We hope you enjoy your exploration through the site! Discarnate.com and Boys Next Door (BND) is owned by Cynthia who is the grand high bitch around here. BND's web designer and leading pervert is Nikita. The one who really got Cynthia off her ass to start this whole venture is the fabulous Betsy Tea.

The main graphic for BND is by Baby Pen. The graphics of The Babes in the review site were drawn by All Night Media.

We have a blog for you to get site updates, random blatherings, and industry gossip. If you want to know when the site is updated without having to check the blog daily (you lazy people, you!), we have a RSS and an Atom feed.

RSS: http://discarnate.com/boysnextdoor/blog/wp-rss2.php
Atom: http://discarnate.com/boysnextdoor/blog/wp-atom.php

Now, we want to explain some of the terms you might see used on the site...

Yaoi = The word yaoi is an acronym. The words that form it roughly means 'yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi,' or 'no climax, no point, no meaning.' In western usage, it has come to be a blanket term for any romantic or sexual interaction between two males.

Shonen-ai = Originally, this term was used to refer to an aesthetic as seen in Kaze to Ki no Uta (Song of Wind and Trees). The aesthetic revolves around pretty boys in impossible situations. Usually, one of the characters ended up dying. There was very little, if any, physical contact. These stories were fraught with angst and tearfulness, obviously.

On a side note, the literal translation of shonen-ai is 'boy love' (shonen = male child or boy under the age of fifteen; ai = sexual love). In Japan, shonen-ai is now used to refer to adults who like underage boys (i.e. pedophiles).

    Ai = sexual love
    Koi = love between two people (Do not call anyone 'koi,' people. A koi is a fish.)
    Kokoro = heart (is included in koi's kanji)
    Renai = romantic love
    Aijou = general love

As you can see, love can be written in many different ways. You would not use the same kanji character and word to express your love for your boyfriend as you would your cat. We here at BND do not use shonen-ai since it is out of date.

BL or Boys Love = The term Boys Love is a loan phrase (it is used exactly as is, it is not translated to Japanese). This is an advertising or marketing designation used to denote manga, novels and anime which focuses on romantic relationships between males. This genre is written by women for a female audience and used as a blanket term regardless of explicitness of content. So, titles such as My Sexual Harassment and softer titles like Sukisho are considered Boys Love.

Bara = This term comes from the gay magazine Barazoku. The genre is written by men for a male audience. The 'beautiful boy' archetype is rejected. The characters usually are burly, hairy and very muscular.

Amitai = This term is used to describe titles that usually contain strong, but not necessarily amorous, relationships between male characters. The characters may appear to have romantic feelings for each other, but it is not the focus of the story. The relationships never truly develop into romance. This is not considered Boys Love in Japan.

Slashable = This term is used to describe stories which do not contain romantic homosexual relationships in canon. However, fans like to imagine love relationships between the male characters. Anime and manga series with pretty male characters are popular slash fodder (just look at our fic archive!).

Doujinshi = These are fan-drawn comics. They are sometimes referred to as DJ or doujin. Doujinshi may or may not contain sexual content. Many now-famous manga artists got their start in doujinshi.

Seme = Comes from semeru which means 'to attack, assault or assail.' A seme is the top in the relationship. Usually, the seme is more masculine, stronger and taller than the other partner. Traditionally, the role is not often reversed. However! The traditional role designations are changing.

Uke = Comes from ukeru which means 'to be given, to receive or to get.' This is exactly what the uke does with the seme. Usually, the uke is the smaller, weaker and shorter than the seme. Traditionally, the role is not often reversed. However! The traditional role designations are changing.

PWP = Plot? What plot? This is a sex story. Because, sometimes the plot just gets in the way of a good sex scene. ;)

Song-fic = The plot of the story revolves around a song.

AU = Alternate universe. The story takes place somewhere other than the setting of the original anime/manga.

Non-con = Non-consensual sex (i.e. rape). It can denote forceable seduction as well.

OOC = Out of character. The character in question is doing things that he or she normally wouldn't do.

Self-insertion or Mary Sue/Dicky Joe = The author writes him- or herself into the story and interacts with the characters. Never fear. We don't allow any of those here.