#Semantic Externalism

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Direct Reference

The philosophy of direct reference pertains to the theory of how language, particularly names and certain kinds of expressions, refer directly to objects in the world without the mediation of descriptive content or mental representations. This theory challenges earlier views in semantics and the philosophy of language, particularly those inspired by Frege and Russell, which proposed that names refer through a bundle of descriptions or senses.

Key Concepts:

Direct Reference:

Names as Direct Designators: In the theory of direct reference, proper names (like "Aristotle" or "Venus") are understood to directly refer to objects or individuals without the need for an intermediary description. The name "Aristotle" refers to the individual Aristotle, not to any particular set of properties or descriptions he possesses.

Rigid Designators: Philosopher Saul Kripke, in his influential work Naming and Necessity (1972), introduced the idea of rigid designators, which are terms that refer to the same object in all possible worlds where that object exists. For example, "Aristotle" refers to the same person in every possible world where he exists, regardless of whether he was a philosopher, a teacher, or had different life experiences.

The Rejection of Descriptive Theories:

Against Frege-Russell Views: Prior to direct reference theories, philosophers like Frege and Russell held that names or terms referred to objects through descriptions (e.g., "the student of Plato" refers to Aristotle). Direct reference theories reject this, arguing that names do not need a descriptive intermediary; they refer to objects directly.

Causal Theory of Reference: A key element of direct reference theory is the causal theory of reference, which holds that a name refers to an object because of a causal chain of communication that leads back to the object. When someone names a child "Aristotle" at birth, the name gets passed down through a causal chain from speaker to speaker, with the name continuing to refer to that individual.

Kripke’s Modal Argument:

Rigid Designators and Possible Worlds: Kripke's argument for direct reference focuses on the modal properties of names. He argues that a name refers to the same individual in all possible worlds where that individual exists, making it a rigid designator. Descriptive theories, by contrast, allow for terms to refer to different individuals depending on whether they fit the associated description in different possible worlds.

Necessity vs. Contingency: According to Kripke, certain facts about individuals are necessary (e.g., "Aristotle is Aristotle"), whereas descriptive theories would struggle with this distinction because a description might not necessarily pick out the same individual in all worlds. Thus, direct reference theory can explain why some statements are necessarily true (e.g., "Aristotle is Aristotle") while others are contingently true (e.g., "Aristotle was a philosopher").

Philosophical Implications:

Semantic Externalism: Direct reference theories contribute to the view of semantic externalism, which holds that the meaning of terms and reference are determined by external factors—such as the environment or the causal history of a term—rather than by internal mental states or descriptions known to the speaker.

Mental Content and Reference: Direct reference theory has implications for how we understand the relationship between thought and language. It suggests that when we use names, we don’t need to have a fully fleshed-out mental picture or description of the object; the name directly refers to the object simply by being part of the causal chain that leads back to the object.

Critiques and Alternatives:

Problems with Identity Statements: Critics of direct reference theory often point to the difficulty in explaining how identity statements like "Clark Kent is Superman" can be informative. If both names directly refer to the same individual, how can it be that someone learns something new upon hearing such a statement?

Descriptive Content in Communication: Some argue that in actual communication, speakers often do rely on descriptive content to ensure successful reference, suggesting that a purely direct theory might oversimplify how reference works in practice.

Applications in Philosophy of Language:

Indexicals and Demonstratives: Direct reference theory has also been extended to certain indexicals (e.g., "I", "here", "now") and demonstratives (e.g., "this", "that"). These terms are said to directly refer to objects or individuals based on the context of utterance, without the need for descriptive content.

The Role of Context: Direct reference places significant importance on the context of utterance and the causal history of names, arguing that reference is more about these external factors than about internal thoughts or descriptions.

The philosophy of direct reference argues that certain terms, particularly proper names and some indexicals, refer directly to objects without the mediation of descriptions. Developed in response to earlier descriptive theories of reference, direct reference theorists like Saul Kripke proposed that names are rigid designators, referring to the same object in all possible worlds. This view shifts the focus of meaning from mental representations and descriptions to external factors like causal chains and the context of use. While direct reference theories have been influential, they have also sparked debates about how reference, communication, and identity work in practice.

