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Post by: Kilkrazy
I have witnessed the final harbinger of the fall of western civilisation.
A new Waterstones (chain bookseller) opened near my office.
I found they have an entire section called "Fantasy Romance", filled with vampire boy/human girl love story novels.
How did it come to this?
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Post by: Gwar!
Kilkrazy wrote:I have witnessed the final harbinger of the fall of western civilisation.
A new Waterstones (chain bookseller) opened near my office.
I found they have an entire section called "Fantasy Romance", filled with vampire boy/human girl love story novels.
How did it come to this?
Are they sparkly vampires hitting on underage girls?
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Post by: Golden Eyed Scout
And now, i bid thee all a fond farewell.
If you wish, you may attend my mass suicide to escape this most wrechted of fates.
OT: Isn't romance all fantasy when you think about it?
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Post by: Mad Doc Grotsnik
It's the end.
Why don't you admit it?
It's the same
From Auschwitz to Ipswich.
Evil Comes
I know from not where
But if you take a look, inside yourself
Maybe you'll find some in there
Here it comes
Why don't you embrace it?
You lack the Guts,
Needed to face it.
Say goodbye
To the way you've been living
You never realised
You were on the wrong side
Nobody's going to win.
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Post by: Kilkrazy
Gwar! wrote:Kilkrazy wrote:I have witnessed the final harbinger of the fall of western civilisation.
A new Waterstones (chain bookseller) opened near my office.
I found they have an entire section called "Fantasy Romance", filled with vampire boy/human girl love story novels.
How did it come to this?
Are they sparkly vampires hitting on underage girls?
Probably. All I could see was the front covers and that was enough. I fled without investigating further.
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Post by: dogma
Golden Eyed Scout wrote: Isn't romance all fantasy when you think about it?
Only if you have the life experience of a 15 year old boy.
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Post by: Mad Doc Grotsnik
dogma wrote:Golden Eyed Scout wrote: Isn't romance all fantasy when you think about it?
Only if you have the life experience of a 15 year old boy.
ZING!
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Post by: Khornholio
But KK, haven't you seen the Romance Rape novels for the Oba sans in the Tsutayas throughout Japan? After work, I'll see if they have any vampire ones.
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Post by: Waaagh_Gonads
My local Borders has an entie aisle filled with manga and sweaty looking, overweight and unkept teen boys and girls pawing at the books.
I feel the urge to push the racks from the next aisle (Sci/fi) so that they are crushed under the domino like collapse of their pathetic existence, trapped for days under a pile of wanton lameness.
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Post by: Albatross
Waaagh_Gonads just became my hero.
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Post by: Gornall
Albatross wrote:Waaagh_Gonads just became my hero.
Only if he follows through.
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Post by: warpcrafter
dogma wrote:Golden Eyed Scout wrote: Isn't romance all fantasy when you think about it?
Only if you have the life experience of a 15 year old boy.
Not true. It's not the quantity of experience but the quality. At least with a sparkly Vampire, you know they know that you know they want to kill you.
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Post by: Waaagh_Gonads
I can wrap my head around all this emo loving vampire romantasism.
People who want vampires to kick ass and feed on humans, that I understand.
I even understand them brooding in the dark, wearing black and playing 'Vampire the Masquerade LARP'.
But what sort of social miscreant accepts that a vampire can glitter, pays to read about it and pays to see it at the cinema and say it is good for anything more than scratchy toiletpaper.
I mean, come on.
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Post by: SilverMK2
I blame Harry Potter.
If that had not got so many young people interested in reading crap, drippy fantasy, we would not have all this trouble with paedo, namby pamby vampires now.
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Post by: malfred
Harry Potter was fun reading.
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Post by: Waaagh_Gonads
Harry Potter at least has alright movies.
The books are a bit Meh...
I like my bookstores full of miliatary, history and sci-fi fantasy.
MENS BOOKS!!!!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and atlases, preferably atlases that combine history... and maps.
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Post by: SilverMK2
BOOKS FOR THE BOOK GOD!
Sci-Fi/SF Fantasy/Fantasy is definately the way to go.
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Post by: Tyyr
Khornholio wrote:But KK, haven't you seen the Romance Rape novels for the Oba sans in the Tsutayas throughout Japan? After work, I'll see if they have any vampire ones.
I do believe I need a translation of this.
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Post by: Gwar!
And Atlas Shrugged. They best Kind of Atlas
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Post by: Daemon-Archon Ren
Golden Eyed Scout wrote:
OT: Isn't romance all fantasy when you think about it?
Isn't all fantasy, Romance when you think about it?
Waaagh_Gonads wrote:
I like my bookstores full of miliatary, history and sci-fi fantasy.
MENS BOOKS!!!!
Fixt, Men's books don't have more Words then Pictures. If god ment us to read everything he wouldn't have invented the camera and its child the television!
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Post by: IvanTih
By thy Emperor we must purge the library of those heretical books.
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Post by: Kilkrazy
Tyyr wrote:Khornholio wrote:But KK, haven't you seen the Romance Rape novels for the Oba sans in the Tsutayas throughout Japan? After work, I'll see if they have any vampire ones.
I do believe I need a translation of this.
Oba san means auntie. Tsutuya is a chain selling and/or renting books and discs.
