Editing Slash fiction

{{Short description|Genre of same-sex romantic fan fiction}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=October 2021}}
{{Distinguish|Slasher film}}[[File:Slash.svg|thumb|80px|The slash symbol, used to separate the two names in a romantic pairing, gives its name to slash fiction.]]
{{Sex in SF mini}}

'''Slash fiction''' (also known as "m/m slash" or '''slashfic''') is a genre of [[fan fiction]] that focuses on [[Romance (love)|romantic]] or [[sexual attraction|sexual relationships]] between fictional characters of the same sex.<ref name="SATW">Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, November 16, 1986.</ref><ref name=VisCult>{{cite book|title=Visual Culture: Images and Interpretations|first1=Norman |last1=Bryson |author2=Michael Ann Holly |author3=Keith P. F. Moxey  |name-list-style=amp |pages=304–305|chapter=Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and Popular Culture|year=1994|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|isbn=978-0-8195-6267-8}}</ref> While the term "slash" originally referred only to stories in which male characters are involved in an explicit sexual relationship as a primary plot element, it is now also used to refer to any fan story containing a romantic pairing between same-sex characters. Many fans distinguish slash with female characters as a separate genre, commonly referred to as [[femslash]] (also known as "f/f slash" or "femmeslash").

These fan-written stories are not often accepted in a work's [[Canon (fiction)|canon]], and the characters are usually not engaged in such relationships in their respective fictional universes.<ref name="Kustritz" />

==History==
It is commonly believed that slash fan fiction originated during the late 1960s, within the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' [[fan fiction]] [[fandom]], starting with "[[Kirk/Spock]]" stories generally authored by female fans of the series and distributed privately among friends.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-07 |title=Short History of Kirk/Spock Slash |url=http://beyonddreamspress.com/history.htm |access-date=2024-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707231116/http://beyonddreamspress.com/history.htm |archive-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SATW"/><ref name=CHot20thcent799>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge history of twentieth-century English literature |last1= Laura |first1= Marcus|first2=Peter |last2=Nicholls |year=2004 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|page= 799|isbn=978-0-521-82077-6}}</ref>
The name arises from the use of the [[slash (punctuation)|slash symbol]] (/) in mentions in the late '70s of K/S (meaning stories where Kirk and Spock had a romantic [and often sexual] relationship), as compared to the [[ampersand]] (&) conventionally used for K&S or Kirk and Spock ''friendship'' fiction. For a time, both ''slash'' and ''K/S'' (for "Kirk/Spock") were used interchangeably. Slash later spread to other fan groups, first ''[[Starsky and Hutch]]'', ''[[Blake's 7]]'', and ''[[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]'',<ref name="Kustritz">{{cite journal
 | last = Kustritz
 | first = Anne
 |date=September 2003
 | title = Slashing the Romance Narrative
 | journal = The Journal of American Culture
 | volume = 26
 | issue = 3
 | pages = 371–384
 | doi =  10.1111/1542-734X.00098
 |url=http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms351vm/total-readings/fms351-L14-reading01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622084932/http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms351vm/total-readings/fms351-L14-reading01.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-22 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> then many others, eventually creating a fandom based on the concept of slash.<ref name="Boyd">Boyd, Kelly (2001) [http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/dspace/handle/1892/8734 "One index finger on the mouse scroll bar and the other on my clit" : slash writers' views on pornography, censorship, feminism and risk]</ref><ref name="Normal Female Interest">Henry Jenkins, with Cynthia Jenkins and Shoshanna Green,"'[http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/bonking.html The Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking': Selections from Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows],"in Cheryl Harris and Alison Alexander (eds.) Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture, and Identity (Hampton Press, 1998).</ref>  Many early slash stories were based on a pairing of two close friends, a "hero dyad", or "One True Pairing", such as Kirk/Spock or Starsky/Hutch; conversely, a classic pairing between [[Foil (literature)|foils]] was that of [[Roj Blake|Blake]]/[[Kerr Avon|Avon]] from ''[[Blake's 7]]''.<ref name=Tosenberger/>

The first K/S stories were not immediately accepted by all ''Star Trek'' fans.<ref name="sinclair-01">Jenna Sinclair, [http://www.beyonddreamspress.com/history.htm Short History of Kirk/Spock Slash]. Retrieved 2008-06-30.</ref> Later, authors such as [[Joanna Russ]] studied and reviewed the phenomenon in essays and gave the genre some academic respectability.<ref>Russ, Joanna, "Pornography by Women for Women, With Love" in her book, ''Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts''. New York:  The Crossing Press: 1985.</ref><ref>Penley, Constance, "Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and the Study of Popular Culture." In Grossberg, Lawrence, ed., ''Cultural Studies'', Rutledge 1992, p. 479. A detailed examination of K/S in terms of (among many other things) feminism and feminist studies.</ref> Greater subsequent tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality and increased frustration with the portrayal of gay relationships in mainstream media fed a growing desire in authors to explore the subjects on their own terms, using established media characters. ''Star Trek'' slash fiction remained important to fans, while new slash fiction grew up around other television shows, movies, and books with sci-fi or action-adventure roots.

Early slash fans in England feared that they would be arrested, because slash violated the obscenity laws there at the time.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Falzone|first1=P.J.|title=The Final Frontier Is Queer: Aberrancy, Archetype and Audience Generated Folklore in K/S Slashfiction|journal=[[Western Folklore]]|date=2005|volume=64|issue=3/4|pages=243–261|jstor=25474751}}</ref>

===Slash sources===
From its earliest days, slash fiction has been particularly inspired by popular [[speculative fiction]] franchises,<ref>Seed, David Seed (ed.), ''A Companion to Science Fiction'' (2005), "Science Fiction/Criticism" p. 57, {{ISBN|1-4051-1218-2}}</ref><ref name=CHot20thcent798/> possibly because speculative fiction may lack well-developed female characters or because the speculative elements allow greater freedom to reinterpret canonical characters. However, other large bodies of slash fiction, such as ''Starsky and Hutch'' or ''The Professionals'', are based on non-speculative sources.

