I LOVE THIS SERIES BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT
Too hot. I want it to feel like proper October.
(I have wasted HOURS today doing that ridiculous thing where I read fic from a fandom I am not even remotely interested in as far as canon is concerned.)
(FUCK YOU EPIC 225,000+ WORD SUPERNATURAL AU, GIVE ME BACK MY LIFE)
I also feel like I have a massive backlog of stuff to post about, I guess mainly with regards to fandom stuff because I am too lazy to bother touching on all the RL as well. I suppose it's a good thing that I have the rest of this week off in order to catch up and at least reduce the backlog of STUFF I HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED OR READ YET (COUGH HELLO FINAL EPISODE OF NO. 6). I can say briefly that I did finish Steins;Gate and found the way it ended to be a good fit, and I also FINALLY got through the last section of Good Luck, Yukikaze, which took a more exciting turn as it approached the conclusion and although the same themes I complained about earlier were still very much present it all felt much more organic and less like it was obliterating the fiction itself. I do wonder whether there will be a translated release of Unbroken Arrow? GL,Y was a hard read for me, but I still got enough out of it that I'd happily commit myself to the sequel.
I am reminded now that I really REALLY wanted to do a rec post for a fantastic book I read over a month ago now.
BUT FIRST LET ME GET ALL INCOHERENT FANGIRL OVER SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI AND THE FACT THAT YOKOZAWA GETS A NOVEL AND ALSO NEW SEASON STARTS AIRING LATER THIS WEEK UGUH JUST GIVE IT TO ME NOW.
I'LL TAKE THIS UNDER A CUT, SHALL I?
THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS BUT MY HEART SKIPPED A BEAT WHEN I SAW IT AHHHH
YOKOZAWA, WHY DO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH? (BECAUSE HE'S THE LOVE REJECT PROBABLY, AND BECAUSE HE'S QUITE CLEARLY HURTING POOR THING BUT HE GETS TO BE HAPPY AFTER ALL ONLY PLEASE LET THERE BE HEAVY QUANTITIES OF ANGST FIRST, OKAY?)
The other man is an editor who I guess must show up in Junjou Romantica (since commenters on the post in the SiH community seem to know who he is already)? I really AM going to have to read it, if only to find out in advance about this man who is going to get into Yokozawa's pants. THE HARDSHIPS OF MY LIFE, I KNOW. I hope I don't struggle with trying to get back into Junjou. I watched the first season of the anime and tried the manga once but didn't get very far with it, although I've never managed to quite figure out what the hook is with Sekaiichi Hatsukoi that wasn't there with Junjou Romantica. I didn't like the main pairing in Junjou that much at all, so that might have a lot to do with it (and I doubt I'll like it much better now going back to it).
...but the thing is, even though my first reaction was EXCITEMENT AND HAPPINESS I still have some mixed feelings about it.
MIXED FEELINGS basically sums up how I feel about Sekaiichi Hatsukoi in general.
HOW CAN I LOVE SOMETHING SO MUCH AND STILL HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH IT?
In this case, I can't say I'm surprised to see Yokozawa getting a focus of his own; I had expected it and hoped for it ever since Takano finally made it clear that nothing was ever going to happen there. But I wish it could be manga and not a novel, mostly for the selfish reason that if it's a manga it would be scanlated and I'd be able to read it whereas the chances are not high for a novel, but also because so far I have not become a fan of light novels because the writing doesn't seem to be of a particularly high quality (and I'm fully ready to believe that there's something about the format that I'm either just NOT GETTING or it's a translation thing or it's simply not for me, but the only thing I turn to novels like that for is expansion on a canon I am already interested in, and with SiH and Yokozawa's story I KNOW I'd get a lot more out of it if it were to be told through manga.
And the OTHER thing is (really rather ridiculous coming from me) that it feels...too neat.
I feel so conflicted, because I want Yokozawa to be happy (and even toyed with the idea of shipping him with Saeki myself even though fandom seems to prefer An as far as het pairings go) but REALLY? IS EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER IN THE DAMN SERIES GOING TO GET A SPIN-OFF AND GET HAPPILY PAIRED UP?
