Fanfics with slash & sex...I don't get it

[Vicki]

I'm undoubtedly going to be repeating some of what others have said, but
here's my 2 knuts all the same.

-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Lucas

>Extremely disgusting.  I'm glad my son doesn't know
>how to read my email or find fanfics online.  Triple
>yecch!

I certainly think that everyone is entitled to likes and dislikes, but the
"extremely disgusting" comment seems... rather rude, like talking down or
condemning anyone who likes that.  I'm going to just point that out while
assuming that isn't the way you meant it to come across.

>I honestly don't understand the appeal of all these
>slash pairings.  I suppose people will write what they
>like, but I won't be reading any of it.  I like the
>characters too much as they are written to go changing
>their sexual preference on them!  If the Harry Potter
>books introduced a gay/lesbian character I wouldn't
>try to pair that character up with someone of the
>opposite sex in a fanfic I wrote, so I can't see
>trying to pair up hetrosexual characters with someone
>of the same sex.

As more than one person has pointed out, we don't KNOW what any of their
sexual orientations are.  Even those characters that have shown attraction
or interest in another character of the opposite sex could in fact be
bisexual, or even unsure of his or her own homosexuality.  I would honestly
be shocked - pleasantly, but still shocked - if JKR ever introduces a
character that is queer, be it gay, lesbian or bi.  I have never heard JKR
make any sort of comment, either negative or positive, about queer folk, not
to mention I can guess that her editors and publishers would BEG for her to
change it.  Regardless of the fact that many of us would cheer such an
addition, the negative people would far outrule us.

But in truth, that's all beside the point.  People have been slashing
popular characters in fiction for a good 30 years now - this is nothing new.
People have even written dissertations and studied slash writing.  If you're
curious, I'm sure you could find some of those on the web, and those people
will undoubtedly explain it far better than I ever could.  All I can really
tell you is why *I* write slash.

>Besides, I can't see 11 to
>14-year-old children [the age span of Harry, Ron and
>Hermione from PS/SS through GoF] being written as
>having sex at all.  Why can't child characters remain
>children without people writing about them having sex?
>Yeah, free country, I know, so the writers have a
>right to write that if they wish - and I support their
>right to do it - I just refuse to read it.

The majority of people who write about sexual situations age the characters
up.  As one of the moderators for RestrictedSection.org, an NC-17 HP fanfic
archive, I had to help decide what our cutoff would be.  You'd think that
would be easy, but it wasn't.  We finally decided on 15, feeling that was
the age when teenagers really tended to start dating and doing more than
just holding hands.  JKR herself has said that there will be relationships
happening because the main characters are getting older, and that IS what
happens.  Granted, I doubt she will get into the intimate details, but it
will be there, I have no doubt.

>It's fun to dream up alternate stories for the
>characters from TV shows and movies, but the best fan
>fiction I've ever read, whether it's Star Trek, Star
>Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files or Lord of
>the Rings, has kept true to the characters as
>envisioned and outlined by the ORIGINAL
>creators/writers of the characters.

I am a complete and utter Canon Whore (tm), so I do know what you're saying.
But part of the problem is that even with canon, every person who reads the
books can interpret canon differently.  The best example I can give is
shipping - my personal canon ship is Ron/Hermione, but there are plenty of
people out there who are certain that canon suggests that Harry and Hermione
will get together.  Who's right and who's wrong?  At this point, there IS no
answer, and I personally see no problem extrapolating from what JKR has
given us so far.  It's fun to speculate, but my point is - even canon can be
argued.

>I haven't even
>ventured into Harry Potter fanfics because I won't be
>happy if I stumble onto some ribald sex scene between
>characters currently no older than 15 (as of the
>anxiously awaited OotP) or "secret lustful glances"
>between Ron and Harry.

Don't read any of my fics, hehe.  But seriously, I'll repeat what others
have said - any decent author or site has clear indications on each story as
to the pairing, the rating, and a summary.  Despite that, people will tend
to ignore them, as I know all too well.  My one R-rated story is on Fiction
Alley and is a crossover between the TV show "Sex and the City" and HP,
called "Sex in the Village."  Despite the title, summary, and rating, I
still get reviews that say "Why is this all about sex??"  Gee, I have NO
idea.  FWIW, it's actually a humor fic.

>I know I sound like a prude or some religious fanatic,
>but I swear I'm not.  I just can't fathom the appeal
>of those kinds of fanfics at all and am admitting it.

I wish I could explain to you why I or anyone else finds it interesting and
fun to write slash or sex fics.  Again, I could give you my reasons, but
they'd probably be meaningless.  I think it may just come down to taste -
some people like vanilla, some people like chocolate, some people like
peanut butter fudge ripple.  There's no right or wrong involved.

Morrigan
www.RestrictedSection.org
www.livejournal.com/users/hermorrine
www.byz.org/~morrigan/hpslash.html