[strike-9]

saw a post on here about making friends as an adult and i feel conflicted cuz like, overall i agree that all you have to do is get the courage to show up and get the ball rolling by talking to people/getting their numbers even if it feels cringe or 'wrong' to do so however i can't help but raise my eyebrow at the 'act like they're already your friend' part because some people lean way to into that to the point where they forget we're not actually friends yet which inevitably leads to them saying/doing something that's pretty out of line so like. yes put yourself out there, talk to them and get to know them but please remember that people need to actually like, warm up to each other which could take weeks of speaking to them regularly at minimum

[absolutebl]

Of My 50+ Favorite BLs these are the 10 I rewatch the most

So you could call these my favorite comfort foods. Everything on this list got a rating of 10/10 or 9/10 from me.

10 Most Comforting BLs

(for me, in order of most recently rewatched at the top)

Our Dating Sim

Korea 2023 Viki (watch the series not the movie)

This is a perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy. I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent.

Cosmetic Playlover

Japan 2024 Gaga

The most recent release on this list, it came out this year and I've already rewatched it 5x. I love this little show. It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan (if one is me). Plus the kisses are good! Utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What fun!

Jun and Jun

Korea 2023 Viki

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. Other boys are sniffing around too. Operative word being "sniffing" as much of this romance involves smell. With a snappy (sometimes even raunchy) script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and decent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching. My only caution is this is for fans of the BL genre only, I don’t think it’ll work for anyone else.

My Personal Weatherman

AKA Taikan Yoho

Japan 2023 Gaga

This style of live action yaoi really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but are so repressed they don't realize they're in love. It's higher heat than we usually get from Japan's HEA stuff, and that aspect is also very well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" trope which is only exacerbated into undiluted frustration by the fact that they're already fucking. It's great, but watching requires more patience than usual, even for Japan. That said it's also bruisingly romantic. Emphasis on bruise.

Unintentional Love Story

Korea 2023 iQIYI

OMG the plot! Uke forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the PAIN in those gorgeous eyes. Gah. Okay, so: A boy loses his job due to trumped-up corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss's favorite artist, now a recluse. Evil manager offers him his job back, if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love. I found the artist a bit stiff and reserved but Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT - he carried this show (which I do not expect from the idol element). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, just drown in the emoting abyss. The external conflict, social tension and pressure is complex and beautifully executed, plus Korea gave us legit side dishes (NOT a love triangle, hally-fucking-luya). All that said, when I rewatch this it's usually just the second half, but WHAT a ride.

Semantic Error

Korea 2022 Viki

Sexy older boy discovers pouty younger boy has outed him as a slacker, starts out bullying him, accidentally falls madly in love instead. Korea hits it entirely out of the Parks by doing a university BL with everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. Korea's signature quality executed perfectly with added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Another one where the rewatch is mostly just the second half.

Old Fashion Cupcake

Japan 2022

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said boss with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s a stunningly filmed late-in-life comg of age/queerness story packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity, love, and loneliness… and it’s beautiful.

Yes yes. But the bit you know you want to rewatch is that long shot with the bite kiss. YOU KNOW you wanna.

Seven Days

Japan 2015

Ha! I faked you out 'cause this wasn't at the top but of course it's on the list! One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). Older boy dares the hot af younger one to date him for a week. Turns out they both like it... A lot. The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Takara & Amagi

Japan 2022

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show, but a rewatch is way less tense. Reserved cool kid must learn to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst, thirst, & yearning.

We Best Love

Taiwan 2021 WeTV

WBL successfully managed to pick up and combine the best features of Korean, Thai, and Japanese BL as it exists right now. Couple that to the insane chemistry from the leads, and we have one of the greatest BLs of all time, cooking to a recipe I doubt anyone else will ever be able to replicate since only Taiwan is this flexible. It's basically every classic BL trope bombarded at us in two parts, rapid fire, one after another. Rewatching this show reminds me of everything I love about this genre. It is the genre in pure concentrated form.

The End!

I think it's no accident that none of these are Thai, part of a rewatch for me is the brevity of the show, longer stuff does get rewatched, but not as frequently.

