Welcome Weary BL Readers, Jaekyung Lovers and Haters Alike, Perverts, Fujoshis, Gooners, and Critical Thinkers! If you’re reading this, you’ve probably discovered one of my commentaries on a chapter of Jinx and want to know more of what I’m doing! I’m doing a chapter-by-chapter analysis of Jinx (sometimes multiple per chapter) I don’t believe in the false dichotomy of high and low art, so I’m treating this potentially Toxic BL, Jinx, with the same care, and treatment as I would reviewing a work of James Baldwin. Rebecca Solnit wrote in her essay Woolf’s Darkness in the essay collection Men Explain Things to Me, about good criticism.

She says “There is a kind of counter-criticism that seeks to expand the work of art, by connecting it, opening up its meanings, inviting in the possibilities. A great work of criticism can liberate a work of art, to be seen fully, to remain alive, to engage in a conversation that will not ever end but will instead keep feeding the imagination. Not against interpretation, but against confinement, against the killing of the spirit. Such criticism is itself great art. 

This is a kind of criticism that does not pit the critic against the text, does not seek authority. It seeks instead to travel with the work and it’s ideas, to invite it to blossom and invite others into a conversation that might have previously seemed impenetrable, to draw out relationships that might have been unseen and open doors that might have been locked. This is a kind of criticism that respects the essential mystery of a work of art, which is in part its beauty and its pleasure, both of which are irreducible and subjective. The worst criticisms seek to have the last word and leave the rest of us in silence; the best opens up an exchange that needs never end.” (Pages 93-94 in the expanded edition) 

Now, i don’t mean to toot my own horn, but all the amazing and excellent and thoughtful replies my comments have received really make me think that I’ve succeeded in trying to get to the mystery of what makes this text that is often reduced to violent non-con pornography such a complicated and compelling text! I want to let everyone know that I read every single reply I get, even if I don’t have the chance to respond to each one, and I love that we’re finding and discovering meaning in this series together! Edited* January 23rd 2025

Original Bio from November 28th 2024: Just made an account to have a written record of my commentary of Jinx, as I feel as a toxic Yaoi is much mis-aligned….in these comments i hope to prove that Jinx is more nuanced, and is a great reflection of contemporary BL, I am too ashamed to ever mention this web comic during my job at a bookshop, and Lezhin doesn’t have a comments section D; so I hope everyone knows you can pay like 50 cents or 40 creds a chapter so whatever that is in your currency to get it 3 days earlier <3