![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I totally stole this from somewhere that I can’t remember, and changed it to suit my needs. The author was an obvious BTVS fan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), so that all the examples given were from that fandom. I changed them to work in the HPverse, so that it would make sense to anyone reading it on my LJ. Hence, I did some of the work on this info, but not most of it. I would credit the right person if I could remember where I found it.
Fan Fic terms and their meanings:
AU - This means alternate universe.
Beta - A Beta reader is a writer's best friend, and sometimes their biggest foil. The Beta of the fanfic world is like the editor in the real world. They check grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., but also they check canon, plot flow, characterization, and many other aspects that distinguish great fiction from so-so fiction.
Canon - Canon is a term used to describe things that have actually happened in the books, or things that JKR has specifically revealed through interviews and such.
Drabble - A drabble began as a 100 word fic. These tend to be on a theme and LiveJournal has several drabble communities. The idea of a drabble is to convey an event or emotion in a short 100 words.
Drabblet - This is something between 100-500 words, usually a drabble that got out of hand or a short character piece that never became a full-fledged fic. I write a lot of these to clear my head when it get too full of non-FTU stuff that needs an outlet.
Fandom - The community of people who share an interest in a specific genre or idea or publication, etc., includes Live Journal communities, email lists, discussion boards, those who get together for conferences, etc.
Fanfiction – Stories about the characters, situations and could be/ might have been in canon.
Feedback/Reviews - Many authors ask for feedback or reviews on their stories, and even if they don't ask for it most authors do appreciate it. So what is feedback? It's just a way of saying 'Hey, liked you're story.' Pure and simple. If you love the imagery, characterization, plot, wit, humor, sex, etc. Tell the writer. IMO, people who read fan fiction and then don’t leave a review are kind of like those people who sneak into movies without paying. I’ve seen authors with fabulous stories stop writing them, because they don’t believe anyone cares whether they continue or not. A simple one or two work review can make an author’s day!
Ficathon - An event organized to bring writers together, writing with a deadline (usually 3-6 weeks). Usually ficathons are theme or character based, 1000+ word stories where one writer requests a situation with 2-3 things they would like to see, and 2-3 things they would not like to see in the story written for them.
Ficlet - A story usually between 500-1000 words, different from a PWP, these tend to be a little more plot driven, little windows into a moment from the show, etc. Of course word counts are just a general guideline and not set in stone.
Filk - A song with altered lyrics, to make it HP-related.
Flames - Flames are the opposite of helpful feedback. It means sending an email to an author to tell them (usually in the rudest way possible) that you disliked the story you just read. Common examples are people who can't stand slash, yet read a slash story in its entirety then email the author to tell them they hate slash. I had a flame not long ago that I shared with this group – check it out if you can stand the profanity. It’s okay so say that you didn’t enjoy a story, if you are polite about it, and give a well-thought out reason.
Future Fic- A piece set after the end of canon books. Stories set in the future give the author the chance to explore ideas possibly hinted at in canon as something that 'may happen' in the future.
Het - Male/Female sex in a fic is called “het” - as in Heterosexual.
Hurt/Comfort - Also called H/C, fic where one character is hurt or beaten and another takes care of them, usually leading to sexual relations.
Kerfuffle- A silly word basically meaning an online argument involving more than a couple people. These tend to happen on email lists, web-boards and Live Journal. Not a discussion, but something that has denigrated down from there.
Live Journal- Also called LJ, a website where people from all over the world have journals and interact with other people from fandom. Also home to LJ 'communities' where fic and essays can be posted, critiqued, etc.
Netiquette - General term for online niceness. This applies to many online settings, proper netiquette involves everything from asking for permission before archiving stories or essays to writing responses/feedback to authors you enjoy and signing guestbooks at sites you visit. Netiquette's main purpose is to keep online life friendly and avoid hard feelings and misunderstandings.
Non-Canon - Is just the opposite of above. Relationships that have never been shown, spoken of, or hinted at on the shows are non-canon, as are the many great liberties taken with character histories.
OTP - One True Pairing - A term that originated on Live Journal, means the two characters that make your heart pitter patter. Usually refers to a romantic pairing such as Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Draco/Ginny, etc. Does not have to be canon.
POV - Point of View - Means the character whose perspective is being highlighted or followed in a story.