Slash fiction follows popular media, and new stories are constantly produced. There is some correlation between the popularity and activity of each variety of slash fiction and those of the source of the material. Some slash fiction readers and writers tend to adhere closely to the canonical source of their fiction, while other participants may follow the slash content without being fans of the original source material itself.<ref>Green, Shoshanna, Cynthia Jenkings and Henry Jenkins. "Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking: Selections From 'The Terra Nostra Underground' and 'Strange Bedfellows'." Ed. C. Harris & A. Alexander. Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture and Identity. New Jersey: Hampton, 1998: pp. 9–38.</ref>

===Slash on the Internet===
Until the Internet became accessible to the general public in the early 1990s, slash was hard to find. It was published only in fan-edited non-profit [[fanzine]]s (often called only "zines"), which were usually priced just high enough to recoup printing costs,<ref name="Kustritz" /> and were sold via adzines or at conventions. With the advent of the Internet, slash fiction writers created [[Electronic mailing list|mailing lists]] which gradually took the place of [[amateur press association]]s (APA), and websites such as [[FanFiction.Net]]<ref name=CHot20thcent798>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge history of twentieth-century English literature |last1= Laura |first1= Marcus|first2=Peter |last2=Nicholls |year=2004 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|page= 798|isbn=978-0-521-82077-6}}</ref> (which gradually started taking the place of zines).

Forum boards and message boards were active during the first half of the first decade of the millennium, and sites such as [[Angelfire]], [[Geocities]], and [[ProBoards]] were quite successful. Other venues in which slash was, and still is, published are [[Facebook]] and private groups. Much later came [[Archive of Our Own]]. As slash publishing gradually moved to the Internet, the field opened to more writers, and a greater quantity of material was published.

The Internet allowed slash authors more freedom than print: stories could include branching story lines, links, collages, song mixes, and other innovations. The Internet increased slash visibility and the number of readers, as readers were now able to access the stories from their own home at a much lower cost, since zines cost more than an Internet connection. The number of [[fandom]]s represented increased dramatically, especially those devoted to science fiction, fantasy, and police dramas.<ref name="Kustritz" /> The Internet also increased the level of reader interaction, making it easier for fans to comment on stories, give episode reviews, and [[Meta (prefix)|discuss]] comment on trends in slash fandom itself. Websites and fanzines dedicated to fans of ''[[The X-Files]]'', ''[[Stargate]]'', ''[[Harry Potter]]'', and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' became common, with tens of thousands of slash stories available.<ref name=CHot20thcent798/>

==Critical and queer attention==
<!--discussing the academic theories on slash goes here - see yaoi or romance novel articles for examples of how this should look-->
Slash fiction has received more academic attention than other genres of fan fiction.<ref name=CHot20thcent799/> Slash fiction was the subject of several notable [[fan studies|academic studies]] in the early 1990s, as part of the [[cultural studies]] movement within the humanities: most of these, as is characteristic of cultural studies, approach slash fiction from an ethnographic perspective and talk primarily about the writers of slash fiction and the communities that form around it. Slashers have been configured as fans who resisted culture.<ref name=Allington/> Some studies – for example by Italian anthropologist Mirna Ciconi – focus on the textual analysis of slash fiction itself.

Slash fiction was often ignored by [[queer theory|queer theorists]].<ref>{{cite journal
 |author1=Dhaenens F. |author2=Van Bauwel S. |author3=Biltereyst D. | year = 2008
 | title = Slashing the Fiction of Queer Theory
 | journal = Journal of Communication Inquiry
 | volume = 32
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 335–347
 | doi = 10.1177/0196859908321508
 |s2cid=143260104 }}</ref> However, slash fiction has been described as important to the [[LGBTQ]] community and to the formation of queer identities, as it represents a resistance to the expectation of heterosexuality.<ref>{{cite book |title=Science Fiction Curriculum, Cyborg Teachers, & Youth Culture(s) |last1=Weaver |first1=John A. |first2=Karen |last2=Anijar |first3=Toby  |last3=Daspit  |page=84|year=2003 |publisher=P. Lang |location=US |isbn=978-0-8204-5044-5}}</ref> In a society in which heterosexuality is the norm and homosexuality is highly stigmatized, an online forum is sometimes the only space where young members of the LGBTQ community can be out. Young members of the community go through a time in which they are still exploring their identity, labels, and pronouns. By writing slash fiction, queer youth can use their favorite characters and stories in order to create scenarios that allow them to explore their feelings, thoughts, and selves. Slash fiction, in this sense, offers queer youth a low-risk chance to explore who they are. They can stay anonymous while creating a world in which they can express themselves creatively and freely.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Importance of Fanfiction For Queer Youth|url=https://theestablishment.co/the-importance-of-fanfiction-for-queer-youth-4ec3e85d7519#.rsbnznbs4|first=Jane|last=Hu|website=The Establishment|access-date=15 Mar 2017}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> However, slash fiction has also been criticized as being unrepresentative of the gay community as a whole,<ref>{{Cite journal|title = 'Fandom is full of pearl clutching old ladies': Nonnies in the online slash closet|last = Brennan|first = Joseph|date = 2014|journal = International Journal of Cultural Studies|doi = 10.1177/1367877913496200|issue = 4|volume = 17|pages = 363–380|s2cid = 145482477}}</ref> and as being used as a medium to express feminist frustration with popular and speculative fiction.<ref>{{cite book |title=Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Film Reader |last=Sean  |first=Redmond |page = 279 |year=2004 |publisher=Wallflower Press |location=US |isbn=978-1-903364-87-1}}</ref>

