Have you heard such an unusual word as “fan fiction”? What is it, in what form is it presented and where can it be found? Why are teenagers more aware of the meaning of this word, but many adults have no idea what we are talking about?
Some parents who want to limit their child from negatively influencing information are very worried when they notice that their child has become interested in fan fiction. How dangerous are they, and can they really do harm?
As they say, you need to know the enemy by sight. That is, it is important to understand what an unfamiliar object, phenomenon or action is. And only then can we decide whether we really have an enemy in front of us.
Thus, the purpose of this article is to study an incomprehensible word and answer the question “what is fan fiction.”
The meaning of the word "fan fiction"
It is more logical to start researching this word by determining the circle of people who use it. If you listen a little more carefully to the speech of teenagers, you will find out that such wonderful words, which include such as “akuma, manga, fan fiction” and others, are widely used by anime lovers and fans. A special type or genre of films and books. The latter, by the way, are precisely called mangas.
To further study the problem, let us turn to the etymology of the word. That is, to the question of how the word came about. And then we will finally find out what fan fiction is.
So, the unusual word is “American alien.” Because it came to the Russian language from English. Formed from words such as fan, which is translated into Russian as fan, fan and fiction - literature of an artistic nature.
What are fanfictions?
Based on the definition presented above, it is clear that fan fiction is nothing more than an amateur work written by a fan of a film, book, cartoon, TV series, etc. and based on its plot and main characters.
For example, there are many Harry Potter fanfictions. Moreover, the events in them do not always unfold according to the plot presented by the author of the original work, JK Rowling.
The most famous fan fiction in this category belongs to Cassandra Clare, who wrote a trilogy about Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter's blond opponent, who always bothers him and tries with all his might to ruin his life. In this case, the work of an amateur nature turned out to be so interesting and popular that it even became independent books in three parts.
How to navigate the abundance of fan fiction
If you explore the Internet, it becomes clear that you can find a million fanfictions, or even more. And in order to choose one that will appeal to a particular person and will correspond to his desires, expectations and moral principles, you should learn the definition of fan fiction.
These works, like the original works, films, TV series, etc., on which they were written, have features that allow one to navigate the abundance of stories. After all, it is not enough to know what theme underlies the story. We also need to figure out whether the plot is suitable.
Let's say the reader is interested in Harry Potter fan fiction, and he, for example, wants to learn more about the life of Professor Snape (or Snape, according to some sources). Then he should study which characters will participate in the story.
That is, in this case, you should first of all look for fanfiction about Snape. And then study the “header” of the found work to determine whether the story corresponds to the reader’s desires.
What is a fanfic header?
So, above we said that the “header” of a fanfic will help you understand not only the topic, but also the content and plot of an amateur work. What it is?
The “header” of a fanfic is its description, advertisement, some kind of announcement presented after the title - the title of the work, which allows readers to understand what this particular fanfic will be about. Therefore, the following fields must certainly be present in the “header”: name, type, fandom, rating, size, focus, genre, warnings, description.
Also in the fanfic header there are fields whose presence is recommended, but not required. These are items such as: betas and co-authors (if any), characters, commentary on the work, dedication, publication, gratitude.
Main fields in the fanfic header
In every amateur work written by a fan who was very impressed by any film, TV series, etc., when adding your story to a selected site dedicated to this topic, you must fill out the following items:
- The title is the verbal designation of the work.
- Type - the person who added the work to the Network is its author or translator of a foreign text.
- Fandom - what the fan fiction is based on: movie, book, game, etc.
- Rating is the age category of a work, in other words, a criterion that allows you to determine the suitability of a fanfic for a particular reader. Not to be confused with popularity. This item allows you to select the best fanfic in the selected genre and fandom.
- Size - the volume of the work. It happens: maxi, midi, mini, drabble.
- Direction - the presence and nature of a relationship of a romantic or sexual nature.
- Genre - what scenario for the development of the fanfic plot is expected.
- Warnings are a list of features of a work that may be unpleasant and unacceptable for some citizens to read. For example, obscene language or the death of one of the main characters.
- Description is a brief announcement of the content of the work, that is, what will be discussed in it.
Additional fields in the fanfic header
In addition, in fan fiction about TV series, programs, games, books, etc., many authors indicate additional information that makes readers and potential fans of this story as familiar as possible with the plot:
- Betas - who carried out or participated in editing the text.