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Post by: Tyyr
So women buying books about girls getting raped by men and then falling in love with their rapists.
Ya know, I try to give other cultures the benefit of the doubt but there is something distinctly wrong with Japan.
...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
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Post by: Gwar!
Tyyr wrote:...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
This.
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Post by: Daemon-Archon Ren
Gwar! wrote:Tyyr wrote:...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
This.
Idk, they do sell used panties out of vending machines...
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Post by: Tyyr
Which is probably a nice easy way to make some cash for Japanese schoolgirls.
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Post by: Just Dave
Hey, you think the emergence of such a shoddy range of books is bad - which it is - I've got worse news concerning the end days:
I was right! I actually got something right today! I was right!
I cant believe you think that it only just came to this, before these spangly vampire novels, 50 cent and similar [c]rappers became popular...
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
50 Cent: Emo Vampire Slayer would be a great movie and/or first person shooter.
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Post by: SilverMK2
Orkeosaurus wrote:50 Cent: Emo Vampire Slayer would be a great movie and/or first person shooter.
You wouldn't be able to hit anything though if you are holding your crossbow sideways.
Not to mention the danger you would face trying to tuck it into the front of your trousers.
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Post by: mattyrm
I kinda agree with MGS, i think Dogma was a bit harsh on the kid...
Ive probably had about.. well, first up, who counts past the age of about 20?
I dunno, about, 15 people who i would say i had a "serious" thing with, 3 girls who lasted more than 12 months an i bet im pushing 3 figures for one nighters and flings.
Anyway...
In real life, relationships with women are ever as good as they make out in "romance" books.
At least thats what i took it to mean anyway... In that case, i agree with the lad.
I now live with a bird and im fast becoming bored with it.
Real life romance sucks way more than the all consuming desire that those daft fething birds read about in their uber-crap romantic fantasy books.. And im not a 15 year old kid. 
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Post by: whatwhat
I think your thinking courtships rather than relationships. How many romance novels/films are about actual established relationships?
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Post by: mattyrm
Courtships/relationships, whats the difference?
The point is there is nothing "magical" about it, like all them pansy greebos love to read about. There is only lust, and then affection or love if you prefer to call it that, which is to me, just something that happens over time when you get used to being around someone for a long time.
In real life, there is nothing like you read in fantasy.
No "love at first sight" no "soulmates" just women you want to screw because you are physically attracted too, and then women you genuinelly like, and then women you "love" because you connect on some level, usually because you have things in common or you enjoy personality traits and you enjoy being around them.
Im not seeing the point your making mate. None of that is particularly special to me.
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Post by: Cannerus_The_Unbearable
I know, I can't believe all those nasty sci-fi nerds reading their books about people killing each other with weird powers. They're all sweaty and nasty and they talk about the games they play then argue about them. Oh, wait...
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Post by: whatwhat
mattyrm wrote:and then women you "love" because you connect on some level, usually because you have things in common or you enjoy personality traits and you enjoy being around them...None of that is particularly special to me.
Wow, how incredibly depressing.
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Post by: mattyrm
Yeah ive never been a sentimental man, i might have been when i was 18, but several wars and numerous partners later.. im just not feeling it.
I guess its just logic though isnt it? I mean, ive liked lots of the women ive been out with. Granted i find many women annoying but from a population of 6 billion, im pretty sure i could marry, live, breed, get old and die quite happily with what? 200-300 million?
Why, hows it any different for you? Explain it to me and i might be able to understand. 
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Post by: whatwhat
mattyrm wrote:Why, hows it any different for you? Explain it to me and i might be able to understand.
I didn't say it was.
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Post by: mattyrm
Oh ok, so why is it depressing then?
I dont believe in soulmates or "true love" or any of that gak, but it doesnt depress me.
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Post by: whatwhat
Why is it depressing?
You said...
mattyrm wrote:and then women you "love" because you connect on some level, usually because you have things in common or you enjoy personality traits and you enjoy being around them...
then said
mattyrm wrote:...None of that is particularly special to me.
You can't see why that's depressing?
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Post by: The happy reaper
Waaagh_Gonads wrote:Harry Potter at least has alright movies.
The books are a bit Meh...
I like my bookstores full of miliatary, history and sci-fi fantasy.
MENS BOOKS!!!!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and atlases, preferably atlases that combine history... and maps.
Are you me?
I like EXACTLY those things. I love maps showing campaigns and such as well as borders, sci fi, military and history.
I have found my book twin!
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Post by: mattyrm
Not really mate.. Whats special about it? When it happens to almost everyone, how is it special?
Almost everyone meets a woman, has kids, gets old and then dies. So in what way is it special?
Its just a normal occurence between social animals like ourselves isnt it? The realization of this does no depress me at all. I dont WANT it to be like the fething movies or the books!
Im happy with going to the pub and complaining about my partner/wife to my friends instead. Automatically Appended Next Post: The happy reaper wrote:Waaagh_Gonads wrote:Harry Potter at least has alright movies.
The books are a bit Meh...
I like my bookstores full of miliatary, history and sci-fi fantasy.
MENS BOOKS!!!!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and atlases, preferably atlases that combine history... and maps.
Are you me?
I like EXACTLY those things. I love maps showing campaigns and such as well as borders, sci fi, military and history.
I have found my book twin!
