[rules post] a definition and explanation of 'gen' and how it applies to this community
It has come to my attention that there are some rumblings in fandom corners that I either cannot see or do not have access to (or very likely don't even know they exist) with regards to the rules of this community. I feel like there is still quite a bit of confusion and so here is a post dedicated just to the concept of 'gen' - what it means to this specific community, why I made the rules that I did, and some prompting examples to help clarify the boundaries. If, after reading this post, you still have more questions and would like more clarified, please comment below.
On the fanlore wiki page, there is a definition of gen fic that I really like:
In general, however, "gen" fanworks may acknowledge the existence of a romantic relationship, especially one that is canon, but this should not be the primary focus of the tale.
(emphasis mine)
This is the working definition that we will be using for this community.
If you go to the link above you will see that there are some different kinds of genres that allow for sexual interactions and romantic-esque narratives. But for this community, gen means platonic, means no sex or romance at the forefront.
I have seen 'gen' designate stories that include a wider cast of characters, with a main ship (or two) at the forefront, being the focus. That's not really what we are looking for here. I love pieces like this, shipper stories that include a 'gen' aspect by allowing for a larger range of characters and more relationships being discussed. And if this was a genbigbang community, probably I would create rules that are a bit more lenient in terms of canon pairings and slash in general - but this is a community of minis, short fic. There isn't as much time or space to play around with giving equal weight to a pairing AND to a platonic relationship.
Think of this community as a place to write all those in-between scenes, a small moment to place focus on something that isn't the main pairing. We all have read a long fic that has delightful little scenes between friends and family members smooshed between the angst of romance or the drama of plot. THESE ARE THE SCENES THAT WE WILL BE WRITING HERE. Those little moments that sometimes don't get as much focus.
If it is easier, think of this community as a space to explore behind-the-scenes or between-the-scenes stories and moments. Maybe there's a big romance drama happening all around Buffy, but she still has to take a moment to fold the laundry and ask Dawn about her homework and go to work. Time to focus on something other than the rapid beating of her broken heart. (or whatever) THAT'S what we're looking at exploring here. The moments between the romance, the stories between the 'I love yous', the relationships that generally don't get as much focus.
rule #1. Only platonic relationships are allowed in this community. Which means no canon-ships or UST/unrequited love/sexual interactions.
As I have stated in the rules post: To be more specific: you cannot request someone to write a major canon ship for you. If the theme for a round is friendship, you cannot request that someone write about Buffy and Spike being friends. You also should not have a romantic pairing the emphasis of any piece that you create. Period.
You know what the canon relationships are, it doesn't seem necessary for me to make a list of them. If - at any point - a pair has engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship, they cannot be the focus of the piece. (There will be certain allowances made for Willow & Xander.)
An explanation:
----- I am making allowances for Willow & Xander specifically because throughout canon their relationship is primarily platonic, with one kerfuffle in the middle of season three, after which point nothing romantic or sexual passes between them at all. Since their friendship is the cornerstone and heart of the Scoobies, I felt that in a gen community, it would be unfair to take their relationship out of the running.
Just to be very, perfectly clear, I accept that friendship is often the baseline for romantic and sexual relationships, but platonic literally means being a relationship marked by the absence of romance or sex. [merriam-webster]
If you wanted, say, to write about two asexual characters engaging in a romantic relationship, that would not be allowed in this community.
Although the concept of asexuality and aromanticism are known, accepted, and written about in fandom and fan circles, modern television and media does not openly acknowledge these things. Therefore, within the context of Buffy-canon, I know of no such relationship in which romance and sex are not intertwined.
As it states in the rules:
If - at any point - a pair has engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship, they cannot be the focus of the piece.
Which means: ANY two people who have engaged in a sexual OR romantic relationship IN CANON cannot be requested or written about as the focal point of any fic within this community.
