Slash, Femme-slash, and learning to love it all

Now I'm going to apologize up front because I ABSOLUTELY don't want to offend anyone.

Sex and sexual fantasies are very personal topics and I firmly believe that the things that turn us on don't necessarily correlate to who we are to the everyday world. Sex is primal, instinctual, and who we are during sex isn't the same as who we are when we are at work, or taking care of our kids or whatever.

That being said, I don't think of myself as much of a prude, but I realized the other day that from a fanfic perspecive, it's taken me a long time to get adventurous. *waggles eyebrows*

I'm pretty much a canon shipper lover. I love me some Bella/Edward, Jasper/Alice even Emmett/Rose lemons. I'm heterosexual in RL and it never really occurred to me to go seeking out any other orientation when I first found out about fanfiction.

BUT!

As you know, my adorable, fabulous, lemony soul sister often likes to make recommendations to me and one in particular got me hot and bothered. And not just because of the lemons. She sent me a snippet from The Trip Home by mskathy. It's a Edward/Bella/Jasper polyamorous fic. And I'll tell the truth right here, if she had sent it to me as a link instead of the direct text I probably wouldn't have read it (sorry, UYP!).

It's just I don't think of three-ways as my bag. But believe me when I tell you that, while it may not be my personal bag, this shit is HOT! Super-nova, forget-even-wearing-panties-because-you'll-just-have-to-keep-changing-them hot! I was astonished by how turned-on I was by this story.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I'm reading all the entries in the Love for the Unloved contest and I come across my first slash fic, The Road Less Traveled by robpat. Again, this was not something that I would have thought I would enjoy. I mean, I'm a girl and it's about sex between two guys. Not a whole lot of room for me, even imaginary-me, in this equation, but again I was wrong. This is hot!

So I started to have a crisis of faith. I know I'm not gay, let alone a gay man. I'm all up in Mr. Foxy's stuff and I have breasts (therefore I am woman, hear me roar) and he's definitely a manly man (chest hair and all, Rarrrrrr!!!!), but I wondered if it said something about me that I was into things I clearly wouldn't (or physically couldn't) participate in.

Of course, I wondered this for all of two seconds before reality set back in.

Duh, Foxy! It's about FANTASY. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!

I happen to know that a ton of my bloggy/twitter girls are into Mason from DirtyNelly's Buried Among the Begonias and I'm not getting the I-like-to-be-water-boarded-for-kicks vibe off of them. Although you never can tell....but we'll save that for another post. *wink*

Still need convincing? Yeah, me too. So I went online and did a little research about women and pornography (it's the nerd in me, she'll never die!). And I found a fantastic article on cnn.com that was written for Oprah.com. In it they cite a 2004 study done by Northwestern University that found:

[When] the researchers showed gay, lesbian, and straight porn to heterosexual and homosexual women and men, they found that while the men responded more intensely to porn that mirrored their particular gender orientation, the women tended to like it all. Or at least their bodies did.


That's right. Men were tied down to their actual sexual proclivities but women were up for anything! So what gives? Why couldn't I just let it all go and be happy that nature was encouraging me to be an equal-opportunity porn reader?

Well, the nervous me inside my head whined, what if my friends found out I liked lesbian and gay pornography?

OK....what if they did? First of all, we'd already be WAY past the TMI line at that point, so really, pull up your big girl pants and say, "This is me. Love me or piss off!" Secondly, how do I know THEY don't dig to gorgeous girls or super delicious guys getting it on? That's the thing about fantasies. They're in your head.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is if you're like me, and had been getting into a rather vanilla rut, SHAKE IT UP! Try out a little slash. Because the only thing hotter than one smoking hot Twilight guy is two!

Or try out some femme-slash. You know we all have a wicked girl crush on Ashley, I mean Alice. Take that for a whirl and see if it doesn't kick the temperature in your pants up a notch.

























Not into Alice? I read a FANTASTIC femme-slash one-shot about Jessica and Lauren of all characters in the LftU contest. It's called Damned If You Do by Kristen Nicole and not only is it hot as hell it makes a convincing case for why Lauren is always such a biotch! I actually liked her version of Lauren. Take that for what it's worth.

Whatever you choose, just remember: no judgment, only pleasure.

And happy reading!

Contest Spotlight: Love for the Unloved

Who doesn't love a good contest? Be it a potato sack race or a marathon, they push us to try just a little harder and nothing's sweeter than bragging rights when you win.

It's no shock that the same thing applies in the fanfic world. There's ALWAYS a contest going on. Right now, I know of six open contests (info via TwiFic News), plus another seventeen that close on or before December 1st. So, clearly, there's no shortage of ideas floating around out there to light a fire under your laptop. And you never know, you could be the next AngstGoddess003!

Even if you don't like to write, there's another good reason to keep your eye on the contests: you might find the next AngstGoddess003! Or tarasueme. Or whomever your favorite author these days is.

And so, I've decided to read all the entries in the latest contest I entered: Love for the Unloved. One reason behind my decision was that when I posted my first story for a contest, it occurred to me that now these writers and I had something in common. We had all taken on the same writing task and come up with completely different stories. And in a show of solidarity, I should read theirs.

But the other reason was that as I looked over the other contestants, I didn't recognize any of the authors who've submitted so far. Which meant my chances of finding a new author making her or his way up in the fanfic world was pretty good. And I think I did: her name is Kristen Nicole.

I've only read the first story posted to the contest, "Damned If You Do," by Kristen, but it was SO AMAZINGLY HOT that I'm looking forward to reading her other two stories.

Her contest entry is a Lauren/Jessica femmeslash that actually makes you like Lauren and Jessica let alone be thrilled that those girls are hitting it. It's very well written, with lots of emotional depth, and balances funny and sexy well.

Please do check it out. And if you have the time, take a few minutes to read the other entries. And always, when you're done, please, please leave her a review. Nothing makes a writer's day like feedback. So if she puts a smile on your face, give her a little love back.

Thanks!!!!