fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2753 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2753 ⌋

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How do you feel if it's applied to text, not just subtext?

Because there are numerous canon couples I prefer to see as just friends who I think work better that way.

That too, occasionally. Although it's somewhat different - most canon couples are m/f, and since really close m/f friendships are really rare, my desire to see them as friends usually has a lot to do with wanting to subvert the trope that all m/f friendships turn romantic. For example, there's Mulder/Scully - I don't have any complaints about them as a romantic couple, but I feel like the writers missed out on the opportunity to portray a pretty unique platonic friendship.

When it comes to non-canon couples, it's a little different because it's more about different 'valid' interpretations. If a friendship can be viewed as both platonic and romantic, there's no reason to have to view them as romantic when usually the platonic interpretation is just as meaningful and interesting. (Just like if a friendship has no canon romance and is therefore seen as platonic by default in canon, there's no reason to have to view them as platonic.)

I think that's one of the reasons I tend to avoid gen stuff unless I'm sure, because a lot of the time 'het couples that aren't the focus' are just as common to shove into 'gen', as side slash pairings are to a main slash thing.

I mean I know some canon relationships are important plot points, like you can't have book-era HP without James and Lily having been together (well, unless it's AU Harry with different parents) but you could have House-fic without House/Cuddy or CSI without Grisson/Sara.

So for me, even though I like the romance aspects between two characters more than the lust, I find most fandoms I can get it more from shipping fic than gen.

OP

I thought gen was basically "no romance as the main plot + no romantic interpretations of the relationships between the main characters unless it was confirmed as romantic in canon." I don't think gen is "no mention of the characters' romantic relationships, canon or not, background or not." If a couple is canon I think people writing gen fic usually should have a free pass to not have to warn for mentions of that couple, just like they would have a free pass to not warn that "the character death that occurred in the fifth season finale is considered canon in this fic!"

Of course, I can't think of any canon couples that I dislike so much that I would actually try to avoid stumbling onto a fic in which they appear. Maybe I would feel differently if I did.

Eeh, I would still count it as het, not gen. Same as if a character death was talked about I'd include Mention of Main Character Death or Post 5thSeasonFinale Fic. But that's my own feelings on it.

I mean to me, shipping is shipping, no matter if it's endgame/canon or not.

Wait, you mean you believe ANY mention of a canon couple is het and never gen? Hmmm....well, I really don't think anyone else categorizes gen like that. Gen, in common usage, is when the plot is about something other than romance, the central relationship (if there is one) is not romantic, and when there are no non-canon (or controversial) couples between the main characters in the fic. It depends on the couple, but some canon romantic relationships are just inescapable character traits that you would have to go AU to ignore, just like two characters canonically being friends, or two characters canonically being siblings. That's not shipping. It's just canonical fact. If a character is married in canon, a fic that's all about him and his best friend is not het if his wife flirts with him a couple of times.

Though then again...I suppose this counts only for *background* relationships. If the two members of a canon couple are the two main characters in a fic, then even if the plot isn't about romance, I would call it het (maybe "plotty het"?) So a plotty X-Files fic where Mulder and Scully are a couple would be het even if the plot is totally non-romantic and they don't have any real romantic bits in it. But if, say, there was a Star Wars fanfic about Luke's developing friendship with Chewie and the droids while stationed on Hoth, but had some incidental Han/Leia bits in the background, I would call that gen. But I guess it does vary somewhat, depending on the fandom.

[ SECRET POST #2753 ]

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