slash

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”).
Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

onomatopoeic

imitative

der

Comments merely allow readers to proclaim themselves mortally offended by the content of a story, despite having been warned in large block letters of INCEST or SLASH (any kind of sex between two men or two women: the term originated with the Kirk/Spock pairing – it described the literal slash between their names).

2013, Katherine Arcement, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, volume 35, number 5:

(fandom slang) Slash fiction; fan fiction focused on homoerotic pairing of fictional characters.


slash

onomatopoeic

imitative

Used to note the sound or action of a slash.


slash

imitative

Saul Hudson is a famous musician/songwriter.

What this, the Slashie, means is that you consider me the best actor slash model and not the other way around.

2001, Drake Sather, Ben Stiller, John Hamburg, Zoolander, spoken by Fabio Lanzoni:

“It’s been a joke-slash-tragedy,” the restaurant host, 29, said of the president’s tumultuous far-right administration as she cast her vote against him in her country’s most important election in decades.

2022 October 2, Tom Phillips, “‘A day of hope’: Lula fans eager to see Bolsonaro defeated”, in The Guardian:

(Canada, US) Used to connect two or more identities in a list.

Alternatives can be marked by the slash/stroke/solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line.
Read: Alternatives can be marked by the slash-slash-stroke-slash-solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line.


slash

Uncertain. Compare Scots slash (“large splash”), possibly from Old French esclache. Slang use for urination attested from the 1950s.

That bus shelter smells of slash.


slash

Uncertain. Compare British dialectal slashy (“wet and dirty, miry”) and Scots slash (“act of walking forcefully through water or mud”) and slatch (“wet and muddy place, mire”). Perhaps related to Swedish slask (“slush”).
Compare also slash (“clearing in a forest”): in many cases it is difficult to tell whether that sense or this one is meant. (Also compare flash (“a marsh; a pool of water”).)

m+

[…] second growth long-leaf yellow slash. And also we have a short-leaf pine.

1932, Mr. Yon, statement regarding a waterway from Choctawhatchee Bay to West Bay, Florida, printed in the Hearings of the United States House Committee on Rivers and Harbors (1932), page 8

Slash pine (Pinus caribaea Morelet) / Slash pine is also known as yellow slash, swamp pine, hill slash, and Cuban pine.]

[1935, Miscellaneous Publication, issue 209, page 15

(eastern US, uncommon) A slash pine, which grows in such (swampy) areas.


slash

en-verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

slashes (present singular third-person)
slashing (participle present)
slashed (participle past)
slashed (past)

(Scotland, intransitive) To work in wet conditions.


ship

ship (third-person singular simple present ships, present participle shipping, simple past and past participle shipped)

ships (present singular third-person)
shipping (participle present)
shipped (participle past)
shipped (past)

→ Spanish: shippear, shipear

→ Portuguese: shippar

→ Russian: шипперить (šipperitʹ)

I ship Kirk and Spock in “Star Trek”.

I ship Peggy and Angie in “Marvel's Agent Carter”.

I should warn you that I could not identify a ‘dank meme’ if the fate of the working class depended on it and that I shall not be ‘shipping’ Lenin and Trotsky.

2017, Helen Razer, Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:

(fandom slang, transitive) To support or approve of a fictional romantic relationship between two characters, typically in fan fiction or other fandom contexts.


ship

Unadapted borrowing from English ship, clipping of relationship.

(Brazil, fandom slang) ship (a fictional romantic relationship between two characters, either real or themselves fictional)


shipping

(fandom slang) The desire by followers of a fandom for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters, to be in a romantic or sexual relationship.


Initialism of one true threesome coined by analogy with OTP (“one true pairing”).

And you don't have to limit your favorite ship to two characters — if there's a third involved, they can be your OT3.

2015, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, page 31:

For some, each member of the triangle cares deeply for the other two, like Elena/Damon/Stefan and Scott/Allison/Isaac—both the most popular OT3s in their respective fandoms.

2017, Charity A. Fowler, "Negotiating Desire: Resisting, Reimagining and Reinscribing Normalized Sexuality and Gender in Fan Fiction", dissertation submitted to Virginia Commonwealth University, page 286

Not only are male characters often presented as unapologetically bisexual (or, in some sense, post-sexual), but OT3 partnerships are not uncommon.

2018, Lucy Neville, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: Women and Gay Male Pornography and Erotica, page 237:

(fandom slang) One true threesome; a polyamorous ship involving three characters that is a personal favorite of a fan.


OTP

(cryptography) Initialism of one-time pad.

Other common OTPs are Frodo/Sam and Aragorn/Legolas.

2007, Kristin Thompson, The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood, page 179:

The 'shippers in the study asserted that they may enjoy reading stories about other 'ships, or stories without a 'ship […] but the stories they most enjoy are those about their OTP.

2013, Jennifer K. Stuller, Fan Phenomena: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, page 43:

Over Rico's shoulder, I see Claire biting her lip, wearing the look of a shipper watching her OTP interact.

2018, Britta Lundin, Ship It, unnumbered page:

(fandom slang) Initialism of one true pair (or pairing): the romantic pairing preferred by an author or reader of fan fiction.


OTP

Open Telecom Platform
w:Open Telecom Platform

(telecommunications) Initialism of Open Telecom Platform.

Opposite Track Path
w:Opposite Track Path

(computing) Initialism of Opposite Track Path.


