#antibrothershipping

[kaiba-fangirl]

Personal Perspective On Brothershipping... (aka Tabloidshipping)

[Please NOTE: This is not in reference to people who use ship names for just any kind of relation-ship & use these terms platonically. This is about the troubling romanticizing of incest.]

The thing that I have seen way too much of in my time is the unmistakable sexualization of Mokuba with Seto in art & fics. It used to be called Brothershipping, now it’s apparently called Tabloidshipping. Luckily, I don’t seem to have encountered any of that specifically anew around Tumblr. Still, I would like to address this topic, especially since I have been casually mistaken as having just such an inappropriate relationship. Now, I do love all the brother closeness. It’s how Seto captured my heart in the first place. My little brother and I started off the show both rooting for Yugi/Yami since he was the star. We both thought Kaiba was a dick, an easy Saturday-Morning cartoon side villain. But then, he broke into his hidden underground base, hacked into Pegasus’ system, and once that was done, flew straight to Duelist Kingdom. And along the way, he tripped that eldest protector switch in me.

Me: *cheers* Bro: ?_? “Are you rooting for… Kaiba?” Me: “Um, yeah, actually…” Bro: “But he [litany of crimes by ep9]!” Me: “Well, yeeeah, but he’s going to save his brother!”

He rolled his eyes and smirked and actually hasn’t brought it up specifically ever again. Though sometimes, he still likes to confuse people by hugging me & calling me “Big Brother!” in the most annoying voice he can. 😏 Mind you, I am a girl, and he’s since gained nearly a foot on me. Since leaving for college in 2006, and telling stories to people I meet around Philly, every so often I’ll get someone looking at me cockeyed. Some people flat out don’t believe in anyone having a good relationship with their siblings, that I should never take him in account, or that I should try to work against him. Others think that it’s too close quarters to have shared 1 copy of Pokemon Blue. And even a couple closest friends get to saying that we’re too close. *shrug* I dunno, we don’t live in a development and went to a relatively small Catholic school? So we just played together ourselves? Anyway, why would it be a bad thing to enjoy hanging out, playing, and working with your sibling? We also have a family business, and lived with our abusive grandmother, who in turn screwed up our dad, who in turn has been passing it on to us... It’s better to stick together. Now, I’ve been engaged since 2011, and he got engaged this past November. More than once, I’ve been seriously asked if he’s who I’m engaged to. Uhh, how many people around the world are married and also have siblings who are married? Why would someone’s first assumption be that they’re married to each other?! My brother & I have always shared, well, like 90% of our things. We will basically cuddle up on the couch watching TV or something - though I guess for proper comparison here it’s just lazy laying-on-top-of or leaning against. If either of us were “cuddling” with our S.O.s, it’d be a completely different picture. On family vacations in hotels we’ve shared a queen bed and kicked our sister to the pull out bed, cuz she ends up sticking ice cold feet all over you and sometimes sleeps with her eyes open - which. is. horrifying. 

It’s the CONTEXT. Just cuz you’re close, enjoy being together, work well together, and would do anything for each other, does not mean... THAT. And it’s seeing a sibling relationship taken too far that is really a betrayal of that very closeness. It’s a slap in the face of any notion of protecting. Once you sexualize a relationship like that, especially with any kind of difference in age or will, it becomes one simply taking advantage of the other. THAT is a form of abuse. Judging by the # of fics he’s the star of on ffnet, I’d say that Seto’s got just a bit more of a fanbase than the actual star of the show. However you slice it, it’s a lot. And strangely enough, Brother/Tabloidshipping can be tricky to avoid even when you’re say, just browsing Google Images or on Youtube, or DeviantArt specifically. An unedited screenshot of them together may be tagged straight up Tabloidshipping. One second there’s a great brotherly love hug, desperate not to lose each other - it may be described strictly as not any kind of romance. Next to that there’s one of them literally kissing, &/or literally disrobing one another - with or without explanation. And under that, another warm cuddling hug - only its text is ambiguous. Well... which is that one supposed to be??? Don’t forget, some people do use “Brother/Tabloidshipping” for platonic, healthy sibling relationships!  Now, how on earth are you supposed to take ANY pic of them? Are they sharing a bed cuz the kid is scared and they both have abandonment issues, or cuz someone doesn’t know how to treat siblings? And that mistreatment has always been sooo rampant with these 2. It is and has been so pervasive that every single pic, every single interaction comes under scrutiny. They’re fictional characters, so the fan creating for them could have either idea in mind. If you don’t want to support the incestuous taking-advantage-of angle, that leaves you with either a lot of research to do into random strangers, or a constant feeling of awkwardness and uncertainty. Perhaps we need a differentiating tag between the wholesome brotherly love Kaibas, and the incest. I simply use “Kaiba brothers” instead, so there can be no confusing it with a romantic “ship.” Well, til this is ever sorted out, here’s where I stand on this surprisingly confusing topic. Responses welcome. =) (Especially if you have a differentiation solution!)

#incest tw #kaiba brothers #NOT A BROTHERSHIPPER #antiTabloidshipping #antibrothershipping #anti-incest #ygo discourse #shipping