/ is starting to irritate me

[roxy]

The thing that irritates me is this: Reading Dean/OMC--or whatever character of your choice followed by a slash in the header, only to find that the interaction between C and OMC was *rape*. Or the /Whoever was in the fic with the character for the blink of an eye. Yes, there's a difference between the short term character being a pivotal point of the story and just someone fucked in an alley.

I know, I know, I complain when I've done it myself but I'm coming to hate it. Because to me, the / means that a relationship with main Character is in the offing. It's an awful disappointment to me when I find the writer thinks / means so little. I'll click out of a story these days when that happens. It's probably just me, but it's becoming more and more an irritation. I'm thinking that newer writers don't know what the slash means? Or am I confusing what the slash means? Has this post descended into incomprehensibility?

Yeah, anyway, it's bugging me so knock it off.

Comments

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

I think you've pinpointed yet one more example of the fluidity of terms in fandom and on the internet as new people come in.

I prefer the / to indicate a relationship pairing --established, UST, whatever, but a relationship, not just sex (and certainly not rape).

But slash also carries the strong connotation of a purely sexual story between the characters named on either side of the slash--including PWP where there's really nothing about the relationship EXCEPT the sex. So "Dean/OMC" where Dean has a brief encounter with some random guy doesn't seem like a wrong use of the /.

After all, the term arose to distinguish a story in which Kirk and Spock play key roles, and a story in which Kirk and Spock have sex. So I can see both sides of the question. But it's a good complaint.

And 100% no to rape being any part of a slash pairing.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

So "Dean/OMC" where Dean has a brief encounter with some random guy doesn't seem like a wrong use of the /.

I can agree with that, I don't even mind if the story is only about sex with a random stranger. I prefer the story to be about consensual sex, sure, because I want to see Dean's interaction with someone other than his brother, I want to see folks write interesting OCs. It doesn't have to be romantic, it can be bordering on non-con as long as there's some reason for it--but it shouldn't ever be about rape. I think that belongs in the warnings section of the header, along with warnings for other possibly triggering subjects.

I know that me complaining about Dean getting dragged into a bathroom, being pushed into sex, and basically ending with Dean and me both going 'wtf just happened there?' and labeling it Dean/OMC is me shouting into the wilderness, but hey! I'm allowed to be crabby. I have the permission slip.

[(Anonymous)]

I learned / formatting in Forever Knight, where people were really particular about whether a story was Nick-Lacroix or Nick/Lacroix. And I don't might seeing it for brief encounters in short stories or a brief-but-significant interlude in a longer story, but lately I've been seeing the / used to show who's in the story, and I wonder if there are perfectly good gen stories I've passed up because I wasn't into the "pairing".

--Jessica

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a possibilty. I think that the meaning of / is soon going to be a lot different than when we first discovered it.