and there are only seven right now so you can get through them in a few days if you're REALLY crunched for time ^_^)

hello again glitchduo anon!! giggles i kind of know some general lore?? but mostly out of things i see on here about it, or like clips/vods i'm able to watch when i have time? so yeah... ash's character is very interesting to me, and honestly, what you said about him aligned pretty well with what i did see of him, but like... not in lifesteal, but the character he played in spoke's unstable videos. bro was literally begging for attention and alliance, and then turned around and BOOM twist villain jumpscare he's actually evil... he was acting off the whole time (ignoring mapicc, probably because he knew mapicc was harder to manipulate, and being very obnoxious about getting close to spoke in particular), so that checked out (sorry, i can yap about unstable for so long, im so insane about it) but yeah, i really really enjoy watching him do his thing, and i want to study him in a lab like a weird microorganism or something definitely was getting the false god vibes too btw from i did see of him in lifesteal (which was mostly just other people's vods) actually the whole being host of a god sounds so interesting?? that's definitely the first time i heard about something like this and i love everything having to do with possessions and stuff like that definitely one of the top characters i actually want to know more about (second close is minutetech i'd say) and don't worry, i really like reading what you send in, it actually helps a lot and it's very interesting!! the moment i opened my inbox and saw a lot of text i was like "oh yeah i know who this is from" (/hj/aff btw) thank you for taking the time to give me more knowledge i guess :33 !!

[lanshappycorner]

Me explaining to u guys why you should ship Byakusho

Do you like doomed yaoi? But you still want them to have a happy ending so you end up reading fanfics to cope?

Look no further, byakusho is for you. Doomed yaoi with an actual happy ending. Regardless of if you already like KHR and you don't particularly ship them, or you know absolutely nothing about this series, you should read it anyways. Also if you're wondering how they can be doomed yaoi and still have a happy ending, you should definitely read this

This segment is for people who do not know anything abt KHR so if you already know abt who Byakuran and Shoichi are, you can skip to the next bolded segment.

OKAY SO for those who do not know anything about Katekyo Hitman Reborn, it's basically like. About mafia and stuff. Also they all have different "dying will flame" types based on their personalities/affinities and stuff. Just think of them all as magical girls with guns okay don't worry too much about it they have magic and they're in the mafia

Let's go over their characters real quick.

Shoichi is first introduced in something similar to a filler episode, called "The Misfortune of Shoichi Irie" or something like that. Basically in the episode, he's delivered a package by the mafia for taking care of their kid, Lambo.

Lambo is another character (a kid from the mafia) Not under Shoichi's care, but they do meet briefly. Realizing that the package isn't supposed to go to him, he ventures to return it to Tsuna's (the main character of KHR) house, where he runs into a lot of odd and kind of gag-like funny typical shonen anime shenanigans. But this really freaks him out

He ultimately fails to return the package, and suffers from nightmares about the encounter.

Something to note though is that Lambo possesses a bazooka called the "10 yr bazooka" and if you shoot it at someone, it basically has the ability to switch you and your future self (10 years from now) for 5 minutes. This is extremely relevant.

The main characters of KHR are transported roughly 10 years into the future, and realize that they cannot return home even after 5 minutes. They then find out that there's this guy attempting world domination, and his name is Byakuran. Byakuran has access to knowledge of every parallel universe and timeline, allowing him to even consider world domination

Byakuran runs the Millefiore mafia family, and his right hand man is Shoichi. Long story short, they are introduced as the villain duo that the main characters must defeat

I'll go over some more stuff that ppl familiar with KHR probably already know, but it is necessary for my reasoning so please read through everything

First off, they are quite literally soulmates. Initially, Shoichi wanted to know what his future was like, hence he traveled back into the future twice after changing his actions. There, he meets Byakuran both times, accidentally causing Byakuran to realize his powers to gain access to knowledge from other worlds

However, because he runs into Byakuran in the future no matter where he travels or how he tries to change the future, it is basically implied that Byakuran and Shoichi are destined to meet in every timeline. Or in most at least

When Shoichi realizes this, he immediately devises a plan to take down Byakuran. His plan? Befriend Byakuran, gain his trust, and ruin all of his plans

Upon returning back to the past, he purposely erased his memories of the future, planning to have them return years later. You may be wondering how Shoichi is so confident that he could carry out the plan despite having no memory of Byakuran

Well this all really implies how confident he was that he and Byakuran’s fates were intertwined. Because how else could he be so sure that their paths would cross or Byakuran would show interest in him? Yeah. Anyways

They met in college and there is something you have to know here, and it's that they are so best friends to lovers guys they are in fact best friends

Shoichi, having no memories of Byakuran, somehow befriends him and becomes his best friend. Like, For Realsies...

When he regains his memories, he realizes much to his horror that his friend was about to game end the world, so he continues to persist with his plans despite now feeling completely awful about it

Fast forward, Shoichi is now Byakuran’s right hand man in the Millefiore family. It is important to note that Byakuran refers to Shoichi as "Sho-chan" and Shoichi refers to Byakuran as "Byakuran-san"

It may at first seem like Byakuran is being playful and Shoichi is polite, and while Shoichi does have a level of politeness, it's important to note that Shoichi and Byakuran use katakana to refer to each other when they use -chan and -san

This is in most cases actually considered rude when referring to one's superiors, and considering Byakuran is Shoichi's boss, it basically means he's okay with Shoichi referring to him rudely. Furthermore, the usage of katakana in this context just implies closeness

This information cannot be seen in the anime because you can't tell if someone is using katakana or hiragana just by listening to them speak, but it is very apparent in the manga that they are close. Also, all the other characters besides Shoichi refer to Byakuran as Byakuran-sama, so there's that too

Byakuran sent Shoichi a whole room's worth of white anemones, as most friends do

Shoichi finds this troublesome though because Byakuran is big on flower language and this means Byakuran has great expectations for him to succeed in his mission (of killing the main characters)

However it's later revealed that Shoichi had intended on betraying Byakuran, and Byakuran also reveals himself that he already knew about Shoichi's eventual betrayal, since Shoichi has always disapproved of his views

So if Byakuran already knew Shoichi was going to betray him, sending him a room of flowers meaning that he expects him to do well has no practical meaning to it besides from

1) he's just fucking with shoichi and 2) anemones explicitly mean love and passion so really he's just gay

No I'm so serious he's just gay. Like the Millefiore is made up of a bunch of squads right, and Byakuran is as mentioned above obsessed with flower language. Meaning he absolutely could not have not known what anemones generally mean outside of "anticipation/expectations"

