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Why I like Gen

Ok, all the recent talk about gen on

metafandom has inspired me to go through what gen means to me and why I like it. This will be of absolutely no interest to anyone who doesn't read fanfic (and possibly not even then), sorry to the majority of my flist but I had to post it somewhere and my lj seems the best place for self indulgent ranting :) Though you will get to "see" me say the words 'sex' and 'porn" more than I probably have in all my other blog/lj posts combined.

The reason I wrote this post is that people seem to be trying to come up with one single reason for reading gen, and on the whole they don't apply to me becuase I read it for multiple reasons., many of which seem to be misunderstood/misrepresented. And hey, there's so many "Why we slash" posts, why not a couple more "why we gen"s :) I've also tried to address some of the conflict between gen and slash since it seems to come up so much. I'm not sure anyone is going to read this, but I feel better for having it out there. I am not saying my way is best, but it's what I like and I think it's not as crazy to like it as some people make out.

There are three separate things I like from fanfic:

Matching up to canon so closely it might as well be part of it
Not focusing on romantic or sexual relationships
Not sexually explicit

A lot of people conflate these together into one word: gen. But they are separate. I would classify "gen" as meaning the last two categories, though different people take it to mean one or the other. Some people take it to mean all three at once and this I have a problem with, since it ignores the fact that 90% of the fiction fanfic is based off focusses on romantic relationships sometimes, so it's not wildly against canon if we do it too from time to time.

I've read plenty of stories which satisfy one of these parameters but not the other two.

For example, A Deeper Season matches the tone of the books really well, and in my opinion the canon could easily have gone this way. Yes, it's a gay romance, but so is "Ethan of Athos". Most importantly, it's not just a gay romance. It's about what would actually happen in that world if those characters got into a relationship with each other, political as well as personal. And there's adventure and a mystery and all the things that make Vorkosigan books good.

I've lost the link, but I read a Buffy AU where Andrew is a vampire and at one point early on has explicit sex with Giles-as-teen-Ripper. Now I might have been missing the point, but afaict it wasn't meant to sexy, and certainly wasn't romantic, the sex existed to help utterly mess that character up, and the story went on from there to be about other things.

And of course there's plenty of PG rated romance stories.

I liked all those stories (especially a Deeper Season, it's actually the story that got me into fanfic). I'll enjoy a sexually explicit romance AU if it's really well written and has other stuff I like. I'm just talking general preferences here.

The question is: why do I like these three things from my stories?

First, being like canon. Now, by this I don't just mean "consistent with the events shown in canon", or having the character voices and mannerisms match, since afaict everyone likes that. I mean if canon is an action adventure with little to no romantic content, that's what I want to see. If canon doesn't deal with serious issues, or I feel the writer(s) would never make any of the main characters gay (not even sekritly in their heads), then I don't generally want that from fanfic either. If the story is set in the Jossverse, I won't really buy a happily ever after romance.

Now I used to be one of these people who saw this is being the only way to stay consistent with canon, which put me at odds with slashers a lot of the time. But on further thought I've realised it's just one approach to fanfic, and just as subjective as any other. I know authorial intent doesn't matter intellectually, but can't change it's importance to me emotionally. And I don't like it because it's better, I like it because even small deviations from my personal authorial-intent-driven canon tends to throw me out of the story. This is less of an issue for book based fic (especially Harry Potter for some reason) as long as it matches the written tone, but for tv shows it doesn't take much for fanfic to become, to me, an original short story. And I don't like short stories.

That said, one of my main criteria for liking a show is not being cliched crap (another is continuity). Which generally means the characters do not, universally, come across as totally 100% straight for now and always. Also I can buy a fair amount of deviance from "canon" if the story works really hard to make it work (though perhaps then it's just a really good original short story). And if the canon is romance then bring on the schmoop :)

I do also like the sort of fanfic which deliberately subverts canon, looking say at what it would be like to be gay in Narnia. But it has to come across as deliberate and thought out, or be fun and silly and not to be taken seriously (and my taste for such stories is limited) I also really like the idea of stories which look at the stuff that happens off-screen that noone else has examined (like what would it be like to be a Stormtrooper?) Which theoretically does cover slash, but only if it's about what it would actually be like for those characters to get together rather than a romantic/sexual fantasy, and only the first couple of times. Then the idea has been done and I'd rather read about something else.