(source)

[pansyfemme]

honestly i may not be completly binary but everytime i even hint at that people go ‘oh have you heard of [x label] or do you want to use [pronoun] or [term]’ and i promise you!! i do not! im perfectly comfy with my presentation and how i’m referred to, it’s just semantics at this point and i’ve kinda. done my time diving into it and honestly even if it’s not 100% accurate, telling people i’m a boy and being treated as one is far more comfortable than how people treat me when i identified as nonbinary (overcorrecting themselves constantly, assuming i preffered neutral terms and pronouns when that quite literally has never been the case.) regardless if i’m 100% male or not. does that make sense. to me, my actual internal sense of gender is way less important than making sure people externally gender me in a way im comfortable with..

[vyl3tpwny]

i am not a brony or a furry

do not call me these things.

it may sound counterintuitive.. i love my little pony and i love anthropomorphic creatures. i'm friends with people who are the same. but i fully reject the labels.

i think i have always felt this way, but i had always succumbed to the external pressure that came from people who just cannot let go of things. there is a sub sect of people out there who will say shit like "oh well then ur just a deserter! ur not a real—" bla bla bla. like. real cultish shit. you're not in charge of my life, you don't decide who i am, and it affects you with a total net zero consequence of how i live my life. i'm not going to claim labels that i don't believe in just because some anonymous jackass has an unhealthy attachment to semantics.

so why am i not a brony or a furry?

well. i don't really relate to the communities at large. i don't really want to be a part of them. i have so much trauma and bad memories, that maintaining the labels inhibits my ability to grow and heal. i feel immensely uncomfortable with any large community of any kind, and i don't really desire to be a "part of a fandom" for anything i enjoy. i am my own person doing my own thing in my own space. the labels themselves specifically harm me, and represent a mentality and aura i want to shed and grow from.

does this change anything about my work or my personality?

not really. i simply reject the labels. i still love the things that i love, and engage with the things i engage with. i don't want to be a part of a fandom, i just want to be a fan. i don't want to associate with a community at large, rather be a transient presence in that space while mostly choosing my own actual space and defining what i actually am.

so what do you call me?

an artist. a person. a creature. a fan. a listener. someone who loves my little pony.

i'm not really interested in this being a discussion in which i aim to prove myself or justify my thoughts about these labels. this is a purely emotional and organic thing.

i will continue to do things exactly how i have always done them. i will always be involved in the business of telling stories about creatures and worlds. merely, i am not a brony or a furry while doing these things. i am my own person and am justified in defining myself <3

[spoogliedoo]

i've been working as a research assistant on a project looking at media depicting "warchitecture" in the yugoslav wars, chechnya and ukraine, and interpreting that as both historico-cultural semantics and as actual media. the project was inspired by and basically predicated on, the work of architectural philosopher/urban theorist andrew herscher, so i have a lot of the ideas from his work fresh in my mind. so with the ceasefire ending and israel's genocide continuing, i feel like it would be constructive to just share a bit from his book violence taking place: the architecture of the kosovo conflict.

herscher was working on his phd in the late-90s when the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia (ICTY) asked him to join the prosecution and be an expert witness on the destruction of buildings during serbia's ethnic cleansing of kosovo 1998/99. and when working in the balkans collecting evidence and writing reports for the ICTY, he realised that relegating the destruction of architecture to an externality of violence was absent of the fact that the destruction and construction of architecture is a productive medium for expresing historico-cultural and political semantics -- invoking ideas of present and historical material conditions and realities, and enforcing them. in the case of kosovo, this was serbs ensuring the alterity of kosovar-albanians, projecting serbian orthodoxy over kosovar-albanian islam, destroying their communities to ensure they could not retain their autonomy, etc. one of the most common instances hersher encountered were the minarets of mosques being toppled, but the building left otherwise mostly intact. this is violence as performance, and as a means of engaging in a cultural discourse to marginalize and eliminate a community. it's a kind of violence which architecture reciprocates and reproduces meaning in.

attached a bunch of excerpts below. consider gaza and the experience of palestinians, and remember that the yugoslav wars ended with 161 political and military leaders being brought before a judge at the hague.

