i've been dead and gone bc of school and jobsearching and everything happening all at once but ive been playing the boktai series games lately and i'm enjoying it a lot. I just got past the third boss in boktai 2. I don't know why but i'm enthralled with these games, i highly recommend them

Lightning, water, and fire! Like forever before the plot starts. By the time the plot starts, the lightning and fire deities have been subjected to punishment by the two gods that picked them.

Oh (the fire deity) is first to be punished. They basically decide that since they're going to live for a long time, gotta set some long time goals! And they opt to be the wrath of the gods since most of the other deities are too 'soft' in their opinion. So Oh just. Smites humans. This isn't really a /good/ thing and in their defense mentally, they do it to help Ymber since he's the softest of them all. So their punishment by the gods is to be split in two, effectively halving the power of one into two. (Now they are in a male and a female body and use both male and female pronouns apart since they together make they but apart it feels weird to be they. But prior to the split they use they/them. Also the split bodies go by the names Ohiwe and Ohime.)

Fulj is the second to be punished. She falls in love with a mortal woman and that is a crime according to the gods. Mortals and immortals are not to be together and it will only bring suffering to both sides. So her punishment is her memories of the woman are stripped and her body basically broken to the point she can't remain physical all the time.

Ymber, unfortunately, is the one who blames himself for the discoveries and punishments. If he had only tried to restrain Oh more then maybe they would have chilled out and stopped before being punished. If he had only tried to persuade Fulj to not continue seeing the mortal woman so often perhaps she wouldn't have been punished. So he's just increasing the guilt on his shoulders every day that he remains unpunished since the elder gods have both laid down to rest. They can't enforce their laws anymore and none of the deities are keen on harming one another at this point. They just want to continue existing in peace.

The Four Calamities: TGCF inspired AU for our favorite Antebellum Era bastards.

heartbreaking books somehow never leave the place they make for themselves between the cracks.

It's Duck Day

Have a couple of ducks

Policing Sex and Shaming Folks for Liking LITA

Let's talk about all the girlies mad about sexy BLs finally getting some shine these days.

While BL's move toward including sexual themes in dramas was met with great fanfare, there's a growing backlash toward these productions brewing underneath the surface. Soft BL fans complain that BLs have gotten too raunchy and that all of the "top BLs" are all sex and no plot. These stans have taken to the forums and Twitter streets to shame hard fans as gross fetishizers and liken shows with heavy sexual themes to "softcore porn."

I want to address these concerns.

BL isn't being overrun with sex, it's just becoming more diverse.

People keep parroting the idea that BL is all about sex now and there's no plot/art/etc. to be found anymore (this, despite the fact that most BLs pre-2gether are a dumpster fire of cliches and unsatisfying romance). But if you really look, BL is as fluffy as it's always been. Many of the most talked-about BLs fall decidedly out of the sexy category and even explore topics like politics, wealth inequality, workers' rights, family, LGBTQ+ rights, self acceptance, social anxiety, and much more. More than that, a lot of these shows are devoid of any real sexuality. In the past 2 years, we've had: 1000 Stars, Bad Buddy, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Fish Upon The Sky, ITSAY, My Gear & Your Gown, etc. that don't even feature actual sex scenes and yet deal with complex themes and plot points like those listed above. These are but a few popular examples of many.

2. Even if BL's are featuring sexual relationships, what's the real problem?

Look, I understand there are people who prefer not to have sex scenes in their content for a variety of reasons. But my problem is the idea that BLs shouldn't be sexual or that popular BLs shouldn't contain sex at all so as to appeal to this audience. This is frankly ridiculous. There are so many BLs that will give you what you want if you wish not to see sex scenes. But to try and shut out any sex is messed up for those who want to see different types of relationships on camera.

3. People who enjoy BLs with sex scenes aren't all evil.

Of course some are lmao but it's such a large community that to paint everyone with one stroke is disingenous. Someone enjoying LITA or KinnPorsche is not going to end the world. Indeed, romance as a genre has historically featured sex to ground stories and showcase the very real sexual situations present in most romantic relationships. Not seeing how it makes someone a bad person to want to see the things we get in het romances in BL/GL/etc. romances.

posting these two asks together to say: i am cackling evilly and rubbing my grubby hands together at the news of my continued Online Presence

Me personally I want to know why it takes 6 months to call for a ceasefire

Final builds of demo are exported. I am so tired. Tomorrow I finish the trailer and Sunday I finish the final presentation of the steam page and press submit. Everything going well the demo releases in a week..............

Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats Waiting for Blood Live @ Sweden Rock 2016

provided nothing else goes catastrophically wrong, i am officially back in business ✌️

so i just got TGCF 6

The spree begins...

Guys I'm so incredibly sorry. My brain is currently full of gen 1 my little pony thoughts only suitable for the fictbio blog

BL Elitists & Snobbery in Fandom

Disclaimer: My favorite BLs of all time err on the "mature" side, harassing actors is bad, fanservice can be bad, shipping can be toxic, and I too am critical of certain aspects of fandom. Nobody's perfect but let's all try to at least be nice and better than we were yesterday.

Since the premiere of KinnPorsche, there's been an uptick in elitism in the BL fandom. Fans of shows such as KinnPorsche, Bad Buddy, Semantic Error, and other BLs with "mature" themes, BLs produced in East Asia, and/or BLs which cast seasoned actors, increasingly bad-mouth fans of shows like Cutie Pie and others which either exist as pure fluff or take a more trope-y approach to BL storytelling. As a watcher of your ITSAYs and Tonhon Chonlatee's alike, it's a strange sight.

I was already burnt out by all the pandering straights who only enjoy the finest of Taiwanese and Korean BLs and scold the fan service-laden Thai BLs. But it has reached a new level that's, quite frankly, exhausting. It's like, we get it, you want to see the gritty realism of a gay relationship in modern East Asia, you want the glossy production and the seasoned actors in Japan--and the "no-nonsense anti-shipping/fan service" culture in Korean fandoms.... At least that's what you say. But all I see is a need to feel superior and a clear xenophobia that just goes unaddressed. Let's talk about this in parts.

1. Stanning a "mature" BL doesn't make you a better person. Also, saying you have superior taste for stanning ITSAY and Gameboys because "it's LGBT, not BL" is not helpful to anyone.

Let's start here. I will die on the hill that BL is part of LGBT media. I get that people traditionally associate the former with fantastical depictions of gay relationships but I posit this: if Twilight can be classified as a heterosexual romance, with all its blatantly unrealistic and even toxic elements, why can't Dark Blue Kiss or Fish Upon the Sky be LGBT romances? Why must all gay media be about the struggle of being gay? Why can't LGBT-identifying people have a break from the overwhelmingly rough reality we face? It's like saying POC should be limited to films about facing structural racism and borderline modern-day caste systems. As if we can't enjoy an escape from reality like Aladdin or Black Panther or whatever it is that allows us to have all the things western white people have in their media. For some of us, BLs and GLs, however unrealistic they can get, is a fantasy we enjoy. Let those who want it, have it.

2. Trashing Thai BLs just seems like xenophobia at best and color/racial superiority complexes at worst.

Honestly, when people brag about how "Korea is coming for the BL industry" and how superior Korean BLs are, despite how homophobic, boring, and straight up scarce many Korean BLs and BL actors are, it gives "Kpop rappers are better than American rappers" vibes. Like, I have seen people PRAISE Korean and Japanese live-action BLs as superior to anything out of Thailand (and claim ITSAY to be an exception--of course) when the reality of it is is that Thailand is just far more prolific and has been in the live-action game since day 1. Now, I'm not gonna lie, Korea has it's foot on the Yaoi manhwa genre's neck, but that hasn't translated very well into live-action. Moreover, when asked why they prefer Korean BLs overall, these stans can never give a rational answer. But common themes I've noticed include how attracted they are to the MCs, how ~realistic they are (AN: they're not, see: Color Rush, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, and other big names out of Korea), or just how they're "refreshing" as compared with Thai BLs because they're ~above fan service and things like that.

But increasingly, I'm finding that the biggest KBL stans are also kpop stans who just prefer the Korean idol look where everybody is limited to some variation of pale skin, small faces, and eurocentric features. And before anyone tries to come for me, just look at kpop idols, watch documentaries about the toxic single beauty standard and culture, or just talk to your Korean friends (like I do!) The beauty standard is highly specific and everyone must conform to it lest they be ostracized for being "too dark", "looking SEA" (which, why is this an insult?), or "looking poor/old". I'm not saying this to demonize anybody's type, but it feels strange (again, borderline xenophobic) when people who have definitely fetishized that standard reject excellent media on the basis of it. These same people seem to exclusively enjoy BLs from Northeast Asia and/or the white west and wouldn't even give Thai, Filipino, or Black LGBT stories a chance. Again, to each their own but it's the false sense of superiority for me.

