#I read a lot of yaoi. I know what character traits I like and I put them on my ocs HJDJSD

[warriorfujoshi]

Congrats on finishing Ruina!!! Can’t wait til I finish lobcorp so I can also take my nuggets on a lil library adventure! On that note, how did you come up w stories for ur nuggets? I have a few ideas for my favorites but it’s a lil tougher for some of my newer ones that I’m not as attached to yet LOL

UWAHHH THANK U 🫶🫶 GOOD LUCK W LOBCORP!!! THE LIBRARY ADVENTURE IS SO FUN ✧▽✧)/

help this post ended up getting a little long bc I love making ocs,, halp…!!

we (meaning me and my best friend whos the one playing the games on stream for me HUAYSHSHD) mostly came up with stories based on vibes, plus jokes from gameplay happenings! (*except for mika and robertus…) the process is mainly like “oh they’re cute they seem like they’d have this kind of personality from their name and appearance” → deepening the character (how do I explain this… HKSJSKD)

like… are there any abnormalities that this employee always works with in-game? I like to read the abnormality’s story, try and summarise its concept, and imagine parallels~

for example, we have a nugget named goodie who from appearance and name alone we decided was like~ a sparkly and nice ikemen who everyone loves~ but I felt like I didn’t understand the depths of their character… then I was like omg… the abnormalities I most associate them with are nothing there and blue star… what if~ they want to be kind, but they feel like there’s no good reason to do that in the city… kindness will so often be repaid with spit in the eye, after all~ so in search for a purpose to “save” them (blue star cult motif) they cling to the belief that good deeds will be rewarded~ sort of like a treat hanging from a treadmill. as a result they have an impostor syndrome (nothing there inspired) where they doubt their own good deeds, even if they genuinely didn’t do it for any reward~

random cute or funny moments can serve as a basis for character traits too, like courtney always hitting people with the der freischutz gun → theyre a hotshot loose canon type, or tom always getting trapped in the snow queen’s ice + working with alephs → he has a… um… “fascination” with abnormalities! juliet’s whole character is based on the fact that they look scared as hell while carrying a big gun HKSJDK nothing is too small to latch onto 😤😤‼️‼️

MIKA AND ROBERTUS CAVEAT: sometimes literal crazy miracle events will happen in your game that serve you a whole character on a plate… like every single employee dying except for mika… and a panicked robertus trying to crazy murder them… so this wasn’t really a “start from tiny funny character traits and build up” situation it was more of like. a post-mortem investigation… of what the hell motivated this crazy yuri moment… and it turned from one fucked up gameplay happening to “robertus has always had a crush on mika but was never brave enough to act on it however during the chaos they finally decided to take a stand which resonated with the big bird ego suit and they awakened their own ego but then immediately corrupted/distorted and tried to kill mika and also it’s symbolic bc big bird’s themes are-“ etc etc etc etc…

OVERALL~ I think starting out with jokes is a great way to create a character~ you don’t have to worry about a huge backstory immediately. from small basic traits you can start to think, what do I associate with this character symbolically? (e.g., what animal do I associate with them?) how do they interact with other people or abnormalities? also of course I don’t have detailed backstories for all 40ish of them HUSHAIJS having 10ish favourites is a lot for me already…!! I generally view the oc creation process as sort of like… I’m waiting for this character to reveal their depths to me~ it will come eventually if I leave it stewing in my brain~ so take your time and have fun~ good luck manager!!!

[nieves-de-sugui]

A Quick History of BL

As someone who wrote a thesis on this very subject a few years ago, here is the short version of how BL has evolved throughout the years. For the new comers ❤ 

a minute of silence for the original form of this post that tumblr decied to not save right after I saved it

I am going to go with a chronological approach. Unfortunately, I cannot put everything in one post so if there’s any questions about this or that aspect of the history of BL that you want to know and it’s not talked about here, you are welcome to ask me directly :)

Context and influences - Japan in the 60′s

Before the US forced Japan to open its borders to the outside world in the 1800s, homosexual practices were common place between budist monks, samurais and kabuki actors. During the Edo period (1600s to 1800s) there was a very rich amount of poetry, art, books (such as Nanshoku Okagami (The Great Mirror of Male Love) by Ihara Saikaku) and codes of conduct about how to have a good master/aprentice relationship, kinda like the greeks if you know what I mean. However, with the arrival of western influences, in order to become a more “civilized” country, it was all put in the closet. 

Yet, in the 60′s Japan started to pick it up again through literature about young androginous beautiful boys (aka bishounen). On one hand, in 1961, the novel Koibitotachi no Mori (A Lover’s Forest) by Mari Mori was published. It tells the story of a young and beautiful 19 year old worker and a half french half japanese aristocrat, and their tragic romance. On the other hand, Taruho Inagaki wrote Shounen ai no Bigaku (The esthetics of boy-love), an essay on aesthetic eroticism (of which he wrote a lot of). All this was know as Tanbi (lit. aesthetic) literature. It generally refered to literature with implied homosexuality and homoeroticism such as works by Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau, etc. And of course, Mori and Inagaki. 

In chinese tanbi is read as danmei (term used to refer to BL novels in china today, ie: The Untamed it’s all connected friends).

From the birth of Shonen Ai  to Yaoi - 70′s to the late 80′s

Around the beginning of the 70′s, shoujo was being revolutionized by the Year 24 Group, a generation of women manga authors (mangaka) who started to explore new themes. Among them, their interest in tanbi gave birth to a new subgenre: Shounen ai. 

Their most known manga were:

Kaze to Ki no Uta (The Ballad of the Wind and Trees) by Keiko Takemiya, and Toma no Shinzo (The Heart of Thomas) by Moto Hagio

Their stories are characterized by having suffering eurpoean bishounen in boarding schools, living an idealized perfect love (meaning passionate) that, despite the tragic end of one of them, lives forever in the other. 

As this genre starts getting popular, more and more fans of these stories start making their own self published manga, aka doujinshi, of the genre. It is around this time that the term Yaoi is coined. Meaning “YAma nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi” (no climax, no fall, no meaning). Basically PWP fanfiction, for the most part. Doujinshis could be considered an equivalent of fanfiction in manga form.  It is also here that the term Fujoshi (aka Rotten Girl, for liking rotten things) starts being used to refer to women readers of yaoi. 

With this rise in popularity come the start of the commercialization of the genre. Which meant the publication of magazines dedicated solely to yaoi/shonen ai/BL. The most popular yaoi manga magazine at the time was June. The common trait of their stories being the therapeutic power of the love between the mains. The traumatized character would heal throught this newfound love.

Most of the stories at this time happened in the West (Europe or the States) as the exploration of these dark themes intertwined with homosexual romance and homoeroticism still feel safer to explore as a foreign concept. One example would be Banana Fish (1985).

Commercialization and Yaoi Ronso -  90′s 

As more publishing houses pick the genre up, the term Boys Love is used to include every type of manga about homosexuality made for women. 

The increasing amount of BL series sees a changes in its themes: 

the start of the “gay for you” trope where one mantains their heterosexuality despite being in a homsexual relationship, 

the uke/seme dynamic (mirroring hetero realtionships) also relating to physical appearence (one being more feminine, the other being more masculine), 

the use of rape as an act love (sexual violence has always been present but here it becomes a staple),

anal sex as the only type of sex, 

older and more masculine men start to appear 

they now happen in Japan

Good examples of the presence of these themes in manga are Gravitation (1996) or Yatteranneeze (1995).

However in 1992, Masaki Sato (a gay activist/drag queen) wrote a letter in a small scale feminist magazine attacking yaoi and pointing out how it “represented a kind of misappropriation or distortion of gay life that impacted negatively upon Japanese gay men”. The female readers of yaoi responded, defending the genre as a means to escape gender roles and explore sexual themes that was never meant to represent the realities of gay men. This is know as the Yaoi Ronso (Yaoi Debates).

The debate ended with both sides understanding more of each other, with mangakas starting to include queer views in their works. It also started the academic reasearch of BL. 

Yet, it is a debate that has been restarted more than once, as it is still relevant despite the evolution of the genre.

more on this on another post

Globalization and coining of BL - 2000′s 

By the beginning of the 2000s BL is being sold all over the world (like all manga), and has become a stable industry. We could say it has finally become it’s own genre. 

Some of the most well known manga series, to us (in the west), of the time are:

Junjou Romantica 2002 Koi Suru Boukun 2004 Love Pistols 2004 Haru wo Daiteita 1999

all of these have anime adaptations for the curious ones

We also start seeing short anime adaptations or special episodes of the most popular series, with questionable themes, such as: adoptive father x adoptive son  (Papa to Kiss in the Dark 2005), father x son’s friend (Kirepapa 2008), etc... 

However the themes remain more or less the same. Junjou Romantica’s love story starts with a non-con sex scene by the older one (masc, seme) to the younger one (more feminine, uke) addressed years later in the manga btw. Koi Suru Boukun’s love story is triggered by aphrodisiacs and rape. They’re still very present in the stories but slowly going away. A mangaka that represents this era could be Natsume Isaku (Candy Color Paradox 2010).

Change is slow in Japan. Even though the voices of LGBT+ people started to be taken into account in the genre it is not until later that we see it reflect in the mangas themselves. However, we can already see the start of this in Doukyusei (Classmates) (2006) by Asumiko Nakamura. Also Kinou Nani Tabeta? (2007) which is actually part of a more mature genre: Seinen.

It is my personal (subjective) theory that the BL of this era was the one that got popular outside of Japan, which is why we see lots of references to the themes, tropes and dynamics of this time in today’s BL series. 

