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Feb. 22nd, 2007 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhWhooooo, okay! I've finally managed to read my way through the latest issue of Bang Bang Shousetsu- very long, this time- and so I have recommendations.
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bb_shousetsu is, as I think most of you know, a zine of original stories that comes out every few months. It's inspired by the cheesy yaoi manga one-shot genre, but tends to be very well-written (probably because several of the authors are excellent people who we all know and love!). Each issue has a theme; this one's was Asiaphilia. If you like the idea, you can sign up to write a story or produce some art for May's issue, which will be themed around May-December.
My favorites of this issue:
Lost at Sea (and Found Again)- a Chinese graduate student comes to MIT and eventually makes friends. This story was just cute; you can't not like the characters.
The Overseers of Harmful People- a spoiled aristocrat and a Socialist agitator in pre-Revolutionary Russia, or what to read if you thought Crime and Punishment needed more pretty boys in love. The writing is gorgeous, and the characters are very nicely portrayed. I'd love to read more about them.
The Taste of Red- two young men in the Communist Army. This one is sadder than mostbb_shousetsu entries, but read it anyway! There are some typos, but the descriptions are so insanely lovely that I didn't mind.
Yellow Fever- he's a heroin-addict, amputee, mentally traumatized, Vietnam veteran! He's a calm, well-paid, Chinese lawyer! Together, they... um, have sex. It's very sweet and incredibly well-written, and I like these guys a lot.
Turfan- I, um, sort of have a thing for stories involving deserts and nomads and bandits. I can't help it! Also, hey: established relationship. This story made me happy.
Enlightenment- An Englishman and a Chinese guy, working for a muckraking newspaper in Dickens-era London. Will Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment halt their true love? Yeah, whatever, we all know it has a happy ending. But I loved this story; the characters were so well-portrayed, and the setting felt very detailed and realistic. This is another one I'd love to see a sequel to.
White Paper, Black Ink- one of the few ones this time to have fantastical elements to the story. I liked the relationship between the characters a lot, but the thing that really got to me would be a spoiler so, uh, just go read it.
Love and Books- there is sex in a library! Come on, how can you resist that?
Read the entire issue and see the cover art here.
bb_shousetsu is, as I think most of you know, a zine of original stories that comes out every few months. It's inspired by the cheesy yaoi manga one-shot genre, but tends to be very well-written (probably because several of the authors are excellent people who we all know and love!). Each issue has a theme; this one's was Asiaphilia. If you like the idea, you can sign up to write a story or produce some art for May's issue, which will be themed around May-December.My favorites of this issue:
Lost at Sea (and Found Again)- a Chinese graduate student comes to MIT and eventually makes friends. This story was just cute; you can't not like the characters.
The Overseers of Harmful People- a spoiled aristocrat and a Socialist agitator in pre-Revolutionary Russia, or what to read if you thought Crime and Punishment needed more pretty boys in love. The writing is gorgeous, and the characters are very nicely portrayed. I'd love to read more about them.
The Taste of Red- two young men in the Communist Army. This one is sadder than most
bb_shousetsu entries, but read it anyway! There are some typos, but the descriptions are so insanely lovely that I didn't mind.Yellow Fever- he's a heroin-addict, amputee, mentally traumatized, Vietnam veteran! He's a calm, well-paid, Chinese lawyer! Together, they... um, have sex. It's very sweet and incredibly well-written, and I like these guys a lot.
Turfan- I, um, sort of have a thing for stories involving deserts and nomads and bandits. I can't help it! Also, hey: established relationship. This story made me happy.
Enlightenment- An Englishman and a Chinese guy, working for a muckraking newspaper in Dickens-era London. Will Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment halt their true love? Yeah, whatever, we all know it has a happy ending. But I loved this story; the characters were so well-portrayed, and the setting felt very detailed and realistic. This is another one I'd love to see a sequel to.
White Paper, Black Ink- one of the few ones this time to have fantastical elements to the story. I liked the relationship between the characters a lot, but the thing that really got to me would be a spoiler so, uh, just go read it.
Love and Books- there is sex in a library! Come on, how can you resist that?
Read the entire issue and see the cover art here.