As for criticizing the fan service culture, these same fans try to justify their clearly baseless attacks on non-East Asian/white media by saying that, for example, the Thai industry is toxic. But the reality is, Japanese and Korean media practically invented OTT gay fanservice between the straights. Just look at the way kpop and jpop idols are with each other. And while it isn't as OTT with BL actors as it is with the idols, that's likely largely because of how much of a niche BL is in those places compared to the pop idols. There's also something to be said for the fact that LGBTQ+ people, while definitely still discriminated against, are much more visible in places like Thailand. I may be going out on a limb here but I propose that if live-action BLs were as popular in Korea and Japan as they are in Thailand, we'd see a hell of a lot more OTT fan service. And with the recent success of Semantic Error, I can definitely see it happening. You already see it with Taiwanese BLs (MaxHao (however real or not real), anyone?)

3. Letting us know that you're ~not like the other girls, and "don't fetishize gay relationships" is not only blatantly false but also mischaracterizes a lot of the situation.

Now the elephant in the room are those who still enjoy Thai BLs but are so loud about preferring the 1000 Stars' and Bad Buddy's because "there's no seme-uke dynamic and I like that because it makes the characters more real" or "the actors are really good friends behind the scenes and I stan the friendship, not the possible romantic relationship" or, even worse, the "it's none of my business what the actors do outside of the show and I don't ship real people, so I'm better than everyone else who does because that shows my allyship and how I don't even see sexuality." It's giving ACAB, BLM, yet screaming over Black voices vibes.

Now, I never want to trash true allies and I totally agree that it's important not to blur fiction and reality and that we need at least some realistic depictions of gay relationships. But when the hets start going on and on about it whilst at the same time only enjoying BL like it's a dirty secret and assuming actors are straight (but criticizing any notion that an actor may not be), and going on about how everything is fan service so they're just ~above it all anyway...it gives overcompensating for what you know to probably be a fetish within yourself. It gives "I enjoy looking at two hot guys I wish I could fuck go at it and don't want to stop, so I'll pretend like I'm down for the cause, when in reality, I am very much just like the other girls" (girls used gender-neutrally here lol). I don't know, it just seems so fake to me.

And while I'm not saying I prefer delusional, toxic, shippers, there's something to be said for not pretending to be better when, in fact, you aren't. Why can't you consume BL the same way you consume straight romances (or even GLs)? Why does it have to be some activist political thing when you do it? Like, obviously don't fetishize MLM relationships but, speaking as a minority in many senses of the word, the way to normalize non-traditional relationships isn't to constantly make a big deal out of how you think they should operate in media when the reality is, as long as no one is being harmed, diverse representation is the easiest and best way to present any group of individuals. Like, not all Asians know martial arts and are super smart, not all Black people are artistically and athletically gifted, not all white people are wealthy and powerful. Likewise, not all LGBTQ+ people live the same lifestyle. Some are heteronormative. Some are femme in femme/femme relationships. Some have a lot of sex, some don't have sex at all. Why can't we show all these perspectives and allow people to like what they like, again, and I stress, as long as no one is being harmed?

Like, yes, we should definitely not encourage delusional waanjais who give Gulf porn art of him and Mew, but, there's a happy medium where we can do away with harmful representations and actions toward marginalized groups but also celebrate their diversity and people's love of their stories. I just don't see why elitists have to act like they're above everyone else when they are really all in the same boat.

That said, I will still (playfully, of course) roast anyone who actually enjoys boring ass Check Out, because that shit is just horrible lmao. But the difference here is roasting someone's taste in media vs. acting like you're doing the community a favor by uplifting strong masc/masc, non-heteronormative, non fs-driven relationships. Like what you like, roast what you want to roast, just don't be pretentious about it as if you're taking some sort of political stance on it.

I understand I too may fall victim to shaming certain behaviors, but the key is in noticing you're doing it and reeling yourself in. Life is about happy mediums, not extremes.

Anyway, that's just my take.