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edenfallingI have noticed that some reviews for "The Way of the Apartment Manager" praise the story for not being yaoi. This is interesting to me, because I don't get corresponding reviews praising it for not being het or yuri. I do get reviews saying that it's nice to have a genfic, but that's not the same as singling out yaoi.
(I can understand why nobody comments on it not being yuri -- yuri/femslash is simply nowhere near as common as het or yaoi/slash. I'm not sure what that says about fanfiction readers and writers, but I'm sure it says something. I'd like to find more yuri -- heck, I'd like yuri epics -- but I don't really expect it. *here Liz pauses to shoo away plot bunnies*)
Anyway, this specific attention paid to yaoi makes me slightly uneasy, since I personally have no problems with slash. I have written slash. I've also written het and femslash. Yes, I tend to lean toward gen, and "Apartment Manager" was conceived as a plot- and character-driven genfic, but you'll notice that Naga and Kafunnokaze's little 'thing' crept in toward the end. And I deliberately threw in a few subtextual hints that could be taken as Kakashi/Iruka, as well as Kakashi's pass at Yukiko; I like Kakashi ambiguous, and I think he would probably flirt with people of both genders if he thought it would keep them off balance (and particularly if he thought there was no chance of the flirtation actually going anywhere).
So if relationships pop up in the sequel -- be they yaoi, yuri, or het -- what will the reaction be?
And if my story gets described as a 'non-yaoi' epic, do I really want that? Because it's equally a 'non-yuri' epic and a 'non-het' epic. I don't mind it being described as a 'gen' epic, because it is, but gen means more than just 'non-yaoi.'
This worries me on occasion, and it makes me wonder if my writing is subtly sending messages that homosexuality is wrong or abnormal.
(We will ignore for the moment the school of thought that says yaoi/slash isn't really homosexual but is instead the female equivalent of heterosexual men watching lesbian porn. I think there's some truth to that, but it's not immediately relevant to the topic.)
Or is it just that yaoi is becoming prevalent in various fandoms? Well, honestly, is it? I don't know -- I've never paid much attention to the percentages of various story types beyond noting that yeah, a significant percentage of anything is going to be dreck. (Sturgeon's Law: resistance is futile, mwahahaha!) I suppose I could see people thinking that there's something slightly skewed about homosexuality being much more common in fanfiction than in real life, so to speak, but then again, nobody says you have to read yaoi if you don't like it. And you can't exactly make authors write what you want them to write, so making yaoi writers stop posting stories wouldn't increase the number of het and gen fics on the net.
Eh. It's all very confusing, and I never get much of anywhere when I think about it. I'm just left with a vague sense of unease.
(I can understand why nobody comments on it not being yuri -- yuri/femslash is simply nowhere near as common as het or yaoi/slash. I'm not sure what that says about fanfiction readers and writers, but I'm sure it says something. I'd like to find more yuri -- heck, I'd like yuri epics -- but I don't really expect it. *here Liz pauses to shoo away plot bunnies*)
Anyway, this specific attention paid to yaoi makes me slightly uneasy, since I personally have no problems with slash. I have written slash. I've also written het and femslash. Yes, I tend to lean toward gen, and "Apartment Manager" was conceived as a plot- and character-driven genfic, but you'll notice that Naga and Kafunnokaze's little 'thing' crept in toward the end. And I deliberately threw in a few subtextual hints that could be taken as Kakashi/Iruka, as well as Kakashi's pass at Yukiko; I like Kakashi ambiguous, and I think he would probably flirt with people of both genders if he thought it would keep them off balance (and particularly if he thought there was no chance of the flirtation actually going anywhere).
So if relationships pop up in the sequel -- be they yaoi, yuri, or het -- what will the reaction be?
And if my story gets described as a 'non-yaoi' epic, do I really want that? Because it's equally a 'non-yuri' epic and a 'non-het' epic. I don't mind it being described as a 'gen' epic, because it is, but gen means more than just 'non-yaoi.'
This worries me on occasion, and it makes me wonder if my writing is subtly sending messages that homosexuality is wrong or abnormal.
(We will ignore for the moment the school of thought that says yaoi/slash isn't really homosexual but is instead the female equivalent of heterosexual men watching lesbian porn. I think there's some truth to that, but it's not immediately relevant to the topic.)
Or is it just that yaoi is becoming prevalent in various fandoms? Well, honestly, is it? I don't know -- I've never paid much attention to the percentages of various story types beyond noting that yeah, a significant percentage of anything is going to be dreck. (Sturgeon's Law: resistance is futile, mwahahaha!) I suppose I could see people thinking that there's something slightly skewed about homosexuality being much more common in fanfiction than in real life, so to speak, but then again, nobody says you have to read yaoi if you don't like it. And you can't exactly make authors write what you want them to write, so making yaoi writers stop posting stories wouldn't increase the number of het and gen fics on the net.
Eh. It's all very confusing, and I never get much of anywhere when I think about it. I'm just left with a vague sense of unease.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 05:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 06:45 pm (UTC)In older English-language fandom, "smarm" is a term used to denote fics with strong male friendships where the men are, for whatever reason, vocal about what the friendship and the friend in question means to them. Because in Anglo-American culture men are highly unlikely to do this, it often overlaps with hurt/comfort as a genre.
I believe it comes from when someone's fic about the friendship between two men was criticized as being "a bit smarmy," and the someone, not knowing what "smarmy" technically meant, latched onto it as a useful label to denote "non-romantic relationship-intensive, usually between men."
Enough other people thought it was a useful label that it now has a fanfiction-specific meaning.
Similarly, "evil (http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/E/evil.html)" in hackerly speak does not mean "evil" as the general public has it (although "evil and rude" comes fairly close).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 07:34 pm (UTC)In a way, formal distinctions between terms like 'yaoi' and 'shounen-ai' really don't matter. With many people, if not most, musing over a romantic relationship generally leads to 'em doing the nasty, anyway.
But mostly, terminology just means what people think it means. And the meaning of words shifts over time, with usage. That's part of the English language, after all.
Unfortunate, really.
Being objective enough to realise that, and objective enough not to get annoyed when someone challenges your beliefs...that's tough. Especially when you actually love characters...and people do.
*grin* I applaud you for being rational about it. Sadly, most folks are truly irrational about it, and they'll gnaw off the ankles of anyone who says otherwise.
(That's why I put snake powder on my socks. It's a defensive mechanism.)
And yes, you have peons. You're a damn good writer, you deserve at least casual part-time minions. 'course, you got to divide us with other evil leaders - sorta like a car-sharing arrangement or something - but still. It's a matter of principle.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 08:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 12:28 am (UTC)Which, come to think of it, are pretty much what Naruto genin are...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 12:32 am (UTC)*stares*
Oh my god, you're right!
Though really they're only quasi-evil...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 01:48 pm (UTC)Sasuke may indeed be Evil Lite.
But Naruto is not Diet Coke.
He is pure, straight up, -JOLT-.
^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 04:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-31 05:12 am (UTC)(Orange Monster, if there is such a thing.) ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 11:51 pm (UTC)