The LGBTzation of BL and the rise of webtoons - 2010′s to 2020′s

Slowly but surely LGBT characters and themes enter the scene of BL. Existing simultaneously with the previous tropes and themes, we start seeing a shift in these stories. We now see:

characters that identify as gay or some type of queer

discussions about homophobia

more mature themes about life and romance

At the same time as we get the usual love stories with the usual themes, a new trend starts to take over. And we get simultaneously, cute, sometimes questionable but light love stories:

Love Stage 2010 Ashita wa Docchi da! 2011 Kieta Hatsukoi 2019

More profound stories and darker or more complex themes:

Blue Sky Complex 2013  Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai 2011 (mafias) Given 2013 (suicide) Hidamari ga Kikoeru 2013 (deafness)

And others that adress the queer experience in a more mature way (which might actually fall into the Seinen genre)

Itoshi no Nekokke 2010 (slice of life, queer characters) Smells like Green Spirit 2011 (two ways to deal with a homphobic society) Strange 2014 (relationships between men) Shimanami Tasogare 2015 (an LGBT group helps a closeted gay) Old Fashioned Cupcake 2019 (you know this one 😉) Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu 2020 (the end of the world)

As queer stories are explored, BL mangakas and mangakas from other genres start to consider more stories about queer people such as the Josei Genderless Danshi ni Aisaretemasu (My Androgynous Boyfriend) (2018) by Tamekou, or the Shoujo Goukon ni Itarra Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi (The story of when I went to a mixer and there were no women) (2021) by Nana Aokawa. 

Still, we can see two realities live side by side. Doukyuusei gets adapted into an impactful animated movie in 2016, meanwhile Banana Fish gets an anime adaptation that keeps the homoeroticism but not the homosexuality.  

For those who might be interested. Here are some of the authors that represent the first half of this era, where they start to include newer points of view:

Scarlet Beriko, HAYAKAWA Nojiko, KURAHASHI Tomo, OGERETSU Tanaka, Harada, KII Kanna (Stranger by the Sea), etc...

And authors that while keeping classical themes break the stereotypes in a subtle manner:

CTK, ZAKK, Jyanome, Cocomi, Hidebu Takahashi, SUZUMARU Minta, etc...

Mangakas also no longer stick to one genre only. They explore whichever of them they want, from BL to Seinen to others. 

ie: Tamekou, 

or Asumiko Nakamura

The curious case of Webtoons

With the digitalization of mangas, throught Renta and Lehzin, it has become easier (and more expensive) to access these stories. Korea makes and appearence with their webtoons. Through the lack of piracy protections and the majority of them being digital, manhwa (korean webtoons) sees a rise in popularity. Through the digital medium the influencee can be the influencer.

However, like many other East Asian countries they have consumed BL, without hearing about the conversations about BL. So they end up mantaining the older themes and stereotypes that newer BL is trying to leave behind. Therefore, we end up with a mix of old and new, ie:

Killing Stalking 2016 Cherry Blossoms After Winter 2017 Painter of The Night 2019

Additionally, it is also thanks to the easy access to internet that Omegaverse, with its higher dramatic stakes (that parallel hetero dynamics), enters the mangasphere in 2016. It has grown in popularity ever since.

With the Thai BL Boom of 2020, Japan rediscovers its own BL market and starts investing in it more. Which is why we get live action adaptations of BL manga that was popular years ago (Candy Color Paradox was a manga from 2010), the more recent ones (The End of the World With You) or new anime adaptations (Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai in 2020). 

more on this in my japanese live action BL post

What has it become now? is it BL? ML? or Seinen? Or is it all just gay manga?

It is clear that Shoujo manga (with BL, Josei and Seinen) is exploring queer themes such as gender and sexuality more and more. Japan is interested in this conversation, not only in manga (Genderless fashion). Which brings up the current question in BL studies: Does it make sense to keep these categories?

As a response to BL, ML (Male Love), which is made by gay men for gay men, started happening (around the 70s too). And Bara (gay manga porn) in response to Yaoi. However both gay men and women read BL and ML. We also see other themes being explored through BL, such as friendship (in BL Metamorphose), food (in Kinou Nani Tabeta), male relationships of all kinds (in Strange), and different queer views on life and its challenges (in Shimanami Tasogare). More and more what is LGBT and what is BL is merging, the line is blurred. 

Conclusion

BL has been in my life for longer than it hasn't. It is through shoujo and BL that I have come to understand people and romance.

It is flawed, like everything else this life, but it's flourishing in many ways.

The genre feels old and new at the same time. 

We can still find shounen ai/tanbi elements in more modern manga (All About J). Or the gay for you in a new light (Itoshi no Nekkoke). Or more educational manga on queer issues (My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame). BL has around 50 years of existence but it is also being born anew in Thailand and Korea. 

BL manga will continue to evolve in acordance to Japanese tastes, as it is still a local market. Hopefully the korean webtoons that get popular will be the more daring ones in their themes. Who knows where it will go from here? The only thing we know for sure is that it will continue to change. Isn't it exciting?

A post on the evolution of live action BL in Japan is coming, to complement this post.  As well as a more detailed explanation of the Yaoi Debates and gay manga.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda under the cut

Shiv Roy

She's honestly kind of a canonical victim of yaoi almost. She and her husband Tom have a loveless marriage but never end up getting divorced. Tom has a weird psychosexual obsession with Shiv's cousin Greg and at one point literally compares them all to the time Emperor Nero pushed his wife down the stairs and then castrated and married a slave boy named Sporus (Tom is unwell). Anyway the show just ended and long story short Tom is now CEO of Shiv's family's evil company and she is reduced to being his pregnant wife (which is the result of her voting not to authorize either of her brothers as CEO in order to save them from themselves) and Tom made another weird comment about literally owning Greg. And now people who ship Tom and Greg are like "omg it's canon we won" but I don't. Think that they did. Sorry I'm rambling it was just a really good finale idek if this counts but

I will be honest I'm not really tuned into the tomgreg fandom, but tons of people wanted tom to leave shiv and get with greg and tons of people thought shiv was the devil incarnate and refused to see any nuance in her character and I don't think those two things are a coincidence. 

She gets a lot of hate from fans, largely just for being a woman who reacts in a non pretty way to abuse and for doing the exact same shitty stuff her brothers do. But also a large part of the hate she gets comes from the people who ship her husband with her cousin. To the point where people claim she's abusing her husband who views her as an accessory, a baby factory, and a ticket to money. Don't get me wrong, their relationship is incredibly toxic and unhealthy, but it is so on both of their parts. But Shiv's the only one who gets criticized for it

Peggy Carter

She’s a victim of Stucky mainly bc of the way marvel used her to give Steve an ooc ‘happy ending, but I know I’ve seen some posts calling her toxic or something it was 2019 so In CAT:FA, she’s introduced as a confident British agent. She has some chemistry w Steve Rogers (although more fans (on tumblr at least) preferred Steve and Bucky). She wasn’t just *woman who is strong*, but also had some emotional depth, with an actual range of emotion outside of angry and sad. She had a spin-off show, and she just continued to fight Russians and misogynists, even having chemistry in an almost wlw relationship and an eventual marriage to a famous shield agent. She went through character development and just was an awesome character. Then you know what endgame does? It has Steve Rogers travel back in time and take all of that development away. Most fans were mad at Marvel, and a lot were mad at Steve, but some fans threw Peggy completely under the bus, saying that they traded the (fanon?) queer ship/(canon) friendship for a bland love interest, which, um, she was so much more then that? I remember people really disliking Peggy, which isn’t fair to her character when she is/was so much more then that.

Peggy is vilified by people who ship Steve with his war comrade Bucky Barnes. I’ve even seen people claiming baselessly that she was secretly HYDRA the whole time. 

She gets in the way of stucky which OBVIOUSLY gives people, most of them women themselves, the right to be ridiculously misogynistic. Dismissing her character arc, traits, presence in the movies and her part in Steve Roger's life, saying she is insignificant on the ground of very subjective readings is one thing, but outright calling her 'just some old coochie', among other colourful, wonderful things, is another. They also keep reaching to villainize her (saying she's a literal nazi which she's not) and cancel her so their ship is somehow made more valid for it, erasing the competition as it were.

[johnslittlespoon]

Opinion on a/b/o or omegaverse?

yes 😎 !! ok tbh i don't actually know a ton about the workings of it, it's a trope(?) i haven't ever looked into much for some reason, but the few things i do know about it are sooo fun to brainrot about

idk how much yapping you've signed yourself up for but i word vomited as usual so xoxo ik it's usually pretty heavily sexual obviously and this is out of character for me to say but the first thing that comes to mind with buckbucky when i think of omegaverse headcanons is actually not nsfw, shocking??

i always think about nesting/scenting, because of this post i made (jokingly) (mostly) theorizing about john sleeping in gale’s bed during the stalag episodes, and because it looks like he drags his face across his pillow before the fight in the yard which could easily be mistaken for him inhaling gale's smell

pairing that with all the dog coded tendencies and it’s like. the perfect recipe for being obsessed with gale’s scent and wanting to bury himself in it/in anything gale, ie: curling up in gale’s bed, stealing gale’s clothes/pillows/blankets (i actually have a bit i wanna include in yad(iym) where john swaps his and gale's pillows for 'comfort' lol i feel like this feeds into it), loving to bury his face in the crook of gale's shoulder (crease of his thighs... armpits... yk the vibes) and inhale or mouth at him.

i'm always torn on the actual alpha/omega roles though because i feel like they both equally exhibit traits of each one so it's hard to decide which fits better yk? obviously speaking with my own headcanons and characterization of them in mind since everyone views them differently, but with the most cliche/obvious traits i've seen– they're both quite equally protective/defensive, i don't see either of them as 'smaller'/more gentle/docile, i very much headcanon them as switches and verses so i don't see one of them being more submissive than the other, etc. i think i'd be boxing my brainrot in with settling on one dynamic for them in my head lol

i don't care for mpreg/any pregnancy tropes lol so i don't have opinions on that aspect but i've said how i feel about breeding and domesticity kinks so >:)

i feel like john is Very bite–y in all contexts so the claiming bites fit him so well LOL, gale's probably used to being a dart board for his teeth atp so it's not too far fetched for them. tying it into all the wordless ways they promise the future to each other... there could be so much feeling in it.

and then yk. both of them wanting to dick down/be dicked down 24/7. natural lubricant would be Mighty convenient LMFAO, this is a case where i feel like omega john would fit so well because i usually write him as being a lot more sex focussed/easier to work up due to him being more impulsive and less filtered, so being able to just yk. get to it. would very much enable his constant state of wanting to jump gale's bones :-)

that's all i've got i think, that's really the extent of what i know about the dynamics of omegaverse stuff so feel free to add! shocking that as a past teen wolf fanatic i didn't read more stuff about it lolll but hey wwII yaoi wasn't on my 2024 bingo card, talking ab wwII omegaverse shouldn't be shocking either sigh <3

[the-bloody-sadist]

Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shounen and shoujo manga equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujosei (especially het romance) decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...And what I want to read mostly are just mlm or wlw stories....