I am one of those people who does enjoy "everyone is gay" in fic or canon (because although I like fic to be realistic where possible, whether or not it's at all probable for the majority of characters to prefer the same sex is not something I care much about and so it doesn't bother me AND HEY THERE'S PROBABLY MORE SEX THIS WAY) but, now that I give it some more thought, that's not really the problem I have with SiH. (On a tangent now, but I suppose having a large contingent of gay characters is normal for a lot of BL and not at all unexpected here -- and nor do I find it THAT hard to believe that the Emerald staff are almost all gay or bisexual at least, because some workplaces DO skew heavily towards having a higher percentage of LGBT staff for whatever reason.) To get back on track, the real issue I have with it is the focus on PAIRING EVERYONE OFF. NOBODY GETS TO STAY SINGLE? OR BE UNHAPPY? OR JUST BE OKAY WITH SLEEPING AROUND OR NOT BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP? It could be that I just like my unhappy endings or open/ambiguous ends, but THAT is something that throws me out of a story. (HARRY POTTER EPILOGUE SYNDROME)
I am not fond of the fact that it looks like everyone gets a partner and a happy end (EVEN THOUGH I WANT THESE THINGS FOR THE CHARACTERS! DOES THIS MAKE SENSE AT ALL?).
I am sure that Yuu will get the same treatment as well. Just wondering whether Mino will be left out of this (as far as we know he could be straight, but somehow I find that improbable in this series LMAO). Or maybe Mino is for An-chan?
OH GOD THIS IS TURNING INTO A HUGE RANT LIKE IT ALWAYS DOES.
MAY AS WELL THROW THIS IN AS WELL.
I HAVE THIS IRRATIONAL RAGE ABOUT THE FACT THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ASSUMING THAT YOKOZAWA IS 100% UKE BECAUSE OF THAT PICTURE (THE ONE I POSTED ABOVE).
I mean, I know what the conventions are, and looking at the way they're drawn there it does look like Yokozawa is going to be the one to get fucked here, BUT DOES THAT MEAN A DAMN THING ABOUT ANY OF HIS PAST SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS? I THINK NOT. (I swear, I never thought I would ever care or attach significance to who tops or bottoms, let alone find myself getting so worked up about whether a character is a total uke or not but HERE I AM and 99 times out of 100 it is the reaction of fandom that bothers me more than the source material.)
If it were to come up, in canon, in a conversation with the characters (so if Kisa were to say that he doesn't like to top during penetrative sex, or Takano were to remark that he's never bottomed to anyone)? Fine. I don't care. Real people have preferences, whether they like to stay in one role or mix it up, so of course the same can apply to fictional characters. But to say that, because of the fact that it's 99% certain Yokozawa is going to get topped by this guy (and GUH I DO WANT TO SEE THAT IN GRAPHIC DETAIL HAHA) IT SOMEHOW MEANS THAT HE'S NOTHING BUT 100% UKE IS SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS. STOP ACTING LIKE IT PROVES ANYTHING. BECAUSE UNLESS YOU ARE PSYCHIC OR THE AUTHOR HERSELF THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW IT WENT BETWEEN YOKOZAWA AND TAKANO? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOKOZAWA COULD NEVER TOP OR TAKANO COULD NEVER BOTTOM?
I hate the rampant levels of assumption there.
I get that in BL it is more often than not a matter of importance and something SiH fandom loves to discuss when it comes to Takano and Yokozawa, but as far as I'm aware, all the series has given us to go on is a glimpse of the two of them side by side in bed, presumably after sex. AND THAT'S IT.
AND I'VE JUST REALISED THAT WE HAVE NO IDEA WHETHER THEY EVEN HAD PENETRATIVE SEX BUT THAT NEVER EVEN GETS RAISED AS A POSSIBILITY.
(I kind of want to fic this now...)
I wish I could just buy into BL completely, tropes and all, but as it is I like it a lot in principle yet there's SO MUCH OF IT that I have huge issues with.
POOR YOKOZAWA, HIS SEX LIFE IS THE SUBJECT OF SO MUCH SPECULATION AND NOW MY RAGE, BUT AT LEAST IT LOOKS LIKE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER HE'S GOING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME~
(I have wasted HOURS today doing that ridiculous thing where I read fic from a fandom I am not even remotely interested in as far as canon is concerned.)
