How Sez Sees It

First up I hear some of you asking what Yaoi even is. From the Japanese it roughly translates as 'boys love' and it is a genre particularly popular with women, which is why I chose to use it for this piece. Why is yaoi familiar? If you have spent any time on the internet you will be aware of this concept. Yaoi, or 'boys love', is particularly popular on micro-blogging sites like tumblr or pinterest where fans (usually female) create posts out of photos, gifs or imagined conversation text posts that put their two favourite male characters together. These posts range from the innocent flirting between two characters to romantic gestures to full-on hardcore sex! Now, I fully acknowledge that there is a section of fanfiction about imagining yourself with your favourite character, but this blog essay will concentrate on the overtly homosexual version of fanfiction. Another popular form is the aforementioned 'fanfiction' where two people or characters are throw...

I know that some of you are expecting something along these lines so I had better explain some things. As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of the band The Dead Lay Waiting. As you should know by now, they announced officially that they have parted ways. Ben, Tom, Sam and Steve will carry on working together under a new name and Luke Lucas will go it alone. This is the full statement from the band: 'The Dead Lay Waiting are no more. With much regret due to conflicting ideas with regards to the band’s future direction, it has been agreed to shut TDLW down. It has been an incredib le seven years, from the primitive bedroom band practices to playing stages and festivals around the world. This would have not been possible without your friendship. Our special thanks also go out to everybody that helped and supported the band through this journey.   Whilst TDLW might be no m ore, Ben, Steve, Sam and Tom have chosen to carry on working together as a band, under a new name. Bigger and ...

Everyone bangs on about it, but what does it actually entail? Personally I like to call it 'being  groupie, without the sex'. That is a bit long winded though so for now, 'fangirl' will do. What defining feature are there to 'fangirling'? I would say the following points sum up a 'fangirl' pretty well: Going to several shows/events where your favourite band/actor/whatever is doing in one tour. Buying more merch than anyone could actually wear in one lifetime, just to say that they have it. Creating 'fan art'. This ranged from the epic to the downright ugly with varying levels of artistic capability in between. Sometimes it is a direct portrait and sometimes it is just inspired by a song. The disturbing stuff can come in the form of the plain pornographic! 'Shipping', such as putting two of your favourite band members or TV characters together such as Drewence, Keveridge, Lukier or Phan. Sometimes this is sweet, again, sometimes th...