Citations:Y/N

Proper noun: "(fandom slang) initialism of your name"

 * 2017, Millicent Ellen Lovelock, "You and I: One Direction, Fans and the Co-Construction of Identity", thesis submitted to the University of Otago, page 28:
 * In many imagines posted in 2013 on one blog, the scenario ends with “Y/N” (Your Name) being asked on a date. In one imagine, “Y/N” is Niall’s cousin and is going to meet his band mates for the first time. She is worried they won’t like her but Harry is especially friendly and watches her all day. Finally, he says, “You’re just really beautiful (Y/N). And I was wondering if I could take you on a date tomorrow?”
 * 2019, Johnathan H. Pope, Shakespeare’s Fans: Adapting the Bard in the Age of Media Fandom, page 141:
 * A genre that is frequently grounded in desire will logically include stand-ins for the author as part of the fantasy fulfillment, either by writing that stand-in in as a named third-person OC, by encouraging readers to insert themselves through the use of second-person narration, or through the use of y/n inclusions ( ' y/n ' is a fanfic prompt for the reader to insert 'your name' wherever ' y/n ' appears, so 'He smiled at y/n ' is meant to be read as 'He smiled at John,' or whatever your name might be).
 * 2019, Sreya Miriam Shaji, "Fanning Flames/Flaming Fans: Theorising Fanfiction ", Samyukta: A Journal of Gender and Culture, Volume 4, Number 1, January 2019 (link):
 * Y/N fics are the most overt representations of ‘Cardinal Fics’, directly addressing the need to be included in canonical narratives.
 * 2022, Jasdeep Kaur Chandi & Kulveen Trehan, "Clutching on to Gendered Tropes?: Framing of Gender Roles and Power Dynamics by Young Indian Writers of BTS Fanfiction", Volume 3, Issue 4, page 717:
 * Y/N fanfiction differs from Mary-Sue fanfiction in that it allows readers to imagine and enter the story as a protagonist.
 * 2022, Meghan McGorry, "Harry Potter and the Medium of TikTok: Shifting and POV Videos During Quarantine", thesis submitted to Muhlenberg College, page 13:
 * This goes back to the idea of POV videos being an extension of shifting, which is in turn an off-shoot of “y/n” self insert fanfiction.
 * 2022, Effie Sapuridis & Maria K. Alberto, "Self-Insert Fanfiction as Digital Technology of the Self", Humanities, Volume 11, Issue 3 (link):
 * Often, these slippages occurred when the author described the Y/N character’s hair (“long hair, “braided hair”, “thick, tousled hair”, or hair that another character can “[run] their fingers through”), or when providing the Y/N character’s physique (“small frame”, “bikini”, “slim waist”).
 * 2023, Kerra Miles, "I Know What You Did on Wattpad: Understanding the Adolescent Desire to Write Self-Insert Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Eastern Kentucky University, page 7:
 * Two variants of self-insert fanfiction, Y/N and Imagine fanfiction, are prominently used for sexually explicit, and more generally romantic, content.
 * 2024, Nia Rocca, "What is Love? (Baby Don’t Hurt Me): Exploring Young Women’s Perception of Love and Relationships in Relation to 21st Century Fanfiction", Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics, Volume 9 (link):
 * While observational learning was applied to mass media such as TV or film, it can be inferred that observational learning in specific fanfiction genres such as self-insertion or Y/N is more intense or realistic due to its nature.