Since early 2024, we’ve posted our main Fandom Lexicon a letter or three at a time, creating a resource with over 500 entries defining or explaining fandom terminology, common abbreviation, meme references at more. The main Lexicon is done – though we continue to add to the version on our website regularly! – and now we’re beginning to roll out some secondary resources!
The first appendix to the Fandom Lexicon focuses on abbreviations (and a handful of terms) used to refer to specific fandoms or used within specific fandoms. This list is primarily a resource for understanding the alphabet soup that is looking at people’s posts about fandoms – this one is tagged #mdzs, that one is tagged #dhmis, this other one is tagged #tma, and for people who aren’t familiar with fandom or aren’t in the fandom(s) being referred to, understanding these abbreviations can be heckin’ hard!
There are surely thousands of abbreviations used to refer to specific fandoms; any attempt at creating an exhaustive list would be futile. However, we’re giving it a go with this core list, which includes over 200 abbreviations common, uncommon, and rare, based on our Duck Prints Press contributors knowledge and fandom experiences.
Know some acronyms we missed? Notice a mistake? Let us know!
This list is far too long to put into a single blog post, so – embedded link! You can view the abbreviation appendix by visiting this link.
For several months, we posted entries to our fandom lexicon, covering the entire alphabet over 20-some-odd posts. Now that we've posted the entire core lexicon, it's time for a masterpost for those who want to access the Lexicon on Tumblr!
While it’s a given that every fandom has it’s own fandom-specific language, many people find entering general fandom difficult because as a whole, fandom uses a lot of slang, abbreviations, and language in ways that people are unfamiliar with. Encountered a word you don’t know? Maybe we can help!
Because it’s hard to draw a line between “this is fandom terminology” and “this is general internet lingo,” we’ve included a lot of terminology common to many internet spaces even if the term isn’t fandom-specific.
Want to view the entire searchable lexicon all in one place? Check out the Lexicon on duckprintspress.com!
Spot a mistake? Encounter a term we didn't include? Let us know!
For over a year, we here at Duck Prints Press have been slowly but surely working on a creating a fandom lexicon: a basic dictionary of common terms, abbreviations, and slang used now and in the past in fandom circles. This is, unsurprisingly, a massive undertaking, and we can never hope to be exhaustive, but we finally have gotten far enough along to begin sharing this project publicly!
Starting this week, we will be adding more definitions to our Fandom Lexicon weekly, usually at a rate of one letter a week (though we’ll double and triple up for some letters with fewer terms). And – we’ll be making all these updates into blog posts!
Today, we’ve added the definitions filed under the letter “A” to our lexicon.
Note: future updates will not update this blog post, but will update the main Lexicon page in our webpage Resources.
Did we miss a term? Is one of our definitions incomplete? Let us know, and we’ll take your input under advisement!
Lexicon Terms Beginning with A (read more)
A/B/O: Abbreviation, stands for Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics. See Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics. Note: Writing the abbreviation without a divider is considered bad etiquette in many fandom circles because it looks like an Australian slur.
A/N: Abbreviation, stands for “author’s note.” A note at the beginning of a fanfiction written by the author.
A/S/L: Abbreviation, stands for age/sex/location. In ye olde internet days, it was common for people to try to find hook-ups by messaging strangers “A/S/L,” requesting their age, sex, and location as the initial step of forging a connection.
Abandoned: A work that the creator has stopped updating.
Ace: Abbreviation, stands for asexual/asexuality. The overarching term for people who do not experience sexual attraction, as opposed to those who are allosexual. Read more about the term “asexuality.”
Achillean: An umbrella term for men or men-aligned people who love other men, regardless of the sexuality of the men in question. Read more about the term “achillean.”
Adoption: When the author of an abandoned work allows (explicitly or by lack of response) another person to finish it. In many fandoms, it is considered rude to adopt a work without permission.
