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[Column] Visual Vocabulary

Written by Jordan Marks

Wednesday, 31 January 2007

I don't know about you, but the first time I looked at a yaoi sex scene I was all kinds of confused. There were disembodied fingers floating in grey mist. Sometimes a hand is shown against a background of this same grey mist. Men were missing naughty bits. Lightning seems to come from fingertips. I found the sudden perspective changes confusing... {mos_sb_discuss:20} I had to read a few different yaoi manga before I could really enjoy a yaoi sex scene. I had to learn to understand what was going on visually before I could get into it. The lightening symbolizes pressing on the prostate. Those grayed out panels are hinting at explicit sex. Though, when I look back on my very first yaoi manga, "Out" by Toramaru, there is still at least one panel where I really could not tell you what is happening. I bought Out off of Ebay, due to sheer frustration. I kept hearing about yaoi, but didn't know what it was. Googling only got me pink websites with no content. So I just started bidding on things that said 'yaoi' in the description. Yeah, this was a long time ago. Things are very different these days. Anyway, now I look back and can easily see that the lines in one of those panels of gray fog form a close up of the uke getting fucked. Back when I first got it, I think my eyes just slid over it uncomprehendingly. Now that I am used to yaoi manga, it's obvious what's going on. Obviously, this symbol system exists outside the sex scenes as well. When I first heard of The Height Rule, I thought 'oh, so that's the general trend.' Little did I realized that it would be true 99.99% percent of the time. Typical uke characteristics are well known to every fan, big eyes, no genitals, self lubricating. What I always found interesting is that semes usually look like the rest of the human males in the story. It's the uke who looks like a genetic abnormality. I always wonder if the parents know that their kid is an uke. I always picture the following scene in a hospital. Doctor: Umm... well, it's a boy but it doesn't have any genitals. Dad: What!? Mom: Oh, he's an uke! How cute. Dad: What!? Mom: I'll explain later, dear. By the way, if you want grandkids this little one is going to need siblings. Dad: What!?

Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 November 2007 )

 

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