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.

ita, so far any fic I've written doesn't impact on the MEverse as has been written in the TV shows.

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.

See above. I think that *NOT* using the subtext is like letting the gift horse go without food and water for a few weeks.

Because honestly, when you have

Angel eyefucks Lindsey as the cop slaps the cuffs on. Lindsey leans in to Angel...

In the script directions? They're just *begging* you to slash 'em

Non canonical het relationships aren't really called slash. (Okay, there are some groups who do consider it slash, but I'm...old school-ish enough in my reading, to consider only non canonical same sex relationships slash).

UTTAD, do you not see subtext in stories at all?

I'm not talking about romantic or sexual subtext but little clues that are given about things like power struggles or character dynamics that are implied but never outright stated?

Well, really fanfic doesn't influence the shows, it's not about trying to influence the shows, it's about playing with the "what ifs" and missing scenes and "could have beens" and all the little details that are never, can never, be adequetaly explored.

It's all the various interperations of the characters. How I see them, how Ple or Rosavere, or Jenny O, or you see them. I like that, I like seeing how other people interpert what they see on screen, it doesn't always match how I interpert the show.

So reading a story that has an idea I never thought of, a way of looking at the characters I don't is cool, like trying on a new pair of eyes.

UTTAD, it's cool. There are plenty of people out there who write and read fic just for what you're looking for: they want MORE than we get on the show. Not different, just MORE.

There's nothing wrong with that.

As for your question about slash, I think you may be conflating slash with any kind of sexual noncanonical pairing. Slash is, historically, non-canonical and same-sex. So Willow/Riley may be noncanonical but isn't slash, per se. (Despite the use of / in the description of the pairing. *g*)

Asking why people in general write slash or anything else is going to get you dozens of different answers. I don't mind the question, myself -- what gets me uncomfortable is when someone who doesn't write tries to answer it -- or when a writer tries to answer for all writers. That never ends well. We all have our own reasons for writing, and those reasons may change over time, and from show to show.

P.M. Marcontell:
Yeah, well the way I've always undestood the term "slash" is because it came from the "/" from between the character names. So straight or otherwise as I said, couldn't give a fuck.

And I've read the shooting script as well. The keeping Faith and Lilah very sub, that to me was used merely as a mechanism to get Faith and Lilah out of the club and in front of the limo.
But that's neither here nor there on what I'm trying to say.

As I said in my previous post, and I know this sounds all terrible, it's just that the MEverse is so rich that to just try to pair up couples seems, to me, to do that 'verse a disservice.

I am aware that there are some fantastic Slash fics out there, it's just that there so much more that could be done.

God, I'm really coming off like a complete arse here.

This is really a thing of personal taste, I was just wanting an explanation as to why slash was so popular, not a defense of it.

There's a lot of different kind of fic out there. But I'll say this: it's a hell of a lot easier in many ways to write a story about two people fucking than it is to write a story that reads like an episode of the show itself.

This is not in any way to be taken as a slam on people who prefer to write about relationships, but I do think it's an explanation for why the PWPs so far outnumber the episode-like stories (what we used to call Casefiles in XF).

Plot is HARD.

This is really a thing of personal taste, I was just wanting an explanation as to why slash was so popular, not a defense of it.

It's very popular here, but not everywhere. Suela's right when she says there are plenty of people looking for exactly the sort of thing you're writing.

In my case (switching terms from slash to Unconventional), as I spend a good deal of my time in analysis and interpretation of the shows, UC pairings, slash or het, are a natural fit, because they take the subtext I so adore, and work off of that. Now, one could in theory do that in gen, but I, as a writer, prefer to do it in something relationship based. I find that it makes it easier to find situations where the core emotional aspects of, say (giving in to the pairing I run a site for) Wes and Buffy can be explored. Obviously, YMMV.

Never thought it was about influencing the shows. I thought it was about being influenced by the shows.

And yuhuh. I have noticed subtexts. Faith/Buffy (but not Buffy/Faith) is one of the more obvious ones. However, if I have to look up a shooting script to get it, then the writers have failed in their slashy tasks. Their medium is TV, if I have to read a shooting script to get a slashy vibe from a couple then they're not doing their job.

It's all the various interperations of the characters. How I see them, how Ple or Rosavere, or Jenny O, or you see them. I like that, I like seeing how other people interpert what they see on screen, it doesn't always match how I interpert the show.

So reading a story that has an idea I never thought of, a way of looking at the characters I don't is cool, like trying on a new pair of eyes.

Asking why people in general write slash or anything else is going to get you dozens of different answers. I don't mind the question, myself -- what gets my uncomfortable is when someone who doesn't write tries to answer it -- or when a writer tries to answer for all writers. That never ends well. We all have our own reasons for writing, and those reasons may change over time, and from show to show.

Okay that's fair enough. Each person has their own reason. That I can dig. :-)