#but its all he has so they have a toxic yaoi moment

[ruegaymeow]

i have fyozai brain worms rn but what if post apocalyptic world that takes place wayyy in the future and fyodors the only person alive and he made an copy of dazai's consciousness on a comp and they js banter fr

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Finals

Propaganda Under Cut

Sakura Haruno

Her husband is gay and her author doesn't know how to write women. So many people say she's the worst but she. DESERVES. BETTER!!! Save her from this franchise.

My baby girl my bestie my best friend. She committed the crime of um being written by kishimoto who both doesn’t know how to write women and somehow writes men in the gayest way possible specifically naruto and sasuke. Like the thing is naruto and sasuke ARE gay and also she gets so much hate for the crime of kishimoto writing her one dimensionally in love with sasuke. I know her personally she is a butch lesbian to me just trust me she’s in love with Ino and has a lesbian thing going on with Karin okay just trust me. My everything. She needs to divorce the loveless lavender marriage she’s in 

What is there to say, even? The OG Threat to my 90s anime brain, the only woman I've ever hated with such a passion she made me turn away from the color pink. I used to write fics with my friend where she got left behind on purpose so our OCs could join the Naruto and Sasuke team instead. I loathed this bitch until I was 16 and realized the author simply couldnt write women and decided it was time to make peace with Sakura. It is not her fault she's vaguely written and obsessive over Sasuke. She deserves better. Sasuke and Naruto still should be together and Sakura shouldnt be with Sasuke but I no longer believe this because I hate Sakura, it is because I love her. She deserves a spouse who will actually put in the time to treat her like the hero she is.

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime

[straycalamities]

Hello, how are you

Why do you Like Entre and Swag?

i’ve been sick almost the entire past week but i think im getting better

do you mean as a relationship? ho boy. well, first of all, seeing as a lot of ships ive gotten into after it end up sharing a lot of similarities, i think its safe to say it became one of my favorite ship dynamics period

this got long fast

enemies/rivals-to-lovers isn’t anything new for me seeing as i dedicated, on-and-off, 8+ years to naruto and sasuke as one of my first hardcore ships that i still enjoy

and in general i just really like ships between characters who bicker and banter a lot (vash and wolfwood from trigun being a perfect example of this) but still being something more significant to each other than either of them truly realize until it sinks in either slowly or forcefully

and especially as i’ve grown older, i’ve gotten more and more and more interested in the intricacies and complications of having two very…hmmm damaged? i guess? personalities trying to find something that works because they need it to

which the other two ships have as well, but in a more “toxic yaoi” way, ya feel? LMAO like! hannibal and will graham from the hit show :) which that came after swagtre but it still stands as it got me to appreciate that aspect of their relationship even more than i did

swagtre is in no way synonymous to hannigram. hannigram is on a different level of delicious toxic yaoi, BUT it goes to show what ive opened up my ship palate to voraciously

even so, that’s moreso the early stage of their relationship, which is fun! but also not the whole story

i guess the main thing that initially drew me in was that i’ve always had a weakness for characters like swag. he’s so full of bravado, performative self-interest, defusing every little thing with a joke, and all the while coming off as a destructive idiotic selfish little brat. meanwhile the truth that resides is much deeper than that. that he does care, he just doesn’t know how, so he does his best which…is easily overlooked because he’s uncomfortable with being seen for being genuine in any way because it makes him feel vulnerable and blah blah this ain’t a swag study

but anyways truffula flu made me like him a normal amount! :)

then there’s entre who wears his heart on his sleeve moreso. he’s always been more honestly reactive, that’s why his mainverse it’s so fun to pick on him, and it didn’t get numbed by the apocalypse all that much. entres also a guy who takes things for face value at first. then there’s also the fact he used to have such a hero/senpai-crush on swag before the whole thing even happened and they’d even became pretty friendly acquaintances

and now he’s having to wrestle with the fact everyone who used to like him, hates him, except dave and bitter. and anyone else that might? probably dead. and of course! why wouldn’t they? his big mistake that cost the world

and swag is the loudest reminder of them all. forcibly inching and digging and clawing his way into entres psyche and mind until he finds himself using all of swags same words at himself during moments of self-hatred. self-hatred that’s been there all his life but now it has a burning world to reference. and swags voice mingling with his mother’s.

and entre may get defensive and bite back and try to turn things around on swag, but he can never truly say swags wrong. because he’s not! entre fucked up everyone else’s lives over a deeply selfish and shallowly thought-through decision. and even if swag is also a capitalist self-serving asshole, well he only destroyed his own environment, he didn’t end civilization as they know it

and that just makes it worse than the preachy “hippie” types that used to nag at him before. someone who’s in his same ilk is now berating him

and while entres never Not risen to rage-bait. he absolutely never took the phrase “don’t feed the trolls” to heart, he also has deeper reasons why with swag he always throws himself at the opportunity to try and defend or twist things, because it’s hitting him so much harder than everyone else (besides 72)

so yes, when swag keeps saying entres obsessed with him, he’s actually right! entre IS and has been since swag forced the jester hat on him and paraded him around camp as a spectacle. one that he can never truly deny that he deserves

i also think we should go back to entres pre-apocalypse feelings about swag because it’s important to note that entre wanted to Be swag. he looked at swag and saw the man he wanted to grow into. maybe less childish and gross, but the charisma behind it all, the way that even despite that, he had so many wrapped around his finger and every word

and the thing with early entre, is he always directly compared himself with other oncelers. sizing himself up against them and like…really it just makes sense right? to him, they were all iterations of himself, achieving and accomplishing or even failing different things. and even if at first the multiverse unnerved him, he started to use it to his advantage. i mean he got 72 to mentor him, he was lifting tips n tricks off others like swag, and he was directly taking notes on how Not to be off others (One, Bitter, Strangecase, Stone (sorry man ilu) and more bc this list is longer than the idol list LMAO)

so thats just more to really hammer in how intrinsic to entres identity swag became and it became more palpable in the worst way in truffula flu

this is all as an aside to the crushing guilt of his giant mistake itself but we all know how he feels abt that

and for swag, i mean don’t take my word here as word of god because i don’t THINK my theory here is confirmed to be canon, but im pretty sure he saw himself in entre as well. like it went both ways. and swag felt fear AND i guess relief? if that makes sense that it was entre instead of him. like this guy is very much Like him and any of them coulda done this, but it was entre, not swag. and that’s why swag is very insistent on not letting entre forget it, because deep down he’s terrified that it could’ve been him if entre hadn’t done it first

and so he looks down on him and beats him even further down as a way to kinda uhhh make himself feel better? except it doesnt. it never makes him feel better but it DOES make him feel not as worse as he could, or thinks he could if he just let the guy go after daring to make such a fool of himself in front of everyone

i think, as much as entre sees himself and how he wants himself to be in swag, swag sees himself in entre and what he doesn't want to be. and entre changes it to him seeing all the stuff he doesn't like about swag, the pieces of him he doesn't want to mimic because he refuses to continue to admit to himself that he still envies and looks up to the man swag is, because even at the end of the world, he's one of the few who seems to have something figured out that works for him. he actually seems to enjoy himself in this hell. he seems to feel free to find happiness and entre couldnt be more envious of that

but then as more and more people crowd into their camp, and they get to a baseline and learn the uhhh capabilities of their survival companions, they also learn to realize that they operate on the same wavelength the most even if neither of them admit it. obviously everyone wants out of this hell, but i dont think any of them tenaciously chase after that ambition as much as swag and entre do, for their own reasons

most of the rest of the camp has taken a sort of acceptance to the situation either in a pragmatic or pessimistic way. and of course nobody wants this to stay the way it is, but they don't have that sort of...all-encompassing fire to find a way to reverse their situations as much as swag and entre. i mean we did have bitter's optimism for a bit there, but he was doomed so like...what other option did he have other than believing in entre, but it was absolutely rooted in nothing. even entre knew that.entre especially knew that. bitter was deteriorating the fastest he'd ever seen it and if he hadn't been able to find a way to slow it down in the other ppl who took weeks to turn, then what was he going to do for the guy taking days?

so all bitter's optimism did was make entre feel sicker with guilt for everything and completely drove the little grip he had on hope into the ground. especially by making him take his first un-turned life. especially because, i think we have to address this here to fully understand why entre goes the way he does afterwards: bitter was never truly bitter to entre. bitter was himself. bitter was the likely future entre saw himself walking towards. out of every other onceler further ahead along from him, successful or aftermath or otherwise, bitter felt the most real for him

bitter was always his own failure even before it happened literally and live right before his eyes. that's always what he meant to entre even in mainverse/pre-truffula flu. that's why he made such a dedication to trying to butt his way into bitter's life. that's why he spoiled him and wormed his way into his heart, because he was trying to put that energy out there that one day, if this were to become literally his fate, someone would do this for him as well. or maybe he'd put enough good karma out there with doing this for bitter, that this wouldn't even become him at all!