But also each squad is named after a flower and Byakuran decided to explicitly assign Shoichi the rose squad. This man has done everything but kiss Shoichi on the lips like actually. All the fucking flowers in the world and you assign your best friend the rose ? And you send him a whole room full of flowers meaning love and passion? You gay bitch 😭😭

Anyways it has to be said that Byakuran besides being definitely not straight, is a really shit person. Like I have to say it he's awful, he's responsible for the death of thousands of people and he just casually destroyed a couple of worlds in search of more power. He views people like his toys and he admits to it

He is like a child in how everything is really just for his amusement, something for him to play with. He is even willing to sacrifice his closest allies for more power, he's just that type of guy </33 he just...does not have emotional attachments to other people

But with that said, he doesn't seem particularly hurt when it's revealed that Shoichi was not on his side anymore. However, when they play Choice, Shoichi is picked as a target and I refuse to believe that it is a coincidence and not Byakuran being petty because his best friend betrayed him💀

For those who do not know, Choice is a game that Byakuran and Shoichi made together in university, but now they're playing it irl. It's kind of like capture the flag, but the flag is one specific target, and in this case, the target for the main characters' team is Shoichi

Even when Shoichi was beaten and nearly died in Choice, Byakuran seemed unaffected by all of this and we are led to believe that he never really did care about Shoichi despite calling him his best friend

Shoichi, however, admits to the main characters that despite Byakuran being the way he was, back before he regained his memories of the future, the time he spent with Byakuran were "the best times of his life"

He genuinely enjoyed being around Byakuran and considered him his best friend despite knowing that Byakuran was going to do awful things, and he was determined to stop him. Despite it all

In Shoichi’s character song, we get a glimpse into his thoughts, and as it turns out, he really is in conflict with himself

Because in his heart, he wants to be with Byakuran, it's his place, but he chose to save the world instead, so that place is gone. He even says that he has to lie to his heart to do what he has to </33

In the song he also states that he doesn't want to break his memories and he wants to keep them safe, probably referring to the picture perfect time he spent with Byakuran before shit hit the fan. He continuously wills himself to not cry, to stop crying, because it's for the world

Girl I am crying for him. He cannot afford to act selfishly because choosing to be with Byakuran would make him the happiest and would simultaneously doom the world. But anyways

Clearly Shoichi holds Byakuran in high regard and loves him. Like not even just romantically, but in general he really does love Byakuran a lot

At the very end of the arc, the villain must be defeated though, and Byakuran is killed like straight up killed

Throughout the entire scene, Shoichi does not once show joy. He seems to accept the situation and is happy in a way that his plans have come to fruition, but his plans have always been "defeat Byakuran" rather than kill him. Shoichi had never planned to kill Byakuran, or at least explicitly said it, although I'm sure he knew that type of conclusion was inevitable

His reaction to Byakuran's death does stand out though, because every other character does seem to express joy at the victory, but Shoichi looks...blank. Perhaps shocked or in disbelief, but either ways his best friend was just killed right in front of him and he can't even be mad about it because this was the only way he could've been stopped

Shoichi is not aware of this, but before Byakuran dies, we finally get a glimpse into his thoughts as well

Byakuran admits in his last moments internally that although he did all of this because he wanted to create a perfect world, it wasn't as if he was completely dissatisfied with this one because there were also times where he felt "warm and fuzzy" as well. We then get a bunch of flashbacks in his dying moments of him and Shoichi together

BITCH???? AKDJAF 😭😭😭 only in his dying moments do we find out that Byakuran really did actually care about Shoichi and genuinely considered him his best friend because well. Context. It's his dying moments would he have dying moment flashbacks about someone he didn't care about

Like just moments of them chatting...Shoichi smiling at him... gay ass flashback if I've ever seen one 😭😭

Byakuran is someone who doesn't generally value people, he views them as toys and pawns. So the fact that he basically admitted that he did have a genuine connection with Shoichi is so :((((( this guy is just so out of tune with his emotions that he couldn't properly convey it in the end and Shoichi never actually knew about it

I say this but I feel like Shoichi did have a vague idea that Byakuran held him to some degree of high regard because. Well he was Byakuran's right hand man and they were friends for years prior to the whole mafia world domination thing

He's the only person that truly treats Byakuran like a human despite Byakuran trying to play god and everyone worshiping him. And despite being the only person that doesn't treat Byakuran like the god he wants to be, Byakuran still keeps him around

So clearly that means something but anyways that is the doomed yaoi. Byakuran is dead and Shoichi's plans succeed at the cost of his best friend's life, and he never found out in the end that his best friend probably did love him as much as he loved him. And that is where it ends

OR SO YOU THOUGHT HA

As mentioned this all takes place 10 years in the future

Meaning that the past version of Byakuran is still Alive. When the main characters return back to the past, there is a huge earthquake and everyone, including the past versions of Shoichi and Byakuran, are given memories of what they did in the future

Byakuran is taken to mafia prison bc sure it's 10 yrs in the past but like that guy is like a ticking time bomb 💀 doesn't matter though because somehow he's bailed out of jail.

Byakuran is a white boy btw :/ he lives in Italy and Shoichi is Japanese. Yes this is important because when they're in university, they meet abroad when Shoichi probably goes to Italy or something to study, but as it stands, currently Byakuran is in Italy and Shoichi is still in Japan

Byakuran is preparing to go to Japan with the people that helped to bail him out and the first thing he says is that he can't wait to meet his best friend Sho-chan😭😭😭

Thanks to the power of love and friendship, Byakuran is now no longer batshit insane and it's implied he now properly cares about his teammates btw. Anyways congrats to Byakuran for having human emotions I'm so happy for him

After returning to Japan, of course he goes to see Shoichi, and we don't know how it went exactly, but the next time Shoichi appears in the series, he tells the main character that Byakuran explained the situation to him and stuff, so it is implied that they are on good enough terms to speak abt stuff normally

Also Shoichi is kinda next to Byakuran the entire time 😔 and there is a segment where Shoichi literally shit talks Byakuran in his face which is so funny to me because it's BYAKURAN hes talking to and he just doesn't give a shit. But Byakuran pulls out the "best friend" card on him and throughout his entire speel, Shoichi never once denies that they're best friends ever

In the very last arc, Byakuran sustains extremely awful injuries and by extremely awful I mean intestines completely destroyed awful . Luckily somehow he gets around it (dont worry about it) and is chilling in the hospital and although it's a very small panel, you will see that Shoichi actually is there visiting him in the hospital

Remember how I said that everyone has magic powers and special dying will flames. Well Shoichi just happens to have the sun flame which makes him a healer so we can infer that he's also helping to heal Byakuran in the hospital along with visiting him

In this timeline they're able to retain their friendship and work towards a better future but anyways that's them my favorite doomed but not really doomed yaoi they are everything to me please ship them

[absolutebl]

Hi, absolutebl.......Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shoujo/josei manga and het romance kdrama equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujo and het romance decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read or watch mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...

