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Fan Fiction Terminology

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Renkon Root
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:31 pm



People love to abbreviate things, but some of those abbreviations can be confusing (especially if you're new to fan fiction). Here are, generally, the most important/well known ones:

Fandom: Any TV show, book, movie, comic, series, etc. Basically anything you can be a fan. A fandom is a group of fans who like the same thing.
Fanfic: short for fanfiction, a work of fiction created by a fan
Con crit: Constructive Criticism
R&R: read and review

A/N: Author's Notes
Drabble: fic of a hundred words or less (generally applied to any fic shorter than 500 words). Can also be called a 'Spam-fic'.
One-shot: One chapter fic, not planned to continue
Two-shot: Two chapter fic, not planned to continue
Short Story: less than 17,500 words
Novella: less than 50,000 words
Novel: 50,000 words+
Epic Novel: 100,000 words+
WIP: work in progress

Canon: Anything that appeared in the published work the fandom is based on.
Fanon: Something that IS NOT part of the published work, but that is widely accepted as the fandom as "correct". Or, changes to the universe that are, again, widely accepted.
AU: Alternate Universe
RPF: Real Person Fic, a fic about a real person who is living or has lived (or perhaps a future relative)
H/C (Hurt/Comfort): one character is harmed, the other comforts
Fluff: light-hearted romance, or simple friendship, many 'feel-good' moments

Shipping: Relationshipping; pairing characters together
Slash: Gay pairing, typically MxM
Femslash: A gay pairing that is specifically FxF

IC: in character
OOC: Out Of Character
CC: Canon Character
OC: Original Character

Mary Sue: Original Character that does not fit into the fandom, warps the fandom around her, or otherwise is not believable in the context of the fandom and the fic. (A character who can fly in a world where flying is not possible, etc). A character whose weaknesses do little to nothing to balance with their usually many strengths.
Gary Stu: See Mary Sue; male version of a Mary Sue
Canon-Sue: A character in the canon who happens to be a Sue.
Self-Insert: Original Character that is, in a way, the author's avatar within the fic. Not always a Mary Sue.


Other fairly common stuff:

Crackfic: a fic where everyone acts OOC and nothing really makes sense
Flame: A review, post, or PM that insults an author and possibly the story, no matter the reason. Generally viewed as unwarranted.
Ship War: A war between two followings of different 'ships, usually sharing one common character, thus the reason for their fighting. (HarryxHermione vs RonxHermione)
Name-splicing: A crossing of two character's names, generally the aggressor of the relationship is put first. Ex: Hermione seducing Severus Snape: Hermape. Snape seducing Hermione: Snapione.
Character Bashing: In which a character, beloved or not (usually beloved) is warped beyond original recognition or given horrible circumstances because the author doesn't like the character.

Citrus: Sexually explicit scenes or fics (generally assumed to have no plot beyond the sex)
Lemon: Sexually explicit; descriptive, though not overly so; usually rated M (generally assumed to have no plot beyond the sex)
Lime: Sexually explicit; vaguely descriptive; mostly implied; usually rated T (generally assumed to have no plot beyond the sex)
PWP: Plot, what plot? or Porn without plot; usually a pairing oriented one-shot, featuring two characters sleeping together without any explanation.
Incest: Within the family pairings
Twincest: Pairing twins
MPREG: male pregnancy
Shonen-ai: Japanese gay pairing; male (non-sexual)
Shoujo-ai: Japanese gay pairing; female (non-sexual)
Yaoi: Japanese gay pairing; male (sexual)
Yuri: Japanese gay pairing; female (sexual)
PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:27 pm


Its a nice reference for those new, not familiar with every term. you should put a slash on drabble and put spam fic since that another term for the same thing. ship war... thats a new term. mpreg not seen that term used at all can't even think of a example since its midnight and sleepy.

magus_dark_sorcerer

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Victorias Doll

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:33 pm


Although I've never come across a Citrus fic, it definitely warmed my heart to see that (at you) knew the different between shonen-ai and yaoi. Honestly, so many stories involving little girls that scream about how yaoi is so hot, then run away crying when I correct them...

Anyway, I noticed a few you left out and I've seen plenty of times:

Canon: (another definition of it that I learned) a pairing or couple established by the original published work.
Fanon: a pairing or couple widely accepted by the fans as correct or (in some cases) canon. Can also be changes to the universe that are, again, widely accepted.
Character Bashing: In which a character, beloved or not (usually beloved) is warped beyond original recognition or given horrible circumstances because the author doesn't like the character.
Fluff: "Feel-good" moments in which couples within the fic are basically doing cute couple stuff. Very K and T rated.
PostPosted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:35 pm


Victorias Doll
Although I've never come across a Citrus fic, it definitely warmed my heart to see that (at you) knew the different between shonen-ai and yaoi. Honestly, so many stories involving little girls that scream about how yaoi is so hot, then run away crying when I correct them...

Anyway, I noticed a few you left out and I've seen plenty of times:

Canon: (another definition of it that I learned) a pairing or couple established by the original published work.
Fanon: a pairing or couple widely accepted by the fans as correct or (in some cases) canon. Can also be changes to the universe that are, again, widely accepted.
Character Bashing: In which a character, beloved or not (usually beloved) is warped beyond original recognition or given horrible circumstances because the author doesn't like the character.
Fluff: "Feel-good" moments in which couples within the fic are basically doing cute couple stuff. Very K and T rated.

The definitions for canon and fluff are already up there. But I will add fanon and character bashing. Thank you.

