Why I hate slash

Meta
Title:	Why I hate slash
Creator:	BookObsesserNumberOne
Date(s):	July 30, 2011
Medium:	online
Fandom:
Topic:
External Links:	comments page one; Webcite comments page one; WebCite comments page two; WebCite comments page three
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Why I hate slash is a 2011 718-word essay at FictionPress by BookObsesserNumberOne.

As of January 2018, there were 45 comments to this essay. Keep in mind, there were probably originally more, but likely have been deleted by the essay's author as per comment restrictions:

I've kept anonymous reviews enabled, so that if you want to, anyone can review with their opinion of slash. Or my haters can gain some pleasure from abusing their ability to leave multiple reviews. Just remember that I have the power to delete anonymous reviews, so keep the language clean, no death threats, and above all no idiots who believe the title "I hate slash" is a reason to rain down homophobic remarks and forget to read the actual essay.

Of the 45 comments, 43 of them were in support of the essay's content.

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

Some Descriptions of Slash

• "offensive to real LGBTQ"
• boring
• out of character
• offensive
• character rape
• slash is like pedophilia and incest
• not real gay writing
• gets in the way of headcanons
• only gays should write about gay sex
• almost as horrid as het
• straight authors should write about not-straight sex
• much more

Excerpts

Over at our fanfiction sister site, I have been accused of homophobia multiple times, had my comments deleted a couple of times,and even made a couple of enemies, because I do not support slash. So, I've decided to publish my stance on slash here, for the next time I get into an argument.

Part of the reason is my definition of slash. I do not consider Willow and Tara from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" femslash, or Kurt and Blaine from "Glee" slash, because of their character's sexualities. If Dumbledore and Grindelwald got together, I would not consider it slash. However, when a character changes sexuality, I call that slash. In addition, the slash has to be used in a cracktastic way.

Secondly, because in the vast amount of fiction, changing your character's looks, personality, likes and dislikes is known as OOC, and is despised. Shouldn't their sexuality be included in that list? Because I've met people who have left new authors in tears for forgetting that a character likes honey, and at the same time written the most OOC pairings.

Thirdly, every single slash pairing has been done. Every single one. Name two random males or females from any series, and I can bring up about thirty fanfics about that pairing. In addition, some fanfics would really seem awesome and have an excellent storyline, have a slash pairing that gets in the way of the story and causes OOC non-related to their sexualities, deus ex machinas, and in extreme cases Mary sues.

Now, the real reason I don't support slash.

It makes homosexuality seem immoral. For those of you who watch "Supernatural", everybody who's finished Season 4 knows that there are a lot of fans out there who pair the brothers together. This has even been mentioned jokingly on the show. I'm sure you've all seen one fan fiction or the other where one of the adults is in love with a child. Then, of course, the classic "we've been together two days so let's have sex". How often does het do this compared to slash? Het has a smaller following, but anyway.

Homosexuality may be controversial, but it is not on the same level as pedophilia and incest. Incest causes high infant mortality rates and shrinks the gene pool, pedophilia violates human rights.

Not to mention the infamous fanfic "My Immortal". Draco and Enoby get together about twenty seconds after kissing. This was seen as bad writing when it was het, but when its slash, it's okay. Why? Because slash is almost always crack. It's offensive to real LGBTQ.

Then, finally, the exceptions to my rules.

One, AU. If you are one of those people who believes that people become homosexual because of their upbringing, then an AU upbringing would cause a different sexuality. Also, alternate universes can cause different sexualities. If there is alternate dimensions, no doubt I have counterparts of every possible sexuality.

Two, Crossover. First of all, this is AU in the first place. Secondly, you never know what happens when two people meet each other. Some people only become gay or bisexual when they meet certain people.

Three, the really, really rare non crack fic. No random coming out or rape in these. They are often written by real LGBTQ authors, and they are actually respectful of LGBTQ. The characters often reference to or include a coming out, they have crushes, their relationships take a while. No pedophilia or incest, no " I'm gay so I must want to sleep with every man I see!". I've frustrated a lot of people with this one, but having real LGBTQ friends makes the boundaries between crack and reality easy.

