Genfic

Genfic, sometimes only Gen, is a loosely term for any fanfiction that has 'general' themes as opposed to focusing on a romantic or sexual relationship between characters. The term can cover any other type of fanfiction, but is mostly associated in the South Park fandom with show-inspired fic where the characters are still fourth graders, and is often written in script format.
During the fandom's early years, sites like Mr. Dead's South Park Fanfic Haven, focused extensively on genfic, often written in the Scriptfic format, with shipping fic relatively rare. After FanFiction.Net moved to delete script and focus on prose, most examples of genfic disappeared and shipping fic became the standard. Gen writers in later years often returned to script format against the website's rules.
==Definition==
The website Fanlore, the "wiki about fanworks and fan communities that anyone can edit", provides a non-fandom specific description of the term:
Gen is a label for a fanwork that contains no romantic or sexual content, either het (heterosexual) or slash (homosexual). The term comes from "general audiences", the MPAA term for a child-safe film. However, it shouldn't automatically be considered G-rated (suitable for young children). It can--and often does--deal with mature subjects, including graphic violence and other potentially complex themes.
In practical terms, mild heterosexual content is often considered acceptable in a gen story, as it would be in a network television episode. The "het" label may be reserved for more adult/explicit stories, or those where the main plot concerns a romance. Many gen stories do involve characters who are romantically involved in canon, but there are few slash stories of this type, because relatively few shows or films that appeal to media fans include homosexual relationships in canon.
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.
==External Links==
*Gen article on Fanlore
Category:Terminology