- Co-authors - if more than one person took part in writing the fanfic, they should be indicated in this paragraph.
- Characters are the main characters around whom the plot will revolve.
- Author's commentary on the work - here they usually write the reasons why the work was written, the idea that the author wants to convey, or any other information of a similar nature.
- Dedication - some fan fiction authors write their works for friends and acquaintances, thereby dedicating the work to them.
- Publication - whether the author allows his work to be published on other resources.
- Gratitude - on some sites, for example, such as “Book of Fanfiction” (or “Fikbook”), there is a function that allows you to mark and thank the work you like, and, accordingly, its author with a virtual gift.
What genres are fan fiction divided into?
Since fan fiction is a work written by a fan, it can be presented in various genres and directions.
For example, action or action is fan fiction, which is based on a work with a dynamic plot, there is an abundance of action, but there are few descriptions of the relationships between the main and secondary characters, there are no logical riddles or research.
Another thing is fan fiction of a genre such as adventure. They depict brave heroes who are not afraid of change, resolutely setting off on various journeys and wanderings. Or detective fanfiction. In such stories, the main characters will have to solve a whole bunch of mysteries, look for answers to complex questions, and readers will have to use logic and think a lot, trying to predict the further development of the storyline.
Fan fiction focus
What is directionality? And how does it differ from the genre? At first glance this is very difficult to understand, but in reality there is nothing complicated. After all, if the genre of fan fiction is a feature of the development of the plot, then how events develop in it, then the category in the description of fan fiction is usually understood as its content regarding the presence of romantic or closer relationships in the plot, as well as their nature.
Based on this, fan fiction is divided into the following types:
- Gett is an ordinary or traditional relationship in a couple, that is, romance occurs between a guy and a girl.
- Slash - the plot centers on gay guys.
- Femslash - girls with gay sexual orientation.
- Jen is a fanfic that contains no descriptions or even mentions of romantic or closer relationships.
What is canon and non-canon
So, above we carefully analyzed what it is - fan fiction. However, when choosing or discussing any fanfic you like with friends and acquaintances, you can hear a phrase like “the content does not correspond to the canon” or, conversely, corresponds to it. What does it mean?
In order to answer the question formed in the title of the current paragraph, you should remember your native language. In particular, the interpretation of such a word as “canon”. After all, it can be heard not only when it comes to fan fiction, but also in conversations on other topics. If you can’t remember the meaning of a given noun, you should turn to a Russian-language explanatory dictionary.
And then we will find out that the word “canon” is of Greek origin; it means something historically established, indestructible, traditional and not subject to change.
When describing fan fiction, the term “canon” is used to assess whether the plot of a given amateur work corresponds to the original on which it was written. That is, if in the Harry Potter book Ron and the boy who lived are friends, then the description of their hostility towards each other will not be canon, and vice versa.
Amateur work, the opposite of fan fiction
In addition to fan fiction - amateur writings on various topics and plot developments - you can also find other works on the Internet - originals. That they are also written by amateur authors, but the story in them is not about the heroes of famous and original books, films, games, etc. The characters presented in them are the invention of the author himself.
Thus, when writing an original or an original, the author uses his life experience, borrowed from the stories of friends or invented, self-composed. Based on this, any fiction whose plot is not fan fiction, but was imagined and described by the author, belongs to the category of originals.
What is the original? Using the example of one similar work
Genres of originals, like genres of fan fiction, are different. Although works on teenage themes are especially in demand and read, where still inexperienced boys and girls learn to explore life, cope with the abundance of their own problems and get out of all sorts of difficult situations.
One of these quite famous and discussed originals on the Internet is a story written by a girl named Stace Kramer. The work is called “50 days before my suicide.” This original - the debut of the young writer Nastya Kholova - was even published and managed to win the love of fans not only on the Internet, but also in reality.
The plot of the story revolves around a sixteen-year-old girl, Gloria, who suddenly realizes that she cannot cope with all her problems and gives herself fifty days to play an interesting game with her destiny and evaluate whether she should continue living.
Where to look for fanfiction and originals
Almost all works in these categories cannot be found on bookstore shelves. They are the “children” of the Internet. And that is where you should look for them. However, in order not only to read the text that was difficult to find, but to enjoy the process, you need to choose a decent site.