Fan Comments

The comments below have been curated by the essay's author, and those in dissent, deleted.

2011

[Breathwithme]: I completely agree with you. I often wish that FanFic would have a separate category for slash fiction. I am a homosexual myself but even I get called homophobic when I say slash is so annoying. It also frustrates me when a really good character say Erik Lehnsherr from X-men FC gets OOC to fit the Mary Sue of some woman and for some slash. I think to myself it's not realistic, it revolting sometimes and just poor fiction. Thank You for making this essay!

[Quirk'd]: You speak as if you have seen it all.

In reference to what you are saying: you have some viably good points. Many people flock to such sites as this and its sister, intent on fulfilling many desires thought wrong. To speak of things written can earn one an unnecessary amount of hurdles to overcome.

As they write, common rules are forgotten. Basic structure is cast aside. Occasionally, the author looses touch with what a story truly is: expression. Instead, they find themselves pandering to the wants and needs of another, desperate to find some sort of recognition. The main result often being poorly thought-out plots and characters that tumble when blown upon.

However, blaming it all on a certain category undermines any point you make. There are bound to be many errors on both sides.

You come close to saying that sexuality is a personality trait, but do not. Changing such things about a person are common. Those that tear down others for merely overlooking a single sentence in a whole TV series/movie/book are being idiotic. Fanfiction in itself is fiction, so alterations are bound to be made. But if you specify that the only change you made is bed-preference, it is then open season for any other faults you may make.

I can assure you that slash is not crack. If changes to suit your needs for a story would make it an 'AU' or 'OOC' then everything ever written in fanfiction would fall under such an umbrella. As the story was not a part of the original cannon, it is definitely AU.

Such writing as displayed in the infamous 'My Immortal' is by all means not tolerated in any shipping as a whole. The reasoning behind reading such stories is mostly 'dirty', as the reader is generally looking for sexual gratification.

Reading through your essay once more, I find that you specify slash must be used in a 'cracktastic way'. You gave nothing to follow this up, so I cannot make an argument.

[S.H. Marr]: I don't know if this is hatred of what is normally considered "slash", I think it's more hatred of bad fanfiction and bad writing in general (this is so prevelant in fanfiction, I've given it up entirely). Because while I feel the same way in most of these points, I have no issue with "slash".

Defining a word differently from everyone else often leads to hatred like this, I'm afraid.

2012

[MY]: Having read through your various reviews, I wish to address the notion of incest and pedophilia in slash, which previous reviews have not or barely touched upon. You say you're against slash because there are immoral things like this in it, but have you ever thought that sometimes immoral subjects need to be written about as well? I think it is an obligation for writers to explore the immoral side of humanity in their fiction as well, not just the good side. Of course, the majority of fanfiction exploits these subjects, rather than truly explores them (I will even admit that I did some exploitation myself, just to garner a particular group of readers). That still shouldn't be cause for you to lump the good stories with the rotten apples. (Fan)fiction, whether it is het or slash, whether it has incest and/or pedophilia in it, or not - should not be judged upon these superficial labels. Instead, each individual work should be judged by the presentation of its own contents.

[TangledUp]:

I'm a huge fan of slash, to be honest I only read this kind of fic. I understand your opinion and I respect it because it's nowhere near homophobia.

I personnaly like slash because man to man relationships seem much more thrilling to me. Heterosexuals stories tend to be boring, I think It's not an easy thing to come out or even to accept that you don't like girls (or boys if you're a girl) and this make me think that having a gay relationship must be something you're really want and you are ready to have because it doesn't seem as easy as a hetero love affair. It always felt like when you are gay you can't just decide to be with someone just "to try" becausa all the problems it will bring don't make it whorth it if you're not 100 pour cent into the person. (I'm pretty sure this sentence is all wrong and my grammar sucks, sorry)

Anyway, I understand you point of view and I'm glad to see a well-built speech/essay ant no some random hatred burst toward gay stories, for once.

