#Final Fantasy 8 review

[zambogirlpiano]

Final Fantasy VIII - "Julia" - Piano Tutorial [BEGINNER]

🍥This is a #synthesia #tutorial of “Julia” from #finalfantasy8

📻Source ▶Video Game: Final Fantasy VIII

🎹Music sheet ▶Patreon: patreon.com/ZamboGirlPiano

I accept song request in Patreon

Subscribe and like if you want to see more of my Tutorials. Leave a comment to help the channel ~ Bye

[eggbert9000-blog]

My Thoughts on Final Fantasy VIII (PSX)

Recently my best friend decided to play through Final Fantasy VIII and it rekindled my love that I have for the game. I first beat the game around a year ago and I really enjoyed it personally. Generally in the Final Fantasy community this game is seen as pretty hit or miss, some people like it, while some people don't like it, and I'm definitely in the camp that really likes it. So I thought it would be fun to talk about why I actually think this game is pretty good. There's a lot to love about what this game did, but ill also pay attention to some problems as well don't worry. Hopefully I can convince someone that this game is actually worth playing! I first played the PC remaster that released on Steam and I think it's the best version, some people prefer the older PSX models, but I think the new ones look just as good and don't take away from the experience personally. With that being said let's get into it.

So what did I think?

Well I already said that I really enjoyed this game. But to extend on that, I didn't nearly find it as bad as people online usually say it is. What I knew before going into it was that it was a very experimental Final Fantasy, and I can totally see that. The huge debate of its quality usually comes from it's mechanics, which ill admit, can be a little flawed. But I really didn't think that it was that bad, the perfect example being the main mechanic of FF8.

Juctioning (and why it's not that bad)

For those not familiar with Final Fantasy VIII, Juctioning is the main way that your characters get stat gains, and by equipping a Guardian Force (GF), you can junction your spells to your stats and they increase.

Juctioning is one of the most controversial mechanic surrounding FF8. It can be overly confusing at times and it encourages hoarding of spells, because if you use spells, your stats are affected. Another being that it removes most character identity, basically making everyone blank slates. My solution that I came up with is to just to split up my magic stock for offense and defense, Let's say that I had Blizzaga juctioned to my magic stat while I would cast something like Flare or Thundaga. Another thing is that you don't always have to junction your strongest magic to your stats, if you want to use them then you are free to not junction them and use them offensively, take the example of flare I just gave.

Another thing is just to not worry about your stock too much, 62 Fira's juctioned to your strength stat is not going to drastically decrease if you decide to use a few of them. I found juctioning quite interesting and it forced me to think about how I wanted to use magic and what for. It also allowed for some neat customization, not as much as say, FF7 or FF6, but it still allowed me to be free with how I wanted to build every character. My Squall for example I wanted to focus on being a physical attacker because of his gunblade followups and limit breaks, so I junctioned Tornado to his strength and just firaga to his magic just in case he needed to cast some spells.

As for the characters becoming blank slates, I would argue it is not that much of a problem. I mean, Final Fantasy VII did something similar with the materia system (although that system is a lot more robust than junctioning) and it was alright there. And FF8 has their individual limit break for each character like FF7, and I think it plays a similar role in this game for distinguishing uniqueness for each character. Sometimes I would choose characters over each other just for their limit breaks, especially when I had spells like Aura.

(Irvine's limit break is one of the coolest moves like, ever)

So to put it in short, I don't think junctioning is as bad as people say, I actually really liked it because it made me think about how I was using my magic, and allowed me to still customize my party to how I like.

Guardian Forces

Another, admittedly understandable, complaint towards FF8 is the level scaling system. After all, why fight anything if you are powering up the enemies by levelling up yourself, and that there is no monetary incentive to battling either? It sounds pretty detrimental for a JRPG to not have any real gains after a fight. However, there is actually a reason you would want to fight and kill enemies, the Guardian Forces.

Guardian Forces are way more important than character level ups, because they are the main source of strength for your party. Juctioning is connected to your GF's and your GF's gain experience and level up much like your own party, which can only be gained through battling. GF's abilities too are gained by AP from winning battles. This is almost akin to Final Fantasy V's job level up system, where more often than not, the job level up is more important than the character level up.

And GF abilites is another layer of customization that you can apply to your party, with custom menu commands and even just % increases to a stat. Remember how I said I wanted squall to be a physical attacker? Well of course he would get Str+20% and +40%. And why not Auto-Haste and Mug? It would allow him to attack faster and earn some items along the way. It would be pretty hard to get these useful abilities if you just ran from every fight. To me it became a challenge of how I could become stronger than my enemy while keeping my level moderately low.

It was exciting to unlock a new GF and see what kind of abilites I could learn and apply to my battles. Another thing while i'm still on the topic of levels, sort of unrelated to GF's, is that you really don't have to worry about keeping your level super low. You can manage through the game just by fighting most of the random encounters. The game is not particularly hard, so don't worry too much about being around level 30 or 40 near the end. In fact, the Cactuar GF gives stat increases like a traditional level up, so once you get him then you are free to grind out levels to your hearts content! (like me).

The Story and Characters

The story is something that I think is actually pretty great. I know it kind of gets wild around the middle of Disc 3 to 4 but I think as a whole it was something that I really enjoyed. I particularly like Squall's development, and how he starts off as a secluded and introverted person and how he learns to appreciate his friends and the bonds he made, especially with Rinoa. I actually found Squall to be really relatable, especially as a person who had a shotty self image of himself at the time. Squalls journey actually helped me appreciate the people around me more and that's a little embarrassing to say but its true. As for the other characters they are pretty good. They aren't as good as characters seen in other FF games, but I still really enjoyed them. Two of my favourites ended up being Irvine and Selphie (if you couldn't tell by them being in every screenshot of mine), and Rinoa was a really fun contrast to Squall. I also really enjoy Seifer as a rival, it was really interesting to fight him over and over, and I ended up almost feeling pity for him. As for the story itself is pretty neat, its pretty wild but I sort of found an enjoyment from that. I think this plot is mostly focused on the characters and their relationships and less so the plot itself. I know my points about the story and character seem kind of scattered (because it's been a while since i've played the game), but I wanted to show that there was a lot worth remembering about the story, like the end of Disc 1 or the various times FMV's play while you can control things. It's very memorable.

(This scene has one of the best songs in the game by the way).

Other things that I liked

As it goes with most Final Fantasy games, the soundtrack is incredible, in fact I would say it has one of the best soundtracks in Final Fantasy period. Songs like Fishermans Horizon, Under Her Control, The Salt Flats, Premonition, and of course, The Extreme, are some of my favourite Final Fantasy songs ever. One special shoutout to Eyes on Me.

Another thing I really liked was the atmophere. It's considerably different from any FF game before it, where they were all fantasy, industrial, steampunk, etc... FF8 has a more modern feel to it which is really cool. Like there are chocobos and other fantastical elements, but at the same time you have places like Deling or more stereotypical futuristic areas like Esthar. I also just really liked exploring the world, especially when I got the Ragnarok. I won't forget when I descovered places like Cactuar Island, the Centra Ruins, and especially the Islands Closest to Hell and Heaven. I spent a lot of time on the latter grabbing the hidden draw points and grinding for levels.

And of course you have to mention THE BEST side game in any video game, Triple Triad baybee. I remember I actually did not play any Triple Triad when playing the main game but I was curious to why so many people liked it, and there went a good chunk of my hours playing this game. I liked it so much that I ended up making a different Triple Triad save. It's so simple but it requires you to be strategic and think about the multiple layers of complexity that comes from your hand, the opponents hand, the rule-set, etc... it became addicting. If you play FF8, try Triple Triad, it is pretty awesome.

