glossary
In any fandom, you're going to find that people use some strange words that you probably aren't familiar with. There are words that all of fandom uses, and then there are words that are pretty unique to the Hanson fandom. I've compiled a list of some of the most common of these to help you figure out what we're talking about.
The list is broken up into three parts -- general fandom terms, hanfic terms and abbrevations. Hope this is helpful for you.
general fandom/fanfic terms
alternate universe -- Stories that deviate from canon in a major way or completely rewrite it. A story where Hanson is not famous would be considered AU.
angst -- Stories with darker plots. Might contain drug abuse, violence, mental disease, or other serious issues.
award -- Just what it sounds like. These were really popular back in the days of Angelfire and Geocities, and were given out for lots of things. Usually they are voted on in categories like award shows might be.
badfic -- Fic that's, well, bad. Poorly written, trite plot, whatever. If you don't like it (for legit reasons), it's badfic.
bandom -- Controversial term. Mostly used to refer to a specific set of bands (six degrees of Fall Out Boy, basically), but also used as a term for the fandom of any and all bands.
beta, beta reader -- Someone who proof readers and edits your story before you publish it online. They may only check grammar, but may also look for plot holes and other issues. When writing in a fandom set outside of your home country, it is good to have a beta from the fandom's country of origin to check over your story as well.
canon -- What is true about the entity being ficced. For Hanson, this would mean only what we know to be fact about the band and their families. Includes everything -- their personalities, their lives, the albums and songs they've recorded. Basically, the entire history of the band.
-centric -- Suffix meaning the story centers around one person. Taycentric would be all about Taylor, with Ike and Zac taking smaller roles.
challenge -- An activity, sometimes a contest, that challenges an author to write a story based on certain parameters. They might be given a topic or a plot bunny or whatever, and are forced to run with it and see what kind of story results.
char -- Short for character. Anyone in your story, whether they are your original character or not.
collab -- Short for collaboration. A story with more than one author.
concrit -- Constructive criticism. In other words, telling an author how they can improve, instead of telling them their story is crap.
crack, crackfic -- Stories that are meant to be funny and often make no sense at all. In other words, the author must have been on crack.
crossover -- In the hanfic world, this could refer to any story containing another band or celebrity, or a story that inserts Hanson into a fictional world (Hanson at Hogwarts? Someone needs to write it.).
darkfic -- The same as angst, sometimes with more violence.
disclaimer -- This is a notice typically included with fanfic, especially about real people, that reminds the readers that nothing they are reading is true and also not for profit. Not legally binding, but still a nice touch.
drabble -- Strictly defined, this is a story in 100 words. Many drabbles are longer than that, but still very short.
dub-con -- Dubious consent. Used to describe stories in which consent may or may not have been given, or isn't clear. Not quite rape, but there's a very fine line.
fail -- When someone epicly screws up and does something really dumb or wrong. Often used as a suffix, attached to another word to describe a particular case of fail. Racefail was a common problem fandom faced in 2009, for example.
fandom -- The fans of a tv show, movie, book, band, etc. Not only the fans, but their attitudes and activities.
fanfic, fan fiction, fic -- Fictional stories written about anything that has a fandom, in this case a band.
fanmix -- Soundtrack with cover art. Can be created for a fandom, pairing, character, or fic. Contains songs that remind the creator of whatever their subject is.
fanon -- Portmanteau of "fan" and "canon." Personal canon. Whatever you, as a fan, believe to be true about that which you are a fan of, even if there is no basis for believing it.
feedback -- Something authors love to get. Any comments on the story, though praise, help, suggestions and other thoughts are the best kind to receive.
fen -- Plural form of the word fan. Not technically correct, but used in many fandom circles to seperate casual fans from those involved in fandom.
ficlet -- Short fic. Usually refers to anything longer than a drabble, but shorter than the average short story.
flame -- Being really mean and rude to another fan. Usually involves telling them how much they and/or their stories suck.
fluff, fluffy -- Lighthearted fic that isn't meant to have much emotional depth. Feel good stuff. Usually short, as longer stories without conflict would be boring.
