/bl/ - General BL

The bunnies have multiplied…

>>4969
>and it's fans of the same thing that want to talk to you about it
You never read in public and sometimes strangers interrupt you and ask what you're reading? It happened to me when I was ik the middle of the second volume of Captive Prince in the plane and the guy next to me didn't speak my first language so he asked what I was reading and kept trying to talk to me, it was a little embarrassing. I never finished the book by the way, maybe someday I'll read the whole series.

>>4971
Personally whenever someone asks about what I read/watch I just describe the plot and leave out the fact that it's BL because no one actually cares enough to look it up and is just trying to make small talk
I haven't read Captive Prince, but if someone asked me about TGCF I'd just tell them it's Chinese fantasy, maybe a bit of the premise, and leave it at that (but I wouldn't be reading something like Vol 4 lol)
It helps that most BL sounds extremely mundane and boring when you leave out the gay sex, along with the fact that men are retarded so they don't read books or consume shoujosei

>>4960
There is no sex in HOB.

>>4869
>famous myth involving Eurydice (in Ovid's version, he goes on to invent homosexuality in Thrace)
I guess I never cared for Orpheus because ultimately he loved a woman so much and went on to try having other women lovers, which somehow always ended in tragedy

>>4912
Same. I'm glad maenads tore that guy apart

>>4867
>>4868
I'm aryt. Sorry for first seeing your post nowIt's embarrassing, but I saw that you posted a pic of the Apollo temple at Bassae, and I fangirled so hard that had no idea how to reply lel
>the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
I have read about this temple! It's the first thing I think of when hearing about Apollo's plague association, heh. I have mostly read about its unique architecture, not so much it's association with the plague, though it does get bought up when trying to explain certain architectural choices.
>this temple contains elements in a style more reminiscent of the archaic period, which some historians suspect was intended to evoke older religious traditions as yet another method of appeasing Apollo.
Fascinating! I have never heard about this particular theory.
>In response, the Athenian people turned to religion far more heavily. Looking at it with modern germ theory in mind, we can say that there was no divine punishment involved. However, to the Athenians, unless they appeased the god causing this plague, they were going to keep dying.
>The mere existence of this plague and its attribution to Apollo completely changed the Athenians' religious practices and the way they created art.
All this is super interesting anon, thanks for sharing this!

>>4422
Was it stressful to apply? I've seen a few zines that I've wanted to apply as a author on, but ultimately chickened out since I didn't think I was good enough.

>>4423
No. Usually zines are announced months earlier so you should have enough time to finish the artwork or fic.
If it's well organized they have multiple check-ins to assure that everybody is progressing. Like 2-4 weeks after the start you should have an outline, 6 weeks later roughly 50% done and so on. So if you should apply but something in real life happens that makes you unable to draw/write for a while they will notice it in time and replace you. There are always people ready to contribute two pieces, that's usually asked at the start when someone applies.

Got my Dungeon Meshi cookbook in today, not the best at photos but I'm pretty happy with the zine. Here's a few of my favorite pieces of merch.

I'm pleasantly surprised that picrel can show uncensored dicks and anus in animated format. Last time I've seen that being the case was I believe Sensitive Pornography, and from what I remembered, it wasn't as detailed as here. I wonder how they got around the censorship…

Either way, a massive step up from the last BL hentai, the Prince one (Atekuse), from last year. However, I wish the actual story side of things wasn't as rushed, but the entire modern hentai industry is like this unfortunately. So beggars can't be choosers.

>>4543
i kinda want a graviation reboot but that may just be the nostalgia speaking

>>4884
>I wonder how they got around the censorship…
Since the English dub is coming out concurrently, maybe they're pushing for more international appeal by only keeping it censored in Asia? I wouldn't mind a push towards more officially uncensored BL instead of giving localizers the extra work of drawing dicks from scratch
>I wish the actual story side of things wasn't as rushed
Ever since Mignon came out I've been hoping for more conventional BL stories that have graphic sex scenes
Netflix and HBO get away with injecting graphic porn into their series, BL animation should strive for the same

>>4468
>college
It'd be neat to see ones set in American universities where there are fraternities. Like two guys from rival fraternities foster a friendship and fall in love. Although you'd have to ignore a lot of the grosser crimes committed by fraternity members. It's too bad frat bros aren't more like sorority sisters.
>>4864
If only this wasn't a commercial.

>>4425
>Time Period
Any with samurai or vikings is good, any during wars of the past or eras with knights and monks or the Wild West because first of all I love that shit. Second, the story will be male centered to begin with and involves men that are interesting and inspiring, not blushing high schoolers. Third, it thematizes the essential things like honor, life and death situations and philosophical-ideological issues which is the good shit I want to read about or watch.

Other than that: sci-fi.
Fantasy could be cool if it had a cool concept like Warhammer 40k but you basically never get shit like that so I am not a fan of fantasy cartoons or books and neither generic magic.
>Location
Depends on the period mentioned above. Obviously either Japan, Italy, Denmark, Germany aka the Holy Roman Empire, the wild west era-US or space. Space is the best location for sci-fi IMO.
>Sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary
Historical > Sci-fi >>> rest.
>Character Ages
Anything older than 20 works for me, preferably with a cast of varied ages that contains a bunch of dudes in their 40s. I never liked teens so I will most likely ignore or drop series with them.

I love historical settings. I love danmei xianxia type settings and Lord of the Rings faux European fantasy settings. I don't really like modern, college, or highschool settings. I'll read it of the art is good and the story is sweet. As for best ages… as long as the characters are not visibly old men it's okay. I can't stand wrinkles in yaoi.