that is exactly why entre was so stricken after his death. that's why it hurt and broke him so hard. he didn't know bitter long enough for his cries of "he's my best friend!" to fully be true. if anyone was entre's best friend at the time, it was 72, or dave, or his own mother. it was not bitter, bitter was his pet project. bitter was the poisoned dart that seared in striking him, and slowly ate at him after he was gone. bitter was him fully being unable to run from the consequences and culpability of his own actions. because now this was something that was clearly, unignorably, happening right in front of his eyes and now the blood was directly on his hands

bitter was his future self and his sealed demise that came with it. bitter was his destroyed future. bitter was his own mortality.

entre does come to realize something akin to this later on, but i guess i didn't make it understandable enough because i think a lot of people missed that this was the true narrative going on underneath the surface. which is my bad and on me, i could've done a better job, but ya. this was always my intention and it's a very key part in understanding why entre is the way he becomes and does what he does afterwards

which, back to swag, is his doing to entre. because swag does strong-arm him into and making him believe there was no alternative to entre killing bitter who swag DID, as anyone else did at the time, believe entre's statement that entre saw him as his best friend, but that also meant that was even more entre's problem to solve to him. and it's something entre finds hard to forgive swag for for a while after, even as his own guilt berates him for his own involvement in creating this fate for bitter, there's always that part of him that blames swag for forcing him to actually face the consequences of his actions. because, as most oncelers, entre doesnt like that very much LMAO

and yet despite it all, it still, in its own twisted way, makes him feel the most seen by swag. if that makes sense?? especially as 72 made it abundantly clear he was disappointed in him and didn't even seem to know who entre really was anymore. the survival needs and guilt had warped entre towards a vitriolic survivalist away from that bright eyed young man that he had taken in.

and then of course, nobody else really seemed to want to push a deeper connection with him at the time for this or that reason. so he had dave, who he personally saw as still just an employee so of course dave was with him and on his side, he had that employee loyalty. dave became his right hand, but that also meant that entre felt that he couldnt confide as much in dave because it's hard to explain but it's like...since dave was working FOR him, he didn't want to muddle it up with personal feelings to keep dave sharp. that's what entre thought at the time anyways

and so, for better or worse (mainly worse) who stuck around and kept nosing endlessly into entre's business and his life and burying himself in his side like a thorn he couldnt remove and absolutely couldnt forget. well that was swag.

in this sort of fucked up whirlwind...swag became the most emotionally significant person in entre's life. especially as swag started to show that he DID gave at least half a shit. and after their shouting matches that got swag to admit this little tip of the iceberg or that. entre did get to wondering what else there was going on underneath that. it became something he wanted to dig at to find out.

despite how they bickered and butted heads, entre always felt more comfy telling swag things he wouldnt or would no longer tell anyone else. swag's little bits of sympathy or lightheartedness became little crumbs of something that entre subsisted off of to keep going, because, despite everything, he still looked up to him. he still admired him and what he was capable of and what he could do. and how he didnt seem to let anything that was going on bring him down. he kept his shine.

and for swag (again not word of god here) i think he liked that entre DID butt against him. obviously he had fun with rocky and one. but (and this IS word of god/confirmed canon) they weren't as much his friends as he touted they were. swag struggles creating (and especially maintaining) close relationships. they make him vulnerable and they come with stakes and things to lose. so swag always kept his relationships fair-weathered and shallow. (aside from just not knowing how to be genuinely real and vulnerable with people in a way that COULD cultivate a close relationship) he sure did say and shallowly BELIEVED they were deeper than what they were, but deep down...he had an idea that were push come to shove...he wouldnt mourn anyone as much as your normal guy would mourn his true friends and he felt that it was mutual.

so as much as he ran away from it, swag felt very alone. swag always has issues with loneliness and that's why he throws himself from person to person and has to be the loudest and brightest and funniest in the room. and hey even if you hate what youre hearing and seeing, he's still got your attention. and that can be good enough when it comes down to it. (end of word of god/confirmed canon swag stuff)

but yeah i think that...not that rocky or one were yes-men or anything, but i mean they kinda just worked with his antics and like okay yeah here we go, swag stuff again yay(or nay) but entre always was fighting it. he didnt just accept swag entirely for this way or that, he was always critiquing, always challenging, always prodding back as strongly as swag prodded him. and i think that change of pace is what kept swag coming back over and over beyond the other stuff i said earlier

and like...as the guy at the center of it all, i think even swag said it himself at some point, if anyone knew how to get them back out of this mess it was him. and as swag said: he saw entre as a way better leader than him. even if it personally irked and annoyed him, himself when it happened to him. entre clearly had figured out his stuff and what he'd say had merit (just not with swag who always knew better for himself)

so if entre saw swag as the better leader for his charisma and weird optimism, then swag saw entre as the better one for his pragmatism and his knack for staying rational most of the time. i think that's also why entre's slip in lucidity bothered swag a whole lot because...if entre couldn't be the rational one, they were screwed. he'd gotten used to entre being a kinda...logical pillar to bounce off of, so if he was losing his touch with reality, that was going to doom the lot of them (even him). it's also with (word of god) swag's deep deep fear of abandonment so...if entre abandons his own senses, he's abandoning Swag and that Cannot Happen

this is a whole lot but its really hard for me to explain the why FULLY without dragging out all the nuances and complexities to their relationship because THAT'S WHY!!! it's SOOO complex and there's so many layers and nuances to everything that had to keep working in a certain way to go in a positive direction or else it all fell apart, as we saw, over and over

they both have so many issues that hold them back in ways and then theyre both so damn stubborn that it ended up making them even getting along as FRIENDS a damn slow-burn (and i am, always, a sucker for a slow-burn. one of my main weaknesses in a ship)

you can see they both end up wanting that, even if neither of them would admit it. but they both, as businessmen, saw their cooperation as fruitful for the success of themselves and the camp. it was just all this other baggage going on making it hard

so then we get the hospital. where rocky gets his harsh taste of the reality of their situation and he gets HIS humble pie of his own mortality, pushing him away from swag who remains reckless. and then entre, feeling ostracized from literally everyone and even having a hard conversation with 72 in the elevator, when it all comes down to it, and they seem doomed. he lets himself be weak and falls a bit into swag. and this is where it changes a lot of things for entre. this moment of weakness he was pushed into by fearing it was this or never.

because obviously they get saved and then it's swag losing his foot or getting left behind for zombie-chow and OBVIOUSLY the latter isnt an option so...entre makes that call and then cant go through with it because swag's fear is shaking him to his core in a way he never thought would happen. like he let himself get weak and it's immediately striking him in a soft spot that changes him for the rest of the story

i think it's here where he gets that kinda "oh..." deep deep down. that wow. yeah. swag is much more significant to him than previously believed. that leads into the hardware store where slowly and surely, swag becomes his precious possession. swag's the only one that believes in him. swag's the only one that understands him. swag's the only one he wants to be around. nobody can touch or harm swag but him. swag is his responsibility. swag is his, his, his.

and this is very very poisoned by entre's deteriorating state of mind and emotional health. the man is a long-coming disaster finally starting to collapse on himself. and the centerpin of it all is keeping swag safe and to himself because swag's the only good he sees right now in this hell of a world. swag's words become law in his mind. if swag says he has to be more of a leader, more assertive, he'll take that and run marathons with it. anything to make swag proud of him

because that's another thing is entre has just...always chased someone being proud of him or happy with him. or that he was doing good or whatever. a common onceler problem with the way that Once-ler Mama just Is but yes...it's always been a big deal for entre. he's terrified of failure. and he's terrified of disappointing people who mean something to him. so he'll do whatever it takes to make swag proud and it's not like the rest of thee camp know better than Him what's the Greater Good for them, of course. he's the leader. he's the one who created all this. this is his world and he knows everything about it better than anyone.

