#no gay component in the two of us

[parsley-sage-rosemary-n-thyme]

I keep wondering why he is so... so.

“Before there was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, there was Simon and Garfunkel — an extraordinary, a singular love affair. There is no gay component in the two of us that I am aware of, but the way these two lives wrapped around each other is poetically stunning. From age eleven to today, a span of sixty-four years, Art and Paul have been at work to entertain, win the respect of, and dazzle one another. It worked so well that the whole world pulled up chairs to watch and listen.”

— Art Garfunkel, What is it All But Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man

[eriecanal]

going through my old photos and deleting and i am in my million pictures of the craziest pages from what is all but luminous from 2021. i forgor how What the fuck it all was wait a sec. wait a fucking second

[ohnoitstbskyen]

asking sincerely. do you see a romance between jayce and viktor? do you think they ended up being something romantic at the end?

With apologies I am going to only half talk about the thing you are asking me, since I have something else on my mind and you happened to hit the button that makes me vomit it into words.

Coming at this from an aromantic perspective, I obviously don't experience the state of absurd obsessive delusion that you bizarre romantic freaks fetishize so feverishly*, but I am often annoyed by the idea that friendship and romance are either opposites or mutually exclusive. From my perspective, the boundary between the two is at best thin, and more realistically not actually a boundary at all except by cultural construction.

*i am taking an excessively hostile, crass tone for my own amusement i do not mean this seriously please be normal at me, weird allo freaks

I won't get into my full feelings about the end of Arcane, but it seems perfectly plain to me that the script, the imagery and the animation presents Jayce and Viktor as two halves of a whole, not opposing forces but alike to yin and yang: opposites which each contain the other. And at the climax of the show, the greatest peril to life and peace in the narrative is resolved by these two men literally joining their bodies and souls together, and going into eternity holding one another for comfort and strength. They are quite literally soulmates, quite literally the most important people in one another's lives.

I don't think that that kind of intimate emotional connection between men must necessarily be either romantic or sexual - I am aromantic, and plenty of ace people exist, and there is nothing in our natures excluding us from intense connections of love with other people of any gender.

I also think it is willfully ignorant (and genuinely homophobic) to act as though these deep connections are mutually exclusive with sex and romance. As though if Viktor and Jayce fucked nasty and made out sloppy style, suddenly their intimacy is less pure or valid, or tainted somehow.

"If these two men who are emotionally close to one another also fuck or get romantically involved, then friendship is dead, murdered on the floor by a dick-shaped knife; vile sexuality corrupts and debases the true, pure and virtuous love of ✨friendship✨" <- This shit is homophobic at a baseline, queerphobic in general, and frankly as an aromantic man I find it pretty fucking insulting as well.

What, are my friendships with other men just inherently more pure and divine, more meaningful and true than a gay man's can ever be, because I will never suffer the vile temptation of adding romance to my affection? Is that how I should think of myself? And is an aroace man more pure than me still, the only source of TRUE male friendship that a man can ever experience, free from the pustulant corruption of sexuality and romantic desire?

You get this pathetic defensiveness (especially from men, but other genders aren't immune) wherein sex and sexuality and romance between men is perceived as a threat to men's right and ability to experience deep connection to each other. But the emotional castration of men comes not from people imagining sex and romance as a component of our relationships - it comes from people who insist that our emotional lives must be ruled by strict binaries. Sex and romance, OR ELSE friendship. Deep romantic connection OR ELSE deep platonic connection. Pick one and do not dare to imagine both, nor act as though the boundary between them is something that we built by cultural fiat, and which can be dismantled just the same.

And yes, yes, yes, I know there are cultural forces literally illuminati-style conspiring to systemically erase the entire existence of explicitly romantic, sexual male love from media, and I know that homophobic puritanism is on the rise and there are material concerns and a real necessity for explicit representation in fiction, yes I know. Everything is more complicated than a tumblr post can cover, I am not trying to Solve Rainbow Capitalism™ over here, I am trying to express frustration as an aromantic man that this stupid fucking binary keeps getting culturally reinforced by both my enemies and my well-meaning allies, when I think the binary is what's fucking killing us in the first place.

So anyway. My position is that Viktor and Jayce can be entirely aromantic no-homo friends, and they can fuck nasty in the throes of mutual need and obsession, and I refuse to entertain the idea that there is an irresolvable contradiction between those things. Each of those can contain the other, or become the other given time and circumstance.

What the imagery, storytelling and script of Arcane makes clear is that Viktor and Jayce love each other more than life itself. To say that that love must be shoved into the box of either "platonic" or "romantic" is to miss out on almost everything that is beautiful about love. It can be both and neither! It can be a secret third, ninth or fifteenth thing that they haven't invented a tag for on Ao3 yet.

They are giving each other whatever the spiritual mind-ghost equivalent of sloppy backshots are on the ethereal plain forever, they are the most romantic lovers in the cosmos, and they are also the most chaste and platonic life-partner friends you have ever seen, effortlessly intimate and unashamedly tender. They are men who love one another, in every way that love matters.

You can pick whichever interpretation brings you joy, and resonates with what your heart needs, the text of the show is eminently and explicity open to it, and anyone who says otherwise either failed to pay attention, or refused to pay attention on purpose.

[vexwerewolf]

hey, I saw a post reblogged around hating the whole idea of no kink at pride and wanted to understand why that was, but noticed the comments were turned off, so I'm asking here. for reference I dont know very much about the subject and had the general idea that pride should be an all ages space, BUT (the but is very important) since I dont have much knowledge on the subject and can see you are very opinionated around it, id like to know why that is your stance from, well, someone who actually holds that stance.

No pressure to answer I simply want to understand why others hold this stance, the potential history behind it and if I am looking at things the wrong way, a chance to change my opinion

I hope all of this comes across correctly because im not trying to start internet discourse, just learn and have a well rounded understanding of a subject before taking a more solid stance

CW: discussion of sex, homophobia, kink, common anti-kink lies

Okay so if you're not read up on queer history, you have to understand that "deviant," "indecent" or "degenerate" sexuality is an accusation that's been used to repress queer people for pretty much as long as the concept has existed. It has often extended so far as to encompass any form of sex that isn't missionary cishet boning for the purpose of procreation, but it has always and by definition encompassed any and all ways that queer people have sex.

Now, I want to be clear that the LGBTQ+ community is not entirely about sex. Our community touches love, passion, art, gaming, basically every sphere of human experience, but it also includes sex. A lot of queer people like to have sex! Queer people, however, are judged for having and enjoying sex in a way that straight people simply aren't.

It's important to note that the concept of "degeneracy" is a vital component to white supremacist repression of queer people, because it inserts the necessary moral proposition that allows sex between two consenting adults to be labelled as harmful. As cynical as I am about the general public, it's actually pretty difficult to convince the average person that gay sex is something the government needs to repress in and of itself; any argument to this effect needs to come packaged with an additional, vaguely credible concern about social corrosion.