It is worth noting that the most popular resource among fan fiction fans is a site called “Fan Fiction Book” or “Fikbook”, as fans call it.
Therefore, readers of this article who want to understand fan fiction in more detail should turn to him.
How to choose the best fanfic
Previously, we studied the issue in detail and found out how to navigate the abundance of fan fiction. However, now we are faced with another problem - how to determine the best one. The answer is actually quite simple. The reader should pay attention to such characteristics as the rating of the fanfic by other readers, the number of comments, reviews and thanks.
In addition, fan fiction that has been recognized as an independent work, that is, published, can also be recommended for reading.
For example, the trilogy about Draco Malfoy, already mentioned at the beginning of the article. It reveals the character of Harry Potter's blond opponent, and also tells about his relationship with Hermione.
A work written by fans as a continuation of the story of the heroes or to reveal some atypical direction of this story. Fan fiction can be found based on all famous works of literature, cinema, TV series, comics; they are created based on the plots of cartoons or anime.
Usually created by fans for entertainment, so that the story of their favorite characters does not end when the book or movie ends, or in order to change some plot lines and character stories. Fan fiction is created by people of different ages and in completely different genres: prose, in the form of a mini-story or a significant work comparable to a story or even a novel. Fan fiction has only one thing in common: the love of authors and readers for the created world.
Fan fiction, as can be seen from it, is a non-independent work, that is, it was created based on the plot of another author using his characters, their characters and storylines. Fan fiction does not violate copyright only if its author waives all rights and does not derive commercial benefit from the distribution of his works. It is better that this waiver of rights be written out in the fanfic's header, that is, immediately under its title and short summary.
There, in the header, the author of the fanfic usually indicates its rating - for the convenience of readers. The tradition of fan fiction ratings came from Western countries, where ratings for works of literature and cinema began long before the adoption of a similar law in Russia and the CIS countries. Therefore, in the ratings of fanfictions, out of old habit, Western ones are put: G - for all categories of readers, does not contain obscene language or subtext, PG - for children under parental supervision, PG-13 - not recommended for readers under 13 years of age, R - for readers up to 17 years old only in the presence of parents, NC-17 - not recommended for readers under 17 years old.
A logical question arises: ? Why work so hard to create fan fiction if the author does not receive royalties from its distribution, like real writers. Isn't it better to create something of your own and try to publish your own work? However, authors are not so easy to spot in the stormy sea of literary works. Therefore, not everyone succeeds in achieving popularity. Fan fiction gives such authors the opportunity to quickly find their readership and fame.
In addition, not all fan fiction creators aspire to become professional writers, so for them, writing works based on their favorite novel or movie is nothing more than a hobby. However, there are other cases where fan fiction writers used their first steps in literature to successfully launch their writing careers. The most striking example would be the name of Erica Leonard James, who, having created fan fiction based on the famous book series, eventually turned it into an independent work, Fifty Shades of Gray, and became a world famous author of novels.
Fanfic(Fanfic) - a literary work generated by the author's interest in the canon. The author of fan fiction does not invent a world and characters for his work, but takes ready-made ones from any work.
Canon- an original work (book, film, TV series, comic book, TV show), the world and characters of which are used to write fan fiction.
Original- an original work that the author wrote from his imagination or based on his (other people's) life experiences. Any literary work that is not fan fiction is an original. Unlike fan fiction, the copyright for the original belongs to the author in full.
Fanfic header margins
Characters- lists the main characters of the work. You can specify individual characters (one entry per line is filled in, the second and third are left empty), or you can specify a pairing (Pairing) - allows you to determine which characters’ relationships are at the center of the narrative if two or three characters are written with a slash (slash), this denotes that in the story they are in a romantic/sexual relationship.Rating Rating is an informal rating system adopted to give the reader an idea of what to expect, as well as the suitability of the fanfic's content for certain age groups. The ratings originate from the American film rating system.
Size- fanfiction size.
Genre- fanfic genre.
Events- main events or plot-forming devices of fan fiction. Keywords.
Summary- a brief description of the fanfic. Some authors write summaries in the style of book annotations - they briefly tell the plot of the fanfic, trying to entice the reader in the style of "read the fanfic to find out what happened next." Other authors write a kind of epigraph in the summary, sometimes using quotes from songs or works of other authors. A good summary is extremely important - many readers miss works with vague, “not catchy” summaries.
