[HPFGU-OTChatter] Slash fiction

[Kathryn Cawte]

 illyana

 
I was thinking about this, and I wonder what the first slash fiction 
was about. Does anyone know how long slash fiction has been around? I 
am sure that it's been around, in some form, for hundreds of years, but 
I wonder how long it's been such a popular style of writing.
 
Also, how were you all introduced to slash fiction? The first I ever 
heard of it was when I was about 16 (in 1996) - I was on an egroup for 
The A-Team (American TV show, for those of you who don't know), and 
many of the women on the group wrote slash stories about the characters.
 
Me -

The term originated with Kirk/Spock but I have been informed by someone who
was writing about this topic that there was Holmes/Watson fanfic around
pretty much from the time those books came out. Some cultural type whose
name escapes me was explaining at a university seminar that fanifction is
simply modern society's was of dealing with its own popular mythology. In
the medieval period stories would travel around the country with each teller
changing the story slightly and fitting to his style of storytelling,
fanfiction is how we deal with *our* cultural stories - which thanks to the
wonders of modern technology are sped around the world a lot faster these
days. It is a way of interacting with the medium.

Apparently. 

I discovered fanfiction in general with highlander back in 1996/7 when I
first had regular internet access, I pretty soon discovered Highlander slash
and I now read in more fandoms than I care to mention but only write in a
couple. I am on so many mailing lists for fic it's unreal and most (but not
all) tend to focus on slash relationships. Frankly I can slash *anything* if
I put my mind to it. I'm planning on making myself a banner for my website
saying "I see gay people" :)

K