Honglou Meng

This is a glorious show. The most compelling Japanese BL I've seen in some time.

To think that this has a 7.8, but Takara an 8.1 and Hidamari an 8.6!

Help me out here. If people begin to treat someone like a joke, does that not mean that you must have taken them seriously in the first place? And unless you read the post yourself, you cannot judge it to be an epic ballad, let alone treat it is a joke, right? Also, someone should put out a PSA that an epic ballad is an oxymoron. But then to understand that, you have to read, so...

Such eloquence above. "Smell grass". "Touch grass". What next? Levitate on grass and do a somersault on it?

Lastly, "Mental Illness. It's never that serious." This tells me exactly who and what you are.

You were right all along! See below!

Your detective skills are astonishing. Only, if you see how I spell words, and the idioms I use, you'd know that I am not American. (Nor European, Grooty, in case you were wondering, since you brought up your ethnicity quite a bit.)

Who's offended by you? That requires an opinion which can be understood, and if you have an opinion, I haven't seen a coherent one, or a coherent expression of it. I'm now waiting for those bon mots that fall so effortlessly from your eloquent keyboard.

You really are quite thick, aren't you? Your sentences aren't even coherent.

Well, it seems you can't read. But I don't need to make any assumptions. People have profiles here, where they state their gender and often their sexuality, and there is a whole Wikipedia page, not to mention academic articles, devoted to the demographics of BL viewership.

By all means redirect us. Not to 'porn'. That shows what you think of gay sex -- a dirty act that dare not be shown on TV. (Though I happen to think porn can be beautiful too, when not exploitative.)

Lastly, I don't know what you mean by the '80s' comment, but if we enjoy the rights we do today, it's because people like us put in the work in the 80s and 90s, and lost our dearest ones to it. You *may* take your rights for granted. I do not. That's why people like @etoks21 and I are vigilant about censorship.

I'll leave it at that. Please don't feel the need to reply.

Oh Christ. I'm really not going to engage with this properly, because you clearly haven't understood what I have written, in reply to whom, and addressing what specific points. My comment had nothing to do with the show (see my review if you want to know my thoughts on the show), but about the behaviour on this forum, and about what many of us see as policing of gay men's comments, and the worrisome nature such policing takes. So, it does not speak to whether or not you, as an individual, are a gay man or not. And where did I say there should be no BL without sex? One of my favourite BLs ever is Old Fashion Cupcake, which has very little intimacy. Why do people always infer this as the logical conclusion when we speak of intimacy? Besides, what's wrong with hypersexuality? I would rather that than ukes who vomit at the thought of a seme touching them. Chacun à son goût, I suppose.

On which point, young gay men are free to choose and like whatever they want. Just don't censor us. (And, by the way, I'm not old.) It might also be good for them not to forget what the past was like. Gay people weren't put to death for emotional connection, but for their sexuality -- can you remember the last time people were persected and gassed for lack of sexual interest? Might be a good lesson for the young'uns to remember.

@etoks21 Is it just me, or have people forgotten how to read?

I'm one of those people who is grateful for your existence here, and for your courageous confrontation of the horrors of this forum. (And I'm proud to be one of the people who asked for your friendship precisely for this reason.)

I'm astonished by the degree of homophobia here, and the extent to which the predominantly female population protect and propagate it. Many of us gay men have no problem with the fact that straight women originated BL, and continue to dominate them. (See my review above if in doubt.) The thing that matters most is the work itself. Nor would we deny that misogyny and homophobia have the same roots.

However, teenagers and young women here and on other social media seem to take peculiar pleasure in censoring the views of gay men, and of talking down to us. The words they use: 'grandpa', 'groomer', to demean us are just shocking -- revealing that they have no idea what we have been through. Worse, when we ask for intimacy or proper romance, they ask us to go and watch 'porn' instead -- as if gay lives are okay as long as they are not "actually" gay. These people love nothing more than to remove the sex from homosexuality, when it is precisely sex -- and not accidental falling down to fish-eyed non-kisses -- that put us, gay men, in the pillory for more than 2000 years. Stop making us your play-things, and stop telling us what we can and cannot do -- whether in life or in fiction, or in this forum.

Remember, whatever the origins of BL, it is the lives of gay men like us that still form the source of your pleasure. When you try to silence our voices, you are the ones being homophobic.

I doubt I'll be here for very long, because, unlike etoks21, I'm more fragile, but I needed to get this off my chest.