- angst: a story that involves one or more of the characters in a deeply emotional and stressful situation.
- AU: alternate universe. characterises stories, that don't go with canon.
- bdsm: bondage, domination, sadomasochism.
- beta: proof-reading a story before it is published. highly recommended for people who are no native speakers or inexpeirienced writers.
- bottom: though not a phrase that originated with slash, it's often used and refers to the person on the receiving end of anal penetration.
- canon: a pairing that is true to the show, movie, book, life etc. in other words, a pairing that already exists in "reality" as we know it. for example, Aragorn & Arwen are already a couple in the books, therefore they're canon. canon also refers to the charcterisation of the people involved and events that took place in the show.
- chanslash: slash that pairs an underaged boy (12 or 13 years) with a grown man. people who write chanslash claim that it is consensual and, thus, no child abuse. no comment on that...
- crossover: fiction that crosses elements of two different fandoms.
- drabble: a short piece of fiction, precisely 100 words long.
- dribble: the longer version of a drabble; between 100 and 200 words.
- double-drabble: precisely 200 words long; see drabble.
- D/s: Domination and submission (also known as Dominance and submission, D&s, Ds or D/s) is a set of psychosexual behaviors, customs and rituals relating to the dominance of one individual over another.
- fandom: the community built around the show.
- ficlet: a short piece of fiction; one-shot.
- femme slash (f/f): a story about two female characters involved in a sexual relationship.
- gen: a story that deals with a particular fandom without writing any kind of sexual relationship into it.
- hurt/commfort (H/C): one character gets hurt, the other comforts him.
- het: a story containing hetero sexual content.
- m/m: a story about two male characters involved in a sexual relationship.
- Mary Sue / Gary Stu: the main character very closely resembles the author and her/ his wishes.
- mpreg: male pregnancy.
- non-con (NC): non-consensual sex; not necessarily rape; note: real life rape victims will always state that NC is rape.
- OOC: out of character. if e.g. Draco Malfoy is madly in love with Harry Potter, hates his father and thinks Voldemort is a jerk he definitely acts out of character.
- PWP: 'plot? what plot?' - aka 'porn without plot'; labels fiction that main purpose is sex.
- plot-bunny: believe me, you will know when you're bitten by one. they won't go away until you write whatever plot/idea they serve you.
- rape/torture (R/T): pretty obvious; often goes along with H/C.
- RPS: real person slash; a story written about real people, not fictional characters. note: some people consider rps as a violation of the involved characters' privacy and rights.
- slash: a story that is sexual in nature involving two same-sex characters, usually two male; the term derives from the punctuation between the main pairing in the story, eg. Colin/Orli (Colin - slash - Orli).
- song fic: a story built around or greatly inspired by a song.
- squick: a pairing, a fetish, a story element etc. that gives you the creeps.
- top: the person on the giving end of anal penetration.
- vignette: a brief descriptive piece of writing; literary equivalent of a snapshot; usually between 200 and 750 words.