What do you think is happening to me? Is it really weird?

Ooooooooo I LOVE YOU FOR ASKING ME THIS QUESTION!! THAT'S SO FASCINATING! THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING ME! If my friends know anything about me it's that I LOVE to psychoanalyze, so let's see what I can do here *cracks every knuckle*---

I'll preface by saying I have NOT read any het romance in the MANGA world at least--or otherwise japanese/chinese/korean sources--but did grow up only reading/watching/writing that and thinking I hated romance in general because it was so fucking boring LMAO. If I can compare any het media to non-American BL media, I would have to say anime is my only reference!

With that said, I came through the same arc you did. I tried het romance my whole life, suddenly fell upon BL, said WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS AND WHY IS IT SO GOOD COMPARED TO THE SHIT I'VE BEEN READING, never went back to het romance, and now do BL in all shapes and forms full-time.

What seems to be the big factor in BL/yaoi being so much more enjoyable is that there's an inherent difference in the dynamic of male/male vs. male/female--as portrayed by media, at least. And there's just something about that dynamic that makes it more gripping. It's easier to feel that line of tension between the characters, not to mention the fact that most male/male couples' conflict is far more relatable than the ones I see in female/male. In het media, I tend to see incredibly petty choices of conflict, whereas a LOT of BL chooses trauma, mental illness, and sometimes the acceptance of being gay as the reasons the couples struggle.

I identify far more with those issues than I do with the more stupid conflicts I see in het media like "HE'S WITH ANOTHER GIRL WHATEVER SHALL I DO!" (and it's just his sister) or "HOW DO I KNOW IF I ACTUALLY LIKE HIM? MAYBE I DON'T! LET ME THROW HIM FOR LOOPS AND GO BACK AND FORTH!" and other common, annoying tropes. Especially the jealousy and love triangles. BL does some love triangles, but it's just less...petty? There are usually more founded issues for the conflict that comes from those situations.

I say this with hesitation, but I also feel that BL/yaoi tends to have more creative and unseen concepts than het media. Actually--erase that hesitation. I believe that wholeheartedly. They tend to choose traumatic situations more often than het media--and this is the important part--THEY PORTRAY THEM IN A MORE REALISTIC MANNER.

This doesn't go for all BL because of course it doesn't. An entire genre of different writers--many good and many bad--can never have a singular good trait shared between all of them. But the majority of BL that I've read that include scenes of rape, child abuse, or sex trafficking keeps some sense of terror and gravity to the situation. That's something I tend to see less of in het media. Instead, things often feel more exploitative or voyeuristic. Suffering as a spectacle, as they say. However, it may just have something to do with the female gender being the victim, which we've all seen countless times in all shapes and forms. It feels fresh and new to see a male character going through those issues, instead.

On that topic, I would add that the main audience for romance as a whole has always been dominated by women, so women are more likely to be the consumers of both het and queer romance. When it comes to yaoi, the automatic power balance of male/female is gone, leaving only male/male and opening the option for different ways to imbalance that power--automatically feeling more creative and new than the age old female-victim-male-aggressor-but-he's-kinda-hot trope. In addition to this, so many het romances have unapologetic portrayals of romanticized abuse (The Notebook, 50 Shades of Grey, Blade Runner [speaking to the romance PLOT, sorry, more obscure], the After series, The Kissing Booth, and so on) that never get brought up, never seem to affect the female lead negatively, and always get the couple together in the end. This is endlessly infuriating to me and I've never enjoyed the popular het romances for this reason. It feels like gaslighting--gaslighting of the audience--to see harsh moments of outright abuse and then see the female lead react as if it's sexy, and to feel nothing but gut-freezing disgust as a viewer. It's even more painful when the audience around you also reacts in that way because they're so used to seeing it in your everyday het romance.

Contrasting this with yaoi/BL media--this issue is completely flipped. Countless stories show abuse, address the abuse, portray the male lead suffering from the effects of that abuse, and proceed with a motivation to fix, endure, or to run away from that abuse. To claim that yaoi/BL has less romanticization of said abuse is not wholly true, but the problem for me has always been that het romance PRETENDED THE ABUSE DID NOT EXIST AND/OR IS SEXY AND NORMAL. Whereas yaoi seemed more self-aware that they were writing abuse, and--if they chose to romanticize it--more often did so because the abuse was being experienced through the eyes of the victim. This is important because victims of abuse in reality DO this to cope and survive, so the romanticization is a direct result of a trauma response, and it's made far more clear in yaoi that this is the case.

This is why the kidnapping, Stockholm syndrome romances (Killing Stalking at the top), and toxic relationship themes in BL are far more attractive and validating to read.

Say, for instance, the romances that include themes of kidnapping, sexual assault, and captivity in het media. What have we got for that that's good and actually explores the nature of abuse? What I tend to see that meets that criteria (possibly) isn't really included in the romance category at all--it's either listed as horror or it's a lightened romcom version of that event (kidnapping, specifically)--unless you think of the more popular ones like 365 Days where it's supposed to be sexy and everyone has no brain. I might be flimsy on my point here, since this is the first time I've tried to pick apart this subject, so I apologize. But in addition to these het romances with the themes that I'd like to see not really existing in a way that's been done WELL--I also personally can't watch a woman getting hurt the way I can watch a man getting hurt.

We've seen enough women suffering onscreen, and most of the times the way it gets filmed ends up feeling sexualized in some way--especially if it's a horror movie or a thriller romance. I personally don't enjoy the lack of emotional depth in these types--and clearly they're most often written to be sexy or shock horror more than serious. Trauma doesn't feel real in these stories, so it's intensely triggering to watch it happen onscreen without a resolution to that trauma.

Going back to yaoi/BL, their romances include and very often feature abusive relationships or straight-up hostage romances. But the way they're handled is the big difference. Even though some treat the abuse like sexy porn scenes and I find myself dropping them for the same triggers that set me off in het media, this is much less of a problem, and you can get your thrills without the invalidation of watching trauma happen without being treated like trauma. There's often an arc of learning for the abuser, the relationship healing/improving (and I don't care that it's not morally correct or realistic for this to happen because it's fiction and we all need our coping mechanisms for reality), and a satisfying end where both the characters learn how to love each other. In their own way.

This makes the trauma feel raw and the healing feel rewarding, which is what I come to see. It feels like more BL writers get this and have actually been through some shit.

Lastly, it's not weird that you feel this way, and I'm worried that the discourse on social media about people who exclusively enjoy yaoi/BL has influenced that belief in a lot of people. It shouldn't be that way, and I hope people come around to the actual logic instead of copy-pasting what everyone else says to fit in!

IN ANY CASE, I HAVE RAMBLED FAR TOO LONG ON PRETTY MUCH THE SAME POINT, BUT I HOPE THIS HELPED!! That's the main difference that I'm drawn to yaoi for and I hope it might have helped you see why you are, too!!

Much love to you, and again, thank you SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME THIS QUESTION!! I loved getting to answer that.

[vel-hell-ael31]

Introduction

Full name: Axel Marc Anthonyson

Nicknames: Axie -Anthony -Tony - Sonny - Single Father- Greñas

Sexuality: ⚣ Gay

Ethnicity: American 🇺🇸

Place of birth: Columbus, Ohio, United States

☆彡彡-Physical Appearance- ミミ☆

Age: 17

Eye color: Hazelnut

Hair color: Dark brown

Hair style: Curly. Mullet, cut on the sides of the head.

Height: 1'85cm

Voice: Warm. Don't worry. Intimidating when angry or upset

☆彡彡-Favorites-ミミ☆

Color: Green, Black, White and Brown

Animal: Cats, dogs, parakeets, ferrets and lizards

Other: Spend time with his friends. Watch movies. Go anywhere on a skateboard.

Hobbies: Draw. Go do Graffiti. Read. Write. Listen to music. Go for a walk with her pets. To be with her friends. Art. Photography. Basketball. Guitar

☆彡彡-Family-ミミ☆

Mother: ✝︎ Laila Steward

Born 07/18. She die at the age of 48.

Father: Jake anthonyson

Born 01/23

☆彡彡-Relations-ミミ☆

Best Friends: Arthur D'Oyly and Isabella Ruiz

Crush: ????

Couple: ????

☆彡彡-Traits-☆彡彡

Introvert. From time to time arrogant. Faithful. Genuine. Somewhat demanding with his work. Considered. He is usually spiteful when someone deceives him or is disloyal. Honest. Comprehensive. Protective. Tolerant. calm and patient

CHARACTERS!

↓

──── ❝Axel Anthonyson❞ ───

"The art boy"

▪17▪

❝1.85m❞

⚣ gay

●○●○ဗီူ●○●○

[Neta, are you telling me that those five sticks are a person? We have quite a lot of work to do if you want to pass...]

─── ❝Rodrick Heffley❞ ───

"The boy in the band"

▪16▪

❝1,70m❞

⚥Bisexual

●○●○ဗီူ●○●○

[Let's see, sir "I know how to draw and you don't" How the hell do you want me to draw it? Look at him, my brother is literally a stick. ]

──── ❝ Isabella Ruíz❞ ───

"The Bestie Goss"

▪16▪

❝1,60m❞

⚢Lesbian

○●○●○●○

[Just look in the mirror Ax; you're the graphic representation of "lovesick fool" And no, I don't make that face with Allison.]

