#toxic immortal yaoi or something

[spec-s]

ending of the dark prophecy summarized

[lilacartsmadsion]

Something I find incredibly funny is that almost every major Lore Update with DCA and a new characters coming there’s always a chance for said new characters become a ship with him.

Affogato? Toxic Yaoi

Clotted Cream? Also Toxic but maybe we can work it out yaoi.

Stormbringer? Does this count as god x servant or just god x somewhat immortal.

Mystic Flour? Toxic Straight ass

Peach Blossom? More Twink x Buff guy.

Like almost every major update with DCA and he gets shipped with nearly all of them.

[unhetalia]

I think what's fascinating about Arthur and Alfred is that the concept of immortality plays a huge part in the relationship between them in a way that it doesn't for other Hetalia ships.

In a way, this adds to the idea that Nations are 'other', and this is actually what's made them a less popular ship in fandom over time. People are uncomfortable with the fact that they met when Alfred was a child and Arthur was an adult. They're uncomfortable with the fact that there was a time where Arthur could be considered Alfred's caretaker.

If these two characters weren't immortal, there would be very little room for their relationship to grow beyond that of an adult and child, caretaker and charge. BECAUSE they're immortal, however, it's not only possible BUT we get to actually see it, which is rarer than you'd think in Hetalia.

Even though we as fans understand that history and time can change the relationship between two nations, we actually rarely see this in action. For example, Francis and Arthur have always been portrayed as rivals, and the intensity of that rivalry has stayed pretty consistent in canon despite the difference in their two countries' relationship. We know that Kiku and Alfred must have have had some difficulties between that first meeting and them being best friends in modern times, but we don't really see that either.

Arthur and Alfred's relationship, however, gets a really gorgeous, seriously written nod to the breakdown of the caretaker and charge relationship AND we also get to see them-as-equals in the present. When Himaruya used to do more ship tease, we even got to see it leading to a will-they-won't-they kind of thing.

So, it's really fascinating because it's a relationship where you can see that passage of time for them as Nations. I also think it allows for me to explore something that I don't believe in when it comes to real relationships - the idea that 'love is enough'.

This one can apply to everyone in Hetalia, but is particularly juicy with the canon we see for Arthur and Alfred. In real life, I stand by the adage that love is not enough. Love does not equal compatibility, it does not equal solving your relationship problems and love is not worth sacrificing yourself for. Basically - you need more than love to make a relationship work.

If Arthur and Alfred were mortal, they wouldn't have enough time to sort out all their issues in order to make a relationship work. That's my true opinion. A lot of accepting and moving on needs to happen. If they were mortal, I'd say ... just leave it. Experience the world! Find a love less intense but more healthy.

BUT THEY'RE NOT MORTAL. They're gonna get to a point where they've experienced as much world as they can, and the less intense but healthier love will literally die, and then who is left but each other, and every other immortal they have issues with? THIS is when love can be enough. This is when you can work on all the things that aren't worth working towards as a mortal. Eventually, we have a forever-young less toxic yaoi of my dreams.

And that is fucking amazing.

[dootznbootz]

Im going to be so so so so so so so so so so soooo fucking for real. I hate Circe x Scylla with every FIBER every INCH OF MY BEING

Why? Because it's honestly victim x abuser

Ik we all like our toxic yuri, but let me out it this way: There are two main versions of Scylla's myth, that is, where Scylla is turned into a monster.

In one, she's turned into a monster by Circe for rejecting Glaukos. Which- She literally got her entire life TAKEN AWAY BY CIRCE because she rejected some dude she didn't like. And that Circe happened to like

Scylla didn't do anything wrong, that's just Circe being a bitch

And in another one, she runs away from Glaukos when he tried to charm her. And yadaya he went to Circe to ask for a potion to charm Scylla. Circe thought the gods wouldn't like something like that (idk that's what happened in the myth. But we all know our Greek mythology so this is kinda weird-) and offered to be Glaucus's lover instead. When he refused her, she got so angry and jealous she turned innocent Scylla into a monster.

SHE TOOK SCYLLA'S WHOLE LIFE AWAY BECAUSE SHE WAS PETTY 😭😭😭😭😭😭

And NO Circe book, Circe didn't feel sorry about it.

