GWG or Girlfriends-What-Girlfriends - a term I could potentially get a lot of use out of

[cimorene]

In Social Network RPF fandom, people have started using the term "Girlfriend-What-Girlfriend" to refer to the common crossfandom story type in which canon remains completely the same except that the BSOs (that's Beloved Slash Objects if anyone was confused) in focus no longer have real-life romantic attachments.

I've seen this abbreviated both GWG and GfWGf (I prefer the former).

My kneejerk reaction is "Of course!". We need a term for this, because this is a really common story type, on a par with PWP or UST. I'd love to see a world where this was a universal tag at AO3 and something that almost everyone in fandom tagged their bookmarks with on Delicious (or at least as much as they tagged them PWP or "preslash", which is sadly more common than "UST" even though they should really be using the latter).

And I've definitely never come across a quick and pithy term for this before. On the other hand, the SOs in question aren't always girlfriends. Off the top of my head, in fact, I'd be more likely to think of fandoms where it's used on wives (SPN RPS, for example). And the only reason it's not used more often on boyfriends/husbands is that I don't read a lot of het and there's a shocking dearth of canon gay characters to choose from. I've definitely seen it used for both Adam Lambert and Jack Harkness - Ianto-What-Ianto? - so it's obvious that in principle, the term should be gender-neutral.

A couple of things:

1. Does anyone know the actual fandom origin of the term "Girlfriend-What-Girlfriend"? Or when it came about?


2. Has anyone heard it before, or heard another concise term for the same thing in use elsewhere in fandom before?


3. Can anyone think of something better to call it? ETA: cesare suggests NOSO (NoSO) for No Significant Others. Not as catchy, perhaps, but has an obvious advantage in clarity. Thoughts?

Comments

[cesare]

3. NOSO - No Significant Others. I mean, not great, but covers the angles and contains "NO" right there to give a big clue as to what it means.

[torachan]

I like that!

I...I don't really like the idea of tagging 100+ stories on AO3 with whatever we decide this new tag should be, though. D: Oh, AO3? Y U NO HAVE MASS TAGGING OPTION? D:

[cesare]

They don't? Surely it's coming... maybe you could wait to retag after the next code update... >_>

[cimorene]

I wish I could fix the tagging system over there with the power of my mind, as opposed to having to dedicate hours to learning to code and then going through the entire volunteer process if I want to help.

[cimorene]

I like that one! It doesn't have as much ring to it, but "Significant Other" is a much less confusing term than "Girlfriend, but by girlfriend I totally mean wives and any other significant others too". I was trying to think of alternatives like "SO-W-SO", which obviously sucks.

[anatsuno]

SO-W-SO sucks, but I was about to propose SWS for it, all the same. It's unpronounceable though, and NOSO is so much better. :)

[anatsuno]

I like it too! :)

[msilverstar]

Works for me!

[sarken]

I like this a lot. It''s fun to say out loud, too.

[brownbetty]

I was thinking SOWSO, much like cesare

[calico]

*like*

I prefer this to NOSO, actually.

[msilverstar]

This needs to exist, because it's too annoying to write (Orlando never married) every damn time.

[cimorene]

Exactly this. Not only is that the only type of fic I write in those fandoms, but frequently I get in a mood where I'm ready to breathe rageful fires if I read anymore wife-bashing or wife-death, so it would be really handy if you could actually SEARCH for fic with NOSO!

[naraht]

I would definitely find it handy to have a term for this sort of story so that I could avoid it.

NoSO sounds preferable given that it's gender neutral.

[viridian_magpie]

Here via metafandom.

I don't know who came up with GWG, but it's probably based on PWP (Plot? What plot?*) - from which TWT (Timeline? What timeline?) was derived, too.


*aka Porn Without Plot


First time I've heard of GWG, but I like it. So no other suggestion.

[torachan]

Yeah, in Harry Potter fandom, EWE (epilogue? What epilogue?) is also in common usage.

[trcunning]

And Smallville has Rift? What Rift? for fic where Lex and Clark stay buddies.

[amadi]

I've spoken, just within my circle, of my tendency to HTW (handwave the wives) or EIPP (everybody is pleasantly poly) to explain why my characters are free to pursue their fic relationships. I do like NoSO to go along with EIPP, though. And EIPP probably needs a better naming.

[dejla]

Well, it would certainly let me know what stories to avoid.

[jaaaarne]

Well, it's just like with the rest of warnings, isn't it? :) It's really sad that some people still choose to argue it when asked for warnings. Things is, it's always a helpful road sign, be it a NOSO tag, a BDSM tag, a non-con tag or anything else. Those who need to get to this destination can see the sign and take their turn. Those who need to get to other destination will see the sign and drive on. :) Could be very helpful, IMO.

[anatsuno]

this is why they don't need to be called warnings, too, and why labels/notes works very well. Warning isn't value neutral, which can be problematic.

[jaaaarne]

That's why I usually call them tags. :) And I'm convinced that the more descriptive tags we have, the better. I used "warnings" this time to make it clear to which types of fandom discussions I was referring.

[cimorene]

Actually, even though of course warning for gayness in pairing-specific slash comms is still common (or for sex when the rating's on a separate line already), quite a lot of plebes in multiple fandoms have moved away from just calling them warnings. Sometimes they just call them notes, or don't label the line, but I've also seen "Contains:" and the popular phrase "Warnings/Enticements".

[greedy_dancer]

This is such a forehead-slapping, epiphany-inducing moment for me! OF COURSE!!

It would be very helpful!