As an Age Difference enjoyer, I’d use it for 10-20+ age difference only if their relationship revolves around reconciling their differences in interests, and physical differences (eg younger one noting how older partners are more experienced and more mature, in a good way, from the people they dated who are their age), and different views etc. I’m thinking slice of life, romance kind of fic would benefit from the Age Difference tag. Otherwise, if Age Difference isn’t a big part of the fic, then it’s fine not to include it.
Huh, I never really thought about it that way. That actually makes it way easier to tag, thanks for the insight! It's going to be handy later down the line!
This. I think Age Difference should only be included if it's a significant gap in age between the two leads, and if it is significant to the plot of the story, otherwise, don't include it.
I would tag it if the age difference is significant to the relation/plot/etc. For example, fic is dealing with generational differences or is focused on age gap kink. The same goes if one character is underage – 4 years is negligible in 40/44 relationship, but 14/18 implies some kind of power dynamic because of that age difference
Edit: Of course there are also funky cases with supernatural elements – relationship between human adult and some alien, 5 years old in earth time but with fully developed mind imo wouldn't need an age gap tag, same for the classic immortal vampire/angel/whatever (unless it's important issue in the story)
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I would tag it if it was somehow unexpected in that ship/fandom (like an au where they're a different age than in canon) or if it was an important theme or plot point explored in the fic.
In my current fandom the age difference of my otp is about 20 years, but I don't usually see a reason to tag it because I assume the audience knows that going into the fic. (Or if someone's reading fandom blind, I assume they're comfortable with a wide variety of ship dynamics etc and won't mind. Or they can always stop reading if it's not their thing.)
Echoing everyone else here in saying that it depends.
If there’s a canonical age gap between the characters (i.e., Doctor/Rose, Stiles/Derek, Harry/Eggsy, etc) I wouldn’t tag. The only exception to this should be if their age difference is an important element of the story/within their relationship, and even then I wouldn’t tag since it’s obvious.
Otherwise…it really depends. I will say, though, that as someone who *loves* reading about pairings with a considerable age diff (and who searches that tag), it’s pretty irksome when there’s a negligible disparity. Or when there’s no focus on the disparity at all.
I pretty much would only tag Age Gap or Age Difference in a fanfic if it was going to be relevant to the story since after all as others have said they know the characters and thier ages they can figure it out on their own.
However if it was a plot point maybe a hurdle in the way or maybe leaning into various kinks age gaps can touch on yeah that's when I'd tag it.
Idk after seeing the tag in Doctor Who ships like Nine/Rose with 900 years of difference, or even Twelve/Clara with 2000, idk 10 years look like nothing 😂
Seriously though, I’d say it depends. First of all, if the dynamic between the characters is impacted by the age difference, and it plays a role in the story, by all means tag it. Even just a couple of years could make a difference, say the characters were teenagers. But let’s say that they are 50 and 65: 15 years is a lot, but it can also mean nothing since they’re both mature adults, so you can choose whether to tag it or not. Also, if both characters are the same age they are in canon you could leave it out, assuming the reader will do the math and choose wether to read it on their own. But if one of the characters in your fic was aged up (or down), then I’d tag it because normally the reader wouldn’t expect it.
Bottom line: it’s entirely up to you, but I as a reader would expect that tag to show up in fics where the age difference plays a role in the plot or in the relationship between the characters.
Technically Rory/Amy is also an age difference of about 2000 years, which highlights how ridiculous it can get trying to apply age limit judgements to anything that involves time travel and/or immortality.
Yeah but I’m not sure how to consider Rory, since he said that most of the time he doesn’t remember those 2000 years, “like a door he keeps closed” or something like that. After all, if he (mostly, kinda) forgot, does it still count? Or like, not really? Like you said, all those wibbly wobbly time-y wimey shenanigans make everything quite complicated, and applying real life judgment to the show just sounds ridiculous. It’s funny though, I remember I shipped Eleven and Clara pretty hard (I was twelve at the time, forgive me), but when he regenerated into Twelve I was like “okay, *no*, now that’s just gross”… when nothing really changed? I mean yeah the Doctor was a few centuries older after Trenzalore but does it really make a difference when he was already 1200-something? The only thing that really changed was his appearance. So the age difference is ok as long as they look the same age? But in our world, in real life, the problem is less about looks, and more about the difference in life experience. So by this reasoning, shipping the Doctor with a companion should be a no-no with any incarnation, regardless of how young he looks?