Second, the lack of romantic/sexual relationships. Now I actually don't mind romance, in fact I like it. But so much of fanfic is focussed on sex and romance I need a break from time to time (roughly every second to third story, I find)

Also, for me to engage with a romantic story I need a fair amount of lead-up, so it either needs to be a very long fanfic or I have to already be engaged with the couple. My shipper goggles are remarkably myopic, so this pretty much leaves me with canon couples and the odd non-canon couple which pings for me. (Mot of which turn out to have been deliberate UST from TBTB. Except possibly Legolas/Gimli :))

I have no problem with stories which reference romantic/sexual relationships as a minor part of a larger story arc. I don't even mind stories with a relationship at their core when that relationship is written realistically rather than to push peoples romantic/sexual buttons. (because chances are it won't push mine) Really for me it's about the relationships being driven by the characters and the story, not the other way around, not so much about the gen as the "Bob" or the "gron", but people don't label for that so I go for gen.

There are so many different types of stories to tell, why limit yourself only to the ones which revolve around smooches? It's like if all anyone wrote was murder mysteries. Yes, there's a lot you can do with the genre, it can examine class and race and character and all that good stuff (also smooches). But every now and then it might be nice to read a story where noone died. And if you were reading a story marked "not murder mystery", and it was really good and interesting, and then in the final act there was a passing reference to how the Butler did it you would get grumpy just because gee, does it always have to be about the murder?

That said, I don't think there's anything wrong with people who happen to only (or mostly) enjoy slash/het, any more than there's anything wrong with me with only/mostly liking gen, or science fiction, or whatever.

Also, I am one of these people who sometimes see shipping of friends (regardless of gender) as "cheapening" the relationship. I think because I tend to see romantic relationships (or interest) as intense but short lived, creating only the appearance of a close bond. Friends or family don't fall out of love or lose interest when they find out you're taken. Which is odd, given that I'm getting married to the guy I would classify as my soulmate in a couple of weeks, but it's just the way I feel :) Maybe I've just been burned by TPTB noticing a bond between two characters I like, playing up the UST then breaking them up angstily, ruining the bond forever. Or something, I don't know.

Lastly, since I have the least to say about it, the lack of sex. I don't know why I don't like reading explicit sex scenes. I have vague theories, but they're kind of personal, so let's just leave it at the fact I don't like 'em. I'm happy enough to skip them if the story is otherwise enjoyable, but given the preponderance of out-and-out porn I find it best to avoid "NC-17" (ie R by australian standards) stories unless I have good reason to think I'll like it. I'm fine with non-titillating sex which drives the story, but for some reason porn is more popular :)

Also, as a final even more tangential thought, I sometimes feel like the only straight girl on the interent who would rather read femslash than boyslash since I find female characters easier to identify with, not to mention ignored by canon. This may have something to do with not reading it for the porn :)

So, there you go. Sorry I rambled on so much, it's the only way I know how to communicate! Feel free to tell me what I'm saying makes no sense or is deeply offensive, chances are I'll realise at least half of it is wrong. Also, I apologise to anyone who thought this was going to be about why I like Jen(*), but that's so self evident it doesn't need a livejournal post :)

(*)Or Genevieve, who none of you know and doesn't read this. She's pretty cool too.

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clicky link love.

mmm Austen fic. Also, OMG KKBB FIC! and the HP one.

And I agree with you, the last two points are what makes a fic gen for me.

heehee, glad to share the squee :) I love

yuletide, so much awesome for so many fandoms.

Yay for Princess Bride references.

I made a princess Bride reference? *blinks* Where? (I'm going to feel dumb when you point it out)

Your LJ-cut text (Eww, is this a kissing book?)

And see, I feel dumb :) In my defense my last few edits were done in lj-preview which doesn't show the cut text.

Don't feel too bad... I spotted the quote, but it still took me five minutes to re-find it when you asked.

Heehee, I have this mental image of you staring at the full text going "Darnit, I KNOW it was in here somewhere" :)

I've actually heard parts of this speech many times in person but it's nice to see it coherently laid out like this. It's funny, but I actually agree with you on many of the points despite having wildly different taste in fanfiction. Thanks for the links too BTW :)

So, have I convinced you to give up your Evil Snarrying Ways and come over to the side of goodness and purity?

Heh. I should have said at the top "Read through this and click on all the links: some of them have sexy sex in them!", that'd get people to read it :)

lol! Maybe, or it might put people like yourself off. I suppose you could always mark which ones have sex in them...

To be honest, it's not so much that I don't agree with your points as that I read fanfiction for vastly different reasons. I know them in my head but the rant isn't coherent enough to publish. I'll let you know when it is. Or possibly I'll just rant at you over swancon...

