The Way We Were.........Slash Fandom 101

[accioslash]

I put myself up on the auction block at mctabby's ‘friending frenzy' and I've been gleefully stalking perusing a number of new LJ's lately. There's so much variety I hardly know where to begin. *rubs hands together* Since I don't think I ever properly introduced myself, I'm going to do something I rarely do in my LJ - talk about myself and my

Comments

[ptyx]

What a lovely and interesting article! Thanks for sharing.

[accioslash]

I'm glad you found it interesting. I really had fun writing it. Though my house is now in a shambles from me searching through old 'zine boxes.

[isiscolo]

Hee! I see that by showing you how to post photos on lj, I've created a monster!

Thanks so much for the perspective. I was an SF fan in the Olden Days, but I didn't know slash existed. I have to say, yay for the internet.

[accioslash]

Hee! I see that by showing you how to post photos on lj, I've created a monster!

Yep. I'm thinking about adding a photo to every post from now on just because I know how! *g* Now I just have to get Photoshop and nothing can stop me. Bwahahahaha.

I have to say, yay for the internet.

I enjoy the internet, but I enjoyed slash before, too. Sometimes I think I enjoyed it more back then because I spent more time with other fans than I did reading fics. Now there's just so much available and I have a completest mentality. But there's just no way to read everything. I know, I've tried. ;D

[geoviki]

Oh, this is so interesting!

I have to admit I feel a lot like you did when confronted by the looming IBM Rentals building over your shoulder. Because I was writing Star Trek fanfiction in 1981, and had completed a novel-length fic and everything, but I was utterly unaware of slash at the time. And yet, I was enamoured of male slash in general before then, after I'd discovered the play "The Boys in the Band". So it wasn't from lack of interst, I was just... clueless.

Although as you prove, finding fandom slash wasn't easy. And I was in fandom all alone - I didn't know a single soul who wrote fanfic, and the only form of communication in fandom tha I knew of was to show up in person at cons - at least until you had a connection or two. And apparently I never made that leap.

Love the art. It reminds me of Aubrey Beardsley.

[accioslash]

Sarah (the one I talk about here and who is still my best friend all these years later)is the one who introduced me to the world of slash. If it wouldn't have been for her I don't know if I would have ever found it. I forget sometimes that some people are just hearing about it.

And you're right about communication. It was wonderful once you found some other slash fans (who all seemed to know each other), but until then you were pretty much on your own. It really felt like belonging to a secret society of sorts. I sometimes see the internet that way. I've been around for over a year and still know very few LJ people.

Love the art.

I love Gayle's work. I could kick myself now for not keeping her originals. They were breathtaking. The scans really don't do them justice at all. And she wrote some of the most erotic fics I have ever read. I haven't heard from her in years and years, but I know she is a professional romance writer. Not my cuppa, but if anyone could make me like it, I know she could.

[tekalynn]

*thinking* Anime/manga fandom used to have that "secret society" feeling. It's hard to believe now, because it's so mainstream and you can't throw a rock without hitting a translated Shounen Jump manga in the US, but it used to be HARD to find anime, let alone other people who were interested in it. VHS tapes would be copied from a friend who copied from a friend who copied from a friend who went to an anime club once and met someone who had a friend from Japan. If you were *really* posh, you ordered your own laser discs from Japan, but that cost an arm and a leg. Forget subtitles; everything was raw Japanese unless you were watching a (usually ferociously edited and badly acted) English dub. You followed along with a synopsis of varying detail and accuracy, or if you were *really* in luck, with a translated script someone had typed up.

[accioslash]

Because I was writing Star Trek fanfiction in 1981, and had completed a novel-length fic and everything,

Oh, did you have it published? I ended up selling my gen/het ST collection (which was extensive), but since I read and re-read those stories so often I tend to remember them. Maybe I ran across your fic at one point.

[ex_pumagrrl389]

This was so much fun to read! I wasn't aware of fanfics until a couple of years ago, and now I learned that it has been around for more than 20 years! And the pics were great! Thanks for sharing!

[accioslash]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And actually both fan fiction and slash have been around for even longer than I have. Allegedly there was some Star Trek slash out as early as 1969, but the earliest I've come across is from the mid-70's. Gen fics have been around since, I believe, the 1950's. But, I wasn't really spending much time looking for it. *laughs*

[ex_pumagrrl389]

Oh, the things you learn on LJ!

[accioslash]

OMG, your icon! ♥

[fluffyllama]

This is fascinating, thank you so much for doing all this! And god how jealous am I? I wish I'd discovered slash 25 years ago instead of 2 :D

[accioslash]

I'm glad you liked it. Two years ago, huh? I keep forgetting that new people are discovering slash everyday. With so many fandoms and such brilliant authors and artists it just keeps getting better, doesn't it? ;D