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| "Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." "Great idea though, thanks, Mum." - Fred and George |
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Fanfic Jargon Dictionary |
| Quite often fanfics will have various warnings, descriptions of genre etc that are in code. And all fanfics have ratings. This is a guide to all the more important ones. Not all of them necessarily apply to the stories on this site. |
| Harry Potter-Related Abbreviations |
| The Books: PS/SS: Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone CoS: Chamber of Secrets PoA: Prisoner of Azkaban GoF: Goblet of Fire OotP: Order of the Phoenix Character Initials: |
| Ratings |
| Ratings in fan fic go by the American movie-rating system. They are rated for language, violence and sexual content among other things. G: General - with fan fic this does not mean that the story does not contain adult themes (such as slash) but that there will be no detail on it. HET romance may contain kissing in little or no detail, slash romance usually will not. No language or violence. |
| Genre |
| Gen: General - this covers all fics that do not fall specifically into one of the other catagories. AA (Action/Adventure): Fics that focus on what's actually happening rather than backstory or the characters' thoughts and feelings and relationships. An: Angst - emotional or physical suffering, anguish, longing, soul-searching, forbidden love etc. These fics are often depressing. DRA: Drama - a fic dealing with strong emotions of some sort, not necessarily bad ones. FL: Fluff - fics that are written to make the reader feel good, often cute or soppy, or just generally fics where nothing bad happens. Parody: Fics that purposely distort personalities, settings, plots etc usually for the purpose of humor. Parodys are usually good-natured and are not meant to criticise. Romance: Obvious. Sillyfic: Fics with no plot, no adult content, just written purely to get a laugh. This often goes hand in hand with parodies. |
| Subgenres |
| AU: Alternate Universe - this does not mean that the character has travelled into an alternate dimension. It means that the events in the story are completely seperate from the events in the original text. For example, they might describe what might have happened if a particular event hadn't happened or had happened differently (e.g. what if James and Lily were never killed). BDSM: Bondage/Discipline/Sadism/Masochism - pretty self-explanatory. These fics are always NC17. DK: DarkFic - often a sub-genre of angst. They are serious, often depressing stories that describe darker emotional aspects of a character. Often have sad endings. DF: DeathFic - a story where a major character dies. Often but not always part of an angst fic. FR: Friendship fic - stories about platonic relationships between the main characters, for example a story where a friendship is tested or where two enemies become friends. FU: Future Fic - A fic that is set so far in the future from canon events that it has no direct connection to them or any of the same characters. Hurt/Comfort: Similar to or a subgenre of angst, except the tone is one of healing and bonding, not darkness and depression. These are fics where one character is emotionally or physically injured and it is up to another character to make them better. Can be romance fics but not always. Usually have happy endings. PWP: Plot? What Plot? - These are often rated NC17, and are written purely for the sake of making one character get into a romantic/sexual situation with another character. No back-story, no build-up, nothing of what comes afterwards. RF: Rapefic - self-explanatory. A fic which features violent non-consensual sexual content, usually in detail. Almost always NC17. Smut: Again, self-explanatory. Often rated NC17, features explict sexual content. Often PWP. Slash: Homosexual relationships or situations (the term is usually used when it's between two males). Fem Slash: Female equivillant of slash. HET: Hetrosexual relationships or situations. |
| Other Abbreviations and Terms |
| Canon: Information, events, settings and characters that feature in the original material. ER: Stories that have to be read in volumes or multiple installments because of their scale. They can be very long and take years to write. OC: Original character - a character made up by the fanfic author, who does not feature in canon. OOC: Out of character - when a canon character is acting in a way that their established personality wouldn't allow. This applies to when they are doing this on a grand scale, not just one scene or one moment, and when this behaviour is done on purpose by the author. Usually these 'out of character' fics do not have an explanation for why the characters are acting the way they are. POV: Point of View - Basically, whether the story is told in the first person (I did this, I said that), the second person (sorry, I can't remember what that is now!) or the third person (he did this, she said that). Shipper: A fan of a particular pairing. Whether you think it will happen in canon, or whether you just like it in fan fiction is irrelevant. Suicidal content: One of the characters either takes their own life or contemplates it. With the latter, they may or may not be serious about it. Short Story: A fic that is less than 10,000 words. One-shot fic: A story completed in one installment. TBC: To Be Continued - it's it annoying when you see that at the end of a fic? WIP: Work in Progress - an unfinished story. Work in progress isn't a promise that the author will get round to finishing it. |