Looks like I’m on roll this week
To be honest, I started watching “Durarara!!” a couple of weeks ago after one offhanded comment from foxarashi and a bunch of Shizaya icons.
Guilty, guilty - I immediately thought that this-blond-guy-I-immediately-developed-the-hots-for is kind of a manly Gokudera-incarnate, and the brunet looks like an evil Yama’z counterpart, so.
I looked up the series on the Internet, got back a first overall description, general presentation of the clusterfuck with light novels and other sources, and excitedly started downloading both the first chapter and the first episode.
I won’t stop at the fact how exactly amazing the anime turned out to be - not the main task here, and everyone and their mom had already watched it. And if you somehow still didn’t, just watch the opening and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
Click to viewHell, have seen it 348349349 times, and I still can’t help flailing over how fantastic it looks.
And, of course, five episodes and six manga chapters (the whole released material at that point) were absolutely not enough, and I turned to the origin, the light novel. There are still barely three chapters of the first volume fully translated, but I have gotten my hands on two major - and I mean it - sources of spoilers and, since I always can’t stop peeking when I see the magic S-word, I have spoiled myself rotten.
I mean, “The gist of the anime intrigue and beyond” rotten, I mean, “all the major and a lot of major mysteries” rotten. Part of me wishes I wouldn’t know it now, but nah. Of course, with light novels and manga and animu having alterations between each other it’s a complete clusterfuck, but I doubt there will be any significant deviations.
But the point is that, after all this flood of miscellaneous info, I have severely reconsidered my thoughts on Shizaya, which is to be expected.
Now, before I’ll start on the subject, I have to underline that I’m absolutely aware of how corporate the pairing is, and was aware from the start. We have a textbook example of infamous Foe Yay here - two hot guys, in and yang, a lot of hate, blah blah blah, down to a scratch. I absolutely don’t believe into Narita’s declarations of all of this being “unintentional.” Unintentional my ass, no one spinning in the Japanese entertainment industry more than one physically can’t be oblivious to the fact that two pieces of hot meat that want to beat the crap out of each other will be shipped together by a crowd of fangirls in a heartbeat. Narita is an experienced author, Baccano!! and all, so it’s clear from the start that we are playing one simple game here. The rules are clear: Narita is diligently baiting us with details that can be interpreted like hints if we choose to ship it; we understand that he’s indeed, baiting us, and still take the bait. Fair trade.
Evidences on the blue side: suggestive volume covers, common posters, anime highlighting, official freaking bacon lettuce, for Pity’s sake. Evidences on the red side: the insane popularity of the pairing.
But if you look up from a million of hot as hell fanarts, you’ll notice something else.
To make this post at the first place I decided after seeing a comment in pectus_pectoris post about “Shizaya being 8059 and D18 thrown in a blender. ” As much as I respect dtn , the author of those words, and I truly respect her, I disagree.
Here I have to define what the concept of “pairing” is, in my mind. In the widest sense it’s just your desire to see two people together in some way or another, from one night stand to a marriage.
Although, I have always preferred pairings that tend to relate more with the latter than the former. Different possibilities anyone? The chemistry, the flow, not just mindless tension that can be seen everywhere once two characters allow a tiniest hint of whatever emotion color their interaction. Maybe that’s why I always was more into canon or close-to-canon pairings (and yes, I mean 8059 here).
I’m absolutely spoiled by the range of stories and genres that can be written for my boys: slice of life, fluff, action, bromance, crack, angsty angst, getting together fics, “already together” fics, UST, pre-UST, and you can always sex it up and it will be awesome.
And now let’s honestly look at Shizuo and Izaya.
Shizuo hates Izaya. Just plain hates. It may be unjustified at their first meeting, but he starts to get really good reasons to do it with time. He’s a pretty straightforward fellow, and all things considered, it’s rather hard to imagine that underneath his overwhelming desire to finally put a finish on Izaya’s prolonged existence is something else. But, for the sake of shipping and fanfiction let’s assume there’s sexual drive. It’s harder and harder for me to imagine it the more and more I learn about him and Izaya’s actions, but that’s irrelevant now.
Izaya, on his side, is getting on Shizuo’s nerves because a) he’s an evil bastard b) this shit is fun c)he’s suffering from severe undivided homolust, pick whichever answer you like. In this I actually can believe (see their first meeting scene). But over-the-top-ness of his actions kind of makes me doubt it too.
So what, you ask, usual Foe Yay “love-hate” relationship. Yes, I say, except it’s not.
Let’s take, for example, 6918. Quite a “love-hate” relationship, right? Except that with all the shit that Hibari and Mukuro want to kick out of each other, they’ll stand back to back and help each other out once any external, real enemy will show up. There’s one thing in trying to eat each other faces, and another one - in sincere wish of death to another part.
I thought there would be some back story that would show Shizuo and Izaya in different light, but no. If anything, the back story, at least, in my eyes, just solidifies the theory that there’s only hate (I mean, you can add sexysauce, if you prefer it shippy, but there’s no lost friendship or something like that.)
