#/i'm/ not done with thesis yet

[guaxinimraccoon]

Are you okay??? Is it school cause I totally understand but it’s been like almost 3 months

HI YES HELLO I'M ALIVE AND I'M FREE

I'M FINALLY FREE

I was REALLY REALLY busy the last few months because I was working on my final college thesis

BUT NOW IT'S DONE, I ALREADY PRESENTED IT AND IT WAS APROVED!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I was kinda hyper focused on it so I was physically unable to do or pay attention to anything else, I missed drawing for myself SO MUCH

BUT I'M HERE, I SURVIVED AND I NO LONGER OWE ANYTHING TO COLLEGE

And i'm ready to put this trash can back to it's functional works let's goooooo

[purpurussy]

.

[squealing-for-harusono-sensei]

Is Sasaki to Miyano BL? (Pt. 1: Genre is COMPLICATED)

I can practically hear some saying "Obviously??" And others yelling "NO IT'S NOT!!!" to that question.

For those of you who don't get why this is even in question, it's because Harusono-sensei doesn't classify Sasaki to Miyano as BL. The first volume cover denies that it's BL and on the site where it's published, it isn't categorized as BL.

Some may argue that it doesn't matter. It's about two boys who end up together, isn't that enough? "Death of the author" and all that.

I studied literature in college. Admittedly, I had a hard time understanding genre–so I had it as one of the main topics of my graduating thesis out of spite. And got the best possible grade. So I think it's safe to assume that I learned and know more about this than the majority of this fandom. And I say, that question? Is VERY complicated to answer.

The thing is, a lot of people think of genre as a binary. Either something is or isn't a part of that genre. In reality, it's closer to a spectrum and there are a lot of grey areas.

Take the arguments I presented for and against Sasaki to Miyano being BL. How much you buy into either of those arguments is largely depended on

1) Who you think has the most authority over what genre a work is. Is it the author or the reader?

2) What makes a BL BL? Is love between two boys really the only factor?

Neither of these have a clear answer. The reason why I was so confused about genre was because the academic world don't agree on what it even is. We all agree that genre is a thing, but we can't define it.

As I see it, genre is a byproduct of the human instinct to see patterns in things. We see a story and go "This is like that other story!" Once we have a large enough amount of stories that resemble each other and we give that group a name, BAM! We have a new genre.

Which is why defining it is so hard. Stories can be similar in a lot of different ways. But stories aren't similar if they only have one commonality. And yet we tend to boil the similarities down to only one aspect.

Take the isekai genre. Stories about going to another world goes WAY back. And yet, it's only within the last decade that we gave them that name. As I see it, it's because earlier they were similar enough to fantasy stories to simply be lumped into that genre. Whether the main character was born into a magical world or came into it later in life didn't change things enough for those stories to be dissimilar. At most it was a sub-genre of fantasy (e.g. portal fantasy). But suddenly we got a lot of stories about being transported into another world that were very similar in a distinct way. The main character was similar. They ended up in similar worlds. They were, for one reason or another, OP in this new world. They had similar tropes, characters, plot progressions. So these stories were given a name–isekai. Meaning different world. And then, because being transported to another world is the most distinct feature, all stories with that premise is categorized as isekai regardless of how well the term actually fits. (Although if it only has the premise as point of similarity, veterans of the genre will typically say that it is only technically isekai, or distinguish it from other isekai in some other way.)

Looping back to BL, if romance between two boys is the only defining factor, we can't call BL a genre...right? Well, yes, but once something is a genre things get even more complicated.

But does it have to be? Couldn't we just solve it by having the author decide the genre?

Sadly, authors are not immune misclassifying their works. Authors are not immune to misunderstanding genres, for one, though I think we can safely rule out any of those reasons in this case. Harusono-sensei clearly knows a lot about BL–a lot of Sasaki to Miyano's humor wouldn't work otherwise. However, that doesn't rule out not being able to see the forest for the trees. Sometimes an author is too close to their work to recognize the genre because they get bogged down in all the details that make their work unique. There is also the possibility of Harusono-sensei just plain lying to us. Because sometimes authors do that.

But why would an author ever want to lie about the genre? Because genre shapes expectations.

This is why the question of what genre a work is even matters. In worst case scenarios, it's like eating something sour when you were expecting something sweet. You probably wouldn't like it, even though you would have liked it if you had known it would be sour. The worst case scenario isn't relevant for this question, but the point is that being told that something is a specific genre is going to affect how you experience the story.

