LEARN THE MEANINGS BEHIND TAGS, TERMS AND TROPES
TAGS, TERMS, AND TROPES PULLED FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES:
AO3 - ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
WATTPAD
FANFICTION.NET
QUOTEV
WHY IS FANFICTION IMPORTANT?
ACCESSIBILITY: ONLINE VS. OFFLINE
Traditional publishing often requires buy-in from a publisher, help from an agent, professional editing, cover designers, marketing, and more. Whereas fanfiction is often written by one person, or a few friends collaborating on a piece. In fanfiction, third person editing isn’t necessarily required to share a piece, though an author may find a member of the community to do so. If you have access to the internet, and can read and write, you can participate in fanfiction.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Fanfictions aren't edited to fit the sensibilities of a publisher. This provides queer or otherwise underrepresented stories a space to flourish and grow without needing mainstream approval.
DECOMMODIFYING STORY
Fanfiction sites are free to post on and access. Sites like Archive of Our Own (AO3) take this idea even further, sourcing funding wholly from donations, run by a volunteer team, and built off of open-source software.
CONNECTION & PARTICIPATION
Many of the most common fanfiction websites have a comment or review functionality, allowing readers to give and authors to receive feedback instantaneously. And, through authors notes, readers gain insight into the author's life.
AU
WHAT IS A TAG?
A tag is a word or phrase that provides a reader information about a fanfiction before reading. Tags "are used to specify which Rating, Warnings, Fandoms, Categories, Characters, and Relationships apply" to a specific work (AO3). Through tagging readers are given another means beside story description to decide whether or not they would like to read a work. Authors also gain the ability to clearly signal to a reader what themes will be contained in their story. This is important, especially in the case of stories that may contain more mature or sensitive subjects.
WHAT IS A TROPE?
According to TV Tropes, a tropes are "devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations". The important distinction here is that tropes are NOT cliches, a term that comes with a more negative connotations. Instead, tropes are devices through which an author can play with different types of story. Meeting in a coffee shop may be a trope, but it is one that is reliably loved and easily recognized by a reader. Tropes often serve as a base layer for many fanfictions, that can then be developed and built upon.
THE FANSPEAK ESSENTIALS
Ship/Pairing
Oftentimes the foundation of internet's most robust fandoms, shipping is the act of wanting two characters to be in a romantic relationship. A pairing refers to the two (or more) characters in a relationship.
Smut
Refers to a genre of fanfiction in which there is explicit sexual content. These types of fanfictions used to be called lemons, though the term is no longer in common use.
Angst
Refers to a genre of fanfiction in which there is a focus on darker emotions. Examples of such may be fear, anger, and sadness.
Fluff
Refers to a genre of fanfiction in which there is a focus on lighter emotions and heartwarming experiences.
AU
Shortened form of Alternate Universe. Refers to a story set in a different universe or with a different basic concept than the original piece of media. Oftentimes tropes are added in front of "AU" to signify the difference from the original piece. Examples of this include the Coffee Shop AU, a Doctor AU, or even something more far-fetched like a Body-Swap AU.
LET'S TALK RELATIONSHIPS
Genfic
Marks a fanfiction that contains no romantic relationships, or a fanfiction in which a relationship is not central to the story.
M/M
Slash
A fanfiction in which a romantic relationship between two men is central to the story.
F/F
A fanfiction in which a romantic relationship between two women is central to the story.
or
F/M
A fanfiction in which a romantic relationship between a woman and a man is central to the story.
Multi
A fanfiction with more than one kind of relationship (i.e. F/F, M/M, or F/M), or a relationship with multiple partners is central to the story.
[Character]/[Character]
A / symbol between character names denotes a ROMANTIC relationship.
[Character]&[Character]
A & symbol between character names denotes a PLATONIC relationship.
TOPICS IN FANFICTION
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR/AUTHORIAL INTENT
A hot topic of discussion, as fans struggle to separate authorial intent from the work itself. We must ask ourselves at what point the author's word is no longer law, and at what point the creativity of fans takes precedence. Is it even possible to separate an author from their work? How much can fans shape perceptions of the worlds they enjoy without authorial input?
CANON VS. FANON: REALITY IS WHAT WE MAKE IT
Mary Sue / Gary Stu
Canon Compliant
COMMONLY USED TERMS
Refers to a character that is too perfect. This may manifest in said character always being right, being unreasonably skilled for their experience, and lacking flaws.
A story that does not divert from the original source material, and could believably take place in universe.
Headcanon
Hurt/Comfort
A story that contains angst, but is eventually balanced out by comfort. Ideally there would be a 50:50 ratio.
Often a belief about a character that may not be fully supported by the original work, but is still embraced by fans.
MCD
WIP
An acronym for Work In Progress, signifying a work that has not yet been completed.
An acronym for Major Character Death. Used as a warning for readers.
Crossover
Fix It Fic
A type of story in which the author attempts to "fix" a piece of the canon work. This may be because they were dissatisfied with how the source material ended, because they disagreed with a plot point, etc.
A fanfiction that draws from two separate works. An example would be a story in which characters from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings meet. Different aspects (most frequently characters and world elements) may be drawn from the works, but as long as they are combined the piece qualifies as a crossover.
Canon Divergence
A type of story in which the author chooses a moment from which to divert from canon. Often stems from "What if" questions, i.e. "What if [character] had taken [different action] in [x] moment?"
One Shot
A term for a story that is only one chapter in length.
Beta
A volunteer editor for fanfiction.