Oh, that really makes sense. Especially when fandom juggernauts non-canon shit where you really have to squint. I tend to be more forgiving when there's a lot of fic because I feel like fanon did the legwork, but I definitely encounter my fair share of '...wait, they're interested in each other? Because you say so, or?' fic.
Yeah, that's what I think of as gen as well. There can be relationships in it, especially established, but they need to be a byproduct of the story rather than the focus. I was just curious as to your preferences because sure, in fanfic, you get SO much romance that gen is its own thing, but it's such a massively large category when you think about mainstream media. Like the thing I'm good at but don't like reading is character studies, and I wrote that one Pretty Little Liars canon-divergence AU where there were vampires and that explained everything, and I LOVE reading team/group dynamics gen... there's just so much.
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Yeah, that's what I think of as gen as well. There can be relationships in it, especially established, but they need to be a byproduct of the story rather than the focus. I was just curious as to your preferences because sure, in fanfic, you get SO much romance that gen is its own thing, but it's such a massively large category when you think about mainstream media. Like the thing I'm good at but don't like reading is character studies, and I wrote that one Pretty Little Liars canon-divergence AU where there were vampires and that explained everything, and I LOVE reading team/group dynamics gen... there's just so much.
You are doing The Good Work.