>>4889
Same, once I've decided I'm writing a fanfic for a series I force myself to stop interacting with fanworks until I finish at least one because I don't want to subconsciously borrow ideas or be influenced by fandom characteristics. Part of it is definitely insecurity about my own writing, the other half is about "purity" using only the source material as inspiration.

>>4889
>via general osmosios
I've used this exact phrasing before. I'm SO paranoid about it, especially because the fandom and ship I'm writing for is so small. I worry that my ideas aren't unique and I'm sure they've already been written already, but if I close my eyes and post without knowing that, at least I got my work out there…

>>4890
>>4895
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I managed to resist and get my work out there (I'm still resisting since I'm still writing), but more than a few people compared my fic to one of the fandom's most popular. I tried reading it since I was curious, but I couldn't even finish it. I can see why it's popular, and it was released during that Prime Fandom Popularity window which always helps, but I found it extremely OOC. Like the sort of writing in which the early-20-something woman projects her interests/politics on characters that aren't from Earth to begin with. I know I should take the comparison as a compliment, as it's meant to be no doubt, but… get a feeling so complicated.

>>4839
>Lord/retainer
>Mentor/mentee
>Characters who are like visual mirror images or counterparts, especially hero/villain ones
>Power couples
>Rivalships
>Age gap
>Monsterboy/human, I especially like a guy with a monster on a leash under his control by some contract like SebaCiel
>Plain dude/hot dude (hot dude is simp for plain dude, plain dude is unimpressed with hot dude or oblivious)
I like reverse so I'm usually not picky about who bottoms/tops, but I usually have a preference towards balancing out the power dynamic. Like, if one guy raised the other, I'll probably prefer him bottoming, but it's not a hard and fast rule.
There are also some dynamics, like human guys topping monsters or heroes domming villains, that I'm more keen on seeing just because of how rare they are, even if I like the roles in reverse just as well.
I think I have some more rules of thumb:
>The more obnoxious a guy is, the more I want him to get his ass destroyed
>The sadder, older (including immortals) and angstier a guy is, the more I want him to get his ass destroyed, preferably by a much younger guy
>Smug sluts, S types, and mentors are great for power bottoming

>>4839
This applies to both BL and my ships from non-BL media, but
>This one super specific dynamic where one (preferably wealthy) guy seduces a repressed, uptight guy into doing evil shit or something otherwise against his moral compass. I prefer if the uptight guy is the seme, but it's not a requirement.
>Two characters too emotionally constipated to properly communicate what they're actually thinking or feeling. Bonus points if they're friends beforehand. Whoever is more in denial or more prideful about it should be the uke, but again, not a requirement.
>One character who's WAY more enthusiastic about the relationship than the other, who is more reserved. This one can really go either way. It really depends on the specific story and characters.
I'm pretty lax about seme/uke roles. As long as it isn't written in a way that feels completely OOC or otherwise illogical, I'm okay with it. I do have ships where I think it makes more sense with specific characters in specific roles, but if the opposite is done well, I'm open to it. I've noticed that in doujins and fanworks of my OTP, when people reverse their roles from my preference, they're more likely to misinterpret the overall dynamic (or at least, it's very different from the way I see their relationship).

>Are you okay with riba or only fixed positions?
I don't care about who is topping but I'm very particular about the dynamic/personality being faithful to character portrayals in canon. Most of my ships are riba and I imagine them this way when coming up with my own scenerious/making my own content but when it comes to consuming stuff other people make I gravitate towards one fixed dynamic that generally misenterprets the character's personalities/dynamics the least. Positions don't matter but mischaracterisation is a huge turnoff.
>Do you usually like the uke more or the seme?
about 50/50
>Do you like ships where the roles are obviously defined? Or pairings where they are more ambiguous?
I like both if they are written well.
>Are you a Snake, Slug, Frog, Snail, Geeko, or Turtle fujo?
frog

>>4171
I'm watching this for the first time (just finished season 3) and while I see the vision I just can't get invested in the show in a brainrot kind of way.
>>4176
The Sopranos.

Apart/Heisuke from Sakamoto Days is a super recent one for me, total brainworms. I'm a sucker for deeply disturbed dude/super sweet but pretty dumb guy and their interactions, though brief, were really fun imo. I hope the anime can instill the vision for some. Or better yet, remind the mangaka that Apart exists. C'mon Suzuki where is he?

Igarasu x Akane

authors comment:

よく、ドラマとかで「生まれ変わってもまた愛し合おう」みたいなセリフがありますよね。
それって、本当に実現できるんでしょうか。

死んだあと、宇宙のすべての生物にランダムに生まれ変わるのだとしたら、「また出会って愛し合える確率」はどれぐらいでしょう。
何しろ地球の細菌とバクテリアだけでも500穣匹(5×10^30匹！)いると言いますから、宇宙全体ともなれば、何億回・何兆回生まれ変わっても出会うのはムリそうです。
もし、わずかな確率で出会えても、人間で言う「愛」みたいな共通の概念を持った生物として生まれて来ないとダメですよね。
何も感じない草や木のような生物に生まれ変わっても、お腹がすいたらすぐに共食いしてしまうような生物でもダメで…

そう考えると、全くゼロとは言えないけど、ものすごく低い確率だと思います。
「愛の力でまた巡り会える」って最後まで信じてるほうが幸せかな…。

>>4489
Shounen Meguru absolutely broke me! It's all I ever wanted with the level of tragedy and how gruesome it is, I hate how tiktok got to it though