meanwhile swag's too fucked up on having his wings finally clipped after leaving off the high of true and total freedom for so long. that he has to stew with no escapism and let the reality of his life as it is now sink in. old ghosts start to catch up to him and new horrors start to sink in. that and the pain meds of course, but through it all, he's still operating on that trust he's placed in entre. entre's a weirdo, but he always takes care of him and spoils him as much as he can. and it makes swag not wanna question, not that he has a leg to stand on (ha) currently anyways when it comes to that. he doesnt know anything going on outside his door. and to be honest, i think that's the part of this shitty situation that he likes. he's clearly tired and been tired of feeling responsible for other people, but he also cant help himself because of his deep need to try and keep as many people in his life as possible because that means the ones that leave have a lot more replacements

but yeah obviously when he gets out and suddenly everyone is his responsibility again and it's up to him to be the hero (in his perspective) he puts entre in his place in the only way he knows how, but at this point...he's reached an understanding of entre and entre HAS become more significant to him than just a business partner. and he's starting to act on the parts of entre he can see in himself and so despite entre fucking up (yet again) he sees it as entre just trying to do what he was guided to in the best way he could manage and swag has little issue just being like ok you fucked up but who cares about that anymore

he has a better understanding on how entre thinks and what he wants (not a great one but a better one) and i think he knows that to endlessly punish entre and leave him alone would just make him way worse and so he decides to stick with him himself (i also think this is also swag's abandonment issues)

i don't think has very recognizable romantic feelings for entre at this point, but entre very much does for swag. so this keeps entre on his feet as much as it can despite the whole spectacle of it being something that'd drive him, any other time, to a long walk off a short pier. but it had to be a spectacle for swag because he had to show to everyone that hey hes here and hes the one fixing things! youre welcome!

but it's still a harrowing experience that strip entre down to the bone and he might be at his lowest he's been since bitter. maybe even lower, but then the prisma event happens and, if entre's event stripped entre to the bone, swag's stripped swag to the marrow

and if there's one thing about entre, it's fixing problems that aren't his own is one of the best ways to keep him moving. even if to anyone else, what swag's been doing this entire time for entre is the Absolute Bare Minimum, in entre's persective, with what he knows and observes from swag, it's worlds and worlds. so when the tables turn, entre feels like it's his turn to give back. and maybe the tables didnt entirely turn on their own, but entre pushed them to. he spun it.

swag was already knocked down a peg by losing his foot, but losing his emotional stability, his comfort, his optimism in this hopeless world. being abandoned by someone that was more dear to him than the others. that slammed him rockbottom. he stopped caring about if people liked him or not because why bother? they're all going to die or leave anyways. i think he knew sooner than we think that rocky was infected, and one was always him being purposefully obtuse. he knew what his fate was. everyone was going to leave him now. and he refused to care about it anymore

shoving everyone away and hermitting in himself. the same careful practices he berated and mocked entre for are things he'd come up with on his own. he was there to be useful now in a direct way. with practical ideas, survivalism, and physical labor. if there was no more joy or optimism, whatever. they were alive. and his joy didn't get to smile anymore so no one deserved to

i think it was the one-two combo of prisma and rocky that really did swag in because, even if i said he doesnt get Actually close to people, he still considered them his. like those are his people and he's going to lose them all. they're all going to leave him behind on this earth that he's been knew for a while fucking sucked shit, but as long as he got to have fun it hadn't mattered, but now he can't

and entre kinda...accidentally did the best thing he could've for swag at this time. he also felt alone, discarded, from the queen piece on the board to a pawn. and so he clung to the only thing he'd found reliability in over and over for better or worse: swag

in general, in this arc, i was working on him taking this giant blow to his ego as a humbling moment to have him kinda try to make amends and create meaningful relationships (or repair the existing ones) with the others in the camp, but being that he thought none of them wanted anything to do with him, his main focus was always swag. swag was the only one besides dave that he thought without a doubt, wanted him around in some capacity beyond being useful

and it's not that entre is a stranger to only being seen for his usefulness, so he bared down into that otherwise, but having tasted the high life...that's why he stuck to swag. he was back to eating those crumbs like addictive delicacies and they tasted even sweeter this time. they end up becoming very, very codependent on each other. they were before a bit too but here, especially so,

but with entre's tanked self-esteem (and it was already pretty bad before) and his sense of duty and taking responsibility, he takes to his role like a duck to water. but it's kinda...funny bc they both become both roles in a codependent relationship??? so it's like...codependency in its most truest realized form lmao

it's starts especially one way but then entre gets sick and it flips the other way, but entre's still trying to maintain the original set-up. this is also where their relationship becomes physical. from affections kept away from others' eyes, to deeper kinds of intimacy. i think with all that they've lost and are doomed to lose, they find their old coping mechanisms (which were never healthy or actually worked either tbqh lmao) just weren't cutting it anymore so then they turned to other things

with like...needing a more direct and physical and raw way to show each other they're still alive, still here, still significant to each other. swag initiates it more, i think, because while they're both on the asexual spectrum. swag's is demi. so this goes to show just how emotionally important entre's become to him, but also i think it's because of yknow...how he was raised. and for him it's more comfortable to do bedroom stuff with entre than kiss him or rub his shoulders. that stuff's "for girls" (too emotionally vulnerable)

and swag starts to show his care as more of...like a direct invasive thing. where he's not going to let entre abandon him too. he's going to somehow make him better and keep him here as long as he can. and entre's taken to rolling over for nearly everyone because he doesnt feel like he's allowed to stand up for himself and this includes swag because it's clear he's doing it because he cares so it's fine right?

and that's kinda where everyone's idea of them leaves off because we never got to go past that. so i get where people, especially those who aren't a fan of toxicity in their ships, would be confused why people like swagtre so much and even for me, as much as i love a good conflict in my ships, i think if this is all it was, i wouldn't be quite as obsessed as i am. because i'll be honest!! it made me sad quite a lot LMAO but i always did it for the bit (story) above all else. because while i wanted entre to say the magic words or do the magic thing or have the magic realization that would fix it all, that's not a good story

but it really is for the later story that i've gotten so caught up. even before we confirmed the Continued story i was always caught up and daydreaming of where this could go

and i just really really love the growth they've had with each other and how many like...jumps in their characters and stuff they've made with and because of each other. entre would not be who he is today in any iteration without some of the realizations i've made through swagtre and same with swag i know with good authority

and it's just like...it takes so long to get even where we ended it. and they have all these weird labyrinthine bullshit things to work through and against and with to get anywhere. and it goes back and forth. forward and two steps backwards so much. but it's just very interesting to study and even reread or reminisce on. and even think about ways it coulda gone differently idk...i just like ships that give me multiple multiple things to chew on and think about. i like to have a full course meal. no shade to people who like other stuff but yea..that's what i personally enjoy. the more complicated, the more difficulty and personal baggage and issues they have to work through to make it work, the better

and i can't say too much on where it's confirmed to go, because that's yet to be seen (smile emoji) but yes...it gets better and idfk i just eat up to people becoming super significant to each other in an apocalypse especially if they started off hating each other?? damn

and it's addictive seeing swag start to come more and more out of his shell. i say his moments of being genuine, vulnerable, real, and raw and caring were addictive crumbs for entre BUT BITCH ME TOO TF!!!

it drives me NUTS (SLASH HUGE POSITIVE!!!!) i love being a driving force to get to see aspects of a character we wouldnt see otherwise. knowing i had a hand in swag learning things about himself and revealing things about himself he would never in other situations...yum...that's the good shit

but yes so concludes my novel on why i like swagtre including i guess an impromptu summary of their relationship

if you made it all the way to the end god damn man...love ya

[yaoireview]

house and that cop guy toxic old man yaoi 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

"House romantically involved with a man? You'd be surprised how common it is."

Gregory House... You've gone too far this time. Medical Malpractice is one thing, but having SECRET romantic feelings for a man? I'd expect it from Wilson down the hall but, I'm just surprised. Some may be surprised by this, but that alleged cop guy from those select episodes in season 3, he has a name. His names Tritter, and he loves House MD. Not the show, but the man. I will be proving this to you in the most professional way possible, as we do at Yaoi Review.

I believe an important piece to talk about in House MD is

EVIDENCE 1: House really likes sharing things.

context for this piece: Chase was talking about how he hated fat people and it really made House upset so he snapped at him with facts and logic.

House has said on several occasions very open things, such as his likeness for men. His likeness for men clearly originated from a woman ok-ing the surgery to his leg. Him trying to get his wife back was always just a ploy to make all men around him jealous.

You, the reader may be wondering, "Okay, House likes men, BIG woop, hes clearly keeping those thoughts for Wilson." Look.. Wilson isn't the matter at hand here, last I CHECKED Wilson is not a "cop guy". You could keep those ideas in your OWN little mind, this aint about him

Even most men that JOKE about being gay would've backed down by now..

Those eight seasons were not anything straight I'll tell you that much.

EVIDENCE 2: I mean come on look at him

The interactions that Tritter and this man have had is the gayest thing I've seen on house md, except from that one thing they did with "house's head, wilson's heart" titling scheme but thats okay we don't have to talk about that.

The leading action that kicks off this whole spiel is House sticking a thermometer up Tritters ass, and surprisingly, this is the straightest action this whole entire arc.

