The Author's CodeNo, this is not another version of the Geek Code made to fit authors. Rather, this is a guide to the things you might find in fanfics-- generally speaking, anime fanfics. Cracking the code might help you become a writer, decipher your favorites, and, hopefully have an enjoyable time reading. ^^ A Note: This page may take a while to download, as it is both long and contains a great deal of in-page links. So be patient, because it's taken a long time to compile, and I hope it is helpful. Also, I cite examples from many different shows, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The X-Files," "Sailormoon," "Ranma 1/2," "Xena, Warrior Princess," and "Fushigi Yuugi." If you have questions or comments regarding definitions, please tell me! You all know the jargon about Title and Author and Email and Site. Basic stuff that you all know how to read, right? Okay then, what about... Rating G - Your four year old cousin could read this without getting upset or asking too many questions. PG - Maybe a bit much for a younger kid, but pre-teens can read this just fine. No intimate details or blood, guts, and graphic gore-- arguments, maybe a bad word (such as 'damn' or 'hell) here and there, but that's it. PG-13 - Exactly what it says-- not really suited for kids under 13. There are some pretty mature pre-teens, and some pretty immature ones, too. Any writing that features more 'adult' themes, such as teen pregancy, drug (ab)use, death of someone close to the character, etc. fits into this genre. Actually, most anime fics fit into this rating. R - You should be at least 15 or 16 when reading this. The movie standard is 17, but what do they know...? =P Very adult themes and language, often described in detail, or first-hand experience. Things like rape, murder, etc. Activities on the verge of becoming intimate and detailed go here. NC-17 - WOAH THERE NELLIE! H.H You better be 17 or of a sane and stable mind to read this stuff. Either it's incredible sexually explicit, or has so much blood, guts, gore, and general maiming that ladies would faint and guys would barf. There's also the good ol' TV standard, more recent. There's all sorts of cool rating inbetweeners that you can use for fics... I dunno if this is just a US TV thing, but here they are anyway... TV-Y: Everyone and their pet iguana can read this. Actually, you're aiming for the tiny tots of the reading world, using full blown sap, hero-saves-the-day, and bad-guy-goes-good. Think Disney Movie or Fairy Tale. TV-Y7: For "youths age 7 and higher". Sailormoon's NA rating is technically Y7, though the later seasons shown on Cartoon Network hardly apply. Not much violence, and that includes Melvin getting hit in the face with a streamer. TV-G: same as movie standard. For the little ones, or at least, suitable for them. Actually, an everyone-type rating. Technically below Y and Y7, but aimed for all audiences. Straight out sap applies. TV-PG: kinda like PG in the movies. Dry wit, bad humor, or allusions to something a bit mature. Light swearing and situations. TV-14: The equivalent of PG13 for movies. Should have some experience and know-how about life before proceeding. Allusions to adult situations or themes, or experiences not applicable to smaller, pre-pubescent teens. TV-M: Mature. It means you have a brain in your head, and know how to use it well. ^.~ Basically, mature themes ranging from violence to rape, murder, robbery, death, etc. Even magical-fantasty type animes and mangas can lean in this direction, but it usually puts the characters... well, out of character. Real-life situations with anime characters. (These extras, also from the TV rating sytem, aren't usually found in fics, but they can help you organize your fics better.) V-- Violence: anything with blood, guts, gore, or fighting of any sort. If it can hurt, it goes under this category. No fics have ratings of 'G' or 'everybody' equivalents with violence in them-- not even slapstick. S-- Sex: pretty self-explanatory, ne? No fics with a rating under 'PG13'. This includes any "citrus-scented" fics. Lemons/Ecchi/Hentai fics are flat out rated R or NC17, or the equivalent. L-- Language: Use of expletives, such as 'damn', hell', 'f%$k', '$h!t' and so forth-- without all the nice little $%^!@ to disguise what you really mean to say. If you use the Japanese equivalents-- Chikuso, kuso, shimatta, etc. then it's usually okay... but if you provide a glossary, or happen to use them rather frequently, your fic isn't below a PG rating. FV-- Fantasy or Cartoon Violence: how ironic, a category for the violence we see in Sailormoon! Yes, this includes martial arts fighting, dusting monsters, choking bad guys, etc. If someone (or something alive) gets dusted, blown apart, smashed to smitheereens, turned inside out, etc. it's violent, and will probably be rated PG13 or higher. D-- Dialogue: Kinda goes hand-in-hand with S and L. Sexual innuendos, leering, any of that stuff. The dialogue in Ranma 1/2 qualifies. References that would not be understood by younger cousins or siblings also apply. Ratings exceed PG. General
