What is slash fan fiction?
“Slash” fan fiction is generally defined as fan fiction featuring characters of the same sex in bisexual and homosexual relationships, most often contrary to their sexual orientation as portrayed in canon. Such fiction is termed “slash” because of the use of the virgule (/) character used to separate the names of the characters in question, and came to prominence in media fandom in the 1970s with Kirk/Spock fandom. Slash posits that the close and meaningful friendships (for example, Ben and Ray on Due South) or undying hatred (for example, Mulder and Krychek on The X-Files) between two characters has a sexual or romantic dimension.
