FANFIC/DOM TERMS

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/	Two letters separated by a / in the title or description of a story usually means that it's about romance between two characters whose names start with these letters. Yes, sometimes figuring out who those characters are can be tricky if you don't know the fandom well! The word slash (see entry) comes from this practice, derived from its use to denote same-sex relationships in the 'zine days -- the most famous being K/S (Kirk/Spock). However, in summaries or subject lines, the slash-mark itself is useful shorthand for labelling het relationships too, ie. L/R (Logan/Rogue). Note: If one member of a pairing is considered dominant or the initiator of the relationship, his/her initial goes first. This is optional or unknown in many fandoms, but important in others and absolutely critical in yaoi or BDSM.	general
!	When used before a word, this is known as a "bang" and signifies "not." Example: POP-UP FANFIC_OK !MST_OK means "You can reproduce this story as a pop-up fanfic but you may not reproduce this story as an MST." "!amused" = not amused, and so on. A holdover from a programming language, thus used mainly by techies and dinos. When used between a modifier and a name, is just a cute way of connecting the two concepts. Ie. amused!Viggo, sulking!Egon.	general (rare)
@	If you see this next to someone's name in an IRC channel, they have ops status.	IRC
* *	Bracketing a word or phrase, these indicate: the old ASCII indicator for bolded text, in much the same way as / / = italics, ^H^H^H^H^ and / after each letter = strike-through, _ _ = underline, etc. A physical action in a chat or other virtual interactive environment. Ie. *hug* = "I just hugged you" (or "I would hug you if you were standing right here next to me.")	1) pre-Internet 2) chat, online RPGs
_____-shaped	A fill-in-the-blank way of referring to an RPG character's player, because publically revealing players' identities is frowned upon in most games. For example, someone referring to the person who plays Buffy Summers in their game might refer to him/her as "Buffy-shaped."	LJ RPGs
+	Indicates a connection between characters but has different useages, which can usually be determined from the fandom and/or the story summary: Used by some to refer to nonsexual friendship or a family relationship between characters, as opposed to the slash (/) which indicates a sexual relationship. Used by some to denote uneven bonds in a relationship involving more than two characters, specifically to indicate a character whose emotional bond to the others is weaker. Often relates to three-way fics, where A/B+C can refer to anything from "A and B are in a committed relationship but have a PWP threesome with C" to "A, B, & C are in a menage a trois, but A and B care about each other much more than either does about C."	general fandom
3TP	A term which makes no grammatical sense, honestly... See OT3.	unknown
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A/A	"Action/adventure" -- a story which focuses on fight scenes.	Harry Potter
ABH	See Anywhere But Here.	Star Wars
ACAD, Acad	Indicates a story taking place during the academy (specialized college) career of the characters involved.	Star Trek, Star Wars
ACFF	"Alt.comic.fan-fiction," a newsgroup spun off of RACMX many years ago in order to keep the loonies in their own bin. As to who exactly the loonies are, I'll let you draw your own conclusions. Sadly, this newsgroup has pretty much been abandoned to tumbleweeds and spam.	comics
active fan	One who gets personally involved in the fan community beyond merely enjoying the source material. The latter is a casual fan. Can be a bone of contention as there are different schools of thought as to how to define "active."	UK fandom since at least the 50s
actorfic, actor-fanfic	Stories about the actors themselves, as opposed to the characters they play. See real-people fic.	Xena, Roswell
actorslash	See real-people fic.	Xena
adult	Refers to tales which are inappropriate for children due to sexual content, violence, or mature subject matter.	general
Agent, the	A fannish nickname for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on the concept that the Sherlock Holmes stories were really authored by Dr. John Watson, and that Doyle merely acted as Watson's literary agent to get them published. (An aspect of The Great Game.)	Sherlock Holmes
Age Of Sail	A general term for any fandoms set within the era of cannons and wind-propelled warships -- see next field for a list.	Horatio Hornblower, Master & Commander, Pirates Of The Caribbean
age statement	Anything which makes the reader declare that he/she is legally old enough to access adult material. Often found in the form of a link that must be purposely clicked to access adult material, thus removing liability from the writer and archivist.	general
AGoL	"Ares God of Love" -- Ares' designation in certain alternate-universe episodes, abbreviated in this manner to differentiate him from Ares' normal nasty self (sometimes denoted as AGoW -- "Ares God of War"). Noted here because it's not an immediately apparent acronym.	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
AGoW	"Ares God of War." See AGoL for full explanation.	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
alternate reality	In many fandoms, a story which transplants familiar characters into situations totally different from canon, such as Snape as a pirate captain and Harry as the cabin boy. Not to be confused with AU, which is often defined more as a possibilty resulting from a change in the canon timeline, but these two terms tend to be interchangeable.	general fandom
alternate universe	Imagine a universe slightly different from ours... All fictional settings and the variants thereof are said to take place in alternate universes, as if they're actually real but can't be seen or reached except by the imagination -- or by crossovers. ;) Sometimes this term is shortened to AU or A/U, and it is often the subject of debate in comparision to alternate realities. See also Elseworld (DC/Marvel) and uber (Xena).	general
alternative fiction	Another term for slash	Xena
Americanisms	American spellings, terms, and references, usually regarded as glaring fangirl errors in fandoms whose canon is set in England or related locales.	Harry Potter
AMV	The acronym for Anime Music Video.	anime/manga
ANC	"Annoying New Character" -- an author-created character who (obviously) annoys the hell out of readers. Often, but not always, a Mary Sue.	anime/manga
angst	Refers to the emotional wounds suffered and/or borne by a character, especially if they spend pages moaning about their miserable life in great detail. Can add intensity to a story or turn it into one big long pityparty. Warning: angst can be addictive!	general
angstfic	A tale, generally a vignette and often first-person, which ruminates on the heavy emotional repercussions of a character's ruined relationships, life, month, day, hairstyle, etc. 'Ware suicide.	general
anime	Short form of "animeshon," the Japanese phonetic spelling of "animation." While technically it refers to all animation, anime fans reserve "cartoon" for Western fare. The old term Japanimation is considered offensive, both racially and as a lame pun. See manga for the difference between the two mediums.	anime/manga
anime music video	A fan-production wherein scenes from a favorite show are spliced together to an appropriate song. Considered a creative outlet as much as fanfic or fanart. Often abbreviated to AMV.	anime/manga
Annoying Original Female Character	Any Original Female Character who's, well, irritating as all hell. Usually a Mary Sue. Often abbreviated to AOFC.	general
anonymouse	Someone who posts anonymously in a forum or comment thread. Often shortened to "mouse"; the plural, of course, is "anonymice."	Fandom_Wank, most likely
anonymice	The plural of anonymouse. :)	Fandom_Wank, most likely
antific	A story in which an author abuses and/or kills off the cast of a show, book, or story he/she dislikes. Rather childish, but sometimes funny.	MST3K
Any Two Guys	A poorly-written slash story which is so generic that if you changed the names and a few minor details, the main characters could be mistaken for any two men pulled off the street. Usually abbreviated to ATG	unknown
