tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996680915678450767.post4404437058813838198..comments2024-03-26T09:16:18.871-04:00Comments on Whimsical Fic-ery: YA is for LoversLeighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15405609039631555117noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996680915678450767.post-17800800137370652552010-08-23T21:00:47.851-04:002010-08-23T21:00:47.851-04:00@TB - I think Q from Paper Towns is just that type...@TB - I think Q from Paper Towns is just that type of "average guy" that you speak of. I love his character and he was (quite literally) The Boy Next Door. <br /><br />@Picksee - I love your 6" comments! And I agree - Boys have ruled that genre for too long! It's fun to see girls taking control for a bit.Stacie @ Whimsical Ficeryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04162530942087705921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996680915678450767.post-84265996098754602010-08-21T18:09:55.030-04:002010-08-21T18:09:55.030-04:00*Puts in dentures & shuffles with the walker o...*Puts in dentures & shuffles with the walker over to the soap box*<br /> <br /> When you're young and romance still has the dew on it or glow, or whatever thing that makes it sparkle, there is the fantasy of the bad boy. Especially if it's the bad boy that we can tame and turn into the prince charming who will take care of us forever (and young & beautiful).<br /><br /> It's the time in our lives where we're expected to make mistakes before moving into adulthood.<br /><br /> While these stories can be fun for us "oldies" as the majority of us have learned our lesson, I also wonder what teen (or target) readers get out of stories since there is this bombardment in the last ten years or so of expecting this ideal to come into our lives & make everything better.<br /><br /> I do wish there were stories (and they may be out there) that had the hero or heroine is the boy/girl next door, who not necessarily is the perfect person but is the right choice to help the protagonist of the story. To give some reality.<br /><br />"But, yeah TB, where's the fun in that?" <br /><br /> Good question, my little peanut gallery. I think with some dose of reality to a story, like having a character like "Simon" from TMI series, it can show that "the average guy" may have more to offer and help guide some "youngsters" towards possibility taking a second look at the people around them. Maybe they'll find that hidden gem. That also goes for friendships as well as any romantic entanglings.<br /><br />Yes, Leigh, Edward is not real. Jasper on the other hand is.MsTallulahBellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15079144667675670261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996680915678450767.post-57491901263515133062010-08-20T11:42:51.683-04:002010-08-20T11:42:51.683-04:00Ooh, good discussion! So much to say, but don'...Ooh, good discussion! So much to say, but don't need a 6" comment again-but it's probably going to happen :)<br />Not on the topic of love, but when I started Graceling (which I'm still loving :)) yesterday-I had the thought-this is awesome for me as an adult-but is it too violent for younger women/girls-even if it is a female inflicting the violence? But, then I went back to my 16 year old self and realized I was reading Fantasty w/ sword fighters, etc and the Vampire Chronicles and Dean Koontz, and Stephen King, etc-which are all pretty violent and bloody, etc-and I here I am, still dorky and pretty lazy Molly, not some violent angry person..And, I was a Marilyn Manson chic back then too, I even got to meet them when they opened for Danzig (I'm dating myself a bit here too :)) and I was such a nerdy fangirl about it-rockin my Eddie Bauer button down (because my mom wouldn't let me dress all in black like my friends)and asking for autographs etc-practically squeeing all over them-but trying to be cool about it. So, while I loved the music and the idea of the anger in it-I stayed dorky fangirl :) The eddie bauer shirt did not help, thanks mom!<br /><br />So, in the same vein, I have to think the same is true with the love stories. Younger women probably do find the fantasy in it and maybe have hopes for that type of a person, but then get in the real world and realize, wait, that person doesn't exist! Or, when they do have the "bad" traits, they'll realize, hey, you're not all bad boy on the outside and softy on the inside, you're just a jerk. The idea of women being drawn to bad boys has been around since the dawn of time, and I think YA is just reflecting that in a fantastical way. And, as a fan of fantasty and supernatural and comic books, etc-anything to bring more girls into that world is fine by me! Boys have been ruling that world for entirely too long!Picksee77https://www.blogger.com/profile/08808679686124743010noreply@blogger.com