Okay, I usually don't like writing essays, but this is something I feel very strongly about, 
one that I see a lot of controversy of whenever I drop by the Yu*Yu*Hakusho fan fiction 
board. Anyone who has read my YYH stories probably has a good idea of what I'll harp 
on this time - and that is, the implicated relationship between Hiei and Kurama. 

I go to the board to read fanfics, and while I happen to be biased, liking stories that put 
Hiei and Kurama together, I have liked some that don't. While I prefer Hiei/Kurama, I 
don't mind seeing either of them with a new female or already established one - 
unfortunately, most of those stories play hell with my nerves, because the invented girl is 
always perfect, wonderful, and lovely, with either of those two falling in love with her 
immediately. I will not mention any names, but if you go through the archive and read 
them, you'll see what I mean. 

What really annoys me, however, is when I go to read the comments on the other board. I 
see all these people whining about "Why are they always gay?" or "they are not faggots!" 
and such like that. Those sort of comments really make me angry; most of these 
commentors don't seem to care that there are good people out there who are gay - or, as 
one person so eloquently (note the sarcasm) puts it, "faggots." What is WRONG with 
loving someone with the same gender as you have? Love is too hard to come by to deny 
it just because of one's sex. 

People who whine about Hiei and Kurama being "faggots" or "gay" should talk with my 
friend Andy. He'd cream all their pathetic arguments in five minutes flat, being gay 
himself and knowing what it's like. But, I digress from the real topic (I do that a lot, one 
might notice ^.^). 

And to all you who whine about Hiei and Kurama always being slashed together - it's 
called bi-sex-u-al-i-ty, folks. Know what that is? It means you can feel sexual attraction 
for both genders, not just strictly females, or strictly males. That's what I believe; and I'll 
be there are others who agree. I do not believe Hiei and Kurama are gay; nor do I believe 
they are completely straight. I think they're bi; after all, they're youkai. They live in a 
world where everything is governed by fighting and wars and stuff (from what I can tell). 
From what I see, they don't really have time to form stupid prejudices. *WhiteCat crosses 
her arms and makes a face* 

Oh, and before you go complaining about what I've said - there are a few good stories 
that put Hiei and/or Kurama with someone else - and not necessarily a newly created 
female. What bugs me is that most stories that create a new girl make her perfect, 
beautiful, and whatnot - can we say "author's fantasies about herself"? Not to mention 
that many stories that create a new character blatantly use their own alias' and net.names 
as the character's names. I won't point any fingers, but I'm pretty sure one can figure 
them out. 

Also, while I'm not trying to sound snobbish, or too much like my seventh grade English 
teacher (gawds know how much I hated listening to her lecture), but it seems most of the 
really well-written stories are ones that use a yaoi relationship. Examples? Katchan writes 
yaoi fics. She and Chris Daives are the BEST fanfic writers I have ever read. Others write 
them, and except for a precious few, they have good grammar, spelling, and story 
structure - as well as a believable plot (except for those pure lemons. I'll let the hentai 
minds in the audience debate over that one ^.-). 

Now, the opponent? Stories that put Hiei and/or Kurama with another girl have been 
done, and done well, as I've said. (My tendancy to repeat myself shows up a lot in this 
rant/essay - bear with me, folks!) However - and there's always this huge BUT hovering 
in this arguemtn - most of them, frankly, SUCK. Grammar is horrendous; spelling could 
stand a few dozen editors; and the writers spend too much time waxing poetic on their 
new perfect female character and let everyone else languish. Rarely have I read such 
stories where some good character developments were made with everyone's favorite 
anime cast. However, I am NOT saying I do not like stories where Hiei and/or Kurama 
goes with a girl! (sheesh, when I repeat myself too much, hit me with a mallet, okay?) 
There are good stories out there that pair those two up with a female. There just aren't as 
many good stories of that kind as there are good yaoi stories. At least, in this little kitty's 
humble opinion. *WhiteCat sweatdrops and inches away, slowly* 

Now, I'm quite aware that for some of these writers, English is _not_ their first language. 
And I respect that. I'm very happy that they are trying to learn this language, and respect 
them immensely for that. But, it is always, always, ALWAYS a good idea to get someone 
to check your story over for grammar/spelling/anything else before posting it. Please, 
please, PLEASE do that first, I beg you ... and believe me, when I cry, it's not a pretty 
sight. ^.-; 

Also, there are a lot of hints dropped that there might be more than friendship going on 
between Hiei and Kurama. Little things; glances, words, actions. You'd be surprised, if 
you watch the show or read the manga with an open mind, with what you'd find. (Have 
you noticed, for example, that there are a great deal of pictures with those two together, 
as well as two where Kurama is hugging Hiei, and the latter is not trying to escape? 
Puzzle that one out, if you will ...) Not to mention the CD where there are duets by 
Yuusuke and Keiko (I hear no one arguing about their relationship); Kuwabara and 
Yukina (or their's, for that matter); Koenma and Botan (why not?); and ... da dum! Hiei 
and Kurama (my absolute favorite of all the songs on that CD!!). 

I think the reason why so many fans seem to freak out about this is the fact that Kurama 
and Hiei seem to be the most popular characters in Yu*Yu*Hakusho. It has been shown 
that mostly females write fanfics; and many of the writing fans seem to fall within an age 
slot (12 to 20-ish). It's entirely possible, you know - girls get crushes on the "Shuuichi" 
side of Kurama all the time in the anime (and probably the manga as well), so why not 
girls in real life? And Hiei is pretty damn sexy, as well ... I think they're problem is that 
they think "Wait! I like this guy! He CAN'T be gay!!" and immediately churn something 
out to agree with them. *rolls eyes in disgust* Puh-leeeeeeze. 

My advice? GET A GRIP. They are anime characters (yeah, right, WhiteCat; if you 
really thought that, why are you ranting your head off here?), who CARES if they get 
slashed together? I don't. I really don't think others should, either - but that is just me. 

If you want to agree with me, totally disagree with me, tell me "you suck and so do your 
opinions!", my e-mail addy is: terra@ccsi.com. 
I'm pretty good about replying to e-mail, so expect a reply relatively soon after you send 
it out. (Anywhere between five mintues to five days.) 
Ja ne!
--WhiteCat, a.k.a. Terra Chang, the resident psycho kitty of the Yu*Yu*Hakusho mailing 
list (come say hi to me! *giggles*) 


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