Slash meta #2: please discuss!

[thrihyrne]

Same rules apply for the first one: be considerate, be as honest as you can be, as long or short as you wish. Filament often talks about the female gaze, and the fact that women enjoy looking at men and men's bodies, not just reading about them. In regards to slash, thinking about characters with an inner eye to their bodies (written slash), or true visuals (fan art or videos), would you say that your enjoyment is more about sensuality or sexuality? Does it vary depending on the fandom and/or pairing? And the key question: do you know why you're drawn to slash? Are you someone who reads/looks at all ratings of slash, or only particular ones? If so, which?

Thanks so much for helping me out with this. I question these things myself, so I'm thrilled to be able to put some of these thoughts down and into a non-fandom centric readership. :)

Comments

[me-ya-ri.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Yes, I very much enjoy looking at men and their bodies! Of course I also enjoy looking at women and their bodies. Very much bi, I am.

When I'm reading or writing slash I'm most interested in the characters, honestly; their personalities, how they interact, what they manage to or fail to accomplish. I will admit to being drawn to the fandoms with more attractive males but if those gorgeous men don't have good characters to go with their looks I'm gone. I need to have a powerful personality to connect to or all the good looks in the world make no difference to me.

It also helps a lot of the two (or more) males in that fandom have contrasting characters. For example, I love Smallville. (Well, I love the early seasons. After S5 I stopped watching.) Part of what drew me in was the dynamic between smart, snarky, unconventionally attractive Lex and honest, forthright, very conventionally attractive Clark. I slash them like whoa! *laughs* I also like SGA. Ronon Dex, John Sheppard and Rodney McKay all draw me in. They all have varying degrees of strong personalities, good looks (conventional and un) and powerful interactions with each other. Plus a fascinating world to play with, which helps a lot.

I'll read and write all ratings, from the mildest of G on up to the really kinkiest of NC-17, but if it's just sex for the purpose of sex, I lose interest immediately. The sex for me has to contribute to my understanding of the characters, move the plot along or help them grow together/apart in some way. I'm not a smut fanatic; I'm a story fanatic. I'll accept truly wild sex of some squicky varieties if the writer can convince me that it's in character and right for the story.

So lets see if I answered your questions.

In regards to slash, thinking about characters with an inner eye to their bodies (written slash), or true visuals (fan art or videos), would you say that your enjoyment is more about sensuality or sexuality?

I think that my enjoyment of slash tends more towards the sensual, rather than the sexual. It's far more about getting to know the characters than it is about the smut.

Does it vary depending on the fandom and/or pairing?

Not so much for me. Certain pairings tend to be less overtly sexual than others for me but it really doesn't change all that much.

And the key question: do you know why you're drawn to slash?

Yes! It's all about exploring different ways of living, different ways of interacting with the world and with each other. Slash is my way of imagining a better world, a different world, and sometimes of commenting on the world that we're in when I'm feeling pissed off and pedantic.

Are you someone who reads/looks at all ratings of slash, or only particular ones? If so, which?

I read 'em all. I also write them all, but only when it serves the story's plot or the character's development.

Hope that helped—good questions!

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Hm... I was reading these questions, and realised that my motive for enjoying and writing slash had very little to do with looking at men, at or men's bodies... Truth is, I don't. Not in RL, and not in the form of explicit fanart or vids either.

I enjoy slash because it is throwing together characters I care about, and because it adds a sexual dimension to power struggles or power dynamics (which is what I enjoy most, and tend to write. Romance isn't so much my thing - I can read and enjoy it, if it has a bit of tension/conflict to it, but I don't write it).

I guess one of the reasons I like slash is that you don't have any established het power dynamics, and that male characters lend themselves better to more violent interactions... But even when writing porn, I have no clear image of how bodies actually look, apart from general features we know from canon...

Weirdly enough I read mostly NC-17 and R ratings. But your question made me realise that whatever draws me to slash, it's not bodies ;). No idea whether that helps, or is just weird :).