The predominant demographic among slash fiction readers is female, the majority of whom identify as other than heterosexual.{{Citation needed|reason=Previously cited source was an online unreliable poll||date=February 2023}} Science fiction writer [[Joanna Russ]] (herself a lesbian), author of ''[[How to Suppress Women's Writing]]'', is one of the first major science fiction writers to take slash fiction and its cultural and literary implications seriously.<ref>[http://jprstudies.org/2011/03/interview-joanna-russ/ Francis, Conseula and Piepmeier, Alison. "Interview: Joanna Russ" "Journal of Popular Romance Studies" #1.2; March 31, 2011]. Jprstudies.org. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> In her essay "Pornography by Women for Women, with Love," Russ argues that, in regard to the Kirk/Spock relationship, slash fiction combines both masculine and feminine traits of emotional vulnerability. Such an equal relationship, she contends, negates the power imbalance typically seen in regular fan fiction.

==Definition and ambiguity==
Slash fiction fandoms tend to be diverse and segregated, and each has its own rules of style, etiquette, history, and favorite stories and authors.

Slash cannot be commercially distributed due to copyright laws, and, until the 1990s, it was either undistributed or published in [[Fanzine|zine]]s.<ref name=EEL>Decarnin, Camilla (2006) "Slash Fiction" in Gaëtan Brulotte and John Phillips (eds.) ''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature'' New York: Routledge, pp. 1233–1235.</ref> Today, slash fiction is most commonly published on [[Tumblr]], [[LiveJournal]] accounts and other websites online, such as [[Archive of Our Own]]. Legal scholars promoting copyright reform sometimes use slash fiction as an example of [[semiotic democracy]].<ref>See, e.g., Siva Vaidhyanathan, 'Critical Information Studies: A Bibliographic Manifesto' (2006) 20 ''Cultural Studies'' 292.</ref>

The term ''slash fiction'' contains several ambiguities. Due to the lack of canonical homosexual relationships in source media at the time that slash fiction began to emerge, some came to see slash fiction stories as being exclusively outside their respective canons and held that the term "slash fiction" applies only when the characters' same-sex romantic or erotic relationship about which an author writes is not part of the source's canon and that fan fiction about [[canon (fiction)|canonical]] same-sex relationships is therefore not slash.<ref name="Tosenberger">{{cite journal | last1 = Tosenberger | first1 = Catherine | year = 2008 | title = Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fanfiction | journal = Children's Literature | volume = 36 | pages = 185–207 | doi = 10.1353/chl.0.0017 | s2cid = 143937185 }}</ref> The recent appearance on screen of openly gay and bisexual characters, such as [[Willow Rosenberg|Willow]] and [[Tara Maclay|Tara]] in the television series ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', the characters of ''[[Queer as Folk (UK TV series)|Queer as Folk]]'',<ref name=Tosenberger/> [[Jack Harkness]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and numerous characters in ''[[Torchwood]]'', has occasioned much additional discussion of this problem. Abiding by the aforementioned definition leaves such stories without a convenient label, so this distinction has not been widely adopted.<ref name=Tosenberger/>

Some slash authors also write slash fiction which contains [[transgender]] themes and transgender/[[transsexual]] or [[intersex]] characters. As a result, the exact definition of the term has often been hotly debated within various slash fandoms. The strictest definition holds that only stories about relationships between two male partners ('M/M') constitute 'slash fiction', which has led to the evolution of the term [[femslash]]. Slash-like fiction is also written in various Japanese [[anime]] or [[manga]] fandoms but is commonly referred to as [[shōnen-ai]] or [[yaoi]] for relationships between male characters, and [[shōjo-ai]] or [[yuri (genre)|yuri]] between female characters, respectively.

Due to the increasing popularity and prevalence of slash on the Internet in recent years, some use ''slash'' as a generic term for any erotic fan fiction, whether it depicts heterosexual or homosexual relationships. This has caused concern for other slash writers, who believe that, while it can be erotic, slash is not, by definition, so, and that defining all erotic fiction as slash makes such fiction unsuitable for potential underage readers of [[homoromantic]] fan fiction. In addition, a number of journalists writing about the fan fiction phenomenon in general seem to believe that ''all'' fan fiction is slash, or at least erotic in character.<ref>Dery, Mark. Glossary. Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyber Culture. North Carolina: Duke UP, 1994.</ref><ref>Viegener, Matias. "The Only Haircut That Makes Sense Anymore." Queer Looks: Lesbian & Gay Experimental Media. Routledge, New York: 1993.</ref><ref>Dundas, Zach, "[http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5307 Hobbits Gone Wrong] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508040011/http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5307 |date=2008-05-08 }}." In ''Willamette Week'', July 14, 2004, retrieved 2008-07-15. A less-than-complimentary report on slash fiction and its role in the "Bit Of Earth" scam involving fans of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' films.</ref> Such definitions fail to distinguish between erotic and romantic slash, and between slash, het (works focusing primarily on heterosexual relationships) and gen (works which do not include a romantic focus).

