Slash

Daria/Jane (well, not really), from "Daria!"

A shipper story written about a love affair between two same-sex characters, lesbian or gay. The genre gets its name from the Star Trek fandom, for the slash mark used between the names of the characters involved in the relationship (e.g., Kirk/Spock). For a discussion on whether canon supports such relationships in Daria, see Homosexuality in Daria.

Lesbian stories (called yuri in anime fandoms) dominate slashfic here. Daria/Jane, Quinn/Sandi, and Jane/Quinn are the best known sorts of slash fiction in Daria fandom. Tales involving male gay relationships (yaoi) were formerly rare in this fandom but not unknown ("Overcompensation," "Ragged Denim," "TnT"). This changed with the appearance of fan writer Shiva, who has made up for the lack of representation of gay male relationships in Daria fanfiction.

In a curious alter-ago picture at the end of the TV movie, Is It College Yet?, Lindy and Alison were depicted in a scene on a farm with a number of children, implying that they were a lesbian couple with a family. Crusading Saint used this image as the basis for his story, "Love, Reign Over Me," arguably the only slash shipper given some form of support by the TV show.

Alison, Lindy, and their children (Is It College Yet? future ego)

Generally speaking, there are two types of slash stories seen in Daria fanfic: the purely erotic ("The Passion Club," "Girls' Night Out") and the romance, or relationship explorer ("Out On Vacation," "Pause in the Air"), though some stories manage to combine both ("Writes of Passage").

"Coming out" is almost always an issue and promises considerable turmoil and angst ("Out On Vacation"), if not outright danger ("The Two of Them"). Same-sex relationships are prey to the same difficulties and breakups as heterosexual ones, with outpourings of angst always a possibility ("Just the Sun at Night").

Given that the Daria series offers almost no support for any same-sex coupling (see Homosexuality in Daria), slash stories are of necessity creative in their choice of partners. They have been written about characters who usually have antipathy for each other ("Quinn's Nights at Casa Lane," "Writes of Passage") or don't even know each other in canon ("Bar Fly"). Some are clearly alternate-universe tales, rewriting the series as a whole to incorporate lesbian or gay relationships ("Pause in the Air"). Science-fiction and horror fanfics carry the creativity further—sometimes very far indeed ("The Alpha and the Omega"). Same-sex characters can even have sex together but not be homosexual ("Witches’ Flight"). The genre has even been taken to unconscionable extremes in terms of parings.

External Links

• Slash Fiction description at Wikipedia
• June 2005 interview with Glenn Eichler on DVDaria, conducted by Kara Wild, including speculation on Jane's sexuality
• "Love, Reign Over Me" by Crusading Saint
• "Slasher Fics" Daria slashfic collection
• Iron Chef: Guys and Guys (yes, exactly what you think...) (PPMB)