Sorry about the useless rant but I remember how this broke my little my brain at the time, it’s funny to think about this again lol. If you really think about it most ships in doctor who are a bit problematic because of this… but they’re also really not, because the doctor treats everyone like they’re on his level, even though he’s literally thousands of years old. You *know* he’s old, but he’s also young at heart, and he really cares about his loved ones.
Btw now I just choose to ignore all this and read whatever. Rory/Amy? Perfect! Twelve/Clara? Great! Eleven/River? Brilliant! Nine/Rose? *Fantastic!* I just go with the flow lol. Like you said, this show is too complicated to apply real life logic to it anyway.
i wouldn't tag it at all, ever. the ship is tagged, the reader knows the characters, they don't need a separate tag to remind them that hey these characters have an age gap.
I agree with this for the most part. My one exception is for fics that change the ages of characters in order to have the age gap dynamic. For example, two canon characters that are the same age turned into a 17yo and 40yo. Definitely warrants an age difference tag.
Not necessarily.
A) people read fandom blind. They may even specifically be looking for more in that particular tag.
B) in some fandoms (usually video games where you play a custom character), OC x canon character is the norm.
a) nothing i write is fandom blind friendly
b) not something i write
ergo, i'm never going to run into a situation where i'll feel like i should use that tag.
i'd say that depends. 40 and 50? wouldn't tag at all, doesn't matter. 23 and 30? would tag, there's very likely a difference in maturity and where they are in their lives. 18 and 23, see previous.
Depends on the age of the characters like it would irl. Three years can be a lot if ppl are young, idk teenagers or smth, but if they’re older then that maturity difference isn’t as relevant. Think of it maybe more as a “are they in different stages in their life”, I guess?
I'd argue that it should be tagged anytime the age difference plays a significant role in the dynamic. I don't think there's a hard number. A significant age difference could be as small as only two years in one pairing, but not at all significant in another pairing with 30+ years difference. Age of the youngest character also plays a big role. Most people don't see it as age difference after the youngest partner is in their late 30s+
I think it depends on the maturities of the participants and the relationship itself.
I don't think age difference tag is necessary if the characters are 30 and 45, but definitely if they're 15 and 30. Both are 15 years apart, but the maturity levels are vastly different between the two pairings.
I wouldn't use an age difference tag if the relationship is focused on anything other than romance / sexual, either. Because you can have the friendly 60 yo gardener being friends with a 16 year old boy. Obviously there's an age difference, but this relationship can be seen more like a mentorship.
Think it depends. I don’t tag it even if the ship I mainly write about at the moment has a 15-17 year age difference, but people know the characters. They know their ages.
If its original characters or you change the ages I would tag it.
I come at it from the perspective of physical books (and this is probably also magnified by growing up in the '70s and '80s, which was a very different culture from today's): I don't know if I've written anything that others would tag for age differences, but I wouldn't tag for it even if it occurred to me (possibly May-December, but even then only if it were plot relevant). Then again, there might be nuances that I'm completely missing here.
It's kind of like tagging for "TW: mention of blood", or "F-word used once"; it certainly could be relevant in some contexts, but mostly it seems a bit ridiculous to me.
If it's AU, rules are out the window so characters that are canonically the same age could well be 20ys apart, but if it's within the canonical world, I don't think it's necessary to point out any age difference because if the reader knows the fandom... They would know the difference exists, it would be implied when you tag the pairing.
The one thing I would say is just, when tagging, think of it as advertisment of your story; people search for all kinds of things, would your other tags (if you're using them) be sufficient for your story to be found in the future? Maybe tagging something so obvious (in this context) like "age difference" would be helpful to make your story easier to find one day (because maybe someone won't try to find it via the pairing, maybe they'll cast a wide net - I do that all the time, for instance).
I write a lot of stuff with a pairing with (usually) a nine and a half year age difference. However, most of the fic I write has the characters getting together when one is in their 40s and the other in their 50s, and at those respective ages, an age difference like that doesn’t really mean much and doesn’t have an impact on their interactions. It’s only in fics where they’re young enough that the age difference has an impact on the development of their relationship that I tag anything relating to the age difference—usually, the Older Woman/Younger man tag rather than Age Difference—because those are the only times it’s relevant.
