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Following yesterday's post, Drayce asked why slash? My immediate answer would be "'cos I like it", but that didn't seem sufficient, so I've thought a bit more and had various vague and probably unconnected thoughts. And Drayce, if you think I'm echoing your post the other day, it's not deliberate.
I like the idea of two people, who are good friends, having a sexual relationship as well. It's not compulsory in my writing, sometimes I'm quite happy for people to remain friends without the need for anything more than a hug and quite a lot of my fics remain like that. Often the relationship could progress, but my reason for writing that particular fic doesn't require it to. Equally, in some of my fics the characters may be in a relationship but that's not why I'm writing; in the same way that I'm married, but if I was writing about something we were doing I wouldn't talk about sex because it's not relevant to that particular activity.
But there are times when there is a sexual relationship and yes, generally it is slash. When I look at why this is the case, I come to the conclusion that when I choose my two main protagonists they are both male. That's partly because of the fandoms I'm in, where the majority of characters are male. The only fandom that's any different is Lewis, where I like Lewis/Hathaway, but I also like the canon Lewis/Hobson pairing. And I think that is the clue to me as to why I generally choose slash. Laura Hobson is a character in her own right, who isn't defined purely by her relationship with men.
So for me the important first thing is the relationship, which grows into something more. If I'm writing I need my characters to have depth as individuals as well as in a partnership. I like it when they get together, because in my writing I generally prefer them to end happily. I'm struggling to articulate quite what it is that means I choose slash, but I think that it's just because I have two male characters who I want to put together.
It's also, I realise, because I find it much easier to write male characters. That is a whole new kettle of worms.
I like the idea of two people, who are good friends, having a sexual relationship as well. It's not compulsory in my writing, sometimes I'm quite happy for people to remain friends without the need for anything more than a hug and quite a lot of my fics remain like that. Often the relationship could progress, but my reason for writing that particular fic doesn't require it to. Equally, in some of my fics the characters may be in a relationship but that's not why I'm writing; in the same way that I'm married, but if I was writing about something we were doing I wouldn't talk about sex because it's not relevant to that particular activity.
But there are times when there is a sexual relationship and yes, generally it is slash. When I look at why this is the case, I come to the conclusion that when I choose my two main protagonists they are both male. That's partly because of the fandoms I'm in, where the majority of characters are male. The only fandom that's any different is Lewis, where I like Lewis/Hathaway, but I also like the canon Lewis/Hobson pairing. And I think that is the clue to me as to why I generally choose slash. Laura Hobson is a character in her own right, who isn't defined purely by her relationship with men.
So for me the important first thing is the relationship, which grows into something more. If I'm writing I need my characters to have depth as individuals as well as in a partnership. I like it when they get together, because in my writing I generally prefer them to end happily. I'm struggling to articulate quite what it is that means I choose slash, but I think that it's just because I have two male characters who I want to put together.
It's also, I realise, because I find it much easier to write male characters. That is a whole new kettle of worms.
