Labels In RD Fic (Or Lack Thereof)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

A comment I left on a RD slash fic on AO3 and its author's reply set me thinking about the extremely relaxed approach to labels which virtually all RD fic writers seem to have.  With Michael_McGruder's permission I'm reproducing the exchange here.  (You can also find a link to their fic in the first comment to this entry; I recommend the whole series it's a part of.)

Me: You know, I think this is the first time I've read the word "bisexual" in an actual RD fic as opposed to meta.  Not a criticism, just an observation.

MM: Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is so skittish about defining anyone as bisexual in fics, considering nearly 100% of them make Lister bi.

It's a good question.  I'm not sure whether it's because we're usually talking about Lister rather than Rimmer.  While the canonical evidence of his interest in women is undeniable (and no-one's trying to deny it) he also seems pretty likely to dislike the whole concept of labels.

Alternatively, it could be because of RD's setting and the fact that there are no humans around to make definitions necessary.  Or maybe there's just something about this show which encourages a laid back, laissez-faire approach to this kind of thing, much as no-one's bothered about defining Rimmer or Lister as a top or a bottom.  What do you think? :)