Meta: Drowning in Waving

[executrix]

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the "wave theory" of slash (and some about how it would work in analyzing het fics). princessofg is pretty much the point person in unlocked posts. If you're friended to cathexys' LJ, she's been talking about it too. (Cut for interminability)

Comments

[executrix]

TV--even shows that we like, that are on Fox for, like, 11 minutes--is a big business, and fanfic isn't any kind of business whatsoever, no one's in charge of it, and there's no capital investment and you don't have to worry about upsetting the advertisers.

I was extremely surprised to see that analysts of fanfic usually did make a distinction between slash and gayfics, and, if anything, tended to find slash superior to gayfic. There are probably reasons for this other than homophobia, and I'm kind of hypervigilant about homophobia in fandom anyway, so don't go by me.

The Best in This Kind Are But Shadows

[executrix]

No matter who's doing what to whom, written porn is always going to be different from filmed porn. I haven't seen a lot of filmed pornography, or read a lot of non-fannish porn, because it's just really difficult to write about sex without making it sound unattractive. And I'm not having that!

Professionally published gay fiction--whether lightly sensual or all-out porn--is subject to market pressures, and publishers publish only what they think will sell (a determination that they are remarkably bad at making). So we have a lot more freedom as ficwriters, because even though more than a few ficwriters get paid to write other things, we can be as daring or as conventional as we like.

[cathexys]

Fanfic: More of the Same or What They Won't Give You On TV. I wonder if that isn't a really important trajectory that needs to be fit somewhere into this methodology...because really whether you want to write what isn't there or want to write more of what you love---major difference!!! (And I think that goes for canon and fanon equally!)

[executrix]

In or outside the sexual arena, there is a lot of fanfic that stems from the desire to fix things--whether who survives, or has or doesn't have an adequate number of horrible injuries. Although it's hard not to feel envious of somebody whose canon is 10 seasons when yours is half a season.

[musesfool]

But they're not mutually exclusive. I want both, sometimes even at the same time (more of what they won't give me on tv), depending on mood, fandom, time of day, etc.

I dunno. I am still processing this whole discussion.