PROPER USE OF "GEN" LABEL (long--sorry)

[Aquarius]

A question came up recently about the proper labeling of stories – specifically, when should it be labeled as containing a particular 'ship, and when it doesn't have to be. Part of the problem is, there are no hard and fast rules, only (often tacitly) agreed-upon conventions, which can change from group to group. So whatever you think is “right” may not be what we do here.

Labels exist to allow the reader to make an informed decision about whether or not to keep reading. It helps them to find what they do want, and it helps them to avoid what they don't want.

But sometimes the line is a little unclear. And I'm going to be perfectly blunt and actually talk about the elephant in the room here: despite the Expanse's culture of tolerance, people are going to come to the table with their biases for or against certain 'ships, and for and against het or slash. If they're militant at other sites, they're militant here, too – it's just that they're more inclined to be quiet about it here, since they know we'll bounce them at the drop of a dime if they start pooping in other people's Corn Flakes.

So what follows is a RULE OF THUMB for labeling. Every story is different and we can't possibly predict all situations, so this is hardly exhaustive. And let's be real: it isn't realistic to expect an author to label the thing to death until the entire story is given away before you even read it.

GEN – This means “general audiences”, as in HET AND SLASH NEUTRAL. Romance is not the focus of the story. Now, if two of the characters on the show had a prior relationship and this gets mentioned in passing – guess what – you still DON'T have a 'ship story. If a canonical relationship is briefly referenced but not developed beyond that, you still have a gen story.

To put it into perspective: say you write a Buffy story set in season 6 and it's about the characters hunting down the baddie of the current story arc. Now suppose a sentence or two is devoted to having Buffy reflect on Angel, who she had a relationship with in earlier seasons, and then it gets dropped. You DON'T suddenly have a Buffy/Angel story. If what's being referenced A) canonically occurred in the show, and B) is not invented by the author or contextually the focus of what's going on in the story, it's still a gen story about Buffy trying to take the baddie down.

In Firefly, I believe two of the characters are married. This fact alone is not enough to make every single Firefly story written het or biased toward that particular couple's 'ship - even if they exchange a quick kiss and “I love you.” If their marriage/relationship is not the focus of the story, it's still gen, assuming the absence of any other het or slash element being important to the plot.

If, however, the relationship is developed by the author and/or it becomes part of the plot, then you have a HET or SLASH story (depending on the orientation of the couple in question), and you must label it as such, with the appropriate 'ships named.

GEN is not a catch all for situations when you have some slash and some het in your story. Your fic must contain labels for both if that's the case.

Going back to Enterprise, if the focus of the story is the crew chasing down the Xindi (or Suliban or Romulans or whatever), and the author devotes two or three lines to Archer recalling back to the dreams he had about T'Pol in “A Night in Sickbay,” and then after that it's back to business and it never comes up again – guess what? We're not going to make the author label it Archer/T'Pol, because it's NOT an Archer/T'Pol story. Don't like it? It happened in the show, it's part of Archer's life. Deal.

Likewise, a couple of lines referencing the night Trip and T'Pol spent together in “Harbinger” does NOT make it a TnT story, if that's all the attention gets. Don't like it? It happened in the show, it's part of the characters' lives. Deal.

Malcolm remembering that he had fantasies about T'Pol does NOT make it a Reed/T'Pol story. If there's a quick reference to the fact that Malcolm saw Hoshi's boobs once, that's not enough to make it a Reed/Sato story. Don't like it? It happened in the show, it's part of the characters' lives. Deal.

All these examples refer to something canonical and textually supported by the show. If they're not lengthy or explicitly described in a fic, then they hardly define the type of story you're reading. This is not us being biased for or against any particular genre or 'ship; this IS us being realistic in what we expect of the authors who post here in determining what a story is ABOUT.

It's also me reiterating our stand against any kind of 'shipper war bullshit, which I shouldn't have to do – if you're here, then you should already know that our site isn't the time or place for that kind of thing.

So, if you see something in a story that upsets you because it refers to a 'ship you don't like, take a deep breath (or a walk, or a pill, or whatever you need to do) and when you're done, ask yourself about the CONTEXT in which the reference was made, as well as the author's INTENT – is the thing upsetting you even what the story is ABOUT? Or is it just a footnote in the grand scheme of the tale? Chances are pretty good that it's not part of some big conspiracy to offend you or subvert your love for your 'ship of choice. We promise.

And really? If a couple of little lines referring to something that canonically happened in the show is enough to ruin an entire story for you, then you have issues way beyond anything that any amount of labeling on a fic is going to help. I know that sounds harsh and undiplomatic, but diplomacy isn't my aim in saying so. I'm going more for a reality check. Perspective.

Because the Expanse is so all-inclusive, many of the stories produced and archived here are not written just to a narrow audience of fans of one particular character, 'ship, or even genre, like most readers are used to. We do things a little differently here: One World, One Trek, One Enterprise, and an infinite number of ways to enjoy them. When authors want to push boundaries and write outside the box, we support them – while making sure the things that matter are labeled.

And if you have a problem with how a story is labeled or summarized, please take it up with the management of the site. We're the ones who gave it the final okay. Don't take it upon yourself to unload on the authors. That's just not cool. They don't set the policy here. We do.

But really? Don't sweat the small stuff, okay?