Old Slash Scrapbook: 25 snippets from Highlander fic that are emblematic of the Old Slash aesthetic

[cimorene]

Disclaimer: Just because something is characteristic of Old Slash doesn't mean it doesn't appear in modern writing. Our present is defined by our past. Also just because something is characteristic of old slash doesn't mean it's not good: some of the fic I've quoted here is in my recs! The purpose of this collection is to assemble a hopefully-representative moodboard indicating the general trend or median characteristics of what I consider old slash as opposed to contemporary slash style. YMMV. I am far from innocent of these trends, having been writing in the period I now consider old slash myself.

1. It's claiming, marking territory, defining hunger.

animal analogies for male sexuality


2. "This isn't a casual fling you're talking about."

establishing how serious they are about the relationship, usually before sex, usually breaking off after kissing to urgently negotiate, usually because somebody couldn't stand the pain of settling for less than committed romance or whatever


3. "I have rarely been more sure about anything."

this specific phrase, for some reason


4. tongues met, clashing fiercely,

The classic! When will they come home from the war?


5. Was this a whim, a curiosity for him?

see #2


6. trying to keep himself from screaming, or sobbing.

extremely emotional and dramatic


7. MacLeod's sexual experiences had occasionally included men, mostly long ago, but he had never been in love with a man before.

this was a common halfway point between 'character is gay or bi or pan' and We're Not Gay, We Just Love Each Other (so it IS old school, but not THE OLDEST, because the oldest was ALWAYS WNGWJLEO)


8. those incredible, soul-stealing kisses.

this exact phrase or a very similar phrase


9. his throat constricted with lust

This happened a lot in the olden days. Antihistamines might've been indicated.


10. this ultimate of intimacies,

this idea and this level of drama about it but also this actual phrase I think


11. Something like reverence

this phrase, which you have to admit does have a pretty nice ring to it


12. seeping cock

Another one of the most infamous leaders in the Old Slash cliché greatest hits lists, justifiedly IMO, because - IMO but many others - it is actually disgusting because seeping literally means liquid soaking through a porous material or barrier like fabric or leather. It doesn't mean a bodily fluid being produced in its traditional location and expelled from its traditional orifice; it requires that the fluid is traveling through multiple routes! Wounds seep, but ejaculate or pre-ejaculate emerging from the penis does not seep. Sorry, it's just SO gross.


13. the constriction of my clothing was a phantom caress over my skin.

lots of constriction and phantom caresses, lots of discussion of tight clothing back in the day


14. Arousal settled warm and heavy in my groin

specifically "settling", "warm and heavy", and "groin"


15. throaty undertone to his voice that struck home in my gut and kindled a slow sweet fire there.

a lot of guts and a lot of kindling. Also shoutout to "slow sweet fire", another great turn of phrase


16. A few hours of pleasure, maybe.

Something about "a few hours of pleasure" is so funny to me, not least because it's so unspecific. Reminds me of a Kidz Rock video my little sister had in the 90s where the kid video for "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters is about some kids and their dad getting up in the middle of the night to make ice cream sundaes.


17. wanted a hell of a lot more from him than sexual gratification,

see #2


18. nothing as simple as lust, a hunger for the athlete's whipcord body

whipcord bodies are a classic and so is "nothing as simple as lust"


19. that sweet fire in my blood

it's our friend the sweet fire (see #15)


20. hearing the two men pleasure one another

the hilariously clinical phrasing of this


21. took his mouth in a kiss of such overwhelming sweetness that

"Took his mouth" and "a kiss of such overwhelming sweetness"


22. Cherished, adored, and loved; those, too, were there, anchored by an underlying passion that strained for release, threatening a level of intensity that Methos wasn't certain he could handle and remain sane.

"anchored by an underlying passion", "threatening a level of intensity"


23. awakened him from dreams with sticky sheets

I'm almost inclined to suspect that the conventions of the old school slash genre diverge from realistic portrayal of the frequency with which middle-aged men have wet dreams.


24. whisker burn as evidence that the person you're kissing isn't quite your usual. Is someone you can fuck without the fucking around first.

Bisexual men in slash of this era were always thinking things like this. It was so refreshing for them to either return to or discover that men aren't fragile little things who have to be handled with kid gloves, unlike all those delicate airy-fairy ballerina spun-sugar women out there.


