Okay, let me first say; yes, I do know there is a difference between yaoi and shounen-ai. The question is; do you? If not, it's quite simple. Shounen-ai literally translates to "Boys Love" and those stories are cute love stories that rarely have anything sexual to them. Where yaoi on the other hand is basically gay porn with plot... and sometimes just porn. Now I am a true sap to the point where I was nick-named the Queen of Sap during my fanfic days because everything I wrote would get quite sappy with dialog or overall plot. So just to cover I am more of a fan of the Shounen-ai stuff, but I do like my yaoi as well.
So what got me into it? Well oddly enough it was the fandom in which I took part in and that was Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
Gundam Wing was I believe the 4th Gundam series to make it to the states and for me was the first I had seen. For whatever reason I really latched onto it, but if I had to think of one it probably would have been that I thought the pilots were cute. Anyway it was around I think episode 25, where the Vayeate blew up and Trowa was presumed dead, that I wrote my first fanfic. I really can't explain why I wanted to do such a thing, but it was a start of something much bigger for me. It was my 4th fic I wrote where I took a stab at writing the shounen-ai relationship with Trowa and Quatre (the second couple pictured). Was there any mention of them being a couple in the show? No, there was no official mention of them being together in a romantic way, but as a fan I chose to read certain actions in such away. The same would later go for Heero and Duo (the first couple pictured). The show never had a theme of romance, but there was an underline tone with some characters showing interests in others; Zechs and Noin, Treize and Lady Une, Relena and Heero, Duo and Hildie to name a few.
So why would I change something that seemed like it was cannon for couples? Behold the power of fandom. Heero and Duo as a couple seemed to really fit in my head because quite frankly I am not a fan of Relena and there were times Hildie came off as more of a sister to Duo than a girlfriend. There was also a sense of balance in placing the two together; Heero was very serious with a heart of ice and Duo was a gentle carefree soul. Trowa and Quatre were pretty much the same way as well, but with more implications here and there scattered through the show.
As I went on to write more GW fics, the more absorbed I got by the fandom; wanting to find pictures of the couples as well as reading other people's works. And for awhile GW was really the only thing shounen-ai/yaoi related that I would acknowledge. Sure, I had seen or read things within other interests of mine that paired two male characters together, but it was nothing compared to GW.
At the time, I am unsure if any shounen-ai series had reached the states (I'm sure there were a couple of yaoi ones since a lot of Hentai gets dubbed), so I really wasn't aware of it being a real genre instead of just a fan made one; until my best friend at the time showed me a fan subbed version of what would become one of my favorites series; Gravitation.
This story I found rather touching as truly showed the concept of you can't change what love is nor who you fall in love with. Shuichi is the lead singer of a band called Bad Luck and one day he meets Yuki, a romance novelist, who reads some lyrics Shuichi had written and point blankly tells the singer that he sucks. This was the start of Shuichi's obsession and soon to become love. This is actually the one shounen-ai series I can recommend to non fans of the genre as it has more to offer than the shounen-ai plot. Now I never wrote fanfiction for this series, but it did inspire me to write an original story where the main character was a gay singer.
Now actually knowing that there were shounen-ai manga and some anime were being released I took a lot more of an interest the genre. I never actually wrote more fanfics after I stopped writing for GW, but instead I wrote more original work and some of those characters I still work with today.
So the difference between the genre and fandom? The fandom can get out of hand and out of hand fast. As I mentioned with GW, there were no implications for the relationships aside from the few for Trowa and Quatre; fans would pair whoever they wanted together so long as it worked in their heads and this would go for any series, even those like Gravitation. Now don't get me wrong, I do like some fan pairings, but there are things that I don't think should ever be touched. (say Transformers, yes it exists.) So, I am gonna take the time to list my favorite fan shounen-ai couples (haha 2 for 1 deal entry!);
#5: Tsuzuki and Hisoka- Yami no Matsuei
This is a hand in hand kind of relationship as it comes across that they need each other to move forward and I really like those kinds of stories. It can also be viewed as a "teacher, student" kind of thing too as Hisoka is new to being a shinigami and Tsuzuki is their to guide him through it as his partner. Either way the emotion that these two characters bring is just eminence.
#4: Bart and Billy- Xenogears
Yeah, one of the only times I can say I had a crush on a character and loved the yaoi pairing involving them. But this was one of those pairings where you could almost picture them not really wanting to say how they really felt, thus their actions coming off childish. So cute, but to my surprise this pairing is rarely ever used in the Xenogears Yaoi Fandom.
#3: Tohma and Yuki- Gravitation
This pairing isn't exactly cute, but I love the strength it has and that's what makes it good. Tohma is more of a big brother in the sense that he wants to protect Yuki. Even in the manga he can be quoted countless times saying that Yuki is his. Because of a childhood trauma of Yuki's that Tohma had witnessed the aftermath of, he feels he is the only who can and will every understand his pain. And truly, with that strength it brings up the question; "how far would you go for the one you love?" And Tohma Seguchi would go very far, even to the point of murder.
#2: Riku and Sora- Kingdom Hearts
You may have heard some people who are anti-yaoi fans say that "Friendship isn't shounen-ai/yaoi", well it can be. It's no different than two friends who are male and female getting together. So the friendship CAN turn into something more and that is my all time favorite kind of story. And yes my fangirl-ness went into overload in KH2 when Sora broke down crying when he finally managed to see Riku again.
#1: Trowa and Quatre- Gundam Wing
Yep the pairing that started my obsession. The two of them are just so cute and rather perfect for one another. Fanfic notions aside, in the final episode where Quatre is dueling with Dorothy and the scene switches to Trowa inside Heavyarms saying; "I'm coming Quatre" was just so baffling and romantic to me. Baffling because Trowa had no way of knowing that Quatre was in danger (really, it's never brought up how he knew to go to his aid) and romantic because it came off as the "my heart knows" kind of thing, and let's be honest; when you're in love there's a good chance your heart knows when the one you care for is in trouble or hurting. And its those moments that can make for some great story telling.
There will always be lovers and haters of the genre and to the lovers; please don't egg on the haters, it just brings a bad name to the fandom. And haters; not every fan is obsessive enough to make anything and everything into a yaoi pairing. I can grasp the fact that it isn't your cup of tea, but others do like it and we have a right to our opinions so please, let us do so.
I owe a lot to this fandom and genre as it got me to write and be more creative. For that I am very thankful and grateful to be apart of it. See you all next time! ^^/
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