Shadsie
Sage of Tales
Genre Guide
The following applies more to fan fiction than to fan art, but it can apply there, too. Creative fandom has its own language which can be confusing to newcomers, so here is an explanation of various genres that may be helpful in labeling and finding an audience for your work. These genres apply across “fandoms” (the various things for which people create fanworks) and are in wide use. These lables can be used to warn people who dislike a particular theme (and thus prevent unwarranted flames). They can also be used to attract people who like particular themes.
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General Genres:
These tend to speak for themselves. Think of the movies you watch or of the books you pick up at a bookstore.
Drama - The characters go through hardships and heartaches. The plot may be like a soap-opera, it may be political, it may be an adventure, and it may even come with tragedy.
Adventure/Action – A story that’s very action-packed with a focus on high adventure and a fast pace.
Comedy/Humor – A plot that’s funny, where humor is the focus. The purpose of this kind of story is to make the readers laugh. ‘Nuff said.
Tragedy – Someone dies, goes insane, or otherwise suffers horrifically beyond what simple “drama” can take care of. Usually deals with death. Focus may be on those left behind and mourning.
Romance – What it says on the tin. Two characters fall in love and do sweet things for each other. Kissy-kissy goo-goo. Love that shakes the ages. As sweet or drama-filled as the writer cares to make it.
Horror – Spooky stuff, blood, murder, mayhem. This can range from a gentle, yet creepy ghost story to people running from a psycho with a chainsaw.
Angst – it’s like Tragedy and Drama, but it’s inwardly focused. Generally “character acts emo for the entire plot.”
Hurt/Comfort – One character is hurt/wounded, sick, or in emotional distress and another character or characters helps them through it or helps them to recover. This is often done in conjunction with Romance, but not always.
Friendship – A tale of friends and their caring for one another. (In some fandoms, this label has to be given by the author as a specific note that the two specific characters are *not* a romantic pair in their story, otherwise, most fans will think of them as a pair by default).
Family – Family saga, the tale of a person’s family. Most sitcoms would fit into this (as well as their default comedy slot).
Sci-Fi – Science Fiction. The usually trappings are technology and themes of the future. Sci-Fi can be anywhere from a space travel epic to… an explanation of the evolution of a set of fictional creatures. Can be a fictional putting forth of realistic theories based upon real science, or very wild, improbable stuff set up to explore social science or human psychology.
Western – Brave lawmen, noble outlaws, deserts, guns – anything with an 1800’s frontier feel (no matter the age it’s actually set in). This is an improbable genre for Zelda fan fiction to say the least, but it’s been taken on by a few brave souls, Shadsie included.
Fantasy – Deals with very wild and imaginative things, impossible things, magic and so forth. The Legend of Zelda canon firmly fits into this category already.
DarkFic – You may see this term dropped around sometimes. Generally means “a dark story, a story that deals with dark themes.” Generally the same as Drama/Tragedy/Angst/Horror or any combination of the above.
Fluff – This is another odd term you’ll see around. It’s basically the opposite of dark. Generally romance, but can denote a friendship fic, Fluff is generally “Light, cute, sweet” – meant to make the reader feel good. Fluff fics generally don’t have deep plots, as that is not their purpose.
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Pairing Genres:
“Pairings” are romantic (or sometimes just lustful) relationships between two people. Many fan fiction writers and readers write and read based upon particular kinds of pairings. The various “pairing genres” for fan fiction are as follows:
Gen – Gen is “General” and means “a story without pairings of any kind.” Or, at least, a story where a pairing might be mentioned, but it’s very much in the background of the story and not important to the plot.
Het – Het is “Heterosexual” and denotes a story which has a focus upon a male/female couple. A “Link and Zelda” romance story would be het.
Slash – denotes homosexual pairings of the male/male variety. It is sometimes called “yaoi” by readers and writers in Japanese-based fandoms. “Yaoi” may not technically be correct for all stories, as the term was originally based upon a Japanese term denoting “porn without plot.” Not all fan fiction that people label “yaoi” these days falls under pure porn. “Yaoi” is often used interchangeably by anime and Japanese video games fans with “shounen-ai” a “tamer” term meaning simply “boys love.” I find it simpler just to use the Western term of “slash” when denoting these kinds of stories.
Femmeslash – denotes homosexual airings of the female/female variety. “Yuri” is the generally accepted “heavy” Japanese term while “shojo-ai” is the tamer term. Similar to the above, but with two girls instead of two guys.
