stick figures, pointy chins, TV and the highest honor in the land

[oiran]

A couple days late, but I want to talk about it anyway: America's Next Top Model

Oh, how pleased I am that creepy, stalkerish April is gone instead of sweet, bubbly Mercedes. I still think Shandi is totally going to win it, but I hope Mercedes gets something out of this. She's not high-fashion model material IMO, but she's got a great personality and she's someone I think viewers can relate to. But I've already stated my Mercedes thoughts in the past.

Yoanna continues to seem shallow and phony to me. She's got this seething pool of envy and acid just under her skin and she seems to have an unnerving habit of reminding people that they're fuckups while she "empathizes" with them. Still, she's beautiful despite her purported midriff issues. I can't imagine she won't end up with a fashion job of some sort. Based on the bit I've seen, she seems less fixated on being a model and more just wanting to be recognized as beautiful and fashionable while working in the industry. Based on what we've seen of her, there's no reason that won't come true.

Poor Shandi! I was actually horrified at how they showed her, presumably just minutes post coitus, hunched over and howling in fear and self-loathing. Poor little nerdy girl! Certainly, she shouldn't have screwed Mr. Italy, but I'm glad her boyfriend realized the truth: it wasn't the end of the world. It was stupid. It was a mistake. And even though she looked emotionally dead and very drawn and pale, I agreed completely that her "Italian sensuality" outfit was the best. Unlike the others, she doesn't seem to have any trouble taking directions from the various photographers, stylists, designers, etc., and taking them to heart.

This show has convinced me that all the models over all the years whose interviews have included lines about being "geeky" and picked-on in school really aren't lying. They were all Shandis until someone gave them a little style.

Yeah, I do want Shandi to win. It seems inevitable and right, or as "right" as a modeling contest needs to be.

This is only the third ep I'd seen. I'd initially liked April best (!!!!) but it didn't take long to dislike her and her raving zealotry. Post-elimination, when she was going on about her "calling" to be a top model, I cackled with mean-spirited glee. Because I'm more like Yoanna than Mercedes.

I don't think April will be a top model, but I think she'll stay, um, connected to the fashion industry. Because, duh: Nigel Baker and April are so going to hook up. And once they've done it, they'll be really embarrassed and never talk again.

Yami No Matsuei:. So I've been reading the excellent and compelling overview in bonibaru's LJ and I HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!! I think I can get the manga from the same places I got Love Mode (as below), but YNM on video sounds so wonderful. I went through a confusing-to-Mr. Glove hentai phase a few years back, but I never saw any m/m stuff, and I was disappointed by my inability to locate the grossest possible tentacle porn…I think it would be easier now, since there's probably a spreadsheet listing titles and acts on some otaku site.

I actually read the overview thinking I wasn't at all interested in the fandom. I just wanted to look at some sexy manga art so that I could maybe do something for nerodi's Clex manga challenge thing. I still might, but now I really want to see the show.

Anyway, YNM sounds like it has the perfect elements: Japanese creepy manneredness, death fixation, and girliemen with big shoulders and soft hearts. Again, I have to see this. Can anyone recommend a place to order it from?

Love Mode: Gay manga which was really intereresting for several things that make me nuts (in an irritated way) in the whole anime/manga genre. This is apparently marketed to girls and centers around the owner of a gay "date service" and his friends. It starts out with a rape that turns into love (though it is perhaps semi-plausible and centers around a mistaken identity). However, all the relationships have a static top and static bottom who act out a very male/female stereotype. There are all kinds of stats for each character, including a roughly 40-lb. weight difference between the top and bottom, as well as height differences. There were a couple of characters fighting their disgusting gay urges, and lots of channish child-chasing by beautiful adult men.

The drawings are the typical pointy-beautiful-girlie men and there is explicit sex…except there's not. There are close-ups of fingers disappearing (in a somehow-wistful dollop of gooey lube) into a smooth plane of presumed flesh, completely nonspecific. There are a few wispily sketched cock heads, but even when a penis should be front and center in the drawing…it simply isn't there. Like, it's just blank. Spread thighs, maybe even a cock in the ass, but no dick whatsoever. I want dick.

Even taking into account that I'm reading a "scanlated" version, I don't think it was a particularly well-written storyline based on things I've watched/read in the past, but I would probably be more forgiving had there been loving attention paid to drawing stylized dicks to go along with the pointy, pretty faces and the long, tapered fingers and the flowing locks and the draped trousers, etc., etc. I'd rather read something where they didn't show anything at all than where they don't show what they're purporting to show, you know?