Afterwards, Tritter pulls House over but UNLESS he knew that House was driving a bike, he shouldn't know that it was him. Yeah yeah he was SPEEDING but the words that Tritter started saying when he walked up seemed too practiced to be the case. From this interaction its CLEAR that

EVIDENCE 3: Tritter ALWAYS has House on his mind.

You know that moment when you go home and tell your mother that a kid of the opposite gender keeps on bullying you but they say its because they have a crush on you and don't know how to show it? Yeah.. well now imagine you're Gregory House talking to your boss Cuddy about the detective that keeps on tracking your every movement.

I'm not one to think about how gay characters are on first viewing unless I knew that people shipped them.. but during the ENTIRE process of this arc, I remember becoming infuriated by how OBSESSED this guy was with House. My gay husband, Baxter, once stated, "This Tritter guy really wanted to ask House out huh..." and in the moment, I didn't have the strength to agree with him but.. my vision has been cleared.. Its so obvious now.. Tritters just nervous..

Remember readers.. the next time you have to watch the Tritter arc.. don't be annoyed.. but be happy that it happened..

SUMMARY:

The one case Detective Tritter couldn't solve was the key to House's heart.

Yaoi: 5/10

[gallierhouse]

asking for opinions about armand on a friday night is crazy because ive been terrorizing the people in my life about him for a month and now?? im being asked to talk about him?? anyway so i couldnt get thru s1 back in 2022 bc it felt like a kind of rehash of hannibal (character dynamics wise) in a different setting and kind of bored me. i really liked louis in the pilot and honestly would just watch a historical drama about a black pimp and his gens de couleur family in 1930s nola and that was cruelly ripped away from me and ill never forgive lestat. BUT THEN s2 arrived and i gave it another go and armand just rose out of this show as a character ive truly never seen before?? his identity-lessness, his role as a bad stage director, that eager black hole growing around 500 years of life, its so fascinating. the Moment for me with him is obviously the donor painting seeing the whitewashed beautiful pleading garish (when compared with the real man) painting just shifted something in my soul. and THEN getting hit with the arun/maitre stuff and them the entirity of ep5 directly after? ive literally memorized the loumand argument from listening to it so many times Television of All Time fr. i love failmarriages that rot and decay and are inescapable and loumands whole thing felt so good and fresh and so so tasty. those bitches do not like each other. they dont even like each other and yet theyve stayed together for 77 yrs in a relationship built on abuse, spite, and 24/7 power exchange bdsm and thats CRAZY ! plus ive never seen toxic yaoi executed so well with two nonwhite, darkskinned characters and as a south asian that lowkey made me happy lol. anyway i love armand so much he sucks so bad but i do feel deeply seen and deeply compelled by his little gremlin ass

I miss Louis’ New Orleans era too. I get why Lestat fell in love with him, though, if I saw this beautiful creature pull a knife on his own brother in the middle of the street I’d stop at nothing to pursue him. It’s alluring. I think that’s the part of Louis Lestat has always loved and loathed most, his fierce independence and survivor’s instinct and capacity for violence. I say loathed because Lestat’s always torn between wanting Louis like that and wanting Louis to be his little housewife. He’s stupid like that.

I thought his stage direction was nice. Were his plays “good”? No. But were his notes well thought out? Yes. His notes for the trial were good. So it’s the playwright’s fault the scripts were bad, actually.

Re: his identity, I really think he’s doing fine. Not everyone needs a laundry list of hobbies and characteristics to “have an identity.” It’s true that Armand molds himself into whatever shape that’s required of him and sometimes he makes erroneous assumptions about it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an identity. I think Armand doesn’t perceive himself as having an identity, and it’s obvious that he structures his life around whatever role he’s occupying, and that it’s all very fragmented and difficult for him to see the continuity in it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an identity. His priorities and thought process are fairly obvious to the viewer, so that’s his identity. You can see the structure of his mind. That’s him. Right there. We don’t have to wait for the “real” Armand, he’s already here.

I don’t remember when I started loving him, but it was before the painting. Maybe the hunt, or when he starts participating in the interview. The painting did change something for me, though, and so did the bench scene. But I liked him from the start of season two, really, from the moment I found out he’d essentially been stalking Louis the whole time in Paris. I like him most when he’s got a little bit of edge, but then again, I love him when he lies. I actually have a shirt with their argument printed on it. It’s so fucking funny.

Well, I think there was love, at least before Armand strangled it to death. I don’t know if Louis ever loved Armand again, not after the trial, but I think Armand loved Louis, although not in a way that would really be comprehensible as love to anyone else. Maybe only the way you love something you own. But I think he at least enjoyed the performance of it. Besides, all the best relationships are 24/7 BDSM built on abuse and spite. You don’t agree? I think it’s very romantic.

Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that too. And it was the greatest thing ever and I’m really glad we got a South Asian lead, even if I’m unsatisfied with AMC’s promotional strategy. One million seasons of Armand and one million posters of his face splashed across all major cities around the world, please. He’s perfect! More people should see him. More people should be subjected to him.

[luonae]

(set at the beginning of the manipulation route when milo is still actively avoiding mc — m (manipulation) milo x m (menace) emir)

you overhear the whispers and murmurs of your fellow partygoers over the din of the music and haphazard chatter. word of a "pretty girl sitting all alone at the bar" reaches your ears, fueling the curiosity crawling at the back of your mind until you relent and glance behind you.

you make a grave mistake. the moment your gazes collide, the rooms temperature drops to subzero. you can't breathe. you can't breathe. you can't breathe. dread claws at your lungs and tears them apart like tattered cloth as emir smiles at you. the light pouring in from behind him illuminates his silhouette, framing him like a well suited halo, a fitting accessory to his angelic smile.

his bangs, usually curled around his face, hugging his cheeks, are tucked behind his ear in a rare display — a proud showcase of the other half of your earring. the earring catches light, gleaming, glowing, mocking you for thinking you can escape; it binds you to him, two halves of one whole. you cannot be complete without him. you know that. he knows that. it is why his smile is so sweet and unassuming. it is why the earring dangles off his ear so carefreely.

emir's smile is not one of defeat. emir's smile has never been one of defeat. his features never showed distress. he always smiles so, like a man betting all he has in a game of poker, an alluring confidence in his odds. it is not the smile of a man who has never lost, but perhaps a man who has lost so much, loss began to mean nothing to him. you've been running away. you've been avoiding him. he never gave chase. instead, he seats himself before you, the playful glint in his eyes speaking so his tongue doesn't have to — found you.

lol bro yknow when u wanna write smth n its so clear in ur head but ur busy n when u finally get to write it it comes out Horrible. yeah thats me rn. anyway emirmilo toxic yaoi as per usual. listen to omajinai because it's the perfect song for this scenario and i drew these while listening to it. it really describes emir so well when milo starts avoiding him.

basically the lyrics i focused on are these:

this is a problem.

it's a real problem, isn't it?

"goodbye, then"? you can't get away with that.

after all, your fingertips softly touched me a little.

you know what to do, right?

your soulmate is me.

why don't we become happy?

... it's a real problem, isn't it?

but that doesn't mean you're forgiven.

... the spell, the spell, the spell has been broken!

but that doesn't mean we're through, i tell you!

go to hell. go to hell. god damn you to hell.

[i-read-that-manga-for-you]

Given

Admittedly, I read this manga a long time ago. Like when chapters were still coming out. I was still in high school at the time (holy fuck) and couldn't really articulate my feelings as well as I can now.

I had left this review (bits and pieces of it) on a manga site and decided I might as well put it on my tumblr, finetuning it, of course. First post, because in spite of its flaws, Given is still close to my heart. And I reread it again (somewhat) to make this a better review. I hope each person who reads this will reimburse me with 50 cents each (jk don't). So here it is. My impression of Given, with !!some!! talk about how SA is treated in BL/Yaoi culture in general.

Or not, this is just my two cents with no anthropology degree.

Do take what I say with a grain of salt, a piece of creative media does not exist in a vacuum, but this review treats it as one at times because I'm not really skilled enough to talk about any wider implications. I'm just some guy giving my review.

Spoilers ahead. Go ahead.

TW: Sexual Assault.

Honestly, this manga made me feel a lot. Good and bad feelings. But let's focus on what I liked.

Ugetsu.

He's on the phone, shhh.

I found Ugetsu to be a very compelling character, and it was a huge shame that he vanished partway through the manga. Basically? I have no criticisms about him as a character, he has his flaws and he's nuanced. He's interesting and compelling, and it's clear that he's someone who is still growing and learning to walk on his own two feet. I won't deny that his relationship with Akihiko was very toxic, but I definitely think this isn't something that can be blamed solely on him.

