Are you, like Jackie, completely baffled and intimidated by the world of A03, Wattpad, and all other things fanfiction? Don't worry! Jen's taking down the twisty turn-y path that leads us to all thing fandom, canon, and full of ships...not the three-masted schooner kind, though.Questions/comments/concerns/suggestions? Email us at ragingromantics@nopl.org!Terms:fanfiction - fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fictionFandom - the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture.'Ships -Shipping (derived from the word relationship) is the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television series, etc.) to be in a romantic and/or sexual relationship.Superwholock - ship that involves Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock crossoverKindle Direct Publishing (KDP) - Amazon's direction publication serviceA03 - Archive of Our Own - a nonprofit open source repository for fanfiction and other fanworks contributed by usersWattpad - an online social reading platform intended for users to read and write original stories. OTP - One True PairNSFW/SFW - Not Safe For Work / Safe For Work based on contentCanon - the source material; in fiction-based fandoms, "canon" is simply the source narrative you're referring to when you talk about that thing you likeSpiritualism - a system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, especially through mediums.Fanart -artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that workGenderbent -When a character's gender is changed; usually in fanfictions or fanartFanzines- a magazine, usually produced by amateurs, for fans of a particular performer, group, or form of entertainmentSlash fic / slash fiction - a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex. Sic m/m, f/fDead dove - "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" is a warning or tag used to indicate that a fanwork contains tropes or elements that may be deemed morally reprehensible without explicitly condemning the sensitive aspects (see fanlore.org)Specific Fics and books we mention:"Master of the Universe" fanfic by EL James/Snowdragons IcequeenBeautiful Bastard by Christina LaurenThe Office (No longer available online)Tessa Dare P&P fanfiction (not available online, but this is Tessa's blog)Naomi Novik "His Majesty's Dragons" - Master & Commander ficPamelaShamelaOther episodes we recommend:#11 The Cult of Snowqueens Icedragon and 50 Shades#25 A (not-so-brief) Brief History of Romance#27 Howling for Werewolves#33 Exploring the Final Frontier with Science Fiction and RomanceLinks:Organization for Transformative Works"Fan fiction" (Wikipedia)The Forgotten Early History of Fan Fiction (Hill, 2016)"In A Lonely Lockdown, With Books Slow To Come, Fanfiction Booms" (Çam, 2020)"Fan Fiction Was Just as Sexual in the 1700s as It Is Today""How TikTok and Young Creators Turned Fanfiction into a Celebrated Art Form" (Weekman)"Fifty Shades Of Green: How Fanfiction Went From Dirty Little Secret To Money Machine" (Cucinello, 2017)"The early adventures of the apocryphal Sherlock Holmes" (Jamison, up. 2021)"Anne Rice Really Hated When People Made Her Characters Bone" (Jackson, 2021)"Why Do Queer People Write Fan Fiction? To See Themselves in Mainstream Culture" (Binstock, 2016)