My complaints don't explain, however, why I was up until 5:00 AM reading this thing, though ;)

Wonderfalls:. Didn't watch it last time, will watch it this time because everyone is telling me to, and surely you've all noticed how tractable and obedient I am by this point.

Nerodi Seal of Approval^TM: I've made her one. I think we all know what it means when nerodi likes a story. It means dirty!wrong sex that is both dirtier and more wrong than just ordinary slashy sex. She's already honored me by bestowing it on The Prize, and I imagine some of you who write can look forward to getting slapped with the seal. I'll make a couple versions for different backgrounds once I get her design approval.

Comments

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Nerodi Seal of ApprovalTM

You are such an enabler!

Says one of Nerodi's official minions.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well, everyone does know what that means, though, don't we? And, unlike other fandoms, we don't have awards and site buttons all over the place for our "best" stories, so there really should be something in SV, even if it's just for the sickest, wrongest stories.

It has occurred to me that she is taking over the world by replicating and we're just letting it happen because she seems so nice except for this one area of interest...

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

I am so glad April is gone. I never liked her.

Regarding Shandi, I think her big mistake was telling her boyfriend in the first place. I think that in situations like this, telling just burdens the other person with it. Plus, I get the feeling that Shandi will continue to do this kind of thing, so if she doesn't learn to keep it quiet, she'll have a neverending cycle of fucking up, telling him, him berating her, her feeling like crap, and him eventually forgiving her while she feels like she's not worth it. That cycle will just feed her low self-esteem.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Normally, I'd agree she should keep her mouth shut...but it was going to get shown on TV, and presumably that would have happened whether she told him beforehand or not, so I think she likely felt like she had to do tell him.

Obviously, I don't know her--I don't even know her as well as anyone who has been watching from the beginning of the season--but I got the impression that she was truly appalled with herself and her behavior. I'm not sure I agree that she'd do it again. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to fuck up, and I can see her continuing to fuck up because of the self-esteem issues, definitely.

April seemed progressively skanky over the course of just three eps, as well as bossy and controlling and really not very stylish. I can't believe I liked her best for even a minute.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

D'oh, I forgot about the TV thing. I guess I was going by my "never ever tell anyone about a stupid one night stand (that doesn't have lasting repercussions like children or STDs)" rule.

I agree that her feelings of self-disgust were genuine, but I also think that's the payoff for her. That's why I think she'd potentially mess up again. Messing up satisfies her self-fulfilling prophecy that she's crappy and needs to be abandoned.

But I don't know her either, and that's just my armchair diagnosis from watching this cheezy yet compelling reality show. *g*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the on-TV aspect is the only reason I think she should have told him...otherwise, she should have just sucked it up and dealt with the guilt on her own. It's not a good idea to share how stupid you can be unless you absolutely have to do so.

I'm just really surprised at how fond I am of Shandi, and I think it's because it's obvious that before the ANTM people got hold of her, she was just totally goony and geeky. While it's always a little shocking to see pix of successful models out of their heavy makeup and glamorous hairdos (i.e., Tyra herself), by the time we usually see those oh-my-god-she's-ordinary pictures, the girl is already a zillionaire with a famous boyfriend, so it doesn't really register.

Did you watch the first season? I didn't, and I'm curious if it was this compelling.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

Did you watch the first season? I didn't, and I'm curious if it was this compelling.

Yeah, I started watching it halfway through last season. It was compelling in its newness, and also I didn't think that I'd become as attached to the Season 2 girls as I was to the ones in Season 1. Shandi has brought more of a drama factor to the show, but the drama she brings is fairly unconnected with the competition. Last year's drama was due mostly to the antics of the faux-Christian, snobby Robin during the competition. I still adore last year's winner, Adrianne. She's the perfect mixture of rough and glamourous.

And oh yes -- I got your fabulous CDs and I love them! So far, the Indian/Pakistani-influenced one has had permanent residence in my car stereo. My favorite tracks on that one are #4 (lovely French), and #11. Thank you so much! I still have to listen to the others -- the first one compelled me so much that I haven't had the chance. *g*

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

I sent this to nerodi yesterday... they're just single illustrations, not stories, but... there's dick.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

So, this is fan art, right? Even if she's charging money for it? *boggles*. I think perhaps some of the dicklessness of the Love Mode characters is due to Japanese pornography regulations, which may or may not have changed since the late 1980s, which is when I was up to date on such things. Shut up.