Anywhere But Here	A type of story told in second-person form (ie. "He walks over and takes your hand...") These tend to be sexual in nature and are generally regarded as pretty bloody horrible. Usually abbreviated to ABH.	Star Wars
AOFC	The acronym for Annoying Original Female Character.	general
APA	Amateur Press (or Publication) Association (or Alliance) -- an old-fashioned way of distributing fan-related materials in which contributors submitted pages to an editor who photocopied and mailed out the collated result. Some APAs featured fanfic, though it was not originally called that. APAs still exist and are sometimes mentioned in connection with fanfic.	old fandom
AR	See alternate reality	general fandom
AR	See Attempted Rape	general fandom
archive (n.)	A collection of fanfic available on a website or automatically logged for a mailing list. The former is handled done by an archivist, either of their own work or that of others, with express permissions; the latter is automatically handled by a list server under the assumption that anyone posting to the list knows in advance that their posted work will be logged for future access. A third as-yet-rare type of archive allows writers to archive their own work (ie. www.fanfiction.net).	general
archive (v.)	To save a story, essay, comment, etc. in an archive.	general
archive fic	Originally created by Buffy archivist Anya to present her archive updates in an amusing fashion, this is one clever way to keep an off-topic post on-topic. Basically, the author writes him/herself into a short fic interacting with a character(s). Usually used to get information out to a mailing list. Also known in comic-fanfic circles as a feedback fic.	Buffy
archivist	Any person who owns/manages an online repository of information, either on a website or in a public FTP. In fandom's case, this usually refers specifically to someone who archives fanfic and/or fanart.	general
Asylumverse	Like the Wishverse and the Birthdayverse, a canon Jossverse AU -- this one created by a Buffy season-six episode called "Normal Again" in which Buffy hallucinates that she's been in an insane asylum for the past six years. Thus everything since becoming the Slayer was never real, including the existence of her sister and the death of her mother. This term covers any AU fanfic connected to this premise. Also called "the Normalverse."	Buffy
ATG	See Any Two Guys.	unknown
Attempted Rape	In Buffy fandom, this specifically refers to a scene in the episode "Seeing Red" wherein Spike attempts to rape Buffy after she rejects him. This event is hugely controversial within the fandom, provoking flamewars over whether it was morally rape, whether it was in character, whether it was artistically successful, and/or whether the characters could have a romantic relationship of any kind afterwards. Often abbreviated to AR, an acronym not to be confused with Alternate Reality.	Buffyverse
AU, A/U	See alternate universe.	Star Trek, general
Aubrey/Maturin	It looks like a slash term, yes, and it may be used as such, but it is also an official canon term for the Patrick O'Brian novels adapted to screen in "Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World." Chortle all you like, slashfen.	Master & Commander
Aus, A(us)	Shorthand for "Angelus," Angel's evil unsouled counterpart -- as opposed to "A" for "Angel." Noted here because it's not an immediately apparent acronym.	Buffy, Angel
Aura Of Smooth	An imaginary energy field said to exist around blatant Mary Sues or other self-insertions. It's the only explanation for how the canon characters suddenly turn into gullible shadows of their normal selves around 'em.	MST3K
avatar	1) A character which represents the person that created him/her -- a fictional version of the real person, so to speak. Most writers have several "me" characters but only one true avatar. 2) A small image used to represent oneself in messageboards and forums. An icon is technically also an avatar, but the name has taken on its own meaning.	gaming, general
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Babe Of The Week	According to Kat: "You know how Our Hunky Hero always seems to meet, each episode, a beautiful (feisty) woman who ends up going out with him and/or exchanging kisses with him, and/or going to bed with him before the end of the episode -- and is then never seen or heard from again? She's the Babe Of The Week." Usually abbreviated to BOTW.	Sentinel, others
babyfic	Fanfic in which the main characters adopt and/or raise children. Usually refers to a subgenre of Mulder Scully Married (MSM) fanfic.	X-Files
badfic	To quote (edited) from the source itself: 1) Fiction that is intentionally bad, written to entertain and amuse, and also educate, by pointing out common errors made by inexperienced writers. 2) Fiction that is unintentionally bad; the author thinks it's good. Often those who know the difference between good and bad fic don't know whether to laugh or cry...	Buffy
baka	Japanese for idiot, dope, moron, fool, etc. Most famously heard as "Ranma no baka!" ("Ranma, you idiot!") Has crept into many anime fans' vocabulary.	anime/manga
bandom	A punnish nickname for fandoms centering around fictionalizing real-life bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, Good Charlotte, Nirvana, etc. Term said to have been coined by Raedyn.	band fandoms
Barbieshipper	A fan of a particular pairing that acts a particular way. Barbieshippers want their pairing to behave in an idealized fashion, and tend to throw fits if anything threatens that cherished bubble. Get a good full explanation here.	X-Files
Barbieshipping	See Barbieshipper.	X-Files
bard	One who writes Xena and/or Hercules fanfic. See fanficcer.	Xena
basher fic	Fanfic devoted to vilifying, humiliating, torturing, and/or killing a character who the author dislikes. The character in question may be portrayed as anything from a buffoon to a jerk to a psychotic monster, even if he/she was never portrayed as any of these in canon.	general
BBS	Boy Band Slash, ie. NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, etc. Yes, it exists, and there's a lot of it. See also slash and RPS.	slash
bdsm, BDSM	Bondage, domination, sado-masochism. A term from outside of fanfic, but a useful one to know when deciphering ratings.	general
Best Served, First In	The policy of adding stories to an archive in order of their ease of addition; that is, those stories which are easy to archive (well spelled, properly spaced, correctly formatted) are generally added first.	unknown
beta, betaread, beta-read	To edit and comment on someone else's work before it's finalized, taken presumably from the old software term "betatesting." Betareading brings a fresh perspective to a rough draft -- by the definition of the word, one cannot beta one's own work.	general
betareader, beta-reader	Someone who edits your work upon your request (or bribe). You cannot be your own betareader, and unsolicited comments from readers after the story goes live do not count.	general
bezoar	Another term for troll -- originally a B:TVS monster who controlled others' minds through its foul eggs. In appearance, a huge, gaping maw.	Buffy
BGM	Short for "background music" -- an integral part of the anime experience, for some fans.	anime/manga
bi-faux-nen	A humorous term invented by the Yaoi Files to denote girls who either happen to look like pretty boys or are purposely masquerading as males. A pun on the term bishounen.	anime/manga
Big Name Fan	Someone who is so active in fandom that their name becomes well-known in fan circles, to the point that sometimes other fans want their autographs or pay their way as guest speakers. A term originally native to conventions and other traditional fan gatherings, it has appeared online and now takes on a negative connotation of "arrogant and sel-important." A step lower on the totem pole is the WKF (Well-Known Fan) -- Lord knows who makes the distinction. Usually abbreviated to BNF. Also called a superfan.	old fandom
Birthdayverse	Yet another Jossverse canonical AU; this one comes from the third season Angel episode "Birthday," in which we see what would have happened if Cordelia had come to LA and met neither Angel nor Russell Winters. She becomes a famous actress with her own sitcom; Angel gets mystical visions and goes mad. See Asylumverse and Wishverse for other popular AUs in this genre.	Buffy, Angel