Warning- a list of fanfic features that may be unpleasant to some readers.
Ratings
G(General) – harmless fan fiction that anyone can read.R(Restricted) – fan fiction that contains: curses, sex and/or violence without graphic descriptions.
NC-17(No Children) – the highest rating. Typically implies that the fan fiction contains graphic descriptions of sex and/or violence. Equivalent to the X designation in cinema. On some sites there is an NC-21 rating, but it’s difficult to come up with things that you shouldn’t read at 17, but only after 21.
Dimensions
Mini- up to 50 kilobytesMidi- from 50 to 200 kilobytes
Maxi- over 200 kilobytes
Our website has an automatic limit on the minimum text size for midi and maxi fanfictions. So, when changing the status of a fanfic to “Completed”, the site checks the text size. If the actual size of the fanfic does not correspond to the size set by the author (50 KB for midi and 200 KB for maxi), the size is changed to a smaller one.
Kilobyte = 1024 characters. In other words, 1 kilobyte is approximately one thousand characters including spaces.
Slash(Slash) is a fanfic that features romantic and/or sexual relationships between men.
Femslash(Femslash) is a fanfic that depicts romantic and/or sexual relationships between women.
Jen(Gen) - a fanfic that is neither gett, nor slash, nor femslash, in other words, one in which sexual relationships are not described or mentioned. The term comes from the abbreviated general audience, “any audience,” and goes back to the film rating system.
The category is defined by romantic/sexual relationships, which receive more time and attention in the story. If a work contains a minor mention of a relationship from another category, it may be useful to include an appropriate disclaimer.
Genres
Action– fan fiction with a dynamic plot, a lot of action, few mysteries and relationships between the characters.Adventure- there are a lot of adventures in fanfic.
Angst- these are strong experiences, physical, but more often spiritual suffering of the character; fan fiction contains depressive motives and some dramatic events.
AU
Comedy- a comedy, everything that happens in fan fiction from the beginning to the very end should be taken as a joke.
Crossover– a mixture of two or more fandoms. Usually, the hero(s) of one fandom are transferred to the world of another fandom and the plot of the fanfic unfolds there (for example, Harry Potter is transferred to the Jedi Academy). Or in the world of one fandom, the features of the world of another fandom appear (Anton Gorodetsky comes to Hogwarts to inspect and familiarize himself with the magical world of Britain).
Darkfic- fan fiction with a huge amount of death and cruelty.
Deathfic- Fan fiction in which one or more characters die.
Detective- detective.
Drabble- an excerpt that may or may not become a real fanfic. Often just a scene, a sketch, a description of a character.
Drama- a romantic story with a sad ending. Often added to the description of a fanfic, just because the ending of the fanfic is “bad”.
Fairy-tale- fairy tale.
Fantasy- fantasy, phenomena and characters from classic fantasy are mixed into the world of the fan fiction canon.
First time- There are two definitions of this genre. The first option is fan fiction with a mention of the character's first sexual experience. The second option is a description of events that occurred before the events of the canon.
Fluff- this is a warm relationship between the characters, a pleasant, non-binding fan fiction. Light, joy and all that.
General- a general genre, intended for authors who do not know what genre to classify their fanfiction into.
History- history, in fan fiction historical facts play a significant role, or fan fiction is someone’s story - “Listen, children, today I will tell you my story.”
Horror- horrors.
Humor- humor, jokes that everyone understands, as well as things that only fans can giggle at, which, as a rule, are not clear to anyone except themselves.
Hurt/comfort- a fanfic in which one character suffers in one way or another, and another comes to his or her aid. As you might expect, this type of fanfic leans toward angst.
Missing scene- a lost scene, fanfic fills some gap (in the author's opinion) in the plot of the canon.
Mysticism(mysticism) - in fan fiction, supernatural incidents or forces that do not have a clear definition/description/justification are important.
Parody- humor with a fair amount of irony.
POV- first-person narration by one of the characters.
Pre-Slash- a description of male friendship, which is a little closer than just friendship and the author invites the reader to consider this relationship as a prelude to a full-fledged slash film.
PWP- plotless porn, a simple minimal plot, where the main emphasis is on sex scenes.