AFAB: Abbreviation, stands for “assigned female at birth.” Someone who got ye olde “F” on their birth certificate based on the birth attendant’s judgment of their genitals. Read more about the abbreviation “AFAB.”
AIM: Abbreviation, stands for “AOL Instant Messenger.” A messaging service commonly used in the mid 1990s to mid 2000s. Read more about AIM.
AITA: Abbreviation, stands for “Am I the Asshole?” Both an inquiry and a reference to a popular subreddit. Read more at the AITA reddit.
Allo: Abbreviation, stands for allosexual/allosexuality. The overarching term for people who experience sexual attraction, as opposed to those who are asexual. Can also be used for romance, i.e alloromantic/aromantic. Read more about the term “allosexual” and the term “alloromantic”.
Ally: Typically used to refer to someone who is not a member of a specific oppressed group, who supports and advocates for the rights of an oppressed group. For example, a straight person who supports and advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights would be an ally. Read more about the term “ally.”
Alpha: A secondary gender term used in works with alpha/beta/omega dynamics. While the specifics are up to the writer, some common characteristics of alphas include: larger, stronger bodies; social dominance; a strong sense of smell; eyes that turn red when angry or aroused; hormone-driven sexual “ruts”; and canine-esque genitalia. See Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics.
Alpha Reader: The first person, other than the author, to read a written work. An alpha reader typically offers feedback on plot, structure, characterization, and other such subjective details. Read more about alpha readers.
Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics: an original type of alternate universe created by fandom in which characters, who may be human, part-human, or non-human, are born with a second gender in addition to their main gender. The details of how these worlds work vary widely but the basic idea is that in addition to being born as female, male, non-binary, etc., characters are also born as alphas, betas, and/or omegas, and this impacts their sex lives. Read more: Fanlore; our blog post about Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics.
AMAB: Abbreviation, stands for “assigned male at birth.” Someone who got ye olde “M” on their birth certificate based on the birth attendant’s judgment of their genitals. Read more about the term “AMAB.”
AN: Abbreviation, stands for Author’s Note. See A/N.
Angst: Typically used to describe a fanfic that deep-dives into feelings of anxiety, fear, insecurity, grief, and other heavily negative emotions. Read more on about the term “angst.”
Anime: Animated media from Japan.
Anon: Abbreviation, stands for anonymous. Usually used to refer to the person who sent an anonymous communication such as a Tumblr ask or a fic comment.
Anti: Abbreviation, stands for anti-shipper, though it is often used as just “anti” without the implication of being specifically against shipping/a ship in modern fandom parlance. 1. Someone who strongly dislikes [thing], where thing is usually a fandom, character, ship, or kink. 2. Someone who has developed (or been exposed to) a set of restrictive and unrealistic moral standards about behavior and/or beliefs that they apply to all media they encounter and expect everyone else to adhere to as well. Those who do not meet these standards are typically painted as morally reprehensible by the anti community, and they are subsequently subjected to harassment, bullying, dogpiling/brigading, exposure to offline social circles and/or employers, doxxing, and/or threats of real harm, all of which can occur online or in the physical world. Testimony from former antis indicates that it is easy to fall into this behavior but extremely difficult to escape it. Read more about the term “anti-shipper” and it’s subsequent development.
Anti-anti: Someone who hates antis as much as antis hate them. See Pro-shipper (pending). Read more about the term “anti-anti.”
AO3: Abbreviation, stands for “Archive of Our Own.” An extensive archive of fanworks maintained by the Organization for Transformative Works, created in response to censorship destroying fanworks and history on other platforms. Visit AO3.
Apologism: Read about the term “apologism.”
Appropriation: Short for “cultural appopriation.” Read more about appropriation.
Archive Warnings: Refers to the required content warning labels on Archive of Our Own. Specifically these are: “Choose not to use Archive warnings,” “None of these warnings apply,” “Graphic depictions of violence,” “Major character death,” “Rape/non-con,” and “Underage.” Anyone who posts a creation to the Archive must include at least one of these warnings.
