Reply To: Attack of the Slash Goggles

[Xanthe]

I love this topic!!!
I remember watching shows as a kid and although I wasn’t slashing them, I was really excited by them in a way I didn’t understand. And what I was excited about was the relationship between the two guys on the show. I loved Raffles and Bunny (my first huge major fandom crush! I was completely in love with Anthony Valentine for several months! LOL!), Bodie and Doyle (the Professionals) and then, of course, there was the obligatory Kirk/Spock crush. I must have rewatched “Amok Time” a gazillion times to see Spock sort of admit how much he loved his captain *g*. There were Carter and Regan (The Sweeney) and Blake and Avon (or really just Avon with anyone – I was a total Avon junkie) from Blake’s 7.
It wasn’t until I found The X Files that I realised what I was loving were SLASH relationships. Once I found Mulder and Skinner I never looked back! I started writing it immediately and all the stories on my site show my progression from there.
What’s interesting is which couple grab you as a pairing and which don’t. I love Sherlock for example, and I like Hawaii 5-0 and can totally SEE the slash in them both. But it just doesn’t interest me in fandom terms – yet. With NCIS and The X Files I’d been watching for 5 seasons before I suddenly wanted to write the pairing. Other pairings grab me quicker – Captain Jack was a hugely slashy character the minute he appeared onscreen – it’s just a shame he never had time to really cement a bond with the Doctor in a way I’d have liked. John and Rodney from SGA caught me very early on, and Mike and Harvey from Suits almost from Day One. It’s so hard to predict which pairing will make me want to participate in a fandom though. Not sure if it’s the same for everyone.
I think, for me, with my, uh, special interests, I have to see some BDSM possibilities in a pairing too, in order for it to be a real fandom interest of mine. I love writing just slash – I’ve written far more stories without BDSM than with it – but I love the frisson of knowing I can put them in BDSM situations too!