The following applies more to fan fiction than to fan art, but it can apply there, too. Creative fandom has its own language which can be confusing to newcomers, so here is an explanation of various genres that may be helpful in labeling and finding an audience for your work. These genres apply across “fandoms” (the various things for which people create fanworks) and are in wide use. These lables can be used to warn people who dislike a particular theme (and thus prevent unwarranted flames). They can also be used to attract people who like particular themes.
___________________________________
General Genres:
These tend to speak for themselves. Think of the movies you watch or of the books you pick up at a bookstore.
Drama - The characters go through hardships and heartaches. The plot may be like a soap-opera, it may be political, it may be an adventure, and it may even come with tragedy.
Adventure/Action – A story that’s very action-packed with a focus on high adventure and a fast pace.
Comedy/Humor – A plot that’s funny, where humor is the focus. The purpose of this kind of story is to make the readers laugh. ‘Nuff said.
Tragedy – Someone dies, goes insane, or otherwise suffers horrifically beyond what simple “drama” can take care of. Usually deals with death. Focus may be on those left behind and mourning.
Romance – What it says on the tin. Two characters fall in love and do sweet things for each other. Kissy-kissy goo-goo. Love that shakes the ages. As sweet or drama-filled as the writer cares to make it.
Horror – Spooky stuff, blood, murder, mayhem. This can range from a gentle, yet creepy ghost story to people running from a psycho with a chainsaw.
Angst – it’s like Tragedy and Drama, but it’s inwardly focused. Generally “character acts emo for the entire plot.”
Hurt/Comfort – One character is hurt/wounded, sick, or in emotional distress and another character or characters helps them through it or helps them to recover. This is often done in conjunction with Romance, but not always.
Friendship – A tale of friends and their caring for one another. (In some fandoms, this label has to be given by the author as a specific note that the two specific characters are *not* a romantic pair in their story, otherwise, most fans will think of them as a pair by default).
Family – Family saga, the tale of a person’s family. Most sitcoms would fit into this (as well as their default comedy slot).
Sci-Fi – Science Fiction. The usually trappings are technology and themes of the future. Sci-Fi can be anywhere from a space travel epic to… an explanation of the evolution of a set of fictional creatures. Can be a fictional putting forth of realistic theories based upon real science, or very wild, improbable stuff set up to explore social science or human psychology.
Western – Brave lawmen, noble outlaws, deserts, guns – anything with an 1800’s frontier feel (no matter the age it’s actually set in). This is an improbable genre for Zelda fan fiction to say the least, but it’s been taken on by a few brave souls, Shadsie included.
Fantasy – Deals with very wild and imaginative things, impossible things, magic and so forth. The Legend of Zelda canon firmly fits into this category already.
DarkFic – You may see this term dropped around sometimes. Generally means “a dark story, a story that deals with dark themes.” Generally the same as Drama/Tragedy/Angst/Horror or any combination of the above.
Fluff – This is another odd term you’ll see around. It’s basically the opposite of dark. Generally romance, but can denote a friendship fic, Fluff is generally “Light, cute, sweet” – meant to make the reader feel good. Fluff fics generally don’t have deep plots, as that is not their purpose.
_______________________________________
Pairing Genres:
“Pairings” are romantic (or sometimes just lustful) relationships between two people. Many fan fiction writers and readers write and read based upon particular kinds of pairings. The various “pairing genres” for fan fiction are as follows:
Gen – Gen is “General” and means “a story without pairings of any kind.” Or, at least, a story where a pairing might be mentioned, but it’s very much in the background of the story and not important to the plot.
Het – Het is “Heterosexual” and denotes a story which has a focus upon a male/female couple. A “Link and Zelda” romance story would be het.
Slash – denotes homosexual pairings of the male/male variety. It is sometimes called “yaoi” by readers and writers in Japanese-based fandoms. “Yaoi” may not technically be correct for all stories, as the term was originally based upon a Japanese term denoting “porn without plot.” Not all fan fiction that people label “yaoi” these days falls under pure porn. “Yaoi” is often used interchangeably by anime and Japanese video games fans with “shounen-ai” a “tamer” term meaning simply “boys love.” I find it simpler just to use the Western term of “slash” when denoting these kinds of stories.
Femmeslash – denotes homosexual airings of the female/female variety. “Yuri” is the generally accepted “heavy” Japanese term while “shojo-ai” is the tamer term. Similar to the above, but with two girls instead of two guys.