The definition of slash has changed so much over the years. It used to be that any non-canon pairing was slash (example: Kirk/Spock would be slash, but so would say McCoy/Uhura). The definition later changed to largely mean a story with two male or two female characters in a romantic relationship. The irony is, that while most of the time it's not canon, there are some instances where it is canon. Is that slash then? It applies to most m/m or f/f characters because people love to write things that just couldn't happen. But if it's canon, what then?
In any case, I'm in the unenviable position of being in the middle on this issue. I do write slash but I despise most of the slash online. It's badly written for the most part and handled in the most unrealistic manner imaginable. There's nothing that bothers me more than two characters who fall madly in love without any apparent reason - and that applies just as much to het as it does to slash, at least for me. For most writers it seems like slash is just an excuse to have two characters being as far out of character as possible - or else it's an excuse to see two characters whom the writer considers attractive having lots of wild sex. It tends to be the next step up from horrendous self-insert fics, both in quality and in the way it's viewed by the majority of the writers and readers.
I prefer stories which can force me to suspend my disbelief and which provide a logical and natural-seeming progression. Then again, my views on what slash is also seem to be somewhat skewed. I have one story which I identify as a slash story. It consists of five separate stories - the first of which is complete, and two others are currently in progress. The first "book" if you will is also the shortest at just over 60,000 words. In the entirety of those 60,000 words, there is not one kiss or smut scene or declaration of undying love. Far from it - as the closest to any of those thing that has happened so far is one character holding another at gunpoint and threatening to blow their brains out. I just received my 100th review on said story (this morning, in fact) and I'm both surprised and pleased to say that the majority of my readers aren't slash fans. Actually, many slash fans refuse to read it because it doesn't have overt slash within the first 10-15 thousand
words or so.
So how far into the story before there -is- slash?
The very last of the five books has a brief moment of slash - two scenes. They are extremely mild - no smut, no kissing, no declarations of undying love, what have you. In fact, it is very easy to read the single "I love you" to be the same thing I would tell a good friend of mine who is the the same sex as me - words which are genuine but devoid of any sexual interest. Actually, that would be a fairly accurate assessment of the relationship between the two characters - love which exists without the element of romance.
Again, my view on the matter may be somewhat skewed, and every reasoning I've listed also works when applied to a male/female pairing as well. But I understand too that I'm in the minority as far as slash readers and writers are concerned.
*Growly
Christopher Angel <c_j_angel@hotmail.com> wrote:
Though I wouldn't shed a tear if they decided to stay away. The less bad
slash we have around here, the better. But, bad slash comes part in
parcel
with change...
Don't get me started on slash. I write BtVS fiction, and could give you a
whole disertation on my feelings towards (non-canon) slash. HOWEVER, if
that's the price we have to pay for keeping this list alive *and* for
expanding the content, I can deal. Just don't make me read it.
"If everyone else is beef ravioli and you're fettuchini alfredo, does that make this question as ridiculous as it sounds?"
SHMILY!! <3
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