Fic-ness OOC-- out of character. Most fanfics bring characters into a new world, situation, etc. and put them a little out of character. If the original author didn't portray a character a certain way, a fanfic's author deviates from the original when they make a character behave another way. For example, having Usagi on time, or having Ranma be nice to Akane for no reason. People tend to do extreme cases when it comes to being in character-- someone is ALWAYS late, or ALWAYS hitting so-and-so upside the head with a mallet. That's overdoing it, because every anime and manga shows even a little bit of growth, even if it is a slapstick, comedic animanga. There is also the polar opposite, for which the OOC acronym was created-- people acting like their exact opposite of normal, and it freaking the bejesus out of all their friends. WAFF - Warm and Fuzzy Feeling. A common acronym that is popular in the anime fic world. It explains itself-- the story's contents are so mushy/sappy/ooey-gooey that you just wanna go "awww" and snuggle up to your honey in front of a fire with some cocoa and marshmallows. Anything that makes you *sniffle* or need to barf because it's SOOO sweet... yeah, that's WAFF too. Generally speaking, G or PG fics. TAFF- Twisted and Fuzzy Feeling. A newer acronym, to my knowledge. I believe it means something like pairing odd charcters together, or making you think about the events of the story. Something... twisted! WAFFAO is an extension of WAFF. It means Warm and Fuzzy Feeling All Over. OW!, FIC, REQ, etc. -- These are more common to newsgroups, but authors have their own newsgroups and mailing lists too. If you see these around, at least you'll know what they are. OW! -
Otaku Wars-- which senshi really is the best
? The OW! veterans are divided into factions that
continuously make parodies of fics, episodes, etc. that
try and answer this question. There is an OW!
headquarters, and an OW! frequently asked questions page,
if you want-- FIC- short for fanfic, obviously. Fanfic is short for 'fanfiction'. If you don't know, fanfiction is what it says it is-- fiction by fans, for fans. Is almost always based off something else-- another media such as a TV show, book, comic, music band... it's when creative people decide to screw around with other creative people's already created works. REQ - a purely neqsgroup thing, to my knowledge. Means 'request', as in, 'I want ____'. FAQ - VERY COMMON! Frequently asked questions. ^^ Kinda like this, only, I provide the answers, not the questions. There are others, but they don't really apply to fanfics, so... Fanfic Only- The Dictionary
Alternate Reality (AR): A fanfic in which a character (Usagi, of Sailormoon, for instance) is has part of the canon history changed. That is, take a specified point in time from any anime or manga, and change it. For example, Usagi doesn't meet Luna, she meets Artemis. Or, in Episode ##, she doesn't arrive on time to beat a youma. The earlier in the timeline the divergence is set, the greater the impact on the rest of the series, and the more likely it is that certain, important events may not/will not occur. See Alternate Universe, Alternate Timeline Alternate Timeline/History (AT/AH): Very similar to Alternate Reality fanfictions in that a point in the established canon timeline is changed, or diverged from. However, in Alternate Timeline fics, events can remain the same, but the actions taken, or the consequences of said actions can be different. For example, if Ranma still pushed his father into the Spring of the Drowned Panda, but instead of being pushed back into the Spring of the Drowned Young Girl, he was pushed into the Spring of the Drowned Duck. These kinds of AT fics set in the beginning of any anime or manga often change the premise of the manga itself, leaning more from the slapstick-romance into one category alone, such as fluff, angst, or violence. Alternate Universe (AU): Most of the time, this category encompasses both Alternate Reality and Alternate Timeline/History categories, but generally speaking, AU fics are those that take characters (and their established personality characteristics as well) and place them in an entirely new universe. Sometimes this leads to fusions or crossovers, and almost always leads to a Mary Sue or self-insertion fic. 