[dragooner]: hmm i don't like slash because many good stories gets broken by it before it even begins, i also believe that characters that are straight doesn't suddenly when they travel through a random portal to random place suddenly turns gay.

2013

[Fang's Fawn]:

I don't like slash because I feel very strongly that it de-values platonic love. I love romantic love stories, but I also have a soft spot for deep friendships between two people of the same sex. One of the things I love about Kirk and Spock, Holmes and Watson, Ryan and Esposito, and a host of other "buddy" characters is the rare closeness they share. For me, when slash is brought in, it somehow cheapens it, as though it was about sex the whole time. I feel let down and disappointed when a story turns out to be slash. It's one thing, like you say, if the characters were homosexual to begin with, but like you I feel they're OOC when characters originally written as straight are presented as gay in FF.

I support people's desire to read and write slash, but I wish all slash stories were clearly marked so I don't have to waste as much time sifting through them while searching for the kinds of stories that I like to read. Slash just doesn't interest me at all; I see throwing sex into the mix as a lazy way of trying to portray love. That's why I'll never write it or read it.

[G]: I totally agree with you! You have no idea how happy I am to have found someone else on the internet who hates slash. Reading this has made my day. :D

[Beka]:

I agree, it really bugs me when obviously hetero guys or girls are switched

[transformerfan20]: i absolutly agree.i am tired of seeing these fanfics everywhere on things they know will never fact I think if the creators of these characters they are fan fic-ing about saw this they would be disgusted beyond they charaters would be ashamed too in they were why can't people open their eyes?also very good writen a random person who agrees if they were to write a fanfic,a gay and or lgbtq like fanfic at least take in conserdiration to write it taste all that i've seen are this fluffy japanese kawaii omg so cute bullshit i guess we have the japanese porn indistery to blame for rotting the brains of these slash fans.

[aaronwolfe]: Have to say that I totally agree with you here and I'm gay myself. I recently logged into hoping to read some good Rise of the Guardians fanfics and was dismayed that every fic on there was slash featuring Jack/Bunnymund. Sure I'm attracted to men in real life but that doesn't mean I want to read male/male only fics all the time. a lot of these fics are totally inaccurate of how LGBTQ people behave. The turning of obviously het characters into gay grates a bit too. Imagine the outcry if it was the other way round - yep I've met a few gay folks who are blatantly heterophobic.

So yes I understand why some ppl dislike slash.

[alice]: Don't feel bad. I hate het just as much, if not more, than you hate slash. Het has ruined many a story, film, book, tv-series, etc for me. I suppose we just have to look the other way! (ps, what a crap fandom you must be in if so many of the slash fics are badly and disrespectfully written!)

[Guest]: I completely agree with pretty much everything you've said. I am nott homophobic at all but I don't like it when fan fiction writers change a characters sexuality. Especially because that can be kind of offensive to people. What also annoys me is when the only fan fiction you can find for something is slash. If anyone has ever looked for a teen wolf fan fiction you will know what I mean by this. Sterek is usually the dominating teen wolf fan fiction. What you said about slash making the characters ooc is usually true, with some exceptions. If they're a different sexuality then their personality usually does change. Once again using teen wolf as an example, in most slash fics I have read, derek is completely out of character around stiles. I agree with you about how in slash, the characters usually have sex right away. It makes people who are gay in real life seem like sluts when they're not. Just because someones gay doesn't mean their morals have changed. I could keep going but this is already very long so I'll just end it there.

[Maiwishes]:As much as I think male/male is hot as hell, and considering I have gay friends, I fucking HATE slash too. Great points all around. As for my own rant...These horny teenage girls will maul a character, neglect character interaction for porn and have no concept of the beauty of platonic friendship and love. They force sexual attraction where emotional intimacy must come first or substitute it for sexual attraction and call it "Romance". 98.9% of Slash is shallow and just done for the sex. The massive amounts of slash oneshots disgust me more and more every time I log into a fanfiction site. If you are going to pair x STRAIGHT male/female with y STRAIGHT male/female and still call yourself a fan, by god at least try to do the characters justice and be a quality author by making it believable. Makes me feel asexual, Im just so sick of SEX SEX and more SEX on fanfiction. We need more writers that love the characters for who they are not because they think a pairing is so hot or cute.

