Neil:
I used to think that the SF/F milieu might be the prime factor permitting the slashing of such series of B7, ST, and the like. That is, that a setting removed from the real world would facilitate the consideration of relationships that would not normally be considered as a serious
possibility
in the real world.
Speaking as one who was a surprise convert to slash relatively late (last spring), this idea appeals to me. (1) Extrapolating from current trends (never particularly wise, but what else can one do?) suggests to me that bisexuality is likely to be the future human norm -- at least in societies where sex is partially divorced from procreation. (2) The B7 Federation setting strikes me as likely to condemn or suppress divergent expressions of sexuality. (1) + (2) makes hidden gay subtexts in B7 a plausible subject of interest, at least.
But the slashing of mundane shows like The Professionals, Starsky and Hutch, and even Inspector Morse, rather knocks that one out of the window.
I never saw any gay subtexts in any of these, and find Professionals fanfic (not seen either of the other two) pretty close to unreadable, not because of the lack of gay subtexts, more because what I've seen has been badly written.
I do wonder if different shows get slashed for different reasons. Someone suggested at the Redemption slash panel that B7 slash is unusual -- usually the relationship is romantic (m/m Mills & Boon), while the B7 relationships tend to be darker.
OTOH, it could be that slashing began (as it appears to have done) with ST *because* it was set in an ORL (outside real life) milieu, but having established itself there it spread to fandoms of other shows with IRL milieux.
Plausible.
Was ST the first show (SF/F or otherwise) to be slashed? Was it, indeed, the first show to generate a body of fanfic? (Fanfic of a kind goes back
at
least to Sherlock Holmes, I think I've heard it said, long before television.)
I think fanfic might be a natural consequence of reading or viewing in some susceptible readers/viewers. I certainly started to write fanfic as a kid without any idea that anyone else did it, or even that there was an 'it' for anyone else to do. (Tolkien mainly in my case.)
Tavia