──── ❝Arthur D'Oyly❞ ───

"The DJ Friend"

▪16▪

❝1.78m❞

⚥Pansexual

⚲ Gender Fluid

●○●○●○●○

[Brother, what do you want me to tell you...if you don't keep it, someone else will take it, or worse, another. Now help me make Maxie jealous at the party. ]

───❝Allison Williams❞───

"The bad girl"

▪17▪

❝1'67❞

Bi-curious(?

●○●○●○●○

[Hum... Maybe she fell to the ground and searched badly. But, one thing... What was that "she's eating Allison" scandal, huh? Do you like the idea? that's why you're so red right?]

────❝Lucian Smith❞───

"The German Boy"

▪16▪

❝1'80❞

⚥Pansexual⚥

●○●○●○●○

[What do you want me to tell him? Hey, hello... I'm Lucian, I've wanted to talk to you since the beginning of the course... But I didn't dare until now, you seem very cute... He's behind me, right?]

────❝Maxie Miller❞───

"The boy from the skating rink"

▪16▪

❝1'76❞

⚥ Bisexual

●○●○●○●○

[Hello, some skates for two hours please... You're Arthur, from my class, right?]

──── ❝Jake Anthonyson❞ ───

"The father"

▪57▪

❝1.80❞

⚤ Straight

●○●○●○●○

[I know that since mom is not here I have focused only on the company... But honestly I am very proud of you.]

┅┅┅┅┅┅┅༻❁༺┅┅┅┅┅┅┅

✰ Glance is a fanfic inspired by the Disney movies "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" which in turn is based on the book series by author Jeff Kinney. But the story of Axel, his friends and Rodrick is completely mine.

✰ Character information taken from Wikipedia, Fandom and Amino. The height is an approximation.

✰ The photos are not mine, only the edited ones. Credits to their respective owners.

✰ Possible containing +18 (it will be notified before its appearance) and profanity.

✰ Efforts will be made to follow the thread of the series

✰ Story with Homosexual content. gay. yaoi. If you don't like it, I kindly ask you to withdraw without making bad comments

✰ There will be some other misspelling that will be corrected later. I make mistakes, I'm not a machine. Of course, he accepted constructive criticism and so on, but said with respect, not with mockery or etc.

✰ If you have any ideas or suggestions, you are free (obviously if you wish) to tell me privately or in the comments. Even if it's something minimal, you can tell me, it won't bother me, rather, you'll make my day

✰ I will try to narrate and make it understandable as well as possible.

✰ From time to time, it is inevitable for me to have some writer's block. I hope you understand me

✰ My native language is not English. I am very sorry if there are mistranslated or misspelled words.

✰ The story will start with some events from the first book/movie and then something from before the second book/movie "Rodrick's Law" although most things will come from my imagination, there will be references and situations based on the books/movie.

(Boys love)

The story is about a homosexual couple of men. If you don't like this containing, I ask you to refrain from making any bad comments and retire.

(Girls Love)

The story will also deal in part with a homosexual couple of women. If you do not like this content, please refrain from making any bad comments and retire.

[asteria7fics]

Hey!

I'm a fan of the ship jock Stan and nerd Kyle.

What are your thoughts on this dynamic?

I know it's cliche, but it scratches an itch you know, and I love it when Stan also just picks up Kyle, just cause he can

You know, I actually had to think about this one.

Initially, I thought I was sort of... Indifferent? Like they aren't headcanons that particularly offend me or anything, but I do think I have some deeper thoughts on this dynamic.

I don't really subscribe to any of the boys falling into particular stereotypical archetypes, so on the surface I do think that pigeonholing any of them into one descriptor is sort of reductive. Now if we're just using 'jock' and 'nerd' as terms to present a premise, and the boys have more going for them than just these particular archetypes, then I think this dynamic can be explored in really interesting ways.

What I mean by that is that I enjoy it most when they still retain traits from the original source material.

Stan should still struggle with addiction and depression, or still have other hobbies like tabletop games, or be passionate about animals and wildlife conservation. Or all of the above, if you're feeling frisky.

Kyle should be the kind of nerd that WILL correct you when you say something slightly wrong, hit you with the 'um, actually', and not be afraid to bite someone's head off if they're being too annoying. If your nerd Kyle is meek and timid then you've lost too much of his original character I'm sorry to say.

I do also think a lot of the appeal (for some people at least, not me personally) of this dynamic comes from that good old heteronormative expectation that one member of a relationship has to be the masculine one, and one has to be the feminine one. In this case, jock characters are THE archetypal 'masculine' character in most teen-centric stories, where as a nerd character can be more ambiguous. I do typically see Kyle as physically smaller in these situations though, which does usually place him in the more 'feminine' position.

Personally, I don't love this aspect of 'yaoi' culture in general, but that's a bigger issue to unpack than with the question you've asked here haha.

Of course, ALL of these ideas can be subverted, and I think that can be a really interesting way to explore both of their characters in new ways.

Anyway, with all of that being said I do actually enjoy reading this dynamic on occasion! There is something very fun about pushing them to what many would consider to be 'opposite' situations and seeing how they still come together in the end. Love perseveres!

And anon, I do also love a good, ole fashioned Style Carry™️ (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[necronatural]

you might not remember but DVD commentary on the Tangible things series? Any part you've got thoughts abt still. I recall thinking it was good characterised NSFW writing (rare) and in the early days before the ORV tag took off on AO3 (cursed)

Oof, a while ago

I wrote it before the Demon King of Salvation reveal, I think around the time he was roadtripping with Han Sooyoung while Yu Junghyeok was being tortured about how Kim Dokja has ~changed~ him and made him want to save others which was so overwrought it was a true inspiration. dude is blasting Dirty Car while his bias is falling in love with him offscreen

The biggest inspirations in the novel for it were I think 1) how invested Kim Dokja was in Yu Junghyeok's personal life when confronting him in the theater 2) Kim Dokja shipping Yu Junghyeok and 3) Yu Junghyeok responding to Kim Dokja having similar motivations to himself with frankly comedic and uncalled-for coldness that made him sound like a jilted lover. idk how that reads in the webtoon but god that shit was so funny. King of projection

Heart in Your Throat was just expanding on all the ideas that didn't fit in Great Escapes, just naturally expanding on concepts introduced. I was also really curious about writing porn and this was my first attempt really dabbling in it.

Heavy Silence I want to write SEX. Also influenced by the roadtrip, I really liked the idea of Scenario Casefic. All of this was me working myself up to write sex. I spent the entire fic absolutely mortified. I couldn't edit it until like 2 months later. LOL. It was complimented a lot for its accuracy, and they're right, because I studied for my First Sex with a...I think Livejournal? God who knows. A personal account from a gay man on what he knows about sex. Stuff like how anal is not something that feels good right away, the common duration of a coupling and the effects of ejaculation, stuff like that. I tried hunting that post down a few months ago but couldn't find it so RIP.... Writing this one was a real shock to my system but I ended up figuring out a lot of stuff I enjoy like enthusiastic consent, consent testing, pure pleasure, banter, loss of emotional regulation, etc. Laying the foundations for my deranged horny dante fic truly

I don't think the characterization isn't like, amazing? But I've absolutely never been the type to just ship characters based on romantic archetypes. Without the kneejerk "omg these guys fit my ideal dynamic" or "omg this is my fav character type" instinct, it is actually quite simple to think back on character traits and why they have them and try to extrapolate on those for the new situation.

...Which is something that the ORV fic just doesn't really gel with. Kim Dokja can't be fully 100% confident in his completely wrong opinion [based on insufficient contradictions to his 15-year special interest] and desperately avoidant of interpersonal connections, he has to be stupid oblivious about everything to a degree seen only in Shen Qingqiu. Yu Junghyeok can't be a doom-spiraling overly independent pessimistic buzzkill, he has to be a surly bad boy. Because yaoi boys on Lezhin comics act that way. lol

[tamelee]

did you ever watch tokyo ghoul? do you know about the main character ending up with a girl he always had a crush on but he was shipped a lot with his male best friend and all the gay shippers lost it when they revealed the guy and girl not only explicitly being in love but also have sex? i heard it's not in the anime and the manga is more explicit but yeah. i watched tokyo ghoul once when i was younger but didn't finish it cuz i got bored of it but i do remember the main guy having a crush on a girl, but idk if the girl is the same one he ended up having sex with later on. i just know there was a girl in the beginning and then he met a girl (or it was the same one? idk) later on in the ghoul community. he was good friends with his male friend throughout the whole thing, they were childhood friends, and he stuck with him the whole time. when i found out about ppl's reactions to this i wanted to know about the relationship to see if it's like sns lol since they have a similar "childhood friends to lovers" situation but from what i remember the mc did like a girl. but he also had a cute friendship with the guy, i think i remember a really emotional moment between them, and the guy's friend also ended up dying? like the really popular pic from this anime, idk if you've seen it, where the white haired guy is carrying another guy, that was the mc and his friend. also ppl on anime twt like to use this anime and its ships to prove how when yaoi fans hate on a girl that gets in the way of their gay ship it's usually cuz of misogyny. that's actually how i found out about this lol . cuz this girl apparently isn't a hated character like sakura, or has legit reasons and traits about her that are misogynistic in writing therefore not likeable like hinata, but ppl still hated on her like crazy when this was revealed.

Oh, I don't think I actually know anyone that finished watching the Anime it got so boring for sure -.- I think, although I don't really remember, I really liked Season 1 and then struggled through the second one, then dropped it eventually. I still really want to read the Manga because I've seen a lot of people say it is SO much better and that the Anime ruined it? The art from the few panels I've seen are so beautiful 🥹 but it's a shame if that's true because the concept of the story I think is really cool.

(also, that OST 👌) Uh, I only remember this purple hair girl and I know what the best friend looks like and that I really liked him, but other than that I have no clue anymore, sorry 🫣

Cute though~

"also ppl on anime twt like to use this anime and its ships to prove how when yaoi fans hate on a girl that gets in the way of their gay ship it's usually cuz of misogyny. that's actually how i found out about this lol . cuz this girl apparently isn't a hated character like sakura, or has legit reasons and traits about her that are misogynistic in writing therefore not likeable like hinata, but ppl still hated on her like crazy when this was revealed."

