AuroraLights

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

"Sexual" content isn't a societal safety net or deterrent to suicide. I can only imagine the empirically unsubstantiated and theoretically flawed public service announcements: "feeling down? Watch a steamy scene and reconsider that bridge!"

The over-saturation of unrealistic, airbrushed depictions of "sex" is the true infantilization that contributes to feelings of inadequacy and despair. It reduces adults to hormone-driven teenagers unable to engage in more cerebral pursuits

It's in the restraint, artful suggestion of sexuality, or the absence of explicit sexuality, that we find maturity

An alternative to profit-driven media isn't a North Korean regime. What of the spectrum of possibilities in between? Media could have been driven by a desire to challenge hypersexual societal norms, or to bring enlightenment to others, rather than line our pockets

We could skip the "romance" ... or the writers could stick to the "catch the bad guys" storyline we want to see

"... because they wanted to"

And that's the problem. The entertainment industry's decision to produce and distribute "steamier" content is motivated by the pursuit of profit

The industry is complicit in perpetuating a culture of objectification and commodification. It disregards the negative impact of "sexual" content on viewers' body image and perceptions of sexuality

Haphazardly employed tropes have the potential to be "bad" and "harmful"

The sporadic dabbling of various genres in unsavory depictions might well be forgiven as the peccadillo of the creative spirit; however, the foundations of omegaverse rest upon unsavory depictions and an imbalanced, oppressive social structure. Omegaverse, a domain where characters are thrust into pre-determined roles of dominance or submission, takes harmful tropes and amplifies their potential for detrimental consequences. The dark fates of the characters are sealed at the moment of their first wail, and that's an unforgivable transgression

"Not all" rings hollow in the face of evidence to the contrary. The vast majority of omegaverse revolves around "pregnancy (by sexual assault)." Exceptions that deviate from this central theme are overshadowed by pregnancy-focused narratives. They are flickering candles in the darkness of the omegaverse's insidious obsession with non-consensual partnerships, traditional gender roles and procreation

Fiction isn't "harmless" flights of fancy. It's a mirror held up to the collective visage of our societal consciousness, and it's our duty to submit it to critical examination. Should we fail to do so, we risk normalizing harmful tropes in the fabric of our daily lives

"There are a lot of BLs out there that are not omegaverse and still have a lot of damaging stereotypes on gay people labeling them as top/bottom ..."

The top/bottom dynamic is a gay waltz of sorts between two men. The man bottoming and flaunting a dash of the "feminine" in bed still inhabits the male body. Topping and bottoming permit the healthy exploration of the rugged and delicate spectrum of masculinity, the latter demanding the strength to surrender one’s ego and embrace vulnerability. They preserve the male corporeality of the male characters

Omegaverse blurs, or obliterates, the lines between what it means to be a man or a woman. The characters transmogrify into mythical beasts governed by non-human hormonal fluctuations, partaking in bizarre rituals of rutting or heat, with the omegas housing the workings of a woman's interior and boasting the ability to bear children. This negates the classification of omegas as men. They are man-looking women or male-looking female members of a humanoid species

Omegaverse is an unwelcome departure from the BL/yaoi genre and one that detracts from its core

I believe that the grotesque "straight" aberration called omegaverse should not have been granted ingress into the sanctified sanctuary of the BL/yaoi genre. And I stand firm in my belief

The romance genre is the domain of women. It’s natural, then, that women have a hand in the creation and consumption of BL/romantic gay content

Female BL authors sometimes craft male characters possessing a balanced mix of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics. These men aren't "toxic." They are expressive, emotionally vulnerable, and capable of forming deep, loving connections with other men

There exist BL masterpieces (created by women) deserving of recognition. It's a valid sentiment to feel betrayed over them

They can't "not have city-powering chemistry." The chemistry between two men rivals that of any scientific experiment

"Garbage" BLs are fertilizer for future BL masterpieces to grow from!

An avowed critic of patriarchy would have abstained from straight media. I could argue that the straight identity is a product of patriarchal culture, designed to uphold male dominance over women's bodies. Mainstream media romanticizes sexual violence against women, glorifying aggressive male pursuit of women, and depicting possessive, jealous partners as desirable/loving. BL isn't uniquely "littered with toxicity"

GL wasn't relevant to the subject matter to be mentioned