[Guest]: I really hate it when i want to read a fanfic about adventure and friendship and 9 out of 10 fics has yaoi/yuri in it. I think yaoi lovers are sexually deprived.

2014

[Guest]: I completely agree with every word you say. I too was accused of homophobia for exactly the same reasons. I used to really enjoy the Harry Potter fandom until it became more or less a dumping ground for every conceivable slash pairing. The Snape/Harry pairing grates on my nerves more than any of the others, as I find it disgusting and insulting to the integrity of the characters, for the simple fact that Harry was the son of Snape's lost love and his arch enemy. In book and film canon Snape stated that he loved Lily 'always'. Therefore, it's completely bizarre to even begin to take the Snape/Harry pairing seriously. Neither Snape or Harry were gay, and people do not change sexuality. For the same reason I hate it when people ship McGonagall/Dumbledore. Dumbledore was gay and therefore not likely to fall for McGonagall's charms. I hate when people say things like, if you read a well written fic you'll fall in love with this pairing or so and so's fic was so hot it made me ship them Yet those self same people attack other (usually new) authors for making the characters OOC. That's hypocritical, if you ask me, as there is no bigger out of character leap than a complete change of sexuality...

[Dwm]:

I 200% agree with everything you said.

One of your reviewers, Alice, seems rather on the retarded side by the way. Not because she hates het, but everything else in her review.

[Stephan]: I agree with you. And as a gay man who has attempted to write, and who has been told by heterosexual women that my characters aren't "real" enough due to the fact they don't sleep with every thing they see. I have since given up on slash why bother they seem to know what it's like being gay, even more than me.

[Heterosexualgirl]:

I hate it too, although I mainly hate it becase many good plots are shadowed by the slash relationship in the story. I also think it is unfair for us, people who like heterosexual pairings, because the number of stories including this kind of relationships have decreased drastically. Worse of all is that asking for stories that don't include slash gets you in the very uncomfortable position of having to explain why you like boys being with girls, and not girls with girls or boys with boys, without someone telling you how homophobic you sound.

Has the world really become so twisted that liking heterosexual relationships is wrong?

[Silver Lightning Blade]:

Personally, the reason I dislike slash is that fanfiction is supposed to be wish-fulfillment and escapism. So as a straight female that identifies herself as one of the characters I don't really want to see that character turn homosexual or bisexual, simply because I'm not and that character is, well, "me". So naturally, when I see that character in a homosexual relationship my first reaction is ewww, because personally I'd never do anything like that. Sometimes it's multiple characters. So yeah, basically, one could say that slash disgusts me and I want it labelled so that I would never come across it by accident. Sue me.

That said, I'm completely okay with canon gay couples, such as Jack/Ianto, or Steve from Warehouse 13 being gay or all that stuff in Sailor Moon. As long as the character is established as gay or bisexual to begin with - fine, it's canon, gay people exist and I don't hate them. And I also don't read non-canon het pairings - at all. So maybe it has something to do with wanting canon to remain canon.

The other thing is that good slash stories mostly have to address all that gay acceptance stuff to be realistic and have at least one homophobe in the group. If it doesn't, it would be be entirely cut off from reality (like turning EVERYONE gay with no explanation whatsoever or everyone being miraculously accepting regardless of the time period), which would strain the suspension of disbelief and take away from the story. And quite frankly, the gay rights topic is everywhere and I'm sick to death of hearing about it. I get it. It's important. I don't want EVERYONE to keep talking about it and I damned sure don't need that stuff in my fanfiction escapism. It doesn't mean I'm a homophobe. I just don't want to hear about it ALL THE FREAKING TIME.

[Anastasia Knight]: I agree, slash fanfiction is disrespectful to the LGBT community especially when they're written by STRAIGHT fanfic authors.

