~~ sweet het nostalgia.
Mar. 2nd, 2005 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaSo now I'm full-speed ahead in the bright new world of shoujo manga, even though I haven't read all the yaoi I've downloaded by half. Alas, it seems the chase attracts me more than anything.
And I've discovered there are definite trends to both the shoujo story-lines out there and the shoujo I feel like reading. I tend to pass by any 'gender-bender' story 'cause they bore me (...and there are a lot), and the 'omg childhood friends in love' is starting to bore me too (...unless one of them picks on the other, obviously). Incest stories (anything from not-really-related to well-it's-just-a-cousin to omg-twincest) don't do much for me in theory except in rare cases. Stories about how a girl really-really likes a guy but he's just so aloof and distant and omg-cool (...fanon!Draco strikes again...) don't really do much for me (I bet none of you would have ever guessed). Werewolf and vampire and rockstar lovers (what a... great catch...?) make me giggle 'cause... well, 'cause I'm not 13 anymore, man. Sucks. Stories about how this girl -really- needs (wants? decides?) she has to lose her virginity but the one guy she likes is (dead? gay? usually just indifferent....) er... no.
This doesn't leave me with much choice, mind you, but it seems like I have three surefire hits: fairy-tale stories (that is, guy is from another world, is princeling, is under spell, is really damned weird), some better-written best-friends stories (omg, suddenly your dorky/weird friend is SO HOT and so you ANGST) and my all-time favorite from yaoi and slash, he's-such-a-fucking-asshole-but-I-want-him-so-bad stories (actually, this explains why I like S/R and H/D both, as different as they might seem-- mmm, assholes... ahem). It's a bit disturbing to realize that reading summaries which mention words like 'bullying', 'mean' and 'cold' immediately make me go 'Yeay! I must read that now!!1' (Which is how I got to read my one incest manga... 'cause the brother is a cold mean bully, ahahahahah.)
...There is no point to this post. I think I'm going through withdrawal 'cause I've gotten addicted to specific yaoi mangas now, and am out of my 'anything well-written will do' phase, and they're not being updated all that fast. So I wanted something, er, Really Different.
I think this attraction to fictional assholes (of a certain kind... I really don't like dumb ones) is something JKR and a lot of other people associate with 'typical female', but it seems like while it's common, it's not dominant or anything. I think it's much more 'girly' to sigh over these sort of unrealistic matches but not actually want them in reality at all, and want someone more dependable and 'stable'. This is such a girly fantasy that has nothing to do with what I think most women actually want from a relationship (mind you, I'm not necessarily including myself here, mostly 'cause I'm not the type to grow out of wanting what I can't have).
I wonder what it is about rude, inconsiderate, either socially retarded or completely manipulative and generally cranky (not to say cruel) guys that turns the cranks of those poor 15-year old girls I'm associating myself with. Um. It's just that forbidden-fruit wanting-what-you-can-never-have-and-really-good-riddance thing, isn't it? Ahhh yes.
PS. Taishi Zaou, your evil grins own my half of my soul <3<3<3<3 The other half is given to Mika Sadahiro's evil smirks. I can't decide! Trademark grin or smirk, grin or smirk??! OH THE AGONY.... Eh, the cute one always wins (see icon).
And I've discovered there are definite trends to both the shoujo story-lines out there and the shoujo I feel like reading. I tend to pass by any 'gender-bender' story 'cause they bore me (...and there are a lot), and the 'omg childhood friends in love' is starting to bore me too (...unless one of them picks on the other, obviously). Incest stories (anything from not-really-related to well-it's-just-a-cousin to omg-twincest) don't do much for me in theory except in rare cases. Stories about how a girl really-really likes a guy but he's just so aloof and distant and omg-cool (...fanon!Draco strikes again...) don't really do much for me (I bet none of you would have ever guessed). Werewolf and vampire and rockstar lovers (what a... great catch...?) make me giggle 'cause... well, 'cause I'm not 13 anymore, man. Sucks. Stories about how this girl -really- needs (wants? decides?) she has to lose her virginity but the one guy she likes is (dead? gay? usually just indifferent....) er... no.
