GIP again and Gen Fic

[lillianmorgan]

Firstly, more GIPpy goodness. I have two icons made by for me by spikesloveslave and I love them both. Thank you!

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on The Misty Isle. I’m really overwhelmed.

Comments

[makd]

ITA. Gen fic is VERY popular with fans like me who don't 'ship or who don't have an OTP

[lillianmorgan]

Thanks for your thoughts.
that Internet fans are more likely to read fic, hence more likely to "succomb" to reading 'shipper fic than non-Internet fans,
Yes, I suppose it depends on how people are drawn into the fandom, or why they use the Internt to read fic or try to get something more out of the 'verse. I can only speak from my own experience, which at the time, was to see what might have happened to Spike after Grave and to try and tease out more from his relationship (though not necessarily sexual) with Buffy.
And, I think that just may be true of other non-'shippers/non-OTPers out there.
Oh certainly agree with you there. Reading gen fic also cuts down on the biases against other characters which tends to frustrate me in some 'ships. Although sometimes it certainly seems more expedient to 'ship one pairing because that cuts down on the amount of reading (*g*).
Interestingly, I just posted a rec for the new Spangel site, A Reference Key, and one person commented, asking if there was a gen fic site for non-'shippers. Of course

[hesadevil]

I looked at a few of those sites and those that weren't non-fuctional are not accepting any more fics. I was really asking makd for sites that accepted only non-shipper fic and were still archiving new stuff. There doesn't seem to be one

[spikendru]

The main gen site I enjoyed was Walk With Heroes--they specifically gave awards to non-shippy fics. Unfortunately, there weren't enough fics nominated to continue with the awards, but the site is still up with links to genfic that had been previously nominated. http://www.walkwithheroes.org/

This seems to be a sort of chicken/egg situation, in which not enough people are reading/commenting on genfic so not enough writers are writing it which causes the closings of sites devoted to genfic; or the closing of sites and lack of interest causes people to stop writing genfic. It's a shame.

[yourlibrarian]

I think that's very true. I think when people are fond of certain characters or ships they probably have a more emotional response to the stories and are more likely to comment. But that doesn't mean that they don't enjoy genfic, only that it requires more thought to discuss. (And that if they like a popular ship, they may be reading that stuff first and the gen fic comes farther down the list).

I also think because of its broader scope genfic is harder to write. You can't just leave out characters you struggle with or focus the plot very tightly on a few events. And gen fic doesn't exclude ships either, since there were dozens in canon and you have to be able to deal with those as well.

[lillianmorgan]

I also think because of its broader scope genfic is harder to write.
Yes, I suppose so. You really have to concentrate on characterisation as opposed to having a happy/angsty ending where the characters are in bed or not. I think as well you really have to know canon with genfic. In a way, 'ship fics can either ignore or focus on specific moments within canon, leaving everything else untouched.

[lillianmorgan]

Thanks as well for the link. It's weird that there is a lack of interest (or lack of commenting) as I do notice quite often people bemoaning the lack of gen fic.