The slash mark itself (/), when put between character's names, has come to mean a shorthand label for a romantic relationship, regardless of whether the pairing is heterosexual or homosexual, romantic or erotic.<ref name=Tosenberger/>

==Slash and the original media sources==
For many people, slash is a controversial subject. In addition to the legal issues associated with traditional fan fiction, some people believe that it tarnishes established media characters to portray them in a way which was never illustrated canonically.<ref>Hunter, Kendra. "Characterization Rape." ''The Best of Trek 2''. New York: New American Library, 1977.</ref> But official disapproval of slash, specifically, is hard to find. As early as 1981, [[Lucasfilm]] has issued legal notices to fans who wrote sexually explicit stories.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Jenkins | first1 = Henry | author-link1 = Henry Jenkins | contribution = Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture. | editor-last = Durham | editor-first = Meenakshi Gigi | editor2-last = Kellner | editor2-first = Douglas | editor-link1 = Meenakshi Gigi Durham | title = Media and cultural studies: keyworks | page = 558 | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | location = Malden | year = 2012 | isbn = 9780470658086 }}</ref> [[J. K. Rowling]]/[[Warner Brothers]] have sent [[cease and desist]] letters referencing "sexually explicit" writings on the web, though Rowling approves the writing of fan fiction in general, posting links to fan fiction on her website and openly acknowledging slash fiction while maintaining that pairings such as those between Harry/Draco and Harry/Snape are non-canonical.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Some media creators seem downright slash friendly. In the ''Angel'' DVD commentary for "[[A Hole in the World (Angel episode)|A Hole in the World]]", [[Joss Whedon]], the creator of ''Angel'', said, "Spike and Angel...they were hanging out for years and years and years. They were all kinds of deviant. Are people thinking they never...? Come on, people! They're open-minded guys!" as well as Spike saying, "Angel and me have never been intimate. Except that one..." to [[Illyria (Angel)|Illyria]] in the episode "[[Power Play (Angel)|Power Play]]." Renaissance Pictures invited femslash author Melissa Good to pen scripts for ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess (season 6)|Xena: Warrior Princess]]''. Some people say they see similar evidence of such relationships in other shows such as ''[[Smallville]]'',<ref>[http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/gaySmallville/index.html The Kryptonite closet: Silence and queer secrecy in ''Smallville'']. Ejumpcut.org. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]''<ref>{{cite journal
| last        = Tosenberger
| first       = Catherine
| year        = 2008
| title       = "The epic love story of Sam and Dean": Supernatural, queer readings, and the romance of incestuous fan fiction
| journal     = Transformative Works and Cultures
| volume      = 1
| doi         = 10.3983/twc.2008.0030
| doi-access= free
}}
</ref> and ''[[Due South]].''<ref>{{cite book
  |last = Bury
  |first = Rhiannon
  |chapter = A Critical Eye for the Queer Text: Reading and Writing Slash Fiction on (The) Line
 |title = The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments
  |publisher = Springer Netherlands
  |year = 2006
  |doi = 10.1007/978-1-4020-3803-7_46
  |isbn = 978-1-4020-3803-7
|pages= 1151–1167
}}</ref>

''Due South's'' fandom was one of the first to go online, after the show debuted in 1994.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = due South - Fanlore| journal=Chicago Tribune | date=12 December 1995 |url = http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South|publisher=[[Fanlore]]|access-date = 2016-02-08| last1=Johnson | first1=Allan }}</ref> In 1999 ''Due South'' creator [[Paul Haggis]] participated in a question-and-answer panel with an online ''Due South'' newsgroup. The newsgroup asked Haggis if he had a problem with fans seeing the characters he created (Detective Ray Vecchio and Constable Benton Fraser) as being in love with each other and having a closeted relationship. Haggis replied, "Absolutely no problem at all. If ever two people loved each other, it's Ray and Fraser."<ref>{{Cite web|title = Paul Haggis QnA Session -- 1999|url = http://home.hiwaay.net/~warydbom/duesouth/interviews/haggischat.html|website = home.hiwaay.net|access-date = 2016-02-08|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305192158/http://home.hiwaay.net/~warydbom/duesouth/interviews/haggischat.html|archive-date = 2016-03-05}}</ref>

Furthermore, the YouTubers Daniel Howell and Phil Lester (Daniel Howell and amazingphil) are well known for being very accepting of slash fiction and even wrote some fanfiction about themselves, which was featured in their book ''The Amazing Book is Not on Fire''. In addition, their stage show, The Amazing Tour is Not on Fire, included a section called Fanfiction Live.

In the episode "[[The Monster at the End of This Book (Supernatural)|The Monster at the End of This Book]]" of the TV show ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'', the main characters encounter fictional representations of themselves in a series of books. They find the online fandom, and comment about their activities including the writing of slash fanfiction. This is often referred to by fans of ''Supernatural'' as Wincest, based on the characters' surname (Winchester) and the fact that they are brothers (incest).

The revival of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' led by the openly gay writer [[Russell T Davies]] has also seen nods towards the slash fans beyond the omnisexual Captain Jack Harkness and other characters from the spin-off ''[[Torchwood]]''. Many fans see exchanges between the Doctor and the Master (played in the new series by [[John Simm]], whose ''[[Life on Mars (UK TV series)|Life On Mars]]'' character [[Sam Tyler]] is also the subject of a lot of slash fiction) as indicative of a previous relationship, or current attraction. At one point the Master says to the Doctor "I like it when you use my name", and in [[Time Crash|a Children in Need special]], the Tenth Doctor tells the Fifth, after being asked whether the Master still has "that rubbish beard", "No, no beard this time. Well, a wife." – which fans point to as a reference to gay men marrying a woman for public respectability, the wife being referred to as "a beard". The term for shows that seem to be giving material for slash writers to use is "pre-slashed", sometimes "pre-slashed for your convenience".