I love Circe so much, like so much, but Scylla deserves someone so much better. Justice for Scylla I feel so bad for her. Girl rejects a guy she didn't like, and then gets morphed into a man eating monster

And also, ama need people to stop trying to put all the blame on glaucus and trying to justify Circe's actions. Just please acknowledge your "girl's girl girlboss doesn't need no man feminist icon" is actually a really terrible person. Shipping Circe with Scylla is like shipping Hera with one of the innocent women she killed for sleeping with Zeus (even though they didn't have a choice most of the time), it's literally just so ehh for me

And I'm not here to hate on anyone who likes the ship, but me personally? I hate it so much bro

Oh, I absolutely get where you're coming from. In general, when it comes to "toxic ships", it'll always be so much fascinating to me to just have them fucking hate each other. No romance or attraction and/or "hate-fucking".

I can understand the appeal of toxic yuri in a way (I've always preferred yuri in general over yaoi lol) but like, I think it's juicier even to have that visceral fucking hatred. Especially from Scylla's end. And even then, Circe talks mad shit about Scylla in the Odyssey.

In there lives Scylla. She has a dreadful yelp. It’s true her voice sounds like a new-born pup, but she’s a vicious beast. No mortal man would feel good seeing her, nor would a god who crossed her path. She has a dozen feet, all deformed, six enormously long necks,      with a horrific head on each of them, and three rows of teeth packed close together, full of murky death. Her lower body she keeps in her hollow cave, out of sight, but sticks her heads outside the fearful hole, and fishes there, scouring around the rock for dolphins, swordfish, or some bigger prey, whatever she can seize of all those beasts moaning Amphitrite keeps nourishing in numbers past all counting. No sailors                 yet can boast they and their ship sailed past her without disaster. Each of Scylla’s heads carries off a man, snatching him away                         right off the dark-prowed ship. [...] Why won’t you yield to the immortal gods? She’s not human, but a destroyer who will never die— fearful, difficult, and fierce—not someone                you can fight. There’s no defence against her. The bravest thing to do is run away.                              If you linger by the cliff to arm yourself, I fear she’ll jump out once more, attack you with all her heads and snatch away six men, just as before. Row on quickly past her, as hard as you can go. Send out a call to Crataiis, her mother, who bore her to menace human beings. She’ll restrain her— Scylla’s heads won’t lash out at you again.     

(Book 12, Johnston)

(I think it's interesting how Circe yells at Odysseus about how he won't yield to immortal gods but that's a bit outta context AND an entirely differently thing.)

It's kind of a curious thing in which Circe seems to imply that Scylla was BORN as a monster based on how she mentions Scylla's "mom". I don't know if this is just "Homeric version" of the myth or what but it's something neat to think about.

And honestly? My Circe, being the wacky potion making scientist gal I have her as, would probably be even more of a bitch in how "ooooo experiment time." only to realize "Oh wait, I made her too scary and TOO powerful. hm. nevermind. Not going near her."

With Circe and shipping, idk, I've always felt like she'd be like "messy". It's not that she's not capable of love, I think she's just like, so much of a "I do whatever the fuck I want" that she probably wouldn't really respect her partner's boundaries. She's like Maureen from "Rent" and/or PotC's Calypso where the only reason why she didn't see Davy Jones after he waited was "It's in my Nature".

In which she's just like "Look you either want me as I am, meaning I do whatever the fuck I want, OR you leave."

Like she loves, but she's not like, a ride or die partner. (I mean Odysseus was an experiment to her, as that's how she views mortals in my stuff. She thinks Mortals are kind of gross. She only has sex with him once because of this.) She's FwB with Hermes in my stuff as well, as yeah, Gods are less "gross".

Honestly, I think if people wanna ship Scylla with someone, I think Caribbidis would be fun?? Monster Wives??? (HOT) Both were cursed, they're close to each other, etc. Like, idk how much sentience Caribidis has, being a giant fucking mouth, but idk. maybe they could chat and bond?? even just as friends.

[red-velvet-0w0]

you could probably tell from the many many forever day posts i liked and reblogged in rapid succession but i love your ocs agdjfjtjkh they’re so cool

can you tell me more about the characters’ relationships with each other? the dynamics seem so interesting

:D yeah i saw

so basicaly here is all of the most fleshed out dynamics:

Ida/Jack: They both think each other are hot but also Ida keeps trying to know everything and push for knowledge even when it puts everyone at risk, which causes conflict between her and Jack, who always ends up being the one who pays the price for her impulsive decisions. Jack tends to be the only one who challenges Ida on her plans. If Idas fatal flaw is her hunger for knowledge leading her to dangerous extremes, Jacks fatal flaw is his need to protect those around him leading him being overly cautious, to the point of missing opportunities just for the sake of keeping everyone safe.

