Grace and Frankie: Where is the fic?

[beatrice_otter]

Grace and Frankie, for those who don't know, is a hilarious Netflix show starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as two women whose husbands (Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen) announce that they are leaving them because they've been having an affair for the last twenty years and want to get married now that it's legal.

"Grace and Frankie - Official Trailer - Netflix [HD]" (Watch on YouTube)

I enjoyed season one, and although not particularly fannish about it I was looking forward to season 2, which will be out in May.

I was reminded of this because fancake's current theme is "older characters," and as I was choosing fics to rec I thought I should check out the Grace and Frankie fic and see if there might be something there, both for me and to rec.  I wasn't expecting huge amounts of fic, but I thought it was worth checking out.

I found four fics.  Disappointing, but eh, it's a Netflix show about older people with no SF/F elements, so not terribly surprising.

Of those four fics, three are about the main characters' husands.  One is about their kids.  Not a single fic is about the actual main characters of the show.

Comments

[rymenhild]

Thanks for pointing towards the show - the trailer looks delightful!

[beatrice_otter]

You're welcome! The show is as funny as the trailer suggests, but also very poignant, which doesn't come through at all.

[likeadeuce]

In the case of that show, I'd argue that we see the most important parts of Grace & Frankie's relationship on screen whereas the husband's have a 20 year relationship which predates the show, which is alluded to but not depicted?

Not to say I wouldn't read fic about the title characters.

[beatrice_otter]

Maybe, but still.

[likeadeuce]

It just seems like holding a tiny handful of writers in a tiny fandom to task for writing about what interests them is not the most useful response to sexism that I could think of.

[beatrice_otter]

Noted, and you're right. Edited.

[calvinahobbes]

We should fix that!

(Also sometimes I ship them >_>)

[beatrice_otter]

I don't ship them, but only because I find "everybody's gay! stories annoying on a worldbuilding level. Like, yeah, group of gay friends, cool, makes sense. Main characters gay for slash reasons, sure. But when you start adding in family members, brothers, sisters, kids in kidfic, friends, random people on the street, it starts to bug me as being unrealistic. I get why it's a thing, but still. Although an AU where they all knew they were gay all along and married each other for beards/kids/financial support, and now they're splitting up and getting married along the actual lines of the couples they've actually been all this time, that I could really get behind.

But there should totally be fic for them. I don't think I'll be able to rewatch S1 before S2 comes out, but as I watch S2 I will definitely be watching for things to fic and encouraging plot bunnies.