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 - Darkfic, anything "angsty"... depressing. The polar opposite of a fairy-tale ending. AU - Alternate Universe. In the fic world, it means taking the characters and depoisting them in another anime, or "the real world", or something like that. AU usually refers to any fic where you've twisted a major event or circumstance in in the original animanga world. An example would be making Usagi Sailorvenus, or making Akane cursed to turn into a boy, instead of Ranma cursed to turn into a girl. Or it could be something outrageous, such as having Akane a 25 year old FBI agent and Ranma a serial killer. =P Take your pick. Avatar - 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. B&D - Bondage and Domination. -_- as if you have to ask. Well if you must, it's mind-control games, and somehow ends up involving leather, chains, and a man tied to a chair. Think Chyna from WWF. Badfic: Stories that are purposely written bad (characterization, plot, spelling/grammar) for humourous purpose. Beta reader: (sometimes just "beta") A person who reads a fanfic before it is officially released (i.e. posted on the Web or mailing lists). A beta reader is basically like an editor, checking the story over for mechanical problems (grammar, spelling, punctuation) as well as for things like plot holes, characterization, and all the other stuff we talk about on our Common Errors page. (The term "beta reader" comes from the software world, where software that is ready to be tested by experienced users, but not yet ready to be released to actual customers, is referred to as "beta." Software in even earlier stages of development is called "alpha.") Breaking the fourth wall - The fourth wall is an imaginary designation for the wall 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 their awareness of their own existence as mere celluloid or ink. Not strictly a fanfic term, but a useful one. The fourth wall is pretty much a shattered ruin in any Subreality story or metafic. Bright Shiny Object: Something that distracts an author from writing further. Similar to a plot bunny. C&C - Comments and Criticism-- another word for feedback. Feedback, of course, being emails, reviews... any kind of response to the author letting them know you read their fic, what you thought about it, etc. 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. Challenge
fic - Any story that appears as the result of a
challenge. For example, "you have to use the line Continuation - A fanfic which follows on from the end of a series or movie. A continuation picks up where the original author left off... and depending on how the original work ended, continuations can pick up from several different points in a story. Crossover/X-over: When you take characters from one animanga and dump them into another. Repeat as necessary. I don't know what the biggest record for crossovers is, but some popular ones include Ranma & Sailormoon, Sailormoon & Dragonball Z, Sailormoon & (Random Boy Band), to name a few. There are varying degrees of crossovers as well---
Dark (Light) fics-- refer to depressing, scary, horrific, or just plain creepy fics. Lightfics are their polar opposite-- good ol' clean fun. Deathfic - pretty self-explanatory... a character dies, or they all die, or a major character dies... tend to be angst, darkfics, or hurt/comfort fics. Drabble - a vignette exactly one hundred words long, usually humorous. A half-drabble is fifty words long; a double drabble is 200 words long. 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 in-jokes. Fen - The plural of "fan" as used on the convention circuit. 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. Fluff - not really an acronym, but a synonym for WAFF, or any kind of mushy, sappy fic adjective. As it implies, there is naught but romance in the fic... makes you think of cotton candy or some other sugar-spun treat... gives you cavities. Fusion is considered a type of crossover, but not a degree of crossover. Fusions are when you take characters from two or more animangas and "finger-paint" them to the point that the lines drawn between characters and their personalities are blurred. This occurs in "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Ranma", when the Ranma characters are fused with the Senshi, and become the saviors of Tokyo. Fusions don't necessarily have to apply to just characters either-- elements from any two animes or mangas can set the stage for a fusion. Gen - short for general. I've read a couple of definitions of this, and some contradict each other. Some say it means a "general fic" meant for any audience, and it contains no intimate relations whatsoever. Others say it is the opposite of a slash fic (where there are sexual/intimate relations between people of the same gender or people that don't have such a relationship in the original creation), where heterosexual relationships are present, or where relationships present in the original creation exist. Take your pick. 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. (Especially tomboys and mallets... ^^;) H/C - Hurt/Comfort. When the fic's plot revolves around someone's reaction to something or someone-- and the "comfort" has a tendency of leading to sex. It's not just a fic thing, mind you, psychologists seem to agree that traumatic events can make people more... 