bishie	Having bishonen qualities.	anime/manga
bishounen	"Beautiful young man" -- refers to any male so inhumanly handsome that he's pretty, as often seen in popular anime. Although not generally automatically associated with adult stories, this word's etymology is covered in Yumemisama's full explanation of anime/manga adult story classifications.	anime/manga
BLFC	See Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.	fiction
blog	Short for "weblog" -- denotes any online diary or journal. LiveJournal is popular with the fic/RPG crowd, as is GreatestJournal	general
Blue Believers	An old Beast/Nightcrawler/anyone-cool-&-blue fanclub.	comics
BNF	See Big Name Fan.	old fandom
BOB	(Julian) Bashir/(Miles) O'Brien, a popular near-canonical slash pairing. Noted here because with no clarifying slash or hyphen it could confuse a newcomer to the fandom.	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
BoLT	Book Of Lost Tales -- a set of unfinished canon works.	Tolkien
BOTW	See Babe Of The Week.	Sentinel, others
boyfic	A sarcastic term for stories big on action, explosions, and violence but low on character development.	X-Files
breaking the fourth wall	The fourth wall is what you can't see when you look at a movie or a comic panel -- the invisible barrier which separates fantasy from reality. A character breaks the fourth wall when they speak or refer directly to their audience or creator, revealing awareness of their fictional existence. Not strictly a fanfic term, but a useful one. The fourth wall is pretty much a shattered ruin in any Subreality story or metafic.	general
Brit-pick, britpick	To correct or betaread a story in such a way that brings its lexicon, spelling, etc. in line with British usage.	Harry Potter
Britspeak	British spellings, terms, and references, important in fandoms whose canon is set in England or related locales.	Harry Potter
Buffyverse	Referring to the world shared by the canons of "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel: The Series." Often now called the MEverse, or subsumed by the word Jossverse to include "Firefly."	Buffy, Angel
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, the	The BLFC is an annual competition at San Jose State University which challenges entrants to write the worst possible novel-opening sentence. Edward George Bulwer-Lytton was a minor Victorian novelist and the original author of the notorious "It was a dark and stormy night."	fiction
bunny	See plot bunny.	general
bunny	A dangerous sneaky eeevil little beast. Don't be fooled!	Monty Python, Buffy
bunny	Gamer/tech slang for "a (usually female) person manning a stand at a convention/trade show who appears to be employed largely as sentient visual decoration rather than because of any knowledge or interest in the product." (Thanks to Philip Eagle for the phrase.)	cons
bunny	Short for "boink bunny" -- somebody met for casual playful sex, often in the context of a convention. Not technically a fanfic term, and not a very common one, but it does pop up! Term created/popularized by Trisha Sebastian.	comics, anime/manga
bunnyslippers, predatory canaballistic	Namely Wink-Wink and Nudge-Nudge, writer Abyss's imaginary sentient footwear. It's a long story. Suffice it to say that they're small, cute, fluffy, and known throughout comic fanficdom as the most dangerous creatures in the multiverse.	general
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C&C	"Comments And Criticism" -- another word for feedback. According to Andrew Dynon, "Authors need the former to survive -- without it they either curl up into a ball and die, or buy an Uzi and take out a K-Mart. They don't like the latter, and will often respond with posts the size of doctoral theses as to why they are right and you are wrong."	anime/manga
canon	An adjective referring to a character, event, plotline, etc. which happened "for real" -- the actual professional source material. Note that "canon" is a term used throughout most fanficdoms, not just here. On the Star Trek fanfic forums, this is sometimes jokingly referred to as TDC (The Dread Canon). See also fanon and manon.	general
canon rape	A writer is committing canon rape when they twist the canon characters, setting, etc. so far out of alignment that it burns to read. May occur to accommodate a Mary Sue, a bad parody, no research, or simply a total lack of writing ability.	general
casual fan, casual	A fan who merely enjoys reading/watching, as opposed to an active fan.	Star Trek
CBFFAs	The Annual Comic-Book Fan-Fiction Awards, an open fic/writer popularity vote first instituted in early 1998 -- voting is conducted in December/January (watch this site and others) and the results are presented in a rather unique form in March (hopefully!). The virtual award taken home by winners is called the Creative License.	comics
CC	See Conventional Couple	Roswell
CFAN	The Comic-Book Fanfic Authors' Network (yes, I know the acronym doesn't fit exactly) -- the major hubsite for comic ficdom, now on hiatus.	comics
challenge	An informal game played in writing circles -- one person says "Hey, I dare you to write about [X]!" and anyone who likes the idea responds with a story about it. [X] can be a character, a particular set of characters, a crossover, a situation, an event, or even a set of funny lines or objects that must be included within the body of the story. A challenge must be interesting, unusual, and original -- something that hasn't been done before, if possible. Ie. if characters X and Y have been written as a couple a hundred times already, asking for more stories about them is not a challenge.	general
challenge fic	Any story written as the result of a challenge.	general
-chan	A Japanese suffix that implies that one is younger and more innocent. It could be translated as "sweetie," "little one," "dear," or even "junior." Used as an endearment or as a component of the word chanslash.	anime/manga
chan	Short for chanslash.	Star Wars
chanslash	Slash stories wherein one member of the pairing is under the legal age of consent (usually between 13-18 years of age but can also be under 21). When George Lucas based the Jedi upon Samurai warriors, he neglected the fact that the Samurai expected apprentices to "service" them in return for training. Many Phantom Menace slash writers have thus interpreted this into Jedi tradition. NOTE: Many archives/lists will not accept chanslash. Chanslash archives are often underground to avoid legal difficulties. See also shotacon and lolicon.	Star Wars
character death	A warning placed in the header of a story in which one or more major characters dies. Yeah, I know, my opinions shouldn't be expressed on this page, but honestly: "Oh no, you killed [insert character name here] without warning me! I'm traumatized! Boo hoo! Waaaah!" *snort* Babies. Go read "Devil's Due" and get out of my face.	general
chibi	Japanese for "small/cute." When used as a prefix, such as "chibi-Ramna" or "chibi!Heero," it indicates that a character is being depicted in a superdeformed style. It's also used to indicate the young version of a character, such as in a flashback, or just someone so damn adorable that they're unreal. Often associated with the exclamation "kawaii!"	anime/manga
chi-bishounen	A humorous term invented by the Yaoi Files to denote cute young boys in the range of 10 to 13 years old. Taken from the words chibi and bishounen. Good examples are the Clamp Campus Detectives.	anime/manga
Childhood Killer	Denotes material most likely to spoil innocent memories of fandoms you held dear as a kid. Abbreviated to CK!, and often involves toon porn.	GAFF
citrus, citrusy	Indicates a tale with a strongly erotic tone yet without any actual sex. Read Yumemisama's full explanation of anime/manga adult story classifications.	anime/manga
civilian	Someone who comments and interacts with people from the Must Be Pop game, but are just themselves (not portraying anyone famous) and only playing along with the game's concept.	LiveJournal
CK!	See Childhood Killer	GAFF
Classic Who	Official BBC name, accepted by fandom, to refer to the original Doctor Who television series (1963-1989) on contrast to the current revival of the series.	Doctor Who