But with this out of the way. Let's talk about the pairings.

Let's talk about Akiharu.

Kizu Natsuki is an amazing artist... Even when I have certain issues with this manga.

Well. I have a lot of qualms with Akiharu.

For starters, Akihiko assaulted Haruki. I'll never forget that. The fact that they ended up getting together anyway was a huge point of contention for me. Given was framed as a story about love more than a traditional story about BL/yaoi which (sorry) usually leans towards the sex. (This is not to say that sex and romance are separated, well they are but they are linked rather than being one in the same. You can have either, like they're hot/cold water but they come from the same faucet.)

But I feel that having this scene in rather than an argument feels completely wrong. I'm someone who will digest pretty much anything the world throws at me, but the Akiharu assault scene came off wrong and it came off scary. (Note: I say scary but I definitely mean much more than that, I just feel like "shouldn't be romanticized" doesn't encapsulate all of it. This topic is not something I'm qualified to talk about, so I don't want to overstep any boundaries.)

And to be honest, that's good because SA shouldn't be romanticised, for that, a big well done to our author. I just wish the aftermath was dealt with better.

This is terrifying. Please retract your words.

In spite of the SA scene being scary, afterwards all seemed to be resolved the moment it was revealed that Akihiko had nowhere else to go.

Everything for them goes uphill from here. Yay.

I just have to wonder what was the point of that buildup if you were just going to allow things to end nicely like that. With a scene like that, you'd think that the manga was saying that "SA is scary, it's terrifying and it's something that you shouldn't forget even if it's BL/Yaoi." But, why did it end up like this.

What I'm trying to say is: What does it matter that Akihiko apologised (twice), he still assaulted Haruki, he assaulted a friend. Even worse is the way that they're framed as a healthy couple afterwards, this just made me all the more uncomfortable. I feel like this is saying "SA is scary" but also saying "the power of love and friendship absolves everything". I've seen some people talk about the fact that SA happened, but haven't seen them say how it was "resolved". I think it's more to do with yaoi/BL fiction culture, that we've grown to accept SA that is unaddressed in our media to the point that Akihiko's apology is like a prayer more than something that's not even worth a second glance.

Saying that Akiharu started off rocky is an understatement, but if I pretend it never happened, I can say for sure that they are much healthier than Akigetsu, and they deserve each other. It's just not good storytelling especially because I don't really understand the motivations of Haruki liking Akihiko.

I once said that Haruki's character arc was based on Akihiko and that was my bad. I was wrong. Haruki, in fact, has a minor character arc, that isn't really to do with Akihiko, about how he feels insecure surrounded by geniuses in the band and this gets resolved by Akihiko saying that they wouldn't be able to function if all of them were geniuses, and Haruki himself seeing Akihiko hard at work. But I had completely forgotten about this arc, my bad, but my point still stands. Haruki deserved a better character arc.

I don't have a smart comment for this unfortunately. Eat your veggies??

In spite of saying this, I'm not an Akiharu hater, I swear. But I just found that ship much less compelling than Akigetsu in general. Akigetsu was a relationship where they were both incredibly toxic towards each other, there was an imbalance in the fact that Ugetsu literally owned the place they were living in, as well as how he'd kick Akihiko out whenever things were rocky. However, I think the end of their relationship was dealt well on both sides, their toxicity towards each other was framed in a negative light as it should have been. They ended the relationship and went their separate ways, this was the best ending for them. For Akiharu and Akigetsu: The difference between these two relationships is that one was dealt well and the other was dealt wrong. Akiharu deserve each other and Ugetsu deserves to learn how to grow by himself.

Anyway, another point of contention was, in spite of the healthy nature of Akiharu. Somehow, the friendship between the two couples seems to have waned and it was pretty disappointing to see. I think it started before this, but the first time it was obvious to me was this scene.

I know you're in the middle of something, but don't be mean to Mafuyu >:(.

Context: This is Chapter 40. Akiharu are in a moment of intimacy and Uenoyama is knocking at their door trying to get advice.

We've seen that Mafuyu is a very reserved person, to see that Akihiko was so ready to tell Mafuyu to stop coming over (even if it is to stop him from coming over so suddely) right to his face was extremely immature.

Basically, imagine if that had been Mafuyu. Personally, I feel like Mafuyu would have been hurt like hell and closed right back up. This scene is something played for laughs and that's something so disappointing. Given is shown to be a band of friends, but in the end it seemed more like two couples who hang out sometimes. Also the fact that both Akihiko and Haruki are pushing Uenoyama to get Mafuyu to rejoin the band. That's something else that bothers me heavily. That they're treating Mafuyu as Uenoyama's responsibility because they're dating. It's a band that is sure to fall apart if you are not making an effort to support each other equally. I mean, it doesn't have to be entirely equal but points for effort and they get no points here. It's funny because they were at least a little self-aware of this prior.

Dating in a band is something that is nuanced, of course. But it sure is funny to see them practically go down the same route they condemned.

That's my criticism of Akiharu.

So, what about the other instance of SA? I'm talking about Shizusumi and Hiiragi, of course.

Let's talk about Shizuragi.

Here they are! Let's talk about them!

Admittedly the first time around, I wasn't particularly into Shizuragi, I was too busy mourning the absense of Ugetsu. But it was during their sex scene where I realised something was very wrong. I was having flashbacks to the Akiharu assault chapter but this time it was played as "love" rather than something reprehensible. Once again, assault was in the manga and it, once again, resolved with badly.

I feel like sexual assault being played off as "love" and being resolved literally the next chapter with the victim being all kosher with it, should be garnering people's "??? what the fuck"s and not to bat for the opposing team for once but where are the complaints. I've actually seen some people talking about this chapter, but I would have expected more.

Hiiragi said he was scared and was crying, but they still fucked anyway. :D <- smile of shock.

Um what. Haha... ha........ :D <- terrifed smile of shock.

I don't know whether it would have been worse that he knew he was assaulting Hiiragi or whether he didn't know at all. But he knew.

Shizusumi confessed his love the morning after and it was all okay. But, to be honest, the fact that it was played off as being "all okay" makes this even worse. It's normal in yaoi/BL for SA to be played off as love, but you'd think that the last place you'd see this is in Given of all places. SA is SA and the fact that Hiiragi was so accepting of what happened to him afterwards says something about this the culture of BL/yaoi and how we just go along with it says something about this sentiment of how "yaoi is always going to be yaoi".

We're done? We're done.

There are no more SA scenes (that I can remember). But I do want to touch on Mafuyu and Uenoyama as briefly as possible (This is a recount of my experience after all). So, Mafuyama.

Ah, yes. The start of everything.

Admittedly, I didn't actually find their relationship super compelling. This is because I tend to get tunnel vision on characters I like (in this case, I heavily tunnel visioned on Ugetsu). I do like them both, they just didn't fit within my vision. I thought they were sweet but I also see a lot of complaints about how Mafuyu was stuck on Yuki and Uenoyama was getting backseated and I do agree with this. Kind of.

I think Mafuyu's story is about growth as a person, it's like what people say: You don't move on or lose your grief, you grow around it. Grief doesn't get smaller, you just get bigger. The person he loved died and I don't think it's fair to say that he has to get over Yuki. Grief is something that sticks with you everywhere, something you have to carry every day. They're still teenagers, they're still young and still have room to grow.

But as a story? Sheesh, instead of Haruki having no place in their circle. I felt like Uenoyama, even when he's the protagonist, wasn't given his spotlight in his own story. There is no character arc for him, there is nothing for him and that's just not fair. There are two people in a relationship, so why does it always feel like, narratively, Uenoyama always comes as an afterthought?

You could have had a character arc about this... Relationships are meant to be balanced, sweetie...

I just think it's a shame, but they're nowhere near as unhealthy as the other couples in Given, so I'm giving them a gold star.

(Minor irk, I do not remember when this happened but why the hell does Yayoi (Uenoyama's sister) get a character arc (where she comes to an understanding about Mafuyama feelings for each other, but also the gay in general) but the man himself doesn't?)

So, with Mafuyama, I feel like the story could have focused a little more on Uenoyama's side. But I feel like it's similar to how Haruki's story kind of got the backseat to Akigetsu drama happenings at the time. Shrug, we can't have it all.

He's beautiful...

That's honestly... all my thoughts. Wow! That was a lot of them. I think there's a lot to be said about how yaoi treats SA and dub-con in general, even in a manga that's not even focused on the sex.

With that said, I don't think BL shouldn't have SA or dubious scenes but the aftermath should be dealt with better afterwards. I think with Given, it's a start that the SA (at least with Akiharu) wasn't romanticised, but the aftermath was just poorly executed.

