Sheesh

[leethet]

There's so much bad feeling between slash and gen (and particularly between perceived slash and gen) in this fandom that I wonder if it isn't a good thing when those two "camps" are wholly separate, the way they are in other fandoms. Then at least one side doesn't get hit by the other's vitriol all the time.

I have trouble fathoming people's need to be "right" when it comes to something that is so clearly a matter of personal taste.

Sigh...

Comments

[frau-flora.livejournal.com]

I have trouble fathoming people's need to be "right" when it comes to something that is so clearly a matter of personal taste.

This is something I´ve often wondered about myself. I love slash but I wouldn´t even think of attacking others for liking gen. Who am I to tell people that they´re right or wrong? It always amuses me, though, when one of these debates turns into a religious war, which happens quite frequently.

I wonder if it isn't a good thing when those two "camps" are wholly separate

But how would you manage to keep them apart? :-)

Then at least one side doesn't get hit by the other's vitriol all the time.

Has this happened to you lately?

[green-key.livejournal.com]

Your last comment to the list --about the guys being spies and that being an integral part of their lives-- hit on exactly my point for enjoying pre-slash/pseudo slash/gen-slash/whatever minutae label apparently must be slapped on it now besides slash in MFU. The cause they fight for is the most important aspect of their lives, at least in my interpretation of the show. They would die for their cause and they'd sacrifice each other for their cause. My inner tragic romantic loves it -- and what's not slashy about that? It's the ultimate sacrifice. It's hard to completely ignore that fact in stories unless authors choose to write the guys on vacation, but even Terbuf canon tells us vacations are no safe haven for UNCLE agents.

And I'm getting rambly -- maybe I should just post to the list instead of hogging your LJ. *g*

There's so much bad feeling between slash and gen (and particularly between perceived slash and gen) in this fandom that I wonder if it isn't a good thing when those two "camps" are wholly separate, the way they are in other fandoms.

I wouldn't say that gen/slash debate is necessarily stronger in this fandom, just that communities mixing gen and slash together means this debate is going to rise more often than other fandoms.

There are definite pros and cons to the mixing of gen and slash. It's been nice to get to know more fans by the mixing, but at the same time some slash fen I've chatted with feel inhibited to speak their mind in mixed chats and panels. The truth is, slash and gen fen approach stories and outlooks on the episodes differently, and while a mixing of slash and gen fen can give a general, overall sort of feeling, they often don't touch on specifics for either preference, which is disappointing in its lacking. It's nice to see a fandom trying to include everyone (to an extent, but that's another tangent), but there are some things gen fans like to talk about that slash fans do not, and most certainly vice versa. Some separation is not always the bad thing MFU seems to perceive it to be.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Granted, I just joined the mfuslash list and am not familiar with longstanding patterns in the fandom, but I didn't see a lot of bad feeling in the posts that I've read on this topic the last few days. Just people trying very hard to explain their personal preferences and wishing there was more out there to meet that particular taste. A couple of people got maybe a tad more vehement than needed, but it's nothing like some of the bad feelings I've seen on other lists-- sometimes not even between slash and gen, but often between Slash Pairing A and slash pairing B.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it isn't a good thing when those two "camps" are wholly separate

Would that be even possible since so many folks read both and even write both?

Perhaps, rather than two camps, it's more of a continuum with a bell curve.

And I would venture this occurs because for many fans (though certainly not all) affection for MFU trumps everything else.

[dinahmt.livejournal.com]

(and particularly between perceived slash and gen)

I think this is the crucial point - what people perceive as slash and gen.

To many of us, if there is a sexual relationship, either explicit or understood, then a story is slash. To others, if the relationship is not the main thread of the story, then the story comes under the heading gen/slash or slash/gen. I really do think a new labelling category might be called for to avoid these arguments.

I think, personally, that it is perfectly acceptable to set a relationship story within the context of an 'affair' and call it slash but it seems that there are different camps. Surely this is all right so long as each camp respects the other's point of view.

Perhaps we should try and think of a more explicit labelling system to avoid disappointment on either side, particularly in zines.