This is much easier to do with kinksters, because kinksters are weirder-looking than shirt-and-slacks queers (who, to be clear, are equally valid). But it's still difficult to make the average member of the public balk, because they'll say "well that sure is freaky but so long as they're doing it in private, who gives a shit?" So long as the people you're trying to stir up hate against aren't doing anything illegal, the average member of the public is gonna think you're the weird one for digging into other peoples' private sex lives.

Thus, the easiest avenue of attack is Pride, where it isn't in private. But it's a fucking deceitful canard. Straight people never have to answer for public displays of their sexuality, which are often far more gratuitous than some dude walking around in a pup mask.

[mr-gallows]

James Headcanons

Relationship dynamics, sexual frustration, love language, and how to seduce James.

A brief note because this is the internet: None of what I'm about to say is an excuse for James's actions, please do not read it that way. It's simply a study of his character and inner motivations. Relationship Dynamics:

James's love primary love languages are Acts of Service and Quality Time (tm).

James primarily shows his love through action. This is reflected by the town giving him an opportunity to protect Maria unlike with Mary. He has a protective personality (despite what he's done). He tries to comfort Maria when she cries, and remarks that he was glad he was able to save her when she gets attacked by the mannequin.

Quality time: James remarks on how he and Mary spent hours just looking at FUCKING WATER all day. That's the FIRST memory he thinks of. Nothing exciting was going on, they weren't at a concert, weren't at the amusement park, or doing any activity.

Quietly being in her presence was blissful enough that it was the first thing he remembered. That's a seriously deep level of connection, comfort, and love.

James used to do little more gift-giving in the early years of his relationship with Mary. James isn't a huge gift person, but he would occasionally get Mary something thoughtful and enjoyed seeing her reaction to getting something she liked. He tried doing that stuff with Mary again while she was ill just so that she might experience some happiness. It did not work. In essence, if he likes you a lot, he will want to spend time with you, and he'll perform tasks that make your life easier. Gifts will be sparse. Sexual Frustration:

James's desire for sex tends to get oversimplified in fandom, as if he only sees his wife as a sex dispenser. While objectification is definitely something in play (we all do it to some extent), I think people are forgetting that sex is also an act of emotional intimacy between couples. There is absolutely an emotional component to sex for James. His sexual frustration is more than just a physical need, it's a longing to be one with his wife in the most intimate, personal way.

So for instance in this scene pictured with Maria, yes, he wants physical release, but he also wants to be touched. It's not just about getting off (he has his hand for that), James wants to receive intimate, personal affection.

I think this is a problem a lot of men face, not just James, where sex has become the only way for them to be emotionally vulnerable. James's ability to be close and intimate with someone is closely tied with sex (as is the case for a lot of men). He has difficulty with verbally opening up to people.

Attraction:

I think James has a type (or two). While he is definitely attracted to women like Maria, he is also definitely ashamed of it. She has a Black Moon Lilith bracelet around her wrist, which symbolizes the taboo parts of our personalities that we hide out of fear of judgment and shame. James is ashamed of desiring a woman like Maria; someone who isn't his wife, and someone who is openly sexual and flirtatious. He knows his desires are inappropriate, and he berates himself for it.

James generally tends to prefer women who are more shy and delicately feminine, like Mary. Maria is an exception.

I think James at least has a strong preference for women, given how the monsters are mostly female/feminine. But if your gay little heart wants to entertain the idea of him being bi-curious/bisexual, this is how I think it would go down: James would be watching a younger guy washing a car out in the sun. His eyes would be fixed on how the man pushed the rag back and forth on the hood of the car. James doesn't fully recognize what he is doing, or his feelings, and dismisses it. In his desperation for touch and intimacy, other genders came to his attention.

He would find androgyny attractive in the right circumstances, but it's easy for him to feel ashamed over it and suppress it (welcome to the homophobic 90's!!) Seduction (How To):

Even though he's clearly to attracted women like Maria, he doesn't seem to appreciate the overtly sexual advances she makes. He seems to respond better when she appeals to his empathy and connects in a way that's more meaningful. Also it's understandable that he'd be frustrated by someone blatantly coming for his dick while he's trying to find someone he loves. He sees through all of Maria's blatant attempts to make him interested. Except...for when she shows distress or connects with him in a more meaningful way. Then, she ruins it by pushing alcohol on him. James can see what she's doing there, and he's not a fan. ( screenies from this post )

LOOK AT THAT. James went from a sweet smile, to disappointment. I think that's the only time he ever smiled at her, too. :(

If your're a girlie (guylie, or theylie) who wants to attempt seducing James, it's best to appeal to his empathy, usually through appearing distressed or needing some kind of help. Then swoop in with some kindness and heartfelt, authentic compliments, make him feel like he's worth knowing. Kindness and understanding is what he's looking for. That gets him to open up.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

The Only Friends Conspiracy Corner

Welcome to my Only Friends conspiracy theory corner, where I lose my mind on the regular and explain why I believe Only Friends is a veiled commentary on the Thai BL entertainment industry and its relationship to Thailand's soft power economic model, especially Thailand's gay (aka pink money) tourism. As The Heart Killers gets relatively explicit about issues of structural political and economic power, now seems as good a time as ever to talk about Jojo’s last show that seemed to me to put so much of its political work in the subtext. This is just the starter pack. Hit me up with more thoughts anytime!

The Only Friends Hostel business. We have business majors in this show, a rarity in Thai BL, and for their class project they're opening a hostel. Each member of the friend group has a business role to play--Ray provides the real estate, Mew takes on leadership of finances and accounting, Cheum provides PR, and Boston's tasked with creative direction--but the value of the individuals, their roles in the business, and their willingness to collaborate with one another is the tension that drives the series. The characterizations, dialogue, and events in the series ought to be viewed in light of this. Mew, for example, partners off with Top, who encroaches on the friends' trivia group to answer for them a question about Thailand's first hotel, The Oriental, which two Americans established for sailors in Bangkok shortly after the opening of the Kingdom of Siam to international trade in 1855 and later two Dutch business partners reestablished after a fire. A single answer links Top to the influx of Western capitalism in the form of a hotel in Thailand! To count up the economic references in Only Friends would take a massive spreadsheet.

Artistic Passions. Each boy in the Y.O.L.O. bar friend group is associated with one artistic medium. Boston with photography and visual arts more broadly, Ray with music, and Mew with books (lol there's a scene in the last episode in which the translation has Force use the word force in a sentence immediately followed by Book as Mew mentioning his "books"). These are the components of the television and film medium: visuals, sound, and writing. Their romantic entanglements are also colored by their preferred medium and the narrative styles associated with them. Boston has his sensual dark room developments *wink wink,* Ray hooks up with a musician to visit record stores and concerts like a romantic movie couple, Mew makes his ideal seme court him in bookstores and dates straight out of a BL romcom novel. Even Cheum’s girlfriend, April, makes indie movies that go over our token lesbian’s head.