==Slash fandom==

===Conventions===

Several slash conventions run throughout the year and across the globe, mostly in the United States, including Escapade in California,<ref>[http://www.escapadecon.net/index.php Escapade 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724003352/http://www.escapadecon.net/index.php |date=2015-07-24 }}. Escapadecon.net. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> REVELcon in Texas,<ref>[http://www.severalunlimited.com/revelcon/ RevelCon Web Page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417082839/http://www.severalunlimited.com/revelcon/ |date=2010-04-17 }}. Severalunlimited.com (15 September 2011). Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> Connexions in Maryland,<ref>{{cite conference|conference=ConneXions 2005: the Pajama Party|url= http://connexionscon.home.mindspring.com/connexions.html|title=Welcome|conference-url= http://connexionscon.home.mindspring.com/connexions.html|date=April 1–3, 2005|location=Baltimore, MD|access-date=2010-06-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713044201/http://connexionscon.home.mindspring.com/connexions.html|archive-date=2008-07-13}}</ref> MediaWest*Con in Michigan,<ref>[http://www.mediawestcon.org/ MediaWest*Con Hub Page]. Mediawestcon.org (08 June 2011). Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> CON.TXT in Washington, D.C.,<ref>[http://www.con-txt.net/ CON.TXT home]. Con-txt.net. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> Con*Strict in Nevada,<ref>[http://www.randomadventures.com/constrict/index.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105003007/http://www.randomadventures.com/constrict/index.htm|date=January 5, 2007}}</ref> Connotations in England,<ref>[http://www.connotations.org.uk/ Connotations 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606043402/http://www.connotations.org.uk/ |date=2010-06-06 }}. Connotations.org.uk. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> Zebracon in Illinois,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.zebracon.net/ | title=ZEBRACON - We'll give you the best tech tips and tricks you can have | access-date=2010-06-18 | archive-date=2007-09-11 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911135916/http://www.zebracon.net/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> Yaoi-Con in California,<ref>[http://www.yaoicon.com/ Updates – Yaoi-Con 2011 | A Celebration of Male Beauty and Passion in Anime and Manga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516203740/http://www.yaoicon.com/cgi-sys/defaultwebpage.cgi |date=2020-05-16 }}. Yaoicon.com. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> Bascon in California,<ref>[http://www.bascon.org/ Bay Area Slash Convention] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831104635/http://www.bascon.org/ |date=2009-08-31 }}. BASCON. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> and others.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120701002141/http://community.livejournal.com/slash_con/profile slash_con – Community Profile]. Community.livejournal.com. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref>

===Terminology {{anchor|Squick}}===
Slash fiction has created and appropriated words to denote peculiarities found within the fandom. "Gayfic" is sometimes used to refer to stories focusing on gay male relationships,{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} and "femslash" or "f/f" used to indicate that a work features female characters in slash relationships.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Slash fiction, like other fan fiction, sometimes borrows the [[MPAA film rating system]] to indicate the amount of sexual content in the story.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Not all slash fiction has explicit sexual content – the interaction between two characters can be as innocent as holding hands or a chaste kiss, or even contain nothing but unfulfilled yearning; stories may be labeled "UST" for "unresolved sexual tension". Some sites require all stories to be rated and have warnings attached, often by using a [[beta reader]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

The term ''no lemon'' is sometimes used to indicate fan fiction stories without explicit sexual content. Anything with explicit content, especially with erotic scenes without accompanying romantic scenes, may be labeled "lemon". The term ''lemon'' arose from the [[anime]]/[[yaoi]] fandoms, referring to a [[hentai]] anime series, ''[[Cream Lemon]]''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}  The term ''[[squick]]'' is most often used as a warning to refer to a reader's possible negative reaction to scenes in the text (often sexual) that some might find offensive or distressing, such as those including [[incest]], [[BDSM]], [[rape]], "[[mpreg]]" (male pregnancy), gender swapping, and [[torture]]. The term originated in the [[Usenet newsgroup]] [[alt.sex.bondage]] in 1991.<ref>[http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/squick/ "squick" definition from Double-Tongued Dictionary]. Doubletongued.org (12 March 2005). Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2021|reason=Source only gives a definition of the term. Neither its usage in slash fiction nor its etymology are present}} Squicks are often listed as a warning in the header of a fanfiction story.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

The term "slasher" is used for someone who creates slash fiction, and the term "slashy" is used to mean "homoerotic".  "Slashy moments" are those events in the canonical storyline which slashers interpret as homoerotic, which in turn form the slashers' depiction of the characters in slash fiction.<ref name="Allington">{{cite journal
| last        = Allington
| first       = Daniel
|date= March 2007
| title       = "How Come Most People Don't See It?": Slashing the Lord of the Rings
| journal     = Social Semiotics
| volume      = 17
| issue       = 1
| pages       = 43–62
| doi         = 10.1080/10350330601124650
| s2cid = 143324395
}}</ref>

==Subgenres==

===Femslash===
{{Main|Femslash}}
Femslash or femmeslash is a subgenre of slash fiction which focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between female fictional characters.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Lo|editor-first=Malinda|date=4 January 2006|url= http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html|title=Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet|page=1|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080117044113/http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html|archive-date=17 January 2008|url-status=dead|website=[[AfterEllen.com]]|access-date=19 July 2007}}</ref> Typically, characters featured in femslash are [[heterosexual]] in the canonical universe; however, similar fan fiction about lesbian characters are commonly labeled as femslash for convenience.<ref>Herzing, Melissa. (April 2005) [http://etd.vcu.edu/theses/submitted/etd-05092005-125907/unrestricted/herzingmj_thesis.pdf The Internet World of Fan Fiction]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[Virginia Commonwealth University]]. Retrieved 12 August 2007.</ref> The term is generally applied only to fanworks based on Western [[fandom]]s; the nearest anime/manga equivalents are more often called [[Yuri (genre)|yuri and shōjo-ai]] fanfiction.<ref>[http://dictionary.lunaescence.com/index.php?cat=9 Dictionary of Anime Fandom] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704015723/http://dictionary.lunaescence.com/index.php?cat=9 |date=2007-07-04 }} Lunaescence. Retrieved 19 July 2007.</ref> Femslash is also known as "f/f slash", "femmeslash", and "saffic",<ref>Lawrence, K. F.; schraefel, m. c. (2006) [http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/11800/01/wbc2006KFLawrence.pdf Web Based Semantic Communities – Who, How and Why We Might Want Them in the First Place] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824192253/http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/11800/01/wbc2006KFLawrence.pdf |date=2007-08-24 }} [[University of Southampton]]. Retrieved 12 August 2007.</ref> the last term blending the words ''[[Sapphic love|Sapphic]]'' and ''fiction''.<ref name="Tosenberger"/>

