The Horrible Offense of Men Kissing
Last week, when I was posting the current chapter of my Final Fantasy fic (available at fine internets everywhere), I apparently stumbled on a bit of a controversy. Near the end of the chapter, Zack kissed Cloud. It was an awkward kiss, one that came to a shock to both Cloud and a great many of my readers. There had been a few small hints that Zack had a growing interest in Cloud, something a few readers had noted earlier on, but as the story is told almost exclusively from Cloud's point of view, he would not be Cloud if he weren't completely oblivious to growing romantic interest.
Exhibit A:
This provoked several different reactions:
Many people liked the idea of a Zack/Cloud pairing, or a m/m pairing in general. I don't think I told anyone explicitly that it was not going to happen, since simply saying that two characters are going to end up together or not is an easy way to spoil a story involving a relationship between two characters. Plus, I have only planned out the overall plot to the end of the story, not the relationships or minor details, so it could still be all up in the air. Saying one way or another would lock me into a specific outcome that I may want to change later on because of how the story develops. Lastly, I never intended it to be a romance story and it will not be, but romantic relationships are interesting and I like to include them in my stories in all their realistic glory: complication, rejection and insecurity. One true love? Boring!
Others were surprised and did not see it coming or did not see a Zack/Cloud pairing working. I shouldn't be surprised, because really that was how I wrote it XD. I just hope that people trust me enough that they don't put it down to poor writing/plotting.
The last was to inform me that they would no longer be reading my story, because it contained yaoi. This is really the reason behind the post/rant. To be fair, it wasn't exactly a mass exodus, and there were people who said they didn't like yaoi but would keep reading, along with those who said they would stop.
I can understand that people don't like to read yaoi or slash romance, that's fair enough... personally, I don't like reading het romance either. The thing is, it was just a kiss!
Should I have warned for it? Well, no one would say that a warning would be necessary if it were a man and woman kissing. If I had put a warning on the story for yaoi, that would be misleading because it doesn't contain what anyone would expect from such a story. Perhaps I should have put a warning on the chapter? "This chapter contains one man kissing another man. If you are offended by this, then..." well, I would be tempted to say something rude. Sure, I can't make anyone keep reading if they don't want to, but the idea that people would find it offensive, is well... offensive. In my life I have had to deal with everything up to outright hostility and abuse just because the person I was dating was another man. Even over a kiss. It was fine for the heterosexual couple to do it, but not for us.
Perhaps I am overreacting or being oversensitive. Maybe it's better for all involved that they are no longer reading the story. After all, they have no obligation to read and I am not entitled to have people read it. Maybe I'm just projecting my life experiences and need not be so personally insulted. What do you think?
Exhibit A:
This provoked several different reactions:
Many people liked the idea of a Zack/Cloud pairing, or a m/m pairing in general. I don't think I told anyone explicitly that it was not going to happen, since simply saying that two characters are going to end up together or not is an easy way to spoil a story involving a relationship between two characters. Plus, I have only planned out the overall plot to the end of the story, not the relationships or minor details, so it could still be all up in the air. Saying one way or another would lock me into a specific outcome that I may want to change later on because of how the story develops. Lastly, I never intended it to be a romance story and it will not be, but romantic relationships are interesting and I like to include them in my stories in all their realistic glory: complication, rejection and insecurity. One true love? Boring!
Others were surprised and did not see it coming or did not see a Zack/Cloud pairing working. I shouldn't be surprised, because really that was how I wrote it XD. I just hope that people trust me enough that they don't put it down to poor writing/plotting.
The last was to inform me that they would no longer be reading my story, because it contained yaoi. This is really the reason behind the post/rant. To be fair, it wasn't exactly a mass exodus, and there were people who said they didn't like yaoi but would keep reading, along with those who said they would stop.
I can understand that people don't like to read yaoi or slash romance, that's fair enough... personally, I don't like reading het romance either. The thing is, it was just a kiss!
Should I have warned for it? Well, no one would say that a warning would be necessary if it were a man and woman kissing. If I had put a warning on the story for yaoi, that would be misleading because it doesn't contain what anyone would expect from such a story. Perhaps I should have put a warning on the chapter? "This chapter contains one man kissing another man. If you are offended by this, then..." well, I would be tempted to say something rude. Sure, I can't make anyone keep reading if they don't want to, but the idea that people would find it offensive, is well... offensive. In my life I have had to deal with everything up to outright hostility and abuse just because the person I was dating was another man. Even over a kiss. It was fine for the heterosexual couple to do it, but not for us.
Perhaps I am overreacting or being oversensitive. Maybe it's better for all involved that they are no longer reading the story. After all, they have no obligation to read and I am not entitled to have people read it. Maybe I'm just projecting my life experiences and need not be so personally insulted. What do you think?