Atom, Cheum, and Mew’s BL Fantasies. It’s not surprising Cheum’s not about those art house flicks. Her, her brother, and Mew all espouse some BL tropes with harmful consequences. The most blatant is Atom’s stated belief that he ‘turned gay’ because of Boston, which he’s corrected on, but Atom, Nick, and Mew all commit to the BL (and broader romance) trope of equating first affections with true love. And Cheum sorts the gay men of her life into simplified categories of red flags or green flags, predators or cinnamon buns. Not all BLs are so simplistic with their trope usage and characterizations, but Only Friends highlights damaging tendencies that occur in the genre and among its fans.

The Pairings. Speaking of fans, one of the key strategies for creating fan interest are the pairings. While not unique to the BL industry entirely—Hollywood’s been pairing actors for publicity and dollars from pretty early on—BL pairs have a pretty distinct flavor, and Only Friends’ casting takes advantage of that. For our pair associated with the most fluffy BL narratives, we have ForceBook, a CP only ever paired together who have known one another since kindergarten. The maturer second love romance goes to FirstKhao, who both worked in other pairings before landing in their current contractual partner relationship. The situationship to end all situationships goes to two actors who, at the time, were not in a CP, something that Jojo has specifically mentioned as relevant to his interests when casting.

The Boeing of it all. Named after a fucking airplane manufacturer, with multiple references to his dreams of traveling internationally (concerts with Sand), flight (he's working to be a airline attendant), and flightiness (both his flightiness toward his bf’s and his encouragement of others to fly away from their partners). In a show explicitly about the hospitality industry? In a genre dependent on international viewers??? In one name, we get such a fountain of economic insight!

Begin Again. In the finale episode, Ray tells Sand he always wanted to wander around listening to music like they did in Begin Again. In fact, Mew and Top’s silent disco moment plays homage to the same sequence. Begin Again, however, is not a romance, despite what the marketing and weak reviews (from critics who expected a swooning repeat of indie gem Once from its director) implied. Instead, Begin Again uses romantic expectations as a trojan horse for an insider portrait of the music industry as the streaming industry changed its operating models. The leads are Mark Ruffalo who plays a has-been alcoholic producer (an important reference to even better understand Ray’s role in the hostel business) and Kiera Knightly, playing a singer-songwriter betrayed by her rising star boyfriend (acted by Adam Levine from Maroon 5). Spoiler alert: If you imagine something more between Knightly and Ruffalo’s characters than the deep relationship creatives can form making art together, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Ruffalo’s character goes back to his ex-wife (a bad omen for SandRay stans since the characters spend the time preceding their romantic walk in the last episode arguing about whether they still have feelings for their exes). Knightly’s chanteuse gets her former boyfriend to apologize and sing her song without pop theatrics on stage but she chooses not to join him and stick to her own independent path. Importantly, the film by the end respects both the popular and auteur artistic sensibilities, reserving more ire for the business models. No one character or method is completely demonized or sanctified. I can’t help but recognize a similar spirit in the portrayal of the three gay romance narratives in Only Friends—Boston’s queer tragedy, Ray’s tear-jerking gay romantic drama, or Mew’s BL comedy. The show acknowledges the formative role of those storytelling modes in the BL industry and even touches on some economic realities of choosing one mode over another. Some exemplary dialogue from the Begin Again: 

“I just think that an A&R [a record label’s artists and repertoire representative] man telling an artist how they should dress or come across is total bullshit. People don’t want that. They want authenticity”

“Authenticity! Give me the name of one artist that you think passes your authenticity test…I’m not saying you can’t be a real bona fide motherfucker in this business but you’ve got to do whatever it takes and get people in to see your shows where THE MUSIC can start to do its real work.”

Personal Hygiene Lessons. In the last two episodes, we witness Ray’s community service teaching children about hygiene. “Once upon a time…” he begins, which immediately alerts me to television writers depicting the act of storytelling. It’s a story attempting to encourage daily toothbrushing to protect from plaque, but Sand steps in and scares them with the threat of a bug crawling into their body if they don’t brush their teeth—suspiciously more similar to issues of sexual health than teeth brushing. The next clinic presentation is about washing out your nose. Either Thailand’s got some hygiene practices I don’t know about, or Jojo’s writing team snuck in a sneaky reference to douching. Watching, I was reminded that Jojo and his good friend and fellow director Aof Noppharnach (Bad Buddy, ATOTS, so many other huge GMMTV series!) began their careers writing and directing a series directly about sexual health for GayOK Bangkok, produced by an HIV testing organization. After the first presentation, Sand explains, “I’m approachable to all ages and genders,” a prime marketing demographic if I’ve ever heard one! Just like Sand, Aof, who is now the senior director of content production at GMMTV, has made inroads for himself and others into a massive market by developing a writing, directing, and producing strategy for integrating queer content (here’s my post about his recurring motifs around HIV treatment) within family-friendly BL shows, often with a romantic fairytale-like quality hearkening back to Ray’s “Once upon a time…” 

The Politician. The parents included in the series have distinguished economic and political circumstances they're associated with. Bear with me on the political-economy history lessons here. Boston, most prominently, has a father running for political office, and we meet him for the first time while Boston's wearing a 1998 t-shirt, the year the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party was founded by Thaksin Shinawatra, telecom billionaire and Thailand's first prime minister to lead a democratically elected government through a full-term in office beginning in 2001. He led key initiatives to promote tourism, make healthcare accessible, and, controversially, crackdown on drugs. Essentially, he provided the vision for the government that kick-started Thailand's move to its current project of soft-power. In fact, his youngest daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, (who describes herself as a "socially liberal capitalist") is the current prime minister partly responsible for overseeing the equal marriage bill into law. Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 following his family's decision to sell its shares in major Thai telecom group to a Singaporean company and, faced with corruption charges in 2008, lived in exile (until September 2023, less than a month after Only Friends started airing). Ousted for not playing his part in supporting a Thai business? Boston, is that you? There is also a comment in the first episode about the massage parlor Boston's father built his financial success off of, and there's a conversation to be had there about Thailand's Thaksin-led shift away from and crackdown on its sex tourism industry. (The Department for Communicable Disease Control shirt on Style's shirt in episode 3 of The Heart Killers is a government organization in Thailand, not Alabama as the shirt says, which among other things monitors direct sex workers for STDs.) How might a focus on constant financial and moral improvement harm those who fail sanctions against promiscuity? What I find so artful about Boston's potential linkage to Thaksin is how he's constructed as Thaksin's parallel--in his journey toward exile and the over-consumption that led him there--and his antithesis. Boston's the victim, at least in his emotional well-being, of a neoliberal legacy. Thaksin's policies, similar to those of Rudy Giuliani and his predecessors in NYC, promoted family-friendly tourism and industry growth by supporting the corporate partnerships and broken window policing to price out and criminalize those unconventional populations who had taken refuge or even just found themselves in these locales after being marginalized elsewhere. In the same vein, the privileging of monogamous pairing in both BL narratives and BL fan-service expectations serve important goals encouraging breadths of people to accept and embrace gay love socially and politically—Thailand’s upcoming marriage rights bill, more expansive than most western countries, certainly has the BL industry’s influence to thank. Without further input, however, they neglect queer experiences beyond the realm of the first love or marriage plot. They neglect greater issues of equity, compassion, and freedom due to each individual human being (both actors and the general population), which the LGBT population, among others, has historically had an intimate experience with being denied or limited. 

