So in between seeing my therapist and failing to write more of my crossover, I’m part of a group on facebook for fanfiction writers. As you might imagine, this is a lively group, and interesting topics of discussion frequently pop up. One such topic, was this one which popped up yesterday:
“What do you guys feel about homosexual/yaoi fanfictions? I know its extremely popular to ship two men (even if they are not gay) together, but what do you think?”
Comments and opinions abound, and I was planning on adding my own to the comments section, but I was planning on doing a blog post on my opinions of yaoi, and on my opinions of shipping in general anyway, so this seems like a good prompt with which to start it.
I have an interesting relationship with ships, which, if we’re sticking with the nautical theme here, can be best compared to that of a pirate with a very odd sense of loyalty. While in the seas of Doctor Who for instance, I am in the employ of several ships – the HMS 11/River, the SS Martha/Mickey, The Good Ship Jack/Jenny (the Doctor’s daughter) and the Queen Vastra/Jenny (Flint – there are too many Jenny’s in this fandom!). None of these ships happen to overlap or have a rivalry with one another, so I am able to move between their services, and be paid for both of them.
But then there is the great ocean of Yu-Gi-Oh! and this is where my loyalty vanishes, and I shamelessly play the field like a pirate prostitute. I sleep on the Tendership one day, and the next day, I’ve hopped ship to the Thiefship, or the Angstship. I jump between Peachshipping and Puzzleshippingf freely. I squee when I see Blueshipping on the horizon, but at the sight of some good dirty Puppyshipping will make me drool equally as much – and indeed, if half way through this I spot the flags of Polarshipping in the distance, I’ll dive off the ship and swim for it like the kraken is on my tail. The fact that some of these characters are involved in more than one ship does not deter me. Or to bring this metaphor down to a more understandable conclusion – I have no One True Pairing when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh!
No One True Pairing?! I hear you cry. Surely this is impossible! You must have one ship involving Bakura that you love above all else? How dare you be promiscuous with these characters?! Well I dare. And I do. Because honestly, if you asked me which I love more (Tendershipping, Angstshipping, Thiefshipping or Bronzeshipping), I really wouldn’t be able to tell you. Each appeals to me for a different reason. It depends largely on how the characters are written in the fanfiction, and how the author makes them develop, which brings me nicely onto the subject of my crossover, where pairings have been raising some questions.
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat – there are no canon pairings in Yu-Gi-Oh!. I’m sorry, but there aren’t. I laugh in the face of anyone who suggests that they dislike my story because I’m not following canon, because there is no canon. A canon relationship, to me, is a relationship who’s existence is confirmed beyond denial in the work of fiction, or by word of God. And by confirmed beyond denial, I mean either direct physical confirmation or direct verbal confirmation. I’m not talking about significant looks across the room, clutching someone’s hand during a tense moment, or one character heeding a request to show some compassion (yes Silentshippers, I’m looking at you!). I’m talking two characters kissing in a way that leaves no room for doubt. I’m talking a character saying quite definitely to another character “yes, they are a thing now”. Whether that thing is a potential marriage situation or just a fuck-buddy situation doesn’t matter. As long as it’s beyond the point of friendship, and there is definite evidence for it, it’s canon. Otherwise, you’re just speculating.
So when it came to my crossover, I felt that I had a lot of freedom with the shipping. The characters had done a lot of developing in Witches Wizards Shadows and Souls, and I felt that I now had pairings in mind, which would make sense for my characters, given how they had developed over the course of my own writing. So while in Yu-Gi-Oh! canon there’s no hints of any relationship of any sort between Ryou and Malik for instance, I felt that over the course of Witches Wizards Shadows and Souls, that they had grown close enough as friends for them to possibly take the next step into a relationship.
I shall now take cover as my fangirls shriek in joy at this first official confirmation after twenty chapters of solid hint dropping.
But here’s the point guys – I didn’t go into writing Witches Wizards Shadows and Souls with the express intention of making those two characters gay. I went into it intending that they would be friends, because it made sense to me. They were both lonely characters, who’s alter egos had been far from pleasant roommates, and both of whom probably felt that they were the ‘outsiders’ when put next to the Inner Circle of Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea. It was natural for me they would band together in the face of what my plot had to throw at them. The fact that they got closer than I anticipated was a surprise to me as well – characters do that. I know I’m writing it, but they genuinely do have wills of their own – just ask Kisara.
Some people might say that there’s no evidence that Ryou and Malik are gay in the canon. And that’s true – there isn’t any evidence to suggest that they are gay. But equally, there’s no evidence to suggest that they are straight. Human beings don’t have a ‘default setting’ when it comes to sexuality. That might sound like a sweeping statement, but I have an upper second class bachelors degree in Media Studies, and I feel that I am qualified to talk about the nature of sexuality in fictional characters because of it. So to that end, on goes my academic cap, as I introduce you to the noted sexologist Alfred Kinsey.
In 1948 and 1953, Kinsey and several other researchers published a series of reports, titled Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male and Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female. These reports introduced the idea of a scale of sexual orientation, known as the Kinsey Scale. This scale ranges from 0 to 6, with 0 being individuals who identify as exclusively heterosexual, and 6 being individuals who identify as exclusively homosexual, with all the grey area in between. The scale is a fluid one, with the reports also stating that an individual may be assigned a different position on the scale at different stages of their life – in other words, a person’s sexuality can change over time. This is not to say that it has to change over time, but that the option is certainly there.
There are some arguments against these reports, and obviously Kinsey was writing about real people, and not fictional characters, but I feel that these are a good basis with which to understand sexuality – three quarters of a million copies would suggest that there is something in it.
So, to go back to the original question on the forum, specifically to the point about shipping two men, even if they are not gay, I do not see this as an issue. Because as Kinsey suggests, there is nothing to say that someone who identifies as straight cannot change their mind if the right person comes along, or vice versa. I feel that as long as there is a reasonable arc of character development that supports the creation of this relationship, that there is no harm in a fanfiction author pairing up two characters who have previous shown no homosexual (or heterosexual) inclinations. Sexuality is not a simple matter, and neither are human beings. And nor, by that extension, are the great oceans of shipping. We should feel free to jump from ship to ship, secure in the knowledge that all of your pairings are One True Pairings, and equally as possible as the next.
And now if you will all excuse me, I just saw the SS Adlock sail this way, and I must don the appropriate battle dress before I board. Avert your eyes, ye of a squeamish disposition!
