The Fanfiction Dictionary by hell_penguin

If you have any additions, comment/email me and I’ll add them!

Acronyms: i.e.: OotP, HP. What happens to lazy fanfic writers who can’t just write the name of the book or the characters. Perfectly acceptable, happens to everyone, but hard to understand outside the fangirl/fanboy crowd.

AU: Stands for Alternate Universe. Means that the writer of the AU fanfic can make anything happen, without the worry of it clashing with canon. If you are a reader and you like the fanfics you read to follow the books, ignore AU.

Canon: What is written, i.e. J.K. Rowling’s books. Unless you are an AU writer/reader, please make note of canon, or you will find yourself beat up in an alley by many crazy fans.

-Centric: means a fic centered almost totally around one character. i.e. Harry-centric.

Cleave:  Possibly the most fun word ever.  Has nothing really to do with fanfic, but if you ever need a fun word, use it somehow.  BTW, it means 2 completely different things- "to cling to" and "to separate".  I.E: James cried out, "You cleave my heart in twain, Lily!" while staring at Lily's cleavage; Lily responded "Stop cleaving to my arm or I'll get the cleaver and chop you up into little bits!"

Cliche: a phrase/group of words to be avoided in writing unless you are aware they're there and know you're being corny. ex: "heart of hearts", "between a rock and a hard place," "jumped for joy".

Cliffhangers: The bane of all fangirl/boy existence. A term that means the end of a chapter comes right before the climax. I.E: “Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Harry... To be continued.” Is usually followed by the Five Stages of Acceptance.

CoS: Short for Chamber of Secrets.

Cosplay: Name that justifies dressing up like favorite characters and looking like an utter fangirl/fanboy or a nerd.

Crackfic: Crazy, messed-up fanfic, in which nothing ever makes sense and the author was probably on drugs when they wrote it, or at least it seems like it.

Crossovers: Taking 2 fandoms or more and combining them. I.E: A House/Harry Potter crossover would probably make House and Snape be best friends while Cameron and Hermione have a heart-to-heart chat.

Disclaimer: Something that should ALWAYS be mentioned in any fanfic. It is where you say in whatever creative way you want to that “this does not belong to me. It belongs to ______ and I am only borrowing it for now.” Otherwise, the big evil Copywrite monster will come out and eat you.

Drabble: Any piece of fanfic that is 500 words or less. ex: “Best Drabble” is a category in the Scrivenshaft challenge.

Fanboys: Like fangirls, only more macho (sometimes), and way more subtle.

Fangirls: Breed of females who utterly devote themselves to their fandom. Often seen SQUEEing at movie/book premieres, wearing their fanon’s merchandise, and having heart-to-heart intense discussions on How The Movie Butchered The Book.

Fanon: Fanfiction materials. Anything that is written by fans. Not published. Sometimes, after not reading books for a while, and reading a lot of fanon, people tend to get fanon and canon confused. To avoid this, reread the books.

Five Stages of Acceptance: 1)NOOOOOOOO. 2) I hate you. 3) I actually love you, so please update. 4) This was brilliant, by the way. 5) Can’t wait!

GoF: Short for Goblet of Fire.

Happy Pill: The only form of medication not needing a prescription or rehab. Comes in many forms, most commonly a really good fanfic, a pairing, or a celebrity in a movie based on a book, i.e.: Rupert Grint is my Happy Pill.

HBP: Short for Half-Blood Prince.

Hourglass Awards: Fandom-wide fanfic awards, like the Academy Awards, where fangirls and fanboys alike nominate their favorite fanfics.

Lemon: Term used to mean a sex scene. Almost always means it will be rated R or NC-17, sometimes even XXX.

Lexicon: In the Harry Potter world, the HP Lexicon is where you go when you're writing a fanfic and you need to know some things about HP that you forgot. Contains a huge archive for all things Harry Potter, including a list of all the characters, a timeline, and many more. If ever in doubt, give the Lexicon a shout.

