Gen Fic, for SCIENCE!

[ratherastory]

This is something of a follow-up to a conversation in my post about the hypothetical Gen Big Bang, in which I discovered to my shock and dismay that not everyone agrees on what constitutes gen fic!

Thus I am conducting a poll for SCIENCE!

Please spread the word, I am really curious to hear opinions on the subject.

[Poll #1666301]

Comments

[icelily01.livejournal.com]

Although my vote may be bias because I barely read any gen fic like..at all. I think I've read 3 in my entire fandom life and 2 of them were yours so lol

SOOO I probably am not that well versed :P

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

Well, I chose other. I think gen fics definately can't have romance, but I do think that sex could possibly be involved as long as it's not really explicit(smut). Like I can imagine a gen fic that involves Dean flirting and going off with a waitress or something, but that isn't romance. Canon pairings can be mentioned but there shouldn't be any focus on the couple together plot wise. Like John and Mary Winchester are of course married, but as long as the fic isn't focused on thier relationship it's gen.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Gen fic: A story that is rated anywhere from PG-R and does not focus on romance as the primary plot line.

[greeneyes-fan.livejournal.com]

If there is no explicit sex and the main plot of the story is not sex/romance related, it's gen in my book. Gen fics may involve incidental Dean/Random Chick, or references to canon pairings, but I consider that character development. If I write a story where Dean/Chick is the main idea, that's het. If I write 5,000 words about Sam and Dean hunting a ghost and the many complications of their partnership and throw in 50 words about one of the boys flirting (or even having offscreen sex), that's gen.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is really flattering!

*this is the sound of me converting everyone slowly over to gen fic*

[greeneyes-fan.livejournal.com]

That's a simple and reasonable definition.

[embroiderama]

To me, there's an issue of length. Like, a very long gen story can have moments of romance or out-of-sight sex because then the other 95% of the story can be focused on the gen elements. For a short or mid-length story, I think it's difficult for there to be any real romance without that becoming a focus of the story. I do tend to see canon pairings working best with gen--and in SPN I would say that original character pairings are as much canon as anything else. I can't really see any story with, say, Dean/Cas or Sam/Jo or whatever being gen.

Though, that said, I read a lot in all three categories so it's not a matter of to-read or not-to-read but just the slot I place it in, in my head.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. So, implied sex is okay, but nothing explicit and no romance.

Food for thought.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Very nice and succinct. Is it your definition or did you get it from somewhere? Inquiring minds want to know!

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I just made it up, LOL.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

I made it up literally about 2 seconds ago. XD

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much how I view it too, but comments in my other post suggested that even mentioning in a sentence that one of the boys went off with a girl to get laid automatically made the fic het, even if it's one sentence in a 75K-word fic.

So, clearly, there needed to be a poll.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Verry nice, then. You mind if I steal it to quote at people?

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

I think I'm not quite consistent on the background non-canon pairings. Seems to me that if one of the common non-canon pairings is there but in the background, convention is it counts as pairing fic: if Sam and Dean or Dean and Cas are a couple and it's mentioned and there's a quick goodbye kiss or something (though I don't really see either couple as into quick goodbye kisses), I'd probably still list it under Sam/Dean or Dean/Cas. On the other hand, characters/OCs where the romance isn't prominent I don't think would change the category for me if it's fairly casual, like the Dean and waitress example (and it wouldn't make a difference if it were Dean and a waiter, if Dean's sexuality were tangential to the story).

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Lol, steal away.

[icelily01.livejournal.com]

lol No way, I'm a Wincester always, and J2. I live off the stuff.

What can I say, it's a sickness.

But I did enjoy the ones I read :D So I GUESS you like 10% converted me :P

[lunasky3.livejournal.com]

Anything that could become an episode of Supernatural. There can be sex, because Dean and Sam have both had sexy times, but none can be considered a "paring" & romance cannot be a main plotline.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

In my view, canon pairings are fine and the stories can include non-explicit sex. Original characters can also be romantic/sex partners if done in the same manner as canon treats such.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I find I'm not consistent either, frankly. Yet another reason why I decided to make this poll.

I always considered "Take Me Home" to be gen, but there's at least one sex scene, interrupted early on and definitely played up for the comedic value, but it's nonetheless sex. Does that make it het? Some would argue it does, yet it's about 500 words in a 54K-word fic.

So, yeah. In short, I don't know. :)

[gidgetgal9.livejournal.com]

To me a general story does not have wincest and is not PWP. I've read some great stories like Mockingbird where the het so made sense to me and was a big part of the story and to me it was a general story.

I read wincest but I don't think of it as general. :)

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

You know what? It didn't even occur to me, but you make a good point. Everyone says the Show is gen, but the Show includes sexy tiems AND Dean being in a long-term sexual relationship with Lisa.

Huh.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Is it just wincest, though? What about slash? (Dean/Cas, Sam/Gabriel, whatever other non-wincesty pairings there are) How explicit does the sex have to be before you'll consider it no longer gen? Or does that not come into it?

[greeneyes-fan.livejournal.com]

Exactly. "Dean hooks up with Random Chick" isn't a canon pairing unless you're referring to one of the Chicks who did that on the show, but it's perfectly consistent with canon.

[viridian-magpie.livejournal.com]

My definition of gen is still heavily influenced by ff.net, where gen is what is used when the story didn't fit into two categories. (Say, you have a fic that's action/adventure, drama, fantasy, humor and romance.) I finally went with "No sex, no romance, but background pairings are acceptable (canon OR non-canon)" after trying to define slash and het and then picking the opposite.

(slash/het - main characters of the story are romantically involved.)

[lunasky3.livejournal.com]

I feel like if done well, Jess & Lisa break the mold as long as the fic still sticks to the point of the Show which is "epic love of Sam & Dean."

Like, I still consider your "Roses in December" fic gen because the relationship is cannon and the fic is about Sam and Dean. Mostly. Idk. Jess and Lisa are my exceptions because I like when they get to live and/or be a part of their lives. And Show makes a point that they don't keep Sam and Dean apart.