Why Shonen-ai (Boys Love) and Yaoi (hardcore boy's love)???

Biev · Post by **Biev** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:51 pm

I was hoping this would get back on topic because I've been wondering about it too. As a girl who's primarily interested in girls I have NO CLUE why I'm into shounen-ai at all. I do identify with the dominated person, though ;o) That's interesting, I hadn't thought about that aspect of it.

I suppose I like my men on the feminine side... but then that makes me wonder why I married a big tough guy ;o) A realistic gay story (as in, the characters are believable men, not bishie clichés) won't interest me.

Its success with girls in general probably also has a lot to do with the fact that contrarily to porn where one enter the rooms, does their business then leaves, shounen-ai stories are usually pages and pages of foreplay. After a buildup, some dramatic event will ensure that the characters are separated so the foreplay can start again : P It's a modern twist on Harlequin novels, really.

That and it's easy to make a gay relationship sound more romantic than a straight one because it's a type of forbidden love you don't even need to contextualize. I mean, Romeo and Juliet needed all that extra family drama to be romantic, but Romeo and Julian - instant : P

Post by **Kisai** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:10 am

I'm going to add my 2 cents in and then run away from this thread. I don't watch adult stuff or read anything adult unless there is an actual story/characters/relationship element to it. Pure wanton hardcore boing-boing stuff is boring.

Yaoi/shonen-ai(Gay): Looks pretty, sounds romantic, but as soon as they start stripping, that's it for me. I haven't read much of it, I find it's hard to get into unless recommended by someone else.

Yuri/shoujo-ai(Lesbian): Looks pretty, might be romantic, and generally uninteresting if it isn't. I don't really see the point of sex-only stuff.

On electrolysis: It's more permanent than laser I hear. Apparently Laser feels like being hit hard with an elastic band.

On bleaching and hair removal: Never bleached my hair, and if your "agggh it bleeeds!" / "tell me when it feels like a lighter..." description is any indication, that's what happens when I use the hair dryer. It will feel warm for a bit, and then suddenly it's like being pressed against something burning. Yeah I don't use the hair dryer, ever, except when I'm traveling. I've tried like everything for off the shelf hair removal junk and all I can really say is that electrolysis is worth it if you never have to remove the hair anymore. Oh and doing electrolysis wrong ALSO gives the "aach something is burning a hole in my skin" feeling. Home electrolysis = bad.

Nair/Veet not only stinks, but burns like you just got a sunburn. Yay for chemical burns. It doesn't really "remove" the hair at all either, it just melts it into this sticky goo that you need to scrape off with something. Wax sucks, a lot, and is incredably painful if you do it wrong. Sugaring makes your skin break out if it's poor quality. Both will burn the hell out of your skin if heated improperly, and only sugaring can be washed off. Wax doesn't wash off, you have to use their "wax remover" on it, which is more expensive than the wax, no thanks.

earlier comments:
Womens bike: I honestly could never tell the difference other than mens bikes had a shorter seat. Didn't help that my bike didn't have hand brakes or gears.

The friends I have on my livejournal... uh most of the lesbians seem to have an interest in yaoi and crossplay as yaoi characters at conventions.

Though now that I think about it, the most-obessed about yaoi people I've ever met were "bi" overweight women and "bi" skinny men. Of which the overweight women at conventions are exceptionally scary looking. Mind you, obese cross-dressed men-as-women that make no effort to look like women are just as scary as in run-before-it-eats-you!

That's like my worst fear of going to conventions is discovering that everyone is extremely scary.

On a slight tangent from that topic. "nerds".

I've always considered myself to not be particuarly nerdy, and make a lot of effort to avoid anti-social nerd collectives. Avoiding D&D, Starwars, StarTrek,Anime-cults,LordOfTheRings,Hardcore Computer Games/console games, MMORPGS. Sure it might be fun to have a discussion once in a while, but cripes I don't ever want to spend every day talking about the same stuff from yesterday. One of the things that happens on IRC is someone asks a question, and it turns into three hour philosophy session because questions keep being asked, and half the time I'm just looking stuff I don't know up Wikipedia anyways.

Going back to Yaoi, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi Keenspot is mentioned in this.

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:30 am

Thanks Kisai ... I was going to get some Nair/Veet for my legs today, but you've just totally unsold me on it.

Post by **Kisai** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:29 am

blackaby wrote:Thanks Kisai ... I was going to get some Nair/Veet for my legs today, but you've just totally unsold me on it. :D

For nair/veet to work and be usable, it has to be thin light hair, and even then, the amount of time you have to wait can burn you. It is as bad as shaving is. Takes off as much skin and hair shaving does, smells worse, and lasts as long. (Both only remove the top of the hair)

One of the ingredients in nair is urea... aka urine.

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:36 am

Kisai wrote:For nair/veet to work and be usable, it has to be thin light hair, and even then, the amount of time you have to wait can burn you. It is as bad as shaving is. Takes off as much skin and hair shaving does, smells worse, and lasts as long. (Both only remove the top of the hair)

One of the ingredients in nair is urea... aka urine.

oh god.

TRI · Post by **TRI** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:19 am

Kisai wrote: earlier comments:
Womens bike: I honestly could never tell the difference other than mens bikes had a shorter seat. Didn't help that my bike didn't have hand brakes or gears.