[Ghost of a Curious Cat]:

I actually read one or two stories which focused on the "non-coupled" characters interacting, and I genuinely liked them. But the slash part bothered me so much (for aforementioned reasons) that I decided to edit them out. Basically, I copied the story and rewrote (or sometimes deleted) them all, and there were several things I found out in the process.

First of all, it's amazing how deceptively lazy, even in good stories, the romance can get. And you don't even notice. Both characters are happy - let's hug and kiss while proclaiming that we love each other! The character is sad and the other one needs to console him - let's hug and kiss while proclaiming that we love each other! Both characters are sad and exhausted after a tiring event - let's hug and kiss while proclaiming that we love each other! Etc., etc., etc. Oh, and they keep crying, too, even if they never did to begin with, and calling each other sweeties and darlings, all the while pointing out how they love each other. It's amazing how much character, motivation and interaction possibilities are lost in the process, even by the authors who don't make the same mistake in the non-paired characters' interaction. Basically, when they are not talking about the other characters or someone's sad life stories, they just talk about sex all the time, and that's not how real homosexual people interact. It you try to take the slash out of these scenes, there's basically nothing left.

Secondly, characters are butchered. Yes, I've already mentioned that. But for some reason, if a male character's sexuality is changed, he suddenly turns into a pile of pink goo, unable to keep himself from bawling his eyes out on every suitable occasion. Oh, my partner is talking about his son's death and crying, so let me forget that I have shown myself to be a strong leader, capable of thinking straight and not losing it even in the wake of my best friend's death, and just start crying too while proclaiming how sorry I am - oh, and that I love him, let's not forget that. Those scenes just drive me crazy with their sappiness and with how they are just recycled over and over.

And again, when non-paired characters are interacting they are actually seem capable of expressing other emotions, even if, again, it's only the same "tragic past" thing. They can be supportive while expressing ire, guilt, helplessness, genuine interest, gratitude, shock and sympathy - and all of that without breaking into tears. Why is that? Why are slash stories so horribly stereotypical, even when they are written by authors who can do - and do - better? Why is the damned romance obscuring and smothering every damned natural emotion?

And there's the third thing that probably bothers me the most about slash and is, very likely, nothing more than my personal preference. I love team stories. They are my favorite kind of stories. I love seeing different mismatched individuals functioning as a team, going on adventures and becoming a family in a wide sense of the word, kind of like Justice League AU or the Avengers or LOTR or whatever. What slash does is break my favorite set into couples and mostly just show interactions between the two characters. I HATE that. I don't want to see just the two characters interact with each other when I came to the fandom to see the team. That's the reason I don't even like romance to begin with, though canon couples are okay when they aren't smothering everything. Sadly, it's what most slash stories are about. Not only does it screw the established relationships in the team, but it also makes the story about these new out-of-nowhere relationships that I don't care about. Again, that's only my personal preference, but it's probably the strongest one for me.

[Randomgirl]:

I used to be a big time slasher. I slashed anything and everything. In a way it was an escape from reality for me. However, as I've matured, I don't really get into slash pairings anymore. I guess you could say I've outgrown it, and now I understand how it feels when you don't like slash and it's EVERYWHERE. Because, unfortunately, it is. And I've found some of it...okay, actually a lot of it...makes my stomach churn now. I hate that I cannot scroll through fics without every single slash pairing imaginable popping up and that is probably why I don't even visit anymore, really.

Of course I don't agree with all of the points you made, but as individuals we all have our own standpoints so there is no right or wrong I don't think. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my dislike of slash fanfiction. I don't hate it. Hate is a very strong word, and I would feel hypocritical if I said I hate slash...but I do not care for it and I wish it was not so plentiful. There's just too much of it! And if you don't like slash you are so adamantly attacked...it's like %90 of fandoms are made up of shippers. THAT is what I hate.

