Leslie Michael Orchard ([info]deus_x) wrote,
@ 2006-03-21 07:37:00
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No dreams of Shepard + McKay in my head
Okay, breaking radio silence again to pose a question to my LJ friends: What the hell is with all this Stargate Atlantis slash fic? I suspect some of you know what I'm talking about.

Slash fic just squicks me out on general principle. Of course, I thoroughly support your right to enjoy it - but why oh why has it poked its head into this particular memespace so emphatically? Can't you guys go back to Harry Potter or the Buffyverse or something? Maybe there's some unexplored ground over in the SeaQuest DSV continuity, or in The Collector from Canada? I'd actually appreciate it if you all stayed clear of the Firefly 'verse, though, but I know that the mere suggestion has probably inspired some Book/Wash and Mal/Jayne pairings somewhere...

*squick*

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[info]jadecat
2006-03-21 01:47 pm UTC (link)
But c'mon, don't you want to read all about Mal and Simon?

Hey, it's better than the Simon and River fics. Talk about squicky.

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[info]isolt
2006-03-21 02:11 pm UTC (link)
The one generalization you can make about slashers is that they will slash anything. Even things that, as far as I can tell, are already slash.

That said, I have no power to be shocked by fictional slash anymore. It's the Real Person Slash that gets me. Google "pundit slash". I dare you.

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[info]melonaise
2006-03-21 02:35 pm UTC (link)
Basically (since I'm more involved in fanfic than I should probably admit) a lot of the same writers who populated the Buffy and then Harry Potter slash archives have become obsessed with SG:A. Some fans of fanfic (ack) are hooked on a setting, but others tend to get attached to specific writers, and follow those writers wherever they may go. I know someone who hasn't seen an episode of SG:A, but who devotely reads every piece of such fanfic her favorite writers put out.

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[info]general_jinjur
2006-03-21 02:48 pm UTC (link)
i think it's actually simon/jayne that's the popular pairing in firefly. i mean, leaving aside the femslash, which seems plentiful. from what i hear, though, firefly is hard to write, so there isn't a crazy amount of it out there, even gen.

and i have to say, i can't believe i'm trying to explain/defend my porn at 9 in the morning.
i totally get being squicked - i still refuse to believe that angel has sex with anyone, ever, and am disturbed by the het & slash stories that state otherwise. in fact, i'd like to believe that he never takes his clothes off, though that's contradicted in canon.
but on the sg:a thing - it's widely joked that sg:a is the show that ate fandom (though it isn't as booming as it was a couple of months ago), and mcshep is the biggest pairing there. i'd argue that you could pair up mckay with anyone and it would be entertaining - i've seen stories that work putting him with weir, emmagan, dex, beckett, lorne, cadman, zelenka...but i don't think that's really true of everyone else. but i am apparently a mckay fan, so my opinions may not be agenda-free.

i'm not going to go into the theories about why slash works for people, but i do buy that it's possible to make interesting, conflicted, tense, funny, smart stories that feature an equal relationship despite power struggles and snark in slash that can be a hard sell in het. mckay works paired with a lot of people, sure - but i don't think sheppard does. seriously, after the quasi-rape imagery in michael? i don't want to see sheppard in a het story. i think he's dissociative and sort of creepy, but i still like him, and, well, he's pretty. put him with mckay and they balance each other out a bit. mckay also is the one character that's likely to challenge sheppard and dig behind that bland slouchiness. they're also the most obvious pairing - they compete with each other, but affectionately; they're comfortable together, while neither seems particularly comfortable with anyone else; and have you seen them gang up on a third party? anyway. i'm not going to argue subtext, because that shit is where you find it.

here's my thing, too - what i find really compelling in slash stories (and the occasional het pairing - xander/faith springs to mind) is the how the hell would that happen? factor. there's lots of established relationship stuff out there, and i really don't see the draw of that. getting people together is usually more complicated in a slash story - though mckay/sam carter is nicely problematic.

ok. i'll stop now, because really i don't know if you were asking a question, or raising an objection, or both. if you were just raising an objection, well, sorry. :)

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[info]deus_x
2006-03-21 03:02 pm UTC (link)
Hah! I thought I'd flush you out of the woodwork with this one!

And oh, I'm not seriously raising an objection, although it does squick me out a bit. But then, so does eating live shrimp - but some people seem to be okay with that too.

Yet still, my twisted brain still makes me ask these questions. And I find myself nodding in agreement when you say, "they're also the most obvious pairing" about McKay and Shepard... Then I get the shudders a bit and I try to put it behind me.

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[info]general_jinjur
2006-03-21 05:05 pm UTC (link)
dude, i am so easy. not to mention thrilled to see you posting.

sg:a is doing weird things to my brain - things that i really thought were squicks (mpreg, cracked out AUs, rps, 6-degree-type crossovers) are no longer even very off-putting. i mean, they still are for me in other fandoms, but not this one.

also, since it is the show that ate fandom, there's not really a lack of amazing gen & het stories, if you're looking to avoid slash. actually there are some well written stories that avoid the mcshep dynamic so effectively that they make the actual show look insanely slashy in contrast. anyway. not that i think you're looking for anything to read.

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Preved
[info]marvar
2006-04-02 05:45 am UTC (link)
Preved!

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