Conclusion

I sort of structured this post differently than my other post, playing more defensive than I usually would. But my goal with this post was to show that there is real reason to like Final Fantasy VIII. The mechanics aren't as flawed as people say. And I remember being really confused when people said this game was one of the weaker Final Fantasy's. Beating this game gave me a sort of appreciation for underrated JRPG's and it further solidified that no matter what, I love Final Fantasy. And even if 8 weaker than some other games, what's there is still an incredible experience that I think is worth playing. So if you have put it off for whatever reason, please give it a shot, It's very underrated and deserves more recognition in my eyes. The Remaster inn my opinion is the best version, but emulating the PSX version will also give you about an equal experience though, speedup is helpful in this game, whether it's for traversal or drawing spells. Well with that being said glory to Final Fantasy and thank you for reading!

[ladyirisreviews]

Final Fantasy 8 - Review

We finally arrive at the infamous Final Fantasy 8. Before I played it, I was under the impression that it would be the worst Final Fantasy game in most aspects, but the reality is more complicated than I expected.

Like, no doubt this game has very obvious problems you can't just overlook, but behind all of the problems there were ideas that could have been executed better and would have resulted in a much better game, I like the base ideas of this game a lot, but it misses the mark is such obvious ways it's kind of sad.

This game has the most complicated plot so far in the series, with the most reveals out of any game for sure, but I'll try to keep the summary just to the starting incident.

You follow Squall, a student in a military school called Balamb Garden, as he is about to undergo a field test to become a SeeD, an operative that does jobs for people and organizations from various parts of the world that commission the garden to do so, with the garden acting more or less as a mercenary group.

The field test turns out to be a mission to protect a kingdom called Dollet, from an invasion from the republic of Galbadia. Squall's rival, Seifer, is assigned the captain of his team, consisting of them both, and Zell, a hyperactive martial artist, Squall and Zell follow orders, but Seifer decides to act on his own, forfeiting his chances at passing the test.

Squall and Zell pass the test, alongside a transfer student called Selphie, and they are immediately assigned on a mission to aid a resistance group called the Forest Owls, who oppose the Galbadian occupation in the city of Timber. it's in this mission that Squall and his team learn the true nature of the Galbadian army and their recent hostilities.

So the plot in this game is kind of all over the place, even more so than in Final Fantasy 7, there are a lot of early mysteries that make the game very confusing on the first pass, and there's also a lot of unsatisfying answers to these mysteries and reveals that don't quite make an impact.

But even if I have a lot of issues with the game's plot, it does still have good moments and character interactions, with some flashback scenes being my favorite parts of the game, and the character pairing being actually genius in my opinion.

Squall is a lame character, he is ultra-serious and doesn't communicate properly with people or let them know how he is feeling, which contrasts with how unserious the rest of the main cast is, with some of them regularly making fun of him for putting such a tough exterior, so on the surface I do like the characters a lot, but it's towards the end of the game and with the numerous reveals that they kind of muddle the relationship between the characters and makes things complicated for no reason.

The same criticism goes for the plot in general, there are a lot of unnecessarily complicated things in it that make it less compelling than it could be. Most of the ideas are actually very interesting and if done well, this could have been one of the better plots in the whole series.

Not only do I think the plot is flawed, but the gameplay also has its fair share of flaws.

Once again, the main battle system is the ATB, with 3 characters active in your party at most, just like in Final Fantasy 7.

The limit break system is back but with a big change, instead of limit breaks having a gauge that fills as you take damage, when you hit around 30% health you will have a chance to use your limit break, the lower your HP is the higher the chance, making them a matter of luck instead of something consistent, through most of the game anyway.

Instead of learning magic you collect it and equip it to your characters, each can have a maximum of 100 copies of any spell, and upon casting the spell you use up a copy as if it were an item, MP is not a thing on this game.

The big systems this time are the Guardian Force system and the Junction system, the Guardian Forces, shortened to GFs, are summons you can equip to your characters, you are free to use the summon on every fight as many times as you want without using any resources, also characters can equip as many GFs as they want.

GFs can level up by gaining EXP at the end of combat, dividing the EXP the character gained by the number of guardian forces it currently has equipped. GFs can also learn new abilities by gaining AP at the end of combat, which is not divided like with EXP, everyone gains the same amount of AP.

One type of GF ability is being able to Junction a spell to a certain stat, boosting the stat considerably, different types of spells boost stats by a different amount, and each copy of it a character has increases the stat by the same factor.

The stats you can Junction vary from GF to GF, so you need to equip multiple on every character to be able to Junction most stats at the same time.

Another GF ability that only a few have is being able to transform enemies into cards, the lower the enemy's hp the more likely they will be transformed into cards, also enemies transformed into cards won't give you EXP, but they will give you AP, the same goes for enemies turned to stone.

The purpose of these cards is to play a minigame which I'll describe later, and to transform into items and spells with other GF abilities.

Finally, there's a command called Draw to steal spells from enemies, the spells you can steal depend on the enemy and the level of said enemy, the amount of spells you draw also depends on the user's magic stat and no more than 9 spells can be drawn per character on one turn.

That was a lot, but it was needed to explain it all to properly explain my issues with the general gameplay. As you can notice, everything links back to the Junction system and the GF system, and to me, the weak link of it all, that makes the gameplay be frustrating and grindy, is the fact you lose spells when you use them.

Spells are tied to your stats, so using spells that are junctioned immediately reduces your stats, so right away you are discouraged from using your spells, not to mention that to even get good stats you need to grind for the spells, so getting to the 100 cap for a spell takes longer if you are using them in between you grinding for it.

The grinding itself is also quite slow, forcing you to spend several minutes on a single encounter to max out on the spells they offer. In some situations, you can't even replenish your spells due to you getting them from a boss fight or card and item synthesis, and these stronger spells rarely come up on random encounters, so these stronger spells are even more of a no-go and should be limited to only junction to a stat.

All of this makes using magic in combat feel like something that should be avoided, and to only rely on your normal attacks or GF summon, which makes the battles stale, not to mention the summon animations are kind of long, the draw command also can immediately cast a drawn spell, making it not cost anything and letting you continue with your arsenal maxed, but you are limited to the spells the enemies have, which most likely they will resist, and when you cast spells in that way they are considerably weaker, so it's not even worth it most of the time.

The game also punishes you if you play the game as if it were a normal RPG, leveling up shouldn't have a negative connotation but in this game it does, leveling up not only increases your level but also increases the levels of the enemies you encounter, meaning everything grows stronger alongside you, so ideally you actually want to avoid leveling up.

To avoid getting EXP you need to either turn enemies into stone or turn them into cards, which adds an annoying layer to the combat, not every enemy is susceptible to being turned into stone, but turning them into cards can be very tedious, you need to be careful to not be so strong that you kill the enemies in one hit, but also deal enough damage to make them close to death, and then have luck on your side so they actually get turned into cards.

This makes the gameplay loop boil down to:

Holding back against random enemies.

Spending minutes drawing their magic if you don't have it already.

Turning them to stone.

Attempting for minutes at a time to transform them into cards if you can't turn them to stone.

Checking if the cards can be turned into a strong spell or item that can be transformed into a strong spell.

Not using the cool spells because they are more useful being junctioned to a stat.

And repeat endlessly.

And like I mentioned, most of the frustration is because spells are lost when used, it would still be frustrating if that wasn't the case because of the leveling system, but at least you would be free to experiment in battles without worrying about your stats and having to replenish used spells.

The leveling situation is also the reason limit breaks are useless unless you are fighting a boss, using them on normal enemies will just make the game harder so there's really no point, and even on bosses it can be easily abused. Because there's a random chance you will get to use it when your hp is low, you can constantly press the change character button to reroll that chance to guarantee it every time, or use a late-game spell that lets you do them no matter what, an exploit that wouldn't exist if the gauge worked like in Final Fantasy 7, and even if the exploit was not a thing, depending entirely on luck to unleash your best attacks feels lame to me.

This shows the reluctance of the Final Fantasy team to reuse concepts and polish them, they always want to add a new gimmick, which is respectable, but it sadly means they almost never get to polish already established systems, and in this case, with such a flawed, but interesting system, it's sad to know it was never picked up again.

There's also the card minigame, each monster, and all major characters have cards, and each card has a number for each side, the way the game is played is on a 3x3 board, with a player randomly selected to go first playing a card wherever they want, followed then by the other player, if upon setting a card, it touches an opponent's card, the game checks if the number in the side of the card that was played is higher than the side of the card it touched, and if it is the card is flipped, changing its color to that of the player that flipped it, this goes on until all 9 spots on the board are filled.

Upon victory, you can pick one of the cards you flipped, but there are special rules in different parts of the world, which you can then spread to other parts of the world, which is a confusing process to me, but it can make winning cards way faster, there's also some special rules to the game itself that can also spread.

It's a fun minigame, but the reward being cards links it back to the Junction system, which ultimately means it's an alternative grinding method, one that doesn't require you to fight at all, and if you spread rules correctly it transforms into the most efficient grinding method, which makes me feel conflicted about the game even more, a minigame being more rewarding than the actual main game is just bizarre to me.

But after all this criticism it doesn't mean the game can't be fun, bosses can be very fun, if you ignore trying to steal as many spells as possible from them, and the final dungeon is definitely the best one out of all Final Fantasy games I have played so far, dungeons are not the series' strength but this final dungeon is very good indeed.

Also if you asked me I would say this game deserved a remake more than Final Fantasy 7, not because this is a better game, it definitely is not, but because the amount of improvements they could have made is far greater.

If spells weren't used up when casting them it would immediately be a better game, if they still don't want an MP system it could be replaced with spells having a cooldown to avoid spamming, and to make random encounters not tedious they could limit the number of spells that can be drawn to just a few, making progression feel more organic rather than a grind-fest.

But yeah in short, this game is as bad as I expected and at the same time way better than I had expected, parts of the plot really stuck with me and I did have fun sometimes with the gameplay, next time I play I will be using the built-in cheats to max out spells I get, which will make the gameplay so much better to me, and will let me experience the moments I liked without it being a chore to get to them.

As for if I would recommend this game, I would only do so if you already have played most Final Fantasy games and want to see something different in the main series, you could appreciate what it tries to do with its systems but you really need to have tempered expectations, at least it is very likely you could like most characters, so that's something you could look forward to, but if you wanted me to recommend a really good game, this one isn't it.

[slumbering-girl]

Finally finished with FF8

And here are some incoherent thoughts and a giant cactuar.

I think I only made it through with the emulator speedup feature, because the game is sooo slow in combat. Some combat animations takes ages. I also cheated a bit with save states.

I got most of the girlfriends (Guardian Force), some only because save states and a guide, but I tried going through unspoiled. I ignored most of the side content, the base game was enough and I didn't find Chocobo hunting or advanced card game rule manipulations enjoyable.

Graphics were great for PS1 game, I couldn't believe what they could do on this system!

Combat and stat management was also very much enjoyable (minus the speed of some parts of it), although I had to create a spreadsheet to see where to put my GF's strengths. I enjoyed the controversial magic system also.

Cast was very much likeable, including Squall which was a bit of a jerk, but at least it was explained why. I also cried a bit.

The last dungeon was urgh, as usual in most of jrpgs, but final boss was somehow very easy, much easier than one optional girlfriend fight.

Overall, it was a nice play, much better than FF7!

[melaniem54]

Review: The Grip of Death (Arcane Hearts Book 8) by Nazri Noor

Rating: 4.5🌈 The Grip of Death does it job! It pulls together all the many fabulous characters, various universes, and multiple storylines to give the long term romance of Jackson Pryde and his fiancée, Xander Wright, the wedding of Jackson ‘s wildest dreams and end the series longest running mystery.  That’s a lot of elements and stuff to jam into one book. Because at eight books, this couple…

[thevellaunderground]

The Symphony of Pixels: Gaming’s Musical Evolution in 2024

1. The Rise of Dynamic Soundscapes 2024 saw the introduction of dynamic soundscapes that adapt to player actions, creating a unique auditory experience. Game songs like Minecraft’s “Eld Unknown” and “Featherfall” have utilized this technology to enhance immersion, where the music changes tempo, intensity, and even genre based on gameplay. In 2024, the gaming industry has witnessed a significant…

[henriquelage]

Nostalgia can be a bad partner, but what about anti-nostalgia? What is the value of the things we leave behind? Why does “Final Fantasy” approach the JRPG genre in a different way? What does it have in common with “Star Wars”?

(with ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

[feyburner]

Hosted my most elaborate LOTRathon + feast yet. 12 hours, 12 people, 8 courses, 2 spreadsheets, planned & executed by yours truly. I took Friday off work to prepare.

Some details under the cut.

I’ve always wanted to do a real Hobbit-style feast (instead of typical afternoon grazing board + dinner) and this year I finally did it! All the planning paid off, it went off without a hitch. 😎 Early reviews included the words “insane” and “deranged” (honorary).

As for the menu, I took inspiration from other people’s LOTR feasts (mostly from Reddit, Pinterest, etc). However I wanted mine to be sliiiightly less carb-intensive than a lot of the ones I saw, considering we’d be eating ALL day and I didn’t want everyone to get too full too early lol. So I tried to alternate heavier courses with lighter courses and served fresh fruit & veg with every course. Some courses, like Dinner (cheese & potato tart), were meant to be more of a taster than a full meal.

I also prioritized menu cohesion/my own preferences over being super “fantasy accurate”. Examples—thin, aromatic shortbread cookies instead of typical thicker/bready Lembas bread, tomato confit instead of typical Full English-style roasted/seared tomatoes.

For recipes, I found a bunch of recipes and often combined elements or used them as a base and adjusted to preference. If anyone’s interested in the recipes I can provide more details.

Finally, I also printed out relevant book/movie quotes and set them out with each course but Tumblr is limiting me on images!

All in all, a very successful showing! 🥕🧅🍅🥓🧀🍓🍇

[ittsybittsybunny]

ATLA Live Action Series Review:

The Good

Aesthetically this show felt right. Sure sometimes the outfits didn't quite feel lived in, but I always felt like I was watching a fantasy world with decent effects and interesting design. Also, I really enjoyed the sets!

Bending: Yes some of the fights feel very quick, but the bending looks cool. It is certainly better than 10 benders lifting one big rock. I can honestly say the opening bending fight scene gave me so much hope for this show.

Kyoshi Warriors: I loved seeing them in live action, and I thought Suki's performance was great!

Omashu: I think the mashup of the mechanist made sense since that is an important character overall and I would hate to see him cut. However, both Jet & the secret tunnels felt sloppily thrown in.

Northern Water Tribe: I really loved the way it looked, and appreciated the two episodes we spent here. I think Yue gained more agency in this interpretation, and why shouldn't the moon spirit be a waterbender. Also, episode seven felt the most in tune with the original show's spirit.

Zuko: I think he was one of the most fleshed-out and best parts of the show! Dallas Liu really captured Zuko's spirit, and the scene between him and Aang in episode 6 was wonderful!

Soundtrack: Hearing the original soundtrack bits is always great, and when I first heard the ending music I was so excited.

Is the show perfect, no - but I wouldn't mind a season 2.

The Bad

Pacing: Turning 20 episodes into 8 was bound to lead to some cuts...but oftentimes times things felt too quick or disjointed. I think there were editing problems contributing to this for sure, but sometimes things skipped around too much without a clear purpose as to why. Also, why bring in plots from later seasons when you barely have enough time already?

Writing: This show definitely suffered from exposition dumping, though it did get better as time went on. I think the biggest example of this is actually opening in the past rather than the present. We do not get to learn along with Aang that the world has changed, instead, we get to learn that 100 years have passed....which doesn't hold the same tension or worldbuilding.

