Slash (term)
From Fan History Wiki
Slash most frequently refers to stories featuring male/male homoerotic content.
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[edit] Historical Definitions
The following definition dates to April 1993 in the Star Trek fandom:
- It began long ago in a galazy far, far away....its history is shrouded but ba-
- sically it means two people getting together of the same sex from certain
- television shows (mainly all the Star Treks) that you would never see on TV.
- The original slash was Kirk/Spock "Captain, not in front of the Klingons!"
- (Spock to Kirk in ONE of the movies). ST:NG has many more opportunities for
- lucious ladies to lay together than the original Star Trek did. [1]
The following definition dates to April 1993 in the Star Trek fandom:
- "slash" fiction refers to the orthographic character "slash" ("/") as
- in kirk/spock. it may interest you to know that 90% of all male/male
- slash fiction is written by straight women. [2]
The following term dates to 1997 and was written by JPayne:
- Slash fiction: According to Futurespeak, slash fiction is "[n]ot to be confused with slasher movies." It goes on to say that "[w]hen the slash is placed between the names of a well-known male-bonded pair, it indicates a degree of intimacy not usually fostered by most such buddies." (Rogow, p 313)
- In other words, slash fiction are stories about two men, represented in their respective medias as heterosexual. who are either buddies (Kirk and Spock), co-workers (Mulder and Skinner) or enemies (Joxer and Ares), who are represented within the slash fiction as being involved in a homosexual relationship. This relationship can be consensual or non-consensual, can be because of true homosexual feeling between the two characters, though these are assumed for the purposes of the fic and may have no actual basis in the work the fic is based on, and can be romantic or simply pornographic.
- According to the author of the "Generic Slash Defense Letter", "Slash is fan-written fiction that posits that characters of the same sex from a media show are sexually involved with each other. Sexual activity may or may not occur during the story, and may or may not be described in explicit detail, but at least one of the characters must realize that he or she IS sexually attracted to the other. Many male/male bonding stories, and a lot of Hurt/Comfort stories, have strong homoerotic undercurrents (IMHO, IMHO, IMHO) but it doesn't count as slash if neither of the characters involved recognize it."
- If fanfiction is looked down upon by 'real' writers, then slash fiction must exist to give fanfic writers who feel the need to be snobby someone else to look down on. Homophobia may account for some of the reaction against slash, but probably not all of it. Personally, my reaction to a slash fic depends largely on the characters being written about as well as how well the set up is handled. Some characters I can accept having a homosexual relationship a lot more readily than others. For example, Xena and Gabrielle, no problem (and not just 'cause of the cheap titilation value..rowr!); Mulder and say, Langely of the Lone Gunmen, sure; Hannibal and B.A. Baracus of The A-Team...HELL NO! Why? Because, at least to my mind, it goes too far outside my perceptions of the characters for me to really concieve of a situation where either would want to have sex with the other. Face and Murdock, on the other hand, I could see but...well, you better do a damn good job convincing me!
- It's that problem of convincing folks to accept your particular view of a universe that I think accounts for much of slash's problems as a genre. Writing non-fan erotica is difficult enough, when you start messing around with folks' perceptions of their favorite characters, you should probably expect some strong reactions from those who just can't picture Mulder and Skinner as friends, let alone snuggle-buddies.
- Also, slash, like every other genre, professional and amateur, suffers from Sturgeon's law, which says 90% of everything is crap. Not to mention the problem of the prejudices and misconceptions of others who lump all slash (or any other genre) together regardless of quality. (more on this in another article that'll be coming along...oh...well..someday, hopefully soon).
- Note: with the rise in popularity of Xena: Warrior Princes there are now female/female slash stories and sites. [3]
The following definition dates to December 1999 in the Sentinel fandom:
- In fic, a story which supposes that two characters who are the same sex are romantically involved. In Sentinel fandom, usually the two are Jim and Blair. Some people really like this idea and some people really don't; here on alt.tv.sentinel, we try not to argue about it. [4]
The following definition dates to January 2001 and the site Bad Fanfic! No Biscuit!:
- Depending on whom you ask, slash usually has one of the following two definitions:
- Fiction involving sexual/intimate relationships between same-sex (i.e. homosexual) couples
- or
- Fiction involving sexual/intimate relationships between two characters who don't have such a relationship on the show.