To be fair reaper, i think a good deal of the people on dakka will like the same things, i love those books as well.
ie. I suspect that most people that play with soldiers (military and history) in the 41st millenium (sci fi fantasy) like the books you mentioned!
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Post by: whatwhat
If you don't think finding someone you connect with and share personality traits with is special then I must be the odd one out. Since I meet people like that very rarely.
And don't confuse me for the one claiming real life relationships are like movies and books, I never said that.
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Post by: isthatmycow
I've noticed that in the past 10 years, people are liking stupider and stupider things. Twilight was an all new level of stupid, one of the worst books I've read. People say, oh twilight is good, the book is great, but did you ever notice, Stephanie meyers never won a pulitzer prize for the books? she sold millions, but was never awarded for their supposed "quality". Its just an example of how supid people have grown in the past decade.
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Post by: Kilkrazy
mattyrm wrote:Yeah ive never been a sentimental man, i might have been when i was 18, but several wars and numerous partners later.. im just not feeling it.
I guess its just logic though isnt it? I mean, ive liked lots of the women ive been out with. Granted i find many women annoying but from a population of 6 billion, im pretty sure i could marry, live, breed, get old and die quite happily with what? 200-300 million?
...
200-300 million women? I admire your enthusiasm!
I can't help thinking you would be biting off more than you can chew. Take it from me, even one wife is a big commitment in time, energy and money.
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Post by: whatwhat
200 million women is about 3 percent of the worlds population. That means every 3 in 100 people Matty meets he's happy to spend the rest of his life/have kids/die with. That's some good going.
Me I would say about 99 out of 100 people I meet I want nothing to do with. edit: perhaps that's going a bit far, but I certainly wouldn't make any effort to befriend them.
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Post by: aka_tizz
Kilkrazy wrote:mattyrm wrote:Yeah ive never been a sentimental man, i might have been when i was 18, but several wars and numerous partners later.. im just not feeling it.
I guess its just logic though isnt it? I mean, ive liked lots of the women ive been out with. Granted i find many women annoying but from a population of 6 billion, im pretty sure i could marry, live, breed, get old and die quite happily with what? 200-300 million?
...
200-300 million women? I admire your enthusiasm! I can't help thinking you would be biting off more than you can chew. Take it from me, even one wife is a big commitment in time, energy and money.
That's exactly why i'm perfectly okay with never getting married. I prefer the long-term-no-papers-attached kind of relationship. Which in the end you could call marriage, but at least i can live with the illusion that i'm (partially) free. And i know i couldn't be any more wrong
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Post by: mattyrm
lol KK, i was meaning that i could live with ONE of the 300 million.
But i think you knew that.
And WW, 3 out of every 100 is about spot on if you ask me.
Are you telling me that for every 100 young women about your age that you meet, you dislike 99 of them?
I meet lots of charming women, its why ive had so many partners. If i was to go on a dating website, and pick 30 women that i find very attractive, i guarantee i would happily date at LEAST 3 of them.
I must stress here, i dont think im some sort of Casanova, thats me on the left (minus the tash ofc!) and i didnt get into this debate with you to have some sort of virtual cock measuring contest, im just suprised you cannot see my point.
Love is not special, it happens to almost everyone. And if you think that if you met 50 attractive women you wouldnt happily have a relationship with any of them, then im sorry, but i think your the most picky man in the world, and i have had some tasty girlfriends!
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Post by: whatwhat
No that 100 figure is not 100 young women your age, that's every 100 people you meet. Including Men, Leppers, Hare Krishnas the whole lot.
In my entire life I have only met one person I intend to spend the rest of my life with. Thats out of god knows hos many teachers, shop keepers, bar women etc etc etc I have ever met. Now I'm not saying shes the only one in the entire world I could have found that conection, i.e. soulmate. But she's certainly not 3 in 100.
edit: on a side not I am beginning to notice our definitions of the word special are not exactly the same, in that yours seems to be similar to how I would define miraculous. So lets not get caught up no the whole 'special' thing.
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Post by: mattyrm
lol @ lepers.
Well, we can agree to disagree then, its down to individuals and there isnt a right or a wrong answer.
I have had several women who i have thought maybe i would stay with long term, but things happened, (long military deployments for example tend to piss in your cornflakes!) and ive moved on. The point is, love isnt special, there are no soulmates, and 50% of marriages end in divorce.
I hope that this "special" person you intend to spend the rest of your life with turns out to be the one mate, but if you end up in that 50%, your going to find another one arent you? People die, divorce etc, and life goes on, and people re-marry, have new kids, meet someone else, etc etc.
I think 3 in a 100 is an entirely acceptable estimate. And if you look at people like fething Patsy Kensit its probably about 4 out of 6 billion, and that includes the women!
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Post by: whatwhat
Your points that 50% of marriages end in divorce/people re mary etc. serves my point not yours. It basically means 50% of ever marriage is another two people who never found someone they truly connected with/were prepared to spend the rest of there life with.
And again I'm not trying to make out there are soulmates, i.e only 1 person for every one. But I do think it's more specific and more special than you do. Certainly not 3 in 100 people.
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Post by: Khornholio
Tyyr wrote:So women buying books about girls getting raped by men and then falling in love with their rapists.
Ya know, I try to give other cultures the benefit of the doubt but there is something distinctly wrong with Japan.