Clunky Dialogue: Along with exposition, clunky dialogue is another example of bad writing. I think sometimes I felt like the acting was kind of meh in the beginning, but then over time I began to realize it had far more to do with the lines characters were trying to deliver. The actors themselves are not bad, just cursed with awkward writing and lines that feel out of touch with the setting they're in.

Main Trio: I don't entirely know that I believe Katara, Sokka, and Aang are friends as opposed to 3 people stuck together to save the world. Aang feels a little too somber for a young kid running away from his responsibilities, Sokka is protective, but not exactly the heart of the team, and Katara is sort of just there until the last two episodes. Where is her struggle, her desire to learn so strong she steals from pirates? Also, while Gordon Cormier did a great job, Aang does zero waterbending on his own, is overly serious, and tells Katara not to fight. Where is his desperation to protect his friends? It feels like they all lost emotional depth.

Tension: Bringing Ozai, Azula, and Zhao out in the beginning immediately causes us to lose the realization there is an even bigger bad. Part of why Ozai is so terrifying is he is a primarily silent villain until the third season when we finally see the face of the "big bad evil guy" behind it all. Yes, they add to Zuko's backstory, but again, they are revealing the villains too early. Azula is the antagonist of season 2 and one of my favorite characters, so I hope they do more with her in the future. Finally, Zhao is supposed to be an example of the uncontrollable nature of fire unrestrained, instead, he comes off as vaguely threatening with the supposed true power being Azula.

Characterization: While all characters are bound to lose something in a shorter show, it still felt like certain characters were more mutilated than others. I am sure there are 100 different opinions on who, but I think the biggest victim was Katara.

Katara: Katara manages to go from a complete novice to a bending master in what feels like a matter of days. The journey feels short, and that makes the results feel largely unearned. Katara is one of the strongest personalities in the show, determined, kind, and fiery. In many ways, she is the unpredictability of water - equally dangerous as it is necessary to live. She is the child of a war who lost her mother, forced to grow up too soon, and even raised her older brother. Yes, Katara often gets stereotyped as the mom friend, but overall she feels underutilized in this show. We really don't see enough of her journey until the very end.

Iroh: Iroh was always comedic but most importantly wise. Even when Zuko is trying to give himself advice, he mimics Iroh. Instead, he seems to be used more as comedic relief without the underlying experience. He just doesn't feel right. Also, he kills Zhao instead of Zhao getting himself killed - which is less about Iroh and more about the writing than anything.

Ozai is weirdly a little too nice. Yes, he burned Zuko and pits his kids against each other, but he feels toned down in a show claiming to be more mature than the original cartoon.

Azula is perhaps more realistically worried about losing her status as the golden child, but she is also missing the cruelty she and her father share. I understand worrying about making your character cartoonishly evil, but the Fire Nation is currently a deeply nationalistic empire trying to control the world. Where is the deep-seated belief that they are better than other people, not just trying to bring balance to the world? There is a line between creating complexity and toning down the very real evil inherent in this plan.

Roku: I can only say what the fuck was that. He was barely there, and not the serious master to Aang's youthful exuberance.

The Ugly

Show, Don't Tell: The show's single biggest issue seems to be speeding through story parts by simply stating things. Instead of allowing the audience to discover, trusting that we are smart enough to understand, let's just blatantly say things like Zuko is the only reason the 41st division is alive to their faces. Even though in the context of the story Ozai literally already said that.... it's the division, the division for Zuko, Zuko's division.

Thematic Misunderstandings: I think this show makes several minor changes with major implications, such as airbenders actively fighting the firebenders, when airbenders are known for their pacifist nature and the lie of an Airbender fighting force is actively propaganda. Similarly, Aang very quickly accepts his role as the avatar and doesn't even run away in the beginning. Without this conflict between his desire to be a carefree child and the fact that the world needs him - the show loses a key aspect of Aang's character. Also, the obsession with downplaying the avatar state as something dangerous feels like a disservice to the tradition, connection, and strength of the avatar, which can be permanently destroyed as the trade-off for that kind of power. It's dangerous for the balance of the entire world, not just because it's powerful!

The Agni Kai: Zuko's fight against his father is one of the defining moments of Ozai's cruelty, not just because he is willing to fight his child, but because Zuko tried to do everything right. Zuko shows deference to his father, apologizes, and most importantly refuses to fight! The determination not to upset his father and still be grievously injured and banished is a hugely important theme for the fire nation and Zuko's life as a whole. He tries to do everything he is supposed to and only regains his father's acceptance after he "kills" Aang. Zuko's struggle between moral vs. social right and wrong in contrast to his family is hugely important to his character.

-----

TLDR: ATLA was a fantastical animated television show that was never afraid to show character development and flaws. When you turn 20 episodes into 8, you are bound to lose something. You hollowed out the middle, leaving the shell of important moments and events without ever wondering if all the times in between formed the true spirit of the show.

Rating: 6.5/10 It's perfectly fine and worth a watch. Not a disaster, but certainly falls flat of the original.

[chronicreativity]

masterlist of places to submit creative writing

it's intimidating thinking about submitting your precious work to judgement, but all the rejections are worth it when you finally get that one glowing acceptance email that puts your anxieties and impostor syndrome to bed. but where do you submit? it can be incredibly overwhelming trying to find the right sites/journals/zines to submit to so i thought i'd create a little collection of places i have found to submit to and i will update it whenever i find new discoveries.

PROSE ONLY

The Fiction Desk

They consider stories between 1k words and 10k words, paying 25 GBP per thousand words for stories they publish and contributors receive two complimentary paperback copies of the anthology. (A submission fee of 5 GBP for stories which sucks)

Extra Teeth

Works of fiction and creative nonfiction between 800 and 4,000 words receive a 140 GBP payment upon publication in the magazine as well as two copies that feature your work. If your work is selected to published online, you get 100 GBP instead. A Scottish based publication that also offers mentorships to budding writers. (Free)

Clarkesworld

Fantasy and sci-fi magazine accepting submissions of fiction from 1k to 22k words, paying 14 cent per word. Make sure you read their submissions page carefully, it gives you a good idea of what they're looking for and what will get you one of those disheartening rejection emails. (Free)

Granta

Open to unsolicited submissions of fiction and non-fiction. Unfortunately they do charge a 3.50 GBP fee for prose submissions, but they do offer 200 free submissions during every opening period (1 March - 31 March, 1 June - 30 June, 1 September - 30 September, 1 December - 31 December) to low income authors. No set minimum or maximum length, but most accepted works fall within 3,000 and 6,000 words.

Indie Bites

A fantasy short fiction publisher looking for clever hooks, strong characters and interesting takes on their issues' themes. Submissions should be no longer than 7,500 words. You get an honorarium of 5 GBP for each piece of yours that they publish - it's not much, but yay money! (Free)

Big Fiction

Novella publishers (7,500-20,000 words) looking for self-contained works of fiction that play with things like the linearity of narratives, perspective, structure and language. (Free)

Strange Horizons

Employing a broad definition of speculative fiction, they offer 10 cents a word for spec fiction up to 10,000 words but preferably around 5,000. (Free)

Fantasy and Science Fiction

They publish fiction up to 25,000 words in length, offering 8-12 cents per word upon publishing. (Free)

Fictive Dream

Short stories from 500 words to 2,500. They want writing with a contemporary feel that explores the human condition. (Free)

POETRY AND PROSE

eunoia review

Up to 10 poems in a single attachment, up to 15,000 words of fiction and creative non-fiction (can be multiple submissions amounting to that or a single piece). It's free to submit to, and they respond in 24 hours (I can vouch for that).

Confingo Magazine

Stories up to 5,000 words of any genre and poems (a max of three) up to 50 lines. Free to submit to and offer a 30 GBP payment to authors whose work is accepted.

