What the heck are all those terms you’re throwing around?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this somewhat rambling tour of the Harry Potter fanfic universe. As always, your mileage may vary, and I’m sure there are folks out there who will completely disagree with much of what I’ve said. Fanfic means many different things to different people. For me, it’s a chance to explore the “what-if”s of a universe and to see how things might have turned out if the author had done something just a little differently; for other people it’s a chance to explore different writing styles without having to worry about character and world creation; for still others it’s a chance to set things “right” if they don’t like the way canon turned out. Whatever your reason for reading or writing fanfic, there are websites and communities out there for support, discussion and debate. And remember, clean up the sandbox when you’re done, okay?
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Fanfic, like any specialized field, develops its own vocabulary and jargon that can seem nearly incomprehensible to first-timers. In my previous posts, I’ve tried to explain things as I went along. But for those who are curious, or find themselves needing to refer back to something, here is a horribly incomplete, somewhat haphazard list of terms, abbreviations and phrases found in the Harry Potter fanfic community:
(A great resource for unfamiliar phrases and abbreviations is The Urban Dictionary. Not all fanfic related things make it in, but many do.)
AU – Alternate Universe
Beta/beta reader – proofreader/editor/person to bounce ideas off of; usually the person who gives a story the once-over before it gets posted to a website
Canon – the characters, events and facts established in the author’s/show’s/film’s original world
CoS – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2nd book in the series)
EWE – Epilogue? What Epilogue? or Ending Without Epilogue (used when authors are incorporating events of DH but ignoring the 19 years later epilogue)
DH – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (7th, and final, book in the series)
Fandom – term that encompasses the canon, fans, fanfic and anything else associated with a particular universe
Fanfic – fan-written-fiction; a chance to play in someone else’s sandbox
Gen/genfic – fanfic which does not focus on the relationship between two character; may incorporate relationships, but they are not the main focus
GF – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (4th book in the series)
HBP – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (6th book in the series)
HP – Harry Potter (may refer to the fandom as a whole, or the particular character; other characters are similarly abbreviated (e.g. Ginny Weasley=GW, Severus Snape=SS, etc.))
JKR – Jo Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series
MWPP – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs; the Marauders; often used to designate stories set in that era or with those main characters
OTP – One True Pairing; the pairing that the author/fan feels is their favorite or the “right” one
OotP – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (5th book in the series)
PS/SS – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone (British and American titles, respectively, 1st book in the series)
PoA – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3rd book in the series)
PWP – Plot? What Plot? or Porn Without Plot; usually NC-17 stories
Ship/shipper – relationships/pairings found in a story; one who preferred/is devoted to a certain pairing, whether it appears in canon or not
Slash – story featuring a male/male relationship; occasionally used for female/female relationships, but that is more often called “femslash”
WIP – Work In Progress; used to denote stories that are not yet complete
