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I've been a member of the HP fandom for a long time, now, but I remember when I first joined and was astounded by all the jargon associated with the world of fanfiction. Harry Potter was my first introduction to fanfiction, on or off-line, and I felt completely stupid when I first started reading it and joining various online communities. There was so much funny language being used!
And even after all this time, there are still a few terms that confuse me a bit. I've found that there is not one all-encompassing, total definition that is universally accepted for many terms. When I first joined this community, I wished to find a site where all the terms where compiled and all possible meanings explained. This is my attempt to help the newbie become better accquanited, as well as open discussion to older members of the fandom who have their own defintions of certain terms.

In short, this is my attempt at creating that all-encompasing guide to the Harry Potter Fandom Lingo.

Keep in mind, this is just in the beginning stages. I hope to create, with the help of other fans, a guide to be used by all. A guide to, once and for all, define and peg down, as best as possible, all the terminology that goes with being a fan, a fan artist, a fan writer, a fan webmaster, and a fan reader. For the Harry Potter fandom in particular, but perhaps eventually for other fandoms as well.

Ambition. The professor would be proud. Salazar, too.

Of course, I doubt it will ever meet those high Slytherin standards.

If you have any contributions to make, please owl me. I'll give you full credit, and a link if you've got a site. This is open to all fans. If you've got a term you'd like to see researched, send me those too. I'll happily do so. If I can't find what you're looking for, I'll get help from others. This is something I have not yet seen on any other site, but it was something I would have been very grateful for when I first started. Since I love Harry Potter so much, I want to make it more accessible for new fans. This is my contribution to the fandom. Spread the word, baby. Spread the magic.

Just a little warning: This fandom has a wide range of members and supports a variety of tastes and interests. Thus, this list might include topics that many are offended by, or would not want children to see. I'm not going to write anything explicit here, but there are defintions of terms that relate to sexually-explicit material. If that's a problem, leave the site, or return to the main page.

The List

Fic | OCs | Harry Potter

Fan Fiction Terms

Fandom: The universe of the fans. Where we live and breathe. The united community of the fans, if you will.

Fanon: The body of work created by the fans; usually made up of the most commonly read, most widely-known fan fictions.

Canon: The original body of work by the original author. In our case, it's all of the books written by J.K. Rowling, which will {eventually, hopefully} include all seven books, but for now, encompasses Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire {Soon we'll be able to count Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well! Yipee!}

Fan-Fic: Shortened term for a fan fiction story. It gets tiresome rather quickly typing out "fan fiction story" all the time. Variations include: fanfic, fan fic, and fic.

Slash: Same-sex pairings. Usually male/male, but can also be female/female. These are romantic and/or sexual relationships among people of the same gender. The term originated from the "/" between the names of the two characters.

Het: Romantic and/or sexual relationships of a heterosexual couple. We also use a "/" between the names for these. Confusing for the newbie who's heard the origins of slash, but a fact of fandom life.

WIP: "Work In Progress" Almost always used to describe a multiple chapter, novel-length fic that is not complete or finished. Authors often publish a fic in a sort of volume-by-volume form like this, to get feedback from readers as the story is coming together. Can be considered both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you get feedback before you get too committed to one idea; but on the other hand, you can lose your original vision in an effort to please.

Filk: Usually used to refer to a fiction based around, or exclusively on a musical song. Shunned by some "more serious" writers.

Crossover: Combining two fandoms/universes (and in some cases, an original universe) in one story. i.e. Characters from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" showing up at Hogwarts and interacting with Harry & Co.

Stand-alone; one shot; scene: Short and sweet stories that get straight to the point. One chapter and are not continued.

Missing scene: When a writer decides to write a scene that is mentioned, or implied by the canon, but that is never actually seen. Basically, a scene that the canon author did not write, but that could fit smoothly into the canon and not alter canon in any way. i.e. Snape "discussing" Neville's boggart with Lupin, or Snape brewing Lupin's Wolfsbane Potion.