What do you think happen to me? (Sorry for this weird ask)

Really love your blog....Thank you so much, for sharing your BL analyses, reviews and recs. I learn a lot from you. Some of my fav BL series, I found them from you.....Thanks.....

Do you mind if I ask again for BL recs? Because I know here are users that did not want to receive different asks from the same person.....

Also, have you watched dmbj or read orv? Both series based on a novels that have very strong bromance vibe.....

Do you know that sotus, manner of death and 2together are adapted into manga? Before I found your blog, BL that I read are from manga and manhwa, and I was surprised when I knew that the series above are from thai drama (I know the manga first, sorry).....

Last ask, what do you think about BL or GL that make it better than het romance? Do you feel that too?

Sorry for this very long ask, if you mind, I will not ask again......Hope you have a wonderful day.....

Honestly I don't know. But I can say it happened to me with manga a very long time ago. I switched from reading bodice rippers to yaoi and pretty much stopped reading anything het romance after that. (I still read scifi & fantasy that's not primarily romance, although not as much as I once did.)

Fortunately for me, the M/M self publishing revolution, and then BL, came along.

That said, I did pick up Kdramas (via Kpop), and they are now the only het I watch.

I've gone through phases where yaoi or m/m or BL was ALL I was consuming for a couple years. And then just stopped. Stared reading more widely for a while. (I'm making the comparison with books because I have never had the opportunity to do this level of obsession with cinema before, there has never before been enough on screen queer romances for me to just watch those and nothing else until 2020. Now there is.

Honestly, I don't know why this happened or me, or anyone else.

To understand why we like a thing, let alone obsesses or fixate on a thing, is so complex. Maybe it's because I come out of kink but I've learned to just go with the fetish... as it were.

It's like trying to understand why you like a particular dish, song, fashion, color, painting, architecture, even a plant or animal. I mean we can come up with explanations, flavor profiles, childhood formation of taste, family backgrounds, and so forth. Or academic analysis to do with disenfranchisement and the psychological appeal of narrative and beauty.

But sometimes often we like a thing because we like a thing.

I know, for humans, the "why" is our most powerful question. (Marketing also knows this, incidentally.) One of the reasons we tell stories AT ALL (to ourselves, to others, around a campfire in ancient times) is our search for the eternal why. It gave us mythology. It gave us religion.

But sometimes, especially with art, I feel like it's better just to dwell in wonder and grey spaces. The awe and the enjoyment itself, without understanding, it part of the experience.

Worship at the church of BL? Is that what this is? Maybe?

Some kinda thoughts anyway?

Generally these narratives provide a sense of comfort. Perhaps our love is something to do with characters who normally struggle (and usually are marginalized, tortured, killed and/or miserable) getting their happy evers? Perhaps it's because it's pure fantasy in terms of relationship. (I think for a lot of straight women there is something profoundly alluring in a gay relationship that they had/have no chance of every experiencing or being part of, the otherness itself is part of the appeal.) Perhaps its the lack, we never before had enough content to get obsessed over it to this level. (Let's not talk about the number of times I rewatched Latter Days after I got it on DVD, okay?)

I mean it's worth putting yourself through a thought experiment. Write down a list of ten things you like about BL that make it differnet from other kinds of media.

But you may find it's just like "why do I eat at Wendy's instead of Burger King?"

Because I like it better. They do the thing I like. (Spicy chicken sandwitch, FYI).

Perhaps it's something more profound, a kind of narrative sexual identity. It's the thing you desire. Then again, I'm pretty fluid in my desires, so I am comfortable with the idea of being attracted to different people at different points in my life. Just like being into different kinds of media at different times in my life.

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, so long as:

It's not to addition level (damaging your emotional/financial well being)

You're comfortable with the notion that your tastes may change again

Other Questions

Do you mind if I ask again for BL recs? Because I know here are users that did not want to receive different asks from the same person.....

I am always happy to give out BL recs! The more specific the better. I consider it my primary service to humanity, at this juncture.

Also, no offense but I get so many asks from so many people I rarely remember who's asked me stuff before. Unless you have a very notable icon or style of writing, or interact with me regularly in comments & DMs. My memory is CRAPTASTIC. And I run multiple social media accounts several of which have much higher volume interactions than this one. It's not you it's the law of Dunbar's number. The human brain only really has the capacity for 150 social connections. And frankly, I don't know if I can manage even that many anymore.

Also, have you watched dmbj or read orv? Both series based on a novels that have very strong bromance vibe…..

Nope. I don't watch bromances if I can help it. Too much actual kissing these days to distract me, and I am one of those who wants some kissing for my queers.

Do you know that sotus, manner of death and 2together are adapted into manga? Before I found your blog, BL that I read are from manga and manhwa, and I was surprised when I knew that the series above are from thai drama (I know the manga first, sorry)…..

Yes and Yen Press picked up SOTUS for the USA print market. I'm hope to read that someday. I haven't tried MoD or 2g. I tend not to read reverse adaptations in general, not sure why. Also, I went off manga when it went primarily online. Never even experienced the manwha revolution. I'm old school enough to not enjoy graphic media scrolling. I miss turning pages "backwards" and getting amused my misstranslations.

Last ask, what do you think about BL or GL that make it better than het romance? Do you feel that too?

I don't like a value judgement like "better" on pop culture. I would just say "I personally enjoy it more" so I guess "better for me" would be how I might put it?

In my case? I think it's primarily that I spend so much of my life with little to no queer romance in it. And I mean modern romance all sappy and happy and cheesy and safe. It's just pure joy to have it available to me in such volume on my screen with such pretty trappings, flawed as it may be.

But also.

I just like it.

[cosmicjoke]

Hi, I read your post about shipping and you just said everything that I have been wanting to say. Well , I admit to be an eruri shipper, But for my personal interests about these two very well written characters and the special relationship they share. It doesn't have to be romantic and thier lives don't have to revolve around each other. I won't go out my way insinuating Levi was all about Erwin and shit. That is totally disregarding his character.