- A "slasher" is a person who reads and/or writes slash.[5]
The following definition dates to May 2001 in the West Wing fandom:
- Gen/Het/Slash: categories of fan fiction, used in a wide variety of fandoms. "Gen" is short for "General" and refers to any and all stories that aren't centered on sexual or romantic relationships. "Het" refers to a story centered on a heterosexual relationship, though it's a less common term than the other two. "Slash" refers to a story centered on a same-sex pairing. It originates from Star Trek stories featuring the Kirk/Spock relationship, but applies to female/female as well as male/male pairings. Slash is hard to do well. It's the redheaded stepchild of fan fiction, and is banned from certain lists. Check for clearance before you post. [6]
The following term dates to June 11, 2001 in video game fandom:
- Slash:
- Form of adult fanfiction. Graphically describes homosexual relationship. Can be explicit and violent. [7]
The following definition dates to the Roswell fandom on June 27, 2001:
- slash: romantic or erotic stories involving characters of the same sex, esp. two males [8]
The following term dates to December 2001 in the Harry Potter fandom:
- Slash/Slashy/Slashyness: A label found on fanfic, fanart and sometimes even site content—most definitely should be considered as a warning. It implies homosexual relationships between characters from a TV series/book/comic/anime/anything that is the basis of a fandom. Also known as m/m or f/f for short.[9]
The following term dates to December 2001 in the Harry Potter fandom:
- /: When seen in fanfiction descriptions, it's a "slash"—a little symbol that indicates a pairing in fanfiction, usually romantic/intimate, for both het and slash fics. Like "Scully/Mulder" or "Mulder/Krycek". These days, it's more slash (homosexual relationships) than het. The character mentioned first is usually the more dominant/aggressive one (see seme and uke for additional info)—E.g., a pairing like "Qui-Gon/Obi Wan" would indicate that Qui-Gon is the "top" and Obi Wan is the "bottom" in the relationship (though this is not always so--there's apparently also something called "topping from the bottom"). This, of course, is highly subjective to the authors' preferences—there are no "fixed" positions for characters. See Slash for more info on homosexual pairings. [10]
The following definition dates to July 6, 2002 in the Big Wolf on Campus fandom:
- Simply, slash is fanfiction that includes same-sex relationships. The name comes from the use of a '/' between names when listing a pairing, i.e. Merton/Tommy. The word has come to be used as a noun (slash, slasher - someone who writes slash), a verb (to slash) and an adjective (slashy - has the potential for a slash relationship). [11]
The following definition dates to February 2003 in the Lord of the Rings fandom:
- Slash: The pairing of two characters together who are the same gender. It is generally written in the style of a 'slash' (/) in between the two character's names, for example, a "Legolas/Aragorn" slashfic would be about a romantic entanglement involved aforesaid characters. If you are offended by homosexuality, avoid reading slash. [12]
The following definition dates to August 2003 in the Sentinel fandom:
- "Slash" is the term for stories which contain a romantic relationship between two characters of the same gender; you must be 18 or older to access these stories. [13]
The following definition dates to August 2003 in the Harry Potter fandom:
- Slash - a story with a gay relationship in it. Can be either sex, tho often if the stars are women, it will be 'femslash'. [14]
The following definition dates to September 2003 in the Kingdom Hearts fandom:
- Slash: A story involving characters of the same sex (usually males) being involved in sexual relationships. [15]
The following definition dates to October 2003 and was written by Chantal Gouveia:
- Slash: Same-sex parings [16]
The following definition dates to May 2004 in the Harry Potter, Horatio Hornblower and Pirates of the Caribbean fandoms:
- a romantic pairing of two male canon characters. Likewise, Femmeslash is a romantic pairing of two female canon characters. Allegedly, the name of this subgenre comes from the way slash stories were originally denoted back in the Star Trek days—the two characters’ names with a “/” in between. While many slash pairings are still indicated that way, a lot of het pairings are also written that way; as well, many crossover writers indicate the fandoms they’re crossing over with a slash (I’ve written a Hornblower / Indiana Jones story…it just means I’ve crossed them over, not that I’ve got them shagging). So, really, it’s just confusing. But, it gets even better! Other slash stories are indicated with a “x” between the characters’ names; once again, the same applies to some het stories, as well. Other times, pairings of the slash and het varieties are indicated by writing the characters’ names right next to each-other without a space, or by doing so with their initials. Therefore, if I wanted to write a slash story about Horatio and Archie, I could indicate it using the following methods: Horatio/Archie (the “traditional” way), HoratioxArchie, HoratioArchie, HHAK, or HA. Likewise, if I wanted to write a het story about Ron and Hermione, I could show it the same exact ways: Ron/Hermione, RonxHermione, RonHermione, RWHG, or RH.[17]
The following definition is from the Star Trek fandom. It dates from August 2004:
- slash = A story where two major canon characters of the same gender are in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. The term comes from the "/" placed between the names of the characters involved (e.g. "Kirk/Spock"). [18]
The following term dates to 2005 in the Lord of the Rings fandom:
- Slash - Fanfic with homosexual romantic or sexual relationship between male/male or female/female couples. [19]
The following definition is from cmshaw out of the X-Files, Sentinel, Highlander fandom. It dates from May 2005:
- slash, n. Fanfic featuring two (or more) people of the same gender romantically and/or sexually involved. Not to be confused with 'slasher', a type of horror film. Compare 'gayfic'. slash or slashy adj.