This doesn't leave me with much choice, mind you, but it seems like I have three surefire hits: fairy-tale stories (that is, guy is from another world, is princeling, is under spell, is really damned weird), some better-written best-friends stories (omg, suddenly your dorky/weird friend is SO HOT and so you ANGST) and my all-time favorite from yaoi and slash, he's-such-a-fucking-asshole-but-I-want-him-so-bad stories (actually, this explains why I like S/R and H/D both, as different as they might seem-- mmm, assholes... ahem). It's a bit disturbing to realize that reading summaries which mention words like 'bullying', 'mean' and 'cold' immediately make me go 'Yeay! I must read that now!!1' (Which is how I got to read my one incest manga... 'cause the brother is a cold mean bully, ahahahahah.)
...There is no point to this post. I think I'm going through withdrawal 'cause I've gotten addicted to specific yaoi mangas now, and am out of my 'anything well-written will do' phase, and they're not being updated all that fast. So I wanted something, er, Really Different.
I think this attraction to fictional assholes (of a certain kind... I really don't like dumb ones) is something JKR and a lot of other people associate with 'typical female', but it seems like while it's common, it's not dominant or anything. I think it's much more 'girly' to sigh over these sort of unrealistic matches but not actually want them in reality at all, and want someone more dependable and 'stable'. This is such a girly fantasy that has nothing to do with what I think most women actually want from a relationship (mind you, I'm not necessarily including myself here, mostly 'cause I'm not the type to grow out of wanting what I can't have).
I wonder what it is about rude, inconsiderate, either socially retarded or completely manipulative and generally cranky (not to say cruel) guys that turns the cranks of those poor 15-year old girls I'm associating myself with. Um. It's just that forbidden-fruit wanting-what-you-can-never-have-and-really-good-riddance thing, isn't it? Ahhh yes.
PS. Taishi Zaou, your evil grins own my half of my soul <3<3<3<3 The other half is given to Mika Sadahiro's evil smirks. I can't decide! Trademark grin or smirk, grin or smirk??! OH THE AGONY.... Eh, the cute one always wins (see icon).
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-03 06:26 am (UTC)I find it interesting about what story types have begun to be boring to you. I've always liked "old friends" stories, though I don't read a lot of shoujo, just shonen ai/yaoi types, and I like this in those. I definitely like the "we just met and we hate each other but omg!we're so going to be making out by the end of this" stories. I don't care for extreme fantasy, though I don't mind fantastical elements, but I think I have a penchant for the every day romances. I think vampires and werewolves can be cool if done right -in the buffy sense.
Now, are there certain types of characters that turn you off a story? Art styles? I find that those factor in a lot for me. I am very picky about art styles (even pretty styles can be boring if not unique), and certain pairing dynamics, like the crying at the drop of a hat uke annoy me. And in like tv show world, certain "I'm too cool, but I'm a charming jackass" annoy me in the Gilmore Girl! Logan, or like "jerk guys" that are like Jesse from the same show, or frat boy type jerks. I suppose I get your asshole fascination and attraction, but for me it's a very specific type of asshole.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-03 01:35 pm (UTC)Actually, I'm not that easily bored by whole genres of story, it's just that I've been overdosing lately and have come across certain types much more than others. When I said I liked odd or fantasy elements I didn't mean to imply there was a lot of 'extreme' fantasy -out- there-- or even fantastical elements. I'm not sure what you'd call extreme, though. I've been avoiding the 'other world' stuff but I really like it when there some plot that's not romantic which isn't sci-fi, mystery or melodrama like 'my mom had a baby with another man!' or something. I didn't mean to imply any of what I was talking about couldn't be 'done right', so you don't have to defend werewolf stories or anything... the ones I've come across just seemed juvenile & silly.
Art style is definitely important but I can't exactly put them in catchy little categories, ahaha. And, it does appear that most people aren't as uh, emotionally masochistic in reality as they can be in fiction... which means they're healthier and/or more mature(?!) than most hero/ines... though going from things one hears, I also doubt it. I think being irritated by the right person is part of the fun, though :>