Are the Weiss Kruz characters canonically fucking? If so, I want to see that, too... Something about the stylization possible with cartoon sex is really dirty to me in a way that actual people porn is not. Which is weird, I know.

[clari-clyde.livejournal.com]

dirty to me in a way that actual people porn is not. Which is weird, I know.

A few years back, my cousin and I were in an anime video store and we aimlessly wandered into the hentai section. My cousin’s reaction was, “WTF! What does anyone need animated porn for!?” I told him, “Um well… things are possible in animation that isn’t possible in real life.” He still thinks I’m weird though.

I wish there were more shoujo hentai though. That list on Boys on Boys on Film is way too short.

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's fanart. But as I understand it, the fan-written and drawn comic books (doujinshi) are pretty commonplace. They're all over ebay. And I think you're right about the dicklessness :)

Aya (icon in my first comment) and Yohji (this comment) aren't canonically fucking in the same way that Clark and Lex aren't canonically fucking. They're just a lot more gay. I mean, they're assassins who pose as florists, and Yohji in particular is fond of midriff-baring shirtlets. Aya's just plain hot.

The series is available from Netflix, btw. [/pimp]

I completely understand about the toonsex. I was downloading hentai clips before I even knew what slash was. The one thing I do prefer in live porn though, is the sounds. Guh, boy noises. The toon noises always seem kinda silly to me. And I'm done airing my kinks out in your LJ now, really.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Florists????? I spent a year training as a florist. I'm an excellent floral designer, which is what people in "the industry" call it. Which I am trying to say with a straight face. And, while I am not an assassin, I also like to shoot...like, almost giving me orgasms liking to shoot. Just so you don't feel alone airing out kinks here.

And, yeah, they look pretty hot for cartoon people.

I agree with the noise part, though I've got to say I hate when people porn has dubs of heavy breathing over whatever is actually going on. Hate that.

You people *waves hand in your direction first, then all of friends list* are a bad influence. I was fine with just Smallville for a whole year.

But now I'm thinking that I'll probably watch them pretending to be florists and have all kinds of floral quibbles, since it clearly makes complete sense to expect realistic floral industry practices in manga/anime.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

OMG, you are such a BNF!!! You totally created this award so that nerodi could bestow it upon you!!! You utterly transparent bitch!




*bitterly covets award*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Hee! You found me out! And...AND!!!!! Get this: I actually wrote up voting rules for an SV fic award thing since the only prior one was so contentious and the results so not-announced... Because I bitched about that one so much, I was thinking I should try it myself and see how much I like the universal denouncements and gratuitous jabs...

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! Your 15 minutes of actually enjoying BNF'dom are over, baby (if you missed it that was the fifteen minutes right before you actually found out you were one). Now it's time to take some heat. Be universally reviled and live large!!


btw, you do know that winners were eventually announced, right?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

*raises right hand, and further raises right middle finger* I solemnly swear to uphold the tradition of bitchery, cliqueishness and raging hubris which the true BNF embodies with grace, poise, and sockpuppets.

Sort of. I was doing a vanity search to see if anyone recced me (shut up), and I discovered that I'd either come in third for character, or first for Lex, or something. But I never was e-mailed, and I never got any buttons or banners. Also, supposedly Kyoto Song is the third most beloved SV story ever, which is patently not the case. Statistics can be made to say many things.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, there were no buttons awarded, which is actually fine with me because As The Night The Day didn't win, place or show in the Best AU category despite having the most 1st round nominations. Nobody said a single kind word in the second round. Bah. <---is bitter.

But Koyoto Song's results weren't skewed. There were bunches of nominations and feedbacks for it in several categories, as I recall.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Er...correction, I think it was Best Long Fic that ATNTD had the most noms in. <--- bitter AND confused. *g*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, I think the results were skewed for everything because of the uselessness of the 1st round picks, since everything went to round 2...and the apathy/anger/suspicion that the entire feedback-vote scheme raised made people not want to play.

And while I was certainly on record as disliking the feedback voting idea, I do realize that the organizers were trying to do a nice thing. It just seemed unlikely to work in anything like an "accurate" way. While I understand that Kyoto Song is liked, and I do love it myself, I don't think anyone could say with a straight face that yes, really, it is one of the best-loved stories in this fandom. It's just not that, no matter whether it's good or not. It's just that a few people (yourself included) said nice things about it. But the jillions of us (me included) who abstained from voting for one reason or another would probably not have picked that story above...dozens of other things that I am 99% sure are better liked. For one thing, it's lacking in the explicit porn department...

