Slash fiction

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

Slash fiction is a form of fan-written fiction often circulated on The Internet. Presumably originated by gay men, it was quickly co-opted by heterosexual fangirls. In slash fiction, male characters in a television series or film are romantically or sexually coupled together, sometimes in blatant defiance of any existing characterization or story logic, primarily because it's just totally hot.

Slash fiction is believed to have originated with a series of stories posted on Usenet in the late 1980s, detailing an allegedly fictional coupling between Guns 'n' Roses frontman Axl Rose and his guitarist, Slash.

Popular examples of slash fiction include Kirk/Spock, Picard/Riker, Mulder/Krycek, Angel/Spike, Xander/Spike, Anyone with a Y chromosome/Spike, Spike/Spike (time travel is involved), Andy/Barney, Fred/Barney, Bo/Luke, Bert/Ernie, Joey/Marcel, Michael/K.I.T.T., and nearly every episode of the television series Smallville.