Aro: Abbreviation, stands for Aromantic/Aromanticism. An overarching term for people who do not experience romantic attraction. Read more about aromanticism.
ASL: Abbreviation, stands for American Sign Language or Age/Sex/Location. See A/S/L. Read more about American Sign Language.
AU: Abbreviation, stands for Alternate Universe. Typically used when a fanwork lifts the characters from a the source material and places them in a completely different reality. For example, placing Buffy and Spike in a story set in medieval times. Read more about AUs.
Avatar: 1. Another name for a PFP, the icon next to a user’s name on a social media platform, forum, or other online setting. Depending on what platform you are using, avatar may be the most-commonly used term for this image. 2. Shorthand for Avatar the Last Air Bender. 3. A sci-fi movie by James Cameron. See also: PFP (pending)
AYRT: Abbreviation, stands for Anon You Responded To. In conversation involving one or more anonymous parties, a way of distinguishing which anon is being referred to.
There’s juuuuust enough entries for G and H that I decided not to combine them into one post, but we’ll definitely have multi-letter updates coming soon…
Check out the full lexicon posted thus far here.
Spot a mistake? Think of a term we missed? Drop us an ask or comment!
Lexicon Terms Beginning with G: (read more)
Gary Stu: The ideal man/boy. Attractive, talented, and intelligent, with flaws that serve to highlight his perfection rather than being actual flaws. Often used as a term to refer to a male self-insert, as in, a male character who is seen as an avatar/insertion-into-the-story by a male author. See also: Mary Sue (pending).
Gaslight: A type of emotional/psychological manipulation. Read more about gaslighting.
Gatekeeping: Controlling/limiting access to [thing], where [thing] is a fandom, an individual, a definition or concept, or anything else that one party wants to prevent another party from accessing. For example, “you can’t be a fan of (thing) unless you believe (something about the fandom),” or “you’re not queer if you don’t have (x) experience.” Read more about gatekeeping.
Gaybies: Young gay people, often those who have just discovered they are gay and are exploring their new community. Not usually used self-referentially.
Gen: Short for “general” or “genuine.” 1. A fanwork that specifically does not involve shipping. 2. Any work that is rated as “general audiences,” as in suitable for any adult to read (or, sometimes, anyone of any age to read). See also: fic rating. 3. One of the most commonly used tone indicators; when used as a tone indicator, it means “genuine” and is always preceded with a slash, as in, “are you serious? /gen” would indicate that the preceding question is meant genuinely (as opposed to sarcastically, jokingly, etc.). See also: tone indicators (pending).
Genderbend: 1. When a character or individual performs gender in a way that does not align with the gender they identify with. 2. Sometimes, a synonym for cisswap or genderswap.
Genderswap: When a character’s gender is changed to something other than their canon gender in a fanwork. Synonym of cisswap, sometimes used as a synonym for genderbend. See also: Rule 63 (pending).
Geocities: A former free website host that housed many early fandom communities and websites. Read more about Geocities.
GF: Abbreviation for “girlfriend.”
GIF (file format): Abbreviation for “graphics interchange format.” A moving image file. Subject to a long-running debate on if it should be pronounced with a “g” pronunciation of the leading g or a “j” pronunciation of the leading g.
Giffer: Someone who makes gif sets.
Gif Set: A curated collection of GIFs. They might be sequential segments of a scene, match a theme of some sort, or simply be images the creator enjoys. Sometimes, they are unedited or lightly edited extracts from the source material; other times, they involve extensive graphic design and modification efforts by the giffer.
Girlboss: A term that fandom co-opted from hustle culture, meaning a young woman who leads or owns her own business venture. In fandom usage, this term is gender neutral (applied to characters regardless of their gender) and is often used ironically, and/or as part of the phrase “gaslight, girlboss, gatekeep” meaning one or more characters who lie, control, and manipulate to get their way. Read more about the term “girlboss.”