- slash, v.t. To pair [a character] in a story with another of the same gender. [20]
The following definition dates to May 2005 in the slash, Westlife, and Lord of the Rings fandoms:
- Slash - Often sexual in nature (although it doesn't have to be), slash stories feature two or more characters of the same sex romantically or sexually involved with eachother. The term come from the punctuation used between the main characters (pairing). E.g Shane/ Kian (Shane – slash – Kian) [21]
The following definition is from the MST community and dates to June 2005:
- Slash - in fanfiction, a sttory involving sexual situations between members of the same sex. Usually refers to male/male sex, but can also refer to lesbian sex. The term stems from pre-internet Star Trek fanfiction involving Kirk and Spock, which was referred to as "Kirk/Spock", then "K/S", then finally simply "slash" [22]
The following definition dates to September 2005 in the Stargate fandom:
- Homoerotic fiction. The term slash is derived from "/" in between names, such as Jack/Daniel, Jack/Teal'c. Not for everyone.[23]
The following definition dates to November 2005 in the A-Team fandom:
- Slash - Same sex pairings in a fanfic story. [24]
The following definition dates to December 2005 in the Harry Potter fandom:
- slash - Fanfic including a homosexual relationship, either male or female. Slash fanfic doesn't necessarily include graphic sex or have homosexuality as the focus of the story.[25]
The following definition dates to December 5, 2005 in the Thunder Cats fandom:
- slash: This one is trickier - even I was fooled for a long time thinking it had to do more with horror (think 'slasher' film). It's actually a fan fiction depicting a homosexual relationship between two or more characters - male/male or female/female. Note the slashes in the notation I just wrote and you'll realize why this type of fic is called slash ;)[26]
The following definition dates to May 2006 in the anime fandom:
- The Western equivalent of shonen-ai, denoted Top / Bottom. The classic example would be Captain Kirk / Mr. Spock.[27]
The following definition is was written by Jane Leavell and updated in June 2006:
- SLASH: Originally taken from descriptions of Kirk and Spock as sexual partners; the stories were labeled "Kirk/Spock" and thereafter stories about homosexual pairings--whether male/male or female/female, and whether or not they involved graphic sex scenes--were referred to as "slash" stories. A few newbies (people new to fandom) have tried to stretch this, using "slash" to mean sex of any kind, but that isn't the generally accepted definition. See also: GEN and HET.[28]
The following definition dates to September 2006 in anime fandom:
- Slash - western version of yaoi; homosexual relationship between males. [29]
The following definition dates to April 2007 in the comics fandom:
- Slash—Male homosexual combination of characters, goes by slash, Yaoi, or M/M. Slash is often simply romantic and sweeter, scarcely using sex, in this case it can be called Shonen Ai. Yaoi is a bit more graphic, and has a tendency of being anime specific.[30]
The following definition dates to March 2008 in the Sailor Moon fandom:
- Slash - Used for "western" stories (non-anime); means homosexual relationships [31]
The following definition dates to June 2, 2009:
- 7. fan fiction. Most people outside of the fanfic community probably think (if they think about it at all) that fan fiction is the exclusive domain of SF and fantasy fans. While this was once true, it’s certainly not true any more, and both the name and some of the associated terminology of fan fiction originated in SF fandom. Some of these associated terms are slash (fiction that depicts a sexual relationship between two characters) and Mary Sue (a character that acts out a blatant wish-fulfillment of the author or a story featuring such a character), both of which originated in Star Trek fandom. Curiously, fan fiction was originally used to refer to amateur fiction written about fans themselves, rather than amateur fiction written using the characters or settings of an existing work. [32]
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Categories: Terminology | Slash terminology | Harry Potter terminology | Star Trek terminology | Anime terminology | Comics terminology | Thundercats terminology | Stargate terminology | X-Files terminology | Sentinel terminology | Highlander terminology | Lord of the Rings terminology | Horatio Hornblower terminology