Good luck with the dress shopping tomorrow. You can get Pav to take photos of yourselves in various dresses and e-mail them to me if you like.

Oh, I understand completely that it's a matter of taste, I was just joshing with you. Feel free to rant, anyway :)

Photos will likely be forthcoming. Also: you have my beard and helmet, yes?

Actually, Mandragora has your helmet and beard(s).

No, I do! :)

Here via metafandom:

Though authorial intent isn't all that important to me most of the time, I do mourn the comparative lack of long, plotty action fics around on lj. Also, gen h/c--because there are times when I want to read fic where h/c is an end in itself, and not a set-up for sex or romance. The high levels of action-adventure and gen h/c are what I loved/love so about Magnificent Seven fandom.

I wonder if it's a function of the heavy numbers of slash fen who prefer crackfic and PWPs on lj, or if the lj format lends inself to shorter fic while zines lent themselves to longer fics, or what, but it seems to me that long, plotty gen was more common and/or higher profile back in the day than it is in some of the newer fandoms. Or maybe it's still around and just harder to find on lj.

Weirdly, in the one mailing-list, all-gen-and-het fandom I lurk in, I find myself desperately craving exactly the sort of long, schmoopy, slightly ooc slash epics I've seen a surfeit of in my slash-oriented fandoms.

Oh yes, that's why I separated "liking things which match the source" from "not wanting too many romantic relationships" since they are two separate motivations, there's just a fair bit of overlap. I geuss it's in the nature of any genre that some subgenres will be overshadowed by the most popular tropes at the given time, and while it's noone fault it's still annoying if what you like isn't the flavour of the month. (I'm not sure this paragraph says what I want it to say, hopefully you'll be able to unentangle a meaning out of it anyway :))

I'm very new to fanfic so have no idea about any changes or their causes. Your theory sounds plausible, though.

Heh. We always want what we don't have don't we :) Certainly I still feel the absense of gay relationships in the tv/movies I watch despite getting more than my quota online.

Here from metafandom:

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I spent a while yesterday writing a post entitled "why I don't do pairings." I haven't posted it yet... but it said pretty much exactly the same thing. My main points were:

1: I enjoy reading about characters and relationships, but I personally find friendship a more powerful and interesting and more multi-faceted relationship to explore than romance or lust. "He only risked his life to save her because he wants to sleep with her", I don't find anything like as powerful as, "he risked his life to save her, because they're friends." Romance and lust can be a fairly one dimensional thing. (Though of course it can also be written about in a complex way.) I've read published novels in which two well-rounded characters suddenly turn into boring cardboard cut-outs the moment they fall "in love."

2: I enjoy the challenge of adapting to canon. I write original fiction to have freedom, but in fanfic I like to take what I've been given, and work with it. This means working with canon relationships - even if they're ones I'm not too fond of.

3. (Though I didn't mention it in my post) I don't like reading sex scenes, either. I find them (variously) repetitive, boring, embarrassing, or amusing. I don't mind stories that contain sex scenes, but I'll skip them.

I also greatly prefer long stories with plots (though I do love lots of angst and character focus in them.) I can accept romance as an element of the story, but I want other elements to be more prominent. A well-written story can persuade me - for the duration of the story - to believe in any pairing going. However, I'm just happier with stories that don't feature romance or sex, or feature it as very much secondary to other things. (Though, for that very reason, I'm currently writing a long story that contains romance, on the very grounds that I'm less comfortable with it, so ought to try it some time.)

There. No need to do my post, now. ;-)

"He only risked his life to save her because he wants to sleep with her", I don't find anything like as powerful as, "he risked his life to save her, because they're friends."

Yes! Exactly! I mean there is (to me at least) something uniquely compelling about a written well romantic relationship, but too often (in original fiction as well as fanfic) it's used as a cheap easy way to motivate people.

There. No need to do my post, now. ;-)

Glad to be of service. Sometimes it's just nice to know what while we may be in the minority, there are other people who feel the same way. Although ranting is very cathartic :)

There. No need to do my post, now. ;-)

Aww, I wish you would do a post! I think this discussion is great, and I'd like to hear more perspectives on it, especially from people who aren't mainly shippers reading gen for a holiday.

Hope I wasn't one of the people who caused the confusion. :) I often cite canon as an example to answer the question of "How much romance/relationship references can there be in a Genfic?".