clone	In an online RPG, a duplicate created of a character who is still active -- either an innocent mistake or a vicious attempt at an override, but either way a big no-no. In some games, this term can blur to mean any duplicate of any character, active or retired.	LJ RPGs, probably originating in MustBePop
cocooning	Like 'shipping but more so -- it refers to a practice wherein two roleplayers seek out or fall into a pairing (or multiple pairings) so tight that they stop roleplaying with others. A very negative term.	online RPGs
combined story	A story involving more than one Trek series -- ie. TNG/DS9 (Next Generation/Voyager).	Star Trek
Common People, The	An open-to-all-writers anthology of short stories dealing with everyday non-superhero life in the Marvel Universe. This concept can be used in other genres. Often abbreviated to TCP.	comics, Gundam Wing
Companion	1) In Firefly, an educated upscale prostitute. 2) In Mercedes Lackey's books, a telepathic white horse. 3) In Fiona Patton's books, a bodyguard/concubine. Not to be confused with a companion in Doctor Who. ;)	see above
companion	Used for decades refer any of the various characters who have accompanied the Doctor in his wanderings through space and time. Appears to have been used for the first time in canon dialogue in the episode Aliens Of London.	Doctor Who
con	Slang for a fan-related convention, often used as a modifier (ie. consuite, San Diego ComicCon). Small organized gatherings of fans who don't normally get to see each other are also often called cons.	old fandom
con	Short for consensual.	general
concom	Short for convention committee.	Star Trek
conrep	Short for con report.	general
con report	A fan's personal report of their dealings and meetings at a convention, nowadays often posted to blogs or con-related sites. Sometimes shortened to "conrep."	general
consensual	In fanfic, this refers to sexual relations or situations (as elements within a story) which are agreed to by all involved fictional parties. Shortened to "con" in subject headers.	general
constructive criticism	Story feedback that is helpful, useful, and detailed, rather than rude, curt, disparaging, or happy-happy positive. Also called constructive feedback.	general
constructive feedback	See constructive criticism.	general
continuation	A fanfic which follows on from the end of a series or movie.	anime/manga
convention committee	The group of volunteers who plans and manage a convention. Sometimes shortened to "concom."	Star Trek
Conventional Couple	The pair who's definitely an item in canon, or whom will obviously end up together in the end. Often abbreviated to CC.	Roswell
crossover	A story which straddles two different fandoms. Can be as close mixing characters from different universes within a genre (ie. Batman/Wolverine) or as wildly disparate as you can imagine (ie. Buffy/Teletubbies). These stories can either be great fun or infamously horrible, depending on the skill of the writer. Sometimes spelled "cross-over" or abbreviated to "C/O" but not with comic fandom.	general
Conqueror-Warrior/Slave	Refers to all stories which take place in an alternate timeline wherein Xena forgets/pretends/becomes/is a warlord and goes on to conquer kingdoms, etc. Not necessarily Xena The Conqueror, but similar.	Xena, Hercules
cosplay	"Costume play." To go to a convention or a roleplaying event dressed up as a favorite character; more common in Japan and anime fandom, but you can probably spot 'em at any con.	anime/manga
crackfic	A fanfic whose concept is so out there, one wonders what the author was snorting when they wrote. Sometimes deliberate, sometimes just WTF?	general
cross-gen, crossgen	See cross-generational	Harry Potter
cross-generational	Describes stories featuring pairings with a large age differnce, with the younger character is usually (but not always) underage. In HP fandom, often specifically describes teacher/student relations. Oten abbreviated to cross-gen or crossgen.	Harry Potter
CrystalWank	Origin of the phrase "my hed iz pastede on yay!" A thread on Fandom_Wank about a woman who passes off Photoshopped photos as her own artwork; said thread ballooned up to a monstrous size and is rather entirely inexplicable...	journaldom
CSI	"Crazy space incest" -- refers to any story featuring a Simon/River pairing.	Firefly
CSM	"Cigarette-Smoking Man" (aka Cancerman, the Smoking Man) -- a fannish nickname for Agent Mulder's archnemesis. Noted here because it's not an immediately apparent acronym.	X-Files
Cult Of The Pallid Hunter, The	Fanficcers who insist upon writing Iolaus as a whimpering, crying, helpless little man subservient to and dependant upon Hercules.	Hercules
curtain story, curtainfic	A mookily domestic little tale wherein the characters go shopping for furnishings or somesuch. Usually slash, but not always.	Jossverse, Harry Potter
CWC	"Curse? What curse?" or "Clause? What clause?" A reference to the "curse" that prevents Angel from achieving, er, happiness. CWC is how some ficcers ignore this major plotpoint to have him boink anyone he wants without reverting to his evil self Angelus.	B:TVS, Angel
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Dane, 'Dane, dane, 'dane	An insult with a fantasy-fan/SCA flavor. See Mundane.	old fandom
darkfic	A story involving a large amount of death/pain/trauma being inflicted on the characters, often to force out characterization. To quote Elsa Bibat's essay "A Long Strange Walk": "Those who really don't like seeing their favourite characters slaughtered or emotionally and mentally scarred for life are advised not to read anything with a [DARK] tag or warning." In anime/manga a darkfic is especially a tale from a series otherwise considered fairly "light" or comedic, and is also called a shockfic.	anime/manga
Dark Jedi	A Fallen Jedi Knight seduced by the power of the Dark Side of the Force. I note this here because it is a bone of contention -- some Star Wars fans believe that being a Jedi is akin to religion (if you've turned dark, you've stopped being a Jedi), while others state that once a Jedi, always a Jedi.	Star Wars
denialfic	AU fics written to prevent or avert tragic canonical events. Also AU fics which rewrite or retcon a storyline that the ficcer simply didn't like. Often created as immediate angry or grief-stricken reactions, these tend to be met with contempt or sympathy depending on the quality, but they're generally not viewed as good writing.	general
dldr	Stands for "don't like, don't read" -- a controversial fanfic disclaimer note since Suethors latched onto it as a lame defense for crap writing in the form of a shield against criticism.	general fandom, likely Fanfiction.net
DSBS	See dim-smoky-bar-scenario	band fandoms
deathfic	A fic where one or more characters die or have just died, usually written to focus on how the remaining characters cope with the loss.	anime/manga
delurk, delurking	To quit being a lurker by publically posting a story or an introduction. (Personal comments/feedback don't really count as only the person thus addressed will see them.) Also serves as a noun referring to that first public post.	general
derivative fiction	Creative works that are based on another's ideas. An older and more technical term for fanfiction.	old fandom
Deus Ex Machina, deus ex machina	Latin for "God From The Machine." According to XxphenixX, "In (Greco)Roman theater, a god would often mystically appear to extricate a character from a difficult situation and/or generally resolve the conflict of the tale; the person playing the god would be held up by stage machinery, hence the 'machina.'" In fandom, this refers to a contrived plot device which resolves an otherwise insurmountable problem, and as such are regarded as the cop-out refuge of a bad writer or an amateur gamemaster.	general
Devil's Triangle	Another interesting scuffle in Star Wars fandom. This term is used solely by Anakin/Amidala 'shippers who think any sort of love triangle involving those two (ie. Amidala/Obi-Wan) is disgusting and unthinkable.	Star Wars
dim-smoky-bar-scenario	A tired bandom cliche wherein a character (usually a female self-insert) runs into the fronter of her author's favorite band at a generic dim smoky bar. This supposedly hardcore fan doesn't recognize him until he introduces himself (usually in a deep, seductive voice), making the reader want to scream, "It's [insert name]! You know it's [insert name]!" Invariably leads to poorly-written romance. Term said to have been coined by Raedyn.	Goo-Goo Dolls, other band fandoms