But I'm not the yaoi police, I hold no authority and I don't support purity culture. I'm not an anti-anything and I also believe that fiction should be fiction. What people enjoy should no way equate to a person's worldview. But, this was just all my perspective and my opinion. I said it and now I'm done. Haha... Anyway, my paypal is—

[fauxridium]

Do you have a head canon of how both faux and Cyber feel about the events from the beginning of the game? Like how did faux feel about his head being cut off by cyber and how did Cyber feel being the one to do it since they are dating in your AU?

Oh absolutely i do, they both Do Not Like It

Putting this under a read more because it ended up getting. Long djsf but continue reading if you want juicy toxic yaoi relationship drama

For cyber, he never Wanted to kill faux, it was like killing a part of his own soul, but i believe cyber has a very strong and unwavering sense of justice, so he felt he had to because of what faux had done to felix, an eye for an eye. He doesn't regret that he did it, but knowing that he did tears him up regardless, and after the deed is done and he gets off of that roof, i think he has a full on ugly sobbing break down — everything just hits him at once, the fact that the man he loved killed his close friend and the fact that he had just done what he did and now faux is gone too, it's just too much for him to handle in that moment and he breaks, the futurism girls end up having to comfort him to get him out of it. He still doesnt regret it, but god does it hurt, like he had just ripped out his own heart, and he has to carry that pain thru the events of the game, dealing with everything with trying to get felix his memory back provides a bit of a distraction from his emotions, but in moments he finds himself alone he can't stop himself from thinking about it all, from crying, that period of time is probably the most he had ever cried in his life. The pain he feels is, in part, his motivation for getting faux's head and body back from the depths of mataan and bringing him back post game, and while if asked he would say that he did it to stop the police from getting to him first and trying to restart project algo, and that he felt it only fair since felix was fine in the end, the main reason is because the thought of continuing to live his life without faux was too painful to bear, it would be like living without a part of himself, so despite everyone else thinking hes crazy for it he does it, lest he ends up in the depths of mataan too

On faux's end, he feels Extremely betrayed, and that cuts him deep, no pun intended. Cyber was one of the only people he had ever trusted so deeply and wholeheartedly, he gave himself entirely to cyber, so for cyber to be the one to kill him shattered his sense of trust. During the events of the game i think that would play a very big role in faux's decline and eventual mental break at the end of the game, his perception of reality becomes so distorted, bolstered by being plugged into algo, that his sense of trust being essentially gone drives his whole "i'll just kill Every writer then" rather than any real Want to be all city. Due to faux's paranoia from his (unmedicated) schizophrenia, he has a Very very hard time trusting anyone at all, felix and cyber were the first and only people he ever felt like he could truly trust, so feeling like he had that trust in them betrayed like that one after the other, and Especially from cyber, really fucked him up, as evident by the end of the game. At that point he feels utterly alone, and seeing cyber Help felix in the end really drives that home, and he dies feeling betrayed, alone, confused, sad, and angry. When he wakes up post game, after cyber brings him back (with prince's help), he feels even more confused, he doesn't understand why cyber would bring him back, even after its explained to him, he cant understand why cyber would still love him, why He would still love cyber, and he has to grapple with not only everything that hes done and the regret he feels, but the love that he feels for cyber as well, how deeply its entwined in his heart, his Want to trust him, and the betrayal he felt, the distrust in him that screams at him every time cyber gets close to him. It's like he's fighting with himself, hes weary of cyber, almost fearful of him, thinking he might kill him again, that bringing him back and keeping him alive is some sick way to prolong his suffering, but at the same time he cant help the way he gravitates to him, how he wants to be close to him, how he grounds him, how he Needs him, it's like torture.

Anyways basically. They are the most lovers to exs to lovers again toxic yaoi the likes of which you've never seen

[fang-revives]

Syb's 2023 MOTY List!

I had a lot of fun doing this roundup last year! Though it feels like a patchier year than 2022 for great wrestling, there were still a few real standouts that blew my socks clean off. Here's my top 5 recs!

Jay White NJPW Departure Series (Wrestle Kingdom 17 IWGP Heavyweight Belt 04.01.20203, Loser Leaves Japan Match vs. Hikuleo 11.02.2023, Loser Leaves NJPW Match vs. Eddie Kingston 18.02.2023) 

It was so hard to pick a single match from this series so I chose not to. The sequence of these really tells a complete story I was fully glued to in real-time. The IWGP WK match I slept on a little bit because everyone was buzzing over Omega vs. Ospreay, but  I have to say when I finally watched it, it has wormed its way into my brain and has not stopped chewing. The Hikuleo match broke me a little for the last offered too-sweet. And if you forced me to pick a match of the three to recommend, it would be Eddie vs. Jay. There’s something special about Eddie being the man with so much integrity, so much love for puroresu, that he almost made me believe Jay would fight for New Japan and win. I’ll close this by saying it felt really graceful that Jay got to put an endpoint on his time in New Japan, and tell a little story with it. I’m not sure most wrestlers get the chance for whatever reason when their contract ends, but this felt like a beautiful Shakespearean tragedy, and a great way to end a killer run in NJPW.

Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita (G1 Climax 33, 18.07.2023) 

The most memorable G1 Climax match for me by a long shot. Physical, deranged, so many gorgeous spots (that I will miss dearly from Narita specifically as he heads off to do…whatever it is that you can call House of Torture spots). I rewatched this three times. I loved the tie booking for the Reiwa Three Muskateers, it made A-block super fun. I was really hopeful after Tsuji’s backstage comments that they’d make a story out of Narita shedding Shibata’s shadow…alas for the booking that wasn’t. 

Saki Akai Retirement Match (Tag match with Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani, vs. Kazusada Higuchi & Naomichi Marufuji & Miyu Yamashita, 12.11.2023) 

There is so much to miss about Saki Akai. Although I honestly and sincerely wish more wrestlers would retire younger and let their bodies rest (or at least do a soft retirement and then come back to do bullshit) – god, I’m going to miss her. She’s been a mainstay on the DDT roster for as long as I’ve been watching and before, and carries the intergender work with unparalleled grace. This match was booked as a unique treat for me; who had an Eruption moment back when Sakaguchi and Higuchi had their singles match, and who loves both Marufuji and Yamashita. 

Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page Texas Deathmatch (AEW Full Gear 18.11.2023) 

TOXIC!!! YAOI!!! DEATHMATCH!! INSANE!!! This match probably would have made it on the list for the “stapling my son’s drawing and then drinking the blood from the wound” spot alone, good god. If people didn’t believe Swerve was a mega-star before this match, they surely do now. Match that made me dissolve into monkey noises, and easily my favourite AEW match this year. 

Mask vs. Mask 5-Way Cage Survival (Dragon Kid vs Shun Skywalker vs Strong Machine J vs Ultimo Dragon vs Diamante, 02.07.2023)

Dragongate is honestly a promotion I’d love to have the time and attention span to carve out some more space for. Luckily I do have puro friends who are willing to catch me up on the dynamics so I can swing by for banger matches like these. And wow, holy shit, this was a cagematch for the age. Pulling on the drama of Dragon Kid who promised the survival of his older mentor Ultimo Dragon – leading into the personal beef of Strong Machine J and Diamante, and crystallizing to another horrible moment from one of wrestling’s best working heels right now, Shun Skywalker. This match had it all!

Honorable Mentions

Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW Grand Slam 2023, 20.09.2023) 

Jun Kasai & El Desperado vs. Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita Thumbtack Board & Razor Cross Board Alpha Death (Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS, 11.08.2023) 

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuki Hirata"Let's Have Fun!!" What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match (DDT Ultimate Party 2023, 12.11.2023)

[canonically47]

DC review?

spoilers for disventure camp all stars episode 9: slip & sly!