The difference is the frame. Men's bikes have a straight horizontal bar connecting the seat to the steering collumn* which adds stability, rigidity, and a handy place to put your waterbottle.

Womens bikes (also known as "stepthrough" bikes if you're trying to be PC) have a curved bar connecting the seat to the steering collumn. That way you can ride them while wearing a skirt without sacraficing your modesty (which when these were invented meant showing your ankles). The downside is that in a crash there's a greater chance of bending the frame, and your water bottle has to be less conveniently located.

Scarey thing is: I know all this crap but I still don't know how to ride a bike.

*Yes I know that's a car term but I dunno what that piece is called on bikes.

CJBurgandy · Post by **CJBurgandy** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:58 am

Kisai wrote:
I've always considered myself to not be particuarly nerdy, and make a lot of effort to avoid anti-social nerd collectives. Avoiding D&D,.........

I'll have to work on that....

Post by **Kisai** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:15 am

cjburgandy wrote:
Kisai wrote:
I've always considered myself to not be particuarly nerdy, and make a lot of effort to avoid anti-social nerd collectives. Avoiding D&D,.........
I'll have to work on that....

Oh I don't like to be in groups that have unequal balances of males to females, an all-male group is incredably gross and scary, and an all-female group is incredably annoying and smelly.

One of my female cousin's boyfriend's has a D&D group that consists of all males... incredably nerdy ones at that. The point I lose interest in any game is rules-lawyering.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:28 am

Kisai wrote:
cjburgandy wrote:
Kisai wrote:
I've always considered myself to not be particuarly nerdy, and make a lot of effort to avoid anti-social nerd collectives. Avoiding D&D,.........
I'll have to work on that....
Oh I don't like to be in groups that have unequal balances of males to females, an all-male group is incredably gross and scary, and an all-female group is incredably annoying and smelly.

One of my female cousin's boyfriend's has a D&D group that consists of all males... incredably nerdy ones at that. The point I lose interest in any game is rules-lawyering.

::invites Kisai to a mixed company game of Calvin Ball::

CJBurgandy · Post by **CJBurgandy** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:37 am

well, my next gaming group was planning on having just myself, Jenni, Redd, Jenni's brother and maybe two brothers, one of which is gay, and another girl we're trying to get into it. we're a fairly unscary group. And Jenni's brother would be playing via webcam.

That's a pretty diverse group.

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:19 am

I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 4:49 am

blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.

no, see what you wanna watch is LARPing, it's like D&D but with violence.

Col · Post by **Col** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:04 am

blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.

So is he/she no longer gay or no longer your best friend? Or both?

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:44 am

Col wrote:
blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.
So is he/she no longer gay or no longer your best friend? Or both?

No longer my best friend. He got a bad haircut and then totally went to seed. I signed on to be best friend of the sexiest and most popular guy in the city - the whole bad hair thing was not part of the bff contract.

Re: the yaoi stuff if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm not into it at all. Despite jus' 'bout everything that I may put across. I don't like any kind of manga, but I don't mind non-manga lesbian stories.

That said, the Clawed/Zwuh thing was just sooo cute. But you'd have to be there to see Zwuh's little helplessly waving and twitching hands to understand.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:51 am

blackaby wrote:
Col wrote:
blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.
So is he/she no longer gay or no longer your best friend? Or both?
No longer my best friend. He got a bad haircut and then totally went to seed. I signed on to be best friend of the sexiest and most popular guy in the city - the whole bad hair thing was not part of the bff contract.

Re: the yaoi stuff if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm not into it at all. Despite jus' 'bout everything that I may put across. I don't like any kind of manga, but I don't mind non-manga lesbian stories.

That said, the Clawed/Zwuh thing was just sooo cute. But you'd have to be there to see Zwuh's little helplessly waving and twitching hands to understand.

note to self: losing blackaby's friendship is as easy as getting a bad haircut.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:12 am

YES!! CALVIN BALL!!

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:46 am

legostargalactica wrote:note to self: losing blackaby's friendship is as easy as getting a bad haircut.

Look dude, it was a really fucking bad haircut.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:00 am

blackaby wrote:
legostargalactica wrote:note to self: losing blackaby's friendship is as easy as getting a bad haircut.
Look dude, it was a really fucking bad haircut.

so noted.

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:48 pm

legostargalactica wrote:
blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.

no, see what you wanna watch is LARPing, it's like D&D but with violence.

I admit that I'll play D&D from time to time. But larping is a whole new level of nerd for me and I dare not tread there.

Although it is REALY amusing to watch the ancient master vampire and the baddass werewolf lord duke it out via rock-paper-scissors.

(This conversation isn't nearly disturbing enough. Methinks I need to pull out the ghastly comics... >^o^<)

The Neko · Post by **The Neko** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:10 pm

legostargalactica wrote:
blackaby wrote:I watched a D&D game once with my pretty ex-gay-best-friend, but it wasn't really my thing. I'd expected them to act stuff out and maybe punch each other when they were in fights, but no.

no, see what you wanna watch is LARPing, it's like D&D but with violence.

D&D has plenty of violence.