FanFiction - Facts

General Definition

Fanfiction or 'fanfics' are pieces of writing completed by fans about their favorite subjects in popular culture.

The Facts

The writing and reading of fanfiction is a huge, thriving internet subculture that is only growing in popularity.

Fanfiction is usually written about TV shows, movies and books, but can also include everything from sports players to punk bands.

Fanfiction is really, really weird.

History

Fanfiction had its beginnings among Star Trek fans in the 70's, who would trade homemade zines with collected stories about their favorite characters. It remained a niche market until the invention of the Internet by Al Gore, which facilitated the creation of at least 700 thousand billion fanfics every year.

Fanfiction Genres

AU
AU or 'alternate universe' fanfiction uses characters from a particularly fandom after removing them from the context of anything interesting at all.
For example, a Twilight AU fanfiction might star Edward Cullen as a chartered tax accountant who falls in love with his client Bella, and the torture he goes through when he realizes he has a secret and inexplicably powerful desire to report her to the IRS.

Fanart and Fanvids
In recent years, with the advent of Photoshop and video software, fanfiction has spread beyond the realms of text and into other media. We think that this happened when Satan decided that accidentally stumbling upon Harry/Draco slash fiction wasn't mentally traumatizing enough, and decided to invent a way to transform it into a more memorable form. Several demonic possessions later, manips were born.

Fanvids are made by selecting short clips from movies or TV shows and rearranging them into a short clip, usually set to music. These videos either focus on a certain character or aspect of the show or movie (for example, this person really likes Sylar from Heroes) or create an entirely new imaginary story (this person really likes two other characters from Heroes).


OTPs
OTP stands for 'One True Pairing' and refers to a fanfic writer's fixation on a particular couple, whether it is canonical or non-canonical. Fixating like this on a particular couple is known as shipping. The most famous example of shippers in action is the Harry Potter fans who became obsessed with the non-canonical Harry/Hermione pairing and became distraught with rage when Harry ended up with another woman.

Creator Reactions
Reactions of character creators to fanfiction have been varied, from polite acknowledgment to legal threats to having their character discuss out loud how disturbing and weird some types of fanfiction are. Fans reacted to all of these things by writing 9,000,000 new fanfics.