Grain Magazine

Another Canadian based publication also supportive of marginalised identities. They accept poems (max. of six pages), fiction (max. of 3,500 words) or three flash fiction works that total 3.5k, literary nonfiction (3,500 words) and queries for works of other forms. All contributors are paid 50 CAD per page to a max of 250. Authors outside of Canada will need to pay a 5 CAD reading fee but they do offer a limited number of fee waivers if this impacts your ability to submit.

BTWN

An up-and-coming lit mag looking for diverse works that play with genres, breaks the rules and is a little weird. They want what typical lit mags reject. Stories up to 7,000 words, non-fiction up to 7,000 words and up to 4 poems totalling no more than 10 pages, hybrid work, comics/graphics up to 5 pages, original periodicals up to 14,000 words of prose or 20 pages of poetry. (Free)

Gutter

Accepting submission in spring and autumn work that challenges, re-imagines or undermines the status quo and pushes at the boundaries of form and function. If your contribution is chosen, you get 30 GBP for your work as well as a complimentary copy of the issue. Up to three poems (no more than 100 lines), fiction and essays (up to 2,500 words)

Whisk(e)y Tit

This one's worth checking out just for their logo. They're looking for fiction whether it's short stories, flash fiction or novel excerpts up to 7,000 words, up to 5 poems, up to 7,000 word essays, screenplays and stage plays (can be full works or excerpts up to 20 pages). (Free)

FOR QUEER AND MARGINALISED WRITERS

Plenitude magazine

A queer-focused Canadian literary magazine accepting poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. They define queer literature as create by queer people. (Free)

Lavender Review

Poetry written by and for lesbians. An annual Sappho's Prize in Poetry takes place every October. (Free)

AC|DC

"A journal for the bent", always open for submissions from queer writers of all experience levels. They lean towards dark and raw writing but are open to everything as long as it's not over 3,000 words. (Free)

Sinister Wisdom

A literary and art journal for lesbians of every background. They accept poetry (up to 5), two short stories or essays OR one longer piece (not exceeding 5,000 words), as well as book reviews (these must be pitched before they are submitted, (Free)

Queerlings

Open annually from Jan 1st to March 31st they publish short stories of any genre (up to 2,000 words), flash fiction/hybrid work (500 words), poetry (up to 3 poems per submission with a 20 line maximum on each) and creative non-fiction (2,000 words) written by queer writers. (Free)

underdog lit mag

Based in the UK, they focus on amplifying emerging and underrepresented writers. If you're female, POC, LGBTQ+, working-class or all of the above with a story of 100-3,500 words that fits their flavour of the month (the last flavour was Magical Realism) send it their way! (Free)

fourteen poems

London-based poetry publishers looking for the most exciting queer poets. You can send up to five emails to them within their deadlines and you get 25 GBP for every poem published.

Froglifter Journal

A press publishing the most dynamic and urgent queer writing. Poets send in 3 to 5 poems (max. 5 pages), writers send in up to 7,500 words of fiction or non-fiction or three flash fiction pieces, and cross-genre creators send in up to 20 pages within the submission windows March 1 to May 1 and September 1 to November 1. (Free)

OTHER SOURCES

Short Stories: X | X | X

Poetry: X

[facts-i-just-made-up]

"Mario & Luigi: Brothership" Cross-Platform Release Marred By Glitches

FIJMU News 11-8-24 by K. Robert Omb

The much anticipated new Mario & Luigi RPG had met with mixed reviews for its native Switch version, but Nintendo's first venture into cross-platform releases hit an even greater challenge when the PS5 version was found to contain several glitches, including numerous assets that don't even belong in the game.

According to Play Station 5 expert Pete Stanton V, "We are seeing leaks from other PS5 character models being accessed by faulty code that worked on Switch, but accesses data outside of the game on PS5. We have already seen assets from Final Fantasy, Blinx, and even the Silent Hill 2 Remake."

The last game mentioned has been most controversial according to local parent Lou Calperrin, who states his 7 year old child had hoped to play an innocent cartoonish Nintendo game, but ended up being chased through the Mushroom Kingdom sewers by someone named Eddie Dombrowski.

According to the young Calperrin child, "He wouldn't stop until Luigi made him some Pizza. He liked that well enough and took a lot of pizza back to some foggy town somewhere." Popular YouTube personality "Silent Hillside" could not be reached for comment on the newly discovered origin of the pizza, because I did not try asking.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - it was a pretty darn good time, frankly

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Feb 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 12fin - Everyone looked like they were having a lot of fun in the fight sequences. I’m very happy for them. I’m not surprised they shot Khem and Chart. A little shocked it wasn’t also Yai, TBH.

I found this final episode rushed. According to rumors, The Sign was originally slated to be 14 eps, and it probably should’ve been. And I don’t say that often about Thai BL. But we all knew it was getting too bloated for its britches, so I'm not surprised they fumbled the ending. For me personally, it just wasn't that bad. It was fine and I was fine with it.

Tho, Billy does not look good with facial fur, messes up those gorgeous angles.

I was ultimately amused that the solution to the mythology thread was simply to talk to the river god and persuaded him to give up... off screen. It felt very old school wuxia. Or like Aeschylus or something. I did adore the stinger, Saint was basically like “I want wings too”. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it. Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was. Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not. Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing. I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired. Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN and that gets a 9/10 from me.

I'm thinking of doing a full recap review (partly because I have so many great screen shots.)

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube grey) ep 10-11 of 12 - Since this series is following the yaoi so closely, I knew these were the separation eps. (Also I knew with would be a soft non-doom ep 11, Japan rarerly does these.) I like that they used it to show improve communication and development in all relationships, but, frankly, TayNew are just best when they are TayNew together on screen. So yeah. Let’s keep them back together, please?

Meanwhile, TayNew gifted us a gorgeous loving sweet sex scene. Thanks OG for doing us a solid. 

I wanna add, it sure is fun to see New play as soft and vulnerable character, I feel like he hasn’t done that since SOTUS. 

(Read all about distribution issues here.)

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 12fin - 1/3 of this is a sweet romance about a student doctor falling in love with a student chef, and the rest of it is utter dross. Look the OffGun bits were GREAT.. In fact, I think they’re better AS A PAIR in this show than in any of their other BLS. And I'm a hard sell on any OffGun being better than PickRome. Saying that, how can I review a show where I could only tolerate 1/3 of it? Because I didn’t like any other aspect of this show, no other pairs and no other plots. That gives me: 9/10 for the OffGun bits, 5/10 for everything else. Frankly it probably should be an 8 but I gotta go with my gut and it's upset about this so 7/10. Sorry boys. It’s GMMTV’s fault. Your heart was in this show, mine wasn’t. 

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 12 - These two are so good at making heart eyes at each other. It’s ridiculous. They don’t need any cartoon images or noises. Moot crush but "I wanna flirt and court more" is so flipping awesome. I love this for them… and us. 

1000 Years Old ep 2 of 12 - It’s very silly and we have been gifted with the dorkiest vampire ever. But... the smell thing makes me so happy. And I like that the vamp uses chan/nai or tan = v old fashioned. Nahlak. I love our ghost girl. Did you notice she wasn’t in the room with them but they left an empty chair for her? Also nahlak.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 6 - Kai was pretty much just “you're a workaholic but I basically married you whether you like it or not.” SMOOCH. What can I say? I'm a sucker for this dynamic.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - How is this show so cute? How do they both love and hurt each other so much. They are both just scared of loosing each other. Gah.

Unknown (Taiwan Sat Youku YouTube) 1 of 12 eps - Youku dropped the first ep to their YouTube channel but I doubt we can expect that to continue. Still, it was nice to be able to watch it in a convenient way. I enjoyed it. But I am cautious about it. Of course this is possibly two of my favorite tropes of all time (stepbrothers or a variation + hyung romance). So I’m looking forward to the romantic thread, but from the gritty style, it feels a lot more like a Taiwanese short. Which means it could go very dark and may not end happy. 

