Ooo! Thanks, Mlle. Theodosia.

(woke up at 7 again. hate this. not making of the sense.)

You're so cute! I'm giggling.

(pssst! I have two of Deb's books!)

I read a lass's blog on this subject recently, and it seems to me that the difference between her take on slash and mine is that she sees slash as inherently violating canon for the sake of violating canon; that she sees heterosexuality as the default setting, and homosexuality as something that can't be there unless it's openly expressed.

Interesting, but I don't really agree with her. Yes, there are PWP slash stories that exist solely for the point of portraying hot sex between two hot characters and violate characterization and canon up the wazoo, but there are others in which the slash portrayed is firmly rooted in canon. In due South, especially in the Ray K episodes, the subtext is barely sub at all. The characters in ME shows all interact with such intensity, that sometimes it's hard not to read things in a sexual way. In the Potterverse, the characters are young and (in the case of Draco, Neville, etc.) blank enough slates that it's possible to add all kinds of backstory and psychology that still works within the parameters of what Rowling has set up.

I'd like to be able to wave a magic wand and banish the terms 'slash', 'het' and 'gen' altogether.

Yup. Personally, I see the biggest divide not between slash and het, but between slash/het and gen. It's really more of a gut feeling than anything that has evidence I can point to, but it may be because so many fic writers and fic communities seem to be 'shipper driven.

I also don't like the idea of categorizing writers by their pairings or by their slashiness. Yrs truly would probably be categorized as a gen writer, but currently I'm working on a plot bunny involving some f/f slash (odd, for a conservative Kinsey 0 sort of girl).

Personally, (even though I get very upset when people don't understand the true, lasting love between Fraser and Ray K.) I think that shippiness is not always a good thing for the fic world. I think it can keep people from looking at the quality of a fic rather than whether or not the right people end up in bed (or on the floor, on a desk, in the back seat of a car, etc.) together. Yes, I like a good schmoopy romance or torrid bit of erotica as much as the next gal, but I'd hate for those things to be the only things I valued about fic.

(pssst! I have two of Deb's books!)

Curse you wee and adorable Deena! I must track them down, so as to add to the Buffista Bookshelf.

Okay. Going to TRY and sleep now.

Ignorant question of the day: What is gen?

"Gen" refers either to generic or general, I think. It's how you classify stories that don't have a romantic or sexual relationship between main characters as a main ingredient.

Teppy's story about Faith would be an example of gen.

Oh, thanks Anne. I guess I don't really classify stories that way. I can see how it might be useful sometimes.

It's useful for some people as it generally means "no smut here!", but I think that the labeling of fic is less than useful and might actually keep people from reading a story they might otherwise love.

The only one where I can is one where Gunn accepts him for whatever he is. (kicks things shyly and gently like a grade schooler kicking a clump of dirt) It's this old OTP thing, you see.(shakes tiny fist in air) THEIRLUVWAZSOTRU!!!

sniff.

Oh, man. Back in the day...

sniff.

Ignorant question of the day: What is gen?

gen covers lots and lots of stories - basically it means fic that isn't relationship-driven, and (I've always assumed) stands for 'general'. Thus character-study drabbles or big-ass epics of plottiness or whatever the hell else gets called 'gen'. But these terms are so misleading. I mean, hell, The Sick Rose and its two little prequels comprise a novella-length swashbuckling epic of plottiness, in which the canonical, heterosexual Spike/Dru romance is absolutely the most important thing, but in which Dru is offstage for maybe half or 3/4 of the story, and in which the only sex to be described is m/m or f/f. So what the hell is that supposed to be?

eta

Big ass crosspostage.

I know enough people made uncomfortable by sexual content that I can see it might be handy.

I tend to look by genre for stories I want to read. Maybe today it's regency, tomorrow sci-fi, next week a medical thriller. Sometimes I want sex, sometimes I don't. However, I know that I've occasionally missed out on some good stuff because I limited my choices, and anything I've read here has been good, with or without sex. People tend to classify things. And I'm babbling. I'm just not sure how it could be done so as to introduce good fic to the greater number of discerning readers without offending a similarly large number of same.