[crguang]

woulf kafka get jealous if her s/o was flirted on by someone? 🤔🤔

short answer: no

long answer: i think it’s mostly semantics for people but i personally dont define jealousy and envy as the same thing and dont use them interchangeably. jealousy is a lot more rooted in insecurity for me which includes fear of some sort, and i don’t think kafka is an insecure person at all. her perception of herself is very positive and it’s not something that can be changed by a rando flirting with her baby. i dont think changes in her self esteem can be brought on by external forces (what others do) because it’s a relatively stable thing in general and for someone like her, who likely doesnt feel fear of rejection/replacement/not being good enough, i don’t see why she would be jealous. i think possessiveness and jealousy are two different things as well (theyre not always mutually exclusive) and that she would be more the former than the latter. imo she would be aware that her baby is hot and would feel more “pride” than jealousy or annoyance. in a “you want her so bad but shes mine😋” kind of way. she’d rub it in their faces with pda too. you know what i mean? if someone’s ogling her baby she would grab their ass or kiss them or something like that but it’s possessiveness, not jealousy… now onto envy that i mentioned earlier, if the opposite happens where her s/o is a little too friendly with someone else i think she would be envious of that attention and would want it for herself. for example; her s/o hugs someone for a little too long and she’s like “i want a hug too🙁” with a pretend pout that will get her what she wants and will divert their attention back to her. she’d be more focused on “i want this” than “i dont like this [behavior]”. but again, it’s semantics and nuances and i just like dissecting kafka’s brain, im a psych girlie so i cant help it

it’s also my opinion so u dont have to agree lol but i hope im making some sense

[max1461]

Something astute readers of my blog with notice is that I stick very closely to the following conventions in writing, even when I eschew standard capitalization and so on:

Individual words in an object language are italicized: a stone is a particular type of object you might find on the ground, whereas stone is the English word referring to such.

Of course, phonemic transcriptions are given in slashes /stoʊn/, while phonetic transcriptions (relatively broad or very narrow) are given in square brackets [stõʊ̯̃n̥].

References to orthographic characters or sequences of such are given in angle brackets: stone is spelled , which starts with the letter .

Loan phrases and non-nativized loanwords are italicized: per se, à la, de facto.

Diacritics are maintained in such, and in some nativized loans.

Diacritics are maintained in foreign names, except when there is a standard Anglicization of the name, in which case that form is used.

Conjunctions without a comma associate more strongly than conjunctions with a comma, thus "he was a writer, a painter, and a sculptor" brackets (semantically) as [ he was a [ a writer ] [ a painter ] [ and a sculptor ] ], where as "he was a writer, a painter and a sculptor" brackets as [he was [ a writer ] [ a painter and a sculptor ] ].

Multi-word phrases used in an attributive role are connected with dashes: I have object-level concerns are about the object level.

Punctuation in quotes is completely separate from punctuation outside of quotes, and a sentence ending in a quote will use both: the man asked "am I a fish?". This is widely regarded as looking ugly, but it is logically correct.

Similarly, block quotes, code fragments, display equations (or facsimiles of such produced using tumblr's formatting capabilities) and other similar things are embedded within a sentence and thus do not automatically require capitalization on the following line:

It has been said before that

All men are created equal

and I think this is true.

Block quotes and code fragments automatically induce a deletion of an immediately following external punctuation mark, but display equations do not. Thus a display equation at the end of a sentence should be followed by a period, and so on.

There may be more. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, these conventions are Correct and should be used as widely as possible.

[miaoqing]

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about that whole thing with using the term "unreliable narrator" for Shen Yuan, and I want to throw in my two cents.

(looong explanation under the cut)

There are two layers to storytelling - narration and focalisation.

A narrator is the voice telling the story; it will usually be either a character inside the story (intradiegetic narrator) or a being outside of the story (extradiegetic narrator) who usually knows at least some of the things that the character/s are thinking or feeling.

Focalisation is about the being whose thoughts the narrator is conveying. A story written in the 1st person pov where a character is narrating their own life would have homodiegetic focalization. A 3rd person pov where the narrator is someone outside of the story would have heterodiegetic focalization. A story where the narrator's knowledge is unlimited has zero focalization.

What we have in SVSSS is a story narrated by a (seemingly) omniscient being, so an extradiegetic and heterodiegetic narrator. Thus, the narrator is someone outside the story, not SY, and calling him an unreliable narrator is wrong. Right?

No! SVSSS has internal focalization, meaning that the narration is focused on the thoughts and feelings of a character, in this case Shen Yuan. (As opposed to external focalization where the narration is limited to just the setting, what characters are doing, etc without delving into their thoughts).

