New Doujinshi: Space Cruiser Yamato -- Diplomacy

Of course, this is all Jon's fault. He was watching a subtitled version of Final Yamato online while I was lounging on the sofa recuperating from the first cancer surgery. I happened to glance over during the climax of the film and found myself transfixed and deeply puzzled. There was Leader Dessler, once sworn enemy of the Yamato not only coming to the ship's rescue in its most dire hour, but also lovingly sniffing and caressing a flower left behind in tribute by Kodai when he and the Yamato crew thought the Leader had been killed. Dessler addressed Kodai alone – no one else seemed to be relevant. He put his ship between Kodai's and those who sought his demise. It was epic...and kind of sexy.

Jon noticed my eyebrow had gone up. He said there was no way Kodai would ever hook up with Dessler. He had Yuki, his longtime girlfriend. In fact, he married her at the end of the film. My eyebrow remained up. I was in need of a challenging writing exercise. At that point in my treatment, I was reading a lot but doing no writing beyond my blog. It was merely an exercise, but it produced Mercy Mission, a story I was quite proud of. I wrote a second story in my grand seduction scheme called State Visit. That was very amusing and, Jon thought, quite touching.

I would have left it at that. But then, I went to Yaoi-con last year. I did a panel there on rape and con-con in yaoi fiction (I'm against it – vehemently). One of the attendees asked in frustration over my stance how a writer could get together two strong male characters without one of them using force. I told her that it's called seduction. A skilled lover can make anything sound reasonable if there is an attraction between the characters. Since all Yaoi posits that there is always an attraction, there is always an opening for seduction. Jon mentioned my tinkering with Space Cruiser Yamato as a case in point. I decided then that I should finish the trilogy and put it online before I'm asked about it at the upcoming Yaoi-con.

Without further ado, I give you Space Cruiser Yamato – Diplomacy, a Doujinshi. Considering the source material, I can't really call it slash. Though given that there are bestsellers that are, in fact, fanfiction, I am calling this a re-imagining. Haper-Collins, I await your call and fat advance check.