[mrsquizzical.livejournal.com]

ha. well, my tumblr would suggest i like looking (at men and women) as much as reading about them...

one element i find interesting is that in neither do the 'perfect' appeal to me very much at all. /tangent.

[gingerspark.livejournal.com]

I love loking at men. I love artfully done photographs of fit male bodies - either alone or together. As for 'art" - I'm not an anime style fan generally so much of that "japanese style" stuff leaves me cold (although there are a couple of excepts - Livvy and heise are examples).

But I don't read slash/fanfiction other than Wraeththu.

would you say that your enjoyment is more about sensuality or sexuality? While a well-written sex scene is delish there is a fine line between well-written and a purple prose disaster. I tend to prefer sensuality - as it fuels and inspires the imagination. I've read enough to be "over smut" - I'd prefer character development and plot.

Does it vary depending on the fandom and/or pairing? I'm only a wraeththu fan - so I can't really comment

And the key question: do you know why you're drawn to slash? I am draw to fanfic (which tends towards the slashy) because I'm facsinated with Wraeththtu - I want to know more, read more, .. and hey, a little sensuality is fun. Spice of life!

Are you someone who reads/looks at all ratings of slash, or only particular ones? If so, which? I read "good" writers regardless of the rating.

[jaiden-s.livejournal.com]

I think it does depend on the medium. When reading written slash, sensuality plays the larger role. A writer may provide a lovely physical description of the characters, but it’s the innate nature of their relationship, how they move together and touch each other, that makes the slash scenes come alive for me. I want to know how the characters feel. I want to experience the moment with them.

With movies, artwork and manga, I’m still more drawn to sensuality. Raw sex without emotion or meaning is porn. I need to see that the characters are deeply immersed in the experience, that they revel in the touch of their lovers’ fingertips and the warmth of their kisses. Sexuality, though, does play a larger role for me in a visual medium than in literature. I’ll watch a movie with a paper-thin plot if it has a lovely sex scene. I won’t wade through a murky book just for a few pages of hot sex, though.

I read all ratings of slash and yaoi manga, and I watch hardcore porn. I prefer the ones that feature partners of equal size, social standing and intellect. For me, watching them come together is half the fun. The coupling itself doesn’t have to be hardcore. I’m happy with a sweet kiss, as long as there is some resolution. Sometimes, though, I just want to see a good fuck. Fandoms and pairings don’t matter much to me, as long as both males are over the age of consent.

[jaiden-s.livejournal.com]

I just realized that I overuse the word "though." LOL

[persephone100.livejournal.com]

Put simply - and I've tried to analyze why I like slash - I think with reading or writing about two men I can double my pleasure and double my fun!

And I think the sensuality is my favorite part - whether reading or writing, I like all the foreplay stuff that leads up to sex rather than just the act itself, but I definitely like that part as the end product.

I find sex scenes fun to write but I also think they're the most difficult to do well, and I need more practice writing them. lol I have, however, read a lot of good ones!

Also, I've only written in Wraeththu, so technically I haven't actually written a scene between two men...yet! ;P

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you mean by the difference between sensuality and sexuality? Do you mean do we like erotica that titillates but doesn't depict the actual sex act, such as kissing, caressing, nudity, dirty talk, etc as opposed to actual penetration? For myself, I like all of it. I like getting to know two characters, I like the lead up and I like the follow-through. And yes, beautiful bodies and faces are very nice to look at.

[leaf-light.livejournal.com]

Going through the questions backwards here, ie down the page. Yes I love looking at men, men's faces and men's bodies in real life, films and photos. I'm not so keen on a lot of fan art unless it has realism. And yes, given that I'm lesbian, that also applies to women's bodies (fairly obviously I suppose). With slash I'm not really bothered by the fandom as such but with the characters that fanfic has created. I love complex characters and complex plot, I also love both sensuality and sexuality. I'm drawn to slash because not only do same sex relationships feel more real and hot to me, but because I do, yes, love two men together. The rating is immaterial if the plot is good, but I'm quite happy enjoying well written PWP at times so it isn't always about plot, though there has to be tension, without that I lose interest fast.