Slash Fanfic: My View

Meta
Title:	Slash Fanfic: My View
Creator:	T'Mar
Date(s):	1997? 1998?
Medium:	online
Fandom:
Topic:	Fanfiction, Slash
External Links:	online here
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Slash Fanfic: My View is an essay by T'Mar.

From the header: "The men don't know, but the little girls understand..."

It is linked from T'Mar's Slash Page.

For additional context, see Timeline of Slash Meta.

Some Topics Discussed

• why slash?
• what is slash?
• some common slashy shows of the time, and why
• why such a focus on the males?

From the Essay

Everyone has their own theory as to why women read and write slash. The more 'academic' theories seem to emcompass [sic] the following explanations:

1. It is empowering for a woman to write about men. The woman can have the men do whatever she likes, thus allowing her to have some control over the world she is writing in.

2. There are no clearly defined roles when the people in the story are of the same gender, so the writer feels freer than she would were she writing about a man and a woman.

3. Slash stories allow women to write men the way they would like men to be: sensitive, caring, loving.

I have to say, however, that I don't buy into any of the above explanations.

I think it's very simple: slash has to do with the chemistry between characters on screen. Quite usually, the characters who are slashed will have at least two of the following characteristics: they are both loners; both are married to their jobs; they are dependant [sic] on each other for survival; they spend most of their off-duty time together; they are complete opposites, each man's strengths compensating for the other one's weaknesses; there is genuine liking and affection for each other; their bond is considered 'more important' than romantic entanglements they might each get into; women take a back seat to the friendship.

The characteristics mentioned in the above paragraph are also usually, but not always, coupled with a lack of strong female characters in that particular show. There are no women available, there are no female constants in the lives of these characters, so anytime a romance or love story is required, the female character must be brought in from outside. Not surprisingly, these female characters end up being pretty inconsequential to the show as a whole, and they are not allowed to interfere with the men's friendship.

There are, of course, a few shows out there which do have strong female characters, and yet these still seem to attract slash writers. In these cases, the primary relationship in the show is usually still the one between the men, or the female characters are presented as 'sexless' or 'forbidden'. Let's face it: even in the most enlightened shows, the men usually tend to get the bulk of the good stories.

Let's take a brief survey of shows which have been slashed:

Star Trek: The Original Series: Only two recurring female characters, neither of whom was a particularly dynamic one. All Uhura did was open hailing frequencies and say she was frightened. All Nurse Chapel did was hand McCoy hyposprays and occasionally moon over Spock. Other female characters came and went, providing no more than distractions for Kirk and Spock. Every time a woman 'got in the way' of Kirk's dedication to his ship and crew, she would leave or die. Spock's first loyalty was also always to his captain and his ship. In every episode, Kirk and Spock got all the best lines and scenes. There was also a clear friendship between these two, the affection between them being obvious: witness such memorable scenes as Spock smiling when he discovers Kirk is alive in Amok Time and Spock gifting Kirk with an outward display of his friendship by calling Kirk "Jim". Each risked their life and career to help the other. After all this, slash seems almost inevitable.

The Professionals: On this show there were three main characters, and no recurring strong female character. While most stories were plot-driven, there were plenty of occasions of male bonding between Bodie and Doyle. They knew each other as well as is possible to know someone, and again - they depended on each other to stay alive. No romance with any woman lasted more than one episode, and as the show progressed their dates got fewer and fewer. Is it any wonder that slash resulted?

Starsky & Hutch: Once again, a show about male bonding. The chemistry was there, and there were many instances where the characters showed they cared for one another. The characters in this show were able to hug, care for and support each other in an unprecedented way. It also didn't hurt that one of the stars of the show (David Soul) actually came right out and stated that the show was a love story!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: There isn't all that much slash written in the TNG universe, and my personal opinion is that it's because this show did have decent, feminine female regulars, plus some strong female guest stars. The characters were allowed to have romances and ongoing relationships. Every time Riker looked at someone else, the audience felt that he was being unfaithful to Deanna, and vice versa. The same with Picard and Beverly Crusher. Thus, the most prevalent slash couple in TNG is Picard/Q. It has always been obvious that Q is fascinated with the Enterprise crew, and Picard in particular. Not to mention that the writers of the show did provide ample ammunition for the slash fans when they had Picard wake up in bed with Q in [the episode] Tapestry.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: There are lots of Bashir/Garak stories in this fandom, the evidence for this slash couple being the fact that Julian is always nervous around Garak, and the fact that Garak seems to have taken Julian under his wing. There are also a few Bashir/O'Brien stories, due no doubt to the obvious friendship and slightly antagonistic relationship the two share. But aside from these two slash couples (and a few Kira/Dax stories), other DS9 characters don't seem to be slashed. This is no doubt due to the fact that Sisko has a girlfriend, Kira had first Bariel, then Shakaar and now Odo, Jadzia and Worf ended up getting married, O'Brien has a wife, Rom and Leeta tied the knot, and Quark will come on to anything with two X chromosomes. The female characters in this show are strong, and all the characters have been allowed to have relationships and to change and grow. In fact the only characters who have remained unattached in the long term are Jake, Nog (who are both still young; I think writing stories about Jake or Nog would make me feel like a child pornographer), Julian and Garak. So it's really no wonder that Bashir/Garak stories are the order of the day in DS9 slash fandom.