Nick’s Digital Underworld. Nick’s our little tech wunderkind in OnlyFriends. His character fixes phones, hooks up cameras and recording equipment, makes digital campaign posters, you name it! And I personally love that he’s both a skeevy pathetic tech wizard and radiantly beautiful. His cute-factor almost lets us forget about his voyeuristic tendencies. He’s just a content enjoyer, and Boston loves creating content—he just doesn’t want himself recorded…So why doesn’t Nick just get off to some porn instead? Only Friends didn’t name itself so closely to the amateur adult content website for no reason! In fact, we got an OnlyFans reference in The Heart Killers episode 4. Imma have to thank this post for noticing an OnlyFans sign in the background of Addicted Heroin Th and pointing out that it’s illegal in Thailand, cuz I had never considered anything about the country’s pornography laws or internet censorship. I’ll try to restrain myself from blabbering too much about the history I found here and here, but the important part: Thaksin’s once again our guy kicking it off. The Thaksin government censorship focused heavily on antipornography and the 2006 military coup brought in a more Orwellian political flavor to the proceedings, both of which have basically proliferated with continuing regime changes. In 2020, mainly because of increased censorship of adult websites (which is a current global conservative trend—I’m looking at you Project 2025—so don’t hate on Thailand too much), Thailand dropped to the third-lowest tier of internet freedom, according to the company Comparitech (which focuses on cybersecurity and online privacy), only above North Korea, China, and Iran. Both content creators and consumers can have some harsh punishments under the laws. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine Jojo’s team giving us Boston’s pornographic art and Nick’s digital pornographic consumption as mere character dressing. The fact that they are the two excluded from the friend group at the end, excluded from the local business, from acceptance! Meanwhile, having censored the “deviant” contingent out of the equation, romance is alive and well at the OnlyFans—I mean, Only Friends hostel. As one kind of gay content is uplifted, another is suppressed and banished. No, Boston and the pornography industry he seems to signify are not perfect, but neither are his friends, nor the entertainments and political-economies with which they’re equated. 

Without too much moralizing, these are the sorts of observations and hypocrisies Only Friends highlights. In my reading, at least, it depicts these media and economic trends through its characters, allowing them to play out and contend with one another as they have in reality. Sometimes the allegorical tensions or pairing of genres and capital occurs in the dynamics between characters. Other times, as I pointed out with Boston and his Thaskin connection, the tension exists within a single character. These strategies allow the show to engage with political issues while under the government’s censorship laws, but this is also just what great literary political writing looks like! It speaks to its time, but it will stand much longer as simply a character-driven story about the contentions that arise between money, sex, love, and friendship. I cannot wait for Girl Rules to give us Jojo’s GL perspective on related issues and for Only Friends Dream On to explore this territory in the context of an actual BL production! Let the chaotic theorizing ensue!

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[ohsalome]

love seeing people (westerners) WHO HAVE NEVER EVEN MADE A SINGLE PEEP ABOUT UKRAINE AID, EVER, reblog russian lgbt aid funds after the recent news.

i'm very anti whataboutism but holy hell. when it comes to a certain country we all agree that liberation comes before improvement of lgbt issues. *i* agree with that, at least. but then the same people would rather pay to save lgbt people from a country that's actively besieging another country, it's just... beyond words how hypocritical it is.

I have so many things to say, none of them being nice.

Ukrainian army is, so far, the only force that is presenting challenge to "putin's regime". Wouldn't it make sense for people who "want to protect russian lgbt+s" to support us then? We are conctantly being degraded for "not allying with good russians" who are supposed to be our "natural allies" because they are "anti-putin".... Funny how it doesn't work the other way around, doesn't it? And yes, I have personal experience with russian lgbt+ and feminist circles (prior to the full-scale invasion), and I remember clearly how they explicitly ignored all pleas from ukrainians to speak up on our behalf. And how can one forget the famous "women have no nationality"...

This is, from my memory, the third time russia has "banned lgbt+s", and I believe I have a good reason for being sceptical about the real consequences of russian laws which, as we all know, are worth a little more than toilet paper. It is common knowledge which people of russian elite are gay, and I sincerely doubt their life will change in any way with this new law. As a matter of fact, most of them are a part of russian propaganda machine, like the infamous Anton Krasovsky. Also, what is the point then of this law, if it functionally duplicates all the previous ones already existing and brings nothing new to the table? I will not repeat the conspiracies about "diverting attention from Ukraine", because you've probably already heard of them. My own conspiracy is that its goal is to further the international reputation of russians as innocent victims of the regime, all while ukrainians are being actively slandered and forced into fake opposition with palestinians. One example relevant to the discussion I've seen recently is a post of a russian "war refugee" who has fled from russia either when the war started, or during one of the mobilisation waves. She was complaining about how much she dislikes living in the West and how she plans to return to russia, fully knowing that it is an authoritarian hellscape, and she will have to collaborate with it, because "it is more comfortable there"... This is what I think about russian "victims of the regime" - this is all masquerade for them, which they are ready and happy to take off once they are tired of play-pretending being part of the civilized world and want to return to their comform zone swamp.

Just like pussy riot monetizing Bucha imagery for their fame and profit, russian lgbt+s jumped on the oppostunity to appropriate the suffering of ukrainian war victims to earn more $$$$$. And I blame western media which has for day one has put us on the same scale, equating ukrainian civillians to russian ones, even though only one side has to live under constant bombardment, only one side had to seek refuge due to the threat of occupation, only one side is being actively genocided... But russians are having meanie mean words said about them on the internet, and this is just as bad - nay, mayhaps even worse! Remember how during the first months of full-scale invasion westerners were claiming that russians will starve to death due to sanctions, and I was preaching to the choir trying to explain that we are literally dying due to west feeding the russian war machine that is exterminating us? Well, almost two years have passed, no russian have famished because Chanel has left the market, they are successfuly importing all the missiles components through Kazakhstan, and Ukraine cannot even count all the losses we've had because how much of our territory remains under the occupation. But westerners have already congratulated themselves about how they've "immediately gifted ukraine all the weapons they need once the war started" (hahaha!) and moved on to playing with their new palestinian toy, all while for some reason pitting us against each other (and stealing footage from Syria and Ukraine to misrepresent them as Palestine)

Oh and don't get me started on western "political activists" who go out of their way to mention every single conflict happening on planted earth, excluding Ukraine. I will never forget that.