25. The sudden tightness of his jeans made that uncomfortably clear.

See #13 (but also specifically "the sudden tightness in his [garment]", for some hilarious reason)

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I loved reading these and your commentary. When I read the summary I was expecting #7 and #4 was not a surprise (tongues battling for dominance, but I like your comment of when will they come home from the war! hilarious). I am guilty of #14 (just a couple of days ago) I use 'pool' instead of 'settle' but now I will use 'settle' :) It's my go-to phrase for 'okay, enough of this, let's come.' I also use the kindling in #15, not exactly that way but often enough. I appreciate you pointing out the imprecision and general yuck-ness of #12. Weeping and leaking I've also heard and used. #24 is interesting. And I agree with you in #23, I don't think wet dreams are frequent because I'd be doing a lot more laundry if so.

[cimorene]

The other funny thing about wet dreams is that it's totally common for the middle-aged guy to be surprised to start having wet dreams again, so the implication is that this ONE true love or whatever has reduced their body back to hormonal adolescence - or possibly just made their body generally uncontrollable because true love is SO arousing. It's definitely connected to the special True Love Reserve Spunk Reservoirs that I used to talk about - similarly common idea that refractory periods ARE a thing, but they don't apply to true love either. (There's definitely a post in my journal somewhere because there was a Professionals fic where they explicitly discuss this in dialogue, like one of them tells the other that the great thing is refractory periods don't apply to them anymore because they are in True Love.)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Wow. I have not come across that (heh) about refractory periods. I do think there's something *waves hands* about Omegaverse and Alpha ruts and Omega heats and no refractory period but that isn't necessarily True Love! Amazing. True Love's Spunk Reservoir. I'm dying! :)

[eve_n_furter]

Haha, I just posted a fic taking place in California between 1969 and 1979 and I can check off 6: keep from sobbing, 7: never been in love with a man before, just bonked, 17: wanting REAL LURVE, not just sex, 18: sinewy work bod and 21: sweet, sweet kisses proving more than lust, All were added to underline an era where men were macho and gay sex had been recently illegal and rated as a mental illness. I'm glad we're not there anymore, but it did add a star-crossed quality to slash that is just too yummy for me.

[cimorene]

This feels weirdly like a Catholic confession scene in a movie where you list your sins of the past week. Five Hail Marys and an Our Father and go in peace?

[eve_n_furter]

I don't know ANYTHING about Catholicism, but thanks for the peace wishes anyway.

[laurenthemself]

This is such a nostalgia hit!

[viggorlijah]

Painfully nostalgic! And Sylvia Volk wrote Highlander - I don’t know if you’ve read hers? So so good.

[cimorene]

I've read something by that author... the name rings a faint bell.

[viggorlijah]

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylviavolk2000/pseuds/Sylviavolk2000/works?fandom_id=5358

The Good Student series is the best imo.

[cimorene]

Oh, I've seen a few of these headers definitely...

[oracne]

Volk was so good! But they were gen, not slash, if I remember correctly. Not that the emotional intensity was not there....

[laurajv]

ugh, #25 is one of my least favs ever, along with related bits about needing to adjust oneself inside one's trousers, etc. etc.

[cimorene]

Same. I think it's clumsy and a weird way to describe what it's trying to describe as well as overly clichéd.

[laurajv]

it's kind of odd, maybe, to find a particular description of arousal in something that's meant to be sexy QUITE so offputting.

[sparklyfabulous]

i love this so much!!! your other post too, and all the discussion in comments, about OldSlash vs more modern styles.

i’m especially interested rn bc i am one of the people who’s fell HARD into OFMD, and as i’ve been binging tons of those fics i’ve noticed a certain tendency towards… well, towards many of the tropes you’ve listed here, and it’s fascinating. there’s definitely still a 2022-ness that comes through, but there’s some real classic slash vibes to a lot of the ed/stede stuff, and especially to anything involving izzy. (who in many ways is the character that’s stuck in a 1990s slashfic, while his shipmates have broken free of the UST???)

anyway i will be thinking about this more!!! ty for sharing

[cimorene]

Yes, from the little bit of fanfiction I glanced at, ofmd had a higher-than-median concentration of cheesy and retro tropes. But I think this is also pretty common with newer fandoms before they grow to critical mass. That retro feel could also be more in line with the tone of canon, which is so comedic/parodic and so removed from recognizable daily life that it doesn't blend easily with more modern-feeling stylistic trends.