(but you knew that.)

the episode was rather boring until the elimination. so let’s get into it:

yul is being a bitch and somehow still not paying for it,

alec is just getting more unlikeable,

tom and jake are little babies who cannot communicate their feelings and their arc just consists of repeating the phrases “i don’t want to be hurt again” and “it’s too late now” and it’s driving me crazy not because i want them back together but because they are pissing me off more and more by the moment, their drama always gets in the way when it could be solved so easily, they overshadow every arc and they are the reason so many scenes barely hit, they are the reason we got so little of james and aiden and the reason the ellie elimination was so underwhelming, BY GOD, WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST FUCKING VOTED FOR TOM OH MY GOD

ally and jake are annoying,

i couldn’t care less about ashley,

why is trevor into the guy who takes any chance to verbally abuse him,

oh my god this show is out of ideas.

side note that i have been curious about for months since i got into DC but how the fuck do these people survive just off fish and fruit and how do they not constantly shit themsves???

anyways we get a slip and slide because summer camp. and magenta team wins because they’re the only team with three players. because disventure camp (and total drama) logic.

the elimination is the most fun thing of the episode and genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. the realization cyan team has that they have lost gabby, grett and gabby actually getting along, VILLAIN GABBY!!!

it was super entertaining to see gabby get her revenge but... i wish she had voted for tom instead (even though the show clearly gives he and jake plenty of plot armor because god forbid they rid those fans of their precious toxic yaoi) because... well it’s tom. fuck tom

this episode and its elimination alone are probably the most entertainment we have gotten out of disventure camp since episode 6. finally there is some actual strategy instead of petty drama - though there is also plenty of that (jake and aiden/ally shut the FUCK UP challenge LEVEL IMPOSSIBLE!!!)

looking forward to yul, jake, tom and just to be petty, ally, being voted off

gonna start rating episodes also, so this one gets a 6/10 on the geo scale. give us more actual likeability from these characters please i am so tired of rooting for just grett and gabby

[nowordsformylove]

I would love to hear more ideas from your jonesmith list if you’d like to share 🤲

yes absolutely I'll put it under a read more because it's going to be a lot.

ok so I know I've mentioned some of these before as ideas but I'll start with the ones that I drafted fics for:

Davy wants to take Mike out on a perfect date to show him just how deep his feelings are but the date keeps getting ruined and at the end he thinks he failed and that Mike wont like him now because he ruined their first date.

Mike keeps using terms of endearment for Davy and at first he doesnt notice because Mike calls everyone babe but when they get more romantic like sweetheart or honey Davy thinks that hes doing it to purposely fluster him and he decides to do it back. Mike suddenly stops doing it and Davy is confused why he misses it.

Davy notices that Mike never goes out on any dates and tries to secretly wingman for him by talking him up to all the girls they meet. When he realizes that Mike doesnt like girls he decides to help him win a guy.

Prince and the Pauper episode from the POV of Mike and Davy being in a secret relationship.

these are the ones that I never drafted fics for:

Similar to the nickname one above where Mike keeps calling Davy things like "tiny" and "short stuff" and hes not letting up. This was been frustrating Davy in more ways than one. Based on this post.

Wanted to write something centered around Davy's lovely plush lips and Mike noticing just how full and pretty they are and now that hes noticed he cant stop thinking about wanting to kiss him.

I had outlined a fic idea about Mike going out with a girl and Davy feeling jealous but he also feels guilty because hes always the one that gets the girl so he shouldnt be mad she picked Mike over him, but the more time Mike spends with her the more he realizes hes not jealous of Mike hes jealous of HER. The way I drafted this fic made it seem like it would work better for jork so I put it on the back-burner. (specifically the way I had the confession scene planned seemed more like a Peter-move than a Mike-move).

RPF fic set around 66/67 where Davy thinks Mike is very handsome (real life) and cool and he has a tiny "bro crush" on him. He goes out and buys a coat similar to Mike's but Micky ends up teasing him about it in front of Mike making him aware of Davy's little crush. Mike invites him out for drinks and then propositions him 🤭

Similar to above with it being an RPF fic based on the story where Mike left his own party to hop on his private jet to fly back to Texas just to get a burger, but in this Davy accepts the offer to go with and they fuck on his private jet.

I reallllyyyy wanted to do something for the episode too many girls but I could never come up with anything concrete. Always thought about Mike being upset at the idea of Davy leaving the group to be with some girl.

Wanted to do something for some like it lukewarm with crossdressing Davy but it was hard to get from "Davy hated crossdressing and refused to do it again" to "Davy dresses up again and acts all feminine for Mike's pleasure"

Really wanted to do a size difference fic but didnt know if I wanted to do Davy loves Mike's huge dick or "Mike loves Davy's tiny dick (SAD I couldn't decide on a pov because they are both so good).

I also thought briefly about a fic where Davy pressures Mike into having sex with him but that was more of a spur of the moment thought from my toxic yaoi loving mind haha... but what if 😳 needy Davy begging for Mike to fuck him and Mike who only feels useful when hes needed by the people around him. teehee

I also was planning to do a group poly fic centered on Davy being the group slut who gets fucked by all the guys it was going to be four parts (seperate but related) 1. jork 2. jonesmith 3. jolenz 4. group but I kinda lost my motivation for this one 😭 I DID start the jonesmith one and since they can all be read as one shots I may finish it and post it on its own rather than in a series.

[alynnl]

❤ 🧡 💛 💚 and 💖 for Ace Attorney or Octo1, whichever you have a stronger urge to talk about, for the unpopular opinion ask game

I will answer for Ace Attorney! Keep in mind I’m stating my strong opinions, since I’m mostly a fandom hermit and don’t know what the popular ones are.

❤️ Phoenix Wright is not a Soft Sunshine Boy, even before Ace Attorney 4. He’s petty in his inner monologue, he’s sarcastic out loud, and there’s times he really does feel like giving up during trials. But other people inspire him to keep going. He doesn’t have unshakable optimism to keep going all on his own. He needs others (and that’s okay!)

🧡 I don’t believe Manfred von Karma was a physically abusive parent to Franziska or Miles. There’s no evidence to even suggest this is true! I also think he’s enough of a Big Bad/antagonist without adding that to his record. I don’t like him at all, but I can appreciate the Shakespeare level of drama that happens in his canon character arc.

💛 I cannot get behind KrisNix at all. I’m sorry. I understand people enjoying their “toxic yaoi” but it rubs me all the wrong ways. The concept of it is a major squick for me because of the amount of manipulation involved.

💚 My man Detective Gumshoe is not just a dumb, bumbling sidekick. He has plenty of moments where he saves the day! He knows more about technology than Phoenix. And his determination is unmatched! So many cases would have ended badly without him.

💖 There’s a huge, ongoing debate in the fandom about which game is the best, which one is the worst, and whether there should be an Ace Attorney 7. But there won’t ever be a solution to this debate, I feel. Because we’re all gonna have different opinions about the games currently out, and what comes next, if anything. No story can really make every single part of its audience happy. So the best thing to do is “be happy with what speaks to you.” But also, if there’s an Ace Attorney 7, give it a chance! You might find something good to take away from it at the end of the day.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Kairi

kairi is the third protagonist of the kingdom hearts series and the third member of the destiny trio, alongside fan favorites sora and riku. sora/riku shippers HATE kairi, and will go out of their way to discount her at every turn. the hate for her ranges from typical "she's a boring bitch" to fans of soriku making five-hour long video essays reassuring their fellow shippers that the big bad kairi won't show up in the next installment – to quote one video, "she's in a box. she's on the shelf. four walls, no door." kairi is the greatest bogeyman the soriku fandom has ever known, to the point where most of said video essays and fanon meta posts focus not on why sora and riku should get together, but rather on why they don't like kairi.

Literally has a 100+ page Google doc fan theory writing her out of the narrative and putting all of her (few) canonical accomplishments onto half of the popular m/m ship (soriku). Don't even get me started on how her memory was completely written out of the canon plot of re:coded. KH is a nightmare to explain so dude trust me she is THE victim of yaoi

She is so fundamental to the plot and themes and narratives of game and yet it is near impossible to find anything about her thats not ship bashing pre-mlm with the other two characters. I dont even care if she ends up with one of the main characters i just want fans to see her as a cool character to love or like, anything other than “annoying comphet girl.” You can write your mlm but pleaae stop inventing comphet where it doesnt exist. She does not even get to spend time with sora ever?? Why does everyone see her as a threat and a thing to destroy?? Let her have friends so help me

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

[logicroute]

hades fun ramble abt how the yttd fandom treats shin tsukimi :)

haiiii so if you know me you know that i have one billion illness about some guy named shin tsukimi from yttd! and i have some issues on how the fandom writes him, this is coming from someone who has health issues so im going to be somewhat projecting but! hopefully not that much. all of it is going to be under cut!

this is going to cover a lot of spoilers.. so i wouldnt click it unless you finished the game. its also going to cover topics like ableism and a mention of toxic relationships but thats expected when you want to talk about shin and the fandom

so in game (epsically in your turn to shine) its heavily hinted that shin is someone who has health issues (chronic illness and the works), even in the base game it is shown that shin is physically weak (chapt one in the bar where he tries to open the drawer for example.).

and how the fandom made that into shin being a weak person, but not in a strength sense, in the sense that he cant protect/cant hold his own (looking at you shin ship writers.). but! thats just the only issue right? (this is also ableism to me in a way.. but i cant put my words right at the moment.)