'pliable'. Het - Short for "heterosexual" -- denotes fanfic depicting a sexual relationship between two people of different genders. In other words, standard erotica. A term usually used by slash writers (though I can't figure out why) HHJJ - Happy happy joy joy. Oh, do I need to explain this one? Iconoclast: A writer who features only underused characters for the sole reason that no one else is, and who flaunts their uniqueness around the community. LEO: 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. Lemonade - A cute 'n' fluffy lemon. Listmom/dad - The person in charge of maintaining order on a mailing list; usually but not always the person who created the list in the first place. Maintext- Any canon romantic or sexual relationship between characters which occurs as the writer intended and without need for interpretation. The opposite of subtext. Mary Sue: A self-inserted character, usually based off the author. These types of characters are often perfect and tend to save the day, and/or get together with XX character and completely screw over any other romances. Male versions (though less common) are called Marty Sam or Marty Stu. If someone refers to your fic character as one of these, it isn't a nice remark. Authors can refer to their own SI'd character like this, but only authors. 'Mary' is a transparent double for the author, who usually SIs him/herself in order to mess around with the character's and get them to do something the creator didn't, or as a present to friends, other fans, etc. Usually called 'SI' because they are 'self insertion' fics. Metafic: Same as Faanfiction. Mirror - A set of events as retold or experienced by a different character than whoever told or experienced them in the first version. Mook - No relation to the original gangster slang-word for "tough guy" -- "mook" (or "mooky") describes close loving relationships that are Just Plain Cuuuute. The characters involved in said relationships are called "mooks." Mook stories may or may not involve actual sex, and often don't -- the only criteria is that the characters involved be sweet, romantic, and totally in love. MOOKY: In fandom, this describes the state/action of being cute-romantic-awww towards a love interest, especially (but not always) if said love interest is the same gender. MPREG: Describes a story involving male pregnancy -- found mostly in slash, but has not shown up in comicslash yet. This fairly rare term has nevertheless been spotted in fandoms such as anime/manga, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and Star Trek Voyager, where it is not greeted with open arms. MST - MSTing, msting, misting: To subject a fanfic to the same treatment afforded bad movies on the show Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- in other words, to dissect it line by line in order to make fun of it, either speaking via the original MST3K characters or with others. This joking style is called "riffing," and the individual gags are called "riffs." Some call MSTing a form of flaming -- people with an actual functioning sense of humor call it high comedic art. Multiverse: "Everything everywhere" -- includes all alternate dimensions, other realities, parallel universes, and fandom genres. There is only one multiverse. Period. Next Generation: Not a fanfic based on the Star Trek series with Captain Picard, but one focusing on the children/descendants of canon characters. (anime/manga) OFC: "Original female character." OMC: "Original male character." One-shot - A one part story. It can have sequels, but not continuations. Basically, it is one plot in itself. Loopholes are usually closed to a tee, which means most animes are not part of the "one-short" genre, despite the episodic format they use. Non-con/NC: Non-consentual sexual act. The jury is still out on the shades of meaning here -- some say non-con is just another word for rape, while others see the two terms as subtly different. Parody: a fic that puts an anime or manga's characters in weird situations, such as the Ranma cast on Jeopardy, or the Senshi on Sally Jesse. Plot bunnies: Ever get hit with the idea for a fluffy little vignette that doesn't really go anywhere but you have to write it? You've just been attacked by a plot bunny! Diamonde says that she invented this term on a comicslash list, and I do believe her, but I've heard it in totally unconnected fandoms too... PWP - Piece w/o a plot or Plot? What Plot? -- signifies a fic with gratuitous sex. Lemons, Hentai fics... etc. R&R - Read and Review -- see C&C, another word for feedback. Relationshipper: originally, a fan/writer who fervently believes that Mulder and Scully "belong together" -- "shipper" for short. This term has now popped up in other ficdoms about other characters. Round robin: A story written in installments by various writers, usually impromptu. Often abbreviated to "RR." Self-infliction: A parody of the self-insertion genre where the self-inserted author screws things up and/or generally suffers a lot of pain (the characters fight back, for example) Self-insertion: A fanfic where the author includes him/herself as a character; also a noun referring to the character in question. Sometimes abbreviated to "SI," and often a Mary Sue 'Ship: Short for "relationship" -- uses to denote which pair of characters are romantically involved in a given story.