2015

[gunny]:

You know, I was attacked verbally and called a homophobic person and a bunch of other names because I said most slash authors are girls and they tend to faminize a male character to make them slash pairings. I may have also said they are sexually frustrated and get their jollies from writing such fics. One other reviewer went on a mother of all rants on me too. Teenagers acting all high amd mighty. I mean if you are arguing with some one, either or both of you must be willing to listen. But No. Sorry going off topic here. I also agree with one of tje reviewer here. I tend to picturize myself with fic's characters. Imagine myself as one of them. This is a escape from reality afterall. I am just disgusted with the way they write the fics. And one important thing of all is they misunderstand transsexuals with homosexuals. They are two different type of people, people. I dnt givea f**** if a girl loves a girl or a boy loves a boy, but for all things good ,dnt make straight people be disgusted with the very concept homosexual relationship with how u write. And I got called a homophobe for a comment which had no points in it whatsoever about a fic which didn't even have slash. Da fq was I supposed to reply? I don't read slash fics because of a point I mentioned above as I'm straight. But I also dnt leave hateful or vile comments in slash fics.

I agree with your essay man. Sorry for the rant. And nice points btw.

[justAwallflower]: I'm bisexual. I get what you're saying, and yeah, I hate POORLY WRITTEN slash as well. I don't personally even like fanfiction, though, so I guess I'm really one to talk. Don't forget, however, that sometimes het is also written by people who've never been in a relationship before, so it's not like it's just slash that's written like that. The point of stereotypes is also a big issue, you're right. Some of the stuff I've read is atrociously stereotype oriented, and it's terrible. So I just wanted to say that I like this essay, but I read slash and het pairings equally, as long as it's all well written.

[Lord Skykox Charr]: I absolutely Hate Slash. Its not normal. I'll be honest: I hate slash for a simple reason - I'm a guy, and the image of two men assfucking disgusts me. Is not natural. Add in it mpreg and fXf and what the shit? you hate rape and child porn while love slash? people who write such shit are borderline psychopath or are mentally twisted personality and really need to see a good psychiatrist

[Kelly]: I mainly read fics from the Harry Potter fandom and I hate some ridiculous slash pairings that you see there e.g. Harry/Snape. Also I would like to say that I hate the misogyny often found in slash fics. They always turn the female characters into ugly b***hes who are out split up the pairings that the author has created.

[Guest]:

You're looking too deep into things. You're overanalyzing. You have to broaden your understanding and just have to accept the unacceptable (to you at least). If you can't do that, you're no better than a homophobe. People like pairing a person with the same sex. Big deal. Why should you care? It's what they want and I'm a hundred percent sure you can't stop them from doing what their doing. This is fanfiction, the place where literally everything is accepted— other than Tumblr. The only sin in fanfiction is taking another's work and claiming it for themselves.

I hope you understand that this is what people want and can do because on one can stop them. I also hope you don't go spreading any more hate and potentially starting future arguments, which apparently you enjoy, you sadist…

2016

[neberyears]:

I hate it when anyone writes a story that doesn't include my head-canon, too. I cannot restrain myself from pointing out how many authors just don't GET my head-canon. I tell them about their shortfalls often. Why, I often wonder, do they get so angry with me?

Why must I write such selfish things? I get a 3 to my self-satisfaction roll. And a 4 to my sense of superiority every time I do it. Like, duh. If I don't educate them who will?

Ain't the internet a great place?

[A Random Troll]: I for one also despise slash. But, honestly, my main problem with it is that it clogs up an asston of the lists I try to sift through when I'm trying to find a story that I'd actually be willing to spend my time reading. At the end of the day, if you wanna have shittily-written sex between canonically-straight characters, fine. It's a free country and it's absolutely not within my rights to demand for you to stop. Just KEEP IT THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME.

[Guest]: I don't have anything against homosexuality but its god damn annoying when I can't even find fem Harry and voldemort or fem Sasuke and Naruto without searching through thousands of badly written paedophilic and investors slash or get pairings.

2017

[Guest]:

I dislike Slash as well. I wouldn't read, much less write slash. I would never, ever play a gay character in a computer game. However, there is no reason, no deeper meaning to it. I just don't like it, period. Be it canon or "crack". I can't relate to a gay character. BUT I don't care if others do. After all, it's (fan)fiction. Everyone is allowed to read or write what ever he or she likes. There is no need to explain this preference.

