Hey all I’m back with my first Synth Saturday post. It’s a list of Common Words and Phrases in FanFic!
Canon: For those comic book readers, or even just fans of the now defunct Star Wars EU, you’ll know that Canon is what was originally written. You can find arguments as to what is actually canon if authors say they really should have done something different, like get Harry Potter and Hermione Granger together instead of the walking stomach that is Ronald Weasley ending up with Hermione.
Fanon: When authors don’t do proper world building you can see some fan ideas ending up so widely recognized in the Fan Fiction community that it just becomes widely accepted as what the author meant to include in the story but was withheld for some reason. An example is that in Harry Potter the Dursley’s would physically beat Harry in addition to him being bullied and assaulted, (Harry Hunting) by his cousin Dudley. That is never explicitly stated, although it was hinted at very heavily in the original novels. They did emotionally and socially abuse Harry, calling him “Freak” and “Boy” but it is never said outright that he is physically harmed other than getting not enough food to eat and living in the cupboard under the stairs.
AU: This stands for Alternate Universe, and it could mean that the story follows Canon events to a point and then diverges or is completely different. An example of the latter would be having Naruto characters in a “Typical Anime High School” instead of the actual Naruto world of the Elemental Nations.
Pairings and Ships: This is a word used to classify what characters will end up romantically involved with each other. It however doesn’t necessarily mean it would limit it to just two people in a relationship. It could be used for multiple people all in a relationship together. If you don’t like Harems don’t read Fan Fictions, you’ll find that many have harems, and while some are utter trash others are actually very, very good. Some of my favorite Fics have the characters in a multi faceted relationship and it doesn’t detract from the story at all. Again if that upsets you for whatever reason don’t bother reading this column or any of the stories I cover in it.
Lemons and Limes: This is a touchy subject for many people, because it covers Sex. Lemons describe a scene that involves actual sex written directly into the story for whatever reason be it romance or just wanting to get someone aroused. Limes are essentially lower end versions of that, where it involves a highly intimate scenario but doesn’t actually become full on sex. Sometimes writers will have what is essentially “Porn without Plot”.
In this column I will try to mention if a Fic has Lemons or Limes in it, and I won’t ever cover any fic that can match that final phrase in this column. However if for whatever reason me covering such a thing offends you, you have been warned here and now and I won’t apologize if I end up recommending something that has highly intimate and erotic scenes in it and don’t warn you about it. I’ll try to not let that happen, but I can read through 60,000 words in an hour easily. I have read many, many Fics over the past year and I might forget that some have such scenes in them.
Bashing: This is a slang word used to describe portraying certain characters in a really poor light. For example seeing Dumbledore as a manipulative ass who uses everyone and anything to further his own ends is a frequent “bashing” used in Harry Potter Fics. Or seeing Ron Weasley as an extremely poor excuse of a friend and potential romantic interest.
That’s it for this week’s Synth Saturday and if I feel like I haven’t covered certain terms I’ll try to either update this post or make another post that covers those terms I might have missed.