Jack/Blake: they both like each other but also are so have so much emotional bagage and self hatred that things tend not to go well

Amelia/Jane: they both like each other and act as each others main confidant, but Jane cant tell her about The Reflection, and Amelia knows something is wrong and that Jane is hiding something but dosent bring herself to ask.

Ida/The Mask: both act as the smartest hero and villain respectively, and are constantly attempting to trick and outsmart the other.

The Mask/Booker: lots of puppet/puppeteer imagery with these two. Booker is someone who views herself as important and powerful, and cant come to terms with the fact that she is basicaly just a pawn being used by a higher power.

The Beast/The Mask: these two absolutely despise each other as they both are exact opposites, with the Beast being a god of strength and the Mask being a god of the mind

The Beast/Mayor Kang: basicaly just toxic immortal old man yaoi between an immortal wizard and a god who has decided that hes fun enough to not kill.

The Reflection/Jane: literaly just the worst relationship physicaly possible. i would elaborate but i need to leave for school now but just know that i have made several full posts about these two alone because there are so many layers to their relationship

[jadzio]

Hey, I know it's been a lil while, and that you're busy, but I've been wondering about something. In the past, you have mentioned that Velvette is your favorite character from Hazbin, and I'm curious - what's the reason for that?

It mostly surprised me because of how little screentime she gets (I believe she has roughly 4 scenes, where she got to speak). I have also had instances where I came to really love side characters that the story didn't put much focus on, but I also don't recall any of them ever making it to my number 1 spot, so yeah.

But I will admit that I enjoyed her quite a bit. Her VA did a great job, and I do like the fun archetype of the 'snooty self absorbed rich girl that is also pretty short I guess' (with Pacifica from GF, Qiyana from League, and Disgust from Inside Out being some other examples I liked).

And Resepctless is a bop, of course. Plus it also strongly implied that Velvette is somewhat delusional (as Vox was shown to be the backbone of her group, being the one with biggest influence, that also sorts situations out - while Zestial didn't loose any relevance, judging by the way folks on the street reacted to him), which could be a fun thing to explore in Season 2.

I wonder if there's anything more to your enjoyment of the character, or if it's just the stuff I already said. After all, we all have our favorite tropes and archetypes, and a character would often become my favorite for simply fitting into the ones I like!

But I suppose there's no harm in asking :3

dw dw

I may answer a bit late, but hey at some point I will claw out some time...

Velvette is my fave from hazbin, but Beelzebub is my fave from the whole hellaverse.

I dont think she is delusional tho. I think that line was just either puffing up your coat to appear bigger and more threatening to the other overlords or all the v's i think thinks of themselves as the most important. We see a lot of vox, but id say that its vel who keeps things running the most. She isn't running and wasting time on simping for someone who won't even look at em (I mean angel for Val and alastor for vox). She feels like she needs to pick up crap after their toxic yaoi and feel the consequences the most.

And I think zestial might have lost some influence. I mean if u only take what folks from the street think of him, I mean they acted like that when they've seen alastor too, but its harder to argue that he remained in the same power as before. I think most sinners would reacted that way, cause 1 overlords, 2 who knows what they are up to, 3 they are known to take souls so u know u can still think lowly of someone and still be scared of them if they have a granade in their hand. Sides Val might have said that cause maybe v's have millions of souls due to the powers shift and more of the new sinners coming to them for technology., while zestiel might have had only a few thousands, strong ones, but less in numbers. Maybe she thinks those old souls can't do much anymore as opposed to their millions. also situation just had changed, they've discovered that angels are not immortal. so she wants a new approach to the situation and not be dragged by old unchanged ways of ye old. Also also all that was to prode and poke at carmila to cause her to outburst. I think she is smarter then u give her credit to. she knows its Carmilla and is trying to get out more info in the way she knows how. also it might have been again puffing up your coat to bring more overlords to her side.

But to answer ur question, I think i need to go back to queen bee. My love for her started for a beautiful design and its still a big part of it ofc. But... Idk how to describe it. She kinda awakened/opened some part of me if even just a lil (not like sexually i already know im pan/furry don't at me). Some part that been hidden away. one thats more spunk and free in her expression. More femme but in this specific way. This all didnt change my life in a dramatic way, but it pry open the door for other stuff to influence it.

