...loveholic?

[reenka]

So, I'm reading Loveholic (a yaoi manga), which is rather fitting, considering... it's me. Heh.

Reading all this manga... overall, I'm vaguely surprised that I can (still) care about the love-lives and futures of characters I've just met. I mean, I've always known that (since I started reading fiction), but it's so easy to fall into just looking for fanfic, for me, with its guaranteed emotional reward. I mean, (good) fic about my OTP always hits the spot harder even now, but I think I'm realizing that hitting the spot harder (going for the emotional kink 100%) isn't necessarily the be-all-and-end-all of reading, I guess? It's a weird realization.

It's like, being less invested in these stories, I can enjoy them more on some level. I don't get very angry if things aren't written well, but I'm still really pleased at a well-drawn panel or a funny line or a gripping storyline. It reminds me of the power of interest in overall subject-matter and theme. Like, I'm always interested in opposites-attract stories, always interested in grumpy temperamental boys, always interested in adolescents more than any other age group. I think it's gotten to the point where H/D fic might seem the most emotionally blistering & intense (and case in point, much as I'm enjoying the manga, omg the_leaky today = gnnnnh), but that's not necessarily a good thing, is it? At least, it's definitely an exhausting thing, which takes away from the relaxing pleasure of reading, I guess.

Maybe I'm always looking for the highest high, the most intense ride, but... I think if that's all there is, it becomes a poison to one's system, doesn't it. There's a lot to be said for obsessing (which is what I'm doing), but... er... calmly. I mean, this still feels like an addiction, but since it's less of a total fix, I feel more... uh... liberated, or something, like smaller dosages of escapism are themselves a relief. And it's like, fanfic is especially conducive to addictive/compulsive/escapist (reading) behavior as far as I could tell, because it's possible to just keep going for the same button, the same hit, and that creates a sort of dependency, especially if one reads one pairing near-exclusively and is um... generally given to obsessiveness.

So yes. What sweet fresh air it is, outside fandom. Ahhhhhhhh. Yes, Harry and Draco could have sex somewhere that is not my head, thankyouverymuch and do not come again... except when I call, 'cause I still wanna finish those pesky WIPs. Ahem. (Oh look! Pretty! There's a dark-haired seme and a blond uke over there, and yet, they have pretty Japanese names I can't even remember later! Yesss!)

Comments

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Oh look! Pretty! There's a dark-haired seme and a blond uke over there, and yet, they have pretty Japanese names I can't even remember later! Yesss!

The only thing that will distract me faster than this is a very very shiny thiny. And by "very very shiny" I mean "can be seen from space". Well, obviously not just the hair colours, there has to be some emotional porn (along with the regular stuff) in there too.

I'm vaguely surprised that I can (still) care about the love-lives and futures of characters I've just met.

Yeah, I'm always surprised when I rediscover good writing of any kind, because I seem to stumble upon so much crap. *is recovering from recent venture into "real" literature which turned into a nightmare by reading lots of good fic*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heheh I keep wondering why it's always that one is light-haired and the other dark-haired in manga, whether it's uke or seme... is it that the comic is b&w so it's to differentiate better, or what? The other love-interest who's going to get shot down is usually the same color as the uke :)) AHAHAHAFLkajsdl;k... I don't know why this amuses me so much right now. Maybe I just haven't had enough sugar :-? But yes. But it helps if they're complete sluts together :))

It's like... y'know how in fandom everyone's like OMG NO, NOT AN ORIGINAL CHARACTER!!... and now I'm reading comics with nothing but OCs. It's like I've broken through to the other side, except there's still gay porn over there. Ohhhh, good times, good times.

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Word on the OC comics. But does it really matter if they're all original, and not fandom-related in any way?

PS: Go read Gerard & Jacques (http://impossibility.he.net:6969/torrents/Gerard_et_Jacques%5Bbeautifulsoup%5D.torrent). Pure. Manga. Gold. It's better than most fic or lit I've read in the past couple of months (Stealing Harry excepted, of course :D ).

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heheh, I was wondering if it mattered, but then... why couldn't fanfic OCs be so interesting that it was like, they were just the same as in an original story...? Or is it that if you have a fanfic writer's OCs and an established writer's characters compete, the OC will always lose...? Maybe it's just easier to be interestingly unique in one's characterization in your own world...??

I keep meaning to read that manga, but arg, the drawing style ^^;;;
I'll get to it, though :> :>
Currently I'm obsessively going through every High School story there is :))

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Or is it that if you have a fanfic writer's OCs and an established writer's characters compete, the OC will always lose...?

I think it's this one, because the readers of the fanfic are in it for the established characters, not the OCs. Which I think is the reason everyone mocks Sues/Stus, because they don't realise this fact.

the drawing style

Awhhh, but it's so Shoujo Kakumei Utena (the manga at least) or Rose of Versailles. It's like oldschooling the oldschool XD Which is why I love it. You don't see a lot of stuff like that around, and it suits the setting, really. And it's even got historical and political commentary on the French revolution, so you get your pr0n fix, and your heartbreaking love story, and your education at the same time. ^^ Heh. And eyepatches. And cravats. C'moonnn, what is there not to like?

High school ones. Yes, they are good. And I'm not just saying that because I have a thing for schoolboy uniforms (a fact realised after I spent hours trying to get Jin's schoolboy outfit in Tekken one day XD). Noooo not at all. *sporfle*