This is a history of slash fiction — primarily male/male romance written mostly by women — tracing how decades of fandom culture culminated in Heated Rivalry's mainstream success. The piece maps the genre's evolution from Star Trek to modern hockey romance, showing how fan communities developed conventions, storytelling tropes, and the social infrastructure that made queer romance fiction a cultural force.

• Slash fiction conventions originated in Star Trek fandom (Kirk/Spock), which established the "Name/Name" notation for romantic pairings and tropes like "fuck or die" that persist in romance writing today.
• The genre shifted from het-dominated fandoms (X-Files, Buffy) to M/M-dominant spaces through anime, manga, and shows with homoerotic subtext, with Yuri!!! on Ice marking a turning point by offering canon same-sex relationships instead of queerbaiting.
• Real person fanfiction (RPF) about musicians and athletes created ethical tensions — Larry Stylinson fans damaged Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson's friendship, and hockey RPF crossed into harassment when fans shipped Alexander Wennberg with his teammates.