There is less femslash than there is slash based on male couples – it has been suggested that heterosexual female slash authors generally do not write femslash,<ref name="Bitch">{{cite web |last=Thrupkaew |first=Noy |url=http://bitchmagazine.org/article/fan-tastic-voyage |title=Fan/tastic Voyage |work=Bitch Magazine |access-date=6 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215150953/http://bitchmagazine.org/article/fan-tastic-voyage |archive-date=2009-02-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and that it is rare to find a fandom with two sufficiently engaging female characters.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Lo|editor-first=Malinda|url= http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html?page=0%2C1|title=Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet|page=2|website=[[AfterEllen.com]]|date=4 January 2006|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080516121400/http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html?page=0%2C1|archive-date=16 May 2008}}</ref> Janeway/Seven is the main ''Star Trek'' femslash pairing, as only they have "an on-screen relationship fraught with deep emotional connection and conflict".<ref>[http://j-l-r.org/asmic/fanfic/print/jlr-cyborgsex.pdf NEW VOY "cyborg sex" J/7 (NC-17) 1/1* new methodologies, new fantasies], Russo, Julie Levin, August 2002</ref>  Although it is debated whether fanfiction about [[Canon (fiction)|canonical]] lesbians such as [[Willow Rosenberg|Willow]] and [[Tara Maclay|Tara]] of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' counts as "slash", their relationship storylines are more coy than heterosexual ones, which entices Willow/Tara femslash authors to fill in the gaps in the known relationship storyline.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Lo|editor-first=Malinda|url= http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html?page=0%2C2|title=Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet|page=3|website=[[AfterEllen.com]]|date=4 January 2006|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080516121405/http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html?page=0%2C2|archive-date=16 May 2008}}</ref> It is "relatively recently" that male writers have begun writing femslash.<ref>{{cite web|editor-first=David |editor-last=Lavery |editor-first2=Rhonda V. |editor-last2=Wilcox |title=Volume 4|work=Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies|url= http://slayageonline.com/Volumes/Slayage_Volume_4.pdf|access-date=2010-11-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716091719/http://slayageonline.com/Volumes/Slayage_Volume_4.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-16}}</ref>

Another suggestion in which there is less femslash is its lack of strong female characters in media. TV shows are heavily skewed toward the portrayal of men, with only two notable predominant female TV shows: ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' and ''[[Orange is the New Black]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Toastystats: Fandom Stats and Data|url=http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/127453611589/toastystats-gender-bias-in-television-how-biased|website=Destination: Toast!|access-date=28 Feb 2017}}</ref> In these two cases, because there is an overwhelming number of strong female characters, femslash is much more popular. Otherwise, shows with a skew towards men are more popular, as women portrayed in these shows are weaker supporting characters.

===Chanslash===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2016}}
Chanslash is the portrayal of underage characters in sexual situations in slash fiction. The prefix [[Japanese titles|chan]] most likely comes from the Japanese name suffix used as a term of endearment toward children or women.<ref>{{cite journal
| last1        = McLelland
| first1       = Mark
| last2        = Yoo
| first2       = Seunghyun
|date= March 2007
| title       = The International Yaoi Boys' Love Fandom and the Regulation of Virtual Child Pornography: The Implications of Current Legislation
| journal     = Sexuality Research & Social Policy
| volume      = 4
| issue       = 1
| pages       = 93–104
| url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/192/
| doi        = 10.1525/srsp.2007.4.1.93
| s2cid = 142674472
| url-access= subscription
}}</ref> It may be a nod towards [[yaoi]] fandoms, in which underage pairings are more commonplace.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Owners of the [[intellectual property rights]] to characters in this type of slash are often unhappy with chanslash because of the potential legal ramifications and concern over negatively affecting the popularity of the character.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Some studios owning the rights to slashed characters have issued [[cease and desist]] orders in the past as a result of this type of slash.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Chanslash is also called [[shotacon]] (abbreviated as "shouta" or "shota") when dealing with anime fanfiction.