In this community, you cannot write a story that is only about Buffy and Spike being friends. Within canon, they are engaged in a romantic and sexual relationship, therefore their "friendship" is off-limits within this community, as the focus of a piece. If you want to write about their friendship on your own time, in a different community, bravo! More fic about canon ships being turned platonic is awesome. That is not the purpose of this community and will therefore not be allowed. You can write about Buffy and Faith in this community - or request a fic about their relationship. Any fic written about Buffy and Faith cannot be a "shipper" piece - no sex, no romance.
That being said: if you want a story about Buffy talking to Willow about pancakes set in S4, Riley and Tara/Oz can exist. The girls are allowed to talk about them or to them. But the romantic relationship should not be at the forefront. (Probably we should also steer away from pieces that focus on a break-up or 'getting over' someone, unless it pertains to the overall story.) Which means, if you would like to write about Riley's friendship with Xander (or request it), then you can. And they can talk about Anya and Buffy or talk about their romantic relationships. If you write a gen piece that is a character study about Giles, you can discuss his relationship with Olivia and even talk about their sex life, but it cannot be the focus of the story.
To further emphasize the purpose and reason for the rules as they are listed, I will again copy from the fanlore wiki page on gen:
Some fans on LJ have remarked upon the apparent lack of gen in fandom (especially non-sf fandoms). Many fans believe that, when averaged across time and multiple fandoms, gen only accounts for about 20% of fan stories. The other 80% is thought to comprise works of a romantic and/or sexual nature.
Anecdotally, a gen work posted to online communities or archives will typically receive less feedback than a work containing romance or sex of similar (or even lesser) quality, or by the same author. Few gen authors, no matter how good, receive any wide acclaim within their fandom.
Unsurprisingly, this is a situation many gen authors find frustrating, if not outright disheartening. It also influences newcomers to the fandom, who see the word "pairing" in the descriptions of so many stories, whether homosexual or heterosexual. They may believe that all or most fanworks must contain such a relationship, or are more likely to be accepted if they do. In the case of some fanwork archives and communities, they are correct.
This community is one small step towards boosting those statistics into the favor of non-shipper fic that is focused on friendships, familial bonds, and character studies.
I think the above quote from fanlore-wiki is perfect for illustrating why canon pairings cannot be discussed at the forefront in a fic in this community. Canon pairings are written about extensively, from all angles. Canon pairings (and non-canon pairings sometimes) cause 'shipper wars' etc. They dominate fandom in a pervasive way. Here, I am trying to create a community that looks at the relationships that are more often ignored, overlooked, or just not written about at all. It's one of the things that I truly adore about femslash_minis, you never know what fem-slash pairing you are going to get, it forces you to rethink relationships and characters in a new and dynamic way. Here, I'm trying to emulate that spirit of discovery by taking canon pairings off the table as a focus.
Which is why canon pairings are not allowed. No Spuffy friendships. No Bangel friendships. No Willow/Tara friendship pieces. No Anya/Xander friendship pieces. Etc.
No fic can be submitted or requested that's primary focus is on a romantic or sexual relationship. Period.
Buffy and Faith can be friends that have sex. I totally get that. But within this community, they are friends without romance or a sexual relationship OR they are not the focus of the story.
The most important thing to remember is the focus of a story cannot be about a pairing - even the platonic reworkings of a pairing - within this community.
Below are some examples of potential prompts::
character of focus: Buffy
three elements you'd like to be included: background Spike friendship, hunting, doing Dawn's hair
A fic that responds to this prompt would have Spike in the background, being a friend, but not being the primary focus of the story. Maybe he can tell her about hunting, they share a joke, whatever. BUT her relationship with Spike is not the most important thing to the story. This would rewrite canon to have Buffy/Spike's relationship be more platonic than sexual, but it still doesn't place Spuffy at the focus of the story. Their relationship isn't the star, Buffy is the star and her relationship with Spike is on equal level to her relationship with Dawn - or anyone else.
relationship of focus: Tara+Dawn
three elements you'd like to be included: an inside joke with Willow that Dawn doesn't get, milkshakes, black nail polish
In this prompt, Tara's relationship with Dawn is the focus, but Tara's romantic relationship with Willow is implied in the background of the story and has a certain level of influence on the telling of the story.
