There’s now lesbian fiction about Yanny and Laurel, and we’re here for it
(Pexels and PlanetaryKnight/twitter)
If you’ve been alive and on the internet for the last day, you’ve seen the Yanny v Laurel debate.
This is the sound clip which went viral because it’s the audio equivalent of a colour blindness test.
When you listen to it, you either hear Yanny or Laurel, and in either case, you’re convinced that what you heard is the only possible outcome and that everyone who disagrees must be trolling you.
What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I
— Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018
For those with a deep knowledge of all things viral, the whole incident was reminiscent of The Dress, a controversy over a white-and-gold or black-and-blue dress which took over the internet in 2015.
And where you have a viral phenomenon, you have an opportunity for people to create a fandom – and where there’s a fandom, there’s shipping, and sometimes even slash fiction.
For those unfamiliar with this practice, it comprises taking two characters and creating a narrative in which they become romantically involved, often in a same-sex relationship.
Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (DC Comics)
That is exactly what Twitter user Kodi Mac, a self-described “tired polymath & queer space lizard,” has done brilliantly.
The 31-year-old, who uses they/them pronouns wrote: “Yanny & Laurel are my lesbian ship.
“Yanny’s a biker chick with a chip on her shoulder who falls for Laurel; a glam rockabilly girl with a penchant for sarcasm who doesn’t take Yanny’s s**t.
(PlanetaryKnight/twitter)
“Chaos and romance ensue.”
Their tweet has now attracted more than 1,000 retweets and likes.
And after receiving encouragement from new fans, Kodi added another passage to the pair’s engrossing love story.
“WELL, YOU SEE. Yanny met Laurel at a drag race, where Laurel & her current girlfriend – one of the racers – had just broken up.
(PlanetaryKnight/twitter)
“Yanny, inspired by the pure rage of their argument or something, decides to enter the race last minute.
“She doesn’t know why at the time. But it’s love.”
We don’t know about you, but we’re hooked.
Fandoms are unendingly creative, as we found out earlier this week when a Marvel enthusiast went viral after spotting that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man had portrayed a bisexual meme in Avengers: Infinity War.
They created a beautiful piece of songwriting to go along with the picture.
(whizzwhozz/twitter)
To the tune of the classic Spider-Man theme song – which was also popularised by the 2007 Simpsons Movie – Twitter user gren wrote: “BI-DERMAN / BI-DERMAN / DOES WHATEVER A BI-DER CAN.
“KISS A MAN? / SURE WHY NOT / ALSO HE THINKS GIRLS ARE HOT / LOOK OUT / HERE COMES THE BI-DER MAN.”
The tweet achieved viral fame at the same time that Marvel fans were declaring Thor a lesbian icon.
(Marvel)
And to be fair, Marvel films don’t have many LGBT superheroes to look up to.
Unlike 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool series, which now includes a kick-ass lesbian couple, the pansexual Deadpool and Shatterstar, a bisexual, polyamorous superhero, Marvel has been reticent to feature any LGBT characters.