Renkon Root
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Brooklyn Hyuuga

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:53 pm


Thank you for this! I was wondering what all of those meant when I had saw them.
PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 10:18 am


Brooklyn Hyuuga
Thank you for this! I was wondering what all of those meant when I had saw them.

Sure thing! ^^ I remember I was also super-confused when I first entered the fan fiction world.

Renkon Root
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Violent Crow

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:37 pm


Okay, I didn't even know this post existed but I'm glad to have seen it. Truthfully I had no idea what a citrus fic was until I read this post and I didn't even know two-shots existed. sweatdrop

Excellent post!
PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:50 am


Violent Crow
Okay, I didn't even know this post existed but I'm glad to have seen it. Truthfully I had no idea was a citrus fic was until I read this post and I didn't even know two-shots existed. sweatdrop

Excellent post!

Lol. This sticky has been here since the inception of the guild.

Renkon Root
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Violent Crow

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:51 pm


Renkon Root
Violent Crow
Okay, I didn't even know this post existed but I'm glad to have seen it. Truthfully I had no idea what a citrus fic was until I read this post and I didn't even know two-shots existed. sweatdrop

Excellent post!

Lol. This sticky has been here since the inception of the guild.


Yes, but I am the absentminded type, so... emotion_facepalm I'm still glad that I saw this. Now I'm not in the dark as much.
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:27 am


I am so glad to see someone acknowledging that there is a difference between shonen/shojou-ai and yaoi/yuri. Those terms, for some reason, are towards the top of the list of misused terms, and those who are misusing it are unwilling to hear it if you explain to them that they're using it wrong.

Though, it does make me giggle when a supposed 'yaoi' fan says that they like yaoi, except the sex. It really defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

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Renkon Root
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:10 am


Strawberry Requiem
I am so glad to see someone acknowledging that there is a difference between shonen/shojou-ai and yaoi/yuri. Those terms, for some reason, are towards the top of the list of misused terms, and those who are misusing it are unwilling to hear it if you explain to them that they're using it wrong.

Though, it does make me giggle when a supposed 'yaoi' fan says that they like yaoi, except the sex. It really defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Lol. The yaoi/shonnen-ai and yuri/shoujo-ai thing is actually one of my pet peeves when it comes to fan fiction, too. There are a number of shonnen-ai pairs I really like, but I find yaoi or sex-scenes of them to be a bit awkward (and sometimes disturbing if the author has no idea how gay sex works). So, its really important for me to have authors label their stories correctly. I miss a lot of good stories because the author uses the term "yaoi" in the description instead of "shonen-ai" or "slash". Likewise, I've read some very displeasing (and a few downright disturbing) stories because the author used the term "shonnen-ai" instead of "yaoi".

But the thing that really, really, really pisses me off is when I post a review informing them of their misuse of terms, they get all bent out of shape, message me back calling me a homophobe and that they don't have to listen to anything a hater like me says. They're gonna keep calling it what they want because "yaoi" sounds better than "shonnen-ai".

Look, I get it. "Yaoi" does sound better than "shonnen-ai". Its shorter, less breathy, and easier on both the ears and eyes. Authors have been doing s**t like this for ages. Just look at all the authors who use the word "wiccan" instead of "witch" because "wiccan" sounds better. The problem is, this just perpetuates the spread of misinformation. It promotes narrow-mindedness and stupidity.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 12:10 pm


Renkon Root


I don't particularly like reading same-sex explicit scenes for the same reason. It just opens the door for stereotyping characters to 'uke' and 'seme'. Not only does it give writers the assumption that it's okay to get characters completely out of character for the sake of sex, but that all sex, even outside of fandoms, work that way.

I should probably get off of soapbox now. I've gotten many an angry fangirl jumping down my throat for saying that I dislike such terminology in the past.

Strawberry Requiem

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Renkon Root
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:31 pm


Strawberry Requiem
Renkon Root
I don't particularly like reading same-sex explicit scenes for the same reason. It just opens the door for stereotyping characters to 'uke' and 'seme'. Not only does it give writers the assumption that it's okay to get characters completely out of character for the sake of sex, but that all sex, even outside of fandoms, work that way.

I should probably get off of soapbox now. I've gotten many an angry fangirl jumping down my throat for saying that I dislike such terminology in the past.

I too have had fantards attack me for the same reason (see above post).

On the subject of stereotyping and/or filing characters into the categories of "seme" and "uke" is another thing that bothers me. Especially since in my personal experience with same-sex sex this is rarely the case. Yeah, there's a batter and a catcher. But in a committed relationship, its never the same person holding the same role. Mor often than not, my partners and I would take turns. (Apologies if that you TMI for you.) AND even if one guy prefers being on bottom as opposed to topping (which does happen) he's not always a sissy-girly-boy.

I think that's the main thing that I can't stand about yaoi/shonnen-ai stories that are written by strait women. They almost always seem to HAVE to over-femanize one of the partners. Its like they can't understand a romantic relationship between two men unless one of them is essentially a woman with a d**k.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:57 am


Renkon Root


You're fine. My younger sister works for a gay couple, and they're very descriptive with their sex life. I'm desensitized to the whole thing because I ultimately hear everything because either they tell her and she tells me, or they tell me because I'm related to her.

The whole 'chick with a d**k' problem is a huge issue, not just in fanfiction, but in roleplay communities as well. I don't mind if a character's a little effeminate, but I really hate how one character always has to be the stereotypical cross-dressing underage girly-guy while the other is some butch macho man. Why can't they both be effeminate? Or for that matter, why can't they both be manly?

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Renkon Root
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:05 am


Strawberry Requiem
why can't they both be manly?

EXACTLY!
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