Why I Write Slash (essay by Shadowsplay)

Meta
Title:	Why I Write Slash
Creator:	Shadowsplay
Date(s):	23 April 2020
Medium:	Archive of Our Own post
Fandom:	Preface to a Dark Shadows fanfiction
Topic:	Slash fanfiction
External Links:	Preface: Why I Write Slash
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Why I Write Slash is a very short, personal essay by Shadowsplay, included as a preface (reprinted below) to her slash fanfiction novel Dark Shadows Play, based upon the original TV series Dark Shadows.

For additional context, see Timeline of Slash Meta and Slash Meta.

Short Essay (Preface)

WHAT IS SLASH?

SLASH FICTION is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on non-canon romantic and/or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex, beginning with Kirk/Spock fanfiction that began to appear in the late 1970s. Slash has a different sensibility than gay fiction. Most slash writers and readers are female, which often contributes to an enhanced emphasis on emotional relationships, even as sex is very prominent.

WHY I WRITE SLASH

I am heterosexual and love men. For me, the act of love involves a man. But I enjoy writing stories of romance and sex between men. I write slash because it is a powerful and erotically satisfying way to get around the tired tropes of stories about male/female romantic and sexual relationships. The interpersonal dynamic becomes fully shared and completely fluid, rather than divided. The filter of gender is removed, which brings the shared human factor to the fore, and allows me to explore intimacy and character development in a fresh and empowering way.

For me, slash is not about gay love or gay sex. It is about lovers who are in love and who have sex, and who happen to both be men.