Slash poll

[mhalachai]

All right, kids: humour me. Another poll, this one thought up while reading another lj about slash. As before, please fill it out and pimp it in your own lj so I can get a good response. Also, please tell me about why you do/do not read/write slash in comments. Love to all.

[Poll #478509]

Comments

[hardlyfatal.livejournal.com]

I'm v. interested to read the other comments to this post, as slash is probably the #1 thing that makes me gnash my teeth and rend my garments (as it were) in fanfic.

But since I ended up writing a 2-page essage in response, here's a link to it... I just posted it on my own LJ so you didn't have this lengthy manifesto squatting on your thread :)

Why I Hate Slash (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cgwriting/174311.html)

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it's a beautiful essay. One that all fanfic writers should read, not just slash or het ones. It speaks to the problems and truths of writing consitent fanfic.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Not only is your essay thought-provoking and amazing, but I have so much love for your icon. *off to comment on minifesto*

[hardlyfatal.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) The icon's to express my rage at how slashers can't seem to let ANY relationship be platonic or brotherly or even hateful-- EVERYTHING is fodder for slashing. In this case, it's an anime called Wolf's Rain, and the guy on the right is the 25-year-old Tsume, loner and curmudgeon. The one on the right is 12-year-old Toboe, lost soul and orphan.

Tsume's emotional wounds are gradually healed by Toboe's hero-worship and need for protection. In return, Toboe is taught to toughen up and be more self-sufficient. It's a classic and v. touching big brother/little brother interaction, and yet people insist on pairing them, to the point where it's solid fanon.

Even if you get past the ick factor of Toboe's tender age, wrecking the fraternal dynamic between them for the sake of OMG HOT BUTTSEX really gets my knickers in a twist.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

What I find amazing is the dismissal of the fraternal bond, which has been spotlighted in literature, going back as far as the ancient Greeks. It's a real thing: people in real life often have good, solid, fraternal bonds with friends of the same gender. It's part of our species makeup. Same with the mentoring system, where an older individual will mentor a younger person in a platonic only way.

The hyper-sexuality in our society, where every set of close friends has become a pair of closet cases, and an older mentor automatically becomes hidden sexual abuse, is just messed up.