I read eruri fics on ao3 everyday and I want to say most of them misinterpret both thier characters for sake of their "yaoi" fantasy. I am sick of it. I won't say don't ship who you want. I am an eruri shipper too but doing this is totally childish.

I think Levi was the one person Erwin trusted with his whole life and he was last and only person who ever understood who he was and saw him as a human. In a way Erwin's own va( Ono daisuke) saying Levi was the last holder of Erwin's remaining humanity. And Erwin being a commander who Levi trusted implicitly. Humanity needed Erwin but now that Erwin doesn't have the drive anymore he wouldn't be able to be the same commander, as you said. Levi saved him from living life of a devil, floch wanted and gave him salvation from the dream that was borne of his guilt and childish curiosity which turned him this cold but coldness was needed for his commandership.

Thier relationship is very well written even more so, in my opinion , Canon ship, I like the complexity and intricacies of thier relationship romantic or platonic. But those toxic shipper demoting thier characters to just revolve around each other and forgetting thier true motives is infuriating.

Levi's priority was and is always HUMANITY,FIRST AND FOREMOST.

Erwin was slave to his dream, Levi freed him of it and Erwin was grateful to have someone take this burden of this guilt and dream away and giving him some clarity and epiphany. Erwin knew Levi would never let humanity down, so hence letting him make his final choice.

Erwin provided Levi a way to serve humanity in survey corps, thier relationship is fascinating. But your point is valid and true to it's meaning. THANK YOU.

Hi there, and thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

I don't have any problem whatsoever with shipping Levi and Erwin, and in fact, the vast majority of fanfic I read is eruri, which is why it's so funny to me that I keep getting attacked over being "biased" against the ship, lol. I'm not at all, I'm just able to separate it from actual canon. Something I don't think should be hard to do.

Indeed, Levi and Erwin have one of the bets and most complex relationships IN canon, far more complex and, imo, meaningful than if they were simply a romantic couple, which is also why I don't understand this fanatical need by some shippers to make it into some cliched romance.

For sure, Erwin trusted Levi above everyone else, and in the end, that trust was rewarded, because Levi saw through to Erwin's heart, in a way I think even Erwin himself couldn't see. Levi trusted in Erwin for a reason too. He saw a goodness in Erwin that Erwin was blind to. So when Erwin doubted his own worth as a leader, and was beginning to question if he'd committed some horrific wrong because his personal motivation underpinned his commandership, Levi reaffirmed his belief in him and gave him a chance at redemption. Indeed, Levi gave Erwin his humanity back, when it was on the verge of being lost, and in the end, by choosing as he did to let Erwin die, he allowed Erwin to keep his humanity and to die worthy of his title.

That's way more powerful and meaningful than some silly, formulaic love story where Levi betrays everyone and everything for his love of one man, lol. I don't even know why people are into that concept, or into the concept of Levi being so rapturously enamored with Erwin, that nothing else matters to him but pleasing him or doing his bidding.

Levi chose to follow Erwin because he believed in Erwin as a leader with a far reaching vision, and as someone who could lead humanity to victory over the titans, and was pure in his intentions to fight for humanity. He saw him as admirably devoted to that duty, and believed in him for that devotion.

Anyway, thank you again for reaching out!

[lixahl]

tell me about illidan and arane. tell me evedyrbing

anyone else love 15 thousand+ year old man yaoi. because i sure do. they haunt my every waking thought. they love each other sooooooooooo much

so it allllll starts in val'sharah where younger teen arane is harboring a crush on illidan and is too shy to interact with him and elects to leave anonymous gifts of various tailored goods (capes, blankets, bags, etc) for illidan at the stormrage's doorstep. eventually he gives up on his little crush and is content to just exist from afar, and then once the moon guard is established ends up getting with a mage there... who's hotheaded and way too self assured. offbrand illidan, even. he gets jabbed at it to this day on occasion, to which arane just responds with "perhaps i have a type" and tries to move on from the conversation LOL

then the first invasion of the legion happens and illidan soft-establishes the illidari (which isn't as large as it is during the second legion invasion - it's very few people who had already been devoted to illidan (like elissae) and a few who note the power illidan gains). arane, who has lost both his grandmother (who raised him and he was VERY close to) and his partner, joins the ranks of demon hunters to get revenge. arane is noted to be especially brutal during this time, which illidan takes note of.

after a while, arane kind of snaps out of it and realizes while slaughtering demons is good, he could do more good for the illidari as a healer - he had previously been a (resto) druid and his knowledge of sewing could also be used in medicine (stitches/sutures all that good stuff). arane approaches illidan to suggest that he could be a main healer for the illidari, so they would have less causalities post-battles. illidan agrees to this, and decides to also raise up arane's ranking to be illidan's right hand man.

this new role means arane and illidan end up having a more personal, closer relationship. arane's old crush on illidan comes back full force, and he tries to avoid illidan for a bit while processing that. illidan ends up getting pretty majorly injured, and arane has to manage tending to those wounds while forcing illidan to rest, as well as sending out orders for the illidari. illidan confronts arane about avoiding him and under the stress of trying to manage everything, arane accidentally confesses and there's just awkward silence. arane apologizes and says to forget it and illidan's like... but what if i dont? and they start a relationship but keep it secret, as it could be used against either of them as blackmail.

and then illidan gets imprisoned for 10 thousand years and before that, he sends off his most trusted illidari (elissae and arane) to keep at work and avoid getting captured. arane pines for illidan and tries to plan ways to get him out, but nothing ever gets done.

then the legion returns (burning crusade). illidan is let out, and Officially has the illidari formed. arane returns to illidan's side, once again established as his right hand, and is once more set out onto demons. they take over black temple, and you know. Burning Crusade happens. arane is set out to lead the invasion of mardum, does so, and then is forced to face illidan's death at black temple. he tries to go silly again but is imprisoned by the wardens.

legion returns... TWO!!! during the attack on the vault, arane is let out, and when they get to illidan's body being taken by cordana and gul'dan, it's so over for arane. he goes silly mode and is nearly killed during the confrontation. he's pulled away by elissae, who's just as furious. they manage to JUST recover the glaives of azzinoth, which are entrusted to arane by elissae (who's the only person who knows about the relationship between the two).

then we go through the whole demon hunter class hall questline, where arane is VERY dead-set on reviving illidan. to this end, he also assists in the freeing of the nightborne from legion occupation, joining the raid on the nighthold. illidan is set free after the gul'dan fight, and arane's so excited he runs into illidan's arms and is twirled around in his arms and they kiss. who gives a fuck if people know now, it's been far too long and they love each other a lot.