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I just don’t know if the main couple should be a couple. But when they finally get around to talking to each other, they sure are lovely. Also how great is it to see a uke initiate a kiss? Even if it’s not a very good kiss. 

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 2 of 8 - I am still not sure about this one. I am not contesting its quality, just saying it’s not for me. Also I’m not wild about what amounts to basically a redo of everything that already happened in the first episode from a different perspective. I know it’s a tall order with Japan, but I would like (when it’s a short series) for each new installment to actually move the plot (such as it is) along in someway. Am I asking too much?

It's done but I have no time

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have any spare time. 2024 is crazy busy for me so far.

The Servant and the Young Master - from Vietnam, it's on YouTube. I will give it a try when I have a window of time.

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) - A Burmese BL? @heretherebedork vouched for it, so I will give it a watch.

It's airing but...

Dead Friend Forever (Thai iQIYI) - rumors are it's interesting but full of unlikable characters. I'm waiting to know how it ends.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… probubly not. I won't be watching this. I disliked Season one and actively hated the follow ups. No thank you.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far. Ends next week TF.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - dropped it at ep 4.

A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV) - I tried but I can't get into my WeTV account anymore and I'm way too lazy to figure it out. Should I bother to go grey for it?

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand YT) - High school sweethearts who had a bad break up reunite when both of them have full time jobs but coming out is still a problem. You can watch this on YT but it has no Eng Subs.

Next Week Looks Like This:

We're light on content right now, but frankly I'm so busy with work I don't really mind.

3/6 Born to be Y (Thai ????) 10 eps - 14 contestants who audition to compete in Born To Be Y, a program that searches for the best couple of the year to work together on a giant project. Described as semi-reality series. So I probably won't bother.

3/7 Deep Night (Thai iQiyi) 10 eps - Multiple romances set in a host clubs. Nice to see First back on my screen but this is not my favorite setting.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The eyes have it.

Your random BL moment brought to you by my ult-bias being a hyung smartass to his maknae.

(Last week)

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #8 – The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham James

This has been on my tbr for long enough that I entirely forget what originally put it there – the only thing I actually knew going in was that the author was ‘the My Heart is a Chainsaw guy’ (I have not read My Heart is a Chainsaw yet either). Given the genre, that was honestly probably ideal. As was the fact that a blizzard hit a couple days after I started it and I’ve been reading it looking out on a frozen snowscape – it’s very much a winter sort of story.

The story’s told in five parts of wildly varying lengths, each with it’s own endearingly cheesy b-horror movie title and each following a different protagonist. The first four each follow one of a friend group who, as a bunch of fuckup teenagers, trespassed on hunting grounds that were really supposed to be reserved for elders and shot a bunch of elk they had no right to – including a pregnant young cow who was for one reason or another special. Ten years later, the Elk-Headed Woman drags herself back into the world, and begins getting her vengeance for the death of her and her child on each of them (and everyone they care about) in turn.

I have a longstanding opinion that a full-length novel is just too long to sustain a real horror story – by 300 pages things have fairly reliably collapse into urban fantasy or action or farce. The breakup into different parts solves this very well – they’re all very much connected and interwoven, but each feels like its own distinct narrative unit with its own tension and rising action.

And this is very much a horror story in the classic, just barely short of shlocky sense. A trespass against vague but understood sacred laws that leads to horrific and bloody retribution against everyone involved is as close to archtypal horror as you can possibly get, after all. The last section is even focused on a Final Girl! Specifically, it’s a subgenre that I can’t really name but feels very familiar to me – and one I’ve always been a huge fan of, anyway. It’s somewhere downstream of The Count of Monte Cristo, a story where the agent of supernatural doom spends the majority of the story consciously working in the background, manipulating events and exacerbating the protagonist/victim’s flaws to lead them to a contrived but tragic end? Think the netflix Fall of the House of Usher, but like about the exact opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Class is very much something the book cares about. All four protagonists grew up poor on a reservation with little in the way of wealth or opportunity, and by the time they’d turned eighteen all four of them were the kind of young asshole who made life just a little bit worse for everyone around them dealing with the same shit. Ten years latter the three of them who’ve survived that long have gotten over themselves and matured in their own way (and to their own degree), but none of them are exactly flush with cash or living lives of bourgeois respectability (though Lewis comes close). The precarity and only tenuous connections to the society around them just make them better prey for what’s hunting them, of course – in every case, death comes after the (either metaphorical or very viscerally literal) destruction of the few close ties they have, and the only one to survive is also the only one who could really expect people to come rushing to their rescue.

Speaking of close ties the protagonists have – the book’s conception of gender is fascinatingly weird, or at least fascinating in the sense that I’m not at all sure how intentional it is. Of the four main victims, one dies alone at eighteen, and the other three who survive the next ten years are all pretty much explicitly saved (or at least improved and uplifted) by a relationship with a woman who, if not flawless, is basically strictly his moral and practical better. Even the most consistent fuckup of the group has a redeeming feature of being willing to do just about anything for his daughter (despite having lost the chance to really be a big part of her life several times over). With one exception, these women all then die, messily, entirely and explicitly to fuck with and ruin the lives of their men. It’s like someone read Women in Refrigerators and went ‘well there’s an idea...’. It’s blatant enough that I feel like it’s got to be making a deliberate point, but (unless it’s just genre emulation) what the point is does escape me slightly.

Also on the note of stuff I’m quite sure is going over my head at least a bit – basketball! It’s a pretty vital thread running through the entire book, to the point that one of the big set pieces of the final act is literally a basketball game with the monster. Which, like, I watched enough bad anime as a small child to find contrived game-playing under unclear mythic rules with things that really want to kill you instinctively endearing, but I can’t really do anything with this except just point at it.

So as the title might imply, this is a novel that’s concerned with race – all but I believe exactly one character is either is either Blackfeet or Crow, more than half the book takes place on a reservation, and a chunk of the rest is spent having to deal with racist assholes of varying severity. Now, I admit that I have at this point a probably overly cynical view of books that end up on breathless ‘socially conscious horror’ or ‘s/ff from diverse creators you NEED to read’ lists online, but I was still rather pleasantly by how matter-of-factly this was handled? I suppose the best way to put it is that culture, upbringing and racialization deeply inform everyone’s characters, but it never feels like the book is preoccupied with providing some assumed naive and impressionable audience any Important Lessons or provide Good Representation to valourize or emulate? Which is probably just a sign I need to raise and re calibrate my expectations, but.

The monster doesn’t exactly work as, like, a coherent character in terms of her skills and abilities, but as a monster the Elk-Headed Woman is great. But then I love contrived fucked up tragedies and am a longstanding partisan of Spooky Deer Horror, so I suppose I would say that.

So yeah, fun read!

[evidence-based-activism]

Are there any statistics that show just how gendered kink communities are when it comes to all aspects of bdsm (like dominance/submission, sadism/masochism)? What demographics are most likely to engage in kink? How many people engage in paraphilias and general reasons as to why?

Yes! To start, I want to point out the some of the issues we have with research in this area:

The BDSM/kink community is often “underground," limiting outside-researchers’ ability to study them as a group.

These practices are taboo in many cultures, meaning some individuals likely lie, hide, or refuse to answer questions about this topic in population surveys.

There's disagreement about what specifically constitutes "kink/BDSM"; ambiguities in definition lead to inconsistent results across studies.

These – and other – limitations have to be kept in mind when considering the research on this topic. That being said, here's what I did find:

Are there any statistics that show just how gendered kink communities are when it comes to all aspects of bdsm (like dominance/submission, sadism/masochism)?