What we read in the story are Shen Yuan's thoughts and feelings in the 3rd person. So far so good - nothing weird there. The trouble comes in the form of the fact that obviously, somewhere along the way, SY's actual thoughts/feelings get filtered/censored, so to speak, and we read a stripped down/edited version of them. This means that somewhere along the line, someone is unreliable. But we don't know who - maybe we are reading a straight up transcription of SY's thoughts and he is just that much more delusional than we thought. Maybe the narrator is leaving some things out, or isn't granted access to his "true" thoughts. It's impossible to tell.

The only thing we know for sure is that we are reading what we are meant to believe to be what SY sees happening/thinks about/feels. What we do not know is whether or not that is the objective truth.

So - even though Shen Yuan isn't the "narrator" by definition, it is still through his eyes that we see the events of SVSSS happening. There are no truly objective statements in SVSSS - it's all composed of Shen Yuan's thoughts, and who knows how much of the truth is lost to his mental gymnastics. As I said before, we don't know where exactly the unreliabilty comes from, but unless you want to have to write out this entire explanation every time and still not even have a definitive answer, let's just say that Shen Yuan is the unreliable one for simplicity's sake.

TL;DR it's fine to call Shen Yuan an "unreliable narrator" and to pull the "oh but he isn't narrating the story" is to pointlessly argue semantics. We all know what we mean by "unreliable narrator". it's not that deep. just laugh at the joke and move on. thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[tanadrin]

since the enforcement of social hierarchies can't allow the upper half of the binary to truly desert its post, lest the whole binary crumble, it often creates a debased subclass that can be used to punish or further discriminate within the privileged class. in the american racial hierarchy, this is White Trash, the poor rural whites who do not have the prestige of landowners, but can at least be comforted by the fact there exists a class even below them, to which their disdain can be channeled. but in the gender hierarchy, there is the debased man instead: the wimp or sissy.

and our social anxieties often find their expression in eroticization: the sexual threat of the racial other in racialized cuckolding porn; the sexual threat of cheating in cuckolding porn more generally (as opposed to "hotwifing," which is just the thrill of being slutty while married, and is less bound up with humiliation), so it's no surprise that there is an extremely rich variety of porn on the theme of "debased manhood." small penis humiliation, aspects of cuckolding porn again (cuckolding porn is invariably a rich text!), but also of course sissy porn. the emergence of 'sissy' as a sexual role or category is both an expression of cultural anxieties and a relief from gender conformity, and also a way to draw the sting out of a feared humiliation by eroticizing it. i think it fits within the theory i've described that there's not really a "debased woman" role that has the same overloaded semantics of humiliation and failure to embody the role and being forcibly relegated to the category by external forces. women can of course be charged by society with performing femininity badly, but it's not shameful to be a tomboy in the same way it is to be a sissy, and “forced tomboyification” isn’t really a porn category in the same way

but what does seem to exist is a trans male counterpart to anxieties of being relegated to a debased masculine category--there is a subgenre of porn on AO3 that's sort of classic feminization porn where the subject of the feminization is a trans man. i don't know what exactly about this formula the authors find erotic, and i don't know how the authors identify really, but it wouldn't surprise me if this really was the trans male equivalent of the trans women who eroticize their anxieties about their gender identity into feminization porn, because since the social hierarchy that gets inculcated into us isn't symmetric ("man" and "woman" are not equal categories), it makes sense that the eroticization of anxieties around gender performance isn’t symmetric either: it’s not humiliating to be masculinized in the same way it is to be feminized.

i’d be interested in hearing from trans men or trans mascs with gender related kinks, though, bc this is a perspective that’s still pretty obscure to me. and it is entirely possible there is a rich vein of oops-i-have-to-pretend-to-be-a-guy-and-somehow-this-is-very-embarrassing porn out there that i just don’t know about

[alilarew23]

hi! i just wanted to ask: is it possible to have a limiting belief that even though i have it in imagination i won’t get it in the 3d? because i’ve done everything right- fulfilling myself and dismissing the 3d as much as i can knowing it has to change but it’s been more than a month of this and i don’t know what more to do. i’ve done edward arts meditations and just experienced it, imagining what my life would be like after i received my desire, making pinterest boards, simply just “deciding” and reminding myself i do have it in my 4d

i’m so tired, i even validate myself and say no i do have it in imagination idk what else i’m supposed to do? i have clearly accepted i have it in imagination and i am being the person who has it but it shouldn’t take this long at all. i want results in my 3d, i have such bad circumstances and it just doesn’t seem to reflect even though i do know i have it.

please could you give me advice. thank you.

(would appreciate if you could help me asap because idk where else to go, im so grateful for your blog!)

hmmm it sounds like maybe because you’re dealing with shitty circumstances and are desperate for external change you may not be embodying the version of yourself who has your desire even though intellectually you know and believe you do.

this is a likely a nervous system thing - i can relate as i’ve struggled a bit with this in the past (ptsd stuff). hug.

here’s a question: say the “universe,” “god,” “source,” “imagination,” “your subconscious mind,” whatever you want to call it came to you this morning and said, “hi bestie i desperately want to gift you _____, but you’re blocking it.”

what are you doing/thinking/feeling that might be blocking it?

the answer that intuitively comes to mind is the right one. trust it.

for me, the answer is usually continued mental/physical strain and tension, which implies force, which is the antithesis of surrender/receivership.

you need to get into the energy of receiving.

for me this means softening of the body, quieting of the mind, and envisioning/feeling the wish-fulfilled as a lovely gentle constant pummeling, like you just keep receiving gift after gift after gift and you’re so unbelievably grateful.

you can even repeat something like, “i am calling in _____,” (even though really you’re expressing it, but that’s just semantics).

but you MUST lose the desperation, the physical/mental experience of lack, the awareness of time.

lose yourself in the state of receiving this week, and see what happens.

i hope this helps.

i do sense and trust you are doing your best. this, here, is part of your bridge. keep following your intuition. it is all working out for you. i promise.

love you!

[theyareexperiments]

Case No. 43

Code Name: Purple Basic information: Gender: Male Age: 11 Height: medium Body type: Asthenics Skin: dark skin Head: medium height, oval shape. Hair: short to earlobes, wavy, black Face: oval in shape, with medium features, pronounced cheekbones, convex profile Forehead: high, vertical Eyebrows: arc, high, medium density Eyes: almond-shaped, there is heterochromia (the right eye is dark green, the left is brown) Nose: medium length, raised base Mouth: medium length, the corners of the mouth are lowered Shoulders: lowered, medium length Hands: medium, long fingers Legs: long, straight Posture: stooped. Problems with the spine have been identified. Speech: slow Ability: Controlling technologies from a distance, communicating with them, transferring consciousness into technology and controlling it. For better control, direct interaction with the equipment is necessary. Telepathic communication with the “blue”.

Identified problems: Wedge-shaped vertebrae have caused curvature of the spinal column and back pain. During the experiments, rapidly progressive kyphosis, neurological disorders, and deterioration of heart and lung functions were manifested. Request for anteroposterior epiphyseospondylodesis.

Defect: Due to the large amount of information coming directly into the consciousness of the “Purple”, depersonalization occurred. The child stopped responding to many external factors, as well as lost the ability to speak, to emote, memory loss was noticed, as well as unconsciousness of what was happening. In case of physical contact, there is a possibility of being electrocuted. The subject has no reaction to this fact. The subject, in telepathic communication with the “blue”, conveys the emotional component of the message more than the semantic one. More concentration is needed. The possibility of “disabling” the transmission has not been proven.

Edited.

Due to the intervention of the “blue”, the subject was able to regain speech, awareness, and memory. There is still a dullness of emotions. However, the management of the technology began to deteriorate. Permission for the operation has been received. Additional purpose of the operation: implementation of information forwarding technologies The operation was successful. Permission has been obtained to continue the experiments. The subject returned to the starting point in his ability. Depersonalization has not been noticed. The experiment can be considered half successful. The subject still has side effects from fusion migraines, chronic fatigue, sensitivity to light, back pain, visual changes during the use of abilities (further research is needed). Telepathy with “blue" also has similar results. Status: defective

