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I wondered how much of fanfic is gen (little relationship focus). A page on the fanlore wiki said people assume 20% but didn't give actual stats that I could see.
AO3 treats it as a high level category so is easy to find. Go to https://archiveofourown.org/media , pick a fandom, then click 'Categories' somewhere on the right-hand bar. There'll be M/M and Gen and others, and you can divide that number by the total.
For most of the big fandoms it's indeed 20-ish %, maybe slightly more. I haven't done precise divisions, just comparing the Gen number to "twice 10% of the total". 15-25% is probably a decent 90% confidence interval.
But for The Silmarillion? Gen is nearly 50 percent of the total. I am smirking in pride for my fandom.
Also I need some Tolkien usericons. Suggestions welcome.
Random icon choice popped up a Twelve Kingdoms one, and I checked that. Gen for it is also at 50%, though with 1% of the size of the Silmarillion.
FMA is at 33ish %, which makes me doubt my confidence interval.
Edit: A complication is that categories are non-exclusive, so a work can be e.g. both Gen and M/F. I'd guess if the author feels it's M/F but not overwhelmingly so, like a plot with some romance? If one wants pure Gen you'd have use the Exclude feature to exclude everything but Gen, which gives lower numbers, like 46% for the Silmarillion rather than 49%. Plus I guess not all works have a category. For Harry Potter works marked Gen and only that are 14% instead of 19%, Marvel is 16% instead of 22%
Edit 2: Not that I have anything against shipping as a class! I've read and written it. But I still can be happy in a favorite fandom having more than 20% Gen...
AO3 treats it as a high level category so is easy to find. Go to https://archiveofourown.org/media , pick a fandom, then click 'Categories' somewhere on the right-hand bar. There'll be M/M and Gen and others, and you can divide that number by the total.
For most of the big fandoms it's indeed 20-ish %, maybe slightly more. I haven't done precise divisions, just comparing the Gen number to "twice 10% of the total". 15-25% is probably a decent 90% confidence interval.
But for The Silmarillion? Gen is nearly 50 percent of the total. I am smirking in pride for my fandom.
Also I need some Tolkien usericons. Suggestions welcome.
Random icon choice popped up a Twelve Kingdoms one, and I checked that. Gen for it is also at 50%, though with 1% of the size of the Silmarillion.
FMA is at 33ish %, which makes me doubt my confidence interval.
Edit: A complication is that categories are non-exclusive, so a work can be e.g. both Gen and M/F. I'd guess if the author feels it's M/F but not overwhelmingly so, like a plot with some romance? If one wants pure Gen you'd have use the Exclude feature to exclude everything but Gen, which gives lower numbers, like 46% for the Silmarillion rather than 49%. Plus I guess not all works have a category. For Harry Potter works marked Gen and only that are 14% instead of 19%, Marvel is 16% instead of 22%
Edit 2: Not that I have anything against shipping as a class! I've read and written it. But I still can be happy in a favorite fandom having more than 20% Gen...