Gary Stu/Marty Stu -- The slash equivalent of a Mary Sue. Less common in the Hanson fandom.
gen -- Short for general. A genre name for stories that don't feature romance. There is some debate about whether or not slash stories (that don't have romance as their main plot) can also be gen. The general rule is that relationships and/or the formation of relationships can't be the focus of a gen story, but anything else goes.
genre -- Usually used in hanfic to refer to whether a story is "het" or "cest."
header -- Information about the story that is included at the beginning. May include title, chapter number, chapter title, word count, summary, excerpt, author's note, pairings, warnings, genre(s), and more. May also include a banner, but this is frowned upon in some circles.
het -- Stories with heterosexual pairings.
kink -- Something that turns a person on. Within fanfic, this can mean anything a person really enjoys in a story, not necessarily something inherantly sexual.
lurker -- Someone who reads but doesn't actively participate in or contribute to the fandom.
mailing list -- Long ago (read: the late '90s), this was how a lot of hanfic was shared. Egroups, which later became Yahoo Groups, were very common.
Mary Sue -- Character, often based on the writer, who is generally perfect. These plagued the fandom in its early years. One or more of the boys always falls in love with her.
meta -- Talking and thinking about fanfic and fandom. Sort of like the bastard, fandom child of English majors and Sociology majors.
muse -- It used to be very popular to personify your muses. You might talk about Ike!muse, Zac!muse or Tay!muse, depending on which boy you liked to write about most. Or your muse might have another persona entirely. I think we've all grown out of this by now.
newbie, noob -- Something we don't see a lot of. A new person to the fandom, or to a particular community within the fandom.
non-con -- Non-consensual sex. Essentually, rape, although noncon is a more popular term in fanfic, for various reasons.
oneshot -- Short story or any story written in only one part, reguardless of length.
pairing -- Characters that fans want to see together -- as in, romantically or sexually.
pimp -- Promoting your story, website, etc. You can also pimp someone else's work.
plot bunny -- A story idea. Plot bunnies are usually completely off the wall or cracky, and are prone to multiply when you've already got enough to work with.
ratings -- Tells you what type of content to expect. Movie ratings are often used, but Fanfiction.net uses MMPA ratings as their standard.
rec -- Short for recommend or recommendation. Someone who wants new stories to read might ask for recs. Another person might compile a reclist consisting of stories they enjoyed. Such lists are often themed.
self insert -- Character based on the author. May also be a Mary Sue, but not necessarily.
ship, shipping, shipper -- Refers to fans who believe certain characters/people should be together. Someone who writes Zac/Taylor stories, for example, likely ships the two.
slash -- Stories with homosexual pairings. The term refers to the standard of listing pairings in summaries as Person A/Person B to show the relationship.
smut -- Written porn. Can be a scene within a larger story, or just a standalone piece.
snark -- The use of sarcasm, sometimes mixed with plain rudeness or meanspiritedness. Making fun of something within fandom.
songfic -- Very common in the past. Stories based on songs, often incorporating the lyrics into their text.
squee -- Freaking out (in a good way) about anything to do with fandom. There is much squeeing to be done whenever a new Hanson album finally comes out.
squick -- Something a person really doesn't enjoy, that either grosses them out or turns them off.
stan -- Majorly obsessive fan. Could be a stalker or a total creeper. Comes from the Emimem song Stan.
subtext -- When fans go looking for signs of a relationship that may or may not really exist, in fic or in canon.
trope -- Common plot, type of character, etc. "Girl next door" stories were a common trope in early hanfic.
wank -- Fighting, whining, complaining and/or bitching about some aspect of the fandom.
warning -- Used to let the reader know if anything in the story might be something they don't want to read.
hanfic terms
fanson, hanfan -- Refers to a Hanson fan. Portmanteau of "fan" and "Hanson"
han- -- Prefix that can be added to damn near anything to make it refer to Hanson.