dino	An oldtimer ("Call me a dino, but I remember back when...").	general
dinew	Someone who was an dino in another fanficdom but is new to this one. Term coined by Trisha Sebastian.	comics
DISC	Short for "discussion" -- on some mailing lists or forums this notation is added to a message's subject line to indicate that it is a discussion.	comics
disclaimers	Information usually placed at the top of a fanfic. Disclaimers can include legal disclaimers (ie. who owns what in the story to follow), dedications, rating, plot summary, and various explanatory author's notes. In Subreality fic, full disclaimers are often placed at the bottom to avoid spoiling surprise guest appearances. Also known in other fandoms as headers or header info, though this can more generically refer to the info automatically placed on top of an e-mail.	general
djka	Abbreviation of doujinka.	manga
doma	See dong ma	Firefly
dong ma	Mandarin Chinese (more or less) for "understand?" or "got it?" Used in Mandarin-heavy Firefly canon, and thus now by fans. Often mistranslated and/or misprounounced as "doma."	Firefly
double drabble	A vignette exactly 200 words long. See drabble.	Doctor Who
doujinka	A fan who draws manga (doujinshi). Sometimes shortened to "djka."	anime/manga
doujinshi	Self-published or non-mainstream published mangas; some have original characters but others are based on pre-existing series and thus count as fanfic. Many doujinshi are created by groups of artists called doujinka.	anime/manga
drabble	Set by the Birmingham University SF Society as thus: a self-contained vignette of exactly 100 words, no more, no less, with up to 15 more words are allowed for the title. Hyphenated words are in dispute. The term originates from a Monty Python skit: "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins." Drabbles started in British SF fandom in the late '80s. A half-drabble is fifty words long; a double drabble is 200 words long.	Doctor Who
Dread Canon, the	A joking term used on Star Trek fanfic forums. See canon.	Star Trek
D/S, D/s, d/s	Dominance/submission, with consent implied.	general
dusted	When a vampire is staked or beheaded in the Buffyverse, it instantly turns into dust. (This was an expensive special effect, but it's better than having to explain all those bodies in the morning.) Thus when a vampire is "killed," it's been dusted.	Buffy, Angel
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EBE	Extraterrestrial Biological Entity. A term often used in X-Files fanfic instead of "aliens" both for its higher degree of precision and its frequent use on the show.	X-Files
ecchi	The letter "H" in Japanese -- the first letter of hentai, and thus used to mean "pervert!" or "just a bit of kinky/naughty." Can also refer to material containing softcore eroticism.	anime/manga
ETA	An abbreviation of "Edited To Add," frequently used by bloggers to draw attention to new content added onto an existing post.	blogs
egoboo, ego-boo	Short for "ego boost," an old term -- basically any verbal encouragement or support a writer receives, be it spoken or typed. The recently-invented opposite is negoboo.	APAs/fanzines
ELF	Any story that places Lucas (seaQuest's teen genius) in a bad situation (ie. child abuse, kidnapping, etc) from which he can escape or be rescued for the sake of character development. Variations of this idea can probably be fitted to similar characters in other fandoms.	seaQuest DSV
ELOC, eloc	E-Mailed Letter Of Comment -- not commonly used. See LOC.	old fandom
Elricest	Slash featuring Alphonse and Edward, the main-character brothers of Full Metal Alchemist, who share the surname "Elric." This scenario requires the younger brother to be restored to human form, and thus this subgenre tends to be heavy on fluff and angst. Not to be confused with author Michael Moorcock's infamous canon Mary Sue Elric of Melnibone.	Full Metal Alchemist
Elseworld	Taken from the DC comics of the same name, an Elseworld is an alternate reality or perhaps another timezone -- you may recognize the basic characters, but they are analogues leading different lives. Ie. mutants cropping up in the old West, or Batman living during the Inquisition. See also uber.	comics
ep	Episode of a TV show.	general
erotica	A highly subjective term often used to differentiate "tasteful" or "classy" x-rated stories from "trashy porn." As Gloria Leonard says, "The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting."	general
Estrogen Brigade	a humorous term used by some segments of female fandom who are devoted to a male star, ie. the PMEB (Paul McGann Estrogen Brigade), the DDEB (David Duchovny Estrogen Brigade), or the HJEB (Hugh Jackman Estrogen Brigade).	several
EU, E/U	See Extended Universe.	Star Wars
euchronia	To envision a better time, usually in terms of a golden age (versus "eutopia," the envisioning of a better place). Noted here because long-term fans tend to do it. A LOT. ;)	Star Trek
Extended Universe	Refers to any Star Wars information derived from a source other than the films -- books, comics, toy boxes, computer games, etc. Often abbreviated to EU or E/U.	Star Wars
EZB	EZBoard, a free service often used to host fic-related messageboards. Feature-laden but loaded with pop-ups.	general
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faanfiction	Nope, that's not a typo -- this is an old term referring to self-referential fiction about fans and/or fandom itself, usually in the form of satire laden with injokes. See Subreality or metafic for more recent Internet equivalents.	old fandom
face-fault	An expression of shock or surprise -- the character's mouth hangs open, their face sags, and their eyes go huge and blank. Similar to the "jaw-drop" of American animation.	anime/manga
face-plant	An expression of shock or surprise -- the character falls down face-first, as if they have literally been knocked over by astonishment. Usually a reaction to monumental stupidity.	anime/manga
Factions	Divisions among Forever Knight fans, a highly splintered fandom -- ie. those who support particular pairings (slash or het), characters (Knighties, FoD=Friends of Don), traits (Dark Knighties, Dark Perks), icons (Caddywhackers), and even those who refuse to be pigeon-holed (DieHards).	Forever Knight
fake!____	Referring to an RPG character or their journal, usually by the player remarking OOC ("Only those interested in fake!Jessica will need to read this"). Not to be confused with "FAKE," which is the name of an anime series.	LiveJournal RPGs
fake!fic	A fanfic written "by" an RPG character, or rather by their player writing in-character. Usually meant for laughs and not to be taken seriously.	LiveJournal RPGs
faker	One who plays a celebrity in Must Be Pop.	LiveJournal
Falstaff Syndrome	See top-heavy.	comics
fan	Short for "fanatic," the definition of "fan" depends on who you talk to. A mundane on the street will tell you that it means "someone who's really into something," and probably means a sports team or a TV show. However, when we say "fan," we're really using a secret wink-wink geek code that means "person who's into something that requires an operational brain and some creativity," be it sci-fi, fantasy, roleplaying, comics, etc. We're not just fans -- we're fans. And in our own aggressively antiestablishmentarianistic way we're pretty bloody arrogant about it, too. ;)	general
fanac	Short for "fan activity" -- attending cons, singing filk, writing fanfic, drawing fanart, etc.	Star Trek
fanboy	See fangirl.	general
fandom	A collective term used to describe all fans and their activities. Science fiction fandom originates in the 1930s, when the first clubs were created. See also bandom.	general
fandom features	A recurring element common to a particular fandom, such as poetry (The Abhorsen Trilogy), the DSBS (bandoms), parodies (The Matrix, LotR), etc. Term said to have been coined by Raedyn.	general
Fandom Wank, Fandom_Wank	A community devoted to mocking the arrogant, pretentious, crazy, and downright stupid throughout fandom forums online. Widely despised. Currently hosted at JournalFen. Often abbreviated to F_W or FW.	general
