Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2022: Week 39

Curtainfic is a term used to describe fan fiction focusing on domestic tranquility, such as the characters in a romantic pairing "shopping for curtains" (literally or figuratively) and building a home together.

It can be part of a larger romantic plot (for instance, showing that the characters are "acting like a couple" or denoting a happy ending), or a way to explore how characters from fantastic or action-packed settings would behave in ordinary circumstances. This latter incarnation often draws criticisms of being Out of Character, and fans who object to the trope often do so because of the cognitive dissonance it provokes from reading hardened, grizzled action heroes or characters from dark and dangerous canons behaving so domestically. Some writers have found fertile ground for crackfic in subverting the trope or showing just how unlikely it would be in a canon-compliant scenario.

However, many fans are drawn to this trope specifically for its fluffy and soothing nature, whether this contrasts with or complements the original canon. Curtainfic is typically identified as being specifically romantic, and sometimes as a slash-specific trope, but the term has also been applied to gen fic.