I don't know anything about this regarding TG but yeah, people in the SNS fandom who don't like Sakura and/or Hinata get that thrown to their heads all the time but it is a shallow assessment that doesn't take anything else into consideration. This idea isn't entirely baseless though because it does happen a lot in many fandoms gosh. But in Naruto's case it's just... not the same *childish-foot-stomp* 😆 The entire foundation of the story is involved, its Themes rely on Naruto AND Sasuke, they live the problem and in the end are the solution, they are literally the big 'why' of its story. I mean I probably could write a thousand essays on that alone... And so, controversial opinion maybe, but I don't think it's very valid to compare Sakura and Hinata with other female characters regarding things like this because of Kishimoto's intentions (which I get not everyone agrees with this method but.. yk) and the way he wrote them to convey what he wanted to tell. In that sense they are merely literary tools used to show contrast in order to explain what the other end of that contrast means for Naruto and Sasuke without actually having to spell it out... and it's so cleverly done but it makes a discussion about female characters (especially a generalization) and the way they are treated difficult. Nonetheless, it's always an interesting conversation though because that line between a character being allowed to have a flaw or criticizing the character meaning it's misogyny can be very blurry at times...

[monsterhunting]

Hello! I was re-reading -i bet you think about me- yesterday, and saw your reblog about the commentary posts 👀 would v much enjoy some info on the writing process for that fic. It's my favourite modern-era version of Jonathan, that perfect mix of grumpy and sweet 🧡 also love how that fic gently played around with the mean/petty elements of both Steve and Jonathan's personalities (v underappreciated character traits of theirs in my opinion)

[i bet you think about me; from this ask meme!]

omg well firstly this is very very nice of you to say!!!!! i am very honored that is a fic you would want to reread, i had a lot of fun writing that one!

and ok so originally i thought that fic might be a long oneshot (this happens very often I fear.) once i outlined and started writing, I realized that wouldn’t be the case, but before that?l? the idea for the fic was inspired by the fact that my Alexa is synced to my Spotify, which means sometimes i’m listening to music on my phone or laptop and it randomly cuts off bc my mom started listening to the Alexa at home. (Luckily this hasn’t screwed my algorithm up too badly. although i did get an email the other month thanking me for being one of earth wind & fire’s top fans.) ((also: i realize now this is a weird jump to “hmm stonathan exes to lovers au where….” but that was indeed the jump i made.))

so for several months the fic sat in my Google docs with just a few lines of prose/dialogue here and there and a couple of notes with ideas. I think the first little bit i wrote was the beginning when steve tells robin about realizing Jonathan still has his Spotify (and by that i mean that for a while the only words in the Google docs were “you know what’s funny about this? You and Jonathan have, like, the opposite taste in music.”) and then for a while I’d randomly come up with little ideas and quickly add them to the doc. In fact, i distinctly remember driving home from a vacation with my family in the car, coming up with a bunch of ideas, and quickly writing them down when we stopped at the Starbucks drive thru. (I think that was when I threw in the what makes you beautiful karaoke flashback and also the scene post-confrontation where Nancy tells steve Jonathan is seeing someone and then has to clarify it’s a therapist lmao)

So that was the ~early stage stuff, and then i fully outlined it and started actually writing and then posting it in chapters, which is around the time I decided it would be nonlinear with flashbacks breaking up the present day sections. Also: the flashbacks were very much my favorite part to write!!!

And then from there i was mainly focused on creating, like….the vibe. I pretty much knew i wanted the fic to start out fun with a lot of Spotify shenanigans but get a bit more angsty as it went on, and i wanted that to tie in with Steve’s general attitude at the beginning being ���the breakup wasn’t a big deal and we weren’t even serious” (which you kinda know from the get-go can’t be true because steve and jonathan were neighbors and friends for over a year before they even started dating) and then as the fic goes on you realize it very much was serious and steve is very much not over it. And then alongside that i was trying to walk the line of “these are two fucked up individuals who are very fucked up over each other and the reasons why they broke up make sense for them as characters and are realistic but also you should root for them to get back together regardless.” which was….hard at times lmao. i mean i feel like stonathan kinda have a toxic yaoi vibe depending on characterization / context so it wasn’t hard hard but also i did want to show they were genuinely good together and happy before they self sabotaged their relationship so that was another line i also struggled to walk.

relatedly; i’m glad you said you liked steve and jonathan’s petty/mean elements because i worried at several moments i was making them too mean! i think i was especially worried people would think jonathan was too mean, mainly because you don’t get his pov so you don’t really know what’s going on in his head. which is partly what i added in a little wrap-up of the events of the fic from his point of view when he and Steve talk toward the end. but also, tbh — and maybe this will sound bad lmao — i was thinking about it and then i was like “hang on. you’re writing M/M fanfiction. The only way someone would get mad at you because they think either of them is too mean is if one of them was a woman. So you’re fine.” And that helped lmao

Not really sure when I decided what the ending would be but i knew i wanted their reconciliation convo to start with Jonathan playing a song that had some sort of significance to steve / their relationship. And I knew i wanted them to be like “we’re gonna try again and work things out” but i wanted there to be a sense that they’d be successful without necessarily doing an epilogue??? so I just did a lil paragraph at the end that was like steve imagining them living together and giving speeches at robin and Nancy’s wedding and stuff, and that was basically a little confirmation that they’d be fine and things would work out. And then i ended with a flashback to Steve suggesting they share the Spotify account initially bc I thought that would be nice and full circle :)

Thank you so much for asking!!!

[mymarifae]

1,10, 34, 16,17 and 40

I'm so so sorry if that's too much I just really like hearing you talk/reading your stuff

it's not too much at all omg!! feel free to ask all the questions you'd like ^^ 💗

1. What got you into project sekai?

my friend jewel :) he got into it like... around global release, i think. and had been posting about it and drawing art and i was like "i'm interested" but never got around to downloading it until one night after a sudden ER trip. because that sucked and i wanted game on my phone as a reward

10. What's a feature (or several) you want?

i'd kind of like a mode where you can practice specific parts of songs... i don't think this is necessarily practical or realistic but i still want it. playing through all of a song when the part i need practice on is like at the very end sucks so bad. also i want to be able to use stamps on the loading screen for co-op shows

... that's all i can think of agjdbfjd

16 done!

17. First 3* you pulled?

well idk what the actual first 3* i ever pulled was because i restarted both my en and jp accounts but

these 2 <3

already did 34!

40. A hot take?

cracks knuckles

kanada tenma is a bad headcanon and i need people to drop it

harumichi does not belong in the shitty parents squad with mafuyu's mom and shinei. hell i'd argue that shinei doesn't necessarily belong there either but i really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really do not like shinei so i'm not going to defend him. like agkdjgbf prsk fans are so bad at handling nuance like yes harumichi abused toya - but toya has chosen to forgive him and wants him in his life. despite it all he loves his dad and he knows that his dad loves him too. and this is a relationship he wants to keep and that's OKAY!!!! harumichi has seen the error of his ways and is making an effort to be a better, more accepting, open-minded father. parent-child relationships get fucking COMPLICATED and harumichi and toya's is a really realistic, really nicely written example of that complexity. i see a lot of myself and my mom in them - it's nice to have that represented. but it sucks to see the fandom just like refuse to understand it 😐

95% of the "siblings" headcanons in this fandom feel like a way to preserve mlm ships and make them seem like the only viable option. like you guys are taking every girl in the boys' lives and going "they're siblings!!!!!" so the only "reasonable" thing left to ship is akitoya and ruikasa. like i Swear To God people only get so so so defensive and forceful with headcanoning akito and an, akito and kohane, rui and nene, rui and emu, and emu and tsukasa as siblings because they feel threatened by the fact that these duos do have realistic, healthy romantic chemistry and they need to reinterpret it as something else lest their yaoi ship be tarnished. idk. the damage yaoi brain has done to our society is fascinating

on that note. from an objective standpoint. emurui and ruinene and emukasa have more canonical chemistry than ruikasa does it's just everyone gravitates to that because it's BoyxBoy. there i said it.

emu parallels mafuyu more than tsukasa ever will people just project emu's problems onto tsukasa because they'd rather think about a boy

an exists beyond liking kohane a lot like she has other friends and personality traits. and she's the farthest thing from a "mean lesbian" she's one of the sweetest characters in the game. she and akito are not wlw/mlm hostility. i'm tired of that joke being toted around because people are taking it as canon and they don't bother to understand their friendship as it actually is

ena is not a bad sister. if you're going to say that you have to say akito is a bad brother. like go on. do it. say it 😐 yeah no one wants to say That. "but she scratches him that makes her abusive" 1. not anymore 2. i don't think you have siblings. sometimes siblings fight and hurt each other it's not... god i hate it here. "she yells at him" he yells at her that's how siblings are sometimes. especially in Difficult Households. "she's mean to him" he's mean to her too bitch 😭 look back at what i just said. and while they're jerks to each other SOMETIMES they make a point to take care of each other and go out of their way to do nice things and they actively spend time together (if akito really did not want to go to cafes and the mall with her, he wouldn't go. he's bigger than her. she can't pick him up and drag him there. he whines about it but he does like to spend time with her. and she doesn't have to ask him either like. like. i think only children need to not speak on the dynamics of ena and akito's relationship.)

wxs has the worst music in the game. both covers and commissions wise. i'm so serious i'm tired of people saying that it's amazing just because they like the characters like come on stop lying to me and yourself. it's okay to say emu and tsukasa's vocal direction is FUCKED

the best music in the game is either more more jump or leo/need

mizuki isn't your agender neutral androgynous nonbinary icon. she's explicitly transfem. she's a trans girl.