broken shore happens + arane gets his bat + illidan is slightly jealous of the bat. he won't admit to this.

and THEN we have argus. oh boy do we have argus. at the end of antorus, where illidan is trying to stay with imprisoned sargeras and does that stupid ass monologue. arane begs illidan to stay with him, to return to azeroth, and convinces him. they go back, and illidan doesn't want to live in stormwind (or god forbid, teldrassil), so they find a fairly isolated place in krasarang on the beach. they find a huge fucking tree and just make a treehouse. something like this but with traditional night elf architecture

they're retired nowadays, occasionally giving suggestions/orders to the illidari, who are currently being mainly led by elissae. they end up eventually having a baby, but i don't think there's an established time on when that happens. especially considering night elf ages. they're like people who have an accidental baby at 45.

i do think they're currently (in dragonflight) honeymooning by fishing everywhere on the dragon isles. other champions of azeroth fly past them on dragons during a dragonriding race over water and are like "was that illidan fucking stormrage" and can't address that further.

onto their actual relationship dynamics. because it's cute.

(artist is @ bamicommissions on here, bami_arts on twitter)

they're both very touchy-feely on each other. hands constantly on the other's lower back. arane hanging onto illidan's arm. rubbing each other's shoulders all the time. elissae is forever tired by this pda from her dads. it's jarring to anyone who knows illidan as a gruff edgelord.

arane loves using "dear" and "love" to refer to illidan, who in turn, uses even more ridiculous pet names. think "honeybun" and "sweetiepie". he mostly does this to annoy elissae (and tyrande if she's in the vicinity), and uses "my love" and "darling" and the likes more seriously.

illidan is a dom bottom-leaning switch btw :thumbsup:. arane is getting his hips demolished. get that old man a hip replacement!!!!! his husband is destroying him!!!!!!!! ok bye.

what illidan sees vs what arane sees. thank you for listening

[junglejim4322]

thanks bro 🔥 csa and an attempted s/a 3 times is something i'll never truly be able to recover from and i can never fully talk about it to anyone, and that it's hard to really understand why it happened at all, or why you continue to exist, and that its harder to trust yourself and other people but slowly i'm trying to befriend more people and take care of myself for the better,, i didn't survive it for nothing so i try to live for the child version of myself that wanted to survive 🙏 it still sucks but atleast i got my yaoi and a motivation to live 💯🙏 may the world let us both live in peace because we deserve it man 🗣️

It’s true that every type of abuse I’ve experienced has caused such an insane level of trust issues in others but also myself and my instincts that I know is not realistic or healthy but I also have come to learn people are sometimes capable of things you’d never ever ever expect them to be and I don’t think trust is something that’s on the table for me right now (yes I know that’s insane but hez-in-therapy dw) but I agree I’m trying to form more relationships and be more open to getting close with people and I’ve found I’m able to navigate the fact that I am on guard in a way where I can still have friends and get close to people even though there’s a huge barrier between me and everyone which is not ideal but i know it won’t always be that way so right now we make do

I’ve also vaguely eluded to it or whatever with a couple people who’ve been through something similar and by a couple of people I mean one lmao and perhaps a second but I was too drunk to remember (hez-coping-healthily) but it helped a lot because every time I try to talk about it I feel like I’m lying for some reason like real weird guilt idfk but someone else who understands but speaks in vague code as well and doesn’t have to ask for details to understand what you mean is cathartic I think. Me and my homies speak fluent emotionally stunted.

And I completely agree I think that’s a really good outlook honestly it’s true that so many times I’m like man I survived so much shit I’m never going to let something fully take me down. tonight I will never die! It’s true you survived this shit for a reason and making life better is the priority me n you will find peace and the most powerful thing of all is the there’s always yaoi.. you’ll always have yaoi

[lukefonfabre]

kamen rider REVIEW!!!

i was gonna do this on twitter but twitter is dead now. anyway i decided when i finished ryuki i would review every kr i’ve watched so far so here it is. no spoilers (i think) but it is fucking long. 

build - i can’t believe it’s been 5 years since i watched build… i miss her so bad every day… but also build had a lot things that i couldn’t stand. however the yaoi was really fucking good. also build is pretty strong overall despite it all. we need that energy back for kamen rider so bad but all they do now is try to sell toys. i really like sento as a protagonist because he’s so funny and quirky but also not like the usual kr protagonist who is stupid. i mean he is still stupid but in a different way. banjou is more like the protagonist type but he is actually just sento’s boyfriend. love wins. my thing about build is that i didnt care about kazumi or gentoku or katsuragi or any of the other men (evolt can stay #sexy). so sometimes i was sitting there like oh my god. enough. also the way they nerfed sawa and misora pissed me off. but that final episode hit hard enough that i forgave all the shit the last 10 or so episodes put me through. which is true of a lot of kamen riders like if they hit that ending it’s like all is forgiven baby!!! but anyway i love build. i miss her. i love her. 

ooo - i got so obsessed with ooo that 5 years ago i was in a college english class and they asked me what my favorite tv show was and i said kamen rider ooo. right there in front of everyone. ms. kobayashi really got me with that one! everyone has already said this but the relationship between ankh and eiji is so interesting both on a yaoi level and a psychological level… the human won’t let himself want anything and the monster whose existence is all about wanting things. and they’re in love. wow! the whole ooo cast is great though and i think it’s so cute that the actors still interact 10+ years later. i love hina so much… i love gotou and date and satonaka. i miss them. i’m sorry that ooo 10th was like that but i will forgive them. i guess. i think ooo’s one weakness is that the monster of the week episodes were kinda boring. like bro i don’t care about this guy getting back into wrestling what about ankh’s existential crisis!!!! but it’s ok we all have our flaws. i love you ooo. 

ex-aid - i THINK i watched ex-aid after ooo but honestly i don’t remember? wild that i went from ooo to ex-aid actually. ex-aid is a deeply controversial work because it sucks so bad but it’s also really fucking funny. but also sometimes it really is unwatchable like i tried to watch a couple of the first few episodes with eri and i was like this is horrible i’m being tortured but then when i think about parad i get hysterical. the duality of ex-aid. I think a lot of ex-aid is not very good. and yet it has something… some kind of power that makes me tell people to watch it and then they’re like this sucks and i’m like yeah! (this has happened 2 times.) but i do like ex-aid despite the fact that it’s really loud and annoying and the camera angles are weird and the belt noises are insufferable. it’s funny. i think the idea of gamer doctors fighting to the death(?) is hilarious. it definitely impacted me that’s for sure. there’ll never be another one like it… despite takahashi doing multiple krs since then (mistake). ex-aid is the demon that haunts me.