nope!! theres more. the fandom at times made shin out to be a 'dirty' person, someone who is gross and unclean. even if that's far from canon (there being a line that shins hands are clean in game.) and to me, thats just stereotypes of people who are mentally ill coming into play. saying that people who suffer from mental illness cant treat themselves on their own. which in some cases may be true, but not in all of them.

i also think this ties into shin being a person who was in game he is saving money, he is a job hopper which some fans took as he is poor which mean hes dirty.. which is just gross that people think just because a person may be poor, automatically means they're dirty.

theres also the issue with shadow sou (also know as shadsou in the fandom) where (some) people treat it as not a part of shin, it just being a part of midori. shin didnt bring out the hiyori persona out of nowhere, it wouldnt make sense that shin is some 'soft boy'.

fans tend to forget that shin isnt the best person, even in a few pregame thoughts. he can still be an asshole without being told about the 0.0% thing. you can let him be petty, you can let him be sly, you can let him be mean. he doesnt need to be doomed to do any of that.

its the same with the shinai, we only really saw small bits of the shinai.. and guessing from his dialog, he is still close to hiyori and that can affect how he acts, but that doesnt mean a pre game shin acts just like shinai, his an ai for a reason, he learns over time and picks up his own traits. its similar to how the fandom treats highschool shin and his friendship with hiyori and thats a whole another can of worms.

people who say they dont ship hiyori and shin.. and then say they dated in the past are an issue to me. not every toxic friendship has to be romantic, yes hiyori wanted to study shin, but thats because he wanted to see how much he can push a person. even the shinai says he likes to experiment on people, and hiyori most likely did the same with shin but more in a mental sense.

theres a reason why i dont interact with people who tag stuff with their ship tag, i dont trust them to take them in a way thats just them being 'friends'. and if you see it like that or make it out so hiyori isnt that bad of a person... block me i dont want you guys near me. (this goes with those 'midori isnt a bad person!!' au writers to. get out.)

on the topic of shipping, a handful of people who ship shin with people srsly make him out to be someone whos weak and needs to be protected by whoever the pairing is with. you guys just want your yaoi. i see this the most in keishin / alishin circles. shin doesnt need to be 'saved' or whatever, he just needs to heal on his own time, he doesnt need a romantic partner in his life for that.

thats a good part of my thoughts! if you have any questions on my thoughts on shin you can send me an ask here or shoot me a dm on discord :3 (samuraiyaiba)

[sirwow]

As I’m currently resting my wrist from drawing and I’m still thinking out more detailed story beats for WC I thought I’d just do some random rambling about my Pikmin au that won’t be very organized lol. Also adding a cut here as not to flood anyone’s unfortunate timeline

First off since I imagine I’ll get asked this someone someday, a small list of all the local losers preferences.

Olimar - Straight Cis. Doesn’t really get anything outside his bubble but is supportive regardless.

Louie - AroAce Cis (also has the tism). His only love is food.

Alph - GayDemi Cis. Likes love but not actively looking for it.

Brittany - GayDemi Cis. Her and Alph always laugh about the fact people think they’re dating just because they show physical affection to one another sometimes.

Charlie - Bi Cis. Koppite crew is literally the LGB.

Pom - Straight trans. You are not safe from Pingo propaganda.

Terry - Bi Cis. Probably doesn’t even know what being bi is and just thinks he has to make up his mind.

Penelope - Pan cis. Olimars shock when he found out when they were dating that she found girls cute too.

Zack - Pan trans. Saw he had 13 brothers and said wouldn't it be funny to have another.

Yorke - Straight cis. The most gay looking straight guy.

Nelle - Straight cis. to yorke "i hate you sm. wanna kiss"

Dobbs - Gay cis. Charlie and Dobbs are the local toxic yaoi so sorre

Shepherd - AroBi cis. the only dates that exist are DOG PARK dates.

Collin - BiDemi cis. Currently married to coffee and 4 hours of sleep

Russ - Straight cis. Probably does have a wife but no kids

Yonny - AroAce non-binary (F to NB) masculine presenting. Galaxy record for being the first person to survive giving top surgery to himself.

Dingo - Straight cis. Yonny makes fun of his failure of flirting.

Bernard - AceBi cis. He will never realize hes being flirted with at any point in time.

Now thats done, some more stuff about just some general relationships people have with each other. Olimar and Louie when Louie first joined HF were pretty neutral about each other even after 4 but after 2 and deeply apologizing for leaving him behind scared, Louie and Olimar got much friendlier with each other. They started carpooling and even spending some time outside of work together. While Terry thinks Louie is cool if a bit strange sometimes, Lebe is rather more skeptical and scared of him. Penelope worries he might be a bad influence but can't help but worry about Louie as much as Olimar does when Oli vents to her about Louie.

Alph and Brittany are best friends but their relationship isnt the most balanced at times. Brittany is quite quick to getting emotional and blaming others for things. Alph tries not to hold it against her too much given hes aware of her issues and why she is like that in the first place but it can rub off on his timid nature. Though he admired Charlie all through 3, Brittany's negative comments eventually changed Alph's perception on Charlie to just being someone he works with.

Now some of my own world building brain rot wo! a time system, joy. I was just thinking about how do people keep time between every other planet so i propose: Galactic time. Galactic time is not based off anything but purely numbers. 1 "day" is 20 hours long and there is no PM or AM. Its based of a single founding clock that all the other galactic clocks follow now and is usually exclusively used for interstellar work and jobs or meeting up on different planets. The galactic months are all 25 days long with only 10 of them. a galactic week is 5 days long and though i don't have names at the moment the months and days also have different names as not to get confused with any planet names or calendars they might have.

thank you if you've read my ramblings this far. have louie drinking paint

[sh4tt3rg1rl]

@the-moth-from-elsewhere I have so many thoughts on them its not even funny WAAAA WAAAAAAAAA (this will also include a lot of Theory Posting bc of the new 7+8 trailer so be warned)

ALSO CANON SHIP MEANS MORE MATERIAL!!! YALL ARENT READY FOR THIS RANT!!

Alright lets see... first things first

Let me explain "toxic yaoi/yuri" EVEN THO THEY TECHNICALLY ARENT GAY FOR ONE ANOTHER YOU CANT LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND SAY "N IS STRAIGHT" OR "UZI IS STRAIGHT". im PROJECTING "PAN DEMIGIRL" ONTO UZI AND YOU CANT STOP ME also they're toxic because. OH NO THAT 7/8 TRAILER. ITS SO OVER WERE SO BACK!! WAS SHE HURTING HIM??? OH GOD

DUDE, YOU SAW HOW THE LIGHT THING ON THE BACK OF HER HAND WAS PURPLE, RIGHT??? NOT YELLOW LIKE HOW IT WAS WHEN SHE WAS BEING CONTROLLED BY THE ABSOLUTE SOLVER??? SHES HURTING HIM COMPLETELY BY HER OWN VOLITION. NAOAOOAOAOOOOOOO

on a diff note... IM CRYING AND SOBBING. DID YOU SEE HOW GENTLY HE WAS HOLDING HER AND HOW SCARED HE WAS WHEN HE CUT OFF HER HAND IN EPISODE 6??? DID YOU SEE HOW THEY HELD HANDS LITERALLY MOMENTS BEFOREHAND? (lots of hands huh) DID YOU SEE HOW UZI HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE TO COMFORT N AND N HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE TO COMFORT UZI?!?!?!? THAT ENTIRE FALLING SCENE IN EPISODE 4... PLUS WHEN HE DEFENDS HER AGAINST V IN THE SAME EPISODE... UGHHHH I LOVE THEM

plus OMFG THE FACT THAT HE MOVES HER HAND OUT OF THE SUN AND HE CONSTANTLY WORRIES ABOUT HER... HE LOOKS SO HEARTBROKEN ALL OF THE TIME NOW!!!

HOW UZI WAS CRYING INTO HIS SHOULDER IN THE 7/8 TRAILER MADE ME ACTUALLY CHOKE ON MY OWN TEARS WHEN IT SHOWED IN GLITCH X

Dude... how CLEARLY jealous Uzi was in episode 5 when V and N blushed at one another... how Uzi immediately jumped to defending N instead of herself when Tessa told them to not date...

AND REMEMBER WHEN TESSA SAID THAT N NEEDED TO CHOOSE THE UNIVERSE OVER UZI??? aw HELL nah he is NOT DOING THAT. He's choosing Uzi. He's choosing uzi or im in de nile, the river in egypt

Also wheres nuzi kiss, glitch. Need that nuzi kiss. I dont CARE how cheesy it is i NEED FOR THEM TO KISS *screams into my pillow and dies*

The internet would explode if they kissed yk. I would explode as well and I know YOU WOULD TOO, ELSIE!!!

I love them.