Writing aspec!Yuuri
Following my meta On no getting Eros and the latest chapter of my YOI novelisation this seems the perfect time to talk about my choice to write Yuuri as ace.
The concept of asexuality is still new to me, so I was surprised when earlier this year a reader told me that they related to my Yuuri so much due to being aspec. That comment made me aware what I had been doing subconsciously all along because at that time it had finally registered with me that I was ace myself, thanks to my dear friend @cecebeanie.
By that time, the first few chapters of Yuuri and Viktor dating were out, but nothing else had happened between them so far. The opportunity to revise the chapters I hadn't yet published and scan those already on AO3 for inconsistencies in my portrayal of Yuuri's queer representation couldn't have been any better. Now that I had become aware of the fact that Yuuri in the anime is indeed ace-coded (albeit unintentionally!), I had to fix that in my story because writing true to canon is my Prime Directive.
Let it be suffice to say that my attempts at making Yuuri sexually interested in Viktor was a total mess. As a writer, I can fake experiences that are not my own and portray them believably. I can write about my own experiences, but what I had tried here was an unhinged mix of both. That reader comment had been a blessing because thanks to it I was able to fix the mess before it would see the light of day.
When it comes to the ace-coding of Yuuri, there are three microlabels that are equally compatible with canon:
demisexual Yuuri, greysexual Yuuri, and sex-favourable ace Yuuri.
For all I know, the first one of the three is the most popular. Many aspec fans interpret Yuuri finding his Eros in ep. 6 as the onset of his sexual attraction towards Viktor. However, I have a hard time picturing Yuuri as lusting after Viktor's body at any point in the story. Due to the abovementioned reasons, I didn't trust myself to do the label demisexual justice anyway (same for greysexual). To me, Eros!Yuuri has more the vibe of a kink than of actual sexual attraction. Writing Yuuri as a kinky ace thus made the most sense to me.
Until that chapter last night, I didn't make a fuss about this whole thing because writing an ace character who enjoys sex has the potential to get you hate from both the allos ("ace characters are boring!1!!1!") as well as the ace community ("how dare you make him enjoy sex! Not every ace wants to have sex!"), but so far, the only hate I got was from two aphobic people in the YOI fandom, which are on my blocklist now.
However, I feel like this subject is worth discussing because of the beautiful possibilties it provides:
Introducing readers to a queer label they know little-to-nothing about and dispelling some common misconceptions on the way without throwing around with labels and definitions.
Helping other sex-favourable aces figure themselves out. For four decades, I had no idea I was ace myself because I believed those common misconceptions ("you can't be ace if you like sex").
Deepening the relationship of Viktuuri by having the boys explore their sexualities as a couple.
Rather a headcanon, but not unlikely given Viktor's celebrity status: Viktor gets to marry the only man who doesn't want him for his body.
Having analysed the story of YOI on an academic level for my novelisation over the last 3 years, I have come to the conclusion that aspec!Yuuri is more compatible with canon than any other label I've seen fans slap on him. That Viktor is his first love further suggests that he's a gay demi-romantic as discussed here. Yuuri's entire character-arc wouldn't make sense without either label.
Of course, the YOI creators might have had something totally different in mind. But as a canon writer, I can only work with the finished result and all the meta infos surrounding it, and opt for the explanations that make the most sense in order to create a story with characters that 100% feel like the YOI characters. In Yuuri's case, I am lucky to share a queer experience, which enables me to write him even more authentically. And so far, that has been a lot of fun.