Glomp: A big, squishy, overpowering tackle-hug. Only fun when consensual! Read more about glomping.
Glup Shitto: A fake name mocking Star Wars naming conventions. In fandom, this “name” is often used alongside “blorbo” to denote different characters/character archetypes. Read more about the origins of Glup Shitto.
GM: Abbreviation for “game master” or “general manager.” See also: dungeon master.
Gong: In Chinese fandoms, the gong is the character who tops during sex.
Grapefruit: See Citrus Scale.
Griefer/Griefing: A griefer is someone who plays a multiplayer video game in bad faith, especially by behaving rudely, harassing or trolling other players, stealing, destroying things other players make, or otherwise being a nuisance. Griefing is the behavior engaged in by a griefer. Read more about griefing and griefers.
Grok: A verb that means “to understand easily,” coined by Robert A. Heinlein in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Read more about the term “grok.”
Grue: Grues are fictional monsters that originated in a series by Jack Vance, but they came to public awareness through inclusion in the game Zork (and again in Return to Zork), which was one of the first text-based computer games ever released. Grues live in total darkness, are terrified of light, and move too quickly to be seen. If you are in a pitch-black spot, you are likely to be eaten by a grue – unless you can produce a light source, of course.
Guro: A Japanese word modified from the English term “grotesque,” used to refer to especially gory stories and, especially, art. The term “ero guro,” short for “erotica grotesque,” is also used. Read more about the term “guro.”
This one is going up a day early, because I’ll be vending all tomorrow (June 22nd 2024) at the Johnstown NY Toying Around Block Party! And here we are, with the letter S, which has the most entries of any letter in our entire lexicon.
View the entire Lexicon posted thus far!
See something incorrect? Notice an entry we’ve missed? Let us know!
Lexicon Entries Beginning with S: (read more)
S[#]: Abbreviation for “season (number).”
SALS: Abbreviation for “ship and let ship.” A different way of saying “you do what makes you happy, it’s none of my business.” See also: DL;DR, YKINMKATO (pending). Read more about the term “SALS.”
Sapphic: An umbrella term for women or women-aligned people who love women, regardless of the sexuality of the women in question. See also: Achillean. Read more about sapphism.
Schmoop: Cavity-inducingly sweet or cute. Typically refers to either scenes within, or the entire setting of, a fanwork. See also: fluff. Read more about schmoop.
Schroedinger’s [Thing]: A thing that may or may not exist so long as we do not attempt to confirm. Reference to Schroedinger’s Cat.
Scrunkly: Cute, but not in a conventional way; scruffy, ill-kempt, messy. Example: Eddie Munson.
SD: Abbreviation for “super deformed.” See also: chibi.
Sealioning: A type of trolling in which the troll demands evidence to “prove” a counterargument, but no amount of evidence will actually convince them. Read more about sealioning.
Secret Masters: A term for the people who run everything; in fandom, this has often been used to reference show runners. Sometimes, it abuts with antisemitic tropes. Sometimes, it leads into illuminati and other conspiracy theories. See also: TPTB (pending).
Self-Insert: When an author writes themselves into a story as a character, typically the protagonist. Often conflated with, but not actually synonymous to, a “Mary Sue.” Not to be confused with reader insert fics. See also: Gary Stu. Read more about self-inserts.
Self-Pub: Shortened term for “self-publishing” and “self-published books.”
Selfcest: When two versions of the same character engage in sexual relations (or are simply sexually attracted to each other). For example, a character has traveled back in time and meets themselves. Tangentially related to the “would you fuck your clone?” meme, and therefore sometimes called “clonecest.” Read more about selfcest.
Seme: In Japanese mlm fandoms, the seme is the character who sexually tops. See also: uke (pending). Read more about the term “seme.”
