Fan fiction abounds with abbreviations and acronyms and slang. I found it very mystifying at first. I hope this glossary may be useful or at least amusing to others.
If you have any suggestions for terms to be included or corrections then post them in the suggestion form
| Term | What it means | Unfair comment |
|---|---|---|
| FanFic | Fiction written about characters from popular shows by the fans of those shows. Science Fiction and fantasy shows seem to predominate but are by no means exclusive. Star Trek, Xena Warrior Princess, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The X-files and ER are some of the largest. But many other shows are represented. | God we are a sad group of people. However in the words of the Hitch Hiker's Guide - "Mostly harmless". |
| Slash | Fan fiction about relationships between characters of the same sex. The term derives from the habit of using the inital letters of two or more leading characters divided by a slash to indicate the protagonists in your story. e.g J/7 = Janeway and Seven Of Nine | Yes you can make your fantasies about Jeri Ryan publicly available! |
| Alt Fic | Same as Slash Fic | Sounds a bit more genteel but it is the same thing. |
| f/f | Same sex relationship between women quite often graphic and well written. Be careful of NC17 ratings if you are underage. | Tally ho! |
| m/m | Yup! You are right. Same sex relationships between men. NC17 warning applies also. | Plotlessness abounds. |
| m/f or f/m | Het relationships. NC17 warning applies as much as in the gay fanfic. | Well I suppose it happens. |
| a/f or a/m | Asexual alien/humanoid male or female | I made this up! Any takers? |
| femslash | Slash between female characters. A more recent term. | This is more like it! |
| Subtext | Code word for the belief that TV executives have hidden gay content in straight shows. | Mostly delusional but great fun. |
| Maintext | I never thought I would get to add this - but yes, some popular shows now include gay and lesbian relationships within the show. Most famous examples: Tara/Willow from BTVS and Kerry/Kim from ER. | Yay for us - but will it last? Willow has dumped Tara. Kerry abandoned Kim. But never mind because now we can slash everyone else with Tara. |
| TPTB | The Powers That Be. Ironic acronym for the owners and makers of the various TV shows. This acronym is rarely intended politely with the honourable exception of Joss Weedon and the BTVS producers. | Various pointy headed executives and corporations. |
| Relationshippers | People who hold the belief that there are hidden romantic relationships in TV shows. Alternatively it may apply to those who follow a relationship that has been "officially" established (but often so ineptly you can't believe in it.) | Often even more delusional than subtext seekers - see J/C for one of the sadder misconceptions. P/T offers a good example of the other type of relationshipper. |
| Shippers | Abbreviation of relationshippers | Source of one of my more embarrassing errors - Yep I really thought the "Unconventional Shippers" website was all about road haulage. Boy was I surprised. |
| Mary Sue | An invented character who gets to sleep with one of the series characters. Mary Sue is usually beautiful, brilliant, courageous etc. | Any wish fulfilment by the author of a Mary Sue story is entirely unintentional. |
| The Faction | Famously, in a television interview, Kate Mulgrew described the massed hordes of J/7 shippers as 'a faction' who would like to see Janeway paired with Seven. | Well of course we want to see Janeway with Seven. They were made for each other! Fools! |
| The Dark Side | A sinister coalition of shippers who claim Seven of Nine for B'Elanna Torres. | The strange workings of this mysterious group may be observed by joining the Voq_Je_Bang email list. |
| Scully slash | A whole industry of Mary Sue stories and cross series pairings involving the X-files hero. | Agent Scully sure does get around. |
| bdsm | Bondage, domination and sado-masochism. | Be afraid. Be very afraid. Often icky rather than erotic but that is just my squeamish view. |
| angst | Gloomy stories with high emotional content. | Mood laden insight into the human condition or adolescent self pity. Take your pick. |
| XWP | Xena:Warrior Princess. I thought this should get a separate mention as it is the grandmother of all f/f fanfic and subtext hunting. | There is more XWP fanfic than there are stars in the heavens - bards ahoy! |
| BTVS | Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Really lends itself to slash fic because of the large number of personable characters. | I love this fandom. Sex with werewolves, vampires and demons and all that is in the show! And it has lesbians too!!! |
| ER | Really took off for femslash when Kerry Weaver took a yen for the amazingly good-looking Dr Kim. | I think this is going to be a hard row to plough. Kerry is such a determinedly cussed character. The angst writers are gonna have a ball. |
Voyager Fanfic writers are numerous and prolific - more than any other trek writers. Why is this? Maybe Voyager was just lucky and its run co-incided with the rise of the internet. Or maybe the characters invite writers to have a go. Or perhaps it just needs more fixing than other shows.
