Angst - usually seen as a warning on a fic, means that the
characters will be subjected to some sort of emotional distress.
AU - Alternate Universe - a character from an anime or a movie is
put into a totally different world, like Heero and Duo in our time
as rock stars, or Harry Potter as a normal high school kid or a
medieval prince.
AR - Alternate Reality - the world that the characters normally
inhabit is changed radically, like Harry never goes to Hogwarts, or
Cedric doesn't die in book 4.
Bdsm - short for bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, also
known as d/s. Games in which one person ties up, hurts, humiliates,
tortures, torments, and otherwise dominates another willing party.
Needs a whole other glossary beyond this.
Blanket fic - similar to a PWP, the characters are trapped in a
remote cabin with no heat and only one blanket to share. Bonus if
they have to take their clothes off.
BNF - Big Name Fan - usually not a compliment. A fanfic writer or
other fan who has become well known to others in the fandom.
Bottom - the person being fucked, or submissive.
Canon - the facts that come only from the source material, or a fic
that's based on such.
Chanslash - a sexual involvement between a young boy (usually 11-15
years of age) and an adult male. Not nonconsensual, but may include
dubious consent. This actually has been going on for thousands of
years; the ancient Greeks practiced what was known as pederasty.
Deathfic - a fic where one of the main characters dies.
Disclaimer - a statement on a fic that the author does not own the
characters, presumably to avoid copyright infringement.
dom - dominant, in a bdsm scene
Dom - Dominic Monaghan
Drabble, snippet - very short fic, usually under 500 words.
d/s - dominance/submission - see bdsm
Fandom Wank - originally on LiveJournal, now on JournalFen, created
as a place for people to mock fandom excess and silliness.
Fanon - facts that are extrapolated from the source material in
fanfics, orjust plain made up. As much as we like to believe it, the
HP characters being gay is fanon
Feedback - sending an email to a writer or artist you like to tell
them you enjoyed their work
Fluff - silly fic, feel-good fic
FPF - Fictional Person Slash - fics about fictional characters
rather than real people. What most people know as fanfic.
H/C - Hurt/Comfort - fic convention in which one of the characters
is hurt or sick and the other one has to help them, thereby getting
them past any obstacles they may have had in their potential
relationship
JF - JournalFen - online blog/journal/diary system
Lemon/Lime - see Ratings guide
LJ - LiveJournal - online blog/journal/diary. Reveal your innermost
thoughts for all to see.
LOC - Letter of Comment - same as feedback
Mary Sue/Marty Stu - a type of fic, or character in a fic, who is
quite obviously the perfected personification of the author. She/he
is beautiful, possesses special talents, saintly temperament and
everyone falls in love with them. Kinda like Anita Blake in the
later Vampire Hunter books.
MPREG - male pregnancy
NCS - nonconsensual sex; rape
Noncon - same as ncs.
OC/OMC/OFC - Original Character, Original Male Character, Original
Female Character
OOC - Out Of Character - sometimes used as a warning on fics if the
characters are behaving a lot differently from how they are
portrayed in canon
OTP - One True Pairing - a person has a OTP when they
read/write/believe in a specific pair of people being together to
the exclusion of all others. May cause wankiness and flame wars.
PWP - Plot What Plot or Porn Without Plot - a story whose only aim
is to get the characters in bed quickly
RPG - Role Playing Game - people interact as characters or people in
a prescribed setting
RPS - Real Person Slash - fics about actors/singers instead of the
characters they play
S & M - Sadism and Masochism. See bdsm
Seme - Japanese word, means approximately the same as top
Shota or shotakon - Japanese word for chanslash.
Smut - my word for what I write; fics that have sex as their central
component, but can also contain plot.
Squick - a term for something that grosses you out, especially in a
fic. Squicks vary from person to person of course, but some examples
could include foodplay, bloodlplay, golden showers, bestiality, etc.
SSC - safe, sane, consensual - in a bdsm scene, means playing with
safewords, condoms (and other protection) and prior agreements
Sub - submissive in a bdsm scene. Not always the same as bottom.
Top - person doing the fucking, generally
Twincest - twin brothers doing it.
TWT - Timeline What Timeline - similar to AU or AR, where you stick
mainly to the plot of the book/series except for a few details. For
instance, in GW, writing an EW-era fic with Treize alive.
Uke - Japanese term, means essentially the same as bottom, but not
quite.
UST - Unresolved Sexual Tension
WAFF - Warm And Fuzzy Feeling
WIP - Work in Progress - unfinished fic
XO/Crossover - a fic involving characters from more than one fandom
Yuri/femslash - fic where two women are romantically or sexually
involved
* * * * * * * * * *
What is the difference between slash, yaoi, shonen-ai, etc?
Slash is a general term for the fandom that celebrates male-male
relationships in movies, tv, books and anime. There doesn't even
have to be overt or even suggested relationships between the male
characters; slash fans see it everywhere! Yaoi is specific to
Japanese anime fandoms, and means essentially the same thing. It has
its own vocabulary which has bled over into the general slash
fandoms a bit, as people move from fandom to fandom. Shonen-ai is a
sub-genre of yaoi; it literally means "boy love" and it is not
explicit sexually.
Do the order of names in a pairing make a difference?
Yes and no. In yaoi fics, an "x" is used between the two names. The
name that comes in front of the x is the top or seme. That is for
fics where actual sex is involved. In shonen-ai, a "+" is used, and
the order doesn't matter. In slash, a "/" is used, and the order of
the names usually doesn't matter. I tend to keep the order of top
first, though.
What is the rating system for fics?
Most people tend to use the US movie rating system as a guide. Not
that I've ever written anything below an R, but... A G rating would
have nothing that would offend anyone. A PG might have some
questionable material... in the case of slash, maybe a non-
passionate kiss between guys. PG-13 might have some making out, or
some language. A fic would get an R rating (also called a lime) if
there were more explicit kissing, groping, violence etc. Now, some
people disagree on the line between R and NC-17. Some people think
that it's an R unless there is full-on sex. Like, a masturbation
scene would get an R. I disagree. If there's explicit description of
any sexual contact, I give it an NC-17 just to be safe. An NC-17 is
also known as a lemon.
* * * * * * * * * *
I fully intend to finish all my fics, in every fandom. I work on
what inspires me at the moment, it can't be forced. If I ever give
up on a fic, I will have it removed from my archive. Please keep in
mind that many of my fics have co-writers, and therefore it's more
difficult to coordinate sometimes.
When will the next part of (insert fic name) be out?
See above. I have to write what inspires me, but feel free to bug me
for anything you might like to see more of, it may get me going.
Do you do requests?
Absolutely. Feel free to mail me with what you might like to see,
and I'll see what I can do. The more specific, the more likely it is
to grab my brain.
Will you let me archive your fics?
Usually, there's no problem as long as the warnings are included
with the fics. Just email me with your address, and I'll usually say
yes. And let me know when they're up, I like to keep track of where
my babies go!
Can I translate your fics?
My fics have been translated (so far) into French, Spanish, Italian,
Portugese, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Norwegian, German and
Dutch. Just email me and I'll more than likely say yes.
Can I chat with you on AIM/YM etc?
I don't really have time for it, because if I spend too much time
chatting I have no time to write!