Sex Pollen: A fic trope in which a character inhales/consumes an airborne aphrodisiac and is overcome with sexual need. Read more about the sex pollen trope.
SFF: Abbreviation for “science fiction and fantasy” as genres.
SFW: Abbreviation for “safe for work.”
Shelfie: In book-loving circles, a shelfie is a photograph of someone’s bookshelves, often showing them attractively organized.
Ship: Shortened version of the word “relationship.” Believing that two or more individuals are/should be/would be good/terrible/interesting/hilarious in a relationship with each other. Typically used for romantic/sexual pairings, but can refer to platonic ones as well. Generally, romantic/sexual ships are denoted with a slash, hence slash becoming a synonym for shipping, and platonic ships are denoted with an ampersand. The verb form refers to the act of treating two or more characters as being in a relationship with each other. Shipping is one of the cornerstones of transformative fandom. Read more about shipping.
Shitpost: 1. Something shared on the internet that is intentionally provocative in some way. 2. Something shared on the internet that minimal effort was put into and that should therefore not be taken seriously. 3. A pointless, silly post that is still relatable in some way that causes it to go viral. Read more about shitposts.
Shoto: Shortened version of “shotacon.”
Shotacon: A Japanese genre that focused on young or young-looking male characters, often sexually. See also: lolicon. Read more about shotacon.
Shou: In Chinese mlm fandoms, the shou is the character who bottoms sexually. See also: gong.
Shoujo: A Japanese genre of YA stories that usually feature groups of young women who are friends, adventure, romance (most often between teenaged characters), and are aimed primarily at teenage women. Examples: Hana Yori Dango, Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura. Read more about shoujo.
Shounen: A Japanese genre of YA stories that usually feature large casts of young men who are friends with each other and often engage in match-based story lines (for example, sports events, arena fights, etc.). Aimed at teenage men. Not to be confused with shounen ai. Examples: Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto. Read more about shounen.
Shounen-ai: A Japanese genre of mlm stories, usually with the relationships less explicit than in yaoi titles. Approximately a synonym of BL. Not to be confused with shounen. Read more about shounen-ai.
Slash: Gay fanworks, most often mlm. Sometimes used for wlw, or those works may be called femslash. Read more about slash.
Slow Burn: A story that contains a romantic/sexual element that takes most of the work’s word count to resolve. Can be used on works of any length but is most applicable on longer ones. Read more about slow burn.
Smushname: A smushed-together ship name, as in when parts of two or more character names are combined to create a new name used to refer to that ship. For example, Spirk means “Spock/Kirk,” Bingliushen means “Luo Binghe/Liu Qingge/Shen Qingqiu,” etc. Read more about smushnames.
Smut: Works that include explicit sex scenes. Read more about smut.
Snert: A term used to refer to someone as an asshole. Originally aimed at teenagers, it supposedly stands for “Snot-Nosed, Egotistical, Rude Teenager,” though there are variations on that and there’s no agreed-upon definition.
Sockpuppet: A fake account created on a given platform to present as someone other than/in addition to oneself. Not typically done in good faith. Also is used as a verb. Sockpuppeting is the act of creating multiple fake accounts to cheerlead someone, bully someone, advertise someone, etc. Sometimes shortened to just “sock.” The most famous instance of fandom sockpuppeting is the Ms. Scribe affair. Read more about sockpuppets.
Songfic: A fanfiction story written around (and usually including some lyrics from) a specific song. Read more about songfics.
SPAG: Abbreviation for “spelling and grammar.” A term often used when discussing copyediting, as in, “I edited for SPAG.”
Spam: Rapid/repeated activity or content sharing that may be annoying to others. Typically associated with low value/low effort content/activity, but volume and speed are the more important defining traits. Also used as a verb. Read more about spam.
