Fan fiction

Before the adoption of copyright in the modern sense, it was not unusual for authors to copy characters, if not entire plots. For example, Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, As You Like It and The Winter's Tale were all based on relatively recent fiction by other authors.[5]

In 1614 Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda wrote a sequel to Cervantes' Don Quixote, before Cervantes finished and published his own second volume.

Among 19th-century literature subject to notable depictions not initially authorized by the original author, is included Bram Stoker's Dracula's depiction in the translated adaptation Powers of Darkness.[6] The works of Jane Austen remain one of the most popular works to make unauthorized depictions of,[7] with one notable Jane Austen fan fiction being Old Friends and New Fancies. Many unauthorized stories of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle have been created, including The Adventure of the Two Collaborators by J. M. Barrie.[8] Also created has been The Space Machine based on The War of the Worlds and Morlock Night based on The Time Machine by H. G. Wells; A New Alice in the Old Wonderland based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; and Wide Sargasso Sea based on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.[9]

The Star Trek fanzine Spockanalia contained the first fan fiction in the modern sense of the term.

The modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via Star Trek fandom and their fanzines published in the 1960s. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia (1967), contained some fan fiction; many others followed its example.[10]^: 1 These fanzines were produced via offset printing and mimeography, and mailed to other fans or sold at science fiction conventions for a small fee to help recoup costs. Unlike other aspects of fandom, women dominated fan fiction authoring; 83% of Star Trek fan fiction authors were female by 1970, and 90% by 1973.[11] One scholar states that fan fiction "fill[s] the need of a mostly female audience for fictional narratives that expand the boundary of the official source products offered on the television and movie screen."[12]

Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web. According to one estimate, fan fiction comprises one-third of all content about books on the web.[13] In addition to traditional fanzines and conventions, Usenet newsgroups and electronic mailing lists were established for fan fiction as well as fan discussion. Online, searchable fan fiction archives were also established. The online archives were initially non-commercial hand-tended and fandom, or topic, specific. These archives were followed by non-commercial automated databases. In 1998, the not-for-profit site FanFiction.Net came online, which allowed anyone to upload content in any fandom.[14] The ability to self-publish fan fiction at an easily accessible common archive that did not require insider knowledge to join, and the ability to review the stories directly on the site, became popular quite quickly.[15] One popular example of modern fan fiction is E. L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey. This series was originally written as fan fiction for the Twilight series of books and movies and played off the characters of Bella and Edward. In order to not infringe on copyright issues, James changed the character names to Ana and Christian for the purposes of her novels,[16] which is a practice known as 'pulling-to-publish'.[17] Anna Todd's 2013 fan fiction After about the English boy band One Direction secured a book and movie deal with renamed characters in 2014.[18][19] The movie After was released on April 12, 2019.

On May 22, 2013, the online retailer Amazon.com established a new publishing service, Kindle Worlds. This service enabled fan fiction stories of certain licensed media properties to be sold in the Kindle Store with terms including 35% of net sales for works of 10,000 words or more and 20% for short fiction ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 words. However, this arrangement includes restrictions on content, copyright violations, poor document formatting, and use of misleading titles.[20] Amazon shut down Kindle Worlds in August 2018.[21]

A similar trend in Japan also began appearing around the 1960s and 1970s, where independently published manga and novels, known as dōjinshi, are frequently published by dōjin circles; many of these dōjinshi are based on existing manga, anime, and video game franchises. Manga authors like Shotaro Ishinomori and Fujiko Fujio formed dōjin groups such as Fujio's New Manga Party (新漫画党, Shin Manga-tō). At this time, dōjin groups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades with dōjin groups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 with the Comiket in Tokyo.

A 2020 study looking at Harry Potter fan fiction writers on Archive of Our Own found that of users who disclose their gender in their profiles, 50.4% are female or femme-leaning and 13.4% are masculine or masc-leaning. 11% of users disclose that they are transgender, and over 21% identify as nonbinary, genderfluid, and/or genderqueer, with an additional 3.9% indicating that they identify as agender or genderless.[23]

Overwhelmingly, the study also showed that fan fiction writers appear to be in their early- to mid-20s. Demographics have been assessed as being 56.7% university students and other young adults, while 21.3% register as being 30 years and older. 0.2% specify that they are of retirement age; teenagers make up the remaining 19.8%.[23]

In addition to the "regular" list of genres, there are a few genres which are particularly associated with fan fiction. These genres can overlap and include:

A story with an angst-ridden mood centered on a character/characters who are brooding, sorrowful, or in anguish.