Sometimes the popularity of slash is downright frustrating, though, I must admit. In some fandoms I like there is next to no het, much less my preferred pairings. That's pretty sad. But, whatever. Women/girls like maleslash as much as men like lesbian porn. So what. To each their own.

[Sparkle 94]: I don't consider you homophobic. Honestly i consider all fanfiction AU to some extent so the possibilities are endless but I've always had mixed feelings about Slash on one hand yes i read mostly slash becuse its rare to find hetero pairings with my favorite male characters that don't involve badly written mary sues. The problem is due to jealousy many straight women cann't stand any cannon female characters. So they're either forgotten or bashed. What i hate more then badly written slash is some pretentious chick whose obviously a self insert kicking the main and side characters out of their own plot and hogging the spotlight. Some slash fics do respect the characters and world and yes some of them are written by straight women some are by LGBTQ authors. But yeah most are awful i cann't stand that them suddenly being gay equals a damsel in distress act goes double for any guy who actually is effeminate by western standards. It doesn't matter how strong, deturmined, badass they are in cannon if their a pretty boy, have long hair, or are just short they get their spine completely snapped and turn into this weeping fragile flower even Bella swan would be disgusted by. Although to be fair its not just slash some ladies love to declaw male villian's to put them with the main female hero. Also most slash writers do not understand the value of a nice slow burn romance it gives you time to know the characters and care about their relationship creating greater investment. No instead its sex by chapter 3 or 10 if its drawn out. As for the rape thing i'm biased becuse some of my favorite male characters are cannon rape or abuse victums. It actually bothers me that this gets glossed over in slash fics in terms of how they would deal with their sexualty and sex in general haveing had their trust abused or their bodies violated same thing with pedophillia pairings want to make a statement about how this underage boy was forced/tricked into a toxic relationship with an adult becuse his past abuse and feelings of worthlessness fine but i hate when its wank material listed as romance at least admit its bad porn.

[much, much snipped]

Although i do think LGBTQ characters should be allowed to have a romance while fighting pirates or zombies or saveing the world just the same as straight characters. Honestly why does gay just mean they get sex and romance and thats it?

Here's the thing as much as this stuff creeps me and others out annoys or upsets Certain groups out i've come to the conclusion i would rather have a variety of diffrent ideas, notions, and thoughts then for everyone to turn out the same pairings that you can turn on the tv or flip open a novel to get. Fanfiction in general is about experimentation what works what doesn't work, its about feeling out an audience discovering their dislikes and likes. Its a platform for learning and growing and for some its just plain old wish forfulment, others exploration, character study. I mean if it didn't exist we'd probly be bored becuse we'd have nothing to complain about, and less ships to fight over and if nothing else bad slash is amuseing at my dorm my fellow females purpousely wrote the worst pairings between male characters and couldn't even read their own writeing without cracking up. So yes i think there is a sense of not takeing slash pairings very seriously except for some zealots in the fandom but zealots exist everywhere. And honestly i think if anyone thinks incest or pedophilia actually have anything to do with being gay then they have far more problems then their shipping prefrance just saying. So i guess i'm trying to say yes i'm annoyed at the character butchering steriotypes ect but well they aren't going away so no point in being bitter. There's no right or wrong way to be a fan. Some people like this stuff some of those people are themselves gay men and the bad stuff does make you appreciate the rare gems that pop up now and again more. So i guess live and let slash.

[Guest]:

I dislike Slash as well. I wouldn't read, much less write slash. I would never, ever play a gay character in a computer game. However, there is no reason, no deeper meaning to it. I just don't like it, period. Be it canon or "crack". I can't relate to a gay character. BUT I don't care if others do. After all, it's (fan)fiction. Everyone is allowed to read or write what ever he or she likes. There is no need to explain this preference.

Sometimes the popularity of slash is downright frustrating, though, I must admit. In some fandoms I like there is next to no het, much less my preferred pairings. That's pretty sad. But, whatever. Women/girls like maleslash as much as men like lesbian porn. So what. To each their own.