Spam Liking: Going through someone’s social media account and “liking” many of their posts in rapid succession. Some people love when others do this, others feel it’s rude or even creepy. These differences in opinion are often generational and/or related to the platform being used (for example, spam liking is often considered fine on Tumblr but inappropriate on Instagram.)
Spec Fic: Shortened version of “speculative fiction,” the overarching genre that includes science fiction, fantasy, modern paranormal, horror, ~punk, and related subgenres.
Speedrun: Performing a lengthy activity in a time frame often deemed implausible or impossible by conventional measures by taking advantage of media-relevant shortcuts (for example: taking advantage of glitches, skipping nonessential episodes, and reading plot summaries). Originates in video game fandoms, where people speedrun to complete a game as quickly as possible. Read more about speedrunning.
Spiders Georg: A humorous way to refer to a statistical outlier who should not be counted when compiling data. Refers to a Tumblr post about a spider who eats 10,000 spiders a day and throws off the average spiders eaten a day statistic. A thing might be called [Thing] Georg if its behavior is exceptionally outside the ordinary and the person making the reference is amused by it. Read more about Spiders Georg.
Spork: 1. Outdated: To lovingly encourage a fanfic author to please write more (of a specific thing or in general). 2. The practice of mocking bad fic. Read more about sporking. 3. Noun: a fanwork created as a parody of a specific bad fic. 4. A combination fork and spoon.
Squee: A high-pitched happy noise, typically made in relation to a character, ship, or individual, but can also be in response to good news. Read more about the term “squee.”
Squick: Content that an individual would prefer not to interact with and/or finds uncomfortable. Not to be confused with a trigger (pending). See also: YKINMKATO (pending). Read more about squicks.
SSC: Abbreviation for “safe, sane, and consensual.” A term used by the BDSM community to define a baseline of expectations for sexual activities. See also: PRICK, RACK. Read more about SSC.
Stan: An unusually obsessed fan. Coined by Eminem in 2000 in a dark song by the same name. Often said to be a portmanteau of “stalker” and “fan.” Despite its dark origins, this work is often used as a light-hearted self-descriptor. See also: tinhat (pending). Read more about stans.
Strikethrough: Refers to when, in 2007, Livejournal performed a mass deletion without warning of accounts that it found objectionable, with devastating results for fandom. Coined because deleted accounts on Livejournal are marked with a line/strikethrough over their name. Read more about Strikethrough.
Sub: 1. A submissive in a BDSM Dom/Sub relationship. 2. A topic-focused messageboard (“subreddit”) on Reddit.
Super Deformed : An art style that puts extreme emphasis on certain body parts. For example: large chests, large heads, long legs. See also: chibi.
Superhell: A reference to the Big Empty in Supernatural, where angels go when they die. It is “superhell” because it is worse than actual hell (also present in the show), and in reference to the show title. Has come to be used synonymously with “a place where gay characters go to be disappeared from canon,” as in a variation on the “bury your gays” trope. See also: eeby deeby.
Sus: Shortened version of the word “suspicious.” A term with a complex history that became extremely common after the game Among Us became popular.
SW: Abbreviation for many things, with the most common being “sex work” and “Star Wars.”
SWERF: Abbreviation for “sex-work-exclusionary radical feminism.” A form of radical feminism that is anti-sex work and anti-sex workers and explicitly excludes sex workers from their activism. Fuck SWERFs. See also: TERF (pending).
We’re in the home stretch on updates to our main fandom lexicon! Today, check out the entries starting with “R”!
View the entire Fandom Lexicon posted to date.
See something we missed? Notice a mistake? Let us know!
Lexicon Entries Starting with R: (read more)
RACK: Abbreviation for “risk-aware consensual kink.” A term used by members of the BDSM community who engage in more dangerous power-exchange activities to emphasize the importance of being educated about the risks associated with that activity before engaging in it. See also: PRICK. Read more about RACK.
Ravatar: On Ravelry chat boards, a person’s avatar is often called their “ravatar” as a joke on the name of the platform. See avatar.