...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
No, no, no dude. The stories are about the Oba sans, or aunties, getting raped and falling in love with their sweating, repressed admirers. Girls read more pedestrian stuff like falling in love with the captain of the baseball team and then being molested by a tentacle monster. 
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Post by: Golden Eyed Scout
Woah, someone having my back? Cool. Thanks mattyrm.
I think I should elaborate on my feelings though.
To ME all romance is fantasy. Not that I don't see romance everyday. My brother and his wife, my parents, my grandparents, it's just I don't really think that romance in
the way of "Boy-meets-Girl-get-married-hvae-kids-die-happy" that you see in books and film is real.
It might also be that I don't believe in it because i've had sweet feth all luck in establishing relationships, even ones that are just friendships.
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Post by: Cannerus_The_Unbearable
I don't think anyone honestly believes love is a magical, metaphysical force. It's not entirely something that you could work out on paper either. Sometimes people feel a strong connection between themselves, but it takes a purposeful, logical decision to maintain that relationship through the good and the bad to make a long-term relationship happen. In that sense you choose to continue to be in love. In many ways that makes it much more special, since it requires effort, not some magical magnetism.
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Post by: mattyrm
I think GES makes more sense than some of the pansies on here, but then, im just an emotionally stunted soldier. I think we choose to be in love, and i could happen to be with a girl among thousands that you would be just as satisfied with. I fail to see how my pointing out the divorce rates does not back up my argument, im sure that of them 90% thought that they had met that "special someone"
And 5 years later they wanted to kill the bitch.
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Post by: dogma
Its worth noting that women tend to be more emotionally driven than men, and that most romance novels are targeted at women. Differences of sexual perspective are often forgotten in this politically correct world of ours; particularly when the forum is dominated by lonely gamers.
Anyway, if love is not special, then I think its worth revisiting what we mean when we discuss speciality.
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Post by: aka_tizz
Yeah, it would really help getting a woman's opinion here.
Oh wait, there aren't that many around here
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Post by: dogma
Where's Luna?
But yes, its been my experience that the prevailing (or at least popular) opinion of women tends to be characterized by metaphors of luck, and being chosen. Twilight is actually a very good example of this. The average high school girl is chosen by the magical, ancient, mysterious, and unique vampire.
True, much of this is based on cultural bias, and there are many women who see themselves as strong agents, but it still doesn't change the fact that such a disposition is widespread.
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Post by: Cannerus_The_Unbearable
That's not too different from us "lonely gamers" wanting to be the big, strong alien-killers/aliens Everyone needs an outlet of some kind.
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Post by: dogma
Indeed. I've always found it funny that gamers react so harshly to Twilight given our own predilection for escapism.
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Post by: LunaHound
Khornholio wrote:Tyyr wrote:So women buying books about girls getting raped by men and then falling in love with their rapists.
Ya know, I try to give other cultures the benefit of the doubt but there is something distinctly wrong with Japan.
...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
No, no, no dude. The stories are about the Oba sans, or aunties, getting raped and falling in love with their sweating, repressed admirers. Girls read more pedestrian stuff like falling in love with the captain of the baseball team and then being molested by a tentacle monster.
HOLY 
6829
Post by: Cheese Elemental
LunaHound wrote:Khornholio wrote:Tyyr wrote:So women buying books about girls getting raped by men and then falling in love with their rapists.
Ya know, I try to give other cultures the benefit of the doubt but there is something distinctly wrong with Japan.
...or maybe they're just more honest about innate human weirdness.
No, no, no dude. The stories are about the Oba sans, or aunties, getting raped and falling in love with their sweating, repressed admirers. Girls read more pedestrian stuff like falling in love with the captain of the baseball team and then being molested by a tentacle monster.
HOLY
Yes, Luna, anyone who's ever been on 4chan knows what Japanese writers and artists are capable of.
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
dogma wrote:Indeed. I've always found it funny that gamers react so harshly to Twilight given our own predilection for escapism.
No one would care if the escapism didn't bring vampires into it.
It's Twilight's portrayal of a (dark) fantasy staple that causes the bile directed towards it from others interested in the genre.
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Post by: malfred
I take it you weren't interested in Anne Rice's books, then?
I liked Garth Ennis's take on Anne Rice.
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Post by: Mattlov
This wouldn't disturb you if you had seen the NASCAR romance novels...
And dear FETHING GOD I wish I was joking.
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
I've seen a little bit of a movie based on one of her books. I was fairly bored by it, but then again I didn't watch the whole thing. ::EDIT:: In refference to Anne Rice, not NASCAR. 
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Post by: dogma
True. Though I think that's a function of masculine dominance in modern popular culture. Byron's vampire had a lot in common with the vampires of Twilight.
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Post by: Manchu
I get more sentimental as I get older. But I also think mattyrm is pretty dead on to a large extent (and it doesn't depress me). But remember the difference between real people and fantasy characters: what we are, we are on the inside; but they get to be themselves on the outside.
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
dogma wrote:Though I think that's a function of Masculine Dominance in modern popular culture.
I didn't know my effect in pop culture went that deep! Automatically Appended Next Post: I never should have quit my job as a motorcycle-wrestling stuntmarine.
