Hm... As a writer of self-proclaimed slashy original works, your entry intrigued me. I think that there's is still a wide variation on what people call "slash", despite how firm your own convictions on the term may be. What I mean is... I grew into reading slash fic from anime, and perhaps that's influenced my opinion. To me, slash isn't homosexual or homoerotic fanfic regarding canonically straight characters. Slash is simply stories that involve bi or gay characters, or that heavily feature homosexual or homoerotic themes.
It simplifies things quite a bit. It means that I'm just as comfortable calling a Robin Hood/Will Scarlett fic slash as I am calling Harry/Draco slash. The same goes for canonically gay pairings. I equally use slash both in and out of fanfic, but then I refer to both fanfic and original fic as "fic," for "fiction."
Fic is fic to me; something that is of particular interest, I think, is how many fanfic conventions come out when fanfic writers try their hands at original stories. Online stories are written in a considerably different way than printed text. Often it seems that online original work is written for impact per chapter, whereas printed books tend to have more emphasis on the story arc itself, the plot and keeping things smooth. I'd elaborate, but I'm running late to go get a kid from daycare. ^_^
Argh. In short, slash = homosexual or homoerotic themes in a work of fiction. The characters can be canonically gay, they can be canonically straight, they can be canonically attracted to watermelons, it doesn't matter.
But out of curiousity, why do people have a problem with turning canonically gay characters straight? we turn canonically - or assumed canonically - straight characters gay all the time. When I read, it's for the characters and their relationships with other characters, not because a man is boinking another man.
I think I'd make more sense if I wasn't typing at 70 WPM trying to get this out. Ack. Late!
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Date: 2004-11-16 02:05 pm (UTC)It simplifies things quite a bit. It means that I'm just as comfortable calling a Robin Hood/Will Scarlett fic slash as I am calling Harry/Draco slash. The same goes for canonically gay pairings. I equally use slash both in and out of fanfic, but then I refer to both fanfic and original fic as "fic," for "fiction."
Fic is fic to me; something that is of particular interest, I think, is how many fanfic conventions come out when fanfic writers try their hands at original stories. Online stories are written in a considerably different way than printed text. Often it seems that online original work is written for impact per chapter, whereas printed books tend to have more emphasis on the story arc itself, the plot and keeping things smooth. I'd elaborate, but I'm running late to go get a kid from daycare. ^_^
Argh. In short, slash = homosexual or homoerotic themes in a work of fiction. The characters can be canonically gay, they can be canonically straight, they can be canonically attracted to watermelons, it doesn't matter.
But out of curiousity, why do people have a problem with turning canonically gay characters straight? we turn canonically - or assumed canonically - straight characters gay all the time. When I read, it's for the characters and their relationships with other characters, not because a man is boinking another man.
I think I'd make more sense if I wasn't typing at 70 WPM trying to get this out. Ack. Late!