hmmm...

[arethinn]

Random interesting thought about slash.

Good slash admits of substitution of whoever-you-want for the characters explicitly mentioned. Thus, it becomes something vaguely universal, and not dependent on the characters it supposedly centres around. In other words, you can forget it's geeky and mind it as simply erotica. Except that it tends to be way less crude than the usual sort.

Comments

[juuro.livejournal.com]

But is it slash any more if it is generic? Does not much of the fascination of slash spring from the canonic characters being taken into situations where the original author did not take them, while still remaining in character? If I write erotica that allows substitution of any name in place of the named characters, any surroundings in place of the canonical universe, where is the fanfiction element of slash?

No, I think I disagree. Good slash has canonical characters and canonical surroundings, but events that the original author had left out. Good erotica can be slash or can be generic or can use original characters and settings.

Bad slash is overwhelmingly dependent of the canon to work, making constant references to things only fanatical readers of the original works will catch, leaving us others vaguely dissatisfied. Good slash will make clear the elements and settings needed, but will be comprehensible even to the uninitiated.

Interesting thought, I admit, but I disagree.

Re:

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

Bad slash is overwhelmingly dependent of the canon to work

I think this is kind of what I was getting at, but looking at this post again, I think I totally agree with you and am not sure what I was really thinking (except that I was slightly drunk when I made that post).