Alternate Universe: Setting of a fic that is different from that in canon. ie. If Lily and James had never died.
Angst: Usually about a character horrible fate/life/problems. Melodrama. Not a happy fic.
Archive: (n) A website where fanfictions are kept. (v) To save the fanfiction to the website.
Archivefic: A short story where the archivist inserts himself/herself into the fic to make a point/present updates/etc. Often used on mailing lists. (ORIGIN: Buffy fandom, http://slayerfanfic.com/. )
AU: See Alternate Universe
Beta (reader): Someone who proof reads your story for you and gives helpful comments/suggestions. The second reader of your story.
Canon: Anything that comes from the direct source and is held as fact. For Harry Potter fans this is anything JK Rowling wrote. ie. James and Lily Potter are dead. See: Fanon
Challenge: When an author issues a set of rules or a dare to write about a certain thing. Often strange objects, or funny sayings must be included.
Challenge Fic: A fanfiction that is an answer to a challenge. See: Challenge.
Crossover: A fic that uses more than one fandom. ie, Harry meets Scully and Mulder or the like.
F/F: A warning used to denote female/female sexual relations.
Fanon: Something that has never been confirmed by canon but is held by many fans to be true. ie. Severus Snape was in love with Lily Evans.
Fic: Short for Fan Fiction.
Flame: A negative review of a story that is vicious. It is not the same as constructive criticism.
Fluff: Happy, cute fics. The opposite of angst.
Het: Short for heterosexual. A fic that involves a straight pairing, usually NC-17 rated.
Lemon: A explicit NC-17 story.
Love/Hate: Sort of self explanatory. A fic where a couple hate each other, then love each other. Usually Lily/James fics.
Mary Sue: A female original character that is perfect in every way. She is beautiful, smart and usually one(or more) or our favorite characters fall in love with her. Often she is the author inserted into the fic. Male form: Gary Stu.
M/F: A warning to denote male/female sexual relations.
M/M: A warning to denote male/male sexual relations.
MWPP: Short for "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." A fic about Harry’s father and his friends.
Newbie: Someone who is new to the fandom.
OT: Off-topic.
PWP: Acronym for "Plot, What Plot?" or "Porn Without Plot." After this heading one normally finds gratuitous sex.
Relationshipper: Someone who is pro a certain coupling. Often shortened to a ’shipper.
Round Robin: A story where one author writes one part, then another writes the next, then another... Taking turns to write a fic. Abbreviated: RR.
‘Ship: Shortened form of "relationship." Indicates what pairing will appear in a given fic.
H/H : Harry/Hermione
H/D: Harry/Draco
D/Hr:: Draco/Hermione
R/Hr: Ron/Hermione
L/J: Lily/James
D/G: Draco/Ginny
S/R: Sirius/Remus
etc...
Sillyfic: A goofy, pointless story. Like fluff, but humorous.
Slash: A type of fic that involves homosexual relationships. Either m/m or f/f.
Songfic: A short fic written with the lyrics of a popular song included in the text. The song serves as inspiration for the story.
Yaoi: male/male pairings
Yuri: female/female pairing.
Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.