Straight voting. Clear rules. Buttons. That's what I want.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. No doubt the round two thing was wack, and with wider participation lots of the results would been different. My point was that, based on the participation there was, I'm not surprised that Koyoto Song did that well. It was a crowd favorite in several categories.

And I think straight popular voting would be the only way to go, really. Gives lurkers/readers as much of a voice as the writers/fandom names.

So are you seriously considering this?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yes. I've got webspace to host the results, and I like designing things (even though you know better than most how...whimsical my schedule can be), and a straightforward vote would be easy to count and keep track of. I definitely got the impression that one person got stuck with all the work at the end, and if that's the case, that was an extremely burdensome task.

Seriously, I've got it all written out. I have had it for months now. You want to see?

[twigged.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see!! I think awards are fun, actually, and this fandom needs more banners and buttons. snerk.

(even though you know better than most how...whimsical my schedule can be),

Dude, seriously, you *have* to email me on the float thing. *eg* I'll even stop misspelling the name of your masterpiece if you do!!

Hey, are you going to read my H/D thing? I mean, I *know* you are, I'm just wondering when? :P

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

Maybe one day, if you try really hard, you too can win a Nerodi seal of approval. Don't be afraid to strive for your dreams, Shaggy.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

You are being so mean to me today!! Laying on your cookie eating ass on my first day back at work, not sending year old gossip via email, and now THIS!!

*fumes*

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sorry, were you talking to me? I'm very busy looking at dirty pictures over at yaoi daily right now. I might be busy for a good long while.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

And still I bestow gifts.

Those are Draco portraits done by Luscious Lucius.

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

oh my my. I think I like these!!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I'm not sure why, but that page doesn't display the first in the series, shown here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/spare_change/

That is not the artist's LJ, btw, just someone who likes the series.

[metron-ariston.livejournal.com]

I have not seen the YnM anime, but the manga is one of my favourite series. The art is gorgeous and it's hard not to love (almost) every character. The manga's been licensed by Viz, so scanlations may begin to disappear from the net. I wish I could recommend a place to buy from, but the only thing I can think of is to check ebay for those who might be selling a whole set used. (Why anyone would want to, I have no idea!) Or, if you or someone you know can navigate it, Amazon.co.jp. Yen price and not-horrible shipping (usually). Or, someone in a city with a Kinokuniya or Asahiya might be able to look for them for you.

There has been a lot of yaoi (I think mostly referred to as "BL" for Boys' Love in Japan now) with explicit artwork in recent years. I have no idea what those titles might be, but you might want to check out Aestheticism.com for your general, er, yaoi-knowledge furtherance?

(I am a perpetual source of half-assed information, I'm sorry. I just felt my fangirl YnM squee returning to me after months of sadly coming to the realisation that I was never going to see a volume twelve. *sigh*)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, I've just spent about 20 minutes reading snarky reviews of stuff I've never even seen over at the site you reference...hee! I might just be a fan of manga fans ;) Thank you for giving me the link!

Love your icon; love the movie.

[metron-ariston.livejournal.com]

Glad to be of service! *tips hat*

Love your icon; love the movie.

*bwee!* I adore Dirk.

[clari-clyde.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, Aestheticism sells doujinshi? If so, thanks so much for the link. Squee!

*off to hunt for explicit YnM doujinshi now*

[metron-ariston.livejournal.com]

Heh. They have for, like, years. And used to be practically the only place to find any before it started popping up more often on ebay. I remember being insane excited when I finally turned 18 and could /actually own/ FF7 doujinshi. /sad fangirl reminiscing

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

*seduces you*

YnM is "boy's LOVE" not so much "BOY'S LOVE" ... no explicit sex but a lot of nice angst.

xandria has got some explicit BDSM manga she's been scanning in for her flist under lock. I, however, have not been looking, as I cannot quite stand things like nipple clamps and breath control no matter how beautifully they are drawn, LOL.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

*seduces you*

I'm proving to be shockingly easy. Not only is the art rilly, rilly pretty, but the whole supernatural death woobieness of it appeals, as well.

re: the bL vs. BL aspect: If I can't have explicit "nice" sex with visible dick, then I'd just as soon have angst and yearning and swirling coats with no actual sex. I really can't stand the faux-explicitness of artfully dematerializing penises and orifices that are creepily similar to holes cut in an expanse of white sheet.