relationship of focus: Dawn + Janice
three elements you'd like to be included: seducing boys in bars, cheap lipstick, shopping sprees
In this prompt, Dawn and Janice will presumably have sex with boys that don't matter very much to the story - the main focus of the story is about Dawn and Janice's friendship and sex is the backseat worldbuilding.
character of focus: Anya + Buffy
three elements you'd like to be included: background Anya/Hallie & Buffy/Spike, all-human coffee-shop AU, coffee shop gossip
In this prompt, Anya's relationship with Buffy is the primary focus, that's what we are going to read about. But in the background, Anya and Buffy are in established romantic relationships with other people, this can be discussed or we can even see cute little moments between these three.
Something that you cannot do:
relationship of focus: Anya + Xander
three elements you'd like to include: friendship after breakups, road trips, cheap beer
NO. Anya and Xander are an establish canon romantic pairing. You cannot request this.
You could do this instead:
character of focus: Anya
three elements you'd like to include: friendship after breakups (Xander), road trips, cheap beer
This prompt acknowledges that she's attempting to find a friendship with Xander after their break up, but could also discuss other relationships that she's tried to transition this way. It can also be a solo road trip, or a road trip with Tara or Dawn or Spike instead. She can be drinking alone, or with Xander, or with Hallie. But Anya's relationship with Xander is a background piece, it is not the central focus of the story.
An example of something that could break the rules, but it depends upon the author:
relationship of focus: Dawn + Spike
three elements you'd like to include: roses, kisses, saying 'I love you'
The implications of this prompt suggest that you want a romantic story out of these two, but since this is a GEN community, it would be up to the author to turn this prompt into something fun and silly (or dark and depressing) between these two as friends. Is Spike giving Dawn dating advice? Is Dawn giving Spike sarcastic kissing advice? Are they pretending to be dating for her college roommates so he can lurk around without it being weird? Is she teasing him because he's terribly bad at being too romantic with Buffy and she got annoyed? Are they both mourning Buffy? The emphasis of this story cannot be that the two fall in love, but these romantic elements could be turned on their heels into something less romantic and more playful.
I hope this clarifies everything that this post previously neglected. Please, please, please comment below if you still have any questions.
On the fanlore wiki page, there is a definition of gen fic that I really like:
In general, however, "gen" fanworks may acknowledge the existence of a romantic relationship, especially one that is canon, but this should not be the primary focus of the tale.
(emphasis mine)
This is the working definition that we will be using for this community.
If you go to the link above you will see that there are some different kinds of genres that allow for sexual interactions and romantic-esque narratives. But for this community, gen means platonic, means no sex or romance at the forefront.
I have seen 'gen' designate stories that include a wider cast of characters, with a main ship (or two) at the forefront, being the focus. That's not really what we are looking for here. I love pieces like this, shipper stories that include a 'gen' aspect by allowing for a larger range of characters and more relationships being discussed. And if this was a genbigbang community, probably I would create rules that are a bit more lenient in terms of canon pairings and slash in general - but this is a community of minis, short fic. There isn't as much time or space to play around with giving equal weight to a pairing AND to a platonic relationship.
Think of this community as a place to write all those in-between scenes, a small moment to place focus on something that isn't the main pairing. We all have read a long fic that has delightful little scenes between friends and family members smooshed between the angst of romance or the drama of plot. THESE ARE THE SCENES THAT WE WILL BE WRITING HERE. Those little moments that sometimes don't get as much focus.
If it is easier, think of this community as a space to explore behind-the-scenes or between-the-scenes stories and moments. Maybe there's a big romance drama happening all around Buffy, but she still has to take a moment to fold the laundry and ask Dawn about her homework and go to work. Time to focus on something other than the rapid beating of her broken heart. (or whatever) THAT'S what we're looking at exploring here. The moments between the romance, the stories between the 'I love yous', the relationships that generally don't get as much focus.
rule #1. Only platonic relationships are allowed in this community. Which means no canon-ships or UST/unrequited love/sexual interactions.
