Fan Fiction

Fan Fiction is an umbrella term for unlicensed, often unsanctioned, derivative works written by fans of novels, television programs, movies, comic books, and other media.

• Mary Sue / Gary Lu: A story wherein one character, usually disproportionately important to the plot, is a thinly veiled analogue of the author.

• Slash: Fan fiction that includes a love and / or sexual same-sex relationship between two characters who are not represented as so involved in the original material. "Het" refers to stories with heterosexual relationships not represented in the original material.

• RPF: "Real Person Fiction" presents celebrities, politicians, musicians, or similar characters based on actual people in fictional situations. RFP stories often also have a Mary Sue / Gary Lu character interacting with the real person.

• Uberfic: A story that follows the original author's work closely, but is set in a different time or place and features descendants, ancestors, friends, or relatives of the source material's main characters.

The following authors and franchises embrace fan fiction to varying degrees, so long as the fan fiction authors do not claim copyright or commercial gain.

• Star Trek
• Star Wars
• J.K. Rowling
• Joss Whedon
• Ron Moore
• Neil Gaiman
• Mercedes Lackey

These authors have publicly decried fan fiction. Some have taken legal action to stop the distribution of fan fiction based on their works.

• Anne Rice
• Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Nora Roberts
• P.N. Elrod
• Raymond Feist
• Terry Goodkind
• Laurell K. Hamilton