One of the ickiest explicit porn images I've ever seen was a hentai BDSM thing with a hook going from a nostril to... well, anyway. It was very bad. And there was also poop. Beautifully drawn, though, it's true.

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

I'm on episode three! Loving it so far!!

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

Yay! Are you watching the english dubbed or the subtitled one? Reading the titles is annoying but I love the Japanese actor who plays Hisoka. he breaks my heart when he cries out for Tsuzuki. Oh, that's later, LOL.

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

I'm doing Japanese with English subtitles. (only annoying thing about that is that I can't knit while I'm watching b/c I have to pay attn!!!) I think it's very slashy so far, and i LOVE hisoka, he is such a woobie heart breaker, isn't he? Just want to take him home and pet him!! I think he has cried out for Tsuzuki so far though, there's def. something going on there.

The white suit guy (gah, i can't remember the names) is very menacingly sexy. I also love Tsukui's eyes, but heh, he talks about eating so much!! So far Hisoka is def. my favorite!!

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

Wait until the cruise ship arc. You'll have Hisoka as a pegboy in no time, I can see it now.

[clari-clyde.livejournal.com]

As for YnM, I got my manga from Kinokuniya — um, though I do live near one of it’s stores. If you don’t mind owning them in japanese, each volume (and there are 11 of them) is only US $6 and then you can go to Theria.net for translations. Scanlations of the first few are at Sakura Crisis.

If it’s the anime you want, try to get the DVD box set. The nice thing about the DVDs is that not only does it have the american voice actors, but it also has the japanese voice actors with subtitles in english. Or I’m told you can try kazaa or bittorrent.



However, all the relationships have a static top and static bottom who act out a very male/female stereotype.

Not just Love Mode (which I’ve never read, btw) but a lot of shoujo manga have characters who will fit neatly as a top (seme) or bottom (uke). And in anime fandoms, semes are always drawn as taller/bigger than ukes, regardless of their canon heights. Also whether in the doujinshi (fan comics) or fanfic, it makes a difference whether you label a fic as (to take characters from YnM) as Tsuzuki x Hisoka or Hisoka x Tsuzuki. A reader will expect the first to have Tsuzuki as the seme and the latter to have Hisoka as the seme. It makes for tidy searching for the readers, but I think it’s a bit stifling for authors who wanna break a few molds.



I hadn’t videotaped Wonderfalls because I didn’t think anyone else would know about the show. Oh, I wish I had now. I don’t suppose scanning the TV Guide for a night-owl rerun would help, would it? I know it’s how I saw some episodes of Firefly when it kept getting pre-empted for baseball.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thank you for the links! I got all the Love Mode stuff from Sakura-Crisis. I went there looking for YnM, but I'm a pervert and ended up just going directly for the gay manga. I am planning on a pass through for YnM tonight...

It makes for tidy searching for the readers, but I think it’s a bit stifling for authors who wanna break a few molds.

Yeah, I can see that. However, I can also see that a manga/anime fandom would provide characters who really would be more likely to stay in a fixed role, and that writing them otherwise would have to be done with great attention to detail... I'm already writing in my head, apparently, but I think I need to see YnM first ;)

Wonderfalls!!!! I watched the pilot tonight and I LOVE it. It's so funny and well-done, which means it will probably be a cult show and go away after a season. Maybe that will be FOX's new thing: 1-season shows with deluxe DVD follow-up. Actually, that might not be the worst thing ever, though people will smite me for saying so...

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

Look at me and my awesome new icon!!!! I can't wait to bestow my seal of approval on deserving pervs!!!!!! I love it!!!

Bonibaru was awesome enought to order me a copy of YNM DVD, which came in the mail yesterday and so far I've watched three episodes. She found it for a really good price on ebay (and of course I coudln't figurie out how to bid on it, so she ordered it for me!!) It is very slashy so far, and the type of dynamic that I really like. Maybe when you and Shaggy come up to NYC in May you can come over and watch it!!

Have you joined yaoi daily? The pics are awesome, and usually very dirty!! It's interesting, I enujoy looking at anime sex more than watching real men in poistions like that.

Re: American Top Model, Shandi is on the road to drugs and rehab faster than a speeding bullet!! Love the show. Total crack!!

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Bestow away!

A YnM marathon might be fun. When are Rhi-Rhi and Ray-Ray due, anyway? I can see us all sitting around watching gay anime and not wanting to turn it off when your water breaks...

ANTM: Who do you think is going to win? It seems obvious to me that it will be Shandi regardless of the other girls' merits, but I'm curious what others think.