(FUCK YOU EPIC 225,000+ WORD SUPERNATURAL AU, GIVE ME BACK MY LIFE)
I also feel like I have a massive backlog of stuff to post about, I guess mainly with regards to fandom stuff because I am too lazy to bother touching on all the RL as well. I suppose it's a good thing that I have the rest of this week off in order to catch up and at least reduce the backlog of STUFF I HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED OR READ YET (COUGH HELLO FINAL EPISODE OF NO. 6). I can say briefly that I did finish Steins;Gate and found the way it ended to be a good fit, and I also FINALLY got through the last section of Good Luck, Yukikaze, which took a more exciting turn as it approached the conclusion and although the same themes I complained about earlier were still very much present it all felt much more organic and less like it was obliterating the fiction itself. I do wonder whether there will be a translated release of Unbroken Arrow? GL,Y was a hard read for me, but I still got enough out of it that I'd happily commit myself to the sequel.
I am reminded now that I really REALLY wanted to do a rec post for a fantastic book I read over a month ago now.
BUT FIRST LET ME GET ALL INCOHERENT FANGIRL OVER SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI AND THE FACT THAT YOKOZAWA GETS A NOVEL AND ALSO NEW SEASON STARTS AIRING LATER THIS WEEK UGUH JUST GIVE IT TO ME NOW.
I'LL TAKE THIS UNDER A CUT, SHALL I?
THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS BUT MY HEART SKIPPED A BEAT WHEN I SAW IT AHHHH
YOKOZAWA, WHY DO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH? (BECAUSE HE'S THE LOVE REJECT PROBABLY, AND BECAUSE HE'S QUITE CLEARLY HURTING POOR THING BUT HE GETS TO BE HAPPY AFTER ALL ONLY PLEASE LET THERE BE HEAVY QUANTITIES OF ANGST FIRST, OKAY?)
The other man is an editor who I guess must show up in Junjou Romantica (since commenters on the post in the SiH community seem to know who he is already)? I really AM going to have to read it, if only to find out in advance about this man who is going to get into Yokozawa's pants. THE HARDSHIPS OF MY LIFE, I KNOW. I hope I don't struggle with trying to get back into Junjou. I watched the first season of the anime and tried the manga once but didn't get very far with it, although I've never managed to quite figure out what the hook is with Sekaiichi Hatsukoi that wasn't there with Junjou Romantica. I didn't like the main pairing in Junjou that much at all, so that might have a lot to do with it (and I doubt I'll like it much better now going back to it).
...but the thing is, even though my first reaction was EXCITEMENT AND HAPPINESS I still have some mixed feelings about it.
MIXED FEELINGS basically sums up how I feel about Sekaiichi Hatsukoi in general.
HOW CAN I LOVE SOMETHING SO MUCH AND STILL HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH IT?
In this case, I can't say I'm surprised to see Yokozawa getting a focus of his own; I had expected it and hoped for it ever since Takano finally made it clear that nothing was ever going to happen there. But I wish it could be manga and not a novel, mostly for the selfish reason that if it's a manga it would be scanlated and I'd be able to read it whereas the chances are not high for a novel, but also because so far I have not become a fan of light novels because the writing doesn't seem to be of a particularly high quality (and I'm fully ready to believe that there's something about the format that I'm either just NOT GETTING or it's a translation thing or it's simply not for me, but the only thing I turn to novels like that for is expansion on a canon I am already interested in, and with SiH and Yokozawa's story I KNOW I'd get a lot more out of it if it were to be told through manga.
And the OTHER thing is (really rather ridiculous coming from me) that it feels...too neat.
I feel so conflicted, because I want Yokozawa to be happy (and even toyed with the idea of shipping him with Saeki myself even though fandom seems to prefer An as far as het pairings go) but REALLY? IS EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER IN THE DAMN SERIES GOING TO GET A SPIN-OFF AND GET HAPPILY PAIRED UP?
