This essay first appeared in yaoi zine 2: the anal/ysis issue.

One could say that I came into maturity during the golden age of yaoi. SasuNaru AMVs were a genre unto themselves on early YouTube. Lawlight icons were inescapable in LiveJournal comment sections. As a middle schooler who liked manga and spent most of my time online, yaoi was a spectre looming over my consciousness that proved impossible to exorcise.