PWP – Plot? What Plot? Or Porn without Plot. This is a small, usually short, often funny, tale of smut, with either no or very little lead in. If you’re not old enough to be reading R/NC-17 material, or if it is not your thing, definitely steer clear of these types of fics.
Posting Text - The warnings and disclaimers attached to the beginning of a story when posting to a mailing list or archive. These include, Title, Name, Rating, Warnings, Spoilers, Timeline, Thanks, Pairings, or author notes.
Ratings - The ratings system on this page loosely follows American movie ratings and are as follows: G- all ages, PG- some intimacy, mild language, PG-13-fleshy touching, strong language, R- actual nudity, sex, course language, NC-17- graphic sex with excessive detail, rape, torture, etc. These ratings seem subject to change as society as a whole becomes desensitized to stuff.
Shipper - Someone who has an affinity for a specific pairing or relationship, whether conventional or non.
Slash -Slash means any same-sex pairing. Usually it’s Male/Male pairings, though a slash story is not always sexual in nature – if you’re unsure, just check the rating of the story. Female/Female relationships is usually referred to as Femme-Slash.
Songfic - A story with song lyrics woven into a story, can also include stories inspired by a particular song.
Spoilers - Plot elements that refer directly to things that have happened in canon for those who may not have read the books yet. In the HPverse, we tend to only leave spoiler warnings for recent releases – Like when the PoA movie first came out, and the people who saw it right away wanted to talk about it, they would leave a spoiler warning for those who hadn’t seen it yet.
Squee – More of a sound or joy, it is an online term meaning extreme happiness.
Squick - A plot point, kink or device that turns the reader off, grosses them out, or pulls them out of a fic. Many people are squicked by slash, torture, excessive consumption of cheese, etc. Everyone has his or her own threshold for various ideas.
WIP - Work in Progress.
I hope that this helped to clarify something for you – did I miss anthing?
And now, I did have a review for Chapter Five – I’ve pretty much finished correcting Chapter six, so it will be right on time this week.
Pigwidgeon - Hi April! Thanks! I’ve been trying to be subtle, but there are clues in there as to what makes Connor’s hands itch. Mwahaha!
And lastly, the Goofy Link of the day: http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games/caray/
Sorry – It’s a bit lame, but damn it all, I can’t get past level three!
Fan Fic terms and their meanings:
AU - This means alternate universe.
Beta - A Beta reader is a writer's best friend, and sometimes their biggest foil. The Beta of the fanfic world is like the editor in the real world. They check grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., but also they check canon, plot flow, characterization, and many other aspects that distinguish great fiction from so-so fiction.
Canon - Canon is a term used to describe things that have actually happened in the books, or things that JKR has specifically revealed through interviews and such.
Drabble - A drabble began as a 100 word fic. These tend to be on a theme and LiveJournal has several drabble communities. The idea of a drabble is to convey an event or emotion in a short 100 words.
Drabblet - This is something between 100-500 words, usually a drabble that got out of hand or a short character piece that never became a full-fledged fic. I write a lot of these to clear my head when it get too full of non-FTU stuff that needs an outlet.
Fandom - The community of people who share an interest in a specific genre or idea or publication, etc., includes Live Journal communities, email lists, discussion boards, those who get together for conferences, etc.
Fanfiction – Stories about the characters, situations and could be/ might have been in canon.
Feedback/Reviews - Many authors ask for feedback or reviews on their stories, and even if they don't ask for it most authors do appreciate it. So what is feedback? It's just a way of saying 'Hey, liked you're story.' Pure and simple. If you love the imagery, characterization, plot, wit, humor, sex, etc. Tell the writer. IMO, people who read fan fiction and then don’t leave a review are kind of like those people who sneak into movies without paying. I’ve seen authors with fabulous stories stop writing them, because they don’t believe anyone cares whether they continue or not. A simple one or two work review can make an author’s day!
Ficathon - An event organized to bring writers together, writing with a deadline (usually 3-6 weeks). Usually ficathons are theme or character based, 1000+ word stories where one writer requests a situation with 2-3 things they would like to see, and 2-3 things they would not like to see in the story written for them.
Ficlet - A story usually between 500-1000 words, different from a PWP, these tend to be a little more plot driven, little windows into a moment from the show, etc. Of course word counts are just a general guideline and not set in stone.