However, the term has evolved and now refers generally to any combination of characters. A 'ship is a pairing of characters, and a 'shipper is someone who enjoys that pairing. (For example, you might see someone say, "Buffy/Faith is my favorite 'ship.") Usually, but not always, "shippers" want to see a romantic relationship between the characters, as opposed to mere hot sex -- that is, if you like reading about Buffy and Faith settling down together and raising kittens, you're a shipper; if you just want them to screw, the term "pairing" is used instead of "ship." In this context, a fanfic that involves romance is referred to as "shippy." Some self-styled shippers that we have encountered claim that the term should only be used for heterosexual pairings. These people strike me as rather homophobic; they don't want their shippiness associated with those nasty, dirty gay people. In this context, "slasher" is sort of the opposite of "shipper." However, we don't like that definition. We think of a shipper as someone who wants to see her chosen pair of characters in a loving, long-term relationship. So why shouldn't those characters be same-sex? Hey, some of us think Mulder could be a lot happier in the long run if he were with Skinner than with Scully. 'Shipping: short for "relationshipping" -- a 'shipper is someone who believes that a chosen pair of characters "belong together," and who diligently reads and/or writes tales to that effect. Sillyfic: A term which refers to "lighthearted, usually short pieces written for the sake of amusement or to lower the angst-level of current fanfic traffic flow." Basically a fic made to lighten a depressing modd that has settled on _____ fanfiction site or ML. S&M - Sadism and Masochism. Plots where people take pleasure from being hurt, or hurting others. Kodachi (Ranma 1/2) once described herself as the S&M queen in a fic I read once. ^^; SMARM
- Thanks to Amiko Toku for this one, as well as its
definition! Snark: To snarl rudely; to be sarcastic, impatient, or downright bitchy for little good reason. Snarking is not cute or funny -- it's annoying. A person who snarks is being snarky. Spatulate: From anime fics, this is in reference to a certain Japanese character who uses cooking utensils in her martial arts. When you "spatulate" someone, it means to flip them over like a pancake, using a spatula, of course. Spoof - A spoof of another media, such as another fanfic, tv show, book, etc. The media spoofed is usually pretty famous, and can include tv ads, movies, etc. Spoof fics are Lightfics in their purest sense-- things like "things the Senshi would never say/do" and the like are Spoof fics. Squick - Refers to any kind of disturbing imagery or pairings in a fic which might make the reader queasy. May include gore or kinky things being done with food. Subreality: An imaginary borderland between reality and fantasy where writers can meet their characters and the casts of various fanfics from any genre can mingle for a beer and a nap between chapters. Adopted into several genres and used as the setting of many metafics. Subtext: This term comes from literary analysis circles, where it refers to any element of plot, especially related to character psychology, that is not explicitly stated but rather implied. In fandom terms, it generally refers to anything you see in the show that seems to imply sexual attraction between two characters -- almost, but not always, used for two characters of the same sex. This term first arrived on the fandom scene in relation to Xena and Gabrielle on "Xena, Warrior Princess" when fans of the show began to see what they considered subtle hints that Xena and Gabrielle were "more than friends." (For example, many consider the hot-tub scene in the episode "A Day in the Life" to be one of the classic subtext moments between Xena and Gabrielle.) A scene, line of dialogue, or episode may be said to be "subtexty." The opposite of subtext is maintext. By definition, any romantic/sexual relationship between characters that takes place onscreen is maintext. Tapestry Syndrome: a serious condition in which a writer has so MANY ideas for stories that he/she can't possibly start them all, let alone finish them! Named after an infamous writer who seems to be permanently suspended in this strange state...
TMI: "Too much information." Almost always in regards to sex or other intimate bodily functions, ie. "Last night my boyfriend and I [fill in the blank]--" "Ack! TMI!" Used outside of fandom but useful within it, which is where many ficcers first heard it. Top-heavy: describes a story with an overly long title. Also known in some circles as the Falstaff Syndrome after a writer notorious for his long titles, who's probably going to hit me for including this. Triangle: A plot situation often spotted in soap operas, wherein three characters are involved with each other but not all together (i.e. Bobby and Logan vying for Rogue's attentions). More than three can be involved in a triangle, but three is the classic conflict number. (when it comes to animes, there are no triangles, only polygons) Twinking: The act of adding amazing new powers (for characters or for one's own self in a self-insertion) whenever convenient. Often spotted in young roleplayers (which is where the term originated) and often associated online with Mary Sues. A person or character who twinks is a twink. WIP: Work In Progress -- a story whose ending has not yet been written, or which has not been thoroughly beta-read, ie. a rough draft. Yaoi/Yuri: Yaoi is a male/male relationship, while yuri is female/female. Shounen-ai and shoujo-ai are also synonyms that refer to these relationships. 'Slash' (not /) is also another term used to refer to fics with m/m relationships in them. Note that 'slash' should not be confused with 'slasher' horror films... ^^;; Yaoi is an acronym from Japanese, actually, and is: YAma-nashi, Ochi-nashi, Imi-nashi (no peak, no point, no meaning).Yuri translates to 'Lily' in English, and I'm not sure if it's an acronym; people argue that Yuri doesn't have the kind of graphic sex Yaoi tends to have, but is more like light petting and caressing. I figure it could be either way, whie shounen-ai and shoujo-ai are limited to the petting, kissing, and censored sex scenes. Had your fill of all things fanfiction? Maybe you should print out a copy of "The Author's Code" for future reference. ^^ If you liked it, if you hated it, if something was missing, if you were astonished by the information I poured into this, then please, do EMAIL ME. It would be much appreciated. This feature was revised and completed on 1/18/02 by Azurite. Appreciation to Amiko Toku, the SMRFF ML, and the Writer's University for assistance on terminology I didn't know or was confused about. THANK YOU. [Features] [Mare Serenitatis] [Animanga Collision] [Viva Forever] |