Regardless of whether or not Sasaki to Miyano is or isn't BL, Harusono-sensei did have something in mind when she called it Boys' Life instead of BL. So whenever you recommend it, I think it's worth pointing out that it's a Boys' Life story. Because that's the expectation that Harusono-sensei intended for readers to have.

Does that then exclude Sasaki to Miyano from the BL genre? Not necessarily. Partly because I think that Harusono-sensei is half lying about the "not a BL" thing. More about that in part two, where I explore what I think Harusono-sensei intended with calling Sasaki to Miyano a Boys' Life story, NOT a BL.

But I did mention that the author might not be the most reliable source of what genre the work is. So I probably should try to answer the question instead of just making it more complicated.

If you try to rationally figure out the answer instead of just going by "I know it when I see it," there are a couple of different ways to do it.

One way of thinking about genre is that it's a collection of common traits that might occur in a genre. It might common character types (e.g. badboy uke), common tropes (e.g. kabedon), common plot developments (e.g. misunderstandings), etc. etc. Some are more critical than others. If there is no romance between two boys then it is categorically not BL.

Another is seeing genre as there being an imaginary story that perfectly exemplifies a genre. Whether or not a story is a part of that genre depends on how close it is to that ideal genre story.

These are just some examples, but the problem is that there isn't really a clear cut answer no matter how you try to figure out a genre. A lot is up to personal interpretation. Plus genre keeps changing. Each new story that is widely accepted as a part of that genre broadens what the genre can be.

Plus the simple fact that no one can read every story that may or may not be a part of a specific genre. I tend to avoid dark stories and have gotten less and less tolerant towards non-consent with age. So there are parts of the BL genre that I don't really engage with. Which then affects how I view the genre.

As I see it, the more you read a genre, the better your understanding of it is. And everyone who are avid readers of a genre will have similar but slightly different understandings of the genre.

Trying to figure out what genre Sasaki to Miyano is the rational way is way more work than I am willing to do. And realistically, kinda impossible. So I'll just give my two cents as someone who has read a lot of BL.

Sasaki to Miyano is partly BL. Which probably sounds like a cop-out answer, but I do mean it. While wholesome, it works a lot more on real world logic than BL logic and also focuses on things outside of Sasaki and Miyano's relationship. But the focus on the romantic aspect of Sasaki and Miyano's relationship, dealing with some of the same themes as BL, and the importance of the BL genre on the story can't be ignored either. So I consider it a fusion of BL and slice-of-life.

But if you read a lot of BL and have a different take? Then it's just as valid as mine.

[lesbianlotties]

i'm being so serious when i say that i literally can't imagine how happy i will be when i'm officially 100% done with my thesis

[girlpetrarca]

an email has been sent.

[mchiti]

i'm so weak for men with long eyelashes and big brown eyes.

[essektheylyss]

Is there any Essek scene in particular you’re hoping is included in the show?

Oh man oh god oh fuck. This list could go on SO long.

To be fair, the thing with Essek is that there are a lot of very small and fun but not narratively load-bearing scenes, and then a few major scenes that have a decent amount of narrative weight to them. For instance, the first study scene (the second is important but could be combined into it if that the pace required it), the Scourger incident, the dinner, and most of episode 97 have a lot of narrative impact, either for Caleb's arc or for the plot as a whole. I've already suggested I need to see the ninth floor tower conversation animated like a fish needs water to breathe, and I'd love both the times Essek physically pulls Caleb out of danger, of course.

There's also a lot of wiggle room in how you pace the Nein and break up their arcs (which I think was more rigid translating campaign 1 to LoVM—even when arcs are shifted around, the sequences of events are kept somewhat orderly) which means that speculation is pretty hard, particularly when it comes to Essek, who meets the Nein so far into the campaign. Basically, any of these things might not be as narratively necessary by then, depending on what they choose to cut or focus in on. I could speculate on that, and I'm sure I will extensively, but at a certain point I might as well just write a series worth of scripts as a fun side project.

That being said, I do really hope the Scourger scene remains, because it is so cinematically interesting, and I do consider it a major turning point between the wizards, regardless of either of them realizing it at the time or not.