"What if" fan fiction featuring characters set in a universe other than their canonical one.[24] There are multiple types of alternative universe settings: an alternative universe may make dramatic alterations to the setting (for instance, a "Fantasy AU" that places characters from a non-fantasy canon into a world of magic); it may alter characterization (often referred to simply as someone being "Out of Character" (OOC) rather than an AU proper); or it may alter major plot events to suit the author's purposes (see, for example, "Fix-It Fic").[25]

Works featuring characters, items, and/or set pieces from multiple fandoms. This is also called "Fusion Fic" if the two worlds are merged into one.

The soulmate AU is a popular genre that envisions characters in a world, often very similar to canon, where soulmates are demonstrably real. Common mechanics for soulmates include each person having the name of their soulmate written on their skin at birth, or a specific change that occurs when two soulmates see or touch each other for the first time. The most common trope in this genre is one character being convinced they do not have/want/deserve a soulmate, only to be proven wrong as they fall in love over the course of the fic.[26]

A story in which one of the characters is sent back in time to get a second chance with knowledge of the original plot. This is also called the "Peggy Sue", after the movie Peggy Sue Got Married, in which this happens to the titular character. This term may have fallen into disuse due to its similarity to "Mary Sue".

"Groundhog Day," named after the film, is a variation of this trope in which time travel happens repeatedly; typically until the time-traveling character "gets it right."

Stories that are considerably more grim or depressing than the original, often in deliberate contrast to the canonical work(s). Not all stories tagged as "dark" count as darkfic. This is sometimes done with fandoms that are meant to be light-hearted or for children.[27] Darkfic can also refer to content that is "intentionally disturbing" (i.e. physical/emotional violence or abuse).

Fix-it fic refers to stories which rewrite canonical events that the fan fiction author disliked or otherwise wished to "fix". This may refer to an authorial misstep- i.e. "fixing" major plot holes- or to a tragic event or ending (for instance, "everyone lives" alternate universes). Fix-it fic that focuses on correcting flaws in the original work is also called "rebuild fic", named for the Rebuild of Evangelion series; if it focuses heavily on critical thinking skills and deductive reasoning, it can be considered a "rationalist rewrite", as popularized by Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.

"Feel good" fan fiction designed to be emphatically happy and uplifting. The plot is often less relevant in these works, as the main focus is to be cheerful. Another term for this genre is WAFF, short for "warm and fuzzy feelings."[28]

A story in which a character is put through a traumatizing experience in order to be comforted.[29] The climax of these stories is typically when one character witnesses another character's suffering and alleviates it; however, a variation that prioritizes focus on the character's suffering (their "hurt"), sometimes to the exclusion of "comfort", is referred to as "whump".[30] Excessive whump may also be considered darkfic.[31]

A genre of fan fiction in which a version of the author is transported to, or discovers they are inside, the world that the fan fiction is based on. Almost always written in the first person.

Instead of a single fictional universe, the inserted author is taken to many in a row, and must usually solve some problems or complete some challenges in each place before moving on. Gaining new powers and occasionally companions from each world is common.

Occasionally, a fan fiction will obtain enough popularity to inspire readers to write fan fiction based on that fic. On Archive of Our Own, this kind of recursive fan fiction is called a "remix".[32]

Songfic, also known as song fic or song-fic, is a genre of fan fiction that features a fictional work interspersed with the lyrics of a relevant song.[33][34] The term is a combination of "song" and "fiction"; as such, one might also see the genre referred to as "songfiction". As many lyrics are under copyright, whether songfics are a violation of that copyright law is a subject of debate. Some fan fiction websites, such as FanFiction.Net, have barred authors from posting songfics with lyrics outside the public domain.[35]

In an essay in Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, University of Sydney professor Catherine Driscoll commented that the genre was "one of the least distinguished modes of fan production" and that "within fan fiction excessive attachment to or foregrounding of popular music is itself dismissed as immature and derivative".[36]

Uberfic is a form of AU fan fiction with characters who physically resemble and share personality traits with their canon counterparts, but have new names and backgrounds in a different setting. The term originated in Xena: Warrior Princess fandom[37] and was inspired by the series episode "The Xena Scrolls", which featured 1940s-era descendents of the characters Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer, all played by their respective actors, on an archaeological dig in an Indiana Jones pastiche. The Uberfic style lends itself well to original fiction, and many Uberfic authors such as Melissa Good, Radclyffe, and Lori L. Lake have legally published their Xena Uberfic as original lesbian literature.

Vent fic refers to literature written by an author under duress or for therapeutic purposes, normally to calm themselves following a stressful or upsetting situation. Often also falls under angst.

An abbreviation of "author's note". Author's notes can be written at any point during a fan fiction (in some cases interrupting the flow of the piece by appearing within the body of a fan fiction), but are typically found directly before the beginning of a fan fiction or after it has concluded, and also at the starts or ends of chapters if the story is updated periodically. A/Ns are used to convey direct messages from the author to the reader regarding the piece.[38] This term has fallen somewhat out of use.

