Kidfic

Kidfic is a diverse sub-genre of fanfic that features children in some way. The children may be the canonical children of canon characters, original characters written in to be the children of canon characters, or characters who are adults in canon.
Stories from sources (prequels) where the principal characters are children, such as Harry Potter, are not usually regarded as kidfic unless they involve a trope such as de-aging. The fandom also is particularly known for next generation fic, stories that explore the lives of Harry's children, mentioned only briefly in the epilogue or marauders era which address the lives of Harry's parents and other characters, such as Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy or Tom Riddle.
==Classification Categories==
The plots of kidfics vary widely, but fall roughly into two categories. 
The first involves the main characters being children themselves. This could mean the creator simply rewrote an adult character as a child, making the story an AU, or it could involve de-aging the characters as a plot point. Similarly, fanfic that explores the canon backstory of a character's childhood can also be described as kidfic. 
The second category involves adult characters parenting a child, whether its their biological child, adopted child, or a child accidentally or otherwise unusually acquired. In the case of kids that are original characters, they are sometimes used as a plot device to bring the fan author's OTP together. An example of the child-as-plot-device would be an AU where one character is the kid's babysitter or teacher, and falls in love with the kid's single parent. Another would be if one canon character finds a baby left on their doorstep, and their friend helps them raise it (aka babyfic). However, the kids can also be more fully characterized and involved with the story. OC children can sometimes even enter the fanon, with the same child appearing across multiple author's fics, keeping the same name, physical appearance, parentage, and/or personality. An example of this is Michael Snart, Leonard Snart's son in ColdFlash fanon, who appears fairly frequently in fic.
==Art Gallery==
Image:Idic5inside3.jpg|illustration from IDIC #5 by Sehlat, the zine that first published the Sahaj series about Spock having a son
Image:Nia.jpg|cover of The Nia Chronicles by TACS
Image:BB InMoonlessSky.jpg|cover of In a Moonless Sky by Anna Deavers-Kelley
Image:Sg1_devLDcov_th.jpg|cover of Devra: Little Daniel (Stargate SG1 zine) by Eilidh
Image:Thehunter.jpg|art from Alkarin Warlord by Carol Walske
Image:counterpoint9-1.jpg|from Counterpoint #9, artist is Fiona Graves
==Fanwork Examples==
===Zines===
*Devra: Little Daniel (SG-1)
*Jack's Son #1-8 (SG-1)
*Magnificent Kids #1-11 (M7)
*Magnificent Little Britches #1-3 (M7)
*The Nia Chronicles (Sentinel)
===Fanfics===
In which the kids are original characters:
*Bandom: Thereafter You Have It (And Tango Makes Three) by sunsetmog. Brendon gets a girl pregnant and convinces her to give him the baby. Spencer moves in to help out, and they pretend they're not in love for a while. (2009)
*Due South: With Six You Get Eggroll by Speranza. A post-series AU in which Fraser and Kowalski adopt six children. (2001)
*One Direction: does it almost feel like nothing changed at all by estrella30. Niall gets a baby left w him and Harry moves in to help him take care of her. (2014)
*Team Fortress 2: Something New by Measured and ZoisiteMoon. It's been years since the gravel wars and robot wars, but now Scout has to take on the hardest job of his life: being a father. (2014)
*Teen Wolf: Prince Among Wolves by tylerfucklin, a Derek/Stiles AU where Stiles is babysitting Derek's kids. Derek is a single parent. (2013)
In which the kids are adults in canon, but de-aged for the purposes of the story:
*Bandom: Forever, Now by harriet_vane. Brian rescues kid!Gerard and Mikey from life on the streets, and eventually everyone finds a family. (2007)
*The Defenders: Everybody Make a Scene by poisonivory. An AU in which the Defenders and their friends are all second-graders.
==Meta & Further Reading==
*untitled babyfic meta post by rahirah on livejournal, also crossposted on dw (2005-01-23)
*On Writing Children by rahirah on dreamwidth (2010-02-07)
*poll: fics about kids by ar on dreamwidth (2010-02-26)
===Recs & Thematic Lists===
*Recs tagged Kidfic at Fancake
* list of Starsky and Hutch kidfic by ckua-pepper on livejournal
*Themed list: canon characters have children at painless_j's Harry Potter recs website
*The Nursery Files, X-Files archive of fics featuring pregnancy or children
==References==
Category:Fiction Writing
Category:Glossary
Category:Pregnancy and Parenting Tropes