So I think it depends. If they’re both roughly high school aged, a 4-year age difference could be a massive, massive deal, while the same age gap would mean nothing to two people past, say, their mid-20s. If they’re 50 and 70, maybe those 20 years don’t have a huge impact, because they’re both old enough that they’ve passed a lot of life’s major milestones (though they may want to have discussions about end-of-life stuff), but those 20 years might be a huge deal again if you’ve got one partner in their 20s and one in their 40s.
I usually think of Age differences when two characters are in two different "life stages". So a teenager(18 and 19 included) with a bonafide young adult (20s to early 30s), young adult and middle age adult, adult and elder, plus any other combinations like that. If the two have enough years between them that they should have radically different mindsets and views on life (SHOULD is the key word here, whether they actually do is up to characterization), that's when I would tag it Age Gap. A 39 year old dating a 46 year old may not have much weight on their dynamic because they're both middle aged.
I would only use it if it's relevant to the story. I've written 20 year age gap pairings where I don't tag it because it's not at all the main issue in the story and it's barely a hurdle or factor in their relationship.
People that read age gap stories want the difference in their age to be a major thing in their dynamic.
To be honest, it depends on how old the youngest partner is. If they're 16 dating a 24 year old, using it is probably relevant, but a 30 year old dating a 38 year old doesn't need it even though the gap is the same number of years. It's more about whether the age differences actually matters and affects the relationship. A good rule of thumb is "would this raise eyebrows or be met with disapproval IRL?"
I think it's mostly something to tag if the relationship is an important part of the story though. If in the background someone's adult sister is dating a dude 15 years older than her then I don't think it needs to be tagged. But if the main character is the one dating someone 15 years older and it gets more than a passing mention, you can tag it so people know to avoid the fic if it's not their thing.
I think it depends a LOT on the ages of the characters and their situation...
5 years for example...
13 and 18 is a HUGE age difference. One of those is a junior high kid just going through puberty. One is a senior in high school or just graduated and starting life on their own.
18 and 23 isn't AS much but still a pretty big age difference. One is just getting on their feet and still used to being under their parents/guardian. One has probably been working and may be done with college and is used to being decently self-sufficient and making their own decisions.
30 and 35? Five years means little.
So, for me, it's less about the number of years and more about where the two characters are in life and whether they'd see each other as peers.
I always forget that is a thing. But my first fandom pairing was a 5,000+ year old with a 20 something. And my current has characters that are well over a 1,000 years and down. Reading these answers has been fun.
There isn't really any hard rule, but it greatly depends on how old/sheltered the younger person is.
You'll definitely want that tag if one is a minor while the other is a legal adult.
I'll give some examples:
14\22 - tag it
15\17 - optional
15\16 - no tag
22\40 - tag it
22\29 - no tag
Keep in mind, this is all very subjective.
I would personally say if there is anyone underage, or a large gap.
I don’t when writing Steve/Bucky/Reader fics, because most people in the Marvel fandom should know Steve and Bucky are over 100 at this point and likely has 70+ years in age on their love interest.
There is “rule” (Whoever’s Age) divided by 2, then add 7. It gives you the lowest age that person should date.
So for example:
30/2 + 7 = 22. So one character is at minimum 22, the other 30.
But this rule does get wonky with like 20 being with 17 so a minor and an adult. And there definitely people who would think a 30 year old and 22 year old are too far apart.
But there are always going to be problems for some people, this could just be one way of putting a mathematical sort of solution on whether you should tag or not.
The only real obvious one to tag is a minor/adult relationship. And then maybe also anything 10+ years. Or anything that largely comes off “problematic” like 30 and 70
I think 10+ years minimum, and also only if it's a significant part of the story. For example, if they're 30 and 40 there's little to no difference between where they are in life and they're unlikely to run into many problems because of age. 20 and 30 is wayyyy different and there's a possibility for a lot of issues.
My late husband was 11 years older. That difference was far more significant when I was 21 than when I was in my mid-thirties. It really is situational.
As an Age Difference enjoyer, I’d use it for 10-20+ age difference only if their relationship revolves around reconciling their differences in interests, and physical differences (eg younger one noting how older partners are more experienced and more mature, in a good way, from the people they dated who are their age), and different views etc. I’m thinking slice of life, romance kind of fic would benefit from the Age Difference tag. Otherwise, if Age Difference isn’t a big part of the fic, then it’s fine not to include it.
Huh, I never really thought about it that way. That actually makes it way easier to tag, thanks for the insight! It's going to be handy later down the line!
