Is the next generation of "Star Trek" slashfic upon us?

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine

The revamped Star Trek opened last weekend and shattered all Trek box-office records, thus breathing new life into what many considered a near-death franchise.

Star Trek has given us many things over the years; hope for the future, gays as metaphors, Borg babes in tight catsuits, children driving starships, hedgehog cooks, George Takei, Vulcan babes in tight catsuits, Janeway's bun of steel, and Whoopi Goldberg ... wearing a giant blue plate on her head, but according to this newsweek.com article, it's also responsible for giving birth to what we now know as "slashfic".

People being people, there has probably always been erotic fanfic, too, but it never had a name until the early 1970s, when Star Trek fans circulated zines postulating a romantic relationship between Captain Kirk and Spock. Soon enough, the writers and readers of the subgenre were referring to it by shorthand: Kirk/Spock was shortened to K/S or, simply, "slash," a term that now refers to any type of fanfic featuring a gay relationship.

But who writes the majority of slash? You may be surprised by the answer!

But probably not. "Surveys have found that the majority of K/S writers and consumers are heterosexual women". Another misconception is that slash is all about porn, which it's not:

Most are primarily about the creation and maintenance of a romantic relationship. Members of the K/S community are surprisingly good at policing their own work for what they refer to as "the squick factor." Stories are often rated on a scale (G to NC-17) by the author at the very beginning so fans of strictly romantic K/S don't accidentally encounter jarring pornography.

I have to admit that I've never read any slashfic, and if I was going to, I'm not sure it would be Trek-related (and if truth be told, the only Trek pairing I could definitely see happening is ... Janeway/Seven ... I mean, c'mon).

So what slashfic would I take a peek at? Hmm ...

Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki

Just kidding! Yes, even though Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles both made it big on The 2009 AfterElton Hot 100, they play brothers on that show, so it would be obscene of me to picture them in any kind of ... situation. Right?

Anyway ... with the hot new Kirk and Spock making hearts flutter, it's inevitable that Trek slash will be around for years to come, with a new generation of writers boldly going ... there.

Do you read (or write) Trek slash, or any other slash? If not, what pairing would interest you enough to give it a try?