I think a better way to phrase this question is, “why do men turn you on?”
I mean, does it make any more sense that way? What kind of question is that to ask of a person who has at some point admitted to being attracted to men?
And then I think of this tumblr post, and I wonder: seriously, you even have to ask????
Reportedly James was the bottom, and no one is surprised
But okay, moving on: why slash fanfic? Books have (literally) been written about this, so I’m not answering this question from an academic perspective because you can get that elsewhere. This is about ME.
Primarily, it’s because the fandoms I follow are visual media. I know what the men involved look like. There are some fandoms I really respect and admire but cannot get into because the actors do zilch for me. For instance, I really really REALLY wanted to love White Collar (and it’s stunning potential for OT3) but…meh. Same for Leverage with the Hardison/Parker/Eliot dynamic, but nope. There is also the venerable Sentinel, a concept I love dearly, but..ugh. Not for me, thnx.
But if I like the dudes, I like them A LOT and I not only love reading the sexxors but also, hey, the characters themselves. My faves tend to be kind of arrogant jerks with hearts of melted chocolate; dudes who are disasters on paper but somehow manage to be worthy people, in the end. That’s just my flavor, my “jam” as it were.*
So my enjoyment of reading slash stories written by fans stems the combination of how attractive the men are with how interesting the characters are. This is where porn drops off the radar; yes, gorgeous men (esp. in gay porn…so I hear. I’m told. By others. *shifty eyes*) but zero chemistry. In porn, men are not paid to show up with a winning personality, you know? (Maybe you don’t; just trust me on this.) But in slash fanfic, that’s all part of the package.
To me, asking “why do you enjoy slash fanfic?” makes as much sense as “why do you like what you like?” I could, perhaps, break it down and analyze it and put my interests into the cultural context into which they do assuredly belong; but honestly, my answer is no better nor more complex than “it’s fun.”
Also, ref. image above. *fans self*
* “my jam” in fiction is hardly “my jam” in RL, which is true for most people who enjoy any flavor of “romance stories.” Much has been studied and written about this fact as well; what I think is critical know about this conundrum is that in fictional stories, the character’s thoughts and motivations are clear and, at least in more enlightened and realistic fanfic, they manage character development that often overcomes character flaws. In the more outlandish fantasy fanfic, where even dark themes such as rape and extreme violence live, it’s also pretty well understood that those issues are being portrayed unrealistically.