AuroraLights

Since we started thinking for ourselves

I don't place omegaverse under the BL label

Omegaverse is peak "hormones doing the plot" energy. Pretty childish, honestly

A trope built around magical wolf hormones and fertility cycles is not above accusations of childishness

Just when I think omegaverse has hit rock bottom, it manages to sink lower and drag the whole idea of good storytelling into the gutter with it. Even seeing the word "Knot" in the title makes my skin crawl

To be fair, omegaverse is one of those tropes we could do without

The pages don't seem inactive. People are still lurking and commenting. And with the upcoming release of "Knot," I expect renewed activity from us anti-omegaverse people

The airing date is TBA, as in "To Be Avoided"

We can never have enough zombie dramas/movies. Nothing else captures the "joys" of survival, drama, and decaying flesh

Sensible feminists see the differences that exist between the two sexes. These differences aren't to be used as shackles, binding individuals to predetermined roles or dictating who climbs the corporate ladder. The solution to inequality isn't for women to accept or celebrate an inferior position

A world in which men relinquish their positions of power and become homemakers, only to incite the ire of women, brings to mind a curious image. It's as if you believe that women are envious harpies, ever-thirsty for more power, even when they have what they desire; that men are poor creatures at the mercy of their "god-given" superiority. This is but a false prophecy, a scarecrow of your own construction. Equality isn't a zero-sum game, one group doesn't lose for another to win. Equality is the recognition that all are deserving of respect. Equality of opportunity and respect doesn't require sameness

What do you see? You see the strengths and contributions of each sex through the lens of misogynistic societal expectations. You don't see the equal worth of each

Your perception of a woman's worth is distorted by your fixation on the superficial charm of her appearance. Her cerebral and emotive faculties are obscured to your gaze. A woman isn't a lifeless painting or a two-dimensional object to be desired. Heed my warning, for allure is a façade of fleeting youth and shifting tastes. True treasure isn't in the superficial charms that fade with time, it's in the lasting legacy of character. The beauty of the heart, the wisdom of the mind, these are the treasures that won't fade

A world dominated by women would've eschewed the allure-driven hierarchy that presently prevails. How can you claim that women and men are different, and predict that a female-dominated society would bear an uncanny resemblance to its male-dominated counterpart? Your claims are crumbling beneath the weight of their contradictions

Men, granted the opportunity to use their physical appearance, wouldn't leap at it with the same alacrity as women. It'd belie their motivations. They seek to assert their dominance over women by reducing women to the status of objects to be possessed, they don't seek to experience such objectification themselves. Their desire is a gross mischaracterization of women, who have, throughout history, proven that their worth extends beyond their physical appearance

This isn't "life," it's the inequities in our society

I, in my infinite wisdom and forgiveness, shall absolve you of your transgressions. You are hereby pardoned from all crimes against pizza, and may enjoy your tropical fruit-topped pies in peace ;)

A fact is elusive and undeniable in its existence, like the ever-present force of gravity or the absurdity of putting pineapple on pizza, unless you're a twisted gastronomical sadist who revels in committing culinary atrocities. It's not a fact that the directors are free from homophobic biases or that their alleged business decision is sound. To take a BL story and strip it of its romantic essence is a decision that can only be explained by the misguided fear or disapproval of gay relationships on the part of the directors or their entitled audiences who believe that their personal discomfort trumps the right of diverse love stories to be told and celebrated

"I want more BLs to be adapted to Bromances"

In demanding the censorship of BL stories and experiences that deviate from the heteronormative script, you engage in a gross display of entitlement. You, privileged members of the mainstream, can't level accusations of entitlement at us when you yourselves are engaged in the entitled act of demanding censorship. You have no moral ground on which to stand

Why defile the holy grail of BLs? The creative mind is capable of conjuring up original bromances from the soil of imagination. Have you and these directors been struck with a creative drought so severe that you butcher BLs to satisfy your "fetishes?" (fetish in this context means an obsessive attachment to bromances or straight stories)

That's a sorry state of affairs

"Still think BL fans are fetishizers and need mental help"

Society's and straight media's obsession with the "straight" lifestyle verges on the clinically insane. The majority has contracted a case of collective hysteria for centuries, worshipping at the altar of heteronormativity with a level of intensity usually reserved for religious cults/organizations. They have yet to seek the intervention of a qualified therapist. The accusation that BL fans are the ones in need of mental health support is an attempt at deflection

Engaging in discourse surrounding BL or defending the genre doesn't imply possession of a "victim complex." It's a willingness to stand up for one's convictions

Only the most refined eyes and ears can appreciate the beauty of two men (or two women) defying societal expectations and slow-motion waltzing through the depths of desire to the dramatic score of love's orchestra. It's a cultural realm of its own