Mary Sue: General term referencing an Other Character (OC).  Characteristics of a Mary Sue include a dark past, a comic relief, or a personality that balances out the main character.

MWPP: in Harry Potter fanfic, stands for Moony-Wormtail-Padfoot-Prongs. Anything deemed MWPP-era means when Harry’s parents and their friends were still at school. So, B.H. (Before Harry)

OC: stands for Other Character or Original Character. Means a fanfic has added in a character that doesn’t exist in canon, and was invented by the author.

Old Hat: A type of cliche/proverb that's overused and old.  ex: "tough cookie", "that's the way the cookie crumbles."  So you would say "That's an old hat phrase!"

One-Shot: A short fanfic. Not meant to turn into anything extended, like a series or a novel.

OOC: is actually a role-playing term, but can apply to fanfic. Means Out of Character. Please, please, do NOT write anything OOC, it hurts us.

OotP: Short for Order of the Phoenix.

OTP: Stands for One True Pairing, or, the only pairing in a fandom that is closest to canon.  This is actually a matter of opinion, so "one true" is a bias.  I suggest avoiding using such a phrase to prevent your forcing of opinion on others.  I.E: Jen says, "Harry and Hermione are the OTP of HP.  They obviously belong together!" but Cat says "Obviously it's Ron and Hermione, because haven't you seen the lurking chemistry between them?"

Parody: A Ha-Ha account of a fandom, wherein the characters are blatantly made fun of and the whole point of the fanfic to poke fun at the fandom. I.E.: like Spaceballs is a parody of Star Wars and Star Trek.

PoA: Short for Prisoner of Azkaban.

Prose-Poetry:  A type of writing style in which the fanfic/whatever is short, sweet, and breathtakingly beautiful.  Often not written in a story style or a poetry style exclusively, but a combination of both.  Fiction Alley refuses to accept Prose Poetry as a type of writing, and will return it if it is under 500 words (I'm ranting, sorry).  I.E: most of my work counts as good examples, so please check them out and R&R?

R&R: Read and Review. Trust me; reviews are like candy to authors. While it may be a few words or random praise, or even harsh criticism, it doesn’t take much to get the author sugar-high.

Scrivenshaft: HP fanfic-writing contest here at UR.org. Held every now and then, in which participants write fanfic within a month, inspired by a specific prompt, and send it in to be judged by fans. There are five categories. For more information, see the Unknowable Room’s Scrivenshaft page.  And for the love of all that is Harry Potter, participate!  If you can't write, judge.

Ship: Stands for RelationSHIP. Any pairing in any book/movie. Most often, people will ask “Who do you ship?” This means: What 2/3/? characters do you like to be paired together, like Ron/Hermione.

Slash: Technically, taking 2 characters or more and pairing/shipping them. However, usually means either a boy/boy ship or a girl/girl ship. If you are homophobic or just think slash is icky, don’t read and flame, or a giant wand will appear out of nowhere and Avadra Kadavra you.

Songfic: a fanfic either based on or turned into a song.

Spoilers: What to look for if you haven’t read that book/seen that movie, unless you like to know what happens beforehand.

Spontaneous Squee: The form of SQUEE most often found in classrooms, during the movies, in bookstores/libraries, and other serious and/or quiet situations. Occurs when someone either reads a particularly delicious passage in a book, sees something SQUEE-worthy in a movie, and cannot resist either laughing or SQUEEing aloud, often disturbing the surrounding bystanders. Results in many a curious or nervous glare, and often a blush from the SQUEEer.

SS: Stands for (in the HP world) Sorcerer's Stone, a.k.a. the first Harry Potter Book. Also known as PS, short for Philosopher's Stone, the title of the same book, only released under that name in the UK.

SQUEE: sound fangirls and fanboys often make when 1) Encountering something super-cute; 2) Reading fanfic that makes them happy inside; 3) They are immensely excited; doesn't have to be sound like "squee," can be any range of squeaks or giggles.

Vignette: Pronounced VIN-yet. A short written piece, often very descriptive. And, apparently, also a small picture at the beginning and end of a chapter.