Vertigo Schtick

[clevermanka]

Guardian/adjacent:
Fanart: Bedtime snuggles. I laughed at this baby Ghost King comic. 2Luo.
Companies spend a lot of money on marketing in China. I honestly don't know how one survives being faced with a larger-than-life-size ReFa ad.

Untamed/adjacent:
Modern CQL illustrations continue, now with Zidian.

One person left kudos on six of my stories yesterday, including Ghost Story. o_O That's a lot of reading.

In a conversation on yesterday's watch party, someone (Sherly--I don't know their DW name?) mentioned having Zhao Yunlan-levels of bad luck in love and I thought we were going to have a whole Bad Romance thread \o/ but then nobody else weighed in on their tragic love stories. /o\ Then this tweet about being a "foster girlfriend" crossed my tl and Lord Do I Know That Feel. Something I didn't mention in yesterday's hilarious outpouring of woe was that for about, uh, 20 years all but one dude that I had sex with married the next woman he dated (and afaik that one guy is still unmarried). I seriously could have rented myself out as a service for wedding-bound women. So if you feel like starting a Bad Romance comment thread here, I'm all ears. And now I'm gonna go rewatch that music video for the bajillionth time because that's still a great song.

Comments

[glymr]

Sherly is sherlockianonfire_91 here on DW. She posts great ZhuBai pics!

Sorry that thread got derailed. ^_^; I didn't have anything to contribute, my own dating history being Very Boring, and then it was time for the video to start. I think fashes would probably have had some good stories if we hadn't gotten distracted. XD;

My absolute favorite version of that song is this brilliant pastiche.

[clevermanka]

Oh, yay! Thanks for that info. So! Many! Different! Names!

LOL threads get derailed all the time, nbd. I got a good laugh out of it bc my love life history is honestly hilari-bad. I was just hoping to hear about others that aren't, you know, actually abusive (although I've got a couple of those, too, alas). Is fashes on DW? Send 'em over here! 😆

I'd never seen that video oh my gosh so well done and produced! I don't know if the all-white cast was intentional or not, but I can't say the lack wasn't true to the problems of the suffrage movement...

[glymr]

fashes is on DW! She is a delightful and interesting person who is worth talking to. 10/10 would recommend friending! :D

Yes, the all-white cast is the one flaw in that otherwise amazing gem. :( I don't know if it was deliberate or an oversight, but it's a shame, because otherwise the video is SO GOOD. I've been known to sing that version at karaoke, in fact...

[riventhorn]

I don't know if I would exactly characterize it as Bad Romance, but it does seem like the people (and there have not been very many of them) that I have thought, "I think I would like becoming their partner," are inevitably either already married or about to get married. One of them is still a very good friend, but I must admit sometimes I am slightly resentful of her husband.

[clevermanka]

Aw, that's rough, bb. Hugs.

I understand long-term pining for a friend. One of the anecdotes I shared on Discord was how I carried a torch for someone for over fifteen years and then when we were finally both single at the same time, they came out as ace. *emoji shrug*

[riventhorn]

Thank you! The worst one is the girl who was my BFF in elementary and middle school. We had a huge falling out in middle school, didn't speak to each other in high school, and then happened to reconnect in college because her boyfriend was going to same college I was. So we apologized, were friends again briefly and then--honestly, I don't know what happened. I think her relationship with her boyfriend was not going well, and she just stopped responding to my calls and emails. I finally stopped trying to get in touch with her because she obviously didn't want me in her life anymore.

The worst thing about it, though--and I still cry about this because it makes me so upset--is that it was only when I was in my 30s and realized that I was ace, that I could look back on my relationship with her in middle school, and perhaps even our second round in college and realize--you know, I think I was actually in love with her. She's been the one person in my life who I could talk to about anything, who I felt 100% comfortable with. But growing up, I had never heard about being asexual, and I was never sexually attracted to her (being biromantic was also an unknown). It never even occurred to me that I could be romantically attracted to someone without the sexual component.

And okay, probably it wouldn't have worked out anyway--I know she married a man and has a kid. But I missed my chance to at least try to have a partnership with her because I didn't even know it was a possibility. Didn't even know it was a thing I could maybe have and would want to have.

Sorry. I think you were looking for more funny bad romance stories, and that was not funny. I am not at a place yet and probably never will be where I can find any humor in the situation.

[clevermanka]

Oh, hon, that's sad. If only/What if thoughts are tough. It extra sucks that you lost the friend in the end, too.

I missed my chance to at least try to have a partnership with her because I didn't even know it was a possibility
Allo/Heteronormativity really needs to die in a fire.

[riventhorn]

Allo/Heteronormativity really needs to die in a fire

Too true. I am glad that many teenagers today are at least aware that there are other possibilities. This is a big reason why, despite it's many faults, I will never be convinced that the internet is not a good thing. It can expand your horizons so much.

[minoanmiss]

This is a big reason why, despite it's many faults, I will never be convinced that the internet is not a good thing.

Amen.

Also, big hugs from a small soft woman, if you would like.

[riventhorn]

I will gladly accept your hugs. <3<3<3

[trobadora]

I honestly don't know how one survives being faced with a larger-than-life-size ReFa ad.

OMG!!!!!! It's already A LOT online, but encountering it in person ...?

[clevermanka]

I'd have the vapors, for real.

[write_out]

Kudos are love!! Yay for getting so many!!

This is certainly far from tragic, but a seriously, SERIOUSLY long dry spell in my late 20s was interrupted but alas not broken by a guy who offered me cocaine on our second date. I like to think I'm not rigid, but that rather put me off. A glass of wine, sure. A line? Ehhh.... Fortunately I discovered soon after (third date) that he was a raging misogynist, so bullet was dodged (possibly literally).