Ship; Shippers: A shortened form of "relationship," referring to a particular pairing in the fandom. A "shipper" is someone who supports that particular ship. For expample: "I'm a Ron/Hermione shipper. It's a ship that's definitely happening in canon." Also fun to refer to your favorite ship as a boat, like "the S.S. Harry/Ginny."

AU: "Alternate Universe" A fanfic writer will often take characters from the fandom, and keeping all other facts the same, change one key plot point and show it's affects on the storyline. i.e. Harry is sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor.

Lemon: explicit sexual content, often hand-in-hand with angst. Nearly always an NC-17 rating.

Angsty: Angst. The state of being in angst. A character that is filled with the emotion of angst.
Angst (as defined by Webster): n. a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish.
These ar fics usually characterized by anger, depression, pain, dark themes, and darker emotions.

Fic | OCs | Harry Potter

Original charcters

OC: an Original Character created by the fan writer and not the canon author.

OFC: I've seen this used two ways: "Original Fictional Character" or "Original Female Character"
To me, "Original Fictional" is redundant. If it's original, it's fictional. This isn't a non-fiction fandom. Used to differentiate the gender of a character, helps a reader know if the story is het or slash.

OMC: Original Male Character. Less common than OFCs, but they do exist.

Mary Sue: The dreaded Mary Sue. The bane of fanfic authors everywhere. It is defined a million different ways by a million different people. Some see every OC as a Mary Sue, while to others she's only the poorly-written OC. But to most, it's more complicated than that. A Mary Sue is an OC that is usually an overly-idealised form of the writer. She's perfect, loved by all, and saves the day every time. She always gets her man. This is a touchy subject amongst fans, and thus is hard to define objectively.

Fic | OCs | Harry Potter

Harry Potter Specific Terms

JKR, JK: Refers to Ms. J.K. Rowling, herself. The canon author, and inspiration to all of us fans.

DADA: Defense Against the Dark Arts, almost exclusively used to refer to the Hogwarts teaching post

MWPP: "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs" The animagus names of Lupin, Petigrew, Black, and James Potter, respectively. James was Harry's father, and these four are also collectively referred to as the "Marauders." These names are usually used when the fic in question is based around these four characters as Hogwarts students, or can be used for stories focused on their contemporaries, like Snape. Also used is Marauders' Era, describing the time period from James and his contemporaries' school days to when James and Lily die.

Dream Team: Harry, Ron, Hermione, inclusive. A reference to a comment made by Professor Snape. They are also referred to as "the Trio."

PS/SS; COS; POA; GOF; OotP: Acronyms for the canon books. Take the portion of the title that excludes "Harry Potter and the" and make an acronym.
Key: PS/SS=Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone; COS (or CoS)=Chamber of Secrets; POA (or PoA)=Prizoner of Azkaban; GOF (or GoF)=Goblet of Fire; OotP=Order of the Phoenix (not yet released, but still heavily discussed.)

Time-Turner fic: A fic in which a time-turner is used to bring two characters from different generations together. Almost exclusively used in Snape/Granger fics.

Twincest: Incest between twins. Sexual relations between a pair of twin siblings. i.e. Fred and George or Paravati and Patil. I'm not sure if other fandoms use this one, although I doubt it's exclusive. But since twins are rare in fandoms, I put it here.

Gred & Forge: A name often used for Fred and George (not reserved for twincest!) that refers to a comment they make in canon.

teacher/pupil: Surely not exclusive, but as I'm not a member of other fandoms and do not know their ship specifics, I put it here. Referring to relationships of a romantic and/or sexual nature between a teacher and a student. This usually implies that the student is a minor and is in a sexual relationship with an adult in the authority role of teacher.

Fic | OCs | Harry Potter


More to come as I think of more, get submissions, etc. Got something to add? A new term that I don't have yet? A question about a specific term? Owl me! Join the Revolution! Spread the Magic!

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