Well, some people think that it's only a Gen Fic if there's absolutely 'no romance whatsoever, but it means different things to different people. Personally though, I think it's safe to say that when it comes to Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls, people usually don't think of stories that may have romantic undertones but don't get caught up in it, but instead think it refers to Shipping-based plots and its main focus being Canon X Canon, or worse Canon XOC.
This becomes a severe problem when the divide into Gen Fic and Shipping Fic simply doesn't work in a fandom. Example: Rescue Rangers. Fanfics in this fandom do not play by the same genre and style rules as anime fanfics. Examples:
- Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls is subverted by the majority of Rescue Rangers fanfic writers being adult males, and pretty much none is adolescent. Rescue Rangers doesn't have the usual loads of teenage fangirls.
- Also, there isn't the usual overabundance of Slash Fic and smut, let alone for slash's or smut's sake. In fact, go through the great Rescue Rangers stories on specialized Rescue Rangers websites (as opposed to FF.net), and you're very unlikely to find any slash whatsoever. Not only because the main fanfic publishing ground has got a strict PG rule and a ban on homosexuality, but also because Rescue Rangers fanfic writers have other Rescue Rangers fanfic writers as role models, and Rescue Rangers fanfic started more than 15 years ago on a very high quality level (Mike Demcio's Rhyme and Reason
, written 1995, released 1996, and a quality standard ever since).
- To get to the point, probably more than 90% of all Rescue Rangers fanfics ship at least two character pairs with one another, in almost all of the cases two canonical characters. Pretty much all of the often recommended stories ship, The Rangerillion being practically the sole exception. Even Under The Bridge ships, although it's two original characters with one another. This means that by many people's standards all these aren't Gen Fics. But not even 2% of them actually focus on this ship as the main driving plot element because Rescue Rangers fanfic writers more often than not embed shipping as a side element into action thrillers. Which in turn means that they aren't Shipping Fics either.
Now you're required to divide Fanfic Recommendations into either of these two categories. In cases like these, however, it is impossible.
(I had to write that much about the Rescue Rangers fandom and its fanfic to make my point clear.)
Edited by MidnightMan Welcome to the Signature, Mon
So I'm confused; if it's your typical fanfic with romance as the main dish, it's yet another example of Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls, but a work of fiction won't count as Gen Fic unless there's not the slightest hint of anything that could even remotely be viewed as romantic. Isn't that a bit unfair? What if the "pairing" is merely Just Friends who really care about each other? I'm pretty sure male writers don't get this much scrutiny.
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