A beta reader, or beta, is someone who edits or proofreads someone else's fan fiction.[39][38]

Canon is the original story. This means anything related to the original source including the plot, settings, and character developments.[38]

Disclaimers are author's notes typically informing readers about who deserves credit for the original source material,[40] and often containing pseudo-legal language disavowing any intent of copyright infringement or alluding to fair use. Such "disclaimers" are legally ineffective and based on misunderstandings of copyright law, particularly confusion between illegal copyright infringement and unethical plagiarism.[41] Disclaimers have fallen out of use since the Archive of Our Own rose in popularity.

A form of flash fiction writing also popular outside of fan fiction, a drabble is typically a piece of writing that is only 100 words.[42]

A fandom is a group of fans of a particular work of fiction (e.g. novel, film, television show or video game). Members of a fandom are typically interested in even minor details of the plot/characters of their fandom and often spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, that is why most fan fictions are written by members of a particular fandom(s).

An individual who is an extremely enthusiastic member of one or more fandoms. Furthermore, the term fangirling/fanboying refers to a moment where a person gets excited about a fandom.

Fanon (portmanteau of fan and canon) is an "unofficial canon" idea that is widely accepted to be true among fans, but is neither confirmed nor officially endorsed by the original author or source creator, preventing it from being labeled as canon. Fanon may refer to a whole interpretation of the original work or particular details within it.

Headcanon is a fan's personal interpretation of canon, such as the backstory of a character or the nature of relationships between characters. It may represent a teasing out of subtext present in the canon, but it cannot directly contradict canon. If many other fans share this interpretation, it may become fanon.

Also of note is the concept of the "Mary Sue" (occasionally "MS"), a term credited as originating in Star Trek fan fiction that has crossed over to the mainstream, at least among editors and writers. In early Trek fan fiction, a common plot was that of a minor member of the USS Enterprise's crew saving the life of Captain Kirk or Mister Spock, often being rewarded with a sexual relationship as a result. The term "Mary Sue", originating in a parody of stories in this wish fulfillment genre, thus tends to refer to an idealized or overpowered character lacking flaws, often taken to represent the author.[43]

An abbreviation of the term "one true pairing", where the author or reader ships (wishes for a romantic relationship between) certain characters from a fandom. Additionally, OTPs are also subsetted as OT3s, which reference the reader's one true bonding with three people; this number can be changed to refer to a larger bonding of people.

A single piece of writing, as opposed to a multichapter work, that can be of any length. May also have sequel works, while still being a one shot.

Fan fiction works that tell stories about real people, usually celebrities, instead of fictional characters. The book After by Anna Todd, later adapted into a film of the same name, was originally a real person fan fiction about One Direction member Harry Styles.

Shipping is a variant of romance focused on exploring a relationship between two or more characters from the original fandom(s). It has several fandom-specific subgenres, chief among which are slash (which focuses on homosexual pairings, usually of the male variety) and femslash (same as slash, but exclusively female/female). In another context, the term "shipping" within the community may mean that a fan is heavily invested in a relationship between two characters. Writers of fan fiction often use the genre to explore homosexual pairings for popular characters who are not in (or not specified as being in; see queerbaiting) homosexual relationships in the canon work.[44] A subcategory of this, depicting romantic couples in mundane domestic situations (such as picking out curtains), was previously called "curtainfic", though the term has fallen somewhat out of use.

Smut, also called porn and (rarely) erotica, is sexually explicit or pornographic fan fiction. This could refer to either a small portion of a story or the story in its entirety. Historically, the terms "lemon" (i.e. explicit pornography) and "lime" (i.e. sexually suggestive works) were euphemisms used to allude to explicit material. These terms were in common use in the 2000s, and fell into disuse before resurging in December 2018 due to Tumblr's censorship on adult content. The use of the terms lemon and lime allow writers to circumnavigate the "explicit terminologies" that may get work flagged by platforms like Tumblr, while still tagging their work as explicit for their readers.

Trigger warnings are intended to warn people of content in fan fiction that could be harmful or "triggering" to those who have dealt with traumatic situations. Fan fiction is often tagged using various TWs so that readers may prepare for or avoid certain content. Sometimes CW, an abbreviation of "content warning," is used, either instead of or in addition to a TW.

Trigger warnings are usually inserted when the subject matter of a piece of work deals with issues like drug abuse, mental illness, abuse, or extreme violence. Archive of Our Own has notably codified a system of common warnings into its core tags,[45] requiring authors to either disclose or explicitly choose not to disclose if their work contains graphic violence, major character death, rape, or underage sex.