Fan fiction genres, their description and meaning

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Before listing the genres of fanfiction and revealing their features, it is necessary to touch on the question of the origin and meaning of this term. What is a fanfic? This is an essay, most often amateur, based on the most popular literary works or films - television series, movies, anime, and the like. Moreover, fanfiction genres include various comics and computer games.

Concept

The word "fanfiction" refers to jargon. The authors of fan fiction are fiwriters, and they are ardent fans of original works who cannot part with their favorite characters of the adored work. They also write most often for the same zealous fans. Recently, the creation of fanfiction happens on a commercial basis, but extremely rarely. Most often this is a product for fans of the original work.

The very concept comes from English - fan literature or fan prose (Fan fiction). In use, there are other designations of this concept, which unites the genres of fan fiction. This is "fan-fiction", "fan-fiction", "fanfiction", most often just "FF" or even "fiction". There are so many varieties of this new genre that only the most common ones will be listed. Any author has the right to create his own type of work That is why fanfiction genres (or rather, subgenres) are extremely diverse.

Variations: by the nature of the relationship

Slash fanfiction rarely uses a Curtain story style where the characters are absolutely homely. For example, they go shopping. Since "slash" initially alludes to the lack of heterosexuality. Fanfiction with the presence of corporal punishment is called Domestic disciplin, and it concerns sexual relations: one of the partners is beaten for some kind of mistake.

But more and more often there are mergers of different genres in fan fiction: the romance genre and the slash genre, for example. It's hard to find a pure genre, even a subgenre, in the fanfic subculture. But Angstfic (dreary fanfiction) and Darkfic (dark fanfiction) are almost always present in fanfiction of recent years. The first component denotes depressive motives, spiritual or physical suffering, strong feelings and dramatic events. And the last component is the abundance of cruelty and death in the story.

Orientation

Also often used in any fanfiction - slash or romantic - style Alternate Pairing or Shipping (alternative pairing or shipping), when describing sexual or romanticthe relationship of the characters, who in the original work not only do not feel affection for each other, but sometimes even divorced on opposite sides of the barricades.

In general, the slash originally meant a kind of same-sex Alternate Pairing. However, now this concept has become much broader. Accordingly, there are Femslash styles, that is, Saffic, Fem or Femmeslash - all about women's relationships - romantic or sexual. And, of course, it is highlighted in a separate line and sent to the tenth row in the fanfiction genre get (Het, Shipping Heterosexual).

Even stronger relationship

If the relationship between the characters is permeated with warmth and nothing is overshadowed, this fanfiction subgenre is called Fluff. Fanfictions about friendship, backed up by words and deeds, but where there is no hint of sexual relations, are called Smarm. If there is no love line in fanfic or it doesn't mean much, it's General audience or just Gen. No description of fanfic genres is complete without Grapefruit, it is fanfic with violence in its pages or coercion.

Explicit sexual orientation is indicated by Lemon, if the plot is minimal, the fanfic belongs to the PWP subgenre (Porn without Plot - from the category of 18+ and without a plot). Lime - Lightweight Lemon, uncensored, no explicit scenes. Unresolved Sexual Tension, or simply UST, is the opposite. The characters have a strong feeling for each other, but something prevents them from entering into a romantic interaction. Well, the kind of Vanilla fanfiction familiar to everyone without exception is vanilla relationships.

Creation method

Varieties can also be identified by the method of creation, here the fanfiction genres and their significance for the reading public are most clearly visible. Quite often you can find a crossover in the subculture (especially English fans of fanfiction), where several alien universes merge in the narrative. For example, Jack Sparrow and Han Solo, together with Princess Leia, come to Hogwarts and meet Anton Gorodetsky there in order to jointly extinguish the Eye of Sauron.

Very often writers use Point of view or just POV. And this applies not only to fanfiction, a lot of works, including those in the fantasy genre, are written in this way. For example, the saga "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George Martin. This method is extremely convenient for storytelling, as it allows you to show events in different parts of the universe and at different times or simultaneously from different sides.

Professionals

The Profic genre is exceptionally interesting. These works are truly artistic and often highly professional, where the author describes the adventures of his characters in a world that was created by another author. There are real masterpieces in this genre, such as, for example, the fanfic "The Ring of Darkness", which was written by Nick Perumov for Tolkien's famous work "The Lord of the Rings". Many fans argue before fights who wrote better: Perumov or Tolkien.

A lot has been written in this genre. The authors love alien universes and write whole book series on Star Wars, Dragonlance, Warhammer and other commercially successfulwritings whose authors treat franchising loyally. The most interesting thing is that books from someone else's table - both sequels and prequels - are always sold like hot cakes. But it is not the epigones who should be thanked for this, but the author of the original, who created such an interesting universe that readers miss, and so much so that they are ready to read even frankly weak imitations.

More varieties by way of writing

Often the author does not want or cannot master the whole book of fanfiction alone. Genres, styles, language of narration are intertwined, the transitions between parts become too abrupt, and the actions of the characters become inconsistent if several authors write the same book - each fragment has its own. Round robin (or - "in a circle") - this is the name of this subgenre. Today, every reader can find their favorite genres of fanfiction. Ficbook is a site on the Internet where authors find their readers, and readers find their authors.