[itsjulesharper]

The one where I’m consumed by BL Drama

the original of this post is over on my website if you want to take a look.  Otherwise, keep reading :)

Since around July 2022 I fell into a BL drama hole (feels MUCH longer!) and couldn't get up. OMG, Jules! I hear you say. What is this awesome-sounding thing you're into and why are you obsessed?

Well, come closer, my bébés, and let me give you a crash course.

Just like K-Drama is all about stories made in Korea and featuring Korean actors, BL (aka boy love) Drama are stories involving boys dating, falling in love and (mainly) living happily ever after. The HEA has some exceptions which I will WARN YOU ABOUT because I am STILL SALTY about this (Love By Chance S2, I am looking right at you!).  A lot of the stories are adapted from novels, or short stories, or manga. Some start out as an online game (!)

On to a few definitions, courtesy of Nothing But Yaoi.

BL is also known as Yaoi (Yah-OY), and is a media genre depicting romantic and homoerotic relationships between males. This genre blossomed in Japan in the ’70s as a literary genre and originally consisted of derivative works from parodies of original anime and manga stories. However, it gradually transformed into an umbrella term for other forms of fiction - such as anime, movies, dramas and fan-works - featuring homosexual relationships.

Yaoi Vocabulary

Seme – (sem-AY) refers to the ‘top’ or the one who penetrates the ‘bottom’ during sex. Usually portrayed as the character with the most masculine features and the one with the more dominant personality. In standard romance writing terms, he would be an alpha.

Uke – (oo-KAY) character with the most docile and submissive personality and the ‘bottom’ in the relationship. Physically, he is presented as being more graceful and feminine.

Riba – characters with mixed traits of semes and uke, and is both submissive and dominant in the relationship.

Tsundere – (SOON-de-deh) A character who initially shows off a moody and harsh personality and sometimes violent tendencies, but then gradually shows a sweet and gentle side.

Yandere – (YAN-de-deh) a character with a possessive and obsessive personality, who will do anything to be with their crush or love interest.

The Futekiya blog has a good explanation on the differences between seme/uke/riba.

I totally recommend Gail Carriger's 2020 article BL Dramas Analysed from a Writer's Perspective because she goes into the background stuff and I don't need to say the same thing because I pretty much agree with all of it. Go read both parts.

Now, here's my observations. BL isn't just about gay/queer stories. It also deals with friendships, romantic pairings, families, school/college, acceptance and social issues. A lot of them fall into the New Adult subgenre (defined as stories with 18-24yo protagonists navigating their way in the world while dealing with a new job, college, family, social and romantic issues).

Sometimes I feel some male actors aren't that comfortable kissing other men, but that could be me. I know some actors see BL as a stepping stone in the industry and do it for the money. You can find a bunch of YouTube clips that delve into this, but please take those with a grain of salt, because the bottom line is, it's all subjective unless an actor has gone on record about it. And most will not, given most BL are produced by countries that still struggle with LGBTQIA+ acceptance.  And some are still downright homophobic.

#VegasPete MY HEART

BL run the gamut of SUPER HOT (KinnPorsche, Unforgotten Night), to one kiss in the last 30 seconds of the last ep (Where Your Eyes Linger, Light on Me, Minato's Laundromat). Some BL are light and fluffy because sometimes we just need that feel-good romance story about two people falling in love. And then we have the more grittier stories that deal with social and political issues, bullying, assault, social media.

You go for it, Pi! (Fish Upon the Sky)

A lot of BL are only one season, except when not (TharnType, SOTUS). This gets confusing when they give the second season/related seasons a different title. (For example, Kiss: The Series, Kiss Me Again, Dark Blue Kiss and Our Skyy are all related, with the same actors playing the same roles) I loved 2Moons (Phana and Wayo MY HEART!!!)  but the company (StarHunter entertainment) then produced a Season 2 and 3, but with completely different actors in the same roles for both seasons.  People were not happy.  The En of Love was another series that consisted of a bunch of mini stories, including a 4ep one called Love Mechanics.  I was so happy we got a full 10eps for the  retelling of Vee and Mark’s story, because the original 4eps were hugely lacking. It’s now one of my favourites, ngl. 

I've managed to find a lot of related shows via IMDB, and I've also referred to My Drama List for details about number of eps, shows with the same actors, etc. It can get more confusing when it looks like a series is also a movie, and then I realised they make a 'movie' version of the series but there's a lot of heavy editing involved so I recommend watching the series to get the complete story.

Like other fiction genres, BL has its tropes, expectations and issues. I think the oldest BL I've watched was 2016, and the earlier stuff shows its age when it comes to dealing with bullying, sexual assault, consent, stereotypes, gay rights and acceptance.

Most of my BL comes from Thailand and Korea, mainly because they are the ones meeting demand and consistently making content. Japanese BL have recently stepped up (Candy Colour Paradox is one of my faves) but Chinese BL made after 2016 is rare, due to the massive government ban on anything appearing to be gay. A few production companies produce my favourite shows (GMM and Domundi are two) and those companies have a stable of actors who appear in a multitude of different shows, promote those shows and endorse products (more about that later), plus do live greets, fan service and provide content for the original soundtrack. 

I watch in various places - I have Viki and iQIYI, as well as Prime and Netflix but the latter two don't have a lot of the old shows I'm looking for - and I'll tell you about that all further down.  Some production companies like O2 have a YouTube channel but sometimes scenes can be cut because ‘mature’ content.

Okay, so apart from boy love, what's BL about??

My Beautiful Man - of course he is

Aside from the fact that most of the boys are just SO FRICKING BEAUTIFUL IT MAKES ME CRY???? JUST LOOOOK AT THEM!!!! Who wouldn't want to watch all the dramas with these guys???

Okay. It's also about the tropes. I get a kinda-sorta "old romance bodice rippers of the 80s" vibe from the older BL: low/dubious on consent, sexually aggressive, the "I'm interested in you so I'll overtly pursue you - even though you've said no - because I MUST HAVE YOU." The alpha-seme characters are often forceful and in your face. There's open bullying going on. Sometimes sexual assault is used as a plot/character device that makes me mega-uncomfortable (TharnType.... 😒)  But anyway. Here's a bunch of plot/trope devices that seem to crop up in a lot (if not most) BL.

Dominant male/passive male dynamic - I can count on one hand the BLs I've watched that don't have this dynamic - alpha-type guy pursuing a shy, often nerdy, passive (same age or sometimes younger) boy. It's your classic seme-uke. A lot of BL are set in college or just starting out in the workforce, so a huge New Adult vibe to it all, which is helpful to get past the censors re: sexual content. It’s also a very popular trope.

Hot previously-hetero fuckboy has GFY (gay for you) thoughts about roomie/bestie/cute nerdy boy - "gay for you" is a legit trope in the romance genre. Some hate it, some aren't bothered about it. It basically means that a previously heterosexual guy - with no indication he's ever questioned his sexuality and in fact, is overtly sexual with women - will suddenly start to have the feels for another guy. It's not that he's GAY, because he doesn't feel that way about other guys. It's just this one guy who sets his heart all aflutter. Theory of Love fits this, as does TharnType (two very male men who don't classify themselves as dominant or feminine, although Tharn is openly gay and says early on that he's a top).

...or not?

Not gay, just GFY - see above

Accidentally falling on other so they can 'accidentally' kiss - tripping over objects, a kerb, a fence or wall, people crashing into them - with their bodies or vehicle - and forcing them to kiss. Bonus if it involves water, like falling into a bath or a pond. Water fights are also good.

Getting drunk - this appears to provide an opportunity for the seme to kiss or touch the uke. It also allows them to talk about their feelings 'honestly and openly'. Can also lead into...

Drunk kisses - doesn't always come with consent. Many a drunk kiss may start out as 'wtf are you doing??' And because the pursuer is just SO DAMN GOOD at kissing, it morphs into consensual (and sometimes into sex, which again, is not always consensual or appears to be 'forced seduction' - a romance writing term that's loaded with issues and sometimes used as a euphemism for rape, especially when we're talking older romance novels of the 80s-90s).

Placing a hand on a wall/chair/object and leaning in to stare into their face/get intimately close - SO. DRAMATIC. I love this aggressive move (usually by the seme) and also love seeing the uke getting all flustered and nervous. See Cutie Pie, Secret Crush on You, Unforgotten Night.

Watching the other one sleep - So we get those lovely vulnerable moments with lingering looks and tender expressions. See also: pretending to be asleep so the other one can watch them sleep and possibly confess aloud how much they secretly have the feels. Is also related to the classic #OnlyOneBed conflict device.

Bringing food/feeding - this is a culture thing. Putting food on someone's plate, bringing them noms when they're sick or too busy to take care of themselves. Feeding them directly from a utensil has MAJOR sexual vibes, and we often get close ups of parted lips and lots of staring. There's also a bit of extreme dramatic offence taken by the seme when an outsider/potential rival puts food on the plate of the seme's love interest. This preferential treatment of being served food does not go unnoticed by family or friends.

Wiping food from their face - again, we are taking care of that someone we have the feels for. Wiping off food, sauce, cream, often on their lips or corner of the mouth. Bonus if the pursuer then licks that finger. HOT VIBE ALERT.

Patting/washing/drying hair - indicates intimacy, which a shoulder or arm pat definitely doesn't.

Tending to wounds - to show their caring side. Can also involve kisses to said wound, or blowing of said wound. Which then gives us variations of gay panic from the one being pursued.

Nursing them when they're sick - see above. This is also a good turning point for the uke to realise their pursuer is indeed, concerned for them. Which means their romantic feels start/increase.

Falling asleep together - with major spooning and possible kissing occurring. Can also be paired with the #OnlyOneBed conflict device.

Riding a bike/moped/vehicle to create physical touch - where the person sitting behind must hug the driver. This is usually initiated by the driver grabbing their arms and wrapping them around his waist and the passenger is usually reluctant and/or shocked but we also see him smiling and secretly enjoying it. YAY for intimacy! 