Romance– fanfic about tender and romantic relationships.
Science Fiction- Science fiction.
Sidestory- a fanfic that reveals some moment in the canon, which the author of the canon described in a couple of sentences, and the author of the fanfic saw a whole story there. This is often the name given to fan fiction that describes the adventures of a minor character that took place parallel to the events of the canon. Sometimes side stories are written not even for the canon, but for other fan fiction.
Songfic- a fanfic in which the lyrics of the song are woven into it. Poems are introduced to create a special atmosphere or to emphasize what is between the lines in the story itself. An ambiguous work, as it presents the reader with too many conditions at once. To adequately perceive songfic, the reader must, firstly, know the song used, secondly, be imbued with the same feelings as the author, and thirdly, not be irritated by the poetic passages that appear every now and then in the text. However, like any other work, a well-written songfic can be a lot of fun.
Thriller- thriller.
LitRPG- the world lives according to game laws, the characters (at least one) have a virtual interface, levels of development, characteristics, and skills. There are often quests, dungeons, rebirth in case of death and other MMORPG features.
Omegaverse- a specific reality in which all people are divided into three types: alphas, omegas and betas. Alpha is a clearly dominant male. Omega is a passive character with specific characteristics, one of which is “estrus” - a period of sexual activity when the omega physically needs to have sex with alphas, accompanied by the omega’s body releasing a pheromone that attracts alphas. Beta is just a person, the definition is needed only so that characters who are not interested in the author of the fanfic do not interfere in the relationship between alphas and omegas. Since this genre originated from slash fans, women in fan fiction may not be mentioned at all, or may simply be present, but not take any part in the narrative. This genre uses a huge number of physiological and other assumptions that are impossible in the real world and in the world of the canon, for example, the vast majority of fan fiction mentions male pregnancy.
Events
For a description of events, see the "Encyclopedia" page in each specific fandom.Warnings
AU- alternative reality, means that the world of fan fiction is seriously different from the canon.UST(Unresolved Sexual Tension) - literally translated as “Unresolved Sexual Tension.” The characters in the work are attracted to each other, but for some reason do not engage in sexual contact or even open romantic interaction.
BDSM BDSM (Bondage, Domination/Discipline, Sadism, Masochism) is a sexual practice that includes coercion, sexual slavery, sadomasochism and other actions associated with the deliberate infliction of pain or restriction of freedom in order to obtain sexual satisfaction.
Get- as a warning in a work with the main category slash/femslash/jen means that the work contains descriptions of heterosexual relationships.
Group sex- the work contains descriptions of group sex.
Rape- the work contains a description of forced sex with bodily harm.
Incest- Incest - sexual interaction between family members.
Male pregnancy also known as MPREG (Male Pregnancy) - a slash story in which, contrary to the laws of nature, one of the characters becomes pregnant.
Mary Sue- the work contains an ideal hero, most often in the main role, for whom everything is given too easily. Typically, such a hero has bright, idealized appearance features, a unique unrealistic biography, and amazing abilities. The main feature of Mary Sue (the character can be of any gender) is that the hero understands everything better than anyone, he succeeds in everything, everyone listens to him and he does not experience any problems at all, just continuous adventures.
Violence- the work contains scenes of violence.
Obscene language- in the work the characters swear.
OOC Out Of Character - the author realizes and immediately warns that the character's character does not correspond to the canon (or many characters).
Forced sex- not rape, but coercion to sex, psychological or under threat of violence.
Torture- the work describes the process of torture, really, with all the unpleasant details.
Slash- in the form of a warning in a work with the main category of het/femslash/jen, it means that the work contains descriptions of homosexual relationships.
Character Death- one of the main/minor characters will not live to see the end of the work.
Questionable consent- the work plays an important role (but does not necessarily describe in detail) sexual contact that occurred without the explicit consent of all participants. Most often they mean scenes from the category of “it just happened” or “under the pressure of circumstances”, but not crossing the line of forced sex.
Femslash- as a warning in a work with the main category het/slash/jen, it means that the work contains descriptions of intimate relationships between girls.
Other abbreviations and designations
Beta, Beta Reader(Beta, Beta-reader) - a person who reads fan fiction before publication and helps make it better. Beta suggestions can concern both simple things like spelling and punctuation, and more complex ones - the characteristics of characters, the removal or addition of certain scenes, and so on.
