Since fanfiction was only recently allowed by the author and because the world of Pern lends itself to some awesome fictional communities, most Pern fans do their fanfiction through roleplaying. This has led to a very well-developed Pern Roleplaying Culture with a surprising amount of tropes to itself.
Here are some recurring tropes:
- Fanon: Because a lot of the things roleplayed were not actually given a lot of detail in the books, but they seemed important. (Weyrling training, anyone?)
- Fan Nickname: Flits
- Tsundere: Weyrwomen are often this way, probably because of Lessa
- Mary Sue: Widely mocked, but still present. Often hard to avoid, because gold and bronzeriders are supposed to be smart, strong-willed, charismatic, innately telepathic, etc.
- Mr. Fanservice: Bronzeriders, because Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: see above
- Action Girl: Greenriders. That is all.
- Babies Ever After
- Shipping
- Small Name, Big Ego: The leaders of the communities sometimes come off like this, especially if it's a larger RP. Usually apparent by the existence of a lot of rules or a "Board of Directors." Not always the case, though.
- All There in the Manual: Played with—there is a Pern manual, but it's not as extensive as people would like. So there's an unwritten, Fanon "manual."
- Rape As Backstory
- Alternate Timeline: "Alternate 9th Pass," anyone? Because AIVAS made things boring.
- Dis Continuity: The entire fandom seems to ignore a lot of canon. (TENT PEG!)
- Deconstruction
- Word Of God: usually ignored.
- Tradesnark: There's always a disclaimer on the bottom of the page to ward off Anne Mc Caffrey's Doom Lawyers. Might be very sarcastic, but it's always there.