I am one of those people who does enjoy "everyone is gay" in fic or canon (because although I like fic to be realistic where possible, whether or not it's at all probable for the majority of characters to prefer the same sex is not something I care much about and so it doesn't bother me AND HEY THERE'S PROBABLY MORE SEX THIS WAY) but, now that I give it some more thought, that's not really the problem I have with SiH. (On a tangent now, but I suppose having a large contingent of gay characters is normal for a lot of BL and not at all unexpected here -- and nor do I find it THAT hard to believe that the Emerald staff are almost all gay or bisexual at least, because some workplaces DO skew heavily towards having a higher percentage of LGBT staff for whatever reason.) To get back on track, the real issue I have with it is the focus on PAIRING EVERYONE OFF. NOBODY GETS TO STAY SINGLE? OR BE UNHAPPY? OR JUST BE OKAY WITH SLEEPING AROUND OR NOT BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP? It could be that I just like my unhappy endings or open/ambiguous ends, but THAT is something that throws me out of a story. (HARRY POTTER EPILOGUE SYNDROME)
I am not fond of the fact that it looks like everyone gets a partner and a happy end (EVEN THOUGH I WANT THESE THINGS FOR THE CHARACTERS! DOES THIS MAKE SENSE AT ALL?).
I am sure that Yuu will get the same treatment as well. Just wondering whether Mino will be left out of this (as far as we know he could be straight, but somehow I find that improbable in this series LMAO). Or maybe Mino is for An-chan?
OH GOD THIS IS TURNING INTO A HUGE RANT LIKE IT ALWAYS DOES.
MAY AS WELL THROW THIS IN AS WELL.
I HAVE THIS IRRATIONAL RAGE ABOUT THE FACT THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ASSUMING THAT YOKOZAWA IS 100% UKE BECAUSE OF THAT PICTURE (THE ONE I POSTED ABOVE).
I mean, I know what the conventions are, and looking at the way they're drawn there it does look like Yokozawa is going to be the one to get fucked here, BUT DOES THAT MEAN A DAMN THING ABOUT ANY OF HIS PAST SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS? I THINK NOT. (I swear, I never thought I would ever care or attach significance to who tops or bottoms, let alone find myself getting so worked up about whether a character is a total uke or not but HERE I AM and 99 times out of 100 it is the reaction of fandom that bothers me more than the source material.)
If it were to come up, in canon, in a conversation with the characters (so if Kisa were to say that he doesn't like to top during penetrative sex, or Takano were to remark that he's never bottomed to anyone)? Fine. I don't care. Real people have preferences, whether they like to stay in one role or mix it up, so of course the same can apply to fictional characters. But to say that, because of the fact that it's 99% certain Yokozawa is going to get topped by this guy (and GUH I DO WANT TO SEE THAT IN GRAPHIC DETAIL HAHA) IT SOMEHOW MEANS THAT HE'S NOTHING BUT 100% UKE IS SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS. STOP ACTING LIKE IT PROVES ANYTHING. BECAUSE UNLESS YOU ARE PSYCHIC OR THE AUTHOR HERSELF THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW IT WENT BETWEEN YOKOZAWA AND TAKANO? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOKOZAWA COULD NEVER TOP OR TAKANO COULD NEVER BOTTOM?
I hate the rampant levels of assumption there.
I get that in BL it is more often than not a matter of importance and something SiH fandom loves to discuss when it comes to Takano and Yokozawa, but as far as I'm aware, all the series has given us to go on is a glimpse of the two of them side by side in bed, presumably after sex. AND THAT'S IT.
AND I'VE JUST REALISED THAT WE HAVE NO IDEA WHETHER THEY EVEN HAD PENETRATIVE SEX BUT THAT NEVER EVEN GETS RAISED AS A POSSIBILITY.
(I kind of want to fic this now...)
I wish I could just buy into BL completely, tropes and all, but as it is I like it a lot in principle yet there's SO MUCH OF IT that I have huge issues with.
POOR YOKOZAWA, HIS SEX LIFE IS THE SUBJECT OF SO MUCH SPECULATION AND NOW MY RAGE, BUT AT LEAST IT LOOKS LIKE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER HE'S GOING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME~