The Willow/Tara thing is interesting-- and in this way it probably becomes more like Mulder/Scully than your usual slashfic or fanfic in general (since how often does anything we write come true?). I think this is where 'pre-slash' could be something found in an original text-- that is to say, you could say BtVS was 'slashy' (had subtext) and then acted on its own subtext (which is well within the typical bounds for a TV show). TV shows often slowly build up subtext of all sorts and then-- subtly or suddenly-- realize it. That's how it happened with Buffy/Spike. I mean, you could ask, when did B/S become canon, and how to look at the B/S fic in 5th season, considering 6th season?
I think in this case, it'd be easiest to make a blanket statement that 'all fanfic and therefore slash is AU by default'-- even if that AU 'matches' the reality of the show, it could never match it completely-- the dynamic is bound to be somewhat 'OOC' in a strange way, because different things happened if nothing else. So yes, while it remained a same-sex romance both in fic and on the show, that didn't make it -slash- (an act of changing the source by playing with gender/sexuality/attraction) after Willow & Tara consummated-- admitted their attraction to themselves on air.
I was looking back on your poll-- and the option for OOC characterization not being 'slash'/fanfic-- and I realized why I'd still call OOC things slash. I think there's a process of projection that goes on in OOC fics the same as with AU fics-- that is, I notice myself 'filling in' or pretending that the character I'm reading really is the one I think of as the 'real' one.
Like... I think some suspension of disbelief is definitely involved. I have certain things-- certain traits-- that I'd refuse to see messed with and lack or presence of them would throw me right out of a fanfic-- but generally, I'm willing to 'go with the flow' even if it's OOC because I can project the missing pieces of the character or ignore the ones that don't 'fit'. And if it's an AU, I can just link the fic I'm reading to the characters I know, and it becomes part of the 'fanon' or general mass of fanfic (mixed with canon) I use as reference when reading fics.
So I mean, I think it depends how sensitive one is to that particular characterization and how one perceives the original, 'real' character in the first place. Some readers have very fluid ideas of who other people/characters are, and some are certain of some things but not others, and some are just certain of everything, I think. I guess it's not enough to just say 'OOC' in this case 'cause it depends on context & reader so much, as far as what's necessary to keep a fic being 'fanfic' (and thus slash).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
and yet more rambling...
Date: 2004-11-16 03:12 pm (UTC)I think in this case, it'd be easiest to make a blanket statement that 'all fanfic and therefore slash is AU by default'-- even if that AU 'matches' the reality of the show, it could never match it completely-- the dynamic is bound to be somewhat 'OOC' in a strange way, because different things happened if nothing else. So yes, while it remained a same-sex romance both in fic and on the show, that didn't make it -slash- (an act of changing the source by playing with gender/sexuality/attraction) after Willow & Tara consummated-- admitted their attraction to themselves on air.
I was looking back on your poll-- and the option for OOC characterization not being 'slash'/fanfic-- and I realized why I'd still call OOC things slash. I think there's a process of projection that goes on in OOC fics the same as with AU fics-- that is, I notice myself 'filling in' or pretending that the character I'm reading really is the one I think of as the 'real' one.
Like... I think some suspension of disbelief is definitely involved. I have certain things-- certain traits-- that I'd refuse to see messed with and lack or presence of them would throw me right out of a fanfic-- but generally, I'm willing to 'go with the flow' even if it's OOC because I can project the missing pieces of the character or ignore the ones that don't 'fit'. And if it's an AU, I can just link the fic I'm reading to the characters I know, and it becomes part of the 'fanon' or general mass of fanfic (mixed with canon) I use as reference when reading fics.
So I mean, I think it depends how sensitive one is to that particular characterization and how one perceives the original, 'real' character in the first place. Some readers have very fluid ideas of who other people/characters are, and some are certain of some things but not others, and some are just certain of everything, I think. I guess it's not enough to just say 'OOC' in this case 'cause it depends on context & reader so much, as far as what's necessary to keep a fic being 'fanfic' (and thus slash).