[clevermanka]

Oh, yikes! Dang, that's a great story tho. Talk about offering you a literal line!

[write_out]

I really have the most boring love/sexual history ever, so I'm digging DEEP for these stories. You know I have never even been high, so to be offered coke was rather hilarious. Sort of.

OH OH here's another story! I had a dirty weekend with a guy from CA waaaaaay back in 2001 (right before I met Brian in person for the first time and sealed that deal), and in honor of said weekend, I decided to buy a dildo (my first ever.). Only, I bought an anal dildo because I was so nervous when I walked into Toys in Babeland that I grabbed the first box on the first table and didn't realize it until I took it out of the box a few days later. AND the guy was so big, I bled that first night and was sore the rest of the weekend. Not the dirty weekend I read about in stories, that's for sure. I didn't buy another sex toy until I was in my late 30s.

[clevermanka]

Oh, bb, that's a tragic series of events! I'm glad Brian came along soon after.

[goss]

Modern CQL illustrations continue, now with Zidian

OMG, I love this adaptation of Zidian! Brilliant and HOT too.

Unrelatedly, awwww, I'm sorry I missed out on yesterday's watchalong. Would have liked to hang out with you, and fashes too. I was just feeling all grumpy and irritable with the heat, and couldn't focus enough to do anything much. /o\

[clevermanka]

Ugh. Heat like that is wretched.

Also, your icon is gorgeous.

[goss]

Thanks! ^___^

[wrote_and_writ]

That modern JC absolutely kills me! The design for the characters, but JC and Jin Ling in particular are amazing! You get the characters’ personalities but the aesthetic is so strong and unique and I am in love with this AU.

[clevermanka]

I LOVE THIS AU. I wouldn't complain if there were a story to go with it, but it certainly doesn't require it. I agree, it's amazing what characterizations that artist makes through those drawings and weapon designs. Incredible. I wish they'd post them on AO3. Or do they??? Hm, maybe I should look into that.

[wrote_and_writ]

Idk they Tweeted something today or yesterday about having a narrative in mind and not wanting ppl to use the art as visuals for their own stories, but I’m too shy to ask about it.

[clevermanka]

And alas, doesn't look like they're on AO3.

[libitina]

I don't have a good bad romance story, because I'm mostly aromantic and prefer dating as a side piece.😏

But I do have a doozy of a bad first date story.

[clevermanka]

Oh I am here with popcorn for hilari-bad sex stories. I have my share of those, too! 😂

[libitina]

Okay, so when I was younger I met a lot of people off of the internet because I was promiscuous like that. So I have very low expectations.

This one guy started off doing well because he met me with flowers. BUT they were not for me. He and I, and the flowers, then got on a public transit (heading to his place? Maybe. But no).

We got off at a hospital, and he took me in to visit his dying father. The flowers were for him.

And he introduced me to his father!

And the father's comment was, "I always hoped you would marry someone with red hair."

Let me tell you, there was no sex after that. Okay, I don't actually remember, and knowing me there possibly was. But there certainly wasn't a second date.

[clevermanka]

Oh SHIT, that's TERRIBLE! LOLOLLL What the hell dude? NGL, I'd be fascinated to hear how he justified that to himself, or how he'd relate the story. Dude. What. No.

[libitina]

I think the only way the story turns out well is if the father actually dies thinking his son is going to go of and get married and lead a happy life. But timing that right is hard... Maybe he spent the next two years making up stories about how our relationship was going.

I don't know! Some fanfic tropes I do not need to live through - especially not without consenting to them ahead of time.

[clevermanka]

Some fanfic tropes I do not need to live through
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, especially when they can be filed under "angst w/o happy ending." See: pining for years with no result, oh, and also two "friends" having sex with me bc they wanted to see if they liked girls but didn't give me the notice that's what was going on (also turned out no they didn't really like girls) which ofc led to very bad sex and the end of those friendships.

[solo]

I'm sorry I didn't have any bad romance stories to contribute. Quite a few of the guys that knew me when I was a teen/twen might, because I was utterly oblivious to any feels they might have had for me and usually only informed about them by others after they'd dropped out of my life. >_>

I dated my first man ever at age 32, married him 7 years later, stayed married until he died in 2017, and have not dated since. So... booooooooooring.

I have a good sexy icon though.

[clevermanka]

Probably count yourself lucky on the no Bad Romance stories. Although honestly I don't know that I'd give up all of mine. They do make good comedy (and fic) fodder.

That is a sexy icon!

[tinny]

sorry, no bad romance stories from me. (Also sorry that you have so many of them. *hugs*)

I mean, I can't say that I understand the cfandom mindset of buying everything which has Zhu Yilong's or Bai Yu's face attached. But I would *not mind* seeing life-size cardboard cutouts of them in fast food stores, and I would probably even actually go there and spend a small amount of money just to be surrounded by walls plastered with Zhu Yilong's face. /o\ Oi.

Also, I note that Zhu Yilong is the only male face on any of those ReFa packages. That shock of seeing a male face advertising something that seems to be so predominantly female is the best marketing strategy ever.

[clevermanka]

LOL! I could write a book on my Bad Romance stories. Fortunately, none of them have resulted in physical misfortune for me (emotional scars are never sexy tho).

I would probably even actually go there and spend a small amount of money just to be surrounded by walls plastered with Zhu Yilong's face.
Same. NO ONE IS IMMUNE!