New to fanfiction, and interested in femslash but feel a bit overwhelmed finding my way around and getting the feel for the place because there's a whole multiverse out there. Are there any FAQs, gentle introductions, wikis or knowledgeable mefites that can teach me how to learn?
posted by moody cow on Oct 26, 2011 - 7 answers

Wikipedia's article on the slash character dates it back to ancient Rome, but doesn't give much history beyond that. Looking at some Arabic websites, it appears the slashes go in the same direction, though the direction of text is different. Is the slash direction the same for all languages? Does all slash usage originate with the Romans or did other languages start using slashes independently? And was it spread from one language to another via some non-language usage (e.g. math) or via written language?
posted by scottreynen on Jul 29, 2011 - 6 answers

In typewritten documents from the pre-digital era, there was often a combination of dots and slashes (.../..., ..../, ./. etc.) at the bottom right corner of each page, either alone or with the page number. The practice seems to have disappeared once word processors took over. How was it called and what was its purpose?
posted by elgilito on Oct 28, 2010 - 9 answers

I'm looking for people who have written well about about fanfic and slash. I'd particularly like to find any academics or writers who've researched or written about the phenomenon in depth, including subgenres like mpreg, yaoi, RPS etc. Can you suggest anyone? [more inside]
posted by Fanficproject on Oct 19, 2010 - 11 answers

Sympathy for the Devil: Help me complete my Halloween costume - Slash from Guns & Roses! Local (DC) availability is key... [more inside]
posted by stratastar on Oct 29, 2009 - 7 answers

What is the significance of the trailing slash in <foo/> as used for minor web programming? I'm guessing it's some sort of escape sequence, but what confounds me is that in the code where I often see it, <foo> often seems to work equally well. So what's the point? I see this dilemma frequently all kinds of Web stuff: PHP, Wikipedia templates, embedded code in VBulletin, etc, etc.
posted by crapmatic on Jan 15, 2009 - 10 answers

Does Obama / McCain slash fiction exist? If so, where can I find it and what are the major themes in the genre? [more inside]
posted by abirae on Oct 30, 2008 - 6 answers