Filk - A song with altered lyrics, to make it HP-related.
Flames - Flames are the opposite of helpful feedback. It means sending an email to an author to tell them (usually in the rudest way possible) that you disliked the story you just read. Common examples are people who can't stand slash, yet read a slash story in its entirety then email the author to tell them they hate slash. I had a flame not long ago that I shared with this group – check it out if you can stand the profanity. It’s okay so say that you didn’t enjoy a story, if you are polite about it, and give a well-thought out reason.
Future Fic- A piece set after the end of canon books. Stories set in the future give the author the chance to explore ideas possibly hinted at in canon as something that 'may happen' in the future.
Het - Male/Female sex in a fic is called “het” - as in Heterosexual.
Hurt/Comfort - Also called H/C, fic where one character is hurt or beaten and another takes care of them, usually leading to sexual relations.
Kerfuffle- A silly word basically meaning an online argument involving more than a couple people. These tend to happen on email lists, web-boards and Live Journal. Not a discussion, but something that has denigrated down from there.
Live Journal- Also called LJ, a website where people from all over the world have journals and interact with other people from fandom. Also home to LJ 'communities' where fic and essays can be posted, critiqued, etc.
Netiquette - General term for online niceness. This applies to many online settings, proper netiquette involves everything from asking for permission before archiving stories or essays to writing responses/feedback to authors you enjoy and signing guestbooks at sites you visit. Netiquette's main purpose is to keep online life friendly and avoid hard feelings and misunderstandings.
Non-Canon - Is just the opposite of above. Relationships that have never been shown, spoken of, or hinted at on the shows are non-canon, as are the many great liberties taken with character histories.
OTP - One True Pairing - A term that originated on Live Journal, means the two characters that make your heart pitter patter. Usually refers to a romantic pairing such as Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Draco/Ginny, etc. Does not have to be canon.
POV - Point of View - Means the character whose perspective is being highlighted or followed in a story.
PWP – Plot? What Plot? Or Porn without Plot. This is a small, usually short, often funny, tale of smut, with either no or very little lead in. If you’re not old enough to be reading R/NC-17 material, or if it is not your thing, definitely steer clear of these types of fics.
Posting Text - The warnings and disclaimers attached to the beginning of a story when posting to a mailing list or archive. These include, Title, Name, Rating, Warnings, Spoilers, Timeline, Thanks, Pairings, or author notes.
Ratings - The ratings system on this page loosely follows American movie ratings and are as follows: G- all ages, PG- some intimacy, mild language, PG-13-fleshy touching, strong language, R- actual nudity, sex, course language, NC-17- graphic sex with excessive detail, rape, torture, etc. These ratings seem subject to change as society as a whole becomes desensitized to stuff.
Shipper - Someone who has an affinity for a specific pairing or relationship, whether conventional or non.
Slash -Slash means any same-sex pairing. Usually it’s Male/Male pairings, though a slash story is not always sexual in nature – if you’re unsure, just check the rating of the story. Female/Female relationships is usually referred to as Femme-Slash.
Songfic - A story with song lyrics woven into a story, can also include stories inspired by a particular song.
Spoilers - Plot elements that refer directly to things that have happened in canon for those who may not have read the books yet. In the HPverse, we tend to only leave spoiler warnings for recent releases – Like when the PoA movie first came out, and the people who saw it right away wanted to talk about it, they would leave a spoiler warning for those who hadn’t seen it yet.
Squee – More of a sound or joy, it is an online term meaning extreme happiness.
Squick - A plot point, kink or device that turns the reader off, grosses them out, or pulls them out of a fic. Many people are squicked by slash, torture, excessive consumption of cheese, etc. Everyone has his or her own threshold for various ideas.
WIP - Work in Progress.
I hope that this helped to clarify something for you – did I miss anthing?
And now, I did have a review for Chapter Five – I’ve pretty much finished correcting Chapter six, so it will be right on time this week.
Pigwidgeon - Hi April! Thanks! I’ve been trying to be subtle, but there are clues in there as to what makes Connor’s hands itch. Mwahaha!
And lastly, the Goofy Link of the day: http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games/caray/
Sorry – It’s a bit lame, but damn it all, I can’t get past level three!