===Real person slash===
Real person slash (RPS), also a subgenre of [[real person fiction]], involves taking a celebrity's public image and creating slash stories with them. Real person slash gained popularity with the 1990s rise of boy bands in the pop music industry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Slashing through the undercult |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/02/12/bocovers.xml&sSheet=/arts/2006/02/12/bomain.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015081859/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2006%2F02%2F12%2Fbocovers.xml&sSheet=%2Farts%2F2006%2F02%2F12%2Fbomain.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 October 2007 |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=14 February 2006 |access-date=24 August 2007 |location=London |first=John |last=Sutherland }}</ref> In the ''Supernatural'' fandom, slash fans who were uncomfortable with shipping the two main brother characters moved into writing and reading Jsquared/J2 fic (slash involving the lead actors [[Jared Padalecki]] and [[Jensen Ackles]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Flegel|first1=Monica|last2=Roth|first2=Jenny|title=Annihilating love and heterosexuality without women: Romance, generic difference, and queer politics in ''Supernatural'' fan fiction|journal=[[Transformative Works and Cultures]]|volume=4|date=2010|issue=4|doi=10.3983/twc.2010.0133|doi-access=free}}</ref> This led to the phrase "Supernatural fandom – where RPS is the moral high ground".{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} Though increasingly common, RPS is considered a potential "squick" for slash readers. In addition, the use of celebrities in fictional, sexual stories remains controversial. Journals including RPS often include disclaimers that explain their true fictional nature. Henry Jenkins says that RPS may be "troubling" to the old guard of slash.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Leander |last=Kahney |url=https://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2002/06/53071?currentPage=2 |title=Bill/Steve's Sexcellent Adventure |magazine=Wired |date=1975-03-05 |access-date=2009-03-06}}</ref>  Fans of real person slash state that the personas presented by the common figures of RPS such as boy bands, celebrities, athletes and pro wrestlers are "largely manufactured" for the pleasure of female fans, "so why not just run with them?"<ref name="Bitch"/>

===Reverse slash===
Reverse slash is a term used for fanfic without any sexual content, or very little sexual content, compared to the [[canon (fiction)|canon]]. The term is believed to have originated when non-sexual fanfic based on the [[Anita Blake]] series began to circulate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} Fanfic without sexual content can also be referred to as 'genfic', short for general fiction, non-romantic in nature.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fan fiction and fan communities in the age of the Internet : new essays|last1=Hellekson|first1=Karen |author-link1=Karen Hellekson |last2=Busse|first2=Kristina |author-link2=Kristina Busse |publisher=McFarland & Co.|year=2006|isbn=9780786454969|location=Jefferson, NC|pages=10|chapter=Introduction : work in progress|quote=Gen denotes a general story that posits no imposed romantic relationships among the characters.}}</ref>

===Original slash===
Original slash stories are those that contain male/male content, based on perceived homoerotic subtext between fictitious characters.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays|author1=Hellekson, Karen |author2=Busse, Kristina |publisher=McFarland|year=2006|location=Jefferson}}</ref> This can be sourced from a variety of media content, such as manga, TV shows, movies and books amongst others. These works are now generally published online<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=A|year=2006|title=Fan fiction online: engagement, critical response and affective play through writing|journal=Australian Journal of Language & Literacy|volume=29|pages=226–239}}</ref> and use the same forms of rating, warnings and terminology that is commonly used by slash writers.

Slash has a different sensibility to gay fiction, probably because most slash readers are female and in a closed community that shares their tastes, which makes most stories in the genre centered into emotional relationships, even as sex is very prominent.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

A different variety of homoerotic amateur fiction is original yaoi, from the [[manga]]/[[anime]] genre [[yaoi]] (boy-love), popularized in the West by subbers and [[scanlation]]s.

Both (original slash and original yaoi) are terms that are considered somewhat controversial by some slash fans since they feel that the term 'slash' can only refer to works of fan fiction and not original works.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Omegaverse===
{{main|Omegaverse}}
[[Omegaverse]] is a subgenre of [[speculative fiction|speculative]] [[erotic fiction]] that originated as a subgenre of slash fiction. In Omegaverse works, humans are either dominant "alphas", neutral "betas" or submissive "omegas", and they exhibit sexual traits and behaviors based on those of wolves or other wild animals.<ref>{{cite book |date=2013-11-26 |title=Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World | first=Anne | last=Jamieson | contribution=Pon Farr, Mpreg, and the rise of the Omegaverse | contributor=Kristina Busse |location=United States |publisher=[[BenBella Books|Smart Pop]] | isbn=978-1939529190 }}</ref> The first Omegaverse slash fiction was written about the TV series ''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]'' in the 2010s. The subgenre has become so popular that it evolved into a genre of original erotic fiction in its own right, independent from its roots in fan fiction.<ref name="NYT 23 May 2020">{{cite news |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |title=A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica Raises a Deep Legal Question |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/business/omegaverse-erotica-copyright.html |work=The New York Times |date=23 May 2020}}</ref> The earliest commercial publication using omegaverse tropes is ''With Caution'' by J.L. Langley.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://booklive.jp/bkmr/omegaverse-bl-comic | title=《2019年版》おすすめオメガバースBL漫画17選【初心者向けから上級者向けまで】 | trans-title=Top 17 Recommended BL Omegaverse Manga for 2019 | language=ja | work=BookLive! | date=2018-07-11 | access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref> The trope gained rapid popularity in Japan in the mid-2010s through fan ''[[dōjinshi]]'' and has become a subgenre of ''[[yaoi]]'' works.<ref name="natalie 2018-12-06">{{cite web | url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/311064 | title=傷心教師の赴任先は、妖し男子が集まる学園…羽純ハナの最新BL、ドラマCD化も決定 | language=ja | work=[[Natalie (website)|Natalie]] | date=2018-12-06 | access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref> In Japanese works, Omegaverse also introduces a [[caste]] system, where Alphas are depicted as the upper class elites while Omegas are at the bottom tier and face discrimination. Omegas can get pregnant in spite of being male.<ref name="natalie 2018-12-06"/>

==Other slash fanworks==

===Slash art===

In addition to fiction, fans also create [[Visual arts|artwork]] depicting media characters in same-sex relationship contexts. Initially, slash art was mostly used in covers and interior pages of fanzines, and sold to other fans at media and slash conventions.