hancest, cest -- Portmanteau of "Hanson" and "incest." Refers to stories about incestuous relationships between the boys. Obviously, not everyone's cup of tea. Sometimes shortened to just "cest."
hanfic -- Portmanteau of "Hanson" and "fanfic" (itself being short for fan fiction). Obviously, refers to Hanson fanfic.
hanficml -- A very popular Egroup/Yahoo Group where writers could submit their stories for feedback. Began in 2000, was largely abandoned by 2003.
naylor -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Natalie and Taylor.
nike -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Nikki and Ike.
tike -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Taylor and Ike.
zate -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Zac and Kate.
zaylor -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Zac and Taylor.
zike -- Pairing name, refers to stories about Zac and Ike.
abbrevations
AU -- Alternate Universe. This refers to any story that takes place outside of established canon. For hanfic, this is harder to define. A story in which, for example, Tay and Natalie divorce after Ezra is born deviates from canon and becomes AU. Stories in which the boys are not famous would also be considered AU.
BDSM -- A combination of three terms -- B/D (Bondage/Discipline), D/s (Domination/submission), and S/M (Sadism/Masochism). A popular subject for stories, although not always done well. Often in fanfic this just refers to stories that contain torture or rough sex rather than actual BDSM lifestyles. Using the three original terms seperately may result in more appropriately labeled stories.
BNF -- Big Name Fan. Popular authors or fans whose names are familiar to most others in the fandom. Sometimes used as a derogatory term.
DA -- Devil Angel, one of the most popular hanfics of all time. It's an unfinished crossover featuring Hanson and the Moffatts, and was one of the first stories to slash Taylor/Scott and Zac/Dave. Currently not online.
DAE -- Devil Angel Egroup. A group, created on E-groups and then absorbed into Yahoo Groups, for fans of Devil Angel. Seemed to speak a language of their own.
DW -- Dreamwidth. The newest LiveJournal clone, created with fandom in mind.
FFN -- Fanfiction.net, which was a popular host for hanfic until music and RPF fic were removed in 2003.
IC -- In Character. When a character's actions are consistent within the story or consistent with what is known about that person. Also used in RPGs to refer to a person speaking from their character's persona.
INAP -- I'm Not A Playa (I Just Crush A Lot). A popular hanfic from the early days of the fandom.
JSOR -- Just Shy of Reality, a popular messageboard for hanfic.
LJ -- LiveJournal.com. A very popular site for fandom to gather and post their stories. More popular among hancest writers than others, it seems.
M/M -- Another way to refer to slash, or stories involving two guys (either in a relationship or sexually).
OC/OFC/OMC -- Original Character, Original Female Character, Original Male Character. The fictional people in your hanfic.
OOC -- Out Of Character. Any character who suddenly has a change in personality that isn't believable, or who never acts like the character they are supposed to be. Also used in RPGs to refer to a person who is speaking for themself rather than their character.
OTP -- One True Pairing. The two characters who a person believes are absolutely meant for each other.
POV -- Point of view. Which character is telling the story.
PTH -- The site you are currently visiting.
PWP -- Porn Without Plot, or Plot? What Plot? Refers to stories that have no purpose other than hot sexing.
R&R -- Read and review. What writers want their readers to do.
RP -- Roleplaying. Often conducted via instant message, with two or more people acting out scenes between people/characters. Can be part of a larger RPG, or just for fun. Could also refer to "Real People."
RPF -- Real Person Fiction. A term commonly used to seperate "fictional" fandoms from band and actor fandoms.
RPG -- Role playing game. Very popular in the past. Often centered around Livejournal or a clone, it involves people taking on the persona of members of Hanson and other celebrities and writing their journals in those personas.
RPS -- Real Person Slash. Same as above, but with added gayness.
tl;dr, teal deer -- Too long; didn't read. If someone posts something overly long, they may get this response. Or, the post may be a reasonable length but readers are feeling lazy and/or mean.
UST -- Unresolved Sexual Tension. This is a major kink for some people and thus is nearly a genre of its own in fanfic.
WIP -- Work In Progress. An unfinished story.