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Post by: dogma
Manchu wrote:I get more sentimental as I get older. But I also think mattyrm is pretty dead on to a large extent (and it doesn't depress me). But remember the difference between real people and fantasy characters: what we are, we are on the inside; but they get to be themselves on the outside.
When sentimentality is embodied by chemical reactions the sentimentality is not removed, only re-contextualized. Romance will always be a component of the human experience, though not necessarily one which is associated with classical ideas. Something which makes me happy. The world would be a very boring place if everything always stayed the same. Automatically Appended Next Post: Orkeosaurus wrote:I didn't know my effect in pop culture went that deep!
Your name is Saxon Hale, isn't it? Even if it isn't, it doesn't get more manly than a Dinosork.
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
I just said my name is Masculine Dominance!
Of course, my stage name was "The Womansexer". I chose that name because of all of the womans I dated and then stopped dating.
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Post by: dogma
I thought your name was femdom, honestly.
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Post by: Orkeosaurus
That was my nickname in highschool, but I changed it after I remembered I had a penis.
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Post by: Asherian Command
Where have you been??
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Post by: dogma
This will very quickly become horribly inappropriate if I don't stop my self right...now.
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Post by: chaplaingrabthar
I've not read or seen any Twilight, but I did read A bunch of Anne Rice's stuff in college, so don't feel like I can really criticize the pussifying of Vampires.
I also paid full retail for a Gav Thorpe novel so I can't be all snooty about it's literary qualities either.
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Post by: dreadlord
As someone who worked in a bookstore for over 3 years I can tell you that "Fantasy Romance" has been around for ages. It is a necessary niche for women. Most men don't understand it because men are (typically) visually stimulated. We have supermodels, cheerleaders, and so forth as our "unobtainable fantasy." They have cheesy romance novels of various sub-genres; historical fiction (typically feudal lords or buff Scottish men in kilts depending on if the woman likes refined men or uncultured barbarians), fantasy romance (vampires and other supernatural things), etc.
Here's a solid romance tip for the rest of you guys (I'm a happily married man): pay attention to what books, movies, or television shows she's interested in and take notes. Find out which male character is her favorite, chances are she fantasies about him. From there it's more or less your job to make her see the qualities or characteristics of this fictional person in you. It sounds insidious but it works.
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Post by: aka_tizz
Oh, my girlfriend told me i was like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman when we met (the difference being she wasn;t a whore), and now i'm basically Al Bundy. However, she got stuck on it and even ended up liking it with me going out with my friends for a beer 2-3-4-5-... more time to gossip with her friends for her.
I've generally noticed that if you're romantic and caring and nice in the first 3 months of a relationship, it doesn't really matter how you behave the next 20 years or so (without crossing that fine line of i-really-dont-give-a-feth, of course)
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Post by: dreadlord
aka_tizz wrote:I've generally noticed that if you're romantic and caring and nice in the first 3 months of a relationship, it doesn't really matter how you behave the next 20 years or so (without crossing that fine line of i-really-dont-give-a-feth, of course)
I can understand and agree with that. I've lived with my wife for 7 years now and I don't behave any differently than I did at the start of our relationship. I love her because she tolerates me and isn't a moron like 90% of the world, she loves me because... well... I don't really know. I must be doing something right I suppose.
Moral of the story is: You're either marriage material or you're not. If you're not, enjoy your 20+ years of random women. If you are, remember that looks fade and if you're going to spend most of your time with someone they'd better be the kind of person you can love or at least tolerate.
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Post by: aka_tizz
dreadlord wrote:aka_tizz wrote:I've generally noticed that if you're romantic and caring and nice in the first 3 months of a relationship, it doesn't really matter how you behave the next 20 years or so (without crossing that fine line of i-really-dont-give-a-feth, of course)
I can understand and agree with that. I've lived with my wife for 7 years now and I don't behave any differently than I did at the start of our relationship. I love her because she tolerates me and isn't a moron like 90% of the world, she loves me because... well... I don't really know. I must be doing something right I suppose.
Well, i sometimes wonder that myself. I can't say i love her, so far i've been incapable of that, but at least i have someone with whom i share a great deal of common interests and discussion topics and all that other abstract crap. So even if i'm sometimes a douche-bag and i prefer going out for a beer instead of going out with her, i do care. I only have problems showing it.
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Post by: dreadlord
aka_tizz wrote:dreadlord wrote:aka_tizz wrote:I've generally noticed that if you're romantic and caring and nice in the first 3 months of a relationship, it doesn't really matter how you behave the next 20 years or so (without crossing that fine line of i-really-dont-give-a-feth, of course)
I can understand and agree with that. I've lived with my wife for 7 years now and I don't behave any differently than I did at the start of our relationship. I love her because she tolerates me and isn't a moron like 90% of the world, she loves me because... well... I don't really know. I must be doing something right I suppose.
Well, i sometimes wonder that myself. I can't say i love her, so far i've been incapable of that, but at least i have someone with whom i share a great deal of common interests and discussion topics and all that other abstract crap. So even if i'm sometimes a douche-bag and i prefer going out for a beer instead of going out with her, i do care. I only have problems showing it.
Stop me if I'm sounding too much like Dr. Phil but sometimes that's all you need to say. I openly admit to people that I am, in fact, a douche. I loathe most people and rarely feel anything that qualifies as a deep emotion. My wife thinks I'm depressed but I just think it's because I have a working brain and a pair of eyes to see the horrible truths. Is that emo enough? Or do I need more emo in my diet?