fanfic	Short for "fan fiction" or "fanfiction," also called "fic" -- any story written about an existing TV show, book, movies, comic, etc. without permission from the original creators or intention of profit. Here's a really good selection of what various glossaries have to say about this word... NOTE: An older term for fanfic is derivative fiction.	general
fanficcer	Someone who writes fanfic. Also shortened to ficcer or more generically called "writers" -- called "Writers" (with a capital W) in Subreality fic and "bards" in Xena fic.	general
fanfiction university	A parody subgenre inspired in other fandoms by Camilla Sandman's Official Fanfiction University of Middle-Earth (OFUM). Hit the site or see OFUM	Tolkien
fan fiction, fanfiction	See fanfic.	general
fangirl	See fanboy ;) No, okay, seriously, any childish, obsessed, over-the-top fan who makes more mature fans embarrassed to be associated with them. The kind you see on TV (usually in full costume) every time the local newsteam decides to go cover a convention. Specifically, in ficdom, a writer whose stories are nothing but badly-written wish-fulfilment fantasies.	general
fanon	Information or characterization that has never been confirmed in canon but is accepted as such by fans, ie. Bobby Drake's orientation, Cordelia Chase's nightmares, or Yoda as Qui-Gon's Master. As a reader on CABS pointed out: "Fanon refers to much more than pairings. Mulder's insomnia, his dead fish, his Armani suits are fanon. Methos tossing bottlecaps behind the fridge is fanon because he did it once on the show [but] fans expanded it to ridiculous proportions."	general
fanservice, fan service	Eye-candy -- gratuitous shots or sequences included simply to make the audience happy. Usually mildly sexual in nature. such as the archetypical shower/bath scene, but could also mean a cameo of a popular character who doesn't really belong in the scene or even in the series.	anime/manga
fanzine	See zine.	old fandom
fb	See feedback.	unknown
feedback	Any comment -- whether it be by e-mail, chat, or live -- from a reader/viewer/listener etc. to a writer/artist/filker about their creative work. Put it this way: most creative types like to "paid" for their hard work in feedback. ;) In other fandoms this is referred to as fb or LOC.	general
feedback fic	Originally called archive fic, when authors in Buffy fandom wrote off-topic notes in the form of little stories to avoid getting in trouble and make them eligible for archival. In comic fandom, these are usually written to help give other authors feedback -- hence the new name.	comics
Feeling The Shot	One of two awards for the best in LXG/LoEG fanfic, awarded during July/August and presented on LiveJournal through lxg_fanfiction. See also Golden Nautiloids.	The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
femslash, femmeslash	Tales regarding romantic or sexual relationships between female characters. This idea warrants its own term in fandoms where lesbian themes are either very rare or are overshadowed by male/male pairings. See slash.	slash
fen	The plural of "fan" as used on the convention circuit. For a long time this word was rarely seen online except in the word slashfen, but it's regaining popularity.	old fandom
F/F, f/f	Denotes a story involving a romantic or sexual relationship between two female characters. In mainstream porn "F" usually indicates an adult woman while "f" indicates one who's underage -- ie. F/F would describe an encounter between two adult women while F/f would be a liaison between an adult woman and a teenage girl, and so on. However, this distinction is not well-known in fanfic and cannot be used as an accurate guide to content. For full details on same-sex themes in fanfic, see slash.	general
FIAWOL	Short for "Fandom is a way of life." See FIJAGDH.	old fandom
fic	See fanfic.	general
ficathon	A group writing challenge: one person picks a topic, everyone participating contributes one story request on that topic, and then the requests are shuffled and passed around so everyone has to write one story for one other person by a certain deadline. Sometimes the names are kept secret, other times they are not.	general
ficcer	Short for fanficcer -- one who writes fanfic. See fanficcer.	general
#fictalk	Commic fanfic's IRC room on EFNet until troll problems drove 'em out, still used on occasion. See #subcafe.	comics
#fictalkers	The old word for the IRC chat regulars, be they in #subcafe or #fictalk.	comics
fictive	Any character in a fanfic, usually but not always referring to those either created or altered by fanfic writers. More specifically, characters usually called "fictives" when they are outside their usual story, ie. hanging out in the Subreality Cafe. Fictives sometimes get the chance to scold or comfort their writer in metafics.	Subreality
Ficworld	A major page devoted to Generation X and then X-Force/New Mutants stories. Formerly known as "GenXForce" -- now defunct but often mentioned.	comics
FIJAGDH	Short for "Fandom is just a goddamn hobby." See FIAWOL.	old fandom
filk	A fandom-oriented rewriting or parody of an existing song, using the same tune but new words. Can also refer to original tunes written about/within fandom, or to the actual act of turning a mundane song into a filk. Popular after-hours at conventions.	general
fillo	A pun on the word "illo" -- a piece of fanart which was not designed for a specific story but which can be used as an illustration for any story it happens to suit. Also, any graphic that helps the archivist or editor fill dull blank space.	old fandom
First Time	A story that chronicles a couple's first romantic and/or sexual encounter. Often tooth-rottingly sweet.	unknown
flame	to "flame" someone is to viciously insult them or their work in a manner that has little or no redeeming value. Note that "flame" is a general-usage netword, and is not appreciated anywhere...especially not in writing/creative groups.	general
flamewar	A bitter and often childish fight conducted with written flames, ie. in e-mail, forums, journals, and beyond.	general
flangst	A strange combination of fluff and angst. I guess you'll know it when you read it...	Harry Potter, others
fluff	lighthearted, inconsequential. A fluff fic is somewhat like a sillyfic, but more cute than humorous -- it's generally short and sweet. In some fandoms, stories of this type are jokingly called "hhjj" (happy-happy-joy-joy).	general
fluffy angst	A style of story that starts out terribly dark and gloomy but then works up to a terrifically sweet happy ending. Often overly so.	general
Founderfic	Tales written about the Hogwarts founders.	Harry Potter
fusion	A type of crossover wherein the characters in one series, instead of meeting the characters in another series, actually replace them in the continuity. Again quoting Elsa Bibat's essay "A Long Strange Walk": "A fusion is what you would get if you tossed one series in with another in a blender and pressed 'MAXIMUM PUREE.'"	anime/manga
FUT	Frequently Used Terms. A glossary/FAQ like the one you're currently reading.	anime/manga
F_W, FW	See Fandom Wank.	general
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gack	See gank. Not to be confused with Gackt.	unknown
Gackt	For the last time: yes, he's male.	JPop
GAFF	See GodAwful Fan-Fiction.	general
gafiate	From the acronym GAFIA ("Get Away From It All). Once used to describe the act of immersing oneself in fandom to escape the mundane world, this verb has now come to mean the exact opposite: to drop out of fandom completely. It is also possible to gafiate from one fandom to another.	old fandom
gank	To steal or swipe, but publically and without malicious intent, ie. ganking an LJ icon from a batch offered up for adoption.	unknown
gayfic	Fanfic centering around characters who are actually known to be gay/lesbian in canon -- a subtle distinction from slash, which generally involves characters who are either declared or assumed to be straight in canon.	The Sentinel
GC Elvish	See Grey Company Elvish.	Tolkien
gen	Short for "general" -- denotes a fanfic suitable for all ages and mores, containing no sexual overtones. Used by slash writers to mean "not slash."	slash
