Fanfic that has a domestic chore as the plot. The classic situation is shopping for curtains, hence the name. Other sorts of shopping also work.
This can also mean just a fic of a couple, either Het or Slash Fic, spending the day at home.
This is a variety of W.A.F.F., a fan-created Breather Episode; the point is showing the characters doing something quiet and mundane together. Interestingly, this genre is popular even (especially?) for fandoms where the work itself (including official Breather Episodes) is action-packed. The phenomenon of fanfic written about characters shopping for curtains was first noted in an on-line article about fanfic for The Sentinel.
True examples of this trope rarely contain sex; the trip to IKEA rarely ends with IKEA Erotica. This trope is all about character study... or about a 'plot' as paper-thin as a writer can make it (with the possible exception of the plot of a Lemon fic.)
This can also be played for laughs when a character with No Social Skills acts like a Fish out of Water for something as "simple" as buying toilet paper; see also Villains Out Shopping.
Examples:
- The anime and light novel Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat follows a group of friends finding a magical stone cat that grants wishes, this fanfic The Boredom of Yoto Yokodera
follows the cast from on a normal day. Well, sort of normal.
- Tampon has Edward Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist going on the Errand Of Doom; picking up tampons for Winry.
- The Second Try is an interesting take on this, since the activities in question are survival in a post-Third Impact world and revolve around things like getting food, self-education and property maintenance. It's also notable in that it provides significant Character Development for Shinji and Asuka.
- Shadowjack Watches Sailor Moon, has "Mister Tsukino Does His Taxes and the Household Budget." Well, at first. It gets kinda weird around the halfway point.
- A Growing Affection: Chapter 41 is about Naruto and friends checking out his mother's condo.
- The Madoka Magica doujin I Became a Housewife is about Madoka trying out an online potato salad recipe for her new partner.
- The Gintama fic I Wish This Year to be Full of Laughter features Shouyou and his students preparing a traditional Japanese New Year meal.
- Shows up often in Teen Wolf Sterek fic, usually featuring Derek renovating the burned-out shell of his family home.
- As a prime example of this sort of thing, "five times Derek and Stiles weren't actually boyfriends (and one time they were)" by Half Fizzbin actually starts with Derek saying "I need curtains."
- As a prime example of this sort of thing, "five times Derek and Stiles weren't actually boyfriends (and one time they were)"
- The surprisingly in-character Vetinari/Death Discworld fic called, reasonably enough, "Curtain Call."
- The Harry Potter fanfic "House Proud" is about Draco helping Harry to refurbish a vaguely-sentient Grimmauld Place by means of various domestic tasks. Curtains feature heavily.
- The Homestuck fanfic "Grocery Day" is about the trolls going to an Earth supermarket for shopping. Hilarity Ensues though, choking all possible W.A.F.F. under a payload of wacky hijinks.
- The Most Massively Useful Thing is a Metal Gear fic that has Snake and Otacon shopping for stuff and having a competition involving a towel and a box.
- Certain Main Stories of the Crossover series Tokimeki PokéLive! and TwinBee have certain couples at home relaxing and chatting with each other. A particularly heartwarming example is the Risa Selden/Emma Verde focused "The Problem with Running!".