But really, if a woman has a brain she'll understand that no relationship is going to be peaches and cream all the time. So an occasional "I'm sorry I'm a douche" works wonders to patch up hurt feelings.
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Post by: aka_tizz
dreadlord wrote:So an occasional "I'm sorry I'm a douche" works wonders to patch up hurt feelings.
I 100% submit to that. I rarely ever TRULY mean it, but i still say it. Keeps a relationship standing
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Post by: Tyyr
isthatmycow wrote:I've noticed that in the past 10 years, people are liking stupider and stupider things. Twilight was an all new level of stupid, one of the worst books I've read. People say, oh twilight is good, the book is great, but did you ever notice, Stephanie meyers never won a pulitzer prize for the books? she sold millions, but was never awarded for their supposed "quality". Its just an example of how supid people have grown in the past decade.
Obviously you were either born recently or just haven't been paying attention.
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Post by: Miguelsan
dreadlord wrote: historical fiction (typically feudal lords or buff Scottish men in kilts depending on if the woman likes refined men or uncultured barbarians),
Hear, hear! I´ve been wondering about those books for years but to afraid to even touch one to avoid getting the cooties 
But anyway if they can have their novels I want to have my tentacle prom (Tho my wife disagrees with me I don´t know why  )
M.
Automatically Appended Next Post: BTW wasn´t the Bella girl the one that said to his vampire boyfriend (17 y/o for a century) "beat it I got a paper that says that I´m 18, I´m to old for you so I´m going to date a werewolf" I´m not very sure as I have only read the Twilight spoofs that are funny as hell.
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Post by: isthatmycow
Tyyr wrote:isthatmycow wrote:I've noticed that in the past 10 years, people are liking stupider and stupider things. Twilight was an all new level of stupid, one of the worst books I've read. People say, oh twilight is good, the book is great, but did you ever notice, Stephanie meyers never won a pulitzer prize for the books? she sold millions, but was never awarded for their supposed "quality". Its just an example of how supid people have grown in the past decade.
Obviously you were either born recently or just haven't been paying attention.
I'm fifteen dude, i only know alot about the pop culture of those said 15 years i have lived. So i don't get it, you're saying that people have always liked stupid things, which i already knew, i'm just saying that the pop culture dumbs donw a good ten to fifteen notches every five years.
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Post by: aka_tizz
isthatmycow wrote:i'm just saying that the pop culture dumbs donw a good ten to fifteen notches every five years.
Nah, i think the pop culture stays the same, we're the ones who get smarter. It's just a matter of perspective
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Post by: dogma
Tastes change, but intelligence does not, not appreciably anyway. If you want to blame something for making much of the cultural media available seem stupid, then blame the internet for tearing the newness out of everything.
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Post by: Cannerus_The_Unbearable
Twilight is nor more or less stupid than 40K. I get that we're in an "elitist" hobby, but must the majority of our community really makes look that backwards? :/ The same people that complain that plastic men don't have paint on them, that argue about the plausibility of things happening in a universe where mankind is ruled by a dead guy or complain that his opponent keeps his army list on something other than official GW list sheets? People are into different things. And I tried reading a few pages of one of those NASCAR romance novels. Replace white stallion with race car and there ya go.
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Post by: mattyrm
Twilight is way more stupid than 40k, simple and slightly chauvanistic answer is, dippy fething women like Twilight.
Thats like saying "Ok" magazine is as good as White Dwarf!
You know, one is for (generally) blokes who like wargaming, the other is for women to read about famous people painting their sheds or food shopping or some other ridiculous fething task that has no bearing on society.
At least this is a proper hobby! Thats just... .. wrong somehow.
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Post by: aka_tizz
Well, some people do like to read what was the last place where Paris Hilton puked when dead-drunk...
Not me though. I'll stick to my hobby. I find a pack of painted figurines far more entertaining than Paris's last feth-parties
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Post by: Albatross
tizz wrote:
Nah, i think the pop culture stays the same, we're the ones who get smarter. It's just a matter of perspective
You can think that, but you'd be wrong. We no longer find Blackface Minstrelsy acceptable for example. The uses of culture don't really change on an emotional level, but the way those emotional responses are mediated fluctuates wildly. Pop culture is anything but unchanging.
Dogma wrote:Tastes change, but intelligence does not, not appreciably anyway. If you want to blame something for making much of the cultural media available seem stupid, then blame the internet for tearing the newness out of everything.
This is more like it. Plus, the internet is a more 'immediate' and all-encompassing media. One has access to a more varied set of cultural texts than we would have in the past - working class people have access to classical music, japanese theatre, african drum-orchestras, and learned people are exposed to more 'crude' and/or populist material than might otherwise have been the case. It does a lot to tear down intellectual and cultural barriers between the classes - which is a Good Thing. An unfortunate side effect is that it also involves a greater exposure to that which is banal and asinine in ALL forms of cultural text and practice. It's a small price to pay, IMO.
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Post by: aka_tizz
Heck, i was kidding. I couldn't compare Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson
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Post by: Emperors Faithful
@aka_tizz:
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Post by: aka_tizz
what did i do there? :-s
Anyway, just don't go tell on me
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Post by: Emperors Faithful
I don't understand it.
