Note: I don't want this to turn into a big religious debate. You can go ahead and post, "I don't like slash because the Bible(/Quran/Torah/whatever) says being gay is wrong", that's fine, I don't mind, but please don't take it any farther than that. This is meant to be a discussion, not a debate, and something like that easily could turn very ugly.

Michael

Well i dont well i got no problems with it, ive written a few stories with gay couples in it but i dont go into the details of how their relationships work...

Im not realy interested in how gay people handle their relatioships...

only if the two characters in the pairing are canonically homosexual. since this is a site for original writing, then I can assume all the characters in the stories here that are homosexual are supposed to be like that.

however, I don't actively seek it out or anything. I prefer heterosexual relationships more, but I use that term loosely as I'm rather aromantic and don't care for relationships at all :P

If you believe that homosexuality is appropriate to a storyline, like any relationship, than add it in. Don't just add it because "U think its smexy lol!" (typing like that gives me a headache...ow :()

Honestly, I love slash. I started reading it a few months ago on the recommendation of a friend of mine who had been reading it since 6th grade. At first I kinda cringed at it like, "WTF is this?" I usually read malexmale pairings when it comes to slash but I do read femalexfemale once in a while if I can find a really good one.

I don't like slash just because it's "smexy" (even though it is lol). I like it because it proves that there are still good, open-minded people in the world. Everyone at my old school is homophobic...sexist...racist. Here, sexist...racist...some are homophobic but it's a bit more open-minded then my old school. I read slash because it gives me an escape from the drama of the homophobics, racists, and sexists and for a while, I like to believe the whole world is open-minded enough to love slash. That's why I read it.

-Kelli

I understand what you mean.

Honestly? I don't really care if a pairing's gay or straight, so long as it works. What I don't get is how some people (usually teenaged girls) on this site actively seek out slash and don't read anything but (isn't that some sort of discrimination?). I mean, I can understand that people have their own preferences in fan fiction or whatever, but FP is an archive for original work with original characters; it seems silly to me to limit your reading material, but that could just be me. At the same time, I can understand if some people don't/won't read it for religious reasons or because it makes them feel uncomfortable or whatever...

I also agree with whoever it was that said that you should only include slash or any sort of relationship if it's important/necessary to the plot.

ive written a few stories with gay couples in it but i dont go into the details of how their relationships work... Im not realy interested in how gay people handle their relatioships...

@ Lord Pacific: In my experience, gay and straight relationships are pretty much the same: the only difference (besides the sex) is religious tolerance, social acceptance, etc. Or was that what you were referring to?

I'm not against slash, I read it once in a while. The thing that bugs me once in a while, that there are a lot of them and they are rather popular, as if people prefer slash than straight. It's like no one needs straight romance now, just slash.

If the relationship fits into the stroy, then it is fine.

I don't like it, and only part of it's because of my religion. The other part simply boils down to the fact I don't like it, don't want to read it, see it, hear it, whatever. I want nothing to do with it. It creeps me out when I see that kind of thing at the mall or school or wherever, and I certainly don't want to read about it, too. I get annoyed when I start to read a perfectly good story and I find out it's slash.

I prefer people to call it as it is, in the description for all of us to see, and those who want to read it, can, and the rest of us can move happily on our way to look for something else to read.

I like it. What I don't like it is that everyone does want to just write slash, as people have mentioned before. Even the most generous estimates give that only 10% of the population is gay; why is there so much slash fiction? I also don't like how many author's of the manga genre like to demasculinize one of the boys in the couple, essentially making him a girl, but still capitalizing on the supposed homosexuality of it.

As to why people like it, I think it's because, well, there's two cute boys, wouldn't they be cuter together?

Even the most generous estimates give that only 10% of the population is gay; why is there so much slash fiction?

There isn't actually that much slash fiction in the published mainstream; there it's still a niche market. This site, however, is generally made up of teenage girls who think that two boys together (particularly if the relationship is heterosexualised) are "teh hottest thng EVA". And though I don't read manga, I'm guessing that the slash there caters to the same age group/target market too?

I don't care whether it's male on male, female on female, or male on female. Love is love, right? I could point out a few people on this site that insist that "het is boring", though.

As for manga, could you be referring to Shonen-ai and Yaoi? Both genres deal with male relationships, and they're quite popular wherever I go. So... I guess that's a yes?

Yeah, agree with SnowCookie - those that promote Slash are actually making a big deal out of it, and are the ones that are actually biased and discriminating. If you think it's normal and aren't against it and whatever, then you shouldn't even make headlines about slash. It's just a story then.

I completely agree with both you and SnowCookie, love is love and to accept people for who they are is to give them the privacy they deserve.

Frankly, I enjoy reading slash. I like it. And, if you love somebody, why cant you be with them. It doesn't matter really if you have the same reproductive organs, does it?

I think its because there's a lot more tension (and therefore interest) in the relationship. With straight couples usually its just the whole "does s/he like me? do I like him/her?" or you throw in a bit of the more general problems (racial, social, ethical, religious etc.) to create dilemmas. Adding the complication of homosexuality adds in a whole new spectrum of difficulties for the characters.

Its easier to see it from both a detached and involved way; the first because you can clearly see all of the character's reasons for hesitating but have never experienced it, so the author is in essence explaining something relatively new, the second because their thoughts need to be explained, it gives the reader a chance to get to know the characters better. Greater involvement is greater investment.

Plus, with two guys/girls you don't have the whole girl vs. boy dynamic. That is to say; "girls and boys don't understand each other because they are girls and boys." Which is completely not true, because people are peop- I'll cut that rant short. Anyhow, the characters will always be closer because they either 1) understand each other because they are the same sex (which I do not believe is true, but it is a distinct element in many a story) or 2) will find out all they can about that person because they don't understand them and they think they should.

As a slash writer myself, I find it harder to commit to the relationships when its shallow, as I find many het relationships (especially in real life) to be. Admittedly, het fics are not always shallow, everything except shallow. But, to put it in four words: its been done before.

+Andy

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