Be afraid

[leethet]

Like all my fanfic thoughts, this is probably a dead horse kind of thing. But I was thinking that in gen hurt/comfort, there is a strong erotic element. It's not exactly sexual, but it's usually extremely physical -- much touching, much physical trust and intimacy. And I wonder if it's as close as nonslashers will get to slash. Any and all thoughts on the topic are welcome here.

Comments

[leethet.livejournal.com]

Well, this is the thing. I don't like having my gen called slashy either. I'm not mortally offended or anything, but my gen is gen and my slash is slash, and never the twain shall sexually meet. But in my gen, if there's H/C, there is definitely that very physical element that I find satisfying in a sensual, if not actually erotic, way. Because I'm not in the heads of gen-only writers, it'd be rudely presumptuous of me to suggest they do this because they're too chicken to write slash. I do it too, after all, and it's not because I'm too chicken to write slash. *g* It's because, even in gen, I like to feel the love, and H/C is a way to physically bring them close. Physical closeness, after all, doesn't have to result in sex to be satisfying. In gen, it's just love. ;)

[frau-flora.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! It looks like I got myself in hot water there. ;-)

First of all, to clarify this, I wasn't talking about your gen. I'd provide some examples of what I meant but I don't want to "accuse" anyone publicly of writing what I call "slashgen" when I'm pretty sure the authors wouldn't like it at all.

I assume that when you use the word "love" in a gen context, you mean the love between brothers or friends but not the love between, well, lovers. There are gen stories, though, where 1) the physical element is strong and 2) the partnership has all attributes of a loving relationship (except the sex of course) and which I read as, don't know, maybe PG13 slash but which the author would never call slash because "she writes only gen". Does this make any sense?

Now, as I just said to Cindy, this is my own personal impression and I may be the only person who sees it that way.

[leethet.livejournal.com]

No hot water here! You're fully entitled to your views!
I think I understand your viewpoint, which you're entitled to as a reader. If you want to perceive some gen as slashy, you're certainly free to -- and you are definitely not the only one; readers have said it of my gen. I would draw the line only at suggesting the author is writing it this way as a sort of repressed slasher, or because she's afraid of writing "real" slash. That may be so in some cases, but it may very well not be so, and I'm always very leery of attributing motives or beliefs to an author based on his/her fiction. :) I've had people do that, very incorrectly, to me, so I'm leery of it. The author may simple feel they love each other as brothers. That's my gen. But again -- the reader is fully entitled to view it through whatever lens she pleases -- only please (this is not necessarily directed at you, Flora, but is a general comment) don't confuse readerly interpretation with writerly intention. They don't always match up. :)