Introducing a female/ex to make the other person jealous - some of these are done SO BADLY and sometimes the ex inserts themselves into the budding romance just to be dramatic/evil/demand attention. I have a love/hate relationship with this device. It can be done so very badly, or used extremely well so I accept and understand why my boys are in conflict. In which case, I keep telling myself they'll eventually get their happy-ever-after, SO DON'T PANIC, FOR GODSAKES!

'We can never be together, so go find a woman who will make you happy'- see above.

Disapproving relative - to create tension and conflict. Yes, it's the 21st century but the reality is not everyone accepts same-sex relationships, especially when we're dealing with parents, older relatives and society as a whole. Many Asian countries still don't have gay rights or allow same-sex marriage, which makes the producers of these shows even more brave and forward-thinking.

Staring off into space, deep in thought - seriously, why is it so difficult to get someone's attention when they're doing this? It's not like they've suddenly been struck deaf.

Product Placement -  Snacks, drinks, face creams, collagen powders and pills, nasal sprays. I see them all, and some can be subtle (Theory of Love) and some literally IN YOUR FACE and wtf obvious (Unforgotten Night).  Sponsors throw money at the show and expect a return, both within the show and from the actors when they do promotional activities.  Not gonna lie, I've gone out and bought a bunch of those promoted snacks from my local Coles because I wanted to know what they tasted like. I am an advertisers dream.

Someone is gonna be shipping someone on social media - this is a cute device, and very in keeping with modern teenage life today. For those not in the know, 'Shipping' is basically the act of putting two people in a relationship together, either romantically or not. Mostly, it's of the romantic kind. In Fish Upon the Sky, this is a major conflict device for our nerdy uke, Pi, and his seme pursuer, Mork. Their ship name is #MorkPi. The actors are also shipped outside the show too (for e.g. #BrightWin, #MewGulf, #BibleBuild). Of course, some actors will do this for the fan service (i.e. providing that fan-driven squeeeee! content that keeps people interested/obsessed with the show), but then you will have a ship that sails into real-life couple waters: #MaxNat, #OffGun, #EarthMix, #NetJames, #ZeeNuNew 😍😍

A Happy Ever After - this is the most important trope in a romance novel - in fact, it defines the entire genre.  If a Romance is not HEA or HFN (happy for now) i.e. an uplifting ending, it is not a romance novel.  Whatever else is going on in the story, however the characters fight and break up and reconcile and suffer, romance readers expect and demand a HEA / HFN for them.  I want my BL boys to have a happy ending because I like love stories to be positive.  I’ve seen a few that have ended badly HIStory: Make Our Days Count, Gray Rainbow and Love Bill  UUGGGGHHH.  Also, a S2 may or may not be utterly devastating -  don't get me started on Love By Chance S2 😡😡. I've seen some left up in the air (Ingredients and HIStory: Trapped), some that have a 'X years later' (Where Your Eyes Linger, Plus + Minus), and some that are bittersweet (On Cloud Nine, Doctor I'm Coming for Soul).  I watched Present Perfect (original Thai movie) and Present Still Perfect (sequel), but saw the sequel first, so I got Toey and Oat's initial romance backstory last. Didn't diminish or spoil the story at all and they're now two of my favourite BL movies.

The "I like you" moment - When a boy confesses their feels. I think a more accurate translation should be "I have a crush on you". Gail Carriger goes into more detail about translation issues, which you can read in her article I've linked to above.

A bit more on translating issues. Depending where you watch, they could be A+ or piss-poor. Some are just very very odd. I laughed aloud with KinnPorsche - a story about mafia and their tough bodyguards - and their cursing. 'Fudge', 'darn' and 'shoot'...? LOOOOL. Vegas definitely says "fuck" in English, but 'fudge' is the translator's go-to. For Love By Chance, one site's subs were "at least you won't be told you're a f*ggot." Viki translated it as: "you won't be told you're the wrong gender." The subs for Make It Right on Bilibili were crazy-ass around Ep10, so I swapped over to YouTube.

So where can I watch these awesome shows?

My first port of call is either a legal paid platform or the creators' official YouTube channel.

The Cutie Pie ep10 scene YT doesn't want me to see...

YouTube - GMMTV has a channel for catchup, which I love. I also recommend MindTrio. Make sure you get an ad blocker, because I totally forgot YT has ads, and one time I watched on my iPad ... annoying ads ahoy! Plus, I read on an Instagram account there's some censoring going on, but this is a bit hit-and-miss for me.  For e.g. there's a hot bath scene in Secret Crush on You between Toh and Neua that I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT because I'd watched it on Bilibili and they'd cut it. The full uncut scenes can be found on Viki.  I've also had ep10 of Cutie Pie censored because of 'sexual content' and unless I send YT a copy of my ID (wtf, not gonna do that!!) then I'm blocked from watching it there. Yay 👍 - free! Boo 😒 - censorship!  And ads.

Rakuten Viki - The format is very Prime-looking. You can get a bunch of shows for free, and the quality is great, but sometimes they'll make the first few eps free, then the rest of the season is VIP-only, which you have to pay for. They also place LOUD ads wherever they feel like in a show, so you'll be watching an intense emotional scene and suddenly there's a 20sec ad for Pocky. UGH. And the frequency/number of ads is totally random: one 30min ep had 5 breaks in it?? On the flip side, I watched a 90min movie with two ad breaks. And sometimes you get a Skip this ad>> button so there's that? Yay 👍 - somewhat free. Excellent range of BL if you pay for a sub. Boo 😒 - random ads everywhere unless you pay for VIP.  Paywall to see a complete season.

iQiYi - I had this app on my iPad but the ads were ANNOYING on the free version and totally in the way of the buttons. Paying for a subscription removes them, of course.  But some content is country-restricted (e.g. Unintentional Love Story), so even if you're a subscriber, you may not get access to every show. Yay 👍 - excellent uncensored content! Boo 😒 - paywall/sub fee can be expensive, plus content may be country-restricted.

GagaOOLala - this channel is LGBTQIA dedicated, so if you're unhappy with the shitty offerings of Prime or Netflix, I'd totally be paying a sub for this. You can see an ep or two for free, but then you have to subscribe. Also, as with iQiYi above, content may be country-restricted, even as a subscriber. Yay 👍 - CONTENT that is frequent and excellent!! Boo 😒 - possible country restrictions, plus sub is $$

HiTV - I recently discovered this app and it's fab because there's lots of older shows here that iQiYi and Viki don't have (full version of Love Mechanics! 🥰 ).  It does have ads, but only static silent ones at the start of each ep. Yay 👍 - content you may not be able to find elsewhere. Boo 😒 - The tiniest of tiny ads at the start of each ep.

Netflix - I've watched heaps of K- and C-Drama here (While You Were Sleeping, Love and Leashes, Final Life, Sweet Home, Alice in Borderland) and I still have a bunch bookmarked, but I haven't turned on my TV for weeks. I watched Your Name Engraved Herein, plus technically-not-BL Hwarang and The Untamed here, but Netflix have edited a few scenes of the latter, which makes me v. angry. Also, apparently Germany has absolutely no Chinese drama available, which is... just weird. Yay 👍 - HD content, no ads. Boo 😒 - choice is limited via your country. Plus, you know... you have to pay for a subscription. And with the 'no family sharing thing' that's being phased in, Netflix may not be your best choice.

Okay, so that's my crash course on BL Drama. Stay tuned for a list of my favourite series.  And if you watch BL, let me know your faves in the comments!

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

TW : unsafe situations for minors, sexual trauma, rape, csa

Hello I wanted to send an ask to help me process something from my teen years. I think I mostly need to talk about it, but if it seems important to point something I missed, I'd love to read about that too.

There's so much more than that because I was so unsafe growing up, but right now I'm especially thinking about a friend I had in middle school.

We were some of the only queer kids to our knowledge, so of course we stuck together and we explored non-cishet themes. By exploring I mean we would discuss shipping, draw, talk about sexuality in general ect. This is pretty normal for teens and I believe it helped me find a reason to keep going at the time, given how terrible everything else was.

The thing that bothers me though, is that this person brought up rape a lot.

We used to roleplay as many teens do, and they would so often make their characters rape mine or tell my characters to rape another. It was a sort of trademark, I remember they had a nickname with "pervert" in it, so it became a sort of personality trait.

They were also joking about raping me once or twice, and I was a dissociated mess back then but I don't remember being terrified exactly. More confused than anything. Maybe I was actually scared, at least I think I was uncomfortable. I don't see any context where someone would hear another person joking about raping them and not be uncomfortable.

They never touched me in that way though, so I keep thinking it isn't that bad, but seeing how much denial I was in about my actual rape (unrelated), I'm not so sure I'm "fine".

For them I think rape was the main way in which they conceived sexual attraction, it was a joke we constantly saw in youtube videos at the time. And it was around 2014-2015, so most of the queer content available was yaoi with of course a lot of abuse and rape.

To me at the time, rape was this thing that was "technically bad", because I saw how the men in these youtube videos were making faces when implying someone was a rapist. Rape was clearly represented as a crime, but not a traumatizing thing for the victim - more like, don't do it or you will go to jail.

I knew it was something bad, but the culture in general (and my friend as well) did not address why. So in the end, because we joked about it a bunch, because it was just grouped with "regular sex", then it must've actually been kind of fine. That's the general narrative I remember.

I grew up very sheltered so I didn't really know what I was supposed to feel or do about this. I was also assaulted when I was very young, can't remember but the symptoms have always influenced my life heavily. There wasn't really anywhere I could've gone to have someone, or even something like a book tell me that rape was never okay. I know my friend was probably the same, and I can't help thinking they must have been struggling with sexuality / sexual trauma given their behavior.

And in the end, we did bond, and even if it was extremely unhealthy, it was my first time learning about my sexuality and exploring my queer identity.

Because of that, I'm not sure what to do about those memories.

Hi anon,

I'm sorry about what you went through.

I can definitely see how the queer content available at the time may have influenced the normalization of rape, and I also think just the culture around the early 2000s trivialized rape, especially by using it as a punchline (I just think about this). While I think, at least in America, that modern culture still has some work to do in terms of respecting the true gravity of rape, there has been a drastic improvement in how we approach the subject.

