/ 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

[cha.livejournal.com]

checks my slashes

[lexalicious70.livejournal.com]

To me, the slash indicates the pairing. That's how it's been since I started posting slash online in 2004, and probably meant it before that!

And dude, if people have rape in their fic, why are there no warnings about it? Not cool. Damn n00bs. Rape should never be a surprise when reading fic!

[danceswithgary]

And yet, I've seen complaints when another (encounter, hookup, pick your poison) wasn't included in the pairings list because there are those who want only read their OTP untouched by any other hands.

Basically, I can't win when I fill out my headers. *shrugs*

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think of the slash as a mark for a relationship, not rape or other forms of nonconsensual sex. (Are you reading the Dean/Alistair in hell where Alistair has a barbed cock story? That one scares me!) I was just thinking about inappropriate uses of the slash in that Chuck-centered story that was just posted, since it listed Chuck/Zachariah as a pairing but it was all Zachariah raping Chuck. I would label that as a gen story with rape, not a Chuck/Zachariah story.

[bradygirl_12]

People have some strange ideas about rape. *shakes head*

[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.

[tabaqui]

I would *never* use character/character in a RAPE scenario - that's just wrong. The / *does*, for me, mean a relationship of some sort, and rape is so not that.

Ick.

[arianstarr.livejournal.com]

Agreed!

[ender24]

I feel the same as you?
its a sure sign, we are getting old XD