This international survey [1] solicited responses from individuals online (FetLife and Facebook/Reddit discussion groups) and through university research organizations and other sex-related organizations. From their final sample size of 810, they looked at the relationship between the "side of the slash" (i.e., where "left" is dominance-related roles and "right" is submissive-related roles). From this:

41% of men were "left only" compared to 9% of women

32% of men were "right only" compared to 62% of women

29% of both men and women were "both"

This clearly illustrates the gendered nature of the community roles.

Other studies:

This representative Finnish study [2] found that of those who had participated in BDSM, 37% of women had "tried" a submissive role compared to 23% of men.

A 2019 review [3] found that women were more likely to report interest/participation in a submissive role.

A 2013 study [4] found that 75% of women reported assuming the submissive role compared to 33% of men. This same study found that only 8% of women reported assuming the dominant role compared to 48% of men.

What demographics are most likely to engage in kink?

To answer this question, we need representative population studies.

This 2015 representative USA study [5] looked at specific behaviors and found about 32% of people had "spanked or been spanked as part of sex", which was the highest percentage for the list of possible activities. (They do not report the value for engagement in any kink activity.)

This 2008 representative Australian study [6] found 2.2% of men and 1.3% of women engaged in BDSM in the previous year. In addition, bisexual people are substantially more likely to have engaged in BDSM

This 2017 representative Belgian study [7] found ~40% of both men and women had tried BDSM. However, when considering scale scores, instead of binary interest, men reported significantly higher interest in every category. In addition, men were substantially more likely to report interest in all of the fetishes asked about. Again, non-heterosexual people were also more likely to report interest in BDSM.

Lastly, this 2019 review of 60 studies [8]:

Found widely varying estimates for participation in BDSM, ranging from 2 to 20%. However, up to 70% reported at least one BDSM fantasy. (We should keep in mind here how these studies are operating with varying definitions of BDSM.)

Confirms that men are more likely to engage/be interested in domination, and women in submission. They also confirm "men are more likely than women to report engaging in unusual sexual behaviors".

Indicates that "BDSM practitioners appear to be white, well educated, [and] young" as well as "non-heterosexual"

How many people engage in paraphilias

Paraphilias are usually defined by what is considered "unusual" sexual behavior [9], while paraphilic disorder applies when the behavior has a substantial negative effect on the individual/those around them [10].

It's possible up to 10% of people may express paraphilic interest, but cultural differences mean this figure may not be widely generalizable [9]. Further, almost all of these individuals are male.

In addition, most individuals with paraphilic disorders are male, with some specific disorders being considered a male-specific disorder [10].

and general reasons as to why?

There are a lot of theories for people's interest in kink/BDSM/paraphilias. The earlier review [8] discusses many of the theories for kink/BDSM (which has overlap with paraphilias). These include:

Previous child abuse/trauma

Attachment disorders/issues

Disinhibition ("that having social power leads to behavioral disinhibition; powerful people are more likely to act impulsively because they can")

Neurological and biological differences

Leisure/recreational activity

Evolution ("sexual arousal by a power difference between partners is a successful mating strategy")

Sex drive (i.e., having a higher sex drive)

All of these have some supporting/opposing research. The main point I drew from this is that it is "highly unlikely that there is a single cause of BDSM interests".

Conclusion

In conclusion, most kink practitioners fill gender-stereotypical roles. Prevalence rates are highly dependent on what behaviors are counted as kink, although men tend to be more likely to engage in/fantasize about most behaviors.

I hope this helps you!

References under the cut:

Bryce Westlake & Isabella Mahan (15 Nov 2023): An International Survey of BDSM Practitioner Demographics: The Evolution of Purpose for, Participation in, and Engagement with, Kink Activities, The Journal of Sex Research, DOI:10.1080/00224499.2023.2273266

Paarnio, M., Sandman, N., Källström, M., Johansson, A., & Jern, P. (2023). The prevalence of BDSM in Finland and the association between BDSM interest and personality traits. The Journal of Sex Research, 60(4), 443-451.

De Neef, N., Coppens, V., Huys, W., & Morrens, M. (2019). Bondage-discipline, dominance-submission and sadomasochism (BDSM) from an integrative biopsychosocial perspective: A systematic review. Sexual medicine, 7(2), 129-144.

Wismeijer, A. A., & Van Assen, M. A. (2013). Psychological characteristics of BDSM practitioners. The journal of sexual medicine, 10(8), 1943-1952.

Herbenick, D., Bowling, J., Fu, T. C., Dodge, B., Guerra-Reyes, L., & Sanders, S. (2017). Sexual diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men. PloS one, 12(7), e0181198.

Richters, J., De Visser, R. O., Rissel, C. E., Grulich, A. E., & Smith, A. M. (2008). Demographic and psychosocial features of participants in bondage and discipline,“sadomasochism” or dominance and submission (BDSM): Data from a national survey. The journal of sexual medicine, 5(7), 1660-1668.

Holvoet, L., Huys, W., Coppens, V., Seeuws, J., Goethals, K., & Morrens, M. (2017). Fifty shades of Belgian gray: The prevalence of BDSM-related fantasies and activities in the general population. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 14(9), 1152-1159.

Brown, A., Barker, E. D., & Rahman, Q. (2020). A systematic scoping review of the prevalence, etiological, psychological, and interpersonal factors associated with BDSM. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(6), 781-811.

Bhugra, D., Popelyuk, D., & McMullen, I. (2010). Paraphilias across cultures: Contexts and controversies. Journal of sex research, 47(2-3), 242-256.

Beech, A. R., Miner, M. H., & Thornton, D. (2016). Paraphilias in the DSM-5. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12(1), 383-406.

[dalestromberg]

Greetings fellow kids of Tumbr. I want to share gift links for my Medium reviews of a bunch of tRaum books.

The occasion: all tRaum titles, including my high fantasy MAEJ, are on sale for a dollar apiece on Itch through the end of the month: https://traumbooks.itch.io/

You should read them all. (The books. Not necessarily the reviews.)

1

A + E by Ryszard Merey

“Only when two hearts synchronise, becoming ready to risk vulnerability at the same time and at the right time, can young souls finally meet.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/a-e-a-review-f79fc11b0f1c?sk=0fbfbeb9c81654a0317a8aec96f37c9d

2

Airy Nothing by Clarissa Pattern

“…explores blurred boundaries — between female and male, between gay and hetero, between the mundane and the fae, and between theatre and real life.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/airy-nothing-a-review-a784ede6bafd?sk=54379d6058f7d5f736eb9ca2e0c05c4f

3

It Helps with the Blues by Bryan Cebulski

“…to desire to relate to someone can be to burden them — to be infatuated can be to instrumentalise another — to long for another human, that most natural of impulses, can be dehumanising.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/it-helps-with-the-blues-a-review-8d3864dc5f6e?sk=f3e3dbb1998a5aeb7a003667947c0f56

4

Corrupted Vessels by Briar Ripley Page

This “quick read with strong prose […] maps the psychology of queer characters enmeshed in extremist mysticism against a backdrop of mental illness and the occult.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/corrupted-vessels-a-review-d8002cb567e6?sk=8abc14a90f58b4ef64890bf5b829bf36

5

Noema by Dael Akkerman

The more we learn about Maya, “the closer we get to a picture of who she is: sometimes perceptible, sometimes oracular, sometimes murdered, sometimes a bird.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/noema-a-review-a9aabdea3a61?sk=e69e0446a03d2a78e5286274cacdd632

6

Query by Zilla Novikov

A “wickedly funny epistolary novella […] told entirely in the form of query letter after query letter” as well as an activist’s cri de coeur.

