I've never had much in common with a lot of mainstream original slash people, even back in the day when it was harder to find. A lot of it followed yaoi conventions and yaoi is fun and all but like anything else it has its cliches and annoying moments and unfortunately, yaoi cliches are the kinds of things that make me ranty.

It was fine though, original slash reccers tended not to like me and I was mostly fine with it. Mean reviews are never fun, but just generally getting ignored by people looking for something else in their fiction is fine. They have their reasons, all legit, I'm weird, I have a strange writing style, personal taste is just that, personal, etc... Also, as I said, I get ranty and that puts people off. Fandom tries hard to be a YMMV kind of place, and certain things that drive me up a wall are usually tolerated if not accepted, in the spirit of trying not to judge.

Meanwhile, I go on, doing what I do for the people out there who do want to read it. Then some people who do not want to read it are apparently tricked into reading it anyway somehow and they are not happy.

Again, fine. Taste is subjective, though I wish negative reviewers would at least proofread their critiques if they want to be taken seriously. I've also wished they would remember that writers are real people who exist and have feelings.

Today I realized why that's a stupid wish. While perusing an original slash comm I came upon a request that not only features a lot of those cliches that chap my ass, it also made it clear that these people don't think of others as real people at all.

It also featured a supportive comment from someone who gave me a really negative review once and I actually laughed to see their comment there. If there was ever proof that I don't want to be a part of that community, there it was. I do not need the approval of these people. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

I have no problem with kink or smut or dark subject matter. I do have a problem with writers and fans treating dark subjects lightly without even the tiniest hint of awareness that their actions (and words) affect the real world. (Or any hint of self awareness for that matter.)

You should never censor your imagination, but from writers especially I'd expect some thought put into their words. This is why I rant about slavefic, and rapefic (or non con, as people call it when feeling less proud of themselves, and yes, I've written it, way back in the day) and underage fic. It isn't that these fics exist, it's how they are discussed and regarded and requested on public comms. It's the lack of awareness of what they are *really* asking for and the gleeful, it's only fantasy so it's okay, attitude.


To be more direct, this right here...this guy that works as a pizza delivery boy... One night he goes on a run replacing his friend who had food poisoning and gets mistaken for a prostitute by a rich guy who didn't really think he was ordering a pizza. Needless to say some non-con goes down, but the rich guy decides he really likes the boy and wants to make it up to him.

is some fucked up shit. The request but also this story if the description is accurate. It's so fucked up I can't handle it. "Needless to say"??? Is raping hookers cool now? Is it cool because the guy is rich? Because he really liked the guy he raped? (We don't get the victim's thoughts, but I assume they don't matter). Because rich rape daddy is (presumably) really super sorry? Because he has a history of exploiting vulnerable sex workers and that seems like good material for a relationship? Maybe pizza guy is not interested in a healthy relationship, maybe something twisted and wrong is what he is after, maybe all these issues get addressed in that story later...but that's kind of hard to tell from this description.

Mistaken for a hooker fic can be done. Forceful/rough sex can be done and done well, as can anything BDSM. I suspect that that is what this is really about, a desire for a scene depicting dominating, violent sex.Something that is actually healthy when expressed properly. It's a shame it wasn't. Rapey het romance novels from the 70's had more sensitivity than this request. --Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

And yes, I'm still pissed off about Luke and Laura, don't even get me started.


Whew. Just had to get that off my chest. Now back to editing and porning.