w - i think i’ve actually forgotten a good chunk of what actually happened in w but it was good. it was solid. philip and shotaro and akiko found family baby!!! and w made me tolerate a cop so that’s something. i really have nothing else to say here. ok actually w totally fell apart when it killed off the sonozakis and brought in that weird-ass doctor and that random villain who showed up at the end but philip and shotaro carried it… for me. and akiko of course she was everything to me. also again the final episode made me forgive everything because it was like they’re reunited!!! (sobbing and screaming and crying) 

fourze - for a while i didn’t hype up fourze that much because of the american high school aesthetic, which is actually really funny but not exactly my taste. but gentaro truly is a wonderful good boy. he loves his friends PERIOD. also ryusei was really funny because everyone else was like some kind of american teen drama trope (the goth girl, the jock, the cheerleader, etc.) and then there was ryusei who was like two-faced bitch alert! i love that. also kengo and gentaro were in love so there was #yaoi. that one episode where kengo was mad bc ryusei and gentaro were getting along and he was so jealous i cried. i would give anything for another kr as good as fourze tbh. 

den-o - when i first started kamen rider i was like i’m not watching that old shit (pre-neo heisei) but then i was like ok i will give den-o a chance because it was written by ms. kobayashi… and it was good. it was really fucking good. like there’s not a lot of crazy shit it’s mostly just funny shenanigans with the imagins and ryoutarou’s hard knock life but you still feel emotional about it all… ms. kobayashi’s genius. her range. even though the plot makes absolutely no fucking sense i think it’s fine. it’s about the feelings. the bonds. and also trains. 

ryuki - so after not watching kamen rider for 4-5 years i started watching ryuki with lain because they put it on tokushoutsu. and wow was i not prepared for whatever that was! i don’t think there is a way to prepare yourself for ryuki actually. but i will say that ms. kobayashi once again impacted me with her talent. her ability to create so many weird and mentally ill men… i’m obsessed. also i love shinji so much he is just an silly little dogboy who is being forced to confront the trolley problem and also fight to the death. why did she do all that to him? also why did she give kitaoka a beautiful and perfect malewife? why did she make asakura so sexy? why did she make tojo like that? why can’t ren be nice to shinji just a little? i have a lot of questions and no answers. there was never a dull moment with ryuki bc there was always some shit going on. every single guy was fascinating except the ones that were meant to be annoying as hell. and the ensemble cast of yui and ore journal and aunt sanako… love them. they are all so funny and iconic. i wish i could say more but i would spoil it. ms. kobayashi’s wild ride. as you can see ryuki has left me incoherent. i will not recover from what ryuki did to me. gen urobuchi you will never be her. 

blade - i started watching blade while also watching ryuki to prevent myself from looking up spoilers but it didn’t work. anyway the point is i watched all of blade while also watching ryuki with lain. it was interesting to watch them at the same time bc toward the end blade started copying ryuki so hard with the battle royale shit it was like ok girl i guess! blade is interesting bc a lot of krs have a strong start and then go off the fucking rails but blade is the opposite. it starts off like what the fuck is all this now then at the very end it’s like ohhh it’s about how the love was there all along. bring out the yaoi. i think at least 30 episodes of blade are complete nonsense like you will be sitting there like um okay i guess? but it’s worth it for the shakespearean gay tragedy of kenzaki/hajime. i can’t say i really liked mutsuki or tachibana but toward the end i started finding them really funny like i couldn’t really be mad because tachibana is so pathetic you just have to chuckle and mutuski has teenager disease. although it was tiring watching them both be assholes to their beautiful girlfriends for so long like ok can we get back to how in love kenzaki is with hajime PLEASE. but oh well. we can’t have everything!

if you actually read all of this thank you. i have so much to say and yet my brain is very small… i will continue making my poor quality videos to show my respect however. kamen rider the world. 

[eldritchdyke]

I've probably gone off about this before but in playing disco elysium for like the fifth time and getting really into the setting I'm frustrated that the nature of fan works at the moment steers so strongly toward character to the detriment of all other engines of a story. I adore the setting of disco elysium and would love to write something in it but I'm not super into writing/reading the fucked up old man yaoi so there's kinda just no niche for anything aside from that or some similar shipping driven writing.

And I'm sure the retort someone will immediately think of is "well just write it anyway! write it for yourself first!" and yeah sure I wouldn't be considering writing stuff for a niche communist crpg in the first place if I was concerned with metrics but the literal structure of the behemoth in fan works that is ao3 is literally designed around shipping first and foremost. The tagging and filtering tools are predominantly concerned with character interactions, particularly fucking, and to be clear there's nothing at all wrong with that, it's a fine engine to power a story, but it inherently privileges those interactions above all else. Setting is firmly secondary and in fact deeply fungible in the modern fan work (see the way au's are handled).

If we were to import the fan work traditions of say, the star wars extended universe, how would we categorize the books/comics that focus on smaller pockets of the setting, driven by characters with no real interactions with the principle canonical text beyond cameo? How would these works be 'tagged?' And to be clear, once again this isn't to denigrate romance/character focused work, but to highlight what's lost when the mechanisms through which mass fan culture are disseminated are built to foster a particular kind of work, in addition to just me whining about not getting to write about Le Retour without having to include old man sex.

[twistedtummies2]