RB: Abbreviation for “reverse bang” or “reblog.”
Re: [Thing]: Shortened way of saying “In reply to [Thing]/As regards [Thing].” On social media, Re: precedes discussion of [thing], usually as a means of circling back to [thing] after talking about something else or to make it clear that a point being made is directly related to a specific previous thing that has been mentioned.
Reader Insert: Stories written so the reader might imagine themselves as the protagonist. Often use Y/N or YN (both short for “your name”) to refer to the protagonist. Reader inserts are tagged as “Reader” on AO3, for example: Reader/(Character). May also be referred to as “x reader” fics. Read more about read inserts.
Reblog: Tumblr lingo that refers to sharing a post written by another blog using the “reblog” function, which ensures the content remains connected to the original blog. Not to be confused with a repost.
Rec List: Shortened form of “recommendation list.” Like a mixtape of the creator’s favorites in a given category. Could be fanfic, movies, books, TV shows, blogs to follow, etc. There is no upper or lower limit on how many things can be in a reclist. Can be very specific (e.g. only works featuring a precise trope of a specific ship in a specific fandom) or very broad (e.g. “my favorites”).
Redacted: A term that means the previous text has been removed for Reasons (specified or unspecified). Within fandom, this is typically used facetiously to refer to information that fans are not supposed to know (or not supposed to share), assumptions that may or may not be correct, unpopular or controversial opinions, or simply for the laughs. Read more about redaction.
Reddit: A forum-esque social media platform. Visit reddit.
Remix: Mixing up the elements of a source material. Fandom usage can refer to art, writing, video edits, music, or pretty much any other media imaginable.
Repost: Copying an original post (most often artwork – including photographs – or animated gifs) and posting it to one’s own blog, rather than using the reblog function. When done without permission, this is a form of content theft. When done with permission and credit, it’s fine. Don’t take other people’s hard work without asking! Not to be confused with a reblog, retweet, or other platform-based forms of post-sharing.
Reverse Bang: A collaborative creation event in which artists create an art piece and write a small amount about it to offer guidance, then writers sign up to write a story for that piece, usually with a minimum length of at least 5,000 words. See also: big bang, creation challenge.
RN: Abbreviation for “right now.”
RPF: Abbreviation for “real person fic.” Fanworks about people who actually currently are alive or have been alive in the past, rather than about fictional/made-up characters. A lot of RPF involves shipping real people together. Sports fandoms and bandoms are big, popular examples of RPF communities, and it’s also common for lead actors who play popular fictional ship characters to get shipped together (for example, the actors Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins from Supernatural who play Dean Winchester and Castiel, the very popular ship Destiel, are also often shipped together as the popular RPF ship Cockles). Read more about RPF.
RPG: Abbreviation for “roleplaying game.” A game in which individuals create characters or play a game-assigned character and play the role of that character throughout. RPGs can be played via any venue/channel/platform that allows individuals to interact with each other or with a gaming system. See also: JRPG, MMORPG, TTRPG (pending).
RPS: Abbreviation for “real person shipping.” See RPF.
RT: Abbreviation for “retweet” on Twitter or “retoot” on Mastodon.
Rubberduck Debugging: Explaining a problem to an unresponsive target in order to identify and fix the origin of that problem. Originates from The Pragmatic Programmer. Read more about rubberducking.
The Rules of the Internet: The Rules of the Internet is a loose, unofficial list originally spawned from 4chan. The list is memetic and subject to change, and a few specific rules have been widely adopted in fandom. Read more about the Rules of the Internet. Rules most often mentioned in fandom spaces:
Rule 34: If it (whatever “it” is) exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.
Rule 35: If there is no porn of it, porn will be made of it.
Rule 36: No matter how fucked up “it” is, there is always worse than what you just saw.