I don't approve of it.
I don't dislike it.
But I did see it. 
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Post by: dreadlord
For those of you who wonder where this drivel comes from here's the story (quoted directly from Stephenie Meyer, the writer of Twilight):
I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately. For what is essentially a transcript of my dream, please see Chapter 13 ("Confessions") of the book.
Though I had a million things to do (i.e. making breakfast for hungry children, dressing and changing the diapers of said children, finding the swimsuits that no one ever puts away in the right place, etc.), I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. I was so intrigued by the nameless couple's story that I hated the idea of forgetting it; it was the kind of dream that makes you want to call your friend and bore her with a detailed description. (Also, the vampire was just so darned good-looking, that I didn't want to lose the mental image.) Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the back burner and sat down at the computer to write—something I hadn't done in so long that I wondered why I was bothering. But I didn't want to lose the dream, so I typed out as much as I could remember, calling the characters "he" and "she."
So basically a woman woke up one morning, all hot and bothered, from a dream about an attractive (and "sparkly") vampire in love with an "average" girl. This whole thing smacks of deeply seeded emotional problems. Add to this the fact that she is mormon and says she "steers her work from subjects such as sex." Meanwhile in book four "Breaking Dawn" (which I haven't read but am familiar with because I worked in a bookstore at the time) we're faced with teenage pregnancy... a half vampire baby which basically rips it's way out of her womb. I'm sorry lady but you need psychological help. At least we know she can afford it.
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Post by: SilverMK2
@Cheese: No chance you can post the contents of that link so those chained to their desks at work can read it without being blocked by filters?
Cheers
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Post by: Cheese Elemental
Hurr double poast
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Post by: Cheese Elemental
Prolific horror writer Stephen King likes some writers, but doesn’t like others, or in particular, Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.
In an interview with USA Weekend, King compared Meyer with J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame:
“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”
And yet, he gets the appeal of Meyer’s work
While Stephen may not be a fan of Stephenie’s writing, he understands the appeal of the series.
“People are attracted by the stories, by the pace, and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because it’s not overtly sexual.”
“A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like, the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”
Nasty.
King of trolls.
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Post by: Tyyr
Ya know, as much as internet superhero's like to rip on her about those books people know her name, and they'll die anonymous. She's set for life off them and you'll be working 9 to 5 till the day you die.
Jokes on you.
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Post by: dreadlord
Tyyr wrote:Ya know, as much as internet superhero's like to rip on her about those books people know her name, and they'll die anonymous. She's set for life off them and you'll be working 9 to 5 till the day you die.
Jokes on you.
Actually, I highly value my anonymity. My beliefs are very Taoist in that I would prefer to die unknown and unmourned, thereby releasing the shackles of labels and perceptual concepts while returning to the void from which all things arose. That and the fact that I prefer to be an anonymous arse rather than a famous douche.
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Post by: Kilkrazy
So the Twilight books are the American equivalent of Yaoi manga?
This explains much...
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Post by: dreadlord
Kilkrazy wrote:So the Twilight books are the American equivalent of Yaoi manga?
This explains much...
Imagine if a religious American attempted to rewrite a Yaoi plot so that all of the content is still there but covered by a thin veil of morals and squeamishness. Whatever that is... Twilight is it.
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Post by: Emperors Faithful
...Stephen King Troll...
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Post by: Cheese Elemental
Kilkrazy wrote:So the Twilight books are the American equivalent of Yaoi manga?
This explains much...
I still don't understand the fascination teenage girls have with Yaoi, nor do I wish to.
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Post by: Khornholio
So, how would a sparkly themed VC army go over? Would the zombies be sparkly too?
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Post by: Miguelsan
Once I wanted to paint my skellies with glow in the dark but alas I couldn´t find paint suitable enough.
M.
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Post by: Kilkrazy
Cheese Elemental wrote:Kilkrazy wrote:So the Twilight books are the American equivalent of Yaoi manga?
This explains much...
I still don't understand the fascination teenage girls have with Yaoi, nor do I wish to.
I've explained it before. It's a non-threatening way for them to explore male sexuality.
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Post by: KingCracker
Gwar! wrote:Kilkrazy wrote:I have witnessed the final harbinger of the fall of western civilisation.
A new Waterstones (chain bookseller) opened near my office.
I found they have an entire section called "Fantasy Romance", filled with vampire boy/human girl love story novels.
How did it come to this?
Are they sparkly vampires hitting on underage girls?
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Post by: Munch Munch!
I agree with EF on the Stephen King Troll. Just wicked.
Now on twilight fans. I have never really understood how a girl thinking that a massive pedo-vampire hitting on an underage teen is "good read"
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Can anyone explain to me how the Twilight sreies is a good collection of "literature"?
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Post by: isthatmycow
Munch Munch! wrote:I agree with EF on the Stephen King Troll. Just wicked.
Now on twilight fans. I have never really understood how a girl thinking that a massive pedo-vampire hitting on an underage teen is "good read"
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Can anyone explain to me how the Twilight sreies is a good collection of "literature"?
It's Not. Now, i may bne putting my terrorist foot in my mouth, but Stefanie Meyers is not a good writer. She's a Crap. However, she is good at something, and it's selling stuff. She know how to sell twilight, and she knew how to write the book so that she could get away with her writing failure and still make big bucks.
