Honglou Meng

I have gone to bed with dozens of men I have met in a bar, in a park, or online (heard of Grindr?) whom I didn't know the first thing about. Some of the best nights of my life! Guess what? I wasn't depressed then, and none of them hit me -- unless I asked them to! (In general, when I'm depressed, I find my libido goes down, not up.) But then, I didn't steal the black card of a prostitution ring either...

Haha, me too!

Not that I'm telling you what to do or what not to do, but I do wonder if you should stop watching the show if this is how you feel. But hey, if you get your thrills from watching a car crash, and suffering through it, who am I to judge?

I agree with you entirely, but since they did put love as one of the pillars of the story, I hope they'll give it as much justice as they have done to the violence and the homophobia. But this is a topic we can discuss in private, for I'm afraid of being put in the pillory for it.

Brilliantly put.

Heavens almighty, the way people think about characters in a work of fiction these days... and what that portends for how they think about human beings.

For what it's worth, we all depend financially and emotionally on each other. Anyone who works at an office depends on a boss and is at his or her mercy. Anyone who has a partner, and is going through a tough time, depends on that partner. (Otherwise, why have one?) We all depend on our friends and family if we are in a tough spot, and want some emotional or financial support.

I don't think either Chihiro or Haoren are mentally ill. I don't think it's right to pathologise behaviours we find uncomfortable, or downright ugly. That said, I will point out that while we don't think twice about supporting someone -- whether emotionally or financially -- who has had a physical accident or cancer, when it comes to mental health, even when certain conditions has the same mortality rate as some cancers, we are only too ready to use words like "codependent", "toxic", "weakness", and "leech". In the show, "leech" is the vilest word you can use to describe another person. Yet here we are, describing Chihiro as a "leech", "weak", and "spoilt". It's enough to make me weep.

On being weak and having no pride, I will just say this: it is a strong oak that is first felled in a storm. The weak sapling survives. Ask yourselves why.

Oh the other hand, I love Chihiro, and will defend him to death. Chihiro's a marvellous creation, without whom the series would fall apart. And hats off to Beppu Yurai for portraying such a complex and difficult character.

Not that a character needs to be likeable or defended. Give me more unlikeable characters, please! Loathe him as I do, what an amazing character is Maya! What feat to inspire such revulsion in the viewers! He just appears, and we are horrified. A sign of good writing, and great acting.

Pity you can't post GIFs here. But imagine me as Marge Simpson going: "Hmmmm..."

I'm sorry you feel the need to qualify your opinion with "I might get hate for this..." You should be able to state your opinion freely and without fear, but open to criticism or disagreement.

But then, I'm afraid of the MDL hordes and sometimes find myself doing the same thing. So...

Have they greenlit a second season?

I sort of agree. In that, I didn't realise I was gay until I was 17... But my childhood was spent in a very homophobic country, and I also didn't have access to computers, internet, or social media that kids today take (or even in 2012 took) for granted. Back in my birthplace, they censored Will & Grace so much it was just called Karen.

However, I've never set much store by realism in anything, least of all BL. Romance is the only element of the show that got me through to Ep. 8. After Ep. 9, I no longer know...

I'm curious. What did you think of Episode 9?

I quite agree. I put up a preliminary review on my profile, pointing out how full of tropes it was, and often how bloated, but I got a significant backlash. I appreciated the schoolers schooling, and the chemistry, despite the actors being obviously 30. But after episode 9...

Yeah, I don't know what's going on there.

Without getting into further details, I will only say two things: 1. evolution is not teleological (thank god!), 2. fit not just the vagina, but certain other... openings too. Evolution thought it just as fit to select for great pleasure centres around your prostrate, and (primarily in men) certain areas of your rectum. But that's the thing about nature -- it always defies our expectations.

But Vampire, I will note that in all biology lessons -- from school to university -- a penis and a vagina are described as "primary sexual organs." The primary urinary organ would be your kidneys. That the urine goes through the urethra in the penis is just parsimony on nature's (or evolution's) part --it pushes out the semen after ejaculation to naturally forestall urinary infections.

I'm not at the moment prepared to watch Ep. 10. Could you let me know if I should tomorrow? I think I'm losing patience with these turgid BLs...

P.S. I'm of South Asian origin.

Actually, what I have most trouble believing is that Jiahao could have those thugs as his buddies at all. It is no coincidence that we don't see him interacting with them, do we? Also, I thought the thugs bullied the nerds at school, like him, rather than the popular kids? Did Jiahao pay them? I only ask, because I'm a nerd, and my husband constantly says so.

I'm actually not sure I follow your argument, but when I say 'fantasy', I don't mean 'Lord of the Rings', I mean 'imagination', 'made up', 'fiction'.

If you prefer realistic things, great. But, I would say most art is unrealistic. And thank fucking god for that!

As for the incest (or pseudo-incest) taboo, don't ask me! I don't go to church, and what two adults do in the privacy of their own room is no business of mine. Same goes for the depiction of such taboo. I wish they could do the same with religion, and confine it to consenting adults in private. Alas...

Anyone he wants to show it to! If he wants to show it to the whole world, he can! In some cultures, that might not be acceptable. In others, perfectly so. I just saw a 60 year old man walking naked in his apartment. He lives in the building next door to us. I think: "Great! Enjoy your body!" I'm not going to call the police on him!

And you know what, if you walk through a city like London or New York or Berlin naked, people are less likely to call the police than think you are either insane, or, more likely, think it's gay pride!