Before I answer, I'd like to know why it baffles you and leaves you cold and vaguely confused.

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askye:

Not sure. I think it's because I was moved to write fic because I was inspired by Buffy/Angel (the programmes :-) ) and so I want to write as much as I can like the shows were written, because that's what inspired me. If a reltionship wasn't put there by the writers then it leaves me cold.

I'm not explaining this well. What I mean is ... what's happened on the shows is what inspired me to write, not what slash pairing I've come up with. Does that make sense?
I don't want anyone to think I'm poo poooinf slashyness, it's just that I don't really get it.

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I've written the odd bit of fic, and I must admit that slash absolutely baffles me. It just leaves me cold and vaguely confused. I'd really like to understand the attraction that it invokes.

Well, like askye said, what's the cold confusion coming from?

I write and read het, gen, and slash. GOOD slash, like Thrall, (spoilers through the most recent AtS, but really, people, if you've seen that, READ IT!!!) by shrift, takes the characters we know and the subtext we've been given (and we've been given a fair amount), and makes it text.

Is it only m/m slash that bothers you, or does femslash cause the same issues? I can see a straight male not getting down with the Big Gay Love, because there's a fair number of (female) slash fans who aren't down with the Hot Girl on Girl Action. (I'm down with the HGoGA, FWIW, as well as the BGL). It's just not something they're interested in.

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Okay, but what about het relationships that are written about that aren't on the show.

Like, Buffy/Xander or Willow/Xander or Fred/Wes? Do those leave you cold?

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I'm don't read a lot of femslash in Jossverse just because I'm only really interested in Cordelia and Anya and I've never seen credibly written stories that pair them up.

Okay, well Rosavere's Fred/Lilah story got me thinking about that, but most of the female characters on Buffy just don't interest me.

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I'm not explaining this well. What I mean is ... what's happened on the shows is what inspired me to write, not what slash pairing I've come up with. Does that make sense?

I don't want anyone to think I'm poo poooinf slashyness, it's just that I don't really get it.

Cereal:

Well, there's a fair amount that you Just Can't Show on network TV. Even when Canon, Tara/Willow wasn't overt until S6, with the network switch. Gunn/Wes received comment in Spin the Bottle, Angel/Lindsey has plenty of script comment support, plus script/canon support where Darla flat out tells our little lawyer buddy that he wants to do the Big Broody Hairloaf.

Is it just Unconventional/Non-canon pairings? Because there are plenty of those in fic that aren't slash. (Willow/Spike is popular, as is Faith/Wes or Faith/Angel or Faith/Breathing or Not Breathing Male. Buffy/Xander has a following, as does Buffy/Giles and Kate/Angel) Some of that is just gratuitous PRETTY!!, and some of it is a big old game of What-if?

I tend to write UC pairings, and, for the most part, I do it out of a sense of "what would happen if..." rather than "PRETTY!!!".

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No, no. Straight slash or gay slash. Couldn't give a toss either way. I'm not sure if I can explain this.

Okay ... BtVS and Angel, these two shows have impressed me so much that they've moved me to writing fanfic about them. But what I've got to go on is the episodes of the shows. So if I see a Wesley/Angel fic, or a Willow/Riley fic or whatever I'm like, that's not the thing that has inspired me to write in the first place, because canonically that realtionship doesn't exist.

I'm hyper aware that the Buffistas are all about the slash, but I'm taking a stand and saying that there's quite a few stretches out there:-) e.g. I don't believe Xander ever wanted sex with Angel, or any number of other fics.
It's the canon that inspired me, if it's not canon, then why would I try to write it?
Lack of vocal intonation and hand gestures make this difficult to explain. :-)

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P.M. Marcontell Aargh. This is going to sound awful. Please don't take it the wrong way. I just feel that the Buffyverse (that includes Angel) is so rich, that to simply write fics that are slashy does an enormous disservice to the world that ME have created.

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Do you write stuff that doesn't diverge from canon, UTTAD? Also, with no original characters? How tied are you precisely what we've seen?

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No, no. Straight slash or gay slash. Couldn't give a toss either way. I'm not sure if I can explain this.

Slash isn't straight.

So, it's Unconventional Parings that you have an issue with.

As I've said, there's a lot of subtext to play with. Faith/Lilah:

(NOTE TO DIRECTOR AND ACTORS: Mind the lesbian subtext -- keep it very "sub".)

So, while not canon as in not aired, it is something that the Men and Women Behind the Curtain are well aware of, and play with.

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