At the same time, I don't believe that this was really the only reason why they were heavily incorporating rape into their roleplay. However, I don't think it's necessary to speculate their motives, because it doesn't change the fact that their behavior was unacceptable.

While you say this experience wasn't "that bad" it's still apparent that this had a notable effect on you and I think that's worth highlighting. It's understandable that this bothers you, what happened was not okay. However you feel about these experiences is valid.

This is something that it sounds like you're actively processing, and so it's especially okay that you're not sure what to do about these memories. It's not necessarily my place to tell you what to do about them, but it may be helpful to start by figuring out how you want to name this experience, and going from there.

I hope I could help. Please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda under the cut

Peggy Carter

She’s a victim of Stucky mainly bc of the way marvel used her to give Steve an ooc ‘happy ending, but I know I’ve seen some posts calling her toxic or something it was 2019 so In CAT:FA, she’s introduced as a confident British agent. She has some chemistry w Steve Rogers (although more fans (on tumblr at least) preferred Steve and Bucky). She wasn’t just *woman who is strong*, but also had some emotional depth, with an actual range of emotion outside of angry and sad. She had a spin-off show, and she just continued to fight Russians and misogynists, even having chemistry in an almost wlw relationship and an eventual marriage to a famous shield agent. She went through character development and just was an awesome character. Then you know what endgame does? It has Steve Rogers travel back in time and take all of that development away. Most fans were mad at Marvel, and a lot were mad at Steve, but some fans threw Peggy completely under the bus, saying that they traded the (fanon?) queer ship/(canon) friendship for a bland love interest, which, um, she was so much more then that? I remember people really disliking Peggy, which isn’t fair to her character when she is/was so much more then that.

Peggy is vilified by people who ship Steve with his war comrade Bucky Barnes. I’ve even seen people claiming baselessly that she was secretly HYDRA the whole time. 

She gets in the way of stucky which OBVIOUSLY gives people, most of them women themselves, the right to be ridiculously misogynistic. Dismissing her character arc, traits, presence in the movies and her part in Steve Roger's life, saying she is insignificant on the ground of very subjective readings is one thing, but outright calling her 'just some old coochie', among other colourful, wonderful things, is another. They also keep reaching to villainize her (saying she's a literal nazi which she's not) and cancel her so their ship is somehow made more valid for it, erasing the competition as it were.

Mai

she’s constantly pushed aside for the zuko/sokka ship :/ like i’m not a fan of mai/zuko but they always forget her or make her a wingwoman or make her a villain. 

She's a very interesting character who had the misfortune of being the love interest of the series' most popular character, Zuko, which immediately made her public enemy No. 1 in certain parts of the fandom. Tbh I think she's more a victim of zutara (an m/f ship) than zukka (m/m) but zukka also screwed her over so it counts. She's at best sidelined and at worst demonized. There's a whole section of the fandom who'll swear up and down she's abusive for telling Zuko to deal with his mental health issues himself. There's whole essays on it and I'm not exaggerating.

tell me WHY people think she's abusive just because she?? got mad at zuko?? when zuko was being a horrible boyfriend to begin with?? because theyre both teenagers and they were literally Acting Like Teenagers?? anyway no more mai hate the world has moved past the need for mai hate

[abri-chan]

Hey again

I agree with most of what you said especially with the fanart depicting Shunuki first love in the academy. I mean of I were to ship them I would assume that maybe they fell in love after they graduated or during that time they became captains.

Oh and I also think that Juu has a more masculine aura than Shunsui. Heck he even uses the pronoun 'ore' (which is used in a rough or manly manner) whenever he refers to himself and Shunsui uses 'boku' (used by younger men or men who are humble something like that). Yeah Shunsui would be a lot of work on a daily basis.

One more thing I would like to point out is how good Juu would look like pregnant. I know he would want to have a family with wife and kids but it would be nice if he had that option too. Personally, I don't ship him with any of the shinigami females. I did see potential between him and Yoruich in the beginning of the SS arc and that omake where he was stripped half naked by soifon and Yoruichi found him like that later. She also helped free him from the tree so I wonder how the convo went at that time.

Yeah Nanao deserves someone who will not make her work as tho she's his mother. She needs to be protected 😔 I don't have anything much to say about her mother tho except for the fact that I want to see more scenes of her when the episode comes out

Reminds me of one of those brave souls events with the umbrellas, he looks so pregnant in that kimono he was wearing. (Women please get this man pregnant asap thank you.) I can see why people ship him with Shunsui because they're best friends, and also I suppose it is suspicious to be hundreds of years old and single. A male bachelor was considered gay. But let's remember women had no choice but to marry, so unfortunately we forget how gay women lived in Victorian times. (There is some good fanart or doujins out there of juushun tho, gotta give credit when credit is due.)

Yaoi also has this issue of roleplaying hetero relationships at times, and making the uke (stand in for the woman in this case) smaller than they are in canon, so the seme can look larger because they're the stand in for the man... I do not like that very much. I can see why Ukitake is thinner than Shunsui because of his disease and all, but I've seen yaoi that will remove all muscles from a man who's muscular in canon. It's like they're feminizing him or whatever, and sometimes they remove feminine traits from the seme that exist in the original.

Do you ship Juushiro with any male characters? Or if at all? (Well there's also reader and OCs out there, so we can find someone for him. )

That's why Jugram is perfect for Nanao, he will serve her and not be a burden. And he's the opposite of her uncle both physically and in personality lol, it's like light and day. I also hope to see more of the mom; it seems my reading of her is quite different from the fandom.

***

I wonder if Shunsui's speech has to do with him being a younger brother/son, that's interesting. He's not humble, well at least not as a young man. He starts off cocky then trauma gets to him. So it's interesting if he uses that speech pattern to be cute in some way. He seems to care about peacocking to women.

I laughed my ass off when he acted bratty to Ukitake: once the spar ended up a tie, he said "nice going buddy, you're not bad". Shunsui you got your ass handed by a sick man who would have won probably if he weren't sick. And you still have the audacity to be cocky? Emotional or mind games are truly part of how he intimidates his opponents fr.

[hazbinbabbles]

Sorry to put discourse on people’s dashes, but this actually interests me because I’ve always been fascinated by fandom history, so long rant and personal experiences from the fandom of yore under the cut.

It’s easy to forget how it was in the fandom/on the internet 20 years ago, or maybe people weren’t even alive in that time (I know I was a child back in 2002), but fandom even from just 10-15 years ago was VASTLY different. People didn’t have access to authors like here on tumblr, authors didn’t know fandom spaces at all because they didn’t have access/weren’t invited in fandom spaces for obvious reasons (accessibility, general internet stranger danger distrust, etc.). They had no idea what slash even was, probably. Also, the word slash actually reminded me of my first experiences with fanfiction in fandom, and in general my first approach with queer media/rep as a teen questioning my identity. In the 2000s we didn’t have many gay characters in mainstream media: the ones we had were either super stereotypical and always doomed to be unhappy or just outright homophobic caricatures. So if we queers wanted some general rep, we had to go to fandom to find them: my first forage into queer stories was slash fiction, and I’m sorry to say it was mind boggling to me how most of it seemed to be either explicit fanfictions written by hetero women for other hetero women (basically lesbian p**n but in reverse), or yaoi, which had A LOT of problematics like the romanticization of ra** and other unsavory things, that were passed as romance. For a queer teenager like me, who was questioning their identity, finding only this content was a huge put off. I only wish we had all the rep we have now. This is to mean, that in light of this all, I understand why an author who doesn’t even know what fanfiction is, could find slash mind boggling. It sure did boggle my mind how I could only find nice and cute romances in the hetero mainstream media (or even in fanfiction), and all the queer romances were choke full of toxic traits and problematic story lines or always sad and stereotyped, both in mainstream media and fanfiction. Which, for the most part, was even worse (it was made by adults for adults, mostly, so I understand why I was grossed out at the time, but still... Having basically no queer rep in mainstream media sucked, and turning to fanfiction and seeing how it was mostly written by hetero people treating queer romance as a literary device to write their specific fetishistic p**n felt very weird... Like having allies but they fetishize you in the process. Guess that’s how lesbians felt by having visibility only when fetishized by horny hetero dudes). Sorry for the rambling but in conclusion, I was a woman, so I didn’t even feel like directly targeted by all the slash fiction (which had another huge problematic, the complete lack of female queer couples, as it was mostly hetero women writing about men, and even if you had queer women writing the stories, they still focused on men), I can only imagine how gay or bi men felt at being represented in fandom only as a weird fetish category for hetero women. At the same time, I was subconsciously searching for any kind of queer content, even if it wasn’t the rep I might have wanted (queer romances with women/female presenting people), but beggars can’t be choosers I guess. It was kind of a mess, and it’s oodles better now: you’ve still got the hetero women writing about m/m p**n, and that’s fine if it works for them, but fanfiction has a lot more queer people writing and it has improved vastly over the years, thanks to actual queers bringing their experiences into the fandom. I felt like an idiot for not liking most of the explicit/implied slash fanfiction I read, or the toxic tropes, or not liking yaoi (got called homophobic more than once for pointing out that lol) specifically, NOW I know most fanfiction just lacked the queer perspective/wasn’t intended for queer audiences anyways. Now we have fandoms like good omens, where you can play and write with the characters and make them women or female presenting or whatever, and it still boggles my mind how far we’ve come, that even an author wants to incorporate queer rep into his successful show. I guess that in a sense, I still find slash fiction mindboggling, albeit with a different meaning now lol.

Hello!! I have a question about the ending of s2 ep6 (loved the season by the way!!)

What lead you to making Crowley kiss aziraphale? In the past i recall you mentioning that you felt unsure to stray too far from the original material or say anything new about their relationship without Terry Pratchett being here so i wonder what caused you to change your mind? Not complaining, just curious :)

I said I wasn't going to change anything about the nature of their relationship in the first book, and I didn't. I know what Terry and I had planned for the sequel, though.