Rant about using Gen, Slash, and Het Tags
Okay this is a HUGE pet peeve for me.
I am not an "equal opportunity" slasher, so to speak. I can only get behind a pairing, be it Het or Slash, if I can really see it for myself on screen. Now occasionally I'll admit that I make exceptions for some truly well written stories that feature pairing I don't really see happening but I don't go looking for them.
Now having said that there are shows that outside cannon pairings I don't see Romantic Chemistry, or even Really Hot Lust. I do however seen very deep, meaningful, non-sexual relationships between some characters.
When I get into a show eventually I'm going to check out the fanfiction. Now depending on what I see going on in the show I'm going to search out a certain genre of fic to start reading first.
I have recently started watching White Collar. I love it, I went through all episodes very quickly and now that I am caught up I decided to see what was out there fanfiction wise. Now I had seen some Neal/Peter slash on some friends lists but I see them as more having a very deep friendship with over tones of mentorhood and brotherhood. So I look for some Gen fics to read.
Low and behold, fic after fic that is listed as Gen is actually Peter and Neal Slash, or Peter/Neal/Elizabeth. To me Gen is NO PAIRING. The only exception to this acknowledgement of a cannon relationship. If the relationship is center stage though it falls into Slash or Het.
I am not a slash hater, in fact there are some fandoms I read more Slash or Het than I do Gen but the opposite is true. Listing your fic under all three headings is not going to get you more readers, it's going to piss people like me off who felt they were tricked into reading your fic.
/end rant
I am not an "equal opportunity" slasher, so to speak. I can only get behind a pairing, be it Het or Slash, if I can really see it for myself on screen. Now occasionally I'll admit that I make exceptions for some truly well written stories that feature pairing I don't really see happening but I don't go looking for them.
Now having said that there are shows that outside cannon pairings I don't see Romantic Chemistry, or even Really Hot Lust. I do however seen very deep, meaningful, non-sexual relationships between some characters.
When I get into a show eventually I'm going to check out the fanfiction. Now depending on what I see going on in the show I'm going to search out a certain genre of fic to start reading first.
I have recently started watching White Collar. I love it, I went through all episodes very quickly and now that I am caught up I decided to see what was out there fanfiction wise. Now I had seen some Neal/Peter slash on some friends lists but I see them as more having a very deep friendship with over tones of mentorhood and brotherhood. So I look for some Gen fics to read.
Low and behold, fic after fic that is listed as Gen is actually Peter and Neal Slash, or Peter/Neal/Elizabeth. To me Gen is NO PAIRING. The only exception to this acknowledgement of a cannon relationship. If the relationship is center stage though it falls into Slash or Het.
I am not a slash hater, in fact there are some fandoms I read more Slash or Het than I do Gen but the opposite is true. Listing your fic under all three headings is not going to get you more readers, it's going to piss people like me off who felt they were tricked into reading your fic.
/end rant