How Do YOU Define Slash?

[gehayi]

Got into a discussion at fanficrants about slash, and now I'm a bit perplexed.

Now, I've been in various fandoms for the past thirty years. The original Star Trek. Star Wars. Doctor Who. Highlander: The Series. Poltergeist: The Legacy. Buffy. Angel. Harry Potter. Rent. (ETA: I forgot to mention Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series and Jacqueline

Comments

[katsaris]

Given all this, and assuming you define slash as "non-canonical homosexual relationship"-and no, I'm not being sarcastic here--what DO you call a story dealing with a canonical lesbian or a homosexual relationship/romance/sexual escapade? It's not genfic. And it sure as hell isn't het.

I'm calling it a "story concerning a homosexual relationship". Same way that a story concerning a murder, I'd call it "story concerning a murder", and a mystery story I'd call a "mystery story".

I don't use the terms "het" or "genfic" at all, not even in my own stories that include hetero relationships or no relationships at all. For starters I don't like at all the concept of so cleanly segregating between groups of fics by the sole criterion of which genitalia go where, as if we're porn manufacturers which must cater to a specific audience. As if our stories *must* be divided by the nature of its sexual content.

I do use the word "slash" for stories concerning non-canonical homosexual relationships, but that's because I do see this group of fics

[gehayi]

For starters I don't like at all the concept of so cleanly segregating between groups of fics by the sole criterion of which genitalia go where, as if we're porn manufacturers which must cater to a specific audience. As if our stories *must* be divided by the nature of its sexual content.I don't either, but that happens a lot with fanfic, as so many archives are character-specific, pairing-specific, or have certain words that they won't permit in fics

[ani_bester]

I think when most people hear it they assume it's a non canonical relationship because 97% of the tiem it is. It's like you have to warn for Harry/Draco because if you just say Harry and Darco few people are going to think there's any possibility of them sleeping together.

Where as if I said Ivonova and Talia (canon lesbian lovers) you know there's a chance they'll be in bed, even more so if it's a more active homosexual couple.

I think because, as you said, there are now canon openly gay characters, the definition is evolving.

Usually if I say "slash" in a conversation, I mean a non canon pair. I tend to use "and" if they're married or sexualy active in canon (Lily and James).
But for a fanfic/art warning it's just Lily/James Peter/Remus etc etc

[gehayi]

Who are Ivanova and Talia? I've never heard of them.

I tend to use "and" if they're married or sexualy active in canon

Heh. I tend to use "and" if the two are present together in the fic, but aren't interacting romantically or sexually. (As in Bargains, which I labelled "Peter and Snape," rather than "Peter/Snape.")

It seems there's no way to avoid confusion.

[ani_bester]

Who are Ivanova and Talia? I've never heard of them. Characters from the Sci-Fi show Babylon 5.

Heh. I tend to use "and" if the two are present together in the fic, but aren't interacting romantically or sexually.
Well yeah, if wriitng, But thinking about how I talk, I'll say "and" when talking about a canon couple, I think, rather than slash. I can't think that I've ever said James"slash"Lily out loud, but I know I've said Sirius "salsh" Remus or dozens of times.

So for me, a difference only pop up in spoken conversation . . at least I think so. ^^

[gehayi]

I would just say "Sirius Remus" or "James Lily" if I were talking in terms of pairings, and leave the slash silent. I guess everyone does it differently.

[daegaer]

I think the term originally carried connotations of "non-canonical homosexual relationship", and that those connotations were then made explicit once shows started having canon homosexual relationships - people were trying to preserve what they saw as part of the original meaning of the term, it seems to me. I think most people would use it to include both canon and non-canon homosexual relationships in fic now - I have seen attempts to broaden it to mean all romantic relationships, but that seems a semantic drift too far.

The one peculiar thing I find about how some people use slash is as meaning "fics containing explicit sex scenes", as it makes me wonder what stories containing a homosexual relationship but no, or non-explicit, sex scenes might be. (I'd say "slash", but the lack of hawt butt-secks might disqualify such stories for a lot of people).

[gehayi]

The one peculiar thing I find about how some people use slash is as meaning "fics containing explicit sex scenes"

I've never heard that definition. And really, it seems superfluous when you have terms like PWP, erotica and porn.

I have seen attempts to broaden it to mean all romantic relationships, but that seems a semantic drift too far.

I agree. That does seem to be a bit of a reach. By the way, where did you get that great icon?

[daegaer]

I love this icon so much! rymenhild made it for me (she made a whole lot for people, s you may see others cropping up).

I've never heard that definition.It's never stated explicitly, but it certainly seems to be at the base of a lot of answers that crop up in comments on "why women write slash" posts - "for the same reason men like watching f/f porn"; "because one dick is hot and two dicks are hotter"; "because women like penetrative sex"; "because two guys are pretty together", etc, etc. Very often such comments are in rebuttal to published academics' views (in particular Constance Penley and Camille Bacon-Smith, I think) that it might have something to do with writing relationships that are more equal in some ways than m/f relationships tend to be written. Such views are usually simply declared to be wrong, because it's all about "one dick hot/2 dicks hotter

[hekatelesedi]

Slash is any homosexual relationship, canonical or no.

[penknife]

I see slash as any fanfic involving a same-sex relationship, but I know some people feel that it's only fanfic about non-canon same-sex relationships. I still don't really understand why people feel the need to make this distinction; maybe I am just insufficiently old-school.