(Untitled)

[nekochancutecat]

(First of all, this cover is freaking awesome. If anyone wants it, tell me and I'll upload it for you guys. I cried the first time I heard it, and Takui's voice is just so strong and beautifulSecondly: This is not going to be friends-locked because~ a couple of people actually asked for me to let it remain public for linking purposes. Um.... okay.

Comments

[iapetusneume]

You bring up many good points. As I was reading this, at one point I paused and thought over my own personal favorite shounen ai pairings, and realized that they DID fit inside the bishounen mould. However, I actually had to think about it, because while they are beautiful they actually ACT like men (unlike in certain series I've seen). Whenever I attempt to write for them I can't help but focus on that aspect, and so in the end I don't feel I'm writing about *just* pretty men, but just simply men.

I guess the generalization comes with anime in general. If you look at a het couple, they are almost always beautiful as well. The guy is a bishounen and the girl is a bishojo. However, due to the fact that het relationships are more common in our society as well as more blatantly acceptable in public, we have seen very well for our own eyes that the stereotype isn't true. We can expect that this mould cannot hold true for other types of relationships, just like you said.

I also think the problem comes with how many bisexual/homosexual people a shounen ai fan knows. Just for example, my roommates didn't have any gay friends until they got to college. Well, that or the people remained in the closet, so they never associated with them in knowledge of their sexuality. This isn't their fault or anything - some towns are just not hospitable for those wishing to live an alternate lifestyle to reside in, and if they want to keep their safety they keep quiet. It was a huge thing when my friend Tyler came out of the closet in high school, and he had to deal with a lot of crap for doing so.

My point is that there is more to the relationships than just the relationship themselves. I've lost count of how many times I've seen fanfic where the two pretty bishounen get together, and everyone is happy and there is rejoicing over them coming together and absolutely NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. The idealized world makes me sick, because it is in no way at all like the real world.

And... I have started to ramble. XD; One last point before I go.

I remember when a closed-minded person wrote on fanficrants awhile ago about how "only the beautiful boys" deserved to be written about and admired. Said fan admitted being superficial, but claimed that "ugly men" had no good place in the yaoi fandom. That person got torn apart for what they said by both slash and non-slash friends, and I remember being completely horrified that someone could actually THINK that way.

Ok, (I think) I'm done. Will probably link this later today, but if not it will still go in my memories. :D

[raevenwynter]

Actually, I can see why one would want to read about 'pretty' boys in fanfiction. Why? It's a tool to turn women on, slash writing. And people, in general, like pretty things. The problem is when someone stands up and likes manly muscled men and the rest of the people don't.. or vice versa. *nods*

I like reading/writing about characters I find attractive. It is that way for... most writers in fandom. It really is. If that girl only finds the girlie ones attractive, that is her loss. Her mistake was trying to push it on the rest of the community. (Oh come on, if everyone liked pretty boys then who would love the other ones?)