[very bitter and pessimistic conclusion censored]

[thestrangestthing89]

Reasons I think Byler is getting together early... 1) Everyone thought byler would get together at the end of S4 because there was so much build up and tension between the two. It made sense with the story to fit that at the end of the season, so much so, that people were anticipating it. 2) The constant interruptions, mainly by Jonathan. They don't need to be interrupted if nothing is happening. Both scenes in Lenora that get interrupted were flirty scenes with a lot of tension. If Jonathan hadn't interrupted this, what would have happened? There is a strong implication that something would have. Otherwise, why bother doing it. There are several other conversations that get interrupted, like the one on top of the car, where things were getting personal and they were on the edge of saying something. They are close to saying what they want to say and being honest. 3) The original plan of Jonathan's that Will and Mike agree to, is to go back to Hawkins and help their friends. It wasn't to find El. When Mike realizes this he goes to have his second talk with Will (the one where Will is kneeling on the floor). He stresses they are a team. If their original plan was to go on a less stressful road trip back to Hawkins, what would have been happening with them? Because that letter El left Mike was a break up letter that Mike is moving on from. (I don't know anyone who would have thought they were still together with someone after being told they weren't going to see that person again for months, possibly years, and weren't going to be able to communicate with them during that time. Who would be waiting around indefinitely? Mike was moving on the second he threw that note out.) 4) The audience needs to start rooting for Mike again and he needs a redemption. Will brings out the best in Mike and he knows him best. So I'm not surprised we have hints that they are filming a lot together. Getting to see the side of Mike who is in a healthy romantic relationship is an important part of his character arc. Especially given how much this show likes to compare Will and El. We need to actually see him with Will to know that this is better for him. Without seeing this side to Mike, there isn't as much of a chance for the audience to reconnect with him because we would still not get to see him when he's at his best. 5) Will's character arc has been about embracing his sexuality and using that as a source of empowerment. A thing that doesn't have the same impact if he doesn't actually get to act on his identity/sexuality until the very end. Seeing both Mike and Will be confident and comfortable with themselves would provide closure to both of their arcs. 6) Other character arcs relate to byler getting together - mainly Jonathan. Jonathan is struggling to find himself and feels very strongly about protecting his family. He feels responsible for them and doesn't want to leave them. Part of this is because they moved away from Hawkins (where their friends and support are) and part of it is the loss of Hopper, who has been helping protect them all. Hopper returning helps a lot. But there is also the added component of Will being gay that I think would still make it harder for Jonathan to want to get his own life if he isn't sure how Hopper would respond to this. Plus, I don't see him leaving Will if Will feels sad and alone and is still having problems with Mike/El. El's character arc also plays into this because her independence has to do with her and Mike breaking up. A thing I suspect already happened by the end of S4. But El really hasn't seen what a healthy romantic relationship even looks like at this point. Byler could be a good example of that for her. Not to mention would be a good reason for Mike and El to clearly end things with each other. El has had trouble separating herself from Mike and uses him as a safety net/backup caretaker when Hopper isn't there. It's not good for her. Knowing that Mike wants to be with someone else could push her to stop being so fixated on him and learn to rely on herself instead.

7) I suspect that one of the main themes of the show is going to be how love saves the world - in opposition to how El's anger has saved them (and not been affective at saving them). Byler being the key to this, and Mike being the heart. There needs to be more interaction with their relationship. Will is the main character and the hero of this story. If his romance is saving the world, we need to see it. And Will deserves to have this whole story play out and not just have it be quick at the end. 8) Just because a lot of other shows have the main couple get together at the end, doesn't mean this one has to do the same. They have inverted plenty of tropes already, this could be another one. Plus, all of the other endgame couples are already together (or mostly together). Byler not getting to have a relationship that we see sticks out as them not wanting to show the gay couple specifically. Which I don't get the impression is an attitude they have. 9) The outfits we have seen Mike and Will wear so far in S5 have been a lot of blue, yellow, and green. They match. Couples on tv shows usually match and they have for several seasons now. But the green is an interesting addition. We have seen blue be associated with Mike and yellow with Will and now we are seeing them wear their own colors along with the other persons. The green (a mix of those 2 colors) suggests that they are already together. 10) I don't think they are going to push this as a love triangle. The time to do that would have been S4 when there actually was one. We got Will pining for Mike, Will standing between Mike and El, tension with Mike and Will, El being confused by some of Mike and Will's interactions. There was something going on with the three of them this season. But the promo/posters didn't suggest this. We know mileven is either over or almost over so there is no point pretending like this is ambiguous. Especially when most of the audience is rooting for Will/byler.

[neonscandal]

9 Anime to Watch to Feel Like This 👇🏾

I love how long it's been since I've done any rec's lists before pushing two new ones out. Since my blog tends to have a bit of a reputation, this one felt necessary. In no way is this an exhaustive list, but if you're looking for some LGBTQIA+ representation this month, consider tuning into any of the below. While shonen ai and yuri will of course have representation, I tried to focus on mainstream stories where possible with characters that tackle their identity or where it's not necessarily a plot point but simply a recognized component of who they are. Bonus manga recommendations at the end! Happy Pride, beloveds. ✨

Zombieland Saga (series) - Something, something about stars burning brightest not lasting as long. This is the story of an idol group of zombies who were inexplicably resurrected to bring attention and culture back to the Saga prefecture. Enter Franchouchou forged by starlets who'd died far too young, seeming victims of some unspoken curse. Follow along as each of the girls reconcile the loose ends of their human lives while making the best of their second chance at stardom. ✨

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

Blue Period (series) - Who you are isn't something that's readily apparent especially in your teenage years. For Yaguchi, he starts a bit behind the curve realizing in his junior year that he wants to pursue art. While the story centers around his journey to catch up with his peers, there's an element of self exploration and vulnerability that he can't quite tackle alone.

Sub/Dub | Netflix

Komi Can't Communicate (series) - Arguably the first slice of life romance to hit the list but the character who inspires the series' inclusion is not involved. This is the story of a girl trying to overcome crippling social anxiety and the boy who patiently helps to expand her social circle (even though the girl's actually really popular??). Yea, it's one of those shows. While I haven't specifically tried to out characters in describing recommendations, I included this show specifically for Najimi Osana who, while their sexuality is not particularly explored, still has very Be Gay, Do Crime energy with the way they are always looking for an ever so slightly sheisty angle. Like, good for you. The fact that they are also extremely popular and accepted by their millions of friends is just another reason to adore them.

Sub/Dub | Netflix

Ouran High School Host Club (series) - This particular throwback is a dicier inclusion than the last, namely because of the antiquated (and, at times, offensive) language that doesn't particularly hold up in a rewatch today. The show centers around a group of affluent "boys" who cater to the whims and fantasies of well connected girls at their high school. This frequently involves a bit of overdone fetishization of their own questionable sexualities and, while most of the gang is referred to as the "homosexual supporting cast", I can't dismiss the feeling that there is some earnest representation specifically with the lead that most of the hosts have a romantic soft spot for. It's a cult classic but undeniably outdated; however, I think, in the representation it does well, there is diversity. In what the series does poorly, it opens up dialogue especially for conversations people simply weren't having back when the show dropped.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Sailor Moon (series) - Can't forget the OG. I think what, inherently, inspires the inclusion of Sailor Moon and OHSHC above is the fact that, even then, there were small rays of hope in media. How well or poorly it was executed goes to show the evolution of that representation. Spoilers but, for context, in the US, the couple above was censored and portrayed as unusually close cousins rather than romantic partners. Granted, there were a lot of other choices that were made back in the 90's that have since been corrected as the series has been remastered.

Sub/Dub | Hulu, Prime Video, Pluto TV

Ranma 1/2 (series + movies) - OKAY, I know I called Sailor Moon the OG but.. for all intents and purposes. Ranma 1/2 precedes even Sailor Moon. I would say the series, at times, may teeter a bit on whether the representation is positive or not but, I maintain that a significant portion of the cast is queer as hell. The series follows eponymous person of legend, Ranma Saotome, in a quest to become a "man amongst men" as though their life depends on it.

Sub/Dub | Hulu, Prime Video, Tubi

Stars Align (series) - While I think most of the above can be considered positive or negative representation, they are at least not trauma porn in nature. Enter: Stars Align, a moody coming of age story set as an underdog tennis club tries to defy all odds and avoid being disbanded. While I wouldn't classify this as trauma porn either, it does delve into some viscerally heavy topics while also tackling the act of Becoming for a group of young boys and what that can mean with a support system of unlikely peers.

Sub/Dub | Hulu, Crunchyroll

Wonder Egg Priority (series) - As we've departed to delve into darker themes, the premise of this show centers around teens who have dealt with instances of suicide and, subsequently, learning to stand up for themselves in real life (while violently battling it out in a dream world).

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

Jujutsu Kaisen (series + movie) - wholesome inclusion to remind you that you should never let your sexuality nor your gender identity stop you from pursuing world domination. Representation is equal opportunity and of little consequence to this story and, yet, considerably diverse for a shonen series. Don't get me wrong, it's a battle horror anime where kids are battling curses and plot armor is hard to come by so prepare to get your heart broken.

Sasaki and Miyano (series and movie) - There will never come a time where I don't recommend watching this series. Actually wholesome romcom wherein there's a patient level of acceptance and support as Miyano navigates the confusion of his feelings for a clingy senpai. Because there should be more unproblematic love stories in the world. 💕

Sub/Dub | Crunchryoll

BONUS MANGA

Is Love The Answer? by Uta Isaki, completed

While the main story focuses on a character navigating their way under the Ace Umbrella, the story features additional characters on their own journey of self discovery with resources for Questioning readers sprinkled throughout. It's also a great example of how broadening your media intake can create a better sense of understanding with who you are and how you identify with grace so you don't have to be so quick to label yourself.

The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy At All by Sumiko Arai, ongoing

Adorable story of opposites that find a middle ground together which drives home the idea that you should never judge a book by it's cover.

[allinsideyourhead]

Paul Simon and Art “there is no gay component in the two of us that I am aware of” Garfunkel Valentine’s Day post.

[brattyfemmebaby]

sometimes I remember the time a 18 year old on tiktok told me my 10+ years of research on butch/femme and specifically stone identity was “dumb” “fake” and that i was “clearly messed up” when i gave an answer to a question she posed!! -“does being stone make you asexual because you have no desire for half of sexual activities” (what half means I couldn’t begin to tell ya)

when i said “some stone folks might be ace i suppose but stone is one of more of the following: a sexual script, an erotic identity, a gender identity, and a sexuality. historically, and in modern use, stone refers to some or all of these variables but at its core stone is shorthand for a specific way to have gay sex. most stone people deeply desire stone sex and seek it out as a core component of a relationship.” she found this unacceptable and demanded i agree with her. even after citing my experience and sources she kept insisting she was correct. she asked a question, and instead of listening and being interested in what a stone elder, and literal academic expert, had to say she threw a god damn fit and began hurling insults. trying to help her understand, i asked “is it asexual when a cis gay man does not want to receive anal penetration and only wishes to penetrate others?” she doubled down, letting me know how “it’s different” without telling me exactly how it was different and then letting me know she was right because two people had commented saying they were stone and also asexual.

not to sound to high and mighty but this young person got lucky enough to have an expert come upon her question and be willing to share that knowledge! for free! knowledge people usually have to pay me quite a bit to learn during one of my lectures.

if you’re a young gay person, please try to listen to your elders! and then find resources that are not only other young (typically only white and wealthy) people sharing their experience on the algorithm driven fyp. she could have asked for resources and i would have shared my MASSIVE google drive of books, research papers, zines, etc with her for free!!

i learned stone history and culture from my elders and i soaked up every moment because i knew i was blessed to have butches and femmes willing to gift me my culture and my history. building community with folks both older and younger than you is SO SO IMPORTANT! remember that an elder sharing knowledge is a gift and a privilege- treat it like that and learn so that one day you can teach the history that so many try to keep from us

[4noki-vns]

The Art of Asset Reduction: VNConf 2024 Write-Up

This is a write-up for my Visual;Conference 2024 talk on asset reduction: presentation of scenes with reduced art labor.

I will discuss how to reduce production requirements via various methods of asset presentation and staging, walking you through case studies of existing visual novels. This talk will guide you to answer the question: How do I fulfill my project scope without asset bloat?

This is an art talk that assumes you have already scoped down your story and have created a list of scenes that you need. This is not a talk about scoping down your game's story.

You have scenes you need to make. How are you going to make them (and with style)?

Abstraction

Cut-ins

Reduce

Reuse

-

I. Abstraction

I start off with abstraction as a reminder that visual novels are a combination of visual and novel (amongst other aspects)

Abstraction

Abstraction is a strong tool for bringing focus to the writing, highlighting ambiguity and setting the mood with colors.

Examples I mentioned in my talk include:

Black screen

Solid colored screen

Sky BG

Of Components

The mood-setting power of abstraction also extends to scenes with characters, especially CGs.

As again, abstraction draws focus to what you choose to emphasize: the characters.

(FLOWERS -Le volume sur ete-)

They are gay. Thank you for coming to my VNConf talk.

-

You can similarly abstract characters.

(Lachesis or Atropos)

Consider representing irrelevant characters (e.g., NPCs) as silhouettes. The reader can fill in the details within the shapes themselves.

Silhouettes are especially great for crowd scenes where you want to draw focus to the main characters.

This will be a recurring theme:

What do you really need to draw?

-

II. Cut-ins

One common not-quite full screen piece of art you'll see in many visual novels is the cut-in.

The cut-in typically consists of the:

Item/focus

Frame

And is often for topics such as objects or small animals, which may exist in the scene but may not be within the same frame of reference as the background and sprites.

The separate framing informs the players that the item is "separately framed."

(Who is the Red Queen?)

For example, this small bird is not huge and would not be the size of a character's head even had a sprite been on screen.

The Foreground-Backdrop Heuristic

Cut-ins make strong use of what I refer to as the "foreground-backdrop heuristic."

(Shikkoku no Sharnoth)

A general backdrop informs the reader of a broad location or scene (especially if characters are present). Then a more specific foreground (the cut-in) informs the reader of the specifics.

As the foreground cut-in is in a different frame, the pairing of the two helps create a mental model of the space in the reader's mind.

Cut-ins can be used for:

Backgrounds (mix and match foregrounds with a backdrop)

Reduced CGs

Presenting existing assets in a different frame of reference

CG variants

Try tackling your visual presentation in a layered, comic book-esque fashion with cut-ins!

Just be careful about clutter.

Whether you want to go for the layered cut-in style, the 3d stage cinematic style, or a combination of the two, make sure you have a vision before you jump in.

SD CGs

I had to make an obligatory mention of SD "super deformed" CGs in this talk, so here it is in the write up as well.

(Grisaia: Phantom Trigger Vol. 1)

SD, chibi. However you call these, they're great for playful scenes that might require more art than your classic sprite-background combination.

What SD CGs do best is that they:

Fulfill the role of a CG

Are easier to draw than fully rendered non-chibi art

Can be distributed to different artists to reduce artist workloads due to style difference

Just keep in mind that a simplified CG is still a CG and thus may lack reusability.

Consider what scenes really need a CG.

-

III. Reduce

Now, consider asking yourself: "Does what a player does not see need to exist?" (mostly applicable for games with opaque UI)

Yet, what you need to draw is what you need to draw. How can you reduce the work in what you need to draw?

One option is:

Palette Limitation

You've heard of gray scale games, but don't forget about other ways of limiting your palette to reduce workload.

Dramatic, mood setting color power

Less rendering work

(Sona-Nyl of the Violet Shadows)

A similar idea can be applied to NPCs for a more detailed take on silhouettes.

-

IV. Reuse

Lastly, please remember to be economical and reuse assets as necessary. One of the great joys of cut-in BGs, for example, is reusability.

I had to give an obligatory mention to CG variants in my talk, such as:

(Fatal Twelve)

However, overall, you never know when you'll want to use various components of your art elsewhere such as intermixing CG and sprite art.

Please keep your working layers if possible.

Other reuse examples:

UI (especially in episodic games)

Gameplay (e.g., Kogado's rhythm game)

Consider asking your programmer to work on a framework to reuse, reducing repeated code work.

-

Conclusions

All in all, you can make your game.

And it doesn't need to be hellish on your budget or timeline.

If you take anything away from this talk, let it be to:

Prioritize reusable assets

Maintain aesthetic; avoid clutter

Display important scenes

Do not scope up; aim for a set goal

A scene can be presented in many stylish ways, some of which will suit your workflow better than others.

So, go on. Make your game!

-

Interested in my works? Find me on itch:

And check out my newsletter:

-

VNConf 2023 Talk Write-up:

[bengiyo]

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat 2 Eps 1-4 Stray Thoughts

The lesbian sister to WDYEY is back and I am so ready to see these two get deeper into their romance. They had barely started when we left.

Episode 1

THEM. I missed Yuki and Kasuga as much as I missed Shiro and Kenji.

Love that both WDYEY and SLTCSLTE are struggling with inflation.

God this rice bowl looks great.

Ladies, I know food is pricey lately but you cannot sacrifice these meals together. This is an important aspect of your relationship. Can we just discuss modifying the menu??

I love the work bestie. She cuts through the noise and calls it what it is. Nomoto is lonely because she stopped hanging out with the person she's falling for.

Kasuga is definitely not moving out. You see that TV and chair? She's settled. I love her because she does everything real big.

Yes! Have a mochi party! You both like hanging out together!

I was into the mochi pizza concept until they added corn. No thanks

Smash cutting into Nomoto fighting off the itis is exactly what I hoped for in the mochi party.

They're both so tentative with each other, but at least the fondness is obvious.

Episode 2

Wow they captured all of lesbian film discourse in one tweet. The only part they missed was a comment about it being a period piece.

Of course she's gonna watch this film from her kitchen table with a tablet. I get it but you have a friend with an enormous TV.

Baby's first gay film. It'll do that to you. I'm fairly certain my first film was Get Real (1998). I'm not sure what my first lesbian one was. It's either Chasing Amy (1997), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) or Pariah (2011).

Oh good. Nomoto and Sayama were both offered positions. I was worried they'd be outted against each other.

We have a young woman who just moved in who has a bunch of quality ingredients and no idea what to do with them..she looks a bit disheveled and tired. She is in the lesbian food drama. Oh yeah. It's all coming together.

This was really excellent. The imagery of all this raw potential in the new tenant via her ingredients she doesn't know how to use, with Kasuga's ability to move them around, and Nomoto's ability to find a way to turn it into something delicious. I am ready.

Yes, Kasuga! Suggest meal dates! Nomoto's eyes dilate every time!

Episode 3

I like Sayama a lot. I appreciate that they have her pursuing het romance so I don't have to wonder about romantic tension between her and Nomoto.

There's such a huge demisexual component to Nomoto that I really love.

Wow, it's actually so unexpected to see a romance say that the big swells of emotion in film don't match the experience some of us are having. This is how I've felt my entire life.

Nagumo, you have two women who live alone who want to feed you. You gotta let them in, girl.

Kasuga is always so direct about how much she enjoys spending time with Nomoto.

I love Kasuga so much. She asked Nomoto how to receive the news about her new project at work and didn't assume.

I like these two admitting that they like their lives right now.

Episode 4

I love that Nomoto is doing research now that she knows how to describe her feelings.

I'm so invested in these cabbage rolls you have no idea. I need Nagumo to eat one.

450 yen is not bad for that amount of food! Food is so expensive in America!

I'm losing it over this sushi mat business.

I'm worried about Nagumo! She doesn't seem unloved by her family, but she's clearly going through it!

Nagumo is a gamer, and she put her fridge on the opposite wall Kasuga and Nomoto did.

The Japanese really snapped when they decided that soup was a requirement of most meals.

These rolls look delicious.

I hope the friend on Twitter gets revealed.

I love these two so much, and I'm glad we have 20 episodes if this is the romantic pace we're moving at! I like them balancing the challenges of maintaining their dynamic in the changing world, and I like that they were both willing to invite someone else into their space. I especially love that Kasuga encouraged the young woman to be safe and watch out for herself. I can't wait for their romance to be out in the open and for the new neighbor to comment on it.

[respectthepetty]

I feel like it's been awhile since we've had a good example of a purple pair... would you say this is being overshadowed by pink = love as a narrative color choice?

Also, what are some of your favorite purple pair / pink = love moments?

Anon, I'm tickled pink due to your amazing questions, so let me give you some answers!

Would you say [purple pairs] are being overshadowed by pink = love as a narrative color choice?

No.

Purple Pairs normally come from couples being color coded red and blue. When those two colors are combined, they make purple. For example, Oh! My Assistant showed the gay man as red, the "straight" man as blue

And the bisexual man as purple since he is "between" straight and gay.

But if the people aren't color coded red and blue, it doesn't make a lot of sense to use purple to show them coming together, and in 2023, a majority of the shows I watched had a black x white color-coded pair, not a red x blue, so purple wouldn't be the obvious choice for love.

Also, sometimes it's difficult to distinguish colors.

Are we looking at pink, purple, or blue?

Or is it bisexual lighting?

In the first photo from Kiseki: Dear to Me, to me, it's pink with purple in the background, but in the second photo from KinnPorsche, I'd argue it's purple since I can see the red and blue lighting components, but . . . colors are a spectrum. They bleed into one another so where one stops and another begins is blurry, and sometimes hard to decipher.

Which naturally flows well into your second ask:

Top Ten - Favorite Purple Pair/Pink=Love Moments

given in no particular order

Run for Love - My School President

Tinn was a Blue Boy. Gun was a Red Rascal. And yet when they went on their run, their colors morphed into pink and purple. They were learning more about each other with each passing episodes, but the colors clearly showed that the love was going to get them through no matter what obstacles they ran into.

Love is Intense - The Sign

Both couples got this treatment in the show. When they kissed at the beginning, it was a soft pink, but once their love escalated to sex either fictional or real, the pink intensified. It is such an amazing narrative using lighting that it earned FOUR nominations for my upcoming 2024 Colors Awards.

Love is Soft - Never Let Me Go

Palm and Nueng flipped the dynamic we saw in The Sign, but Cinematographer Rath, who is behind Moonlight Chicken, Only Friends, Last Twilight and many more beloved BLs was the one in charge here, so it's not surprising. The boys started off with a vibrant purple that slowly transitioned into a soft pink throughout the series to show their differences melting until there was nothing left but each other and the loved they shared.

Love Games - Dead Friend Forever

Even though this show filled my Macau x Porchay shipper heart after manifesting for two years that Barcode and Ta from KinnPorsche kiss, it also broke me in less than two seconds with this scene. The lovers kissed in an arcade under the pink neon light, but did the red creeping in over Phee signal they would be tied together forever like their bracelets made of red thread suggested or that danger was awaiting both of them? I never feel sure, but I do know this moment is evidence that they did love each other, once, and it was real for both of them.

Love Blooms - Be My Favorite

This actually won the 2023 Colors Award for Best Pink, and it's all thanks to that pink wisteria. Going through this list, most of the love is shown through lighting or clothing, but this show made it clear through a plant that symbolizes friendship, love, and longevity which perfectly aligned with the themes of the show and this couple's relationship. It earned that award!

Signs of Love - Semantic Error

This is visual rhetoric at its finest, and it was THE moment. We got the pink and purple neon sign that read, "Lovely pink. Love Me. Kiss Me" boxing in a boy who was running away from love as his pursuer attempted to make it clear that he loved him after they kissed. Sang Woo didn't stand a chance, and all signs pointed out that he was already in love with Jae Young too. Amazing, right?

Love, Meta - Middleman's Love & Last Twilight

These aren't "love" moments per se, but they were amazing nonetheless because they were a little nod to what pink represents. Middleman's Love saw our lead's love life color his world and everything in it pink, and when he asked his boyfriend why, the simple response was because they were in love. Then, Last Twilight gave a small ode to pink milk which was once a staple in BL series and put the "love" in Boys Love.

Anti Love - Love is Better the Second Time Around

After an ex-love told Hiro he was still very much in love with Hiro, Hiro immediately ran off to propose to his girlfriend during the cheesiest proposal dinner possible. Thankfully, she rejected him, but this scene was meta without saying it was meta unlike Middleman's Love and Last Twilight. It leaned all the way into what the pink represented then bashed it like it was a piñata at a six-year old's birthday party. It was glorious.

Between Love and Like - Deep Night

These two have liked each other since the first episode, but this moment visually presented what it feels like to realize it actually might be something more. They themselves aren't pink, but they are caught in the pink with the blinding light of realization (or love?) right behind them. Do they just like each other? Are they just caught up in the moment? Or might they actually love each other?

Open Your Heart to Love - Dangerous Romance

Ending where we began, this list finishes with a Blue Boy and Red Rascal but instead of purple and pink windbreakers, we got matching pink shirts and purple water. After failing to impress a girl, Kanghan had to change his clothes and was forced to wear a pink "Open House. Open Heart" shirt. Unlike Kanghan, who looked miserable in his new outfit, Sailom was more than excited to get a free shirt out of their adventure. It's not Semantic Error, but the visual rhetoric is clear - Kanghan had already opened his house to Sailom, so why not his heart as well? And once Kanghan was finally ready to make his love clear, the bath he shared with Sailom was magically a blend of their colors, and we finally got purple.

Regardless of how people felt about the show, it understood the color assignment, and I loved it.

Bonus - Purple is the New Pink - Wandee Goodday

Hopefully, you noticed throughout this list how often pink and purple reside in the same scene, and how we see purple more often when the pairs are color coded red and blue. But Wandee Goodday is giving us an actual purple color-coded character in the form of the main character Wandee, so instead of seeing the normal pink for love in this behind-the-scene image, we see Yak being engulfed in Wandee's purple, which means he is probably realizing in this exact moment not just that he loves Wandee, but just how intense that love really is.

But it should be obvious how much Yak loves Wandee if he is willing to be the little bunny wunny for his big cat.

So, all in all, thanks for the ask and for coming with me on this pink (and purple) adventure.

[spaceorphan18]

Why is Blaine written as this hypermasculine character in fan fiction? People can absolutely write how they like, I just don’t quite understand why this is such a common trope as he isn’t really like this in canon, is he?

I mean, you watched the show Nonny, what do you think? <3 <3 <3

So. I can kind of talk about how this happened back in the day. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for now.

There are a couple of components going on when the show first started. For one -- Blaine's character was ill-defined and in Season 2, he came off as more masculine coded than he would later on in the series. Even into Season 3, they'd lump Blaine into the guys and Kurt in with the girls and even the show set up this dichotomy that they filled different gender roles.

However... the second component, and the one that really, we should be talking about, is the fact that a lot of people tried putting stereotypical, heteronormative layers onto them. And -- eeesh, that has not aged well, has it. I remember there were a lot of discussions as how Kurt was the 'girl' in the relationship, and assigning those gender roles on to topping vs bottoming, and honestly, it's all a little gross, and completely dismissive of the fact that we're talking about two men in a homosexual relationship.

So, Blaine going super masculine was a way to counter Kurt as super feminine. I mean... and that's the way a LOT of romances had been written in the published world -- (I mean, eesh, just reading Julia Quinn, she's adhering to these strict gender roles up the wazoo, and they aren't great even for the straight couples.) But when that's what people know and are used to (and some people just like that dynamic) that's kind of what got layered onto Klaine.

that all said, gender conformity isn't as much of Klaine's story as people tried to make it. Yes, in the beginning - Kurt was much more effeminate, and Blaine filled in that role as hero, savior and protector, and the Klaine romance took on elements of things like fairy tales, etc. But that's shoving them both into archetypes that are, really, archetypes, and doesn't allow them the nuances of being more fleshed out characters.

Well, more fleshing out is what we got, and as time went on, they evened out. Kurt's masculinity became more pronounced, as did Blaine's femineity, and by the time the show was done, they were pretty even when it came down to having more masc vs fem traits.

But I mean, I go back to my first point, this is still a gay couple, and neither one, no matter how feminine they are, is the 'girl' in the relationship.

Idk, I've probably been more eloquent before when discussing this, because this isn't the first time I have. But it boils down to people wanting to place Blaine into a certain archetype that is surface level and ignoring his sexuality. but I assumed people have gotten away from that? Idk what the state of fanfic is these day. :P