Кодовое имя: Фиолетовый Основная информация: Пол: мужской Возраст: 11 Рост: средний Телосложение: астеники Кожа: смуглая Голова: средней высоты, овальной формы. Волосы: короткие до мочек ушей, волнистые, черные Лицо: овальной формы, со средними чертами, выражены скулы, профиль выпуклый Лоб: высокий, вертикальный Брови: дуговые, высокие, средней густоты Глаза: миндалевидные, имеется гетерохромия(правый глаз темно-зелёный, левый - карий) Нос: средней длины, основание приподнятое Рот: средней длины, уголки рта опущены Плечи: опущенные, средней длины Руки: средние, длинные пальцы рук Ноги: длинные, прямые Осанка: сутулая. Выявлены проблемы с позвоночником. Речь: медленная Способность: Управление технологиями на расстоянии, связь с ними, перенос сознания в технику и управление ею. Для лучшего контроля необходимо прямое взаимодействие с техникой. Телепатическая связь с “синем”. Выявленные проблемы: Клиновидные позвонки стали причиной искривления позвоночного столба и болей в спине. Во время экспериментов проявились быстро прогрессирующий кифоз, неврологические нарушения, ухудшение функций сердца и легких. Запрос на проведение переднезадний эпифизеоспондилодез. Дефект: Из-за большого количества информации поступающие напрямую в сознание “фиолетового” произошла деперсонализация. Ребёнок перестал реагировать на множество внешних факторов, а так же потерял возможность говорить, эмоционировать, замечена потеря памяти, а так же неосознанность происходящего. При физическом контакте есть вероятность быть ударенным током. У испытуемого на данный факт реакции нет. Испытуемый при телепатической связи с “синем” больше передают эмоциональную составляющую сообщения, чем смысловую. Необходимо больше концентрации. Не доказано возможность “отключение” передачи. Отредактировано Из-за вмешательства “синего” испытуемый смог вернуть обратно речь, осознанность, память. До сих пор наблюдается притупленность эмоций. Однако управление технологией стало ухудшаться. Получено разрешение на операцию. Дополнительная цель операции: внедрение технологий переадресовки информации Операция прошла успешна. Получено разрешение на продолжение экспериментов. Испытуемый вернулся к начальной точке в своей способности. Деперсонализации не замечено. Эксперимент можно считать на половину успешным. У испытуемого все ещё наблюдаются побочные эффекты от слияния мигрени, хроническая усталость, чувствительность к свету, боли в спине, визуальные изменения во время использования способностей(необходимы дальнейшие исследования). Телепатия с “синем” так же имеет похожие результаты. Статус: брак

[that-house]

Ok but no. If you make your own meaning it's inherently pointless and without meaning as YOU are without meaning. The universe has to have some inherent meaning external to humans or we're just lying to ourselves when we say things "mean" something. It's just desperate semantics.

right and wrong!!!!

it is inherently pointless and without meaning! correct! now hug your friends and watch a sunset and try telling me there is no meaning to be found in this world!

[absolutebl]

Hi P’ABL, building off an earlier ask you answered, what are your top recommendations if I want to watch a BL where the main focus is the romance between two characters? Something along the lines of Semantic Error for example? Or even Old Fashioned cupcake?

Hum, you mean where there is little to no outside plots, external pressure, or secondary characters? Most KBLs are pretty closed systems but they of have external pressures. Lemme think... there are shorts of course. Okay I did a ratings sort and then just read through my favorites with this in mind... this is pretty darn subjective tho.

BLs that are just simple sweet romances

High School Setting

I Cannot Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan 2023) - a very simple friends to lovers romance.

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line (Taiwan 2018) - classic sports romance

My School President (Thailand 2023) - the high school version of soft boys being soft, there's a side "plot" and a band but who cares?

About Youth (Taiwan 2022)

University Setting

Semantic Error (Korea 2022) - asker chose this as their primary example.

A Breeze of Love (Korea 2023) - reunion romance

A First Love Story (Korea 2021) - 2 part short that is exactly what you want.

Oxygen the series (Thailand 2020) - the university version of soft boys being soft, this one is a hyung with the young rich boy chasing the older orphan

We Best Love (Taiwan 20210 - part one is enemies to lovers, part 2 is office reunion enemies to lovers 2nd chance.

2gether (Thailand 2020) - oh the pining ridiculousness

Star in My Mind Star and Sky (Thailand 2022)

Hidden Agenda (Thailand 2023) - that isn't hidden at all

Love By Chance (Thailand 2018) - watch for AePete and TinCan but don't bother with the other threads

Why R U? (Thai 2020) - I mean it's madness but there is no other plot but the romances

Why R U? (Korean adaptation of Thai original) (Korea 2023)

2 Moons 2 is kinda the same thing, but I don't rate it as high as the Why R U?s. There are many who would call me crazy for this.