Sasaki & Miyano Discovery

So, recently, @belliesandburps​ informed me of a little anime called “Sasaki & Miyano.” He actually didn’t know much about it at the time other than a.) it looked adorable, and b.) it featured some voice actors we were both fans of, on both sides of the globe. I decided to check it out yesterday, on a whim, and ended up bingeing through all 12 episodes of the original subtitled version. I also watched the first couple episodes of the dubbed version. On that note, before anybody asks, I personally prefer the Dub over the Sub for this one, at least so far. The performances just seem more natural to me (possibly because it’s in my own native language), and the humor strikes me as more amusing. However, the Sub features Professor Moriarty as an absolute cinnamon bun, so it’s still worth checking out. ;) ANYWAY...for those who don’t know, “Sasaki & Miyano” is a romance story about two students of an all-boys school named...well...Sasaki & Miyano. Sasaki is friendly, but also impulsive, slightly jockish, teasing, and surprisingly enigmatic. Miyano is a somewhat geeky little guy who has trouble expressing his feelings, and is a self-confessed otaku with a particular interest in yaoi manga and fanfiction. This particular trait turns out to be ironic, as Miyano discovers he is bisexual at the same time Sasaki discovers he is apparently homosexual, and each develops a crush on the other. The twelve episodes of the anime pattern out their relationship as it develops, going from simple acquaintances, to friends who share some secrets, and finally to outright lovers and boyfriends. This is a different kind of show for me: while, if it hasn’t been made clear yet, I have nothing AGAINST romance, usually the romance isn’t the only thing I’m looking into. With otome games like “Alice in the Country of Hearts” or “A Villain’s Twisted Heart,” for example, I’m honestly more interested in the classic characters involved and how they are represented. The romance angle just comes with the territory. There’s usually an element of fantasy or adventure, as well, that keeps me engaged. “Sasaki & Miyano” is really JUST a romance. There’s no great quest, no journey into another world, no magical or superhuman powers involved, no deep mystery to be figured out...it’s really just a simple, sweet, wholesome little story of two people falling in love, and that’s about it. Having said that...that is really all it needs to be, and I think it’s pretty darn cute. The two main characters are really what sell the show: both are interesting and seeing them fall in love and come to accept their feelings for each other through their own internal issues is genuinely heartwarming. I can’t say this is a new favorite anime for me, because it isn’t my usual brand...but it definitely has some merit, and I do recommend checking it out, if you haven’t already. And of course, I must address this matter...kinks. While there isn’t that much overtly or canonically “kink-teasing” about this show, my trashy little garbage dump of a mind IMMEDIATELY latched onto the idea of playing with these two with my kinks. Now, mind you, I’m not entirely sure how to manage outright vore yet (not without breaking the rules of realism this show has set up, mind you), but when it comes to other elements of my kinks, including some vorish teasing if nothing else? It’s surprisingly easy for me to imagine stuff with these two, given their personalities and the way they interact. SO BEWARE, YE FELLOW LUNATICS; THERE MAY BE SKULLDUGGERY OF THE KINKY VARIETY ON THE HORIZON BETWEEN ME AND THIS SERIES. MUA HA HA HA HA...ha ha...haaa, I’m such a ham...kind of wonder if I taste like one, too... ...Um...d-disregard that last bit. >////>

[the-mcyt-crackships-brackets]

Also demon yaoi is the couple that should really be divorced but aren't.

They have schedualed dragon egg omlete and mimosa brunches once a week that involve bit- complaining dramatically about the gay winged men in their lives (as well as everyone else) and multiple posioning/murdering attempts.

To quote a completely different crackship: "Only two terrible, terrible HIGHLY Dramatic, self serving, incredibly damaged, gay peacocks."

It's power grabs and threats and "dates" and claws-around-the-others-throat and one-upping through gifts and something-something-honda-odyssey-something-something-knee-deep-in-the-passanger-seat-something-something.

- the Fwhilza Analyst (also consider the psycic damage Phil and Scott would get from learning about their relationship. Especially if it's after Fwhilza becomes an actuall thing.)

Nothing better than two creechurs who starts dating to fuck with the guys they're related too before ending up really liking each other

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Ooh this is interesting! It does seem that Ralsei would be very easy to manipulate in this way, given his seeming devotion to Kris/the Player... and the fact that you're guaranteed to get the puppet scarf after going through the weird route definitely seems intentional.

I think there's something to be said about the notion that our actions and choices may determine how Ralsei's view of himself evolves and changes throughout the story. And items like the Puppetscarf, the recruitment system with all that entails, as well as the mere existence of the weird route, suggests that that view of himself as a servant and puppet to greater powers than his own can be reinforced, or it can be defied, as we see with Susie's treatment of him. Depending on how his character arc progresses/regresses, you could definitely see someone like Susie getting upset with him over his insistence he's only meant to serve the lightners and nothing else.

And the idea of him just using the lightners to fulfill the prophecy is another interesting curveball, because it invites the possibility that Ralsei is equal parts puppet and puppetmaster, and that we are equal parts complicit in his manipulation while at the same time willing to be manipulated BY him. (Is... is this the fabled Toxic Yaoi I keep hearing about?)

Excellent thoughts, thank you for sharing and to @bygabyii for the mention! :)

One theory I was surprised wasn't popular is that the weird route might continue with Ralsei. The puppetscarf item is a item obtainable in the weird route. And is described as "A scarf made of strange strings. For those that abandon healing." It greatly increases his attack and reduces his magic. The puppet scarf could likely be foreshadowing for how Ralsei sees himself. As a puppet on strings for the lightners to use. Strings literally wrapped around his neck. Ralsei believes that he's supposed to be used. Not liked. Which will almost definitely set up conflict between the party. Especially when Susie says so clearly that she considers Ralsei one of her friends. And she might feel betrayed like she did in chapter one with Lancer if Ralsei reveals that he only wanted them to complete the legend.

[shinra33459]

The Stolitz Relationship is Incredibly Toxic

I’ve been looking at the relationship between Blitzo and Stolas and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s unbelievably toxic. Looking at their relationship, it’s incredibly one sided, particularly in Stolas’ favor. For the majority of their relationship, Stolas has treated Blitzo like an object, a vehicle for his fetish of the lower-class imps and hasn’t treated him as an equal or worthy of his respect. Blitzo has basically been his sex slave, has never really been taken seriously by him, and is constantly infantilized. Blitzo on the other hand, plays along because he has little to no choice. He needs access to the living world for his business and doesn’t want to jeopardize that.

Blitzo is not playing hard to get, nor is he being a tsundere, he’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to have anything serious with Stolas and for good reason. Even though Stolas claims to have loved Blitzo, his actions show something different. He’s seen Blitzo as lesser than him, treated him as lesser, and has basically been using Blitzo to achieve his own desires and as an escape route. Almost every single time Blitzo is with Stolas he looks uncomfortable, even in his trip sequence, which symbolizes his subconscious. He really does not want to be with Stolas. While I do recognize that his wife, Stella, isn’t the best of people, his cheating has put a massive negative impact on his daughter. He, his greed, and lust put a sexual relationship with someone who he didn’t see for 25 years, above the wellbeing of his own daughter. Even though he reassured her that he isn’t going to abandon her, his infidelity has put a rather large strain on the relationship he has with his daughter and makes her worry that her father is going to abandon her, even if his intentions are the opposite.

