dgray_man | I've always wondered...

Essentially fans need nothing more than attractive men to make yaoi pairings. Logic doesn't have to exist.

I'm not a Yullen fan anymore but the main point of attraction was the chemistry. Not good chemistry, mind, but the angry bickering can be attractive if you wish to interpret it that way. Both characters show really high levels of emotion around eachother. Additionally the stubbornness between the two characters - "GRUMBLEGRUMBLE I WILL NOT COME BACK TO SAVE YOU- EXCUSE ME WHILST I TRY AND OUT-COCKROACH THIS ENEMY IN FRONT OF YOU - is something that's cute. There's also the factor of 'hatelove' or 'bittersweet' in that more physical reactions are intensified by their bad feelings towards eachother.

Mostly the thing I liked about it was they were two characters who put up obvious fronts against eachother and still managed to have an air of tenderness, self-sacrifice.

That's just one opinion. I know I didn't use to like Yullen but I warmed to it, but there are going to be pairings that you never like or understand. Eg. I really can't stand Allen/Lenalee or Allen/Lavi under any circumstances ever. There are just some things that push you to like pairings. You don't have to force yourself to understand them for popularity's sake. Evidently some people just find some aspects of relationships more attractive than you do, or they like different ones.

You explained this in better words than I could ever do <3

Thank you very much for the thorough explanation! I think I understand the minds of my friends a little better now. And yes, you're right, I don't have to force myself to understand them, but it's nice for an extremely logical person like me to try and make sense of something you find perplexing ^__^

In a lot of cases, shipping is about what-ifs. Things like Kanda/Allen are usually intriguing because of a line of thought similar to "what if Allen and Kanda didn't hate each other as much as they seem to? What if it's a ruse to through everyone else off from how they really feel? Maybe they don't want to admit it to themselves?", and with that pairing it is somewhat plausible that they'd grow to like each other in secret, since they have to put up with each other anyway.

Really, though, shipping doesn't always have to make sense. Komui/Miranda is my favorite DGM pair, and I don't think they've really even spoken to each other in canon.

True true, the story of DGM is pretty much gen so far, so all the fans can do is to look for any subtext or speculate what goes on outside of Allen's story for their favourite pairings. Personally I like pairings that are more likely to exist in canon (because I'm a narrow-minded idiot like that /shot), because well, it's easier to imagine, haha.

No, that's understandable. People have different shipping styles and not everyone cares about shipping at all.

Because any kind of tension is obviously UST. Also Kanda is the first attractive male Allen meets, so people latch onto that, I guess. I don't even know, I always kind of hated all of those rivalry pairings for exactly that reason. Even if they don't outright despise eachother they obviously don't get along. So you're not alone in your bafflement, at least.

These days I just wish people would stop calling the pairing "Yullen". Whatever happened to "arekan"? Or the classic slash format where you type character names out rather than mashing them together in some ridiculous sounding portmanteau? Nobody uses that anymore, and it's the origin of the very term "slash"!

I HAVE FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS ME A LITTLE. I'm like, the person among my friends who isn't into rival pairings at all.

I suppose mashing names together sounds cute and it's easier to type to some fans, but it might confuse someone who's relatively new to the fandom. I don't mind name-mashing sometimes, but to prevent confusion and sound more "serious", I just use the standard name/name so everyone knows what I'm talking about.

omg seriously. I mean, yeah, I say "rabyuu" all the time so maaaaybe I'm kind of a hypocrite, but most of the others are rather ridiculous. I saw somebody call it "Lavanda" once, and all I could think is "That is not a pairing, that is a name for a black lady." (A short time later, I saw a black lady on The Price is Right whose name was ONE LETTER AWAY.) It took me like ten minutes to figure out wtf "Lucky" was supposed to be the first time I saw somebody mention it. While I admit to having had a rather morbid interest in the pairing for a while, that word only describes how one side of the pair might feel. It's not a feel-good relationship. In any case, the fact that it is a word makes it all the more confusing to read.