There are some daredevils who take the risk of introducing into the text characters who are real people (usually celebrities). Such fanfic will be called RPF, or Real person fiction. The site "Book of Fanfiction" presents genres of such a plan in full assortment. The situation becomes even more interesting when the author uses a variety of Real person slash and paints the homosexual relationships of real people, moreover, famous people who have never declared their orientation and are even the fathers of families. Sometimes the author inscribes himself in the context of fanfiction. It is calledAuthor character or Self-insert. So, for example, Vasily Aksyonov made his character find a credit card on the beach in the name of Vasily Aksyonov.

Dividing characters into groups

Omegaverse fanfiction shows a specific reality where people belong to one of three types - alpha, omega and beta. Dominant males are alphas, while omegas are passive characters with strange inclinations, with periods of sexual activity, like "rutting" in animals or "estrus", when the omega physically needs the alpha. And beta is a neutral character, not interfering in relations between alphas and omegas.

This genre came out of slash, and therefore women may not be there at all. The omegaverse is distinguished by a huge number of physiological assumptions that are impossible either in the real world or in the world of the canon. Like male pregnancy. Similar genres of fanfiction should have warnings: suddenly some physiological details will be unpleasant for the reader. The authors usually mark the genre and dangers in the "header" to the work, in the same place as the gratitude to the original author.

Correct to the original

This is the evaluation part of fanfiction genres, and there are a lot of evaluations. Alternative Universal, or AU, says that fan fiction has big differences with the canon. NO-AU - on the contrary, either there are no discrepancies with the original universe, or they are insignificant or controversial. Original fanfiction have little or no connection to the original. Uberfic, or Uber Fanfiction, is almost Original fanfiction, where the link can only be the scene or takenames of the original, everything else has nothing to do with the original. For example, there is Frodo and Sam, but no ring of omnipotence and other saurons, that is, all their actions are completely an invention of the fickwriter.

Out Of Character, or OOC, is what they say about fanfiction, where the contradictions and discrepancies in the characters' characters are very significant in comparison with the original. For example, Gandalf is a traitor, elves are bloodthirsty and vile, and orcs are honest and good-natured people (Perumov has the last two cases, for example). If a ficwriter creates a unique look for a character that hasn't appeared in any of the fandoms, it's called an Original Character. Such characters are usually not the main characters, but they play a significant role in helping the main characters overcome obstacles. These characters are unpredictable and lucky, but they don't look like Mary Sues.

Mary and Marty

"Mary Sue" Russian fans of any universe call disparagingly "Marysyukha" or even "Masha". This is usually a fan fiction character written by a woman (girl), where the heroine embodies the actual or desired (more often) features of the author herself. Usually Mary Sues are unusually beautiful and indescribably clever - a cross between Vasilis the Beautiful and the Wise. They are also found in venerable authors. And not in fan fiction, but in original works. For example, George Martin - repeatedly.

The name is chosen complex and melodic, for example Daenerys, her hair and eyes are of a color that is not found inordinary people, the past was stormy and full of adventures, and supernatural abilities appeared, for example, not to burn in fire or not to drown in water. Mary Sue will surely charm all the main characters, and then save the world. This is how the girls write. Marty Sue - the same, but in the male version.

Varieties according to the plot

If characters die in a fanfiction, it is classified as Deathfic. If the characters take a long time to establish a relationship - Established Relationship. Hurt/comfort - just by the name, we can conclude that it will be about helping one character - strong and kind - to another - weak and suffering.

Well, the genre that has almost classic examples is Continuation, when fanfiction is an exact continuation of the original work. For example, "Gone with the Wind" Margaret Mitchell continued quite successfully Alexander Ripley's novel "Scarlett". In any case, it was sold and is being sold as successfully as the original.

Related genres

With the growth of opportunities, thanks to technological progress, fans of certain works of art successfully combine literary creativity with related genres. And fanfiction is sometimes quite high quality. For example, a film based on the Star Wars universe - Star Wars: Revelations: a highly technical level, using the latest technology. This is a fanfilm. A modification of fanfiction is also drawing based on a work, where completely new artistic images of beloved ones are created.characters. This is fan art.

But for any genre - both pure fanfiction and related, like a role-playing computer game, for example - you need, first of all, a general interest in the canon, that is, that work (book, film, series, comics, TV show, etc.), heroes and the whole world which will be used to write fanfiction.

Afterword

Fanfic is a related kind of creativity, where the ficwriter uses both his own fiction, far from the canon, and some set of elements from the original world. This is the only genre other than parody, of course, where the reader is better off being familiar with the work that inspired the ficwriter. The author wrote not for money, but for pleasure, first of all, his own, and secondarily - for the pleasure of the same fans of the author of the original work. They are not only consumers of someone else's creativity. Fikreiter is an example of co-creation, when literature appeals to the reader, and the reader responds with action.

And sometimes the author's innuendo, "open" ending, sometimes just gaps and inconsistencies, sometimes the essence of the storyline is indicated only by a hint. And then the fans have an incentive. They meticulously and carefully think through every detail of the episode, they sleep and see different paths of development, build conjectures and assumptions, and then all this results in filling in the gaps in the original narrative that they found. Aren't these efforts worthy of respect?