So, what about that manga/yaoi stuff, anyhow?

Yes, I'm still pondering it. That's what I do. I ponder things until I understand them. (That's how I got started writing slash. And why, when I pondered g*y pr0n, the project wound up costing me...let's just say, enough to get Amazon.com travel cups two years in a row, back in the early days when they sent you a cup for spending $1,000, or was it $2,000 or more in a year. And how I wound up with a political blog that eats up about 20 hours a week of my time. Etc.) (I don't intend to do that with MYSA-AS. Spend a ton of money, I mean.)

For reference, I read the previously mentioned "found on-line" manga stories and wasn't amazingly impressed with them. I found one that wasn't bad and if I remember, I'll post a link to it later. Not that I think most of you care.

I pondered it all for a few days, then went back and re-read the two "Moon" volumes again. I wouldn't have bought them if I'd known gender-changing was at the heart of the romance. Whether it's my lack of imagination or what, I didn't find the gender-changing character at all strongly drawn. His/her personality never rose above "bland" at any point.

So, I invested another $30 in the project, but just to buy a couple of books that were more single-mindedly "yaoi/shounen ai" (y/sa) and one book that wasn't yaoi/shounen ai, for comparison. I didn't mind the gender-switching, per se, but I would have preferred that my "samples" of the genre be more purely m/m.

Only the Ring Finger Knows was, I think, the title of the two y/sa books. Hmmm.

It could be that I didn't pay enough attention to what I was buying, but I wasn't happy to run across a non-con scene. My on-line research assures me that this is a fairly common set-up, almost a required structure, in the genre and not even really thought of as non-con. One partner seems always to be very aggressive and the other seems to be expected to be amazingly passive...to the point of having to be overpowered to have the sex he's not willing to admit he wants.

I personally think that's a tough line to walk, to keep it erotic without becoming rape, and I don't think this particular pair of books managed it. From my on-line reading I also know that many other readers find this line gets crossed too often. I suppose, knowing that in the original culture/context, it's not considered rape, should make a difference, but I'm not sure it does for me.

It could have been the characterization. The primary narrative character was okay in emotion and in responding to things, but he didn't have a...well, he didn't have a clear personality. I never quite got a handle on who he was. Besides that, we wound up meeting three or four of his siblings, but not for any particular reason that I understood. One character would have been more than sufficient, dramatically. The story was a bit cluttered with excess characters, which weakened the drama.

(Also, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the age thing. A lot of the stuff I've seen is about kids maybe, barely 18. Beyond everything else, I'm not really that interested in adolescents.)

I wonder if there's any western-tradition y/sa available, where the sex roles aren't so limited and where non-con isn't practically de rigueur? Certainly the Fake series wasn't like that. (There was a fair amount of pouncing on one guy and smooching him whether he agreed or not, but that's not quite the same thing as...well, you know what I mean.)

The non-yaoi/shounen ai title was....drat. I've forgotten. Something about Dungeon Dimensions, I think. It was the first in a series, anyhow. Seems to be a series of shorter stories around one character and his fictional universe and it was completely charming. I was delighted with the "hero" character and the premise of the series was one that would lend itself to any number of good stories. There are something like 15 or so books in the series and I'd buy and read them if I were, you know, going to get into this stuff. Which I'm not.

Anyhow. That's what I did Tuesday. I sat down and read the three new books.

Then I stared at the walls and frowned for a while.

Then I looked at the books again, this time ignoring the words and focusing on just the pictures.

Then I got out my pad of sketch paper and my pencils and erasers, and spent three or four hours drawing. I drew heads. Faces. Eyes. (Those were the most fun.) Bodies. Arms. Hands. Legs. Feet. Clothing. I started on perspective, horizon lines, and vanishing points, then decided to let those go. All I was doing was getting a feel for it, after all. I didn't sit down to learn to draw manga.

Then I looked at the pictures in the books some more. I studied the difference between the "sketch" drawings in the stories and the fully-inked title pages, and tried to imagine what pen-and-ink drawing is like.

(Pondering is fun to do, but it doesn't make a riveting narrative.)

You know what? I'm in awe of the people who draw these things. People who can both draw and tell a story. Astonishing.

There still aren't enough words but I figured out how there don't need to be, if you're visual and you're looking at the pictures. They're suggestive without being overwhelming...you're led to the emotions the author wants you to feel, but you're not beaten over the head with them. When I worked at looking at the pictures as I read, I could definitely understand the appeal. A few words with an appropriate or suggestive picture can create a very strong emotional impact.

In a way, it's shortcutting "writing a story." They're using pictures to convey some of the things that are hardest to write, but it's a completely valid alternative approach. At its best, it works.

The key (well, in all writing, right?) is in characterization. When I can tell the characters apart, when they have distinct personalities, then the emotion is there. When half the characters in the book look and act alike, so I can't really tell them apart, then it's not so interesting.

I still don't know that I'd ever go for this in a big way. I mean, I spent less than an hour yesterday reading those three books. Trying to keep myself in books would bankrupt me. I'd have to spend $50 just to get enough stuff to read for one evening, you know?

Someone who has to constantly interrupt themselves in the reading of the story to force themselves to look at the page may never be comfortable in a such a visual world, although it could just be a matter of practice.

In the end, I definitely see where the manga fans are coming from. I have to admit that honestly. (After, what? Three years, of mocking manga fans? Four years?)

There's a definite charm in the genre and I can see how you could be come massively fannish about it. For the characters I was able to get to know, I found their lives every bit as fascinating as I would in any "regular" story. And when I was concentrating, I could definitely see how the pictures enhanced the whole experience. Reading about someone kissing can be hot. Watching two well-drawn characters smooching can also be hot. Reading that someone is mad...looking at a picture of someone who's mad. Sometimes the pictures carry a lot more emotional impact than you'd get with words. There's a loss of nuance in some ways, yes, but I'm assuming most sophisticated readers are capable of filling in those blanks for themselves.

I know there are m/y/sa fans in the CoSlash group. I wonder if I can browbeat some of them into loaning me some stuff? I'd certainly be interested in taking a look at what's considered to be the "best" of what's available without having to spend $500 to buy it or, worse yet, figure out where to store it.

And, yes, I still have too much time on my hands at the office. If I had any real work to do, you wouldn't get stuck reading 1,500 word rambles about a fandom I'm not even part of, would you?