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/query-a-review-ac9227231ee0?sk=d184a7ace1a7922d9cfa3811138a59d5

7

Most Famous Short Film of All Time by Tucker Lieberman

“…a mélange of ideas in the best sense: not merely a jumble, but a philosophical corkboard bristling with a fantastical variety of pins, each connected to the other by a fractal web of coloured yarn.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/most-famous-short-film-of-all-time-a-review-f49998aa0631?sk=af2160f808928f4a82f2a07f11a46c17

8

Read and Then Burn This by Ryszard Merey

“No story quite grips me like one which I can imagine the author feeling a twinge of dread about releasing…”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/read-and-then-burn-this-a-review-e0f491283087?sk=fe76498d7abf06e4480d6743cdb3607d

9

Something’s Not Right by yves.

Stories “where the magical blends in to the humdrum, leaving you imbued with a mood of unease, or sombreness, or amusement, or half-smiling hope.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/somethings-not-right-a-review-6ab1363e694c?sk=e5e9f920029b96e175f7d0b54042a7b2

10

Darknesses by Lachelle Seville

A novel which “understands and subtly acknowledges this ambiguity of love. It is a tale of loving a creature whose manifestations are all illusions.”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/darknesses-a-review-a333e9291560?sk=317a73438ccaafe4a876e7bd464d060d

11

Love/Aggression by June Martin

“…a sugar-rush of situational absurdity, wicked satire, hallucinatory imagery, and maximally burlesque characters…”

Gift link: https://medium.com/@dale.stromberg/love-aggression-a-review-897ec31fbced?sk=2a4dd24477cab459c251b71001cb20dc

[abyssalzones]

5 second comic reviews because I've been feeling a little creatively stunted lately and have been doing a lot of reading. maybe I'll do more of this kind of thing in the future? who knows

locas/love and rockets: beautiful visuals on account of jaime hernandez being a genius when it comes to weight and form/high contrast shadows, unfortunately it's also unreadable in terms of story or dialogue. as in "I really couldn't tell you what's supposed to be happening in this" unreadable. maybe that's my bad? I've gleaned that it was never really intended to be a serialized comic that gets binged for its story, which makes sense because it seems to change its mind about what it is constantly. I respect it but it isn't for me. one of those things you look at individual panels of and go Wow that's gorgeous and know you will never fully read in your life.

8-bit theater: complete opposite end of the spectrum as the previous comic where the visuals are literally just final fantasy sprites but the story is oddly compelling. I find myself highly endeared by the horrible 2001-era humor for the most part barring some eye-roll inducing homophobia, at least partially out of nostalgia. you ever notice how the internet used to be a lot meaner? well, no I guess the internet is still pretty mean, but the cliquey-ness is in a different tone than it used to be. but everyone who clung to the hardcore nerd life that used to be in high supply online seems to be an omegaracist now. or at least omegaracist in a way where it gets them jobs in the government. okay I'm getting away from myself but it's a very interesting anthropological dig of a comic. also I know what I said about the visuals but tbh I think there's a kind of comedy genius going on in terms of how they adapt cobbled together assets with text to fit within the bounds of the "style", ex:

fun home: it's fun home. everyone just kind of knows fun home is good and then you read it and go Wow this is good! and then you've read fun home. very compelling autobiography, lots of dense art history and literary reference work that's fun if you're a freak ass pretentious nerd like me. they should slap a warning on this thing like "if you fit into the transmasculine-butch ambiguity range and have Fatherly Issues you may want to keep your therapist on standby". I like alison bechdel's artistic style more than I like alison bechdel as a person. end of review

jimmy corrigan, smartest kid on earth: crazy fucking good. insanely fraught depiction of american alienation and how insecurity surrounding white masculinity plays into violence which plays into racism. format made my brain hurt which was awesome. the flat colors work in the style's favor so well it's crazyyyyy Please read this one

atomic robo: started reading because it's a later work by the guy who did 8-bit theater, the fact that this is still going (started in 2007!!) really speaks to the delusional mindset of comic artists where you're pretty sure working on a comic will extend your lifespan indefinitely (myself included). probably a little early to write a review because I'm very early into it and As I said this shit started in 2007 so it's a little generic atm but the action visuals are very readable and the dialogue is pretty funny, reminds me of the earlier tf2 comics a lot. main problem is that whereas 8 bit theater is just supposed to be dumb and funny atomic robo is more of a full on Story with Action and Adventure and shit but there's a big #1 Rule in the "about" section that says "no angst", which...

yeah I don't know how else to put it but this is just kind of pathetically male. Ooh look at me I refuse to allow my main character vulnerability, which as we all know is never compelling or allows for a deeper level of story for readers to engage with. everything should just be Cool or Funny and if it's not one of those two things then it's for wimmen and gays I guess. immature. but then I guess I'm expecting too much picking an old snarky webcomic up off the sticky floor of the comix shop and looking for something both funny AND emotionally intelligent.

stuck rubber baby: historically important in a lot of ways but I hate the art style so bad I couldn't finish it sorry howard cruse. guess my values have been corrupted by my prioritization of the aesthetic.... or something....

the glass scientists: another webcomic that's been going on longer than dirt. admittedly I didn't start this one recently I started it back in 202..1? 2022? honestly I'm just including it because I'm so conflicted about it. I keep up with it semi-regularly even though there's a lot of objectively better webcomics I put off catching up on and I think it may fulfill some sort of... soap opera niche... in my brain.. that I didn't think existed. it's like if bl was good. but it also sucks. I'm mostly compelled by the idea of adapting jekyll & hyde into a depiction of something almost resembling DID/OSDD that's also just meant to represent jekyll's internalized homophobia and sexual shame. the downside is that the visuals are a little perverted by the nature of sage cotugno's history in animation making everything a little too audience-and-advertising friendly. which is maybe a bastardization of the word "perverted" when what I mean is "not perverse enough". why put gay sex in your comic that's supposedly about embracing the freakish part of yourself if it's going to be the equivalent of slapping two hairless ken dolls together? why is everyone so damn thin?!?!?! idk. kind of a recurring problem with the art industry right now where things are simultaneously trying to present mature subject matter but are informed by an advertising-friendly background so they just end up kind of... shallow and childish in their presentation. sad.

run away to the stars: fucking awesomeeeeee no notes. very fresh off the presses right now but I do love the worldbuilding, the attention to detail is insane. made me do a lot of thinking about my own scifi comic ventures and what I'd like to focus on... while I prefer to lean towards anthropology and social theory/politics just in general, I have a lot of admiration for the commitment to alien biology. big recommend

orchard of the tame: there were so many instances in this book where I would look at a huge fucking panel spread and think Jeeeeesus christ how long did it take to draw this thing???? which is the mark of a good comic, I think. and unmedicated insanity. it's immediately obvious that this is the work of over the garden wall's art director because you look at it and go Oh yeah this guy has job security. or at least you'd think so, but that being said I'm just now finding out this was funded through a kickstarter, which is insane. comic artists should be eating gold-flaked truffles and whole suckling pigs. anyway this is some of the most gorgeous use of high contrast shadows that I've ever seen and I think the usage on cartoony character shapes is genius. similarly to OTGW I think this is a great example of a work for kids that feels like it's genuinely For them while still not holding back on the dark and scary parts of the world, sort of a modern successor to the grimm's fairy tale tradition. one of the only works here I actually paid for a physical copy of which Yowza that was 30 fucking dollars but I can't be too mad about it. looks good on the shelf.

a contract with god: will eisner's work is good in the way a lot of classic disney is good in the sense that you come out of it with a lot of appreciation for the historical technical development of the artform even though you spent most of the time watching/reading it pretty bored. maybe I am too inundated by the limitless expansion of storytelling in modern day comics to appreciate eisner's approach to getting comics into the "literature" category on bookshelves but I don't have a lot to say about it other than "it looks really good" and "typically misogynistic" and "our complit professor probably should say something about the sexual assault in these before we read them but maybe I am corrupted by le woke mob."

this has been comics. go throw a penny at some unshowered nerd hunched over a wacom tablet. we need it for drugs and laundry quarters.