Slash?

[delphia2ohohoh]

Well, for those on my flist who may have noticed the name callistoglow in a few posts, let me introduce you to my big sister Lucy. Besides being a great sister, she's also the sister I'm closest to emotionally, and personality-wise. (I have another sister who is geographically closer but way older and she thinks she's my mom sometimes! I love Cindy too, but just want to strangle her more often. *LOL!* ) Lu is a zillion times more computer literate than I am and pretty much pushed me into getting online some years ago. (Everyone wave to Lucy! Lucy, meet the slashers!) Let me note here that Lucy gifted me with the Firefly set and the Serenity Visual Companion book at a time when I could barely afford to put bread on the table so she is my hero, besides the one person in my family I'd choose for a friend.

Lu has asked me what slash is and, like most of my family, she has no idea about my secret life as a slasher. So I think it's time to out myself and let her know a bit more about me. :oD

The term slash comes from early internet fanfic days, Lu. It was originally the punctuation put between two or more abbreviations to indicate that a fanfic would have a 'relationship' between characters. If a story said 'm/f' then it meant it was a hetrosexual relationship between a male and a female. Of course 'm/m' indicated a homosexual relationship and the 'or more' I mentioned earlier could be a 'f/m/f' or maybe a 'm/m/m' or even a 'm/f/alien entity.' (Okay, there are probably m/llama fics out there, but even I'm not perverted enough to read those!)

Eventually things were narrowed down to the basics and so even if a story may still list the slashed abbreviations, we mostly use either het or slash to indicate one or the other kind of 'ship.'

I'm a slasher in that I read a certain amount of fanfics containing homosexual relationships. Some are more graphic than others. Do I find homoerotic stories a turn on? Well, yeah, some of them, depending on how well they are written. I still get turned on by some het fics too tho. I'd like to think I'm just sexually broad-minded. :o) I don't really write slash fics per se, but I do suggest slash relationships in at least one of my fics.

Now at this point, I'm sure Lu is thinking 'Ewwwww!' And that's okay. What ever floats your boat. This stuff floats mine. Why? We slashers have a saying to explain it as best we can: One cute guy = hot. Two cute guys = hotter! I'm sure you realize that many men think two gals getting it on is a turn on. It's the same thing for us. There are a lot of theories as to why, but just know that it's very common on the net. I think there are more slash stories on the net than het or general combined, altho I can't quote a definite source. Just my feeling from being out there reading. And most are written by women.

I also hang with the slashers for other reasons. What I've found in a lot of years of reading fanfics is that much of the very best fanfics are slash stories. They are just better written. Another reason is that I find the slashers are in general more intelligent and certainly more tolerant and easy-going than a lot of the other fans. They are also some of the wittiest, most talented and just plain old hysterical people on the net. They generally have a well-developed sense of humor.

This particular group, I met on the SF Bboards in the Stargate SG1 forum, but we have found additional meeting places on another bboard called SNIT (for 'Sam Needs Intensive Therapy'), an exclusive Yahoo group called Dr. J's Thingys (in reference to our favorite slash fanfic, the hysterical Dr. Jackson's Diary) and here in the gutter of LiveJournal. (We do so LOVE the gutter LOL!) They are a lovely bunch of talented writers and vidders and fans of slash and I'm proud to say they are my cyberpals.

Now, proud or not, I'm not sure this should be a topic at the next family barbecue. I'm not hiding anything, but I'm also not going to go out of my way to be antagonistic either. I know with Cindy's personal feelings it would not make her happy to discuss the subject, so I'd say let's just leave it here on cyberspace, between you and me, okay? (Brief family history for my Flist members: My sister Cindy's marriage broke up over her husband's sexual confusion. She is not really homophobic, but prefers not to have to deal with it.)

So, dear sister, that's what slash is. In many cases, in the actual films and tv series, it is in the mind of the beholder. Some people watch and see just friends. We watch and see slash. :oD We think a lot of times, the writers do a better job representing a relationship between the guys than they do m/f ships.

If I've forgotten anything, I'm trusting my cyberpals will add in a comment or two. (And tell me I'm full of it too while they are at it which is why I love these people!) :oD