genderfuck	A story in which at least one character's gender is altered -- occasionally via reassignment surgery, but more often through a plot device like alien experimentation, mutation, magic, etc. These tales often involve sex, but not necessarily; the nickname is akin to the term "mindfuck."	Star Trek zines
gen fen, genfen	Fans who prefer non-slash material, or who oppose slash because they think it violates correct characterization. This term is mainly used by slash fans to describe "the opposition." See fen or slashfen.	slash
genre	In general usage a genre is a class of story, such as fantasy, sci-fi, romance, etc. Fanfic itself is technically a genre. When specifically used by a fanficcer, however, the word can mean be more specific, denoting stories that can be lumped together by some common concept, setting, style, element, or pairing.	general
GFIME	"Girl Falls Into Middle-Earth" -- the start of many a bad Mary Sue Legomance. Run, don't walk, away from these fanfics as if your soul depends on it. Which it probably does.	Tolkien
GIP	"Gratuitous icon post" or "gratuitous image post" -- used in blogs or messageboards to show off new icons or avatars.	journalling
glomp, *glomp*	An enthusiastic full-body clinging anime-style hug rarely seen in reality but quite often in chat environments. One doesn't tend *glomp* strangers.	general
GodAwful Fan-Fiction	Often abbreviated to GAFF, this site locates, mocks, and otherwise showcases some of the worst fanfic found online, in many genres. Enjoy.	general
Godwin's Law	"The first person to mention Nazis, Hitler, or fascists in an argument is immediately declared the loser and the argument is over." Full law explained here.	Usenet
Golden Nautiloids	One of two awards for the best in LXG/LoEG fanfic, awarded during July/August and presented on LiveJournal through lxg_fanfiction. See also Feeling The Shot.	The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
gomen	Japanese for "Sorry!" Has crept into many anime fans' vocabulary.	anime/manga
goosex	Any erotic tale involving shapeless, liquid, or gelatinous characters (ie. Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) using their talents upon/with humanoid characters in inventive ways. Tends to be use as a derogatory term by those who feel it's used to degrade female characters, along the same lines as tentaclefic.	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Great Game, the	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories gave rise to the Sherlock Holmes Literary Society, which in turn inspired the Great Game: a lifestyle wherein fans pretend that Sherlock Holmes was an actual historical personage...and that Doyle was merely Dr. Watson's literary agent. Fans have been "playing along" for longer than you'd think!	Sherlock Holmes
the Great Hiatus	Refers to the period between May 1891 and April 1894, when Sherlock Holmes was believed dead after his battle with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. In reality, the detective was traveling under an assumed name to protect himself from Moriarty's remaining followers.	Sherlock Holmes
Grelvish	See Grey Company Elvish	Tolkien
Grey Company Elvish	A pseudo-language, based on Quenya and Sindarin from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, invented by a roleplaying group. Nothing wrong with that, per se, except when aspiring new fanfic writers mistake it for the real deal and scatter it liberally through their writings. Also called GC Elvish or Grelvish.	Tolkien
Grey Jedi	A concept George Lucas used in reference to Qui-Gon Jinn. Some fans have taken it to mean that Grey Jedi do not see in terms of Light or Dark but rather that all, including the Jedi Council and the Republic, is secondary to serving the Force itself. Noted because it comes up often in some corners of Star Wars fandom.	Star Wars
Gratuitous Tactile Moment, Gratuitous Touchy Moment	Innocent physical contact between characters, often to prevent injury or to provide support or comfort. Just because it's innocent to the characters, however, doesn't mean that the writer/readers aren't enjoying it -- or that it won't lead to something rather less innocent! Frequently spotted in 'shippy stories, slash, or smarm. Often abbreviated to GTM.	X-Files
grrl	As Red Monster put it: "Like a girl, only without the sugar and spice. We are not darling little pink-ruffled girls, we are shit-kicking taking-crap-from-no-one grrls." Not a fanfic term, but one often seen so here's the entry for ya.	general
GTM	See Gratuitous Tactile/Touchy Moment.	X-Files
GWLBWLB	Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys = in other words, female slashfen.	X-Files
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H	Short for hentai and meaning the same thing as ecchi, H is sometimes used to form warning terms like H-anime, H-doujinshi, and so on.	anime/manga
half-drabble	A vignette exactly fifty words long. See drabble.	Doctor Who
hall of shame	A site which features the dregs of fanficdom -- badly written garbage, character assassinations, cliches, and worse. Some see them as flames; some see them as a sharp form of constructive criticism; others merely see them as just desserts.	general
hammerspace	A pocket dimension where characters in silly stories keep weapons, used to explain how they whip 'em out of thin air. Named after Akane Tendo and her "war mallet," this can be applied to any character who seems to pull a weapon out of mid air. Known to Dirty Pair fic writers as "bikinispace."	anime/manga
Hawk's Archive	The first major comicfic archive, consisting of all stories on ACFF saved on an FTP site. Long defunct but remembered by dinos.	comics
h/c, H/C	hurt/comfort -- a style of story in which one character is harmed (physically or emotionally) and another must save them, make them feel better, or both. Though not often seen in comic fandom, this one's been around since the original Star Trek 'zines and is often used to encourage a hopeless romance or set the stage for slash. In Sentinel fandom, stories of this type are jokingly called "owwies."	general
headers, header info	See disclaimers.	X-Files, various
Hermioknockers	A term related to Ho!Mione, mainly seen only at the SugarQuill at present but worth mentioning for the humor factor. This refers to fics where the boys suddenly notice that "Hermione had changed over the summer. She now had several interesting curves..."	Harry Potter
het	Short for "heterosexual" -- denotes fanfic depicting a romantic or sexual relationship between opposite genders.	slash
hetyay	"Heterosexual smut, yay!" A lesser-seen spin-off of hoyay.	general
hhjj	"Happy-happy-joy-joy." See fluff.	unknown
Ho!Mione	Derogatory term for Hermione Granger as distorted by fanficcers who believe that she is tragically repressed and overdue for a sexual awakening...which usually includes hair dye, slutwear, and tattoos/piercings. Ho!Mione cares not for magic nor grades; her only concern is shagging whoever the author fancies (usually Draco). The spawn of canon rape and a disguised breed of Mary Sue. See also Hermioknockers.	Harry Potter, possibly coined on GAFF
HOSD	See THOSD.	comics
host segment	Any section of a MSTing wherein the cast is not interacting directly with the movie, script, fanfic, etc. Usually slice-of-life, skits, an ongoing secondary plotline, or all three. Most MSTings follow the original MST3K formula of prologue, epilogue, and several intermissions inbetween.	MST3K
HoYay, hoyay	"Homoeroticism, yay!" Coined on the Television Without Pity boards to describe a show's slashiness.	Angel, Smallville, now general
HSAU	High School Alternate Universe. Any chance of this sort of fanfic being worth reading depends on the fandom. For example, Inuyasha or LOTR HSAU = bad. In fact, just about any HSAU = bad.	unknown
hubsite	A webpage which consisted of organized links to other pages containing fanfic or ficcer resources. Called an "index" in some fandoms.	comics, others
*huggle*	Somewhere between a hug and a cuddle. Often considered somewhat TOO cute. You don't generally *huggle* someone you don't know.	general
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icon	A small image used to represent oneself on blog posts. This is sometimes interchangeable with avatar, but the latter is more for messageboards and forums.	unknown
iconoclast	A writer who only writes about certain characters because nobody else is. A rare term that never really caught on.	comics?
