Confessions of a yaoi/slash addict
Over the last few months, I've been running across disdainful references to yaoi/slash and its writers. People who seem to think that if you're a serious writer, you focus more on the "plot, storyline, and character development" and less on the sex.
Yesterday, I ran across a club for a certain fandom I'm involved in. This club was anti-yaoi and anti-slash. It was a "safe haven" for those writers who wanted "serious fic" and "stories with substance"; and their purpose was to filter all the "yaoi trash"; they wanted to avoid all the "stupid yaoi writers" and their "perversions".
Well, you know, what? I'm into fanfic *for* the yaoi/slash. I write and read fanfic in order to see the male characters of my favorite show get it on with each other; I read and write because I like to see character A getting naughty with character B. There, that's the truth. I'm not ashamed of it. Am I a pervert? You bet. That doesn't make me stupid. It doesn't make me less intelligent than any "gen" writer out there.
I happen to think that I put plenty of thought into my stories. I find ways to fit my smut into the canon material, and to make something happen. Sometimes I get an idea for a story that just won't leave me alone, and sometimes I write just for the sex, gratuitous and shameless. I'm not opposed to PWP's. They can be fun.
I'm not interested in long storylines and complicated plots. You want to know why? Because most shows already have that. And there are plenty of books out there I can read, also. I'm not saying gen fic isn't good. Heck, there are some very talented writers out there who write gen stories. But that's not what *I* am looking for. What I'm looking for is the 'behind the scenes'; I'm interested in the subtext; in the naughty bits that we happen to imagine while watching a show, and never get to see in the source material.
It drives me insane to see people trashing yaoi/slash writers just because the m/m stuff isn't up their alley. (Het stories, in general, aren't up *my* alley. For many reasons. But I don't go around trashing them or looking down on the het writers.)
You know what else drives me insane? Reading stories labeled as "yaoi" where I have to go through 30+ parts of plot twists and exposition before I can get to see a chaste kiss between the two main characters. Get to the smut, already! It's deceiving to label your fic as "yaoi" when you're not really writing it. I'm not saying slash stories can't have plot. What I'm saying is that some writers focus so much on their original plot ideas, and diverge so far from the canon source, that they might as well just be writing original fic and stop pretending to write slash fanfic.
I like stories with strong characterization and knowledge of the canon, but please, if you're writing "slash" or "yaoi", then give me the smut.
And if you happen to be a "gen" or "het" writer, then good for you. But don't give me a holier than thou atttitude. Disliking yaoi/slash doesn't make you better than any of us. Honestly.
Yesterday, I ran across a club for a certain fandom I'm involved in. This club was anti-yaoi and anti-slash. It was a "safe haven" for those writers who wanted "serious fic" and "stories with substance"; and their purpose was to filter all the "yaoi trash"; they wanted to avoid all the "stupid yaoi writers" and their "perversions".
Well, you know, what? I'm into fanfic *for* the yaoi/slash. I write and read fanfic in order to see the male characters of my favorite show get it on with each other; I read and write because I like to see character A getting naughty with character B. There, that's the truth. I'm not ashamed of it. Am I a pervert? You bet. That doesn't make me stupid. It doesn't make me less intelligent than any "gen" writer out there.
I happen to think that I put plenty of thought into my stories. I find ways to fit my smut into the canon material, and to make something happen. Sometimes I get an idea for a story that just won't leave me alone, and sometimes I write just for the sex, gratuitous and shameless. I'm not opposed to PWP's. They can be fun.
I'm not interested in long storylines and complicated plots. You want to know why? Because most shows already have that. And there are plenty of books out there I can read, also. I'm not saying gen fic isn't good. Heck, there are some very talented writers out there who write gen stories. But that's not what *I* am looking for. What I'm looking for is the 'behind the scenes'; I'm interested in the subtext; in the naughty bits that we happen to imagine while watching a show, and never get to see in the source material.
It drives me insane to see people trashing yaoi/slash writers just because the m/m stuff isn't up their alley. (Het stories, in general, aren't up *my* alley. For many reasons. But I don't go around trashing them or looking down on the het writers.)
You know what else drives me insane? Reading stories labeled as "yaoi" where I have to go through 30+ parts of plot twists and exposition before I can get to see a chaste kiss between the two main characters. Get to the smut, already! It's deceiving to label your fic as "yaoi" when you're not really writing it. I'm not saying slash stories can't have plot. What I'm saying is that some writers focus so much on their original plot ideas, and diverge so far from the canon source, that they might as well just be writing original fic and stop pretending to write slash fanfic.
I like stories with strong characterization and knowledge of the canon, but please, if you're writing "slash" or "yaoi", then give me the smut.
And if you happen to be a "gen" or "het" writer, then good for you. But don't give me a holier than thou atttitude. Disliking yaoi/slash doesn't make you better than any of us. Honestly.