As I have stated in the rules post: To be more specific: you cannot request someone to write a major canon ship for you. If the theme for a round is friendship, you cannot request that someone write about Buffy and Spike being friends. You also should not have a romantic pairing the emphasis of any piece that you create. Period.
You know what the canon relationships are, it doesn't seem necessary for me to make a list of them. If - at any point - a pair has engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship, they cannot be the focus of the piece. (There will be certain allowances made for Willow & Xander.)
An explanation:
----- I am making allowances for Willow & Xander specifically because throughout canon their relationship is primarily platonic, with one kerfuffle in the middle of season three, after which point nothing romantic or sexual passes between them at all. Since their friendship is the cornerstone and heart of the Scoobies, I felt that in a gen community, it would be unfair to take their relationship out of the running.
Just to be very, perfectly clear, I accept that friendship is often the baseline for romantic and sexual relationships, but platonic literally means being a relationship marked by the absence of romance or sex. [merriam-webster]
If you wanted, say, to write about two asexual characters engaging in a romantic relationship, that would not be allowed in this community.
Although the concept of asexuality and aromanticism are known, accepted, and written about in fandom and fan circles, modern television and media does not openly acknowledge these things. Therefore, within the context of Buffy-canon, I know of no such relationship in which romance and sex are not intertwined.
As it states in the rules:
If - at any point - a pair has engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship, they cannot be the focus of the piece.
Which means: ANY two people who have engaged in a sexual OR romantic relationship IN CANON cannot be requested or written about as the focal point of any fic within this community.
In this community, you cannot write a story that is only about Buffy and Spike being friends. Within canon, they are engaged in a romantic and sexual relationship, therefore their "friendship" is off-limits within this community, as the focus of a piece. If you want to write about their friendship on your own time, in a different community, bravo! More fic about canon ships being turned platonic is awesome. That is not the purpose of this community and will therefore not be allowed. You can write about Buffy and Faith in this community - or request a fic about their relationship. Any fic written about Buffy and Faith cannot be a "shipper" piece - no sex, no romance.
That being said: if you want a story about Buffy talking to Willow about pancakes set in S4, Riley and Tara/Oz can exist. The girls are allowed to talk about them or to them. But the romantic relationship should not be at the forefront. (Probably we should also steer away from pieces that focus on a break-up or 'getting over' someone, unless it pertains to the overall story.) Which means, if you would like to write about Riley's friendship with Xander (or request it), then you can. And they can talk about Anya and Buffy or talk about their romantic relationships. If you write a gen piece that is a character study about Giles, you can discuss his relationship with Olivia and even talk about their sex life, but it cannot be the focus of the story.
To further emphasize the purpose and reason for the rules as they are listed, I will again copy from the fanlore wiki page on gen:
Some fans on LJ have remarked upon the apparent lack of gen in fandom (especially non-sf fandoms). Many fans believe that, when averaged across time and multiple fandoms, gen only accounts for about 20% of fan stories. The other 80% is thought to comprise works of a romantic and/or sexual nature.
Anecdotally, a gen work posted to online communities or archives will typically receive less feedback than a work containing romance or sex of similar (or even lesser) quality, or by the same author. Few gen authors, no matter how good, receive any wide acclaim within their fandom.
Unsurprisingly, this is a situation many gen authors find frustrating, if not outright disheartening. It also influences newcomers to the fandom, who see the word "pairing" in the descriptions of so many stories, whether homosexual or heterosexual. They may believe that all or most fanworks must contain such a relationship, or are more likely to be accepted if they do. In the case of some fanwork archives and communities, they are correct.
This community is one small step towards boosting those statistics into the favor of non-shipper fic that is focused on friendships, familial bonds, and character studies.