And thats where Vel comes in. Trough that opened door, a lil bit. She also has an amazing design. But she is also spunky and not afraid to speak her mind and have a lil fun with it. She is respectless and a lil but of a bad bitch and Idk that kinda resonates with me a lil. I sometimes wish I had that confidence to flip off other plp (when deserved obvi) and dress in unusual ways.

overall idk you can all attribute my interest in them both to excellent design. but that's my theory on why

[itsgonnagetdark]

I’m really into the romantics of whatever ancient heros and their respective villains had going on.

Like Beowulf. Beowulfs whole deal, theme, whatever is about how the only true way to achieve immortality is through everlasting fame via performing great deeds and winning great battles. So, I guess the idea of going down in history specifically because of your epic beef with someone is kinda, soulmate-y, in a way.

Like, I’m not suggesting Beowulf and Grendel had toxic yaoi chemistry. But, there’s just this strange feeling I get about it. Like, your name being uttered in tandem with someone else’s for all time seems like something intimate. Like your memories being slowly sewn together or fused, I’m reminded of the Marriages in Fear and Hunger, but metaphorically. What would Beowulf be without having fought Grendel?

There’s something about that. About being tied together via story and memory. Our names, our faces crossing someone’s mind simultaneously when our story is told. We hated each others guts, I killed you/you killed me, we both live forever in that one great memory.

It’s like Till Death Do Us Part type deal, maybe even more so, because it lasts long, long afterwards.

Like two bucks who starve with their antlers tangled, together forever. One day, someone will come across our bleached bones, take a photo, and say, “Damn, ain’t that wild?”

[ruteekatreya]

Granbelm Aftermath!

This show is so good.  I’ve reblogged enough Machikado Mazoku stuff that I’m sure it’s obvious I’ve liked where it’s going, but Granbelm I haven’t seen many posts on, so! I really loved the show at pretty much every step.  A magical mecha BR with a cast solely comprised of gals?  Where the mecha are Ryu Knight-styled chibis?  Sure thing!  Where Minion A (voiced by YAoi) has a mecha that’s even shaped like a Demon Lord’s wizard minion?  The show knows where it’s at!

There’s a lot of minor stuff throughout that I’ve loved - such as Nene-nee having her NEET tendencies come out in a perfect sniper mech (That’s also a mobile armor because honestly she’s a cheating jerk, I love it), or the way that even Rosa’s dorky open shirt pilot outfit has cute hood-ears and feels like something someone would actually wear (I see you there, Shinichirou Otsuka.  Even if I wouldn’t have realized the relevance without my friends who comment on the backend, doing so)  The fights are also, quite frankly, the best mecha fights I’ve ever seen.  Period.  And I’ve been in on The Mecha for a long, long time, even if I fell out of it like 8 years ago!  Seriously, it’s great shit.  I’m glad me and wifey started watching it, since it suffered the most being streamed with friends.  (Probably, I haven’t gone back to check on Fire Force, and won’t now because lolno, nor do I have Amazon to watch Vinland Saga myself.)

But at its core, I was super interested because it put together a pair of female leads who were probably going to be lovers into a situation with a lot of drama, and dang did it deliver on that.  The stakes always feel pretty high, and pretty personal!  And I was pleasantly surprised by how they handled it all around, when Nene-nee made it clear to Shingetsu and Mangetsu that some folks are here for imminently personal reasons, rather than Anna having an inferiority complex to her ex- and a pair of minions who do what she wants. Nene-nee was probably the antagonist they needed to beat there, since she and her sisters are adults and can handle losing out on the easy solution to getting their mother back.  From there, Suishou coming out as a villain in her own right who’s been playing Anna (And exacerbating all the toxic shit Anna beats herself with) works well, culminating in the honestly heart breaking scenes where she forgives Shingetsu, then stabs her mother so she can try to prove her own superiority to ERNESTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA anyway (Yoko Hikasa did a superb job torturing those syllables.) 