=== Slash manips ===
In recent years, more slash artwork has used widespread availability of imaging software, like [[Adobe Photoshop]], to manipulate photographs of their subjects to produce romantic or erotic images (often referred to as ''slash manips''<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/677|title = Slash Manips: Remixing Popular Media with Gay Pornography|last = Brennan|first = Joseph|date = 2013|journal = M/C Journal|volume = 16|issue = 4|doi = 10.5204/mcj.677|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Not 'from my hot little ovaries': How slash manips pierce reductive assumptions|last = Brennan|first = Joseph|date = 2014|journal = Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies|doi = 10.1080/10304312.2013.854872|issue = 2|volume = 28|pages = 247–264|s2cid = 144148482}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brennan|first=Joseph|date=2016|title='If Duchamp's toilet can be a masterpiece…': Slash manips as fannish readymades|journal=Journal of Fandom Studies|volume=4|issue=1|pages=3–21|doi=10.1386/jfs.4.1.3_1}}</ref>) which imply a homosexual relationship, either as static pictures or animated GIFs. When the manipulated photos depict real people instead of media characters, the creation of these images can be as contentious as real person slash, and for many of the same reasons.

===Slash vidding===
[[Vidding]] has existed in media fandom since the 1980s, and slash vidding is still a popular movement within vidding.<ref>{{cite journal
| last        = Coppa
| first       = Francesca
|author-link  = Francesca Coppa
| year        = 2008
| title       = Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding
| journal     = Transformative Works and Cultures
| volume      = 1
| doi         = 10.3983/twc.2008.0044
| doi-access= free
}}</ref> Slash vidders take clips of characters (generally ones not written as gay, or in a relationship together), and through juxtaposition, song choice, and other techniques, portray a slash relationship on screen.<ref name="jenkins-howto">{{cite web
| first       = Henry
| last        = Jenkins
|author-link  = Henry Jenkins
| title       = How to Watch a Fan-Vid
| url         = http://www.henryjenkins.org/2006/09/how_to_watch_a_fanvid.html
| publisher   = Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Webblog of [[Henry Jenkins]]
| date        = 18 September 2006
| access-date  = 15 August 2009
}}</ref> Vidding used to be very guarded within the slash community, among other reasons, because the songs used in videos are copyrighted. When vidders started putting their videos online, their sites were routinely password protected, etc.

Today, there are thousands of vids, and vid-like projects, available on YouTube and other video sites.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf9oD_xl8mI TNG episode 15 – "That Jean-Luc Picard"]. YouTube (04 February 2009). Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> Many of these vids are made by slash (and gen) fans, but enormous numbers of them are made by people who have never heard of media fandom. The previous secrecy of vidding fans has come to seem unnecessary, but there is still a community ethos of not freely giving out a vidder's URL.

===Slash roleplay===
Sometimes referred to as ''[[yaoi]]'' (male/male) or ''[[Yuri (genre)|yuri]]'' (female/female), roleplay involving same-sex characters in relationships can be either with [[canon (fiction)|canonical]] or original character creations. There are slash roleplaying based on ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', ''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]'', ''[[Naruto]]'', ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' and ''[[Dragon Age]]'', among others.

There are many mediums used to approach the act of internet roleplaying including message boards, AIM, IRC and specially created chatrooms on servers. Some roleplay is very strict and requires players to be able to type a paragraph or two per each turn, some use strict guidelines involving roleplay dice and some are combinations of all of the above.

Not every roleplay community accepts slash, however, and some people specifically disallow the use of it in their community as not being canonical or simply the operators do not care for slash.

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Human sexuality}}
* [[Erotic fantasy]]
* [[Gay romance]]
* [[Homoerotica]]
* [[Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction]]
* [[Shipping (fandom)|Shipping]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Cicioni, Mirna (1998). "Male Pair Bonds and Female Desire in Fan Slash Writing." In C. Harris & A. Alexander (Eds.) ''Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture and Identity''. Cresskil, New Jersey: Hampton.
* Penley, Constance (1997). ''NASA/Trek: Popular Science and Sex in America.'' New York: Verso. {{ISBN|0-86091-617-0}}.
* Penley, Constance (1992). "Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and the Study of Popular Culture." In L. Grossberg, C. Nelson and P. Treichler (eds.), ''Cultural Studies''. Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1992. {{ISBN|0-415-90345-9}}.
* Bacon-Smith, Camile (1991). ''Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth.'' Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|0-8122-1379-3}}.
* [[Henry Jenkins|Jenkins, Henry]] (1992). ''Textual Poachers.'' London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-90572-9}}.
* [https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-3803-7_45 Slash Fiction/Fanfiction – The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090221081342/http://affinitiesjournal.org/index.php/affinities/article/view/8/42 Is Slash an Alternative Medium?]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110930160555/http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=41515 Gay Bible stories {{sic|supr|ise|nolink=y}} but don't worry community]
*{{cite book|editor-first1=Karen|editor-last1=Hellekson|editor-first2=Kristina|editor-last2=Busse|title=Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays|publisher=McFarland|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7864-2640-9}}
*Sonia K. Katyal, 'Performance, property, and the slashing of gender in fan fiction,' in ''American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law'', vol. 14, no. 3 (2006):461–518
*[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Slash Slash] definition and history on the Fanlore wiki
*{{cite journal|last1=Scodari|first1=Christine|title=Resistance Re-Examined: Gender, Fan Practices, and Science Fiction Television|journal=Popular Communication|date=May 2003|volume=1|issue=2|pages=111–130|doi=10.1207/S15405710PC0102_3|s2cid=144642651}}

{{Fan fiction}}
{{LGBTQ fiction}}

[[Category:Slash fiction| ]]
[[Category:Fan fiction]]
[[Category:Speculative fiction]]
[[Category:LGBTQ fiction]]
[[Category:Sexuality in fiction]]
[[Category:Gay fiction]]
[[Category:Lesbian fiction]]
[[Category:Romance genres]]