Hmm, the 'making overt' thing is a subtler point than I was making-- mostly I was just going for the 'yeah, higher sexual content than original subtext' idea without trying to deny that the subtext was there-- though it was sloppy to call it 'non-sexual' 'cause that implies the subtext was necessarily low. I mean, yeah, the level of apparent sexual chemistry between the 'original' two characters varies-- and it can be low or, rarely, high. In comparison, I've found it a lot lower-- for instance, I've never thought there was sexual chemistry between Jim & Spock or Harry & Draco or Sirius & Remus in canon, myself, so at least in part, that's going to be in the eye of the beholder. I was mostly agreeing with the 'slash as intensification of subtext' thing and rushing through it 'cause I lost my first comment and wasn't actually looking at what you'd said the second time.
Also, I didn't mean to imply that you are writing any particular kind of QaF fic-- I was only referring to the fics I've read (not that many, but a reasonable amount). Just because I think they're much more traditionally romantic (most of them) than the show doesn't mean I don't think the show's B/J dynamic isn't romantic-- just that I think the fics 'fill in' some drive the fans must have to have Brian be more 'obvious' in his feelings. I wasn't condoning the behavior or making a commentary on the B/J relationship on the show-- merely on the fics I myself have read (and I don't think I've read yours). So I was saying that for me, the fics I'd read worked as 'slash' because they took an aspect of the show (semi-heteronormative romance) that was subtle but present and made it obvious. I mean, most QaF fic I've read hasn't been that good (...not surprising considering the general quality of fanfic), so I'm not saying the 'messing' I'm describing is actually a 'good thing', but then I wasn't attaching value to it.
I see what you're saying about making your own subtext overt within the course of the story-- I think any good (romance) story does that (by which definition it'd always be slashing itself as well as the source). I tend to think of the source as non-overt because I think of 'slashing' as something the audience does. And since I -am- my own audience sort of, I can see the potential for slash, but feel if I delivered it, I'd be writing straightforward romance and not something that can be slashed (by others).
I think the difference we have is a question of whether the writer is an 'audience' (of an outside source of which the reader is also the audience of simultaneously) is necessary for something to be defined as 'slash' (which means that 'slashy'-- that is subtextually charged-- is something else, really).
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Date: 2004-11-16 10:29 pm (UTC)Also, I didn't mean to imply that you are writing any particular kind of QaF fic-- I was only referring to the fics I've read (not that many, but a reasonable amount). Just because I think they're much more traditionally romantic (most of them) than the show doesn't mean I don't think the show's B/J dynamic isn't romantic-- just that I think the fics 'fill in' some drive the fans must have to have Brian be more 'obvious' in his feelings. I wasn't condoning the behavior or making a commentary on the B/J relationship on the show-- merely on the fics I myself have read (and I don't think I've read yours). So I was saying that for me, the fics I'd read worked as 'slash' because they took an aspect of the show (semi-heteronormative romance) that was subtle but present and made it obvious. I mean, most QaF fic I've read hasn't been that good (...not surprising considering the general quality of fanfic), so I'm not saying the 'messing' I'm describing is actually a 'good thing', but then I wasn't attaching value to it.
I see what you're saying about making your own subtext overt within the course of the story-- I think any good (romance) story does that (by which definition it'd always be slashing itself as well as the source). I tend to think of the source as non-overt because I think of 'slashing' as something the audience does. And since I -am- my own audience sort of, I can see the potential for slash, but feel if I delivered it, I'd be writing straightforward romance and not something that can be slashed (by others).
I think the difference we have is a question of whether the writer is an 'audience' (of an outside source of which the reader is also the audience of simultaneously) is necessary for something to be defined as 'slash' (which means that 'slashy'-- that is subtextually charged-- is something else, really).