The Way We Percieve Ugliness.

A question I'm asked on a regular basis is "Are you a man with boobs?"

And it's starting to get me more upset than it should. Of course, I didn't say this, I just responded with "No, I'm just an ugly woman."

I'm actually sick of having to clarify to people that I am a biological female. Why the hell can't people just take it at face value? It's part of the reason I won't wear skirts/dresses anymore. I get laughed at because people all assume I'm a man.

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'm not bashing the transgender community here. I think they're some of the most brave and strong people I've ever encountered and I have nothing but respect for them. But I'm not one of them.

No, I don't look like a Hollywood starlet and there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, come on, there's no way in hell we can all look like Angelina Jolie or whatever. The world would be a boring place without our flaws. I honestly don't think anyone is truly ugly on a physical level, there's beauty in everyone. But personalitywise, people who criticize everyone's physical appearance are truly hideous. I mean, these people are the kind who'll say being over 120lb's at any height is overweight - regardless of health issues. I've been underweight before and I didn't look sexy, I looked sick.

I've been criticized for not photoshopping myself but in the end, I don't want people to see a computer generated image of myself, I want them to see the real me. I post photos so people can put a face to the name, not so I can be used a mastubatory aid. If people don't like the way I look, they can turn away, they don't have to insult me because of it.

"Vee. Not a man with boobs."

In the end, I believe there's more to a person than the way they look. It's not to say I don't admire beauty, we all do. But looks fade, personalities don't. Vacuous airheads such as those who insult myself will end up wishing they'd lived a better life as their looks fade and they realize there's nothing else to them. I may not be model material, but at least there's a brain between my ears, not just a ridiculous haircut.

The Cult Of Twilight

Now I start by admitting that I haven't actually read the books - short of the first ten pages of the first one - but I have seen the movie, didn't pay for it though. God bless friends who work in the cinema.

Now, what I have read of Twilight was not bad per se, it was just a very bland piece of literature which in fanfiction would have turned me off quite swiftly. I'm a slash fanfiction writer/reader myself and in my travels through the fandoms, I have found work which is better written and deserves more praise than this cliched prose does. Shit, I have written better work myself.

The idea of vampires sparkling in the sunlight is absurd, an idea obviously crafted to give these vampires some semblance of originality. There's only one person who should be sparkling in any situation and that is Ms. Emma Frost.

Not only are there trivial complaints like that - one of my favourite vampire shows had vampires who could enter the sun - but on the whole the series is quite dangerous.

For example, Edward Cullen seems to have been crafted to be show girls that "it's okay for a man to act like he owns you and stalk you", is this the kind of thing we want girls to be learning these days? A boy hits his girlfriend and she thinks "It's alright, Edward did this to Bella.". A young girl lets her boyfriend coerce her into something she's not ready for because Bella had a child at a young age.

I'm personally quite concerned with how obsessive the kids have become over this. I grew up in the era of the Spice Girls and suchlike, so I'm used to seeing fan psychosis but this is taking it to a whole new level. There are girls who genuinely believe that Edward is real due to this book, which to me is a serious worry. In my day (a depressing enough sentence in itself, I'm only 22), kids knew the difference between fantasy and reality. But these girls completely live in this fantasy land, they can't tell the difference anymore and it's scary.

As I said, I haven't read the book but I have seen the movie and the story was mediocre at best. Nothing in it set it apart from the countless other romantic fantasy films I've seen. If you want a good fantasy romance, try 'The Fountain'. Or try something like 'Moulin Rouge', Christian is a real romantic figure who will actually treat a girl like they deserve. But in the end, he isn't real and it's important to remember this.

On top of all this, we have the haters. The haters are as bad as the obsessive fans. If you don't like something, don't spend all your time obsessing over how bad it is and insulting it. You aren't impressing anyone with it. Why not put that energy into something more constructive? Focus on something you do enjoy rather than making all of these topics, posts, websites and spamming our forums and internet. Granted I'm being somewhat hypocritical over this, I'm not claiming I'm better than anyone else, this blog stems from my general frustration over the two camps.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, we need to calm the fuck down. The Twihards need to understand that most of the general population aren't interested anymore and stick with their own kind. The haters need to move on and stop wasting their time.

And the rest of us? Shit, I think we all just need a holiday to somewhere that damn series doesn't exist.

Introductory Post

My name is Vanessa, but I'll be going by Vee on here. People can spell Vee. I'm in my early 20's from the Northern most reaches of jolly ol' England - well North Yorkshire, it's more Northern than Manchester where most people seem to think the North stops. I live with my dad and sister, Melly. I can't afford to move out and to be honest, I'm not ready to.

Sexualitywise, I'm a weird one. I'm not straight, not a lesbian, I'm kind of... peoplesexual. I don't use the bi label because it doesn't feel right to me and pansexual folks to me have all seemed really up themselves. Show me one person who identifies as pan who isn't a douche and I may accept it. I see beauty in all things and don't want to restrict myself. Whoa, maybe I am pan, I sound like a douche now.

I have a couple of piercings, my ears are at a 00 and I have a wee stud in my right nostril. I also have four tattoos so far. The number 1 (left thumb), a deathbat (lower back), sunflower with a ladybird (left forearm), Gambit's hand holding a charged ace of spades (right forearm). However I tend to appear relatively normal, band shirts and jeans mainly.

I'm currently unemployed and spend most of my time online looking at news stories and arguing with people. Over said stories usually. I also roleplay but we ignore that fact as many are now shaking your heads and thinking "geek". But...

I am a self-confessed geek, my main fandom being the wonderful Marvel universe. I'm an X-Men girl first and foremost. My favourites being Gambit, Rogue, Emma Frost, Mr. Sinister and Bishop. But I do enjoy them all.

"You don't even want to know where my mind is right now."

On the geeky side of things, I'm also a Joss Whedon fangirl, a 'Chuck' fangirl and many other things which will pop up. I read a fair few graphic novels. 'The Boys' is probably my favourite at the moment. I'll always be watching the movies based on the novels and nitpicking great amounts if needs be. Gameswise, I have an XBox 360 and a Nintendo DS. I need more games for my XBox. DS-wise, I'm a 'Guitar Hero' tard.

I'm also a crazed music fan. My favourite band is Avenged Sevenfold. Give me all the shit you want, my ears like what they hear, you're not about to change my opinions. So nyah. I have followed them on tour before and am now 'a familiar face' in the crowd. I also enjoy things like Trivium, Metallica, Machine Head, Dream Theater, Papa Roach and suchlike. I will listen to anything though to be perfectly fair. (Seriously, in the space of a week, I'm seeing Il Divo, followed by Papa Roach). However bands like Fall Out Boy make me want to gouge my eyes out. I myself play guitar, bass and keyboard. That's in order of preference and my abilities. My guitars are an Ibanez GSA60 and a Schecter Synyster Gates Standard.

"My baby..."

Moviewise, my favourite is probably 'The Fountain'. It's one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen in my life, every frame is stunning, the story behind it is so intricate but so moving. I think it's grossly underrated and definitely needs seeing by more people. I do have an annoying habit of loving absolutely appalling movies because of how much they make me laugh. 'The Covenant' is probably the best example of this one. I have many favourite actors, Antonio Banderas, Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr (did you see 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' in a cinema back when it came out? No? Yeah, I did.), Shia LaBeouf, Jason Statham, Jason Segel, Julian McMahon and Taylor Kitsch. Famke Janssen and Charlize Theron are probably my favourite actresses.

I'm sure you will learn more about me as we go along so for now that's basically all you need to know. Learn it, love it. Ask anything else here. :D