The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water is a 2017 American romantic dark fantasy drama film directed by Guillermo del Toro. In 2018, it received Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
== Canon ==
There are three canon sources: the film, the novel, and the Making Of book.
===The Shape of Water film===
The Shape of Water is a fantasyfilm inspired by classic horror tropes. It is director Guillermo del Toro's 'fairy tale for troubled times'. In some ways, it is a fanwork itself, re-interpreting The Creature from the Black Lagoon as a romance and social commentary on conservative American society. Wikipedia sums it up as "Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962, the story follows a mute cleaner at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature."
===The Shape of Water novel===
The Shape of Water novel is co-authored by Guillermo del Toro and the horror writer Daniel Kraus. Daniel Kraus' approach, and his role in developing the Shape of Water concept, are described in this interview. Kraus notes that the novel "was a companion and it could be different. But I will say it's not wildly different." 
===The 'Making Of' book===
In 2018, a detailed 'making of' book was also published: Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times .See: This book contains additional backstory material, especially detailed character profiles for Giles Dupont, Zelda Fuller, and Dr. Robert Hoffstetler.
== Fandom ==
The movie received a lot of attention in fandom for the canon couple being a human/monster pairing. It remains a relatively small fandom and has a lot of overlap with the teratophilia community.
Most art and fic focuses on the central pairing, Elisa Esposito and the Asset. There is a steady trickle of crossover works linking The Shape of Water to del Toro's Hellboy films and the related comics. 
 
Shape of Water archetypes and imagery are often used as the basis for AUs in other fandoms. These AUs recast different characters in the role of the Asset, the rescuer, and others. The Shape of Sheith fanzine is one example.
When the movie received two Academy Awards in 2018, nazrigar wrote:
== Fanworks ==
=== Fanart ===
* by hawberries
* dancing in the water… how different can it be, from the open universe? by the-chokey
* happily ever after by younggenji
* felicidades by shima-spoon
* long due for a shape of water art <3 by foxtroupe
* Hi i love them by inkie
* witchcraft and Hellboy-Shape of Water crossover cover by hrodvitnon
* aquatic Elisa and time is but a river by totallyottie99
* Amazon hallucination by orb02
* works by emijodorinote
=== Zines ===
* You'll Never Know
=== Meta ===
* by Alicia Kania (December 15, 2017)
* Was Elisa a Fishperson? An Essay in Two Parts by shapeofh2o
* by ThoughtfulFangirling /January 2, 2018)
* Stories We Choose to Tell: A Shape of Water Edition by ThoughtfulFangirling
* The Shape of Water and Cinema Visions: stealing an other American dream by Tyellas 
* Is Venom the new Shape of Water? by Tyellas
== Fest and Exchanges ==
* The Shape of Water Fic Fest
* Collection at AO3
* Included in Yuletide from 2018 onwards
== Archives and Communities ==
* The Shape of Water works on AO3
* Shape of Water works at FFN
* Tumblr tags: Shape of Water, The Shape of Water, shapeofwateredit
* shapeofh2o, a Tumblr blog dedicated to the canon
* Shape of Water YMMV discussion at TV Tropes
==References==
Category:The Shape of Water