On Bitextuality

[joanne_c]

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

Comments

[shusu]

Just wandered in... just from my readers, I'm not really sure either way. I have slash fans who refuse to read any non-OTP, regardless of orientation. I have het fans who only come for the het and skip the slash. I have fans who'll read anything. I have... all kinds of commenters. So perhaps orientation should be taken separately from exclusivity. Not that they're related, but that some people don't want to read any hints of a previous relationship. Maybe there's correlation there? I'm not so sure there's a direct relationship, though. It's a thought.

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.

I wrote that! Took the gay couple, gave them kids, threw the kids into their past... and then the timeline changed and the couple didn't coalesce. One of them developed a het relationship. While the kids raised with the gay relationship watched. The reviews were interesting.

[joanne_c]

Oh I think so, you're right about that. I'm not an OTP - or really OT anything, my one OT3 and two het OTPs being the exceptions that prove the rule. And I can still see the OT3 or OTPs with others depending on time it's set.

And I would love to see that story! Could I have a link?

[sparklebutch]

A lot of slash fans tend to prefer het written by other slash fans

Also, queer reading/writing of the text, and a bit less on the stereotypical, disgusting gender roles.

[sparklebutch]

As if that doesn't exist in slash. *eyeroll* I'd just point you to ff.net and the latest "Draco is a veela" fic.

[joanne_c]

Not sure it's worth unscreening as I was so late answering and this is anon but oh well.

It does exist in both genres, I agree on that.

[joanne_c]

Depends on what you consider to be stereotypical and disgusting I see a lot of thst in slash too... it's all about how the writer writes IMO.

Oh and there's a reply to you I just unscreened cause it was anon.

[babydraco]

Many het writers are het writers because they can't see the queer subtext. And they can't do that because their brains are locked into seeing only traditional male/female roles. It tends to come out in their writing. But slash writers can see other sides to the characters, so they're able to explore all the nuances of a relationship and readers end up feeling less like they're experiencing something that just reinforces restrictive roles and more like they're reading real people.

[joanne_c]

I don't know about it being nasty - I do see the point of it. But you are right too, it can and does go both ways.

Sorry this took so long, RL ran over me.

[joanne_c]

While I have seen that, it is a bit of a generalisation, and I'm not very comfortable with it as a default setting.

What about those who write het but write it unconventionally, not using blatant subtext. I mean, I bet if I went looking for... *pulls Buffy pairing out of the air* Faith/Oz there'd be a decent amount but I don't recall them having much interaction in the show that could be seen as romantic.

[carmarthen]

I don't think I do prefer het written by slash fans. I prefer het written by a small handful of writers, most of whom are het/gen writers. Perhaps I am looking for the gen sensibility? Mind, there aren't a lot of het pairings I like, and I like them handled a certain way. I think it's possible to look at pairings in a non-traditional way without being a slash writer.

But I can see your hypothesis applying to other people.

[joanne_c]

Nothing wrong with the gen sensibility. I think I tend to see things that way even if it's a canon is here, fic is over there *points vaguely to the left* situation.

[redfiona99]

I'm pretty much with Carmathen. I tend to find a lot of slash writers, not the good ones obviously but the same goes for good het writers, tend to force their characters into something very similar to traditional roles and so it's all much of a muchness to me.

Then again, I'm a corrupted gen writer so what do I know ;)

[carmarthen]

Then again, I'm a corrupted gen writer so what do I know ;)

I think we corrupted gen types look at things differently from dyed-in-the-wool slashers or corrupted het writers. Maybe there's another meta post there?

[joanne_c]

That is a really interesting thought because now I think about it, I identify with the corrupted gen mindset far more than the dyed in the wool slash or het writers. I do see a lot of slash subtext but there are some slash pairings I don't see and in some cases am not squicked by but can't really abide. Mostly the bit OTPs of fandom, which is probably not a coincidence...

It could be an interesting post...

[joanne_c]

And the phenomenon of this in slash (let's not argue about the canon thing) can be seen rather blatantly in Torchwood fandom. I mean, settling Jack down in a domestic little relationship with Ianto? Have these people even watched Jack in either show?