So I wonder, once again, is there anything to find in common with D18 and especially 8059? Yamamoto and Gokudera have a long mutual dynamics, deep connection that is developed under many circumstances that led to it, a bond above all sexual implications.
Shizaya, on the other hand, has nothing of aforementioned. Even if we will take after all their motives of mutual hate as UST (and that’s what we’ll do if we’re going to ship it), even then they will never rise higher than angry sex without anything else.
So fanfiction for the pairing will be inevitably limited to angry PWPs and angst (That’s of course if they won’t suddenly go completely out of character in some especially fabulous piece of fanfiction, and drown in pink fluff). There are three girls in my flist who are most probably going to write it, and, considering the quality of their stories, I’ll be a hypocrite if I’ll say I’m not looking forward for their fic, because I know they are going to fulfill the task flawlessly, the best that can be made in this direction. (Yes, I’m very proud of KHR fandom writers.)
So what you’re bitching about, Lamp, you ask me then?
I’m whining because I’m genuinely tired of angry!sex.
Sometimes it feels like cheating, because you already have tension ready between two characters, and all you have is to interpret the tension as sexual and hit it off from there. Convenient half-finished product. But how about creating the atmosphere from a scratch? Isn’t it more challenging, and the result more satisfying? Heavy air, husky tones, half-leaded eyes, dim light, the atmosphere of seduction. The most arousing factor in any erotic movie is the atmosphere, not the act itself. It’s all about the details, about writing it out, not “they mashed their lips together, growling and biting violently on each other’s tongues, and rolled around the floor in a furious mess of limbs and pent-up frustration.”
Maybe that’s just not my cup of tea; after all, it’s everyone’s own choice. I don’t want to be a fanfiction Nazi , looking down at people who read and write in this genre, it’s simply not my right and, yeah, whatever floats your boat. Besides, I have read more than a few objectively good works in this category.
But back to the point: with these narrow genre borders, everyone these days still treats Shizaya like the new black and the next best thing after chocolate. I could care less, see the statement above, plus I still kind of ship it, but I’m already tired of them popping up everywhere and completely overshadowing all other pairing possibilities in truly fascinating Durarara!! fandom.
When it comes to general fandom, DRRR kicks ass. Such dynamics, such intrigue, such story, such characters! I have yet to found even one character that I actively don’t like. I can’t stop myself from flailing idiotically every moment during watching anime, and I’m usually pretty indifferent when it comes to anime in general. The protagonist is a woman, and if she’s not a badass professional, I don’t know who is.
And while I’m at it, yes, I ship Celty/Shizuo much more than I ship Shizaya. In a not really romantic, more like friends with benefits way (there’s a wonderful fic that works with concept perfectly.) At least I see how it works, and that it’s possible given the participants personalities. I ship her with Shinra too, why not? Then there’s a wonderful high school OT3 (and damn, I understand that I will have to learn writing OT3 now, if I’m going to try pulling Mikado/Anri/Kida off), and Erika/Walker, and if I’ll start with spoilers the list will go into the eternity.
Sad that Shizaya shields it all. I’m aware that it’s absolutely logical, I understand the mechanics and that it’s not going to change, but still, it’s disappointing.
Even through this rant feels somehow wank-like, last thing I aim at is starting the Wank War III. I’m still ready to give Shizaya a try - maybe good fanfiction will prove to me there’s something more to them. And even if not, I still like them enough to enjoy a good fic.
Tl;dr: Lamp is a boring old-fashioned fan who prefers canon-ish pairings with chemistry and deep bond, and is disappointed that a shiny new pairing turned out to be much less than she expected.
On the other news, GOOD JOB, HAYATO!!!! Good job, G!
The amount of my fangirling when I saw this cover broke all possible limits and reached mew, obnoxious heights.
How can I not love you, Hayato, when you’re so desperately badass? Even if Amano is fucking with your character as much as she cans and has already trolled the hell out of it and rendered you useless, I still love you to bits.
Also, judging by his hair, it’s TYL!Dera, right?
And, well, First Storm is bastardly cool. Stupid sexy asshole. And, haha, I kind of expected him to be a redhead.
I assume it’s also a side-pimp for a upcoming First Guardians arc. Considering I’m generally meh about Reborn! anime, I’m ridiculously excited over it. If there will be any First Storm/First Rain hints, I’ll squee like a fourteen years old girl and write a large-ass fic about them.
And the last one, Bleach.
Now I’m absolutely sure that no one is cut down for real, and it’s all Kyoka Suigetsu powers. It explains the trollastic easiness with which Aizen slices everyone like a butcher, and Kubo’s easiness to draw/write it in the first place. And makes sense considering Ichigo’s WTF expression. He’s surprised, not horrified, and not batshit angry. And we almost don’t see him saying anything that would tell what he sees. And I assume that his phrase “guys, what are you doing” mostly refers to seeing everyone jumping around and performing actions that make no sense.
I’m actually so sure I’m willing to bet on it if everyone’s interested.