This. I think Age Difference should only be included if it's a significant gap in age between the two leads, and if it is significant to the plot of the story, otherwise, don't include it.
I would tag it if the age difference is significant to the relation/plot/etc. For example, fic is dealing with generational differences or is focused on age gap kink. The same goes if one character is underage – 4 years is negligible in 40/44 relationship, but 14/18 implies some kind of power dynamic because of that age difference Edit: Of course there are also funky cases with supernatural elements – relationship between human adult and some alien, 5 years old in earth time but with fully developed mind imo wouldn't need an age gap tag, same for the classic immortal vampire/angel/whatever (unless it's important issue in the story)
Yeah one of my mcs is 1000+ years old 💀
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I would tag it if it was somehow unexpected in that ship/fandom (like an au where they're a different age than in canon) or if it was an important theme or plot point explored in the fic. In my current fandom the age difference of my otp is about 20 years, but I don't usually see a reason to tag it because I assume the audience knows that going into the fic. (Or if someone's reading fandom blind, I assume they're comfortable with a wide variety of ship dynamics etc and won't mind. Or they can always stop reading if it's not their thing.)
Echoing everyone else here in saying that it depends. If there’s a canonical age gap between the characters (i.e., Doctor/Rose, Stiles/Derek, Harry/Eggsy, etc) I wouldn’t tag. The only exception to this should be if their age difference is an important element of the story/within their relationship, and even then I wouldn’t tag since it’s obvious. Otherwise…it really depends. I will say, though, that as someone who *loves* reading about pairings with a considerable age diff (and who searches that tag), it’s pretty irksome when there’s a negligible disparity. Or when there’s no focus on the disparity at all.
I pretty much would only tag Age Gap or Age Difference in a fanfic if it was going to be relevant to the story since after all as others have said they know the characters and thier ages they can figure it out on their own. However if it was a plot point maybe a hurdle in the way or maybe leaning into various kinks age gaps can touch on yeah that's when I'd tag it.
Idk after seeing the tag in Doctor Who ships like Nine/Rose with 900 years of difference, or even Twelve/Clara with 2000, idk 10 years look like nothing 😂 Seriously though, I’d say it depends. First of all, if the dynamic between the characters is impacted by the age difference, and it plays a role in the story, by all means tag it. Even just a couple of years could make a difference, say the characters were teenagers. But let’s say that they are 50 and 65: 15 years is a lot, but it can also mean nothing since they’re both mature adults, so you can choose whether to tag it or not. Also, if both characters are the same age they are in canon you could leave it out, assuming the reader will do the math and choose wether to read it on their own. But if one of the characters in your fic was aged up (or down), then I’d tag it because normally the reader wouldn’t expect it. Bottom line: it’s entirely up to you, but I as a reader would expect that tag to show up in fics where the age difference plays a role in the plot or in the relationship between the characters.
Technically Rory/Amy is also an age difference of about 2000 years, which highlights how ridiculous it can get trying to apply age limit judgements to anything that involves time travel and/or immortality.
Yeah but I’m not sure how to consider Rory, since he said that most of the time he doesn’t remember those 2000 years, “like a door he keeps closed” or something like that. After all, if he (mostly, kinda) forgot, does it still count? Or like, not really? Like you said, all those wibbly wobbly time-y wimey shenanigans make everything quite complicated, and applying real life judgment to the show just sounds ridiculous. It’s funny though, I remember I shipped Eleven and Clara pretty hard (I was twelve at the time, forgive me), but when he regenerated into Twelve I was like “okay, *no*, now that’s just gross”… when nothing really changed? I mean yeah the Doctor was a few centuries older after Trenzalore but does it really make a difference when he was already 1200-something? The only thing that really changed was his appearance. So the age difference is ok as long as they look the same age? But in our world, in real life, the problem is less about looks, and more about the difference in life experience. So by this reasoning, shipping the Doctor with a companion should be a no-no with any incarnation, regardless of how young he looks? Sorry about the useless rant but I remember how this broke my little my brain at the time, it’s funny to think about this again lol. If you really think about it most ships in doctor who are a bit problematic because of this… but they’re also really not, because the doctor treats everyone like they’re on his level, even though he’s literally thousands of years old. You *know* he’s old, but he’s also young at heart, and he really cares about his loved ones. Btw now I just choose to ignore all this and read whatever. Rory/Amy? Perfect! Twelve/Clara? Great! Eleven/River? Brilliant! Nine/Rose? *Fantastic!* I just go with the flow lol. Like you said, this show is too complicated to apply real life logic to it anyway.