EDIT: That actually got me thinking. IF this is a good book, where is her Pulitzer pirze, her National Book award, why hasn't the Chicago Tribune Given her the Heartland Prize? Simple. Because she is a horrible writer, but she knows how much stupid teenage girls would salivate over a vampire raping a stupid, bland girl, and she calls it love. Pathetic.
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Post by: Tyyr
Kilkrazy wrote:I've explained it before. It's a non-threatening way for them to explore male sexuality.
By what, watching a bunch of effeminate wimps act nothing like men and swap spit with one another?
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Post by: dreadlord
Tyyr wrote:Kilkrazy wrote:I've explained it before. It's a non-threatening way for them to explore male sexuality.
By what, watching a bunch of effeminate wimps act nothing like men and swap spit with one another?
What could be less threatening than a feminized man? A comatose man? I think we have a winner. I'll start writing up the plot to the coma-romance novel.
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Post by: Mannahnin
I predict you will make millions.
Whoops! There goes your anonymity.
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Post by: dreadlord
Not sure why... but double posted.
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Post by: Captain Shrike
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNONONOONONONONOONONONONNNONNONONOOOOOOOOOOOO
The apocolypse is upon us! Repent (and burn the writers of those books at the stake), and we will be forgiven.
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Post by: Bookwrack
Cheese Elemental wrote:Kilkrazy wrote:So the Twilight books are the American equivalent of Yaoi manga?
This explains much...
I still don't understand the fascination teenage girls have with Yaoi, nor do I wish to.
Seriously, maybe I'm just a genius and never knew it or something, but it's not that hard. Y'know how a lot of guys would give an image of two hot girls making a big thumbs up? Same thing. slightly different wrapping.
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Post by: Captain Shrike
Yes, when my mom made me watched the t-light movie (cant say the full name, it burns my mouth) with her, I refused as if it was the plauge, and I couldnt go 1 minute without critisizm and a sarcastic comment.... IT SUCKED (no pun intended)
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Post by: Emperors Faithful
I'm more worried about what it's doing to the fine women of this nation. I can't go more than 5 steps in public with out seeing a t-shirt saying "Bite me Edward" (or words to that effect *shudder*).
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Post by: sebster
isthatmycow wrote:EDIT: That actually got me thinking. IF this is a good book, where is her Pulitzer pirze, her National Book award, why hasn't the Chicago Tribune Given her the Heartland Prize? Simple. Because she is a horrible writer, but she knows how much stupid teenage girls would salivate over a vampire raping a stupid, bland girl, and she calls it love. Pathetic.
Books can be perfectly realised and quite enjoyable without ever attempting the sophistication needed to win major awards. It'd be a dull place if the only books given any respect were high literature.
That said, I've been told by people I trust that Myers' books are very poorly written, and I'm happy to believe them as I've no interest in reading about day-glo vampires and the women who love them. But that's just because it isn't a fantasy that appeals to me. Meanwhile I collect and paint toy soldiers because of my attraction to an ultra-violent setting of forever war.
It's okay to like something that's pretty silly because the fantasy appeals to you. Our fantasy will seem just as puerile to them as their fantasy seems to us.
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Post by: isthatmycow
sebster wrote:isthatmycow wrote:EDIT: That actually got me thinking. IF this is a good book, where is her Pulitzer pirze, her National Book award, why hasn't the Chicago Tribune Given her the Heartland Prize? Simple. Because she is a horrible writer, but she knows how much stupid teenage girls would salivate over a vampire raping a stupid, bland girl, and she calls it love. Pathetic.
Books can be perfectly realised and quite enjoyable without ever attempting the sophistication needed to win major awards. It'd be a dull place if the only books given any respect were high literature.
That said, I've been told by people I trust that Myers' books are very poorly written, and I'm happy to believe them as I've no interest in reading about day-glo vampires and the women who love them. But that's just because it isn't a fantasy that appeals to me. Meanwhile I collect and paint toy soldiers because of my attraction to an ultra-violent setting of forever war.
It's okay to like something that's pretty silly because the fantasy appeals to you. Our fantasy will seem just as puerile to them as their fantasy seems to us.
Now that i think about it, you are right. I was just infuritaied with the book in general. But still, twilight is poorly written.
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Post by: Albatross
I saw that Twilight film. Wasn't that bad.
I've seen much worse pieces of crap - 'Balls of Fury' instantly springs to mind.
It's just a typical poufy teenage girl film. Big wow.
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Post by: sebster
isthatmycow wrote:Now that i think about it, you are right. I was just infuritaied with the book in general. But still, twilight is poorly written.
No doubt, most things are poorly written and from what I've heard it is worse than most. But if it's a fantasy that appeals to someone they can look past the flaws, I like a lot of things that are pretty crappy.
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Post by: Snikkyd
Automatically Appended Next Post: 
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Post by: Emperors Faithful
Nice pic. 
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Post by: Khornholio
Shouldn't that pic say "Twighlight MILFs"? hur hur hur
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Post by: Tyyr
isthatmycow wrote:Now that i think about it, you are right. I was just infuritaied with the book in general. But still, twilight is poorly written.
But why? Of everything in the world you choose to get infuriated over a poorly written (apparently) book aimed at teen girls?
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