Disclaimer(Disclaimer) - a phrase at the beginning of a fanfic or on the first page of a site, through which the author informs readers (and especially the copyright holder) that the fanfic or site in question was not created for the purpose of making profit, and indicates who exactly owns it rights to the characters used. On our website, the disclaimer is listed at the very bottom of each page.
Feedback/Reviews– reviews, comments from readers.
Proofreader/editor- the person is mainly responsible only for correcting punctuation marks.
Sequel(Sequel) - continuation of a fanfic/story, etc.
Prequel- a description of the events that happened to the characters BEFORE the fanfic. For example, a book describing the life of little Snape and the times of the marauders would be considered a prequel to Harry Potter. If Rowling had seen fit to write it.
Round Robin- fan fiction created by a group of authors, each of whom takes turns writing their own piece. Successful round robins are very rare. As a rule, they are characterized by abrupt transitions between parts and inconsistency of style, however, some manage to extract artistic benefit even from this. Usually round robin is of no interest to anyone except the participants themselves and their closest friends.
Smart Smarm is a slightly disparaging definition of fan fiction in which one character makes it clear, by word or deed, how important his (of course, platonic) friendship with another character is to him. Fan fiction like this is quite rare.
Squeak(Squick) - comes from the expressions "someone else"s kink" and "icky". In other words, it is something that may please some, but makes others sick. In this category includes slash, BDSM, some individual pairings, etc. By and large, the term reminds us of mutual politeness and the need to respect other people's opinions.
O.C.(NP - new character, NMP - new male character) - short for Original Character, "Original Character".
OFC(NGP - new female character) - abbreviated Original Female Character, “Original female character”. Typically appears in fanfic to romance a canon character. Often, but not always, turns into a Mary Sue.
Spoiler(spoiler) - facts mentioned in the canon.
More useful materials:
Fanfic(from the English fan - fan and fiction - fiction) - a type of creativity of fans of popular works of art (so-called fan art in the broad sense of the word), a derivative literary work based on some original work (usually literary or cinematic), using his ideas of plot and (or) characters. Fanfiction could be a sequel ( sequel), background ( prequel), parody, "alternate universe", crossover(“interweaving” of several works), and so on.
Beta(Beta) - a person who reads fanfiction before publishing and helps make it better. Beta suggestions can concern both simple things like spelling and punctuation, and more complex ones - the characteristics of characters, the removal or addition of certain scenes, and so on.
Beta-reader, sometimes also called scale– beta, who is engaged in literary proofreading of the text
Disclaimer(English disclaimer) - a warning in which the author informs readers (and especially the copyright holder) that the fan fiction or site in question was not created for the purpose of making profit, and indicates who exactly owns the rights to the characters used.
Warning(English warning) - warnings about the content of a fanfic, if there is a possibility of rejection by readers for any reason (slash, OOC, AU, obscene language, character death, etc.).
Rating(English rating) - an informal system of definitions adopted by fan fiction authors in order to give the reader a preliminary idea of what to expect, as well as how suitable the content of the fan fiction or fan art is for certain age groups.
Typically the following scale is used (ascending):
G(General) - fan fiction that anyone can read.
R(Restricted) - fan fiction that contains sex, violence, and obscene language.
Sometimes the designations PG-15 or NC-21 are found - they fall out of the accepted list, meanings are similar to PG-13 or NC-17, respectively.
NC-21– the fanfic contains a detailed description of cruelty and sex, various perversions, both moral and physical. On most resources, such fanfiction is prohibited.
Pairing(English pairing) - the column is usually used for love genres of fan fiction that describe romantic and/or sexual relationships. This line in the header allows you to determine which characters will be involved in such relationships during the course of the action. Pairs are written using a forward slash (First character/Second character). Well-known characters in the canon are usually identified by their initials. Fandom lingo usually has words for known pairings.
Drabble(Drabble) - excerpt. Often just a scene, a sketch, a description of a character. Sometimes a drabble refers to a short (one hundred words) story that has a double meaning and/or an unexpected ending.
Types of fanfiction:
Based on the presence of a love line in the plot:
"Jen"(from the English general audience) - the love line is absent or insignificant, “just adventures.” The term comes from the abbreviation “general audience”, any audience, and goes back to the film rating system.
