het vs. slash: the hot topic

There have been so many posts about this that I thought I might devote one of my own to it...just considering the main points that seem to come up that I, personally, agree with. 

1. As long as you can write it well, everyone has the right to write what they want to. i.e. Slash, het, whatever. But then there's the places where slash just doesn't  float, (i.e. fandoms where it is exclusively heterosexual, no mention of slash) in which you must be veeeeery careful about what you write, since it is incredibly easy to make it OOC. You can still write it, but consider the reactions of readers/the in-characterness of your pairing very closely.

2. Slash is not a plot device in the same way suicide, depression, sex should not be a plot device. So don't use it as such.

3. One pairing is not inherently better than another, either just because it is canon, just because it is slash/het, or just because "I wrote it and it's good." Pairings should be judged based on their merit and writing quality, not based on what kind of pairing they are. But some crack pairings just should not be touched with a ten-foot-pole.

4. Please don't put your political views onto fanfiction - for example, "gay love is WRONG so don't write slash" or "if you don't like slash you are homophobic because slash is the same thing as being gay in real life." It's fiction, not politics. I don't care if you're against gay marriage (well, I do, but that's beside the point) as long as you don't use someone's fanfiction to advertise it.

5. Also, please find another reason to flame a story other than the pairing. For example, flame because it is OOC, or is lacking in research about its topic, or is horrendously written. Not just because OMG IT'S A NON CANON PAIRING.  I've probably said this before, but saying it again just for the heck of it. 

6. There are rabid slashers. There are rabid het-ters (?). There are rabid anything. Personally, I don't think either one is louder than the other - they're both equally loud, and can be equally obnoxious. Just something to consider.

Mefh. Felt good to say that. Arguing, away!