But other than that I don't think that the characterization has to match the canon source at all. To me it just shouldn't be more romantic than canon (potentially even less), but other than that...you can take two characters, interpret their relationship as a friendship. You can write them as friends who are secretly using each other, who are best buddies, who love each other but don't really understand each other, who can rely on each other, who can't rely on each other, who are secretly envious or in competition with each other, who teach each other, who give each other strength, who joke around, who talk about serious things, who support each other without words. Some of these characterizations might be great and in character and others might be totally wrong and bad writing. But they all explore the non-romantic/non-sexual angle.

It's all a big blur in my head, so who knows where I got the idea from :)

Anyway: the problem with defining gen as "no more romantic than canon" is that while it makes a certain amount of sense for most tv shows (which tend to be low on the smooches) it gets a bit silly for more explicit canon. Take something like the Anita Blake series, which from what I've heard is pretty much pure porn in ther later books. By your definition all fanfic for that series is "gen", from friendship fics to highschool AU PWPs.

Also a lot of people using that sort of definition (but not necessarily you, as I said it's all a blur!) seem to think that all slash is automatically not gen, which seems a bit odd to me for those slash stories equivalent of the sorts of romantic stories pursued in canon.

So, personally I am inclined to keep "Like canon" and "no romance/sex" as two separate things. I must admit this does leave a gap for stories which contain brief canon-level romantic references but are otherwise fairly different to canon, but your classification ignores noromo stories set in romance/sex heavy canons.

So, in conclusion, all classifications suck and I guess we tend to argue for the one that suits us best :)

from

metafandom.

This was a good essay, but I just dropped a comment to say:

Also, as a final even more tangential thought, I sometimes feel like the only straight girl on the interent who would rather read femslash than boyslash since I find female characters easier to identify with, not to mention ignored by canon.

You totally aren't.

Yay, not alone! I mean I assumed there were others, I just find it interesting that a lot of discussions on slash seem, to me, to go into the many and varied types of people who read boyslash and their various reasons for doing so and then have a little tangent saying "And then there's femmeslash, which is basically just read by lesbian and bi women". I mean I'm not into the femmeslash fandom at all (being mostly about the gen, and not heavily into fandom in general) so maybe that really is how the demographics skew, but it seems odd given how many lesbians I know who read boyslash. Maybe femslash just doesn't have the numbers to blossom out into all the subgenres and subcultures the way boyslash has.

Of course I imagine all the male boyslashers/femslashers feel even more in a minority!

And you wouldn't believe how thrilled I am to find someone in this whole debate that I agree with. (Well, about everything except Legolas/Gimli, but I'm so happy about the rest that I'll let that slide.) And I'd totally love to hear more "why we gen" posts.

The thing that has always bothered me is that Gen tends to be defined as a lack--"no sex" or whatever. I like your definitions because they provide some positive characteristics of Gen.

Well, I'm glad to hear other people agree with me too :)

I think it's important not to turn this into an argument of "Why my kind of fanfic is the best and all the others suck", especially since being in the minority it's unlikely to do us any good. There's different functions served by gen, and slash, and het (and poor old neglected femmeslash too) and we should be able to talk up our favourite types of stories without putting down any of the others.

Part of the problem, I think, is that people like gen for different (albeit often overlapping) reasons, so we can unite to argue what it's not but not so much to argue what it is and why we like it.

Also: LEGOLAS/GIMI OTP!!! Heehee, just kidding :)

Yeah ... I'm really mystified at some of the comments I've been seeing in the whole discussion, though I suppose it's been educational. I always thought shippers (of all stripes) just thought gen was boring, but I'm finding out that it goes way beyond that. I think it would be great if gen fans could get together and come up with our own manifesto.

Part of the problem, I think, is that people like gen for different (albeit often overlapping) reasons, so we can unite to argue what it's not but not so much to argue what it is and why we like it.

Oh, I don't know. Back in the days when I was trying to "get" slash, before I gave up and decided my brain just wasn't wired for it, I read a ton of essays about why people liked slash. They all had different and overlapping reasons too, and look at the slash community now! And besides, the dialogue is part of the fun. I didn't realize how starved I was for conversation with other gen fans until this issue hit

metafandom.

I'm going to read your essay on short stories now. Looks interesting!

Back in the days when I was trying to "get" slash, before I gave up and decided my brain just wasn't wired for it, I read a ton of essays about why people liked slash. They all had different and overlapping reasons too, and look at the slash community now! And besides, the dialogue is part of the fun. I didn't realize how starved I was for conversation with other gen fans until this issue hit metafandom.

Good point, and yes, me too! Hmm...maybe we need to concentrate more on talking to each other rather than trying to Deal With Those Darn Slashers.

I'm going to read your essay on short stories now. Looks interesting!

I don't know that it is, actually, but go ahead :)

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