(no subject)

[elloran]

Forgive me for the strange question but...

What is a 'yaoi' and where may I purchase one?

- Ton Elloran

Comments

[former_endboss]

I can loan you some.

[Do not accept this offer, your mind will never be the same after reading Mir's boy's love stories.]

[elloran]

Could you tell me what it is, first?

[Of everyone on the com, Elloran could probably handle her stories best. Comes from having to deal with crazy thinkhives and Inquestors]

[former_endboss]

If you Must be boring and spoil my fun, then yes.

It means 'boy's love'.

[elloran]

Forgive me, but isn't that just 'love'? Or is it specific to the love one has in youth and then loses as one loses innocence?

[former_endboss]

You fail to understand a woman's appreciation for the aesthetic of young men in love. And while there may be aspects of May-December romance and innocence in a world that doesn't understand, or a hundred other things...

It's mostly to draw pictures of pretty guys and then look at them. Or write stories about tender romantic things that make a girl's heart go doki-doki. It's a sub-genre, it's going to be annoyingly specific.

[mightletyouknowme]

It's when two guys get into the relationship instead of a boy and a girl or a girl and a girl. It's not as fun.

[elloran]

Oh. I would have thought that would just be "a relationship".

And why is it not as fun?

[mightletyouknowme]

Because there's no cute girls if there's a bunch of boys. It...it may not be really, really bad but cute girls are the best.

[elloran]

Hmm. I think I must disagree. While 'cute girls' are aesthetically pleasing, I fail to see how a well sculpted male physique is any less attractive.

[mightletyouknowme]

Soft is cute but w-well sculpted is just not as cute. If you've never played the games or have cute girls on your world, you wouldn't understand.

[hunterofpeace]

It's a closely guarded secret.

[He has no idea.]

[elloran]

...ah. It must be some facet of earth culture that I am not yet enlightened enough to understand.

[Says the man who built an entire city for his (male) lover.]

[hunterofpeace]

[He nods sagely.]

It's really complicated or I would explain.

[He still has no clue.]

[elloran]

Your explanations, non-existant though they are, are far clearer than the others thus far offered.

[hunterofpeace]

It does?

... I mean, of course it does! Hahahaha!

[powerofpink]

[giggling. all the giggling]

You might have opened a can of worms there.

[elloran]

Perhaps. But if it is as important as this 'internet' would have me believe, then it would be irresponsible of me as a leader to ignore its potential.

[powerofpink]

All right. It goes by a few names, but I've seen "yaoi" and "slash" the most. It's usually fanfiction and sometimes it can be smutty, but it's always romance between two male characters.

[elloran]

Are you implying that the gender of two partners plays an important role in the romantic fiction of your world?

[powerofpink]

More about attraction. Some people are attracted to the opposite gender, some people to the same gender, some people don't mind either way, and some aren't attracted to anyone at all. And then some people may consider their genders to be different from just male or female anyway. So there's a lot of leeway there, but most professional romantic fiction centers on male/female pairings. So a lot of fanfiction tries to make a push for same-gender writing, but most of that focuses just on male/male.

Video

[glimmerous_fop]

[If you were expecting Klavier to be subtle, then you've come to the wrong prosecutor. He'll shamelessly present you with this NSFW picture.]

It's kind of an umbrella term used in Japan for homoerotic media...comics, drama CDs, OVAs. To sum it up it's porn.

[elloran]

"porn"?

Ah - that is the term for media showing sex acts, correct?

[glimmerous_fop]

You've got it, Herr, specifically between men...or between one man and typically his girly looking male partner. You should defer to bara instead.

[elloran]

Ah, you will have to explain more to me...

How does a male look 'girly'?

And what is a Bara?

[glimmerous_fop]

Well it's like, these male characters called bottoms or ukes are drawn with girly faces, willowy bodies, girly curves. They're just missing boobs and a vagina.

Bara isn't entirely realistic, but it's more representational. It's media aimed at men...yaoi has more of a female audience...anyway with Bara it's still smut, but the men look more like men. More male proportionate bodies, hair, muscle...and they're not all perfect. They come in different shapes and sizes like normal people.

[Well, Klavier isn't normal people, but he's trying to put it in perspective.]