On Bitextuality
So I'm rolling around ideas for my Yuletide pinch-hit story and a sentence pops into my head. "It's not like (character removed to prevent fandom identification) hadn't done the same thing with guys before, but it felt different to watch this woman kiss another." And I realised that I have no problem writing a (mostly) het story that has allusions to prior slash relationships. Because I have no reason not to think that it's possible that the girl has kissed another woman (due to a situation in canon) and I just see the guy as having been with a guy before given his job in canon.
And that got me thinking. A lot of slash fans tend to prefer het written by other slash fans, rather than (if known) het written by het-only fans. And I'm wondering if that could be why? That not saying that they are and were straight always and forever and just because the person they're with in this story/universe is of the opposite gender doesn't mean that if things had turned out differently that they wouldn't have ended up in a same-sex relationship.
And, conversely, I tend to like the implication in purely or almost purely (depending on the degree of stickler-iness on what constitutes it) slash that if things had been different in that universe/person/situation/story that maybe the person of the opposite gender, rather than the lover of the same gender that they're having wonderful sex with.
It could be because I tend to consider the characters as bi unless there's a compelling reason to consider them gay (lack of women, lack of interest in women on-screen do not qualify as compelling to me), or it could be that I like to explore the possibilities.
But I can't help wondering if a part of it is being a fan of slash and het as well.
(PS: Comment answers coming - I start vacation on Saturday - technically tomorrow but I'm doing the shopping thing then)
And that got me thinking. A lot of slash fans tend to prefer het written by other slash fans, rather than (if known) het written by het-only fans. And I'm wondering if that could be why? That not saying that they are and were straight always and forever and just because the person they're with in this story/universe is of the opposite gender doesn't mean that if things had turned out differently that they wouldn't have ended up in a same-sex relationship.
And, conversely, I tend to like the implication in purely or almost purely (depending on the degree of stickler-iness on what constitutes it) slash that if things had been different in that universe/person/situation/story that maybe the person of the opposite gender, rather than the lover of the same gender that they're having wonderful sex with.
It could be because I tend to consider the characters as bi unless there's a compelling reason to consider them gay (lack of women, lack of interest in women on-screen do not qualify as compelling to me), or it could be that I like to explore the possibilities.
But I can't help wondering if a part of it is being a fan of slash and het as well.
(PS: Comment answers coming - I start vacation on Saturday - technically tomorrow but I'm doing the shopping thing then)