iconwhore	A fond term for someone who routinely makes icons for a specific someone else upon request, usually out of fondness or a humorous "debt."	journalling
ICKYWMB	"I Can Kill You With My Brain." A spooky but generally empty threat, like a poker-faced bluff. From a line spoken by River in Firefly canon.	Firefly
IDIC	"Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations." The Vulcan motto, often used to symbolize fandom's acceptance of all members weird and wonderful.	Star Trek
illo, illoe	Short for "illustration." So far this term is mainly confined to Senners, but these things tend to spread.	The Sentinel
index	See hubsite.	Xena, others
infoquest	A request for information intended to assist with writing a fanfic. An acronym used in subject headers on mailing lists like OTL, often indicating that responses should be sent to the individual rather than to the entire list.	comics, others
Inside The Web	ITW for short -- a free service that once hosted most fic-related messageboards. Notoriously buggy and now defunct.	general
Internet Relay Chat	A kind of Internet-based chat service, often used by members of fan communities to congregate and gab. Unlike most instant messanger systems, there are a variety of distinct IRC "networks," and most messages are communicated to an entire "channel" or "room" of people at once. See the Wikipedia article on IRC for more information; many fans hang out on the DalNet network.	general
IQ	See infoquest.	comics, others
IRC	The acronym for Internet Relay Chat.	general
ITW	The acronym for Inside The Web.	general
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Japanimation	The old term for anime. Considered somewhat offensive, both racially and as a pun; try to avoid using it.	anime/manga
jossed, Jossed	As in Buffy creator Joss Whedon. A fanfic author's theories on what "really happened" in a canon plothole are "jossed" when the canon source provides information which contradicts those fan theories. Ie. all fanfics dealing with how Angel got out of Hell were jossed when his return was shown in an actual episode.	Buffy, Angel
Jossverse	Refers collectively to the television "worlds" created by Joss Whedon. This does not imply that Firefly takes place in the same story canon, merely that it is part of the set of Joss-flavored creations.	Buffy, Angel, Firefly
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kakkoii	Literal meaning in Japanese: "(the) form/appearance (is) good." Modern usage is closer to the American slang term "cool."	anime/manga
kawaii	Japanese for "Cuuuute!" Has crept into many anime fans' vocabulary -- and beyond.	anime/manga
kerfluffle, kerfuffle	An argument, often (but not always) about fanstuff and usually in writing. Could count as a small flamewar, except the for the trivializing undertone of "petty bickering over something stupid/pointless."	LiveJournal, general
K'immie	A joking generic nickname for any immortal ("immie") villain whose name begins with the letter K. A high proportion of bad guys on the show "Highlander" have K names -- Kuyler, Kent, Kern, Karros, Kalas, Kenny, Kristin, Kronos, and Kurgan, just to name a few...	Highlander
Kill [fill in the character] Fic	A fanfic where the entire point of the story is to murder an unpopular character. Common targets include Wesley Crusher (ST:TNG), Joxer (Xena), and Jar Jar Binks (SW).	originally Star Trek
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l337, l33t	See leet-speak.	general
lay story	A Mary Sue PWP -- basically little more than "author's avatar gets canon character into the sack." A very old term which predates the Internet by about ten years.	Star Trek
leet-speak	Leet/l33t/l337 = "elite" -- a mutated pidgin typed in letters, numbers, symbols, shorthand, and unique suffixes/tenses. There are sites online devoted to it, but to type it you really gotta BE l33t. In fandom, it mainly serves to annoy those of us who do still speak English. Often parodied.	general
Legomance	A story centered around a romance between Legolas and the author's self-insertion or Mary Sue. Very common, and invariably bad.	Tolkien
LEO, L.E.O.	"Low Earth Orbit" -- a silly destination for anyone who's had their butt kicked. For example, it's where most anime characters find themselves after being kicked into the air by Akane Tendo.	anime/manga
lemon	A fic containing gratuitous sex; some sources say it comes from the pornographic "Cream Lemon" anime series. Originally an anime term -- read Yumemisama's full explanation of anime/manga adult story classifications.	anime/manga
lemonade	A cute 'n' fluffy lemon. Read Yumemisama's full explanation of anime/manga adult story classifications.	anime/manga
liek	Common misspelling of "like," often deliberately used by people parodying fangirl speak, eg. rapidly typed and vapid. Often paired with other girly silliness for comedic exaggerated effect, ie. "liek omg ;_;"	general
lime	A fanfic involving non-explicit sexual situations, a tasteful "fade to black." Read Yumemisama's full explanation of anime/manga adult story classifications.	anime/manga
lip-synching	In fan vidding this specifically means being able to align the movements of a character's mouth to match lyrics or dialogue to create a good vid..	anime, general
listdomme, ListDomme	A more authoritative listmommy. ;)	various
listmom, listmommy	The individual, usually female, who maintains, runs and/or moderates a mailing list -- often the person who created the list in the first place. Tougher versions are sometimes jokingly called listdommes. Called mod (moderator) in some fandoms.	general
listsib	Short for "list sibling" -- regular mailing list participants may use this fond term to refer to fellow members. See also listmom.	general
LiveJournal	A free online diary system increasing used by ficcers as a broad main avenue for expression, interaction, and backbiting. ;) Individual journals are often called "blogs" -- short for "weblogs." Abbreviated to LJ.	gjournalling
LJ	See LiveJournal.	journalling
LJ-cut	A code which, when added to a LiveJournal post, shunts any content past that point behind a clickable link. This saves space on one's reading and cuts down on bandwidth drain if pictures are involved. The code is thus: <LJ-CUT TEXT="whatever you want to type here">	sites run on the LJ source code
LOC, LoC	Letter of comment, also seen as eloc (e-mailed letter of comment) in some backwater ficdoms -- see feedback. Jessica Ross says: "LoC is way older than the fandoms you name -- LoCs were printed up in the very second zine ever. There's an old, old joke: 'The last fan in the world was alone in the ConSuite. There was a LoC on the door.'"	ST:TPM, Man From U.N.C.L.E., others -- predates online fandom
LoEG vs. LXG	Both stand for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. However, LoEG = the original graphic novels by Alan Moore while LXG = the film from Fox Studios. The two versions are different enough that the fans feel strongly about which faction they lean towards and, hence, which acronym they prefer.	The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
loli	See lolicon	anime/manga
lolicon	A romance story (usually but not always sexual in nature) in which at least one of the participants is a young girl. The age cut-off is about 15 or so. Sometimes called "roricon," "rorikon," "lolikon," or just "loli." The root comes from the novel "Lolita" and the term follows the same general usage as shotacon -- see also chanslash.	anime/manga
lotrips, Lo-trips	A slang way of saying "LOTR RPS" = Lord Of The Rings real-people slash. See RPS.	LOTR
lurker	Member of a mailing list, messageboard, or other forum who rarely if ever directly posts or comments, instead remaining "invisible." Sometimes lurkers are so good that you don't know they're there for years. Some lists tolerate lurkers; others strongly discourage or even ban them to assure that all members "pull their weight" by participating. Please note: most fanfic writers do not like lurkers. If you enjoy a story, send feedback!	general
LXG vs. LoEG	See LoEG vs. LXG.	The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
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mainstream	The one-and-only original unaltered canon version of a character.	Subreality
maintext	Any canon romantic or sexual relationship between characters which occurs as the writer intended and without need for interpretation. The opposite of subtext.	Xena
manga	Japanese comic books. Manga (pronounced "MAWN-guh," with a hard "G" as in "gum") makes up forty percent of all publications in Japan and is aimed specifically at men and women as well as at teens. See anime for the animated side of the industry.	anime/manga
manon	Information from a movie adaptation, generally accepted as more correct than fanon but not as solid as canon from the original source. Usually used to back up a ship or pairing where canon alone cannot provide.	Harry Potter
Marauderfic	Stories set in the time of Harry Potter's parents, centering around the adventures of his father's cronies. Sometimes refers to later stories about the same characters. See also MWPP.	Harry Potter
Marie-Suzette	A coy fandom-specific nickname for Mary Sue.