Stolas wants to use Blitzo as a way out of his responsibilities: his family, and his duties as a prince of Hell. Blitzo, however, seems to see Stolas as an unfortunate necessity to keep his way of life going, and can’t even really put his foot down because of the obvious power dynamic between the two. However, one thing that cannot be overlooked, is that Stella’s rage for her husband cheating on her, is 100% justified. Her reputation, marriage, and way of life has basically been flushed down the toilet. In the meantime, not actually following through leaving his wife, or taking necessary steps to end things properly, is massively insulting to Blitzo. Anyone else in that situation would feel insulted because they would feel as if they were nothing more than a fling or a side hustle.

Blitzo on the other hand has too many traumas to actually be in a relationship. His mental state and how he pushes the ones he cares about away from him, show that he’s incapable, or mature enough to be in a committed relationship. He’s incapable of actually being able to reciprocate intimacy or be vulnerable around people. He does crave intimacy, however, he instead chooses to live vicariously through the marriage of his two employees. What Blitzo needs is not to be thrust into a relationship with Stolas, which he doesn’t really want to reciprocate to begin with, but rather time to grow as a person. To get away from everyone and everything and find purpose in his life.

In conclusion, I don't think that Stolas and Blitzo should be in a relationship. The dynamic between the two has already been shown to be toxic. I’ve seen it said before, but I agree with the statement that it looks like just a yaoi stereotype. One thing that I can say as an author who’s looking to branch out, is that not every character has to have a romantic interest. Not every character has to have their ‘happily ever after’. Characters can have a tragic end to the spark they have with a potential partner, characters can lose interest in a potential partner, or characters can choose not to love at all.

[adam-sadmon]

Aight so this may be me self-assassinating this account but I'mma say it anyway:

Shuake/Jokechi has ruined the P5 fandom on tumblr for me

I'm lucky that my favourite 'villain' of all time (take a wild guess who that is) fortunately has a fandom just as devout, and honestly when I come on tumblr for P5 content it's solely for Maruki, not because I don't love every fucking thing else about P5, it's my favourite game of all time and has been there to help in so many times of crisis throughout my life, but the P5 'fandom' on Tumblr outside of Maruki is just Shuake/Jokechi.

And why do I even hate Shuake/Jokechi?

It (wrongly) simplifies a great character, Akechi, and reduces him to any other palatable yaoi tsundere, and it hasn't gone unnoticed that the vast majority of Shuake/Jokechi shippers are cis women who fetishise gay relationships. Seriously, Akechi is such an interesting character because he DOESN'T love Joker, they have a complex relationship not because they're the 1,000,000th 'hates each other but secretly wants to bone' yaoi ship but because Akechi is the one young adult spurned by society that the Thieves just couldn't help, who's fascinating because instead of succumbing to the power of friendship he's a dark reflection of the Thieves' rebellious hearts, so much so that he decides to take down Maruki because he REFUSES to live in a world where he's not the master of his own fate.

Their shipping actively ruins other characters by default. I've seen so many people be like "I wonder if Haru and Futaba only bite their tongue around their parents' murderer because their friendship with Joker and how much they know he loves Akechi'. Like yeah fuck them just being nuanced characters with their own trauma and ways of manifesting and working through it while holding to their own ideals and morals regardless of how hard it is, they're not the hunky twinks, fuck em.

It's pure delusion, like it's not even like that one single frame in the Colours Flying High opening is responsible for the ship, its been a festering weed in the fandom since the game came out. There is NOTHING in the game (though how many Shuake/Jokechi shippers have actually played the game is another question) that implies that Joker and Akechi are in love, and I wouldn't even mind so much if this one delusional fantasy wasn't the entirety of the P5 fandom on tumblr.

And really, I do genuinely wonder how many people have played the game and still ship them, I don't know if that'd make it better or worse, cause I've known people to spend their time shipping characters from franchises they have literally no investment in and know nothing about outside of the surface layer, and that surface layer, at least as portrayed by the Shuake/Jokechi ship is: beautiful, pale tsundere twinks. My friend put it best, in that for the sheer amount of cis-man on cis-man ships that are big on this site, I haven't seen one that's between 2 black men. Like yeah, in canon Joker and Akechi are Japanese, but I'm not gonna pretend to be generous enough to give the benefit of the doubt that that's how shippers see them.

And before anyone asks 'it's just a harmless ship that makes people happy, what's the harm? ', I mean, yeah, no ship that I've yet encountered as run up in my house and stabbed me yet (yet) but it undeniably has hurt mine and a lot of people's engagement in one of our favourite pieces of media of all time.

P5 is a story about found families, about shirking societal expectations and not being forced to find a place for yourself in THEIR world but being content in your own, it touches on government corruption, misogyny, rape culture, the fucked up education system, the very ideas of what happiness is and if it is what we as humans truly seek, and it's all been boiled down to two of the (and lets be real) least interesting characters in the story hating each other but secretly wanting to fuck.

P. S. No its not just because I'm Ace

[salamanderskin]

For the sake of your dash, lengthy Critical Role 3 fic snz/whump thoughts and fic ideas below the cut:

I don’t feel like I’ve got the CR3 dynamics down enough to write them yet and don’t have any favourite pairings. I could be partial to a little Ashton/Orym but that feels like pairing up the two available male characters, early yaoi fandom style, rather than their particular dynamic. 

I’d be interested in reading/writing around Ashton’s comment that he was disappointed he got beaten up when “nobody was even watching”. I feel like there have been a few games where Ashton’s taken heavy hits and Taliesin is trying to express that he could do with some healing and/or attention but the group didn’t pick up on it. E.g after the battle on the airship where he just passed out on the deck of the ship and they left him there because they were distracted by Orym’s fall and Imogen’s new flight power.

So I could go for something exploring Ashton angling for a little softness and hating himself for it- maybe deliberately not showing FCG that he is hurt and/or sick so he can get some old fashioned attention and softness from another character. I could see Ashton craving not attention or sympathy so much as admiration and gratitude for pushing through sickness to get the job done. Coming away from a fight and just letting it be known that they did all that with a brewing fever. Or not wrapping up after a plunge in a lake and ‘letting’ themselves get a little chilled and sneezy, to make a point. 

Endless scope for their head injury causing pain when sneezing/coughing, or trouble with water getting in there (someone already wrote this on AO3). 

As for Orym I just want sick, stoic Orym because I’m a sucker for Li/am o/Brien as an actor. What if Orym’s husband Will, who passed away, had the fetish or something like it, so when Orym gets sick he is hit by a double whammy of grief and missing/craving the particular attention he used to get from Will around it.  After being cared for a fetishist, nothing else will compare. And it makes him a little soft and sad in ways that are far too personal to share with his friends. 

Maybe I’ll write these some day. Unlikely, but who knows. Love to know anyone else’s thoughts or cravings for these characters.