Those who turn their nose up at the artistic brilliance of BL (or GL) are depriving themselves of an exploration into the complexities of the heart. You're not experiencing the full richness of the human condition. This is a regrettable loss for you, and it's not "toxic" to suggest that

I hope you will reconsider in due course

I'd like to share a segment of a critique that resonated with me and eloquently encapsulated my thoughts on the matter

"Ra El uses sex as her weapon, and there's something grossly wrong about this. When a man comes back for revenge, he gets to do things like deep researching, device-tracking, surveilling, espionage or military-style anti-reconnaisance without having to sacrifice his body or mental acuity. But when a woman comes back for revenge, she uses her body and sex to get what she wants"

This segment exposes the societal habit of diminishing women's worth to that of objects of sexual gratification and seductresses rather than autonomous, intelligent warriors. Women are expected to demurely rely on their "feminine charms" to accomplish anything of significance. They aren't expected to use their intellect, physical strength, or cunning to assert themselves

Society believes that a woman's most potent weapon is her allure and not her acumen, how ghastly and misogynistic

"Ra El uses sex as her weapon, and there's something grossly wrong about this. When a man comes back for revenge, he gets to do things like deep researching, device-tracking, surveilling, espionage or military-style anti-reconnaisance without having to sacrifice his body or mental acuity. But when a woman comes back for revenge, she uses her body and sex to get what she wants"

This review exposes the societal habit of diminishing women's worth to that of objects of sexual gratification and seductresses rather than autonomous, intelligent warriors. Women are expected to demurely rely on their "feminine charms" to accomplish anything of significance. They aren't expected to use their intellect, physical strength, or cunning to assert themselves

Society believes that a woman's most potent weapon is her allure and not her acumen, how ghastly and misogynistic

Thank you for sharing your thoughts

The dominant, privileged straight paradigm is hardly in need of defense from the marginalized communities it oppresses

Why do you, a gay person, protest too much? Your defense of the majority mirrors the actions of a loyal servant defending its master’s estate from imaginary threats. The majority won't reciprocate with equal fervor or display the same fervent defense of gay storylines. You scratch their backs, they will stab you in yours

Could your tragicomic misunderstanding of systemic inequalities be a case of internalized homophobia? I believe it could be! The complexities of human psychology don't cease to amaze

I dropped the drama. My presence will be no more in the comment section

Goodness gracious, what colourful language!

I presume you're the sort to visit a bustling New York deli, world-famous for its chewy, flavorful bagels, and demand a fluffy Belgian waffle to disrupt "mirror-image" breakfast food norms

A "tight little bubble" allows for a laser-focused exploration of gay themes. I'm a stickler for consistency. I don't expect to find meat in my salad, and I don't expect my gay romances to come with a side of straightness. What I crave is the sweet, unadulterated simplicity of two same-sex lovebirds, sans the straight-interruptions. It's a unique, fresh delicacy in the literary world

I'm afraid that your insistence on including the opposite sex for the sake of appeasing your arbitrary standard of storytelling comes across as forced, disingenuous, "fucked up, immature, lame, and stupid"

You'd be pandering to the "mainstream" audience and making the story less organic, original, entertaining, and touching; a pale imitation of what it could have been

You can see that we have strong, differing, views on the topic. Let's agree to disagree and end our conversation on a positive note

The absence of man-woman storylines in BL/GL media isn't an act of "discrimination." It's a reaction to the mainstream media landscape that sidelines or ignores gay people's voices

Straight media excludes us. We exclude them. It's fair that we have our own spaces for exclusive representation that uplifts our voices. I see it as a step towards equality

Conflating a preference for non-straight media with the oppression faced by gay people is deeply misguided and "messed up"

Some of us have a laundry list of grievances against the majority. What do you have against gay-only spaces and stories? Aren't you discriminating against our preference for non-straight media?

"Bisexual characters exist in bls and gls"

A recurring, tiresome plot device is the "I'm only gay for you" bisexual character. Here, we find bisexual men whose history was limited to women until their fateful meeting. One continues to pursue women. Why not bisexual men with attraction to multiple male partners?

The focus of BL/GL is on same-sex relationships. The bisexual characters should be depicted in same-sex relationships to maintain the integrity of the genre

"Barely bothersome and kinda cute"

The "barely bothersome" boy-meets-girl storyline is a pebble in my shoe—seemingly insignificant, yet an unwarranted and unwelcome nuisance

I'm not going to calm down or ignore the pebble

Those who don't create, critique

Producers create the story they envision, we express our (positive or negative) feelings about it

Our feelings have a place in the creative process. Producers might take them into consideration and make adjustments that better resonate with the audience