Star Trek Voyager: The early slash stories for this show were Paris/Chakotay and Paris/Kim. With Tom Paris and Harry Kim there was always affection and friendship, right from the start, and The Chute just reinforced this. With Chakotay and Tom, however, there was more of an antagonistic relationship, which a lot of fans saw as the classic "I hate you because I really love you" scenario, so they proceeded to write stories exploring this idea. And while the female characters in this show are strong, they were not utilized well in the beginning. A fan called Janeway a "sexless bunhead zombie", while Kes was a quiet little thing who loved Neelix for some unfathomable reason. Seven of Nine's appearance changed things slightly, and now many writers slash her with Janeway due to Janeway having decided to be Seven's mentor. But still, all too often the men get the 'bonding' type stories which allow the fans to see the chemistry between the male characters. And wham - slash!

Highlander: In the first season Duncan was with Tessa, who was a wonderful female character. But after she died, the writers brought in Anne, who was hated by many for being "a nagging bitch", and since then Duncan hasn't had a regular female companion. But he has had a semi-regular male friend: Methos. There is fantastic chemistry between Methos and Duncan, and almost from the minute he appeared, people began slashing the two. There are some slash stories involving Richie, but the bulk of the stories have involved Methos and Duncan, probably because Richie is seen as Duncan's surrogate son.

Due South: A truly wonderful show about the relationship between two male friends, Fraser ("the Mountie") and Ray Vecchio (a Chicago police detective). Yup, another male bonding show. And yet again, no strong, regular female character to be seen. The only regular female characters were Elaine Besbriss, who spent most of her time looking up files for Ray, and Ray's sister Frannie, who is not taken seriously by most fans. The only really strong woman in the show - Meg Thatcher - always seemed to be overcompensating, and consequently many fans hate her. The change in partners for the third season didn't really change the slash potential of the show, either. People simply began slashing Fraser with Ray Kowalski, or writing menage a trois, or even slashing Ray Vecchio and Ray Kowalski, or Ray Kowalski and Turnbull!

The X-Files: While this show does have a strong, feminine character in Scully, it also has a problem in that Chris Carter said that Scully and Mulder would never get together. Also, it isn't much of a stretch to imagine that Mulder might be gay or bisexual. Mulder has had sex with a woman, that we know of, once in four years, and that wasn't even a date. I don't think we've ever seen him on a real date, although we do know he once had an affair with a woman while he was at school in Oxford - but many gay men experiment so that doesn't tell us much. The point in all this is that if you want to make Mulder gay there isn't a lot in canon to worry about explaining. So with Scully not being a viable option, and with very little evidence for Mulder's sexuality one way or another, what's left? There aren't any other strong female characters in the show. We do have some great male supporting characters, though, namely Krycek and Skinner, and so slash seems make perfect sense in that case.

The Sentinel: This is an extremely slashy show. Jim and Blair epitomise every characteristic I have previously mentioned for slashable male characters. They hang out together, work together a lot, even live together. Blair helps Jim with his Sentinel abilities, and Jim protects Blair in return. Yes, they do sometimes have dates, but the chemistry between the male leads is explosive. It doesn't hurt, either, that the blooper reel features the two leads kissing, or that one of them (Richard Burgi) stated that he wouldn't mind if his character (Jim) was paired with his partner (Blair)! Given these facts, slash seems to follow logically. I mean have you seen all the Sentinel slash sites out there?

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: I would not normally discuss movies, since the slashing of characters has thus far mostly been confined to TV series. I guess, as always, the Star Wars phenomenon has surprised us all. But like The Sentinel characters, the two main male characters in TPM, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, epitomise [sic] nearly every characteristic for slashable characters. They are Jedi - in this case it's not that they are married to their job - they are their job. They are absolutely dependant [sic] on each other for survivial [sic]. They have a unique bond, one which just screams to be explored. So is it any wonder that the slash fans took up the challenge of doing so?

There is also another consideration for why writers choose to write slash instead of gen or heterosexual erotic stories. This is the fact that the people who make the shows usually give all the best material to the male characters, making them the most 'real' characters in the show. Thus, a fanfic writer will want to use those characters because she feels comfortable with them, she feels that she 'knows' them. It's also rewarding to write these characters we love so much going through obstacles to love and ending up happy.

So, for those of us who like to write romance and erotica, we have basically three options:

1. Use female characters from the show. But regular female characters are often just not interesting, and guest stars are often not significant enough to warrant stories in which they interact with the male characters. So this is not an option I go for much myself.

2. Bring in one's own female character. This is done quite a lot in non-slash stories. But all too often, if a writer does this she is accused of writing a Mary Sue, even when she definitely hasn't. I personally don't often find these stories worthwhile - I want to read about characters I know. I'm not interested in female characters created by other fanfic writers.

3. Write slash. At least in slash the writer gets to use well-defined, well-established characters, characters which she and her target audience are interested in. And in slash there is far more story potential and more issues to explore than in het stories. Slash is a challenge for a writer - and some, like myself, enjoy taking up the challenge and seeing if we can make a love story between two male friends believable.

Lastly, let me sum up with a quotation from JennyAnn, a fellow slash fan: "I definitely like the male/male dynamic in slash pairings - there's a certain style to it that is tremendously attractive. Or maybe it's just that they're BOTH so attractive to me! Loving both of them myself, it's pure delight to see them love each other. And I adore first time stories because you get to watch them struggle within themselves to get past the barriers that keep them from expressing their feelings for each other. Those barriers are a lot more complex in a slash pairing, which is probably why the act of surmounting them, and succeeding in the expression of love and caring, is much more emotionally satisfying with a slash pair than with a het pair."