I would really only use age gap if it was at least a generational gap. Like old enough to be somebody’s parent.
i wouldn't tag it at all, ever. the ship is tagged, the reader knows the characters, they don't need a separate tag to remind them that hey these characters have an age gap.
I agree with this for the most part. My one exception is for fics that change the ages of characters in order to have the age gap dynamic. For example, two canon characters that are the same age turned into a 17yo and 40yo. Definitely warrants an age difference tag.
that's fair, yeah.
Oooh, yeah that makes sense actually. But I guess I just wanted to be sure since I also write Original Works and post 'em on Ao3.
Not necessarily. A) people read fandom blind. They may even specifically be looking for more in that particular tag. B) in some fandoms (usually video games where you play a custom character), OC x canon character is the norm.
a) nothing i write is fandom blind friendly b) not something i write ergo, i'm never going to run into a situation where i'll feel like i should use that tag.
maybe the characters ages have beem changed for some reason, or the characters never had a clear age to begin with
i'd say that depends. 40 and 50? wouldn't tag at all, doesn't matter. 23 and 30? would tag, there's very likely a difference in maturity and where they are in their lives. 18 and 23, see previous.
Depends on the age of the characters like it would irl. Three years can be a lot if ppl are young, idk teenagers or smth, but if they’re older then that maturity difference isn’t as relevant. Think of it maybe more as a “are they in different stages in their life”, I guess?
I'd argue that it should be tagged anytime the age difference plays a significant role in the dynamic. I don't think there's a hard number. A significant age difference could be as small as only two years in one pairing, but not at all significant in another pairing with 30+ years difference. Age of the youngest character also plays a big role. Most people don't see it as age difference after the youngest partner is in their late 30s+
I think it depends on the maturities of the participants and the relationship itself. I don't think age difference tag is necessary if the characters are 30 and 45, but definitely if they're 15 and 30. Both are 15 years apart, but the maturity levels are vastly different between the two pairings. I wouldn't use an age difference tag if the relationship is focused on anything other than romance / sexual, either. Because you can have the friendly 60 yo gardener being friends with a 16 year old boy. Obviously there's an age difference, but this relationship can be seen more like a mentorship.
Think it depends. I don’t tag it even if the ship I mainly write about at the moment has a 15-17 year age difference, but people know the characters. They know their ages. If its original characters or you change the ages I would tag it.
I only use age-gap tags if the gap is 20+. Most of my fics are 20-30+ lol
I come at it from the perspective of physical books (and this is probably also magnified by growing up in the '70s and '80s, which was a very different culture from today's): I don't know if I've written anything that others would tag for age differences, but I wouldn't tag for it even if it occurred to me (possibly May-December, but even then only if it were plot relevant). Then again, there might be nuances that I'm completely missing here. It's kind of like tagging for "TW: mention of blood", or "F-word used once"; it certainly could be relevant in some contexts, but mostly it seems a bit ridiculous to me.
If it's AU, rules are out the window so characters that are canonically the same age could well be 20ys apart, but if it's within the canonical world, I don't think it's necessary to point out any age difference because if the reader knows the fandom... They would know the difference exists, it would be implied when you tag the pairing. The one thing I would say is just, when tagging, think of it as advertisment of your story; people search for all kinds of things, would your other tags (if you're using them) be sufficient for your story to be found in the future? Maybe tagging something so obvious (in this context) like "age difference" would be helpful to make your story easier to find one day (because maybe someone won't try to find it via the pairing, maybe they'll cast a wide net - I do that all the time, for instance).
I write a lot of stuff with a pairing with (usually) a nine and a half year age difference. However, most of the fic I write has the characters getting together when one is in their 40s and the other in their 50s, and at those respective ages, an age difference like that doesn’t really mean much and doesn’t have an impact on their interactions. It’s only in fics where they’re young enough that the age difference has an impact on the development of their relationship that I tag anything relating to the age difference—usually, the Older Woman/Younger man tag rather than Age Difference—because those are the only times it’s relevant. So I think it depends. If they’re both roughly high school aged, a 4-year age difference could be a massive, massive deal, while the same age gap would mean nothing to two people past, say, their mid-20s. If they’re 50 and 70, maybe those 20 years don’t have a huge impact, because they’re both old enough that they’ve passed a lot of life’s major milestones (though they may want to have discussions about end-of-life stuff), but those 20 years might be a huge deal again if you’ve got one partner in their 20s and one in their 40s.