And I also really want to watch him have a panic attack over whiskey cocoa. It is in no way load-bearing, but nonetheless, I would like to see it, and I think I deserve it.

[nefertittythegreat]

[thelaststarfalling]

just once i'd like to complete one (1) bigger project that i can actually be proud of

[running-in-the-dark]

my (virtual) meeting with my thesis advisor is in... 7 hours. I'm sort of almost finished writing the exposé that I was supposed to write. sort of. I'll probably need another hour or two until I feel okay enough about it to actually get any sleep.

unfortunately my left arm is realllly starting to hurt and I can't lift it much anymore (thanks to the covid booster I got today). hopefully I'll get it done anyway. and hopefully the pain won't be so bad that I can't sleep.

[lieutenantselnia]

Davy appreciation post for no other reason than I adore him💕💕 I love the variety of his facial expressions, and how he can pull off both soft and smug looks so well. Just look at him how can you not want to smother that face in kisses!

[rapha-reads]

No, seriously, what the FUCK is going on with this summer. Why is everything so weird and happening all at once.

I need it all to stop because I don't know how much longer I can deal with the weirdness.

Personal rant below, to avoid spamming your dash.

My mother cheats with a guy 32 years younger than her. Alright. She wants a divorce from my father and starts spewing shit about him. Um, okay. My father goes into depression, rage, pain, stability, rince and repeat. Sure, no problem, I know his character and I understand what's going on with him right now. My own anger, pain and incomprehension can take the backseat.

My father's water well suddenly stops working for 3 weeks, impossible to water the trees in the middle of a summer from hell. Problem, but after weeks of checking everything, wasting money on pieces of the pump and ferrying around workers, we manage to find that the problem is neither the pump nor the water levels, but the pipe that was cracked on like 5cm and it only needed to be cut. 3 weeks and thousands of dirhams wasted for nothing. Really annoying.

Weird lights in the sky, sudden gusts of wind carrying around sand and dust, heat, no rain, dry storms... Yeah. Eerie on the good days, downright creepy scary on the bad days.

The dog next house that we go give water every couple of days to avoid seeing him die of neglect before our eyes, climbing the wall and improvising a machinery to get him water. Weird, but okay. The owner of the dog actually made an appearance, my father scolded him in his very polite but firm way, told him that I was giving the dog water and to leave the rope we se to get the jerrycan, the owner agreed (he's a distant cousin of my father, welcome to Moroccan countryside, family tree more like family maze).

But now, half an hour ago, my dad is chilling in the garden talking with one of his cousins, my sister is inside reading, I'm on the veranda reading, all lights are turned off, when suddenly there's a guy entering the backyard where we have a peach tree with a couple of green peaches and the windows of our bedrooms. He just. Jumped down a wall, stole a peach, run across the backyard in front of my sister's room where she was about to get changed, climbed the back stairs and jumped over another wall.

... WHAT.

And then my father apparently saw him from the garden, and barefoot went running after him, and apparently ran around the entire village after him, met one of his cousins and his nephew, came back home without catching the guy (not even a guy, a teenager, 15-16yo). Sister and I are just about giving up on trying to understand the weirdness of the entire summer, deciding on going to give water to the dog before going to bed. I'm reaching the top of the wall when suddenly my uncle, his wife, his brother-in-law, my two cousins, my father's cousin that was there at the beginning all arrive. Oh, I forgot to mention, it's HALF PAST MIDNIGHT.

I'm. I'm fucking giving up, how in the name of SANITY am I supposed to write a bloody master's thesis in these circumstances??? I forgot to mention my sister's heart problems, the people building houses all around my dad's field and the weird encounters we have with these foreigners who already know of our reputation (did I mention that my father is kinda famous/infamous in the region because he doesn't bow down to the corrupted authorities like everyone else... That brings troubles too), the countless taxi trips to get to the town to by groceries and counting every coin because we have neither car nor money, both belonging to my mother, my mother moving houses, my mother in general...

I AM DONE. (they say, knowing full well they can't actually be excused from the narrative because their most important people need them)

[cozy-the-overlord]

I hate everything but my writing most of all 

[deermouth]

https://deermouth.tumblr.com/tagged/you-let-us-in

[navramanan]

The bio profs at my uni are so 🥺🥺🫶🏼🫶🏼

[bibiana112]

Officially at so distressed that I broke my stim toy levels of autism