FANFICTION TERMINOLOGY
for the newbies.
Fanfiction - or fan fiction - means simply fictive stories written by fans of a certain book, series, comic, movie, TV show et cetera. However, the world of fanfiction may be a bit confusing for a beginner. That's why I highly recommend that you first become familiar with the word explanations, ratings and other stuff below, before you go reading fanfiction or other short stories on this site. That is because I USE THE FANFICTION TEMRINOLOGY IN MY OTHER STORIES, TOO, that is, those with original characters and the like.
- AR/AU
- Alternate Reality/Alternate Universe. In stories that are AU, the canonical facts that usually belong to the certain fandom (e.g. that Harry Potter didn't die at the age of one but survived the Killing Curse) are partly or wholly changed (e.g. that Harry did die). These stories do not follow the canon set-out originally written by the author, and writing AU gives more freedom for the fanfiction writers to explore the different possibilities. You declare your story AU by simply stating it out in the beginning of your story, usually in the Genre part.
- A/N
- Author's Note. What the author of the story wishes to say about their creation. This can be located in the beginning or also to the end of your story.
- Angst
- A genre type. Usually a melancholy, depressing story.
- Beta
- Also beta-reader. After you've finished a story, it is highly recommended to let someone read it before you publish it. A beta reader, or beta readers if you choose to use many, read your story and comment on it (point out the errors, things that do not fit the story line, etc) so that you can edit it before publishing it.
- Canon
- The word 'canon' stands for things, events, characters, settings and etc. that are 'officially' considered to belong to a certain fictional universe. (E.g., Harry Potter has dark hair.) It is usually the original source that has created the certain universe that determines what is considered canon and what is non-canon.
- Crossover
- A fic is a crossover story when characters, settings or events from two different universes meet in one story. (E.g. Harry Potter turns out to be a Jedi, or wakes up one morning to find himself in Narnia, or something.)
- Femslash
- Check slash.
- Fic, a
- A fic is simply a story that is fanfiction - no matter the length, the genre or the fandom.
- Fluff
- A genre type. A sweet, romantic story.
- Het
- A fanfiction story that contains a heterosexual pairing. You include the note 'het' usually in the genre section.
- Hurt/Comfort
- A genre type. Right as the name says - it goes usually so that one of the characters in the pairing gets hurt (/raped/shot/beaten) and the other then mends their wounds.
- Mary Sue
- The perfection herself. An OC - original character - of the author's. She (or he, but if they are a 'he', you call them Gary Stue) is beautiful, talented, creative, smart and all that shit, and the main character (if the OC's not the main character) usually falls in love with her beyond help. Or then she comes to send the world back to its track. Also, usually she's a character so near to perfection that it gets rather annoying.
- One-shot
- A fic that consists of only one chapter.
- OOC
- Comes from words Out of Character. That means that the author has, unintentionally or on purpose, written one or more of the characters incredible, so that they no more agree with the personality their original author/creator has created for them.
- Pairing
- When two characters of a certain fandom are written to end up together, be a couple, that is called a pairing. It doesn't matter whether the pairing is canon. Most of the fanfiction out there is all about pairing the characters. (Examples: Harry/Hermione, Sirius/Remus, Narcissa/Bellatrix.)
- Parody
- A genre type. A parody is a parody - what more can I say?
- PoV
- Point of View. It tells the reader whose point of view the story is written from. If stated, it is usually located somewhere in the beginning, or if the fic includes various PoV's, then at the beginning of each chapter or where the view changes.
- PWP
- Stands for "Plot? What plot?" which means that there is no plot to be found in the story. There's no main thread. It's just a random fic written for the sake of it - or for the sake of sex, for that is usually what the PWP-stories are all about.
- RATING
- Okay so, this is without a question the most important section. Ratings go as follows:
G: General - stories rated G agree with everyone. There's no adult or disturbing content, it's a safe fic.
PG: Parental Guidance - doesn't agree with the youngest of readers, but isn't unsettling either. May contain some swearing or holding hands.
PG-13: Parental Guidance and not for readers under the age of 13 - it's mostly the same as the previous rating, but may contain a wee bit bolder stuff, like kissing. (Eek!)
PG-15: Some people don't see any difference between PG-15 and R, but R can be seen as a slightly higher rating. Anyway, PG-15 likely contains at least references to sexual situations, some snogging, some mild violence, some drinking or so.
R: Not recommended for readers under the age of fifteen, it may not be suitable. Fics rated R most likely have some adult content, e.g sex, violence, drugs, alcohol...
NC-17: The highest of ratings (although you may sometimes find fics rated NC-19 or NC-21, but that is rare.) It is for sure that these stories DO CONTAIN adult material. There may be rapes, graphic violence, heavy sexual content et cetera. Not suitable for readers under the age of 17. (Though it cannot usually be controlled who reads the stories and who doesn't - and underage people do read NC-17 fics all the time, which cannot be helped, either. I myself read them at the age of fourteen, so I'm not really to judge anybody, but I also do not want to be responsible for people getting traumatized.) Mind the ratings!
- R & R
- Read et Review. The author may add this plea in their A/N.
- Ship
- Ship is the same as the word 'pairing' - a shipper supports a certain ship/pairing.
- Slash
- Slash can be seen as one sort of a genre, but it is also used generally about pairing characters of the same sex. So, if a fic's main pairing of any of the side pairings is a homosexual one, the fic is considered as slash. 'Slash' stands these days also for all kind of homosexual activity, and is therefore not limited only to the world of fanfiction. 'Femslash' stands for slash between females, but the simplier term 'slash' can refer to a pairing that includes two (or more) females, as well.