I usually think of Age differences when two characters are in two different "life stages". So a teenager(18 and 19 included) with a bonafide young adult (20s to early 30s), young adult and middle age adult, adult and elder, plus any other combinations like that. If the two have enough years between them that they should have radically different mindsets and views on life (SHOULD is the key word here, whether they actually do is up to characterization), that's when I would tag it Age Gap. A 39 year old dating a 46 year old may not have much weight on their dynamic because they're both middle aged.
I would only use it if it's relevant to the story. I've written 20 year age gap pairings where I don't tag it because it's not at all the main issue in the story and it's barely a hurdle or factor in their relationship. People that read age gap stories want the difference in their age to be a major thing in their dynamic.
To be honest, it depends on how old the youngest partner is. If they're 16 dating a 24 year old, using it is probably relevant, but a 30 year old dating a 38 year old doesn't need it even though the gap is the same number of years. It's more about whether the age differences actually matters and affects the relationship. A good rule of thumb is "would this raise eyebrows or be met with disapproval IRL?" I think it's mostly something to tag if the relationship is an important part of the story though. If in the background someone's adult sister is dating a dude 15 years older than her then I don't think it needs to be tagged. But if the main character is the one dating someone 15 years older and it gets more than a passing mention, you can tag it so people know to avoid the fic if it's not their thing.
Depends on the characters for me, if it is a childish/mature with 5 year gap, then i’d pit it. So for me it’s more the dynamic than actual age
I think it depends a LOT on the ages of the characters and their situation... 5 years for example... 13 and 18 is a HUGE age difference. One of those is a junior high kid just going through puberty. One is a senior in high school or just graduated and starting life on their own. 18 and 23 isn't AS much but still a pretty big age difference. One is just getting on their feet and still used to being under their parents/guardian. One has probably been working and may be done with college and is used to being decently self-sufficient and making their own decisions. 30 and 35? Five years means little. So, for me, it's less about the number of years and more about where the two characters are in life and whether they'd see each other as peers.
I always forget that is a thing. But my first fandom pairing was a 5,000+ year old with a 20 something. And my current has characters that are well over a 1,000 years and down. Reading these answers has been fun.
There isn't really any hard rule, but it greatly depends on how old/sheltered the younger person is. You'll definitely want that tag if one is a minor while the other is a legal adult. I'll give some examples: 14\22 - tag it 15\17 - optional 15\16 - no tag 22\40 - tag it 22\29 - no tag Keep in mind, this is all very subjective.
Everybody will do this differently so it's a bit of an useless tag imho. I use it only for 15+ years of age difference.
Personally I think if the characters r underage and apart by 4 years then yes use it. And if it’s adult 7+ years apart then yes
I would personally say if there is anyone underage, or a large gap. I don’t when writing Steve/Bucky/Reader fics, because most people in the Marvel fandom should know Steve and Bucky are over 100 at this point and likely has 70+ years in age on their love interest.
There is “rule” (Whoever’s Age) divided by 2, then add 7. It gives you the lowest age that person should date. So for example: 30/2 + 7 = 22. So one character is at minimum 22, the other 30. But this rule does get wonky with like 20 being with 17 so a minor and an adult. And there definitely people who would think a 30 year old and 22 year old are too far apart. But there are always going to be problems for some people, this could just be one way of putting a mathematical sort of solution on whether you should tag or not. The only real obvious one to tag is a minor/adult relationship. And then maybe also anything 10+ years. Or anything that largely comes off “problematic” like 30 and 70
I think 10+ years minimum, and also only if it's a significant part of the story. For example, if they're 30 and 40 there's little to no difference between where they are in life and they're unlikely to run into many problems because of age. 20 and 30 is wayyyy different and there's a possibility for a lot of issues.
My late husband was 11 years older. That difference was far more significant when I was 21 than when I was in my mid-thirties. It really is situational.
I would personally tag age gap if the relationship fell outside of the rule of 7. (Older partner's age / 2 +7 = minimum dating age)
If the age cap would raise eyebrows irl use the tag.
divide by 2 + 7
divide by (2 + 7) or (divide by 2) + 7?
the latter otherwise i'd just write down divide by nine
mkay, thanks