[ SECRET POST #6256 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6256 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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02.
[Ruby Sunday, Doctor Who]



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03.
[Deadpool/MCU]



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08.
[The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All]

































Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 14 secrets from Secret Submission Post #894.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

04. https://i.imgur.com/U1D8NFp.jpeg

[(Anonymous)]

I agree, Gen is no pairings. I assume some people see "G" and think like the rating, so if there's not sex they label it Gen. Which has been going on way before ao3 (and been annoying me just as long).

[(Anonymous)]

Hard disagree! Canon couples can appear in genfic.

[(Anonymous)]

How do you define Gen then?

[(Anonymous)]

It’s just gen. It isn’t about couples or shipping. That doesn’t mean one should automatically exclude couples, particularly canon couples. They can be characters in the fic without the fic being about their relationship or even mentioning it.

[(Anonymous)]

So you can have couples being characters, you just don't think genfic should be about being a couple? Like a Steve/Bucky fic can be gen as long as the focus is not on their relationship?

(I hope this isn't coming off as confrontational, I'm genuinely asking. I like discussion and seeing how different people view things.)

[(Anonymous)]

Yes to this.

[(Anonymous)]

But if it isn't a fic revolving around a couple's romantic relationship, and you categorize it as Gen, then you shouldn't tag the pairings. This is starting to become more common in my fandom. I've been muting authors for doing this because it's hard enough to find Gen without this confusing bullshit.

[(Anonymous)]

+1

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with that. If character A and character b are having a whole ass romance then it's not a gen fic, even if the pairing is canon.

But if Character A's married parents are in the fic, it's still a gen fic to me.

[(Anonymous)]

Well... it would depend on the story.

Like if the fic is about a kid traveling through a town and encounters a pair who are together and have a brief moment in the story - but the story continues to follow the kid and not the couple; or a story about someone who is single but other people in their life are romantically paired off but are not the centre of the story - in cases like that then you could argue Gen while tagging the ships in question.

I've done this before while putting in a warning that the ships are background.

[starfleetbrat]

Sure it can. Gen fic is fanfic that does not focus on the romance/sex. You can have a couple present in a fic without either of those things happening.

[(Anonymous)]

True, but I would tag that as only Gen, not Gen+F/F.

There are circumstances in which I would tag both gen and a pairing indicator (the pairing gets a little focus as a treat and I'm legitimately unsure whether what I wrote is gen or not) but this is not that.

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve been wondering about this because what if you have a fic with an A plot and a B plot? The A plot is C and D becoming friends, but the B plot is E and F falling in love. Are you not supposed to tag it as Gen and M/F with the relationship tags stating that it’s C & D and E/F?

I agree.

[(Anonymous)]

I think pairings can exist in a Gen fic, however the relationship shouldn't be the focus and there shouldn't be and real relationship development. So, there can be background pairings, but since the relationship isn't a significant part of the story, no specific relationships should be tagged (unless it's a situation where some people get bent about them being included, then I can understand tagging, but it should be made clear that they are background). So, I can see tags like "Minor or Background Relationship(s)" or "Canon Relationships", but none of the categories M/M, F/F, M/F, Multi, or Other should be checked. And it seems like the definition that AO3 has agrees too -
Gen: no romantic or sexual relationships, or relationships which are not the main focus of the work.

[(Anonymous)]

I remember this argument from 20 years ago - it was mostly aimed at slash pairings, saying any background canonical couple or a background het couple (like a character's parents) can be gen because that's "normal", but a background m/m or f/f pairing can't. I have a lot of genfic from that time with background gay parents out of spite!

Less homophobic people used "gen bob" or just "bob", meaning a gen fic with background couples.

op

[(Anonymous)]

Just to be clear, this is for ANY pairings. I read slash, het, and femslash. But can't stand when a Gen fic is labeled as gen but has a pairing as a focus. As background (like parents or whatnot), fine. But if your main character is in a romantic relationship (even if it isn't the focus), I don't count that as gen.

Re: op

[(Anonymous)]

Wait, even if it isn't the focus? Like, let's say the main character has Someone Back Home who never actually features in the story, they're just mentioned a handful of times. That doesn't count as gen?

Re: op

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT Yeah, that's fair! Pairing fic is not gen! But "no pairings in gen" has absolutely been used in a homophobic way, along with the "well, what about their parents, are you saying they don't have parents?" so I like to add a bit of context.

Re: op

[(Anonymous)]

But if your main character is in a romantic relationship (even if it isn't the focus), I don't count that as gen.</>

But it is gen. By AO3’s own definition, that’s genfic. Twenty years ago that was genfic and tomorrow it will be genfic. You’re not going to change that but you can change your viewpoint since it’s a source of frustration for you.

Re: op

[(Anonymous)]

Twenty years ago it was still being argued about. You are wrong.

[(Anonymous)]

+1 to the people disagreeing with this. I have tagged things with both Gen and a ship category. I write long fic and sometimes the plot is dominated by a platonic friendship between A & B. At the very end there is a subplot involving B/C. The plot as a whole centers around politics and diplomacy, but it is also a romance story with eventual get-together because there is romantic relationship development happening in the background. I don't think just a drop of romance invalidates a fic from being largely a gen fic... I'm going to tag B/C and the ship category because it's present in the fic and some people may like or want to avoid the fic for that reason.

Or another example: a family vacation where one part of the family is a guy and his partner, but most of the characters are platonic family members. The work is mainly gen but there ARE romantic relationships depicted in the background.

Or another example: when the relationship could be read as either platonic or romantic, depending on the reader's preference.

This situation doesn't happen very often but it does happen... I really disagree with your stance about gen here.

[(Anonymous)]

OP's definition would re-clsssify most 80s action flicks as romances.

[(Anonymous)]

Lol, I have multiple fics where the relationship types are a fucking nightmare. Mostly because I sometimes write non-sexual/non-romantic/platonic BDSM on occasion. Like, do these characters have a completely platonic relationship? Yes. Are these characters also engaging in BDSM scenes together? Yes. I just tag both Gen and Other and call it a day lol

[meadowphoenix]

i agree with everyone who says genfic is about romance not being a focus (including imo not even a b-plot so to speak), but that pairings can exist. there ais a lot of media that is essentially about two people's relationship at the border of romantic and platonic or just straight married couple teams and you wouldn't be able to write any non-au gen fic and keep them in character with a more strict definition. if i want to write fic with Nick and Nora that's about a case, i think that's gen.