"Get"(from “heterosexual”) - a defining love line; the relationship between characters of different sexes is described.
"Slash", or “slash” (from the English slash - slash icon) - fan fiction in which there are romantic and sexual relationships between representatives of the same sex, fan fiction containing descriptions or references to homosexual behavior or feelings. According to legend, the term comes from the custom of combining characters with a slash in the pairing column.
Fem slash(eng. fem-slash) - fan fiction that describes romantic and/or sexual relationships between female characters.
According to the realities of the original world:
"AU"(from the English Alternative Universal) - there are significant differences or even contradictions with the world of the original.
"non-AU"(do not have special jargon) - there are no differences with the world of the original, or they are controversial or insignificant.
According to the correspondence of the character of the fanfic characters to their character in the original:
"OOC"(from the English Out Of Character) - there are significant discrepancies or even contradictions with the characters in the original work.
"In character"- there are no differences with the characters of the characters in the original, or they are controversial or insignificant.
Mary Sue(English: Mary Sue) - an original character, according to general opinion, who is the embodiment of either the author himself, or what the author would like to be (a phenomenon inherent only in women's fan fiction). A distinctly classic Mary Sue is not that difficult to recognize, as she is necessarily dazzlingly beautiful and extraordinarily intelligent. Traditionally, she has an extraordinary appearance - not just beautiful, but original and with a twist, as the author understands it. The name is Mary-Sue either as the author, or with a complex original name. If the canon format allows, then Mary-Sue also has some incredible magical abilities. Appearing among the canonical heroes, Mary-Sue outshines everyone with her beauty and talents, arousing the respect of positive heroes, the envy of negative ones and the insane delight of all representatives of the opposite (and in slash, their own) sex. Then they begin an affair with those heroes of the canon who the author likes most, and finally save the world, discover ancient secrets, reconcile fundamental enemies, kill the main villain, etc. After saving the world, they happily marry the author’s favorite hero ... well, with especially “original” authors, they die a heroic death amid the friendly sobs of all the characters.
Marty Stu, aka Marty Stu (eng. Marty Stu) or Maurice Stu (Maurice Stu) - the male hypostasis of Mary Sue. Appears to charm the heroine. Slightly less common than the average Mary Sue.
OFC(abbreviated Original Female Character) - “Original female character.” Typically appears in fanfic to romance a canon character. In Russian fandoms the abbreviation is more often used NJP– new female character. You have to be careful with NVPs - they always run the risk of turning into a Mary-Sue.
Respectively NMP- new male character.
"Genre"- a special note about the general “mood” of the fanfic.
General genres:
Action, Action (Action) - fan fiction with a dynamic plot, a lot of action, few mysteries and relationships between the characters.
Humor(Humour) - humorous fan fiction.
Parody(Parody) - a parody of the original work.
Dark or Darkfic (Dark, Darkfic) - a story with a huge amount of death and cruelty.
Deathfic- fan fiction in which one or more characters die.
POV(Point of view) - “point of view”, a first-person narration by one of the characters.
Smart(Smarm) is a fanfic in which one character makes it clear, in word or deed, how important friendship (without any hint of romantic or sexual relationships) with another character is to him.
Romance genres:
Romance(Romance) - fanfic about tender and romantic relationships. Usually has a happy ending.
Drama(Drama) - a romantic story with a sad ending.
Angst(Angst) - these are strong experiences, physical, but more often spiritual suffering of the character; fan fiction contains depressive motives and some dramatic events.
Fluff(Fluff) is a warm, unclouded relationship between the characters. Romance, romance and more romance.
Other genres:
H/C(Hurt/comfort) - "Carrot and Stick", a fanfic in which one character suffers in one way or another, and another comes to his or her aid.
ER(Established Relationship) - an established relationship between the characters.
PWP(Porn without Plot - literally: pornography without a plot; or “Plot, what Plot?” - literally: Plot? What plot?) - plotless porn, a simple minimal plot, where the main emphasis is on sex scenes.
BDSM(Bondage, Domination/Discipline, Sadism, Masochism) - sexual practice, including coercion, sexual slavery, sadomasochism and other actions associated with the deliberate infliction of pain or restriction of freedom in order to obtain sexual gratification
Smat(Smut) is a fanfic that describes nothing but sex between the characters. Typically rated NC-17.