| 'ship | Who is it? | Unfair comment |
|---|---|---|
| J/C | Janeway/Chakotay. This relationship has a massive following. | Proof that mass hallucination is possible. On the other hand lots of good writers. |
| P/T | Paris/Torres. The other 'big' relationship. | TV series supposedly supports this but you would be hard pressed to see any evidence. Much better evidence is at the Paris/Torres archive. |
| C/7 | Chakotay/Seven. | Oh. My. Goddess. When this happened I came to believe that we had entered an alternate Universe, only we had arrived too late to see the subtle build-up of the relationship between Chakkers and the Borg Goddess in earlier episodes. Less charitable folk simple believe TPTB went mad. |
| J/P | Janeway/Paris. | Unaccountably I left this out when I compiled the list first time. I wonder why? halfofone may be seen running away doubled up laughing. Late change: I have read a really excellent J/P called The Gravity Well. So even this 'ship can be made to work. All thing s J/p are to be found at the Jupiter Station. |
| K/7 | Harry Kim/Seven of Nine. | There is little to say here except some folk have incredibly good imaginations with very little to go on. |
| J/7 | Janeway/Seven of Nine. | Obviously true and a relationship of absolute rightness! Of course I may be biased ..... Sadly, ever since TPTB discovered the existence of the 'The Faction', great efforts have been made to remove all evidence of J/7 subtext from the show. It rears its pretty head occasionally but not like the glory days of Season 4 and 5. Vaxen's site is the portal of choice. |
| T/7 or B/7 | B'Elanna Torres/Seven of Nine. | "It has great comedic value but let's face it, Janeway would put Torres in the brig." I said that way back, two years later and T/7 is one of the liveliest of Voyager 'ships and with much really excellent fic available. If you want to discover the world of T/7 then my own site Perfect Misfits is a good place to start. |
| J/T | Janeway/B'Elanna Torres. | This is a small grouping but it has some effective writers. Liz Griffin is a very good example. |
| C/P | Chakotay/Paris. | One of the two leading m/m relationships. Mostly written by women. Heavy breathing and large swollen things predominate!. I seem to remember one author issuing a "rampant love prong warning". |
| P/K | Paris/Kim. | The other leading m/m. Main characters are rarely upright. Plotting tends to the minimal. Actually to be fair this is one of the few relationships where some genuine subtext exists in one of the better episodes - The Chute. |
| C/K | Chakotay/Kim. | What a sweet idea! |
Any or all combinations of the above may occur. There are small followings and one off stories involving every crew member you can think of including Neelix! If you see three or more initials slashed together then it is fair bet that the protagonists are in for a torrid time!
Why is BTVS so unutterably great for femslash? Can you think of another show that has so many smart, kick-ass, gorgeous female characters? I didn't think so.
| 'ship | Who is it? | Gushing commentary |
|---|---|---|
| B/F | Buffy/Faith | The chosen two. A subtext fest. Made for each other. Of course there is that pesky problem with Faith being a psychopath and trying to kill, maim and destroy everything Buffy loves. But there can be no question that Faith has a big ol' thang for Buffy. Great chemistry. Loads of sites. Shared Destiny is just one. |
| W/T | Willow/Tara | This is the real thing, a lesbian relationship on mainstream TV. Okay they are two Wiccans (the old witch cliche) but at least they're not English professors and I call that progress. Perhaps more amazingly, Tara is a recognisably ordinary female. She actually looks and acts like someone you might meet. Much as I love 'em, the rest of the BTVS women are straight out of the cupboard marked glamour. Despite not being standard issue, Tara is an extremely attractive character. Slash writers love her. Extra Flamey is the place to be |
| B/W | Buffy/Willow | There are some excellent B/W fics but I think this pairing doesn't have enough spark. I will now hide behind a large sofa and hope that none of the 200 million B/W shippers can find me. A slayer, a hacker, true friendship and love. |
| B/C | Buffy/Cordy | I love this pairing. I wish there was more fic available. I know that there are precious few subtext possibilities but whenever they are onscreen together, you are not watching anyone else. Try Cordyslash |
| F/C | Faith/Cordy | Another great pair. The smartest mouth with the tightest pants meets the queen bitch of Sunny D. They both say what they think and most of what they think shouldn't be said. |
| Drusilla/? | Drusilla with anybody | Creepy but effective - there isn't much Drusilla femslash but what there is ... Wow. All things Dru at Naming The Stars |
| B/T | Buffy/Tara | Now that Willow has given Tara the heave-ho (the bitca) Tara is free to cavort with others. B/T is becoming quite popular. There is something there. Tara is basically fairly hopeless and needs a lot of rescuing. But she is also sweet and gentle and loving. Just what a tortured Slayer needs to come home to. Faith/Tara works for the same reason. Mailing list for Buffy/Tara - MiraculousLove |
| C/W | Cordy/Willow | Small following with some good fics - especially Kate Bolin. Some nice angles. Life long enemies brought together against their will and almost in spite of themselves. This 'ship can be investigated at Vision of Love |
Other than the one hundred and one combinations of the above, you can also draw numerous slash permutations from the following: Anya, Amy the Rat, Dawn, Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers, Kendra De Vampyr Slayer and even Verucca. Then from Angel there's Kate, Fred, Darla, Lilah. It's a cornucopia.