Thematically, I think, once the theme first came out more explicitly, I got a bit eye-rolly at first.  But on reflection, I’m fairly sure “There are no quick fixes, and the dream for the quick or sweeping fix can be toxic” is not one that really comes up a lot anymore, so I guess it’s fine, it just feels more common than it is.  And they certainly never actually betray the theme unintentionally.  The most useful thing Magic lets people do in the text is grow flowers or do parlor tricks for real.  We can guess that Nene-nee, Nana, and Mimi were subsisting off it (Presumably by either Jedi Mind Tricking everyone or selling shady immortality), but they do that just as well off of whatever they’re doing in the epilogue (Nene-nee is evidently a teacher, f’rex).  Yes, Magic can heal the curse on Shisui, but the curse on Shisui is itself a form of magic, so it’s hardly uniquely helpful (And Shisui ends up healing her curse herself before the time shenanigans means she never got cursed.)   Equally, Granbelm doesn’t fall into the other failure state of this theme, of  “Trying for the quick fix is thoroughly Bad, especially if you’re in a bad situation.”  The show’s never cruel to Nene-nee and her family for trying to get their mother back, for instance.  Is it the most useful theme?  Nah, but it’s done well - the scenes with Mangetsu coming to terms with it (After having spent a bit more than half of the series glowing about how awesome her mecha is) are a favorite.  I do think the series could have stood to just not even engage in some of that ‘is she human’ stuff that Japanese media generally tends to spend more time on (Even tho it does come down quite emphatically on ‘ye she is’ at least).  I also liked that Mangetsu got to respond to “You’re just here for your friends, your family, and your lover” with “yeah, so what?  So what if I don’t have a Grand Thesis on How To Save The World?”

The ending was also well done.  I think I’d rather a longer epilogue, to be honest - Whether the show could have done more with more slice of life elements is debatable, maybe, but the ending definitely could have.  And while I get that we can infer that yes, Anna and Kuon get to live too, rather than having to stay dead while Mangetsu comes back... I still want to actually see Anna get the hugs she needs (in particular.)  I like her! ( I liked all the gals, the characters are really all quite good.)  And we were tragically robbed of seeing more of Shisui, the super-cool amazing big sis... who’s actually kind of a space case derp, her younger sister just dotes on her.  A slower paced epilogue would be very nice.  But it does work as is, and with Mangetsu coming back... makes it clear that the others do as well.  And indeed, the girls are all going to get the lives they wanted; Nene-nee and her family presumably never lost their mother (As whatever Magical bullshit she got into that altered her mind never happened,) Shisui and Kuon are presumably living together, and Anna...  will get to actually live a normal life (And because she was superb at basically everything but magic, she’ll presumably excel now, though she’s lost any memory of her ex-).  The only one who kinda gets left high and dry is Suishou... and Suishou probably didn’t want a happy life at all.  ...also, Shingetsu’s regular moon-bunny ninja princess outfit is far superior to her stealing Mangetsu’s clothes and hastily stitching them onto her own in the scene at Magiaconatus.  That was a little silly as a design. :V

So many of the details are superbly done as well.  YAoi handles Suishou amazingly and gets to flex her muscles as an actress with a shitload of range, convincingly pulling off that range with just one bastard of a gal.  And similarly, Suishou’s look in the OP, and the way her mecha is so thoroughly a Minion’s mecha... until it turns out, she’s the villain (...sorta!  She gets kind of a raw deal too!) , and her mecha correspondingly switches to be more Demon Lord-looking.  The spirits were a nice touch I’d like to have seen more of.  The animation is just so fucking top notch.  And while you can be annoyed Mangetsu’s a mech, the way they actually did the protagonist switch is pretty good.

My only real complaint is pretty moderate.  I *really* liked a lot of the mid-game where it becomes clear Shingetsu and Mangetsu have The Depression, that depression manifests in different ways for them, and both are dealing with it as best they can.  That gets handled well while it has the camera on it, but ends up falling out of focus with the reveal that Mangetsu’s depression is more directly magical, since she’s a magical construct.  The show could probably have worked with that a lot longer and been different, and fairly interesting; and while it’s on screen, it’s legitimately very good.  Probably something I’d like better, personally.  But where it ends up going was still quite good, so hey.  The other thing I really didn’t like was people’s tendency to jump to Madoka as their point of comparison.  It’s... it’s just not.  Really at all.  If I were going to compare it to something recent (Though Madoka’s more quasi-recent by now) it’d be Revue Starlight (Though it’s not oriented on queer issues, which is pretty damn important to Starlight itself, so that comparison’s more superficial too, tbf.  But it’s also a damn sight more accurate.)

[arihuntress]

OMG looove that🤣😭

ending of the dark prophecy summarized