I think probably that also stems from Japan, because that's how they do it a lot, but it's also a lot easier when you consider how the Japanese language works: with everything basically in syllables that connect more gracefully. But now you've got all the fangirls over here adopting the convention, and next thing you know you've got a Star Trek pairing called "Spirk" which if I'm not mistaken, is one of the pairings that STARTED the "slash" trend so it becomes doubly ridiculous.

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I know that's part of it, but the whole "this character is ALWAYS ALWAYS seme and this one is ALWAYS ALWAYS uke" thing is something else that irritates me about the fandom, honestly. Because even if both characters are the same sex, we still need gender roles, dammit! I've really started to hate the "seme" and "uke" terms because to most of the yaoi community they seem to be roles set in stone in every pairing, and they usually have ridiculous rules like shorter/younger guy always bottoms. What kind of sense does that make, seriously. And if I like a pairing where they switch positions, do I have to call it something different every time?

I think the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard on a related subject is when somebody on another site told me they liked Rabi as a "semke" in a threesome between him, Allen, and Kanda. "Semke"?? Seriously? You really want that to be a term? It apparently means he's in the middle or something, I don't even know. My mind was pretty much blown.

hamleting Explained it very well and all I can add is on a personal note.

I see non canon pairings as a challenge and Allen and Kanda in any sort of relationship would take a nice flex of writing muscles to be believable and work. Which is an appeal for me as it makes the writer and the reader explore and expand on the personalities that we see and figuring out how that could work into something of a pairing nature. Because even though they do bicker and grate on one another since day one Marie hit upon a good reason for it in that they are both very similar in personality that they could probably understand one another better then someone who wouldn't have the same outlook on life. (Though from page one you can see they both took different methods to obtain the same distance from everyone.)

Of course, I'm probably in a minority as it's not for any 'yaoi goodness' that I like the pairing but the emotional aspect of it and what it would cause with everything going on. The pairing also lends itself to a lot of different genres as well and doesn't really follow the typical pairing formula so long as the writer doesn't butcher their characterization.

Though I think there's probably a lot of people who just like it because it's hot. *shrugs*

I mainly see their reason for not getting along is because of clashing personalities though. For me, their first mission during the Mateel arc is strong evidence of their different viewpoints and mannerisms. I guess some people can use the phrase "opposites attract", but for me I think they are simply too far apart to get along...

Though people who can pull off rival pairings in their stories convincingly is really impressive! It's kind of ironic that I can probably learn more from writers who write about pairings I know the least about than writers who write about pairings that make sense xD

First of all, you don't need a reason to pair up two hot guys other than the fact that they're hot. Thats yaoi for ya!

When it comes to rival pairings, (I guess much is already said) I for one like to imagine that they secretly like each other, but doesn't feel comfortable with it so they set up an act of hating/despising/rivaling each other ^^;

I guess its so popular because they have pretty intense interactions with each other by default and as a reader/watcher, you can imagine WHY it is like that. Plenty of nice possibilities so to speak of and a nice point of view to work from.

Hope this helped a little :)

Love ur icon!

Thank you!:)

Here is the original pic http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Zasaki/Bishounen-Shounen-ai/DGrayMan/Allen%20Walker/1271031655773.jpg

I wish I knew if there is a bigger version of it out there somewhere. Its amazingly hot.

Pretty much what everyone covered. Typical love/hate relationship (even though 'love' is very arguable here) and hooking up two pretty boys. Fandom's never needed proper canon context to ship things/try to make them work, though it's really their business and I won't begrudge them their fun (though I'll never be able to ship it myself).

ิbut I prefer Allen/Kanda♥♥ (and Lavi/Yuu)

Seems like they understand each other even they always fight. Kanda can see the fact Allen, and Kanda is the one that Allen means to, see? XD

wonder why kanda knows Allen bites Timcampy when he was sleeping???

At least Lavi/Kanda makes more sense to me than Allen/Kanda.