I thought about including the Love Class series but both of them have stalking sub plots. And I'm inferring you don't want any darkness or stress at all.

Office Romances

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan 2022) - asker chose this as a second example, although I would call it a bit more complex given the themes of self discovery and worth.

Our Dating Sim (Korea 2023) - basically a reunion romance (second chance) but there is a bit of work stuff.

Be Loved In House: I Do (Taiwan 2021) - office romance, it's Taiwan so like We Best Love it'll be a little chaotic but I think it's what you're looking for.

Love is Science? BL Cut (Taiwan 2021) - the gays are the side couple there is a noona romance lead and a mature romance side, everything soft romance all day long.

Step By Step (Thailand 2023) - pretty classic office romance, Korea's version is called The New Employee and is also good but there is a lot more about the actual job as part of the plot.

Love Mate (Korea 2023) - aggressive pursuit from the new intern but it's a Kdrama so its ultimately soft...

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (Korea 2022) - cohabitation and office enemies to lovers

Foodie Romances

Bon Appetit (Korea 2023) - reunion romance

The Tasty Florida (Korea 2021) - love at first sight

What Zabb Man! (Thailand 2022) - he knows him by the taste of that one dish!

You Are Ma Boy (Vietnam 2021) - had to throw in something from Vietnam

Countryside Setting

Love Tractor (Korea 2023) - city boy meets country boy, they fall in love, opposites attract

A Tale of Thousand Stars (Thailand 2021) - okay this does have lots of extra characters and some complexity because it's GMMTV and Thailand but it is the most classic "romance" that Thailand has ever done gay. Kissing on cliffs at sunset and parting at airports and everything.

Some More (Korea 2018) - another great short that meets your criteria

Okay I think that's it, if you want to give more restrictions I could tailor the list down more.

[dramadeer]

I have such a soft spot for Mew it's frankly insane. It's not something I was necessarily expecting going in, despite my love for Book (who I think is a genuinely strong actor who always nails the tone of a scene like some sort of acting carpenter).

I think I was genuinely blindsided by how intensely, and seriously, the show treated this story that was, at its core, about loss of innocence and making that loss everyone's problem.

Mew gets cheated on by a partner (and we, the viewers, can argue semantics on this, but both Mew and Top, within canon, clearly see it as cheating) with one of his closest friends and I think there was an expectation, both within us and within him, that it would break him completely. Instead, in a sort of self discovery that I think is emblematic of being in your 20s and realizing that, actually, you're fucking deranged and you're gonna gone girl anyone who's ever wronged you, he decides to both self destruct and also fully externalize that pain. Multitasking king!

Overcoming that pain but also accepting the change that it has brought within you is SUCH an interesting outcome to this storyline. Mew can't go back to who he was before all of this. He can't go back to the glasses or the pastel sweaters just like he can't go back to being as forgiving and optimistic as he used to be. But he also can't sustain these levels of anger anymore, he can't keep partying and hurting the people he cares about. So, where does he go from here?

He uses the hurt as a bridge to a new self. He stops partying and his color palette from the first few episodes creeps back in, but he isn't wearing his glasses anymore and he's always wearing a black undershirt in public (but notably a white one when he's home alone with Top after the party). He can forgive Top but not Boston. It might seem arbitrary, but in a show called "only friends" to me it makes sense. And I honestly kind of love that the one trait he hangs onto the entire show is this incredibly strong belief in setting and implementing his own boundaries.

Just! Purely in terms of narrative, it's such an interesting and rich arc to get in a serialized show!

[immemorymag]

Lera Molchanova

I was born on Sakhalin Island in 1998 and spent my childhood among nature. Watching the endless sea, playing in a field of tall grass, and meeting wild animals. I have studied journalism and am now exploring photography at the ViewFound institution. All of this has affected my optics. I am interested in how photography as a medium can connect the internal with the external in order to communicate with oneself and others. I'm also thinking about consciousness and nature in the context of the digital environment. Sustained interest and work on the personal project “Closeness by the disaster” led to the creation of a field residency. We lived as a community near lake Ladoga and explored our visual and semantic patterns in the natural environment. For me, this was an important step towards the desired reality - the one that sparkles with intimacy and emergent dynamics.