Rule 63: For every male character, there is a female version of that character, and for every female character, there is a male version of that character, and there will always be porn about both versions of that character. This is by far the most widely spread Rule in most fandom spaces, and “rule 63” is a common tag used on content of this type. See also: genderbend, genderswap.
Rule 64: There is lore for everything that exists.
Rule 65: If there isn’t lore yet, there will be imminently.
Rule 66: The longer a piece of lore is, the weirder it will get.
I just found your fandom lexicon which is really cool! I noticed you don't have kin/kinning on the list and that's something I've seen around fandom but I don't really understand it. maybe that's something you could add?
ooo yes that's an excellent suggestion of a term to add, thank you anon! I'll own I also don't have the clearest idea what it means. Like, I think I know? But sometimes I see it used in ways that don't fit with that. but it basically seems to be "I related to this character/identify with this character to an extreme degree." Or at least that seems to be the current usage of it? It seems a little more...obsessive...than that when I look at this definition: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fictionkin
Moving right along on sharing the Fandom Lexicon, this week we present entries that start with H! And note that we’ve continued to add to the previous letters A through G, incorporating suggestions received from readers of these posts (such as Fujin) and terms we’ve encountered ourselves for the first time since we started posting (such as CCOF). Fandom is a huge world with a lot of specialized, unique vocabulary, so if you’ve got something we haven’t included, we’d love to hear from you!
You can view the whole lexicon posted thus far here!
Lexicon Terms Beginning with H: (read more)
H/C: Abbreviation for “hurt/comfort.”
H/NC: Abbreviation for “hurt/no comfort.”
Hammerspace: An imaginary storage space that exists outside of our current dimension and is instantly accessible any time an item is needed. Originates from the way that cartoon characters can produce items (such as hammers) from thin air. May be called other things depending on the object produced, such as referring it as tablespace if the characters produce a table. Read more about hammerspace.
Handle: A user’s displayed name on a communications platform. Not always the same as a username.
HC: Abbreviation for “head canon” or “hurt/comfort.”
HEA: Abbreviation for “happily ever after.” A term used to indicate that a story has a happy ending. See also: HFN.
Head Canon: Something an individual believes is true about a piece of media, regardless of whether it is supported by the media itself. A given individual’s head canons do not need to be internally consistent and can be outright contradictory. See also: canon, fanon. Read more about head canons.
Hellsite: Moniker for Tumblr. Often paired with (affectionate) or (derogatory) depending on how the person using it is feeling about the platform.
Hentai: Pornographic cartoons/anime from Japan. Read more about hentai.
HFN: Abbreviation for “happy for now.” A term used to indicate that a story has a happy ending that doesn’t necessarily guarantee “ever after” levels of happiness but is still satisfactory. See also: HEA.
Himbo: A conventionally attractive man who is well-intentioned and kind of soft, but lacking in foresight / intelligence. The classic example is the character Kronk from the Emperor’s New Groove. See also: thembo (pending). Read more about the term “himbo.”
Hold My Flower: Quote from a popular meme where an unspecified character offers to hold their significant other’s flower while the significant other gets into a physical altercation. Read more about the “Hold My Flower” meme.
Horny on Main: Behaving in an overtly sexual manner on one’s primary social media account (presumably as opposed to using a side account designed for that purpose or not posting it at all).
Horse Plinko: A rough animation of a horse falling through a plinko board and bouncing off the pegs. It’s a popular meme/reference on Tumblr in particular. What exactly it means is open to interpretation. Read more about horse plinko.
Hurt/No Comfort: Refers to a trope where the major characters experience significant pain (physical or emotional) and receives no comfort. Often paired with Angst. Sometimes called “Hurt/Hurt” instead. See also: whump (pending).
Hurt/Comfort: Refers to a trope where the major characters experience significant pain (physical or emotional) and then receives comfort in kind. “Emotional Hurt/Comfort” is an oft-used tag if the pain is specifically emotional. Read more about the hurt/comfort trope in fandom.