And um, I don't quite understand what you're trying to say in the last two sentences, sorry .___.

It's ok. It is a fight conversation in the novel or the book cover i don't remember. :)

hmmm.. i think i saw your post on TM before..^_^V

and i think i post a reason there, where i support LaviYuu not Yullen..>>.<<

and yeah, why pair them if they dont get along well?>>.<<
while the manga says Lavi's friends with Kanda, believe it or not..XD so i go for LaviYuu!XD

Haha really? What's your name on there?

I go for Allen/Lavi because they're such good friends with each other. <3 Lavi/Kanda is also cute, especially when Lavi is joking around and Kanda gets pissed

im yuu-chii on TM.. :))
(the one who always argue about yullen vs. laviyuu..XD)

hahah, i got stuck to the fact that kanda's friends with lavi..XD whaaaaaaa~~~~ love 'em..XD

Added you as a friend on TM >w

confirmed it already!XD

Whew, so far the conversation has been civil :D I was afraid pairing wars might start. Also...

I go for Allen/Lavi because they're such good friends with each other.

\o/

Ah haha sorry, cannot resist *g* Basically, um, yes, others have put in great explanations, like

hamleting :) Which helps me too, since I don't quite get Allen/Kanda either. If you ask me it's the idea of getting rival pairings to work, since that's usually the difficult task and some may like the challenge :) Some may also enjoy the relationship for the confrontational aspect of it.

Oh! You're the person who wrote that epic Allen/Lavi essay!

It's interesting to see the different viewpoints and answers from fellow DGM fans, especially when it's about something that I find puzzling xD

Personally I like Allen/Lavi way better. X|

*hides from the Kanda fans*

Same here lD

/hugs you death

xD

I think

hamleting explained it very well, though it's true that as long as both guys are hot, fandom can (and probably will) pair them up. I'd just like to add though that while I understand why some rivalry pairings don't make much sense, Allen/Kanda wasn't too hard for me to believe because they do help each other out and have to work together a lot. They also notice each other very much, ex. when they get reunited in Japan they're suddenly at each other's throats, flinging insults, and kind of ignoring everyone else. So their mutual presence is obviously a big deal to them, and I've read good fics that stretched that attention from hate to a kind of violent goddamit-why-am-I-so-attracted-to-him affection.

I kind of like the canon Allen/Kanda relationship. Obvious dislike (aww, bickering!) but with some room for speculation.

whaaaaaaa! you've got me freaked out there for a second!XD

lol, as a supporter of LaviYuu, should i be happy?XD hahah, i do like Allen and Kanda's fights, especially, their fight in Edo, when Allen arrived with his crowned clown..XD

i love re-watching that moment..XD

oh, and their prescious moments in the ark too..XD

I'm with you on that. I don't get it either, sort of, while in some ways I do, and I believe

hamleting said it pretty well, like so many already said, even if that's the exact reason I don't think they work... I fail to see how their angry bickering can go any further.

Also, to what

non_pen_writer said... I'm just gonna say that I can't see a single way to make this pairing work without butchering their personalities. It's not natural if you ask me, and forcing them into a pairing relationship or anything even close to that destroys the relationship they have completely, it just... seems forced. Their attitudes towards each other will have to practically change completely for it to really work and I just... can't... see that.

So uh, that was completely unnecessary to say, really, but yeah, just... throwing that out there.

Anyway, a lot of the time it just seems to me like most Yullen fans just went with it from the start because they're both good-looking guys and they met each other early in the manga and all that blah blah. I'm a hardcore LaviYu shipper myself because they're friends and they do get along already, and they're alike in their own way. I don't think Allen and Kanda are alike enough to work even if they might be able to understand each other in some ways. In other ways they're just too different.

...

Uh yeah.

I just don't think it's the kind of rivalry pairing that would work, because there are different kinds of rivalries and... I could get more into that but I've tl;dr'd enough already so I'll just shut up now. XDD;;

I've always wondered...

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