The history of original slash and me
Well, I’ll be damned if I think that original slash is more manageable than Snarry or SasuNaru fandom. I thought Snarry fandom has been progressing too rapid for me to follow, and that was one of the reasons why I left it. With SasuNaru, I stopped because I don’t follow the canon anymore. I feel out of loop when I couldn’t follow the pace of the fandom’s or canon’s progress. It maybe seems silly, but that’s just the way I am.
My first main source when I started on original slash is FictionPress, then I branched out to Nifty. Actually, I’ve known Nifty far earlier than FictionPress, but then, I thought of Nifty as a source of porn rather than a source of original slash, although at that time I’ve indeed found the existence of some greatest stories ever written such as Storm Front, Discovering Gregory, or Tristan’s Redemption on Nifty.
When I branched out to Nifty and explored it deeper, I found numerous great authors and their excellent works. One that I found and followed to his lair is Comicality. From his site, I found Gay Authors that leads me to Awesomedude. I haven’t explored Awesomedude yet, but I clicked on one of the promising links listed on it and to my delight found The Best of Nifty.
I think I got crazy when I found The Best of Nifty, because the site is a solid proof that Nifty isn’t just a source of porn. After finishing The Best of Nifty, I am determined to conquer Nifty and start working on it.
Right now, I’m in the process of taking every fic (still 90% left to collect XD) archived there, no matter how short it is, and I hunt down the authors one by one so far as to their personal sites or Yahoo Groups. It’s like opening the Pandora Box because from there, I found more and more links to explore, while I’m far from finished with my first site, FictionPress. At this point, I admit that I’m filled both with happiness and dread of such promising yet long journal ahead of me.
One positive thinking that I employ when dealing with original slash is this:
Original slash is timeless, because it doesn’t have canon as its basis or to follow. As far as I know, original slash also doesn’t have an actual fans base updated daily, like those Snarry or SasuNaru communities. So, it’s okay if I’m not up to date with the newest stories published, it’s okay if I don’t know what’s “in”, because I don’t have anyone to compare it with. I don’t feel left behind or like a hick when I don’t know this or that popular new story people talk about.
Original slash is the word itself: original. It doesn’t matter if publisher companies do not acknowledge them, because ten or maybe a hundred years later I still could read and enjoy them just like I read and enjoy E.M. Forester’s Maurice or Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey that were written years before I was born. But, who can say for sure that fifty years from now, people will (still) be interested in reading Harry Potter fanfiction?
Btw, I just found out about AASGM and Prince of Tennis the Movie. How left behind do you think I am?XD I don’t put much hope on AASGM, but still it’s very nice of them to zip the fics and put them on Yahoo Groups so people could download them easily. I wish Nifty does the same thing with its millions of fics.
Prince of Tennis the Movie.... what can I say? I’m very disappointed that they chose that skinny, pathetic boy as Echizen Ryoma. The trademark Ryoma’s arrogance, smartass remarks, and sullen pouts are so fake on him. I know that Japanese boys in this era are pretty boy types like in the manga, but if they could find such a bad boy for Ryoma’s final enemy, why couldn’t they find another bad boy to play as Ryoma? As for the others: Oishi is not bald enough, Eiji’s hair is not spiky enough, Inui is so short and too cute for such a psycho, Fuji is not intense enough, Kawamura is not brawny enough, too cute, in fact, Kaidoh is too friendly and not terrifying enough, Momo is actually okay, but I think he exchanged his hot temper with Kaidoh.
And Tezuka.... let’s not forget about the formidable, ice queen Buchou. He is TEH PRETTIEST OF ALL! Such a gorgeous eye candy! Those cheekbones, that nose, those sexy lips.... Everytime the camera zoomed on him, I felt the urge to munch him. If I were his enemy, he would win the game 6-0, not because he’s so skilled, but because I’d have just stood there, drooling over him, and thinking that what I really really want is to get on my knees and worship him with my hands, lips, and tongue.
If only the one who played as Ryoma is as good as Tezuka, the two of them will become a perfect fodder for my yaoi fantasy.