I think the above quote from fanlore-wiki is perfect for illustrating why canon pairings cannot be discussed at the forefront in a fic in this community. Canon pairings are written about extensively, from all angles. Canon pairings (and non-canon pairings sometimes) cause 'shipper wars' etc. They dominate fandom in a pervasive way. Here, I am trying to create a community that looks at the relationships that are more often ignored, overlooked, or just not written about at all. It's one of the things that I truly adore about femslash_minis, you never know what fem-slash pairing you are going to get, it forces you to rethink relationships and characters in a new and dynamic way. Here, I'm trying to emulate that spirit of discovery by taking canon pairings off the table as a focus.
Which is why canon pairings are not allowed. No Spuffy friendships. No Bangel friendships. No Willow/Tara friendship pieces. No Anya/Xander friendship pieces. Etc.
No fic can be submitted or requested that's primary focus is on a romantic or sexual relationship. Period.
Buffy and Faith can be friends that have sex. I totally get that. But within this community, they are friends without romance or a sexual relationship OR they are not the focus of the story.
The most important thing to remember is the focus of a story cannot be about a pairing - even the platonic reworkings of a pairing - within this community.
Below are some examples of potential prompts::
character of focus: Buffy
three elements you'd like to be included: background Spike friendship, hunting, doing Dawn's hair
A fic that responds to this prompt would have Spike in the background, being a friend, but not being the primary focus of the story. Maybe he can tell her about hunting, they share a joke, whatever. BUT her relationship with Spike is not the most important thing to the story. This would rewrite canon to have Buffy/Spike's relationship be more platonic than sexual, but it still doesn't place Spuffy at the focus of the story. Their relationship isn't the star, Buffy is the star and her relationship with Spike is on equal level to her relationship with Dawn - or anyone else.
relationship of focus: Tara+Dawn
three elements you'd like to be included: an inside joke with Willow that Dawn doesn't get, milkshakes, black nail polish
In this prompt, Tara's relationship with Dawn is the focus, but Tara's romantic relationship with Willow is implied in the background of the story and has a certain level of influence on the telling of the story.
relationship of focus: Dawn + Janice
three elements you'd like to be included: seducing boys in bars, cheap lipstick, shopping sprees
In this prompt, Dawn and Janice will presumably have sex with boys that don't matter very much to the story - the main focus of the story is about Dawn and Janice's friendship and sex is the backseat worldbuilding.
character of focus: Anya + Buffy
three elements you'd like to be included: background Anya/Hallie & Buffy/Spike, all-human coffee-shop AU, coffee shop gossip
In this prompt, Anya's relationship with Buffy is the primary focus, that's what we are going to read about. But in the background, Anya and Buffy are in established romantic relationships with other people, this can be discussed or we can even see cute little moments between these three.
Something that you cannot do:
relationship of focus: Anya + Xander
three elements you'd like to include: friendship after breakups, road trips, cheap beer
NO. Anya and Xander are an establish canon romantic pairing. You cannot request this.
You could do this instead:
character of focus: Anya
three elements you'd like to include: friendship after breakups (Xander), road trips, cheap beer
This prompt acknowledges that she's attempting to find a friendship with Xander after their break up, but could also discuss other relationships that she's tried to transition this way. It can also be a solo road trip, or a road trip with Tara or Dawn or Spike instead. She can be drinking alone, or with Xander, or with Hallie. But Anya's relationship with Xander is a background piece, it is not the central focus of the story.
An example of something that could break the rules, but it depends upon the author:
relationship of focus: Dawn + Spike
three elements you'd like to include: roses, kisses, saying 'I love you'
The implications of this prompt suggest that you want a romantic story out of these two, but since this is a GEN community, it would be up to the author to turn this prompt into something fun and silly (or dark and depressing) between these two as friends. Is Spike giving Dawn dating advice? Is Dawn giving Spike sarcastic kissing advice? Are they pretending to be dating for her college roommates so he can lurk around without it being weird? Is she teasing him because he's terribly bad at being too romantic with Buffy and she got annoyed? Are they both mourning Buffy? The emphasis of this story cannot be that the two fall in love, but these romantic elements could be turned on their heels into something less romantic and more playful.
I hope this clarifies everything that this post previously neglected. Please, please, please comment below if you still have any questions.