OTP

(electronics) Initialism of one-time programmable.


fluff

en-noun

fluff (countable and uncountable, plural fluffs)

From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe,
of uncertain ultimate origin:
* Compare Old English flōh (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”) - see flaw
* Possibly representing a blend of flue + puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”).
* Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), from Latin villūtus (“having shaggy hair”), from villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”).
For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”), Romanian puf (“down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff”).

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

cog

That New England-style salami and fluff sandwich sure hit the spot!

"What?" cried the counter-man, indignantly. "Been a railwayman all these years, and don't know what fluff is? Why, 'pon me word, you deserve to get the sack!"

1900, The Railway Magazine, volume 7, page 560:

(UK, slang, obsolete) Short change deliberately given by a railway clerk, to keep back money for himself.


fluff

en-verb

fluff (third-person singular simple present fluffs, present participle fluffing, simple past and past participle fluffed)

fluffs (present singular third-person)
fluffing (participle present)
fluffed (participle past)
fluffed (past)

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

(intransitive) To become fluffy, puff up.


左側

左側 (canonical)
hidarigawa (romanization)

[çida̠ɾʲiɡa̠β̞a̠]

(fandom slang) top (referring to the order of names in pairings)


endgame

endgames (plural)
end game (alternative)
end-game (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-endgame.wav

Rooks become much more important in the endgame.

The real end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win.

1884 April 12, The Academy, Horwitz, page 256:

(chess) The final stage of a game of chess, when there are few pieces left.

You can't really use squeeze plays until the endgame.

Bridge writing tends to concentrate on the end game.

1952, Iain Macleod, Bridge Is an Easy Game, page 190:

(bridge) The final stage of a game of bridge, when there are few cards left.

What's his endgame, do you think?

He had been a Commando during the war, had landed on Sword Beach and skirmished his way across the ravaged remains of Europe after D-Day before slogging out the endgame, attached to the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment.

2015, Kate Atkinson, A God in Ruins, →ISBN, page 138:

Like optics, it’s one of those buzzwords, beloved by pundits, that implies its users are smarter than everyone else, because they see another level that most people don’t in political machinations. In meme parlance, you may ask “Why?” but ah, an intellectual asks, “What’s the endgame?”

2019 April 25, Heather Schwedel, “The Myth of the Endgame”, in Slate:

It is time for the United States and its allies to get directly involved in shaping Ukraine’s strategic objectives, managing the conflict, and seeking a diplomatic endgame.

2022 November 2, Charles A. Kupchan, “It’s Time to Bring Russia and Ukraine to the Negotiating Table”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(figuratively) The final stage of an extended process or course of events, especially with the implication of the imminent realization of a masterful strategy or plan.

(video games) The gameplay available in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game for players who have completed all of the preset challenges.

Listener endgames have included […] shading every instance of the letters N - Z in the completed grid to reveal a 'normal' blocked crossword hidden in the one just solved

2013 November 7, Alan Connor, Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

What do you look for in an Advanced Cryptic crossword? […] Good balance of clues and endgame

2020 January 31, Philip Fine, Amory H. Danek, Kathryn Friedlander, Ian Hocking, William Forde Thompson, Novel Approaches for Studying Creativity in Problem-Solving and Artistic Performance, Frontiers Media SA, →ISBN, page 26:

(crosswording) The thematic element of an advanced cryptic crossword puzzle, typically solved after completing the grid.


endgame

end game (alternative)
end-game (alternative)

TJLC’ers’ strong belief in Johnlock as endgame was intrinsically linked with their trust in the show’s creators, which enabled them to interpret the repeated denial of the subtext in Sherlock as part of the game.

2017, Suzanne Frenk, "Telling The True Story: Queerbaiting, representation, and fan resistance in the BBC Sherlock fandom", thesis submitted to Tilburg University, page 50

I think the fans and I were pretty aligned with who we wanted as endgame couples.

2020, Marlene King, quoted in Sara K. Day & Summer Melody Pennell, "#PLLQueerTheory: Fans’ reactions to queer representation in Pretty Little Liars", The Journal of Fandom Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, June 2020

One user, for example, posted, “Bughead haters can suck it. They’re endgame.”

2021, Emily Burkhardt, Verity Trott, Whitney Monaghan, “'#Bughead Is Endgame': Civic Meaning-Making inRiverdale Anti-Fandom andShipping Practices on Tumblr”, in Television & New Media:

(fandom slang, of a ship) Having become canon by the end of the plot of a work of fiction or speculated to be intended to become such.


slasher

A machine for applying size to warp yarns.

Realizing there was a fresh market for a style of movie that studios had written off as niche material, Scream’s gonzo profits ushered in a wave of subsequent slashers trying to capitalize on a new generation’s discovery of the subgenre, as Gen Xers and Gen Yers alike learned (or re-learned) the fundamental pleasures of a good old-fashioned murder spree by a crazed killer, supernatural or otherwise.

2017 October 27, Alex McLevy, “Making a Killing: The Brief Life and Bloody Death of the Post-Scream Slasher Revival”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2018-03-05:

(informal, film) A horror movie with graphic blood and violence; a slasher movie.

[…] an overdoser, binge drinker, slasher, or sexually impulsive person, is found to act impulsively following some sort of change in a relationship.

1992, Melvin R Lansky, Fathers who Fail:

With the success of the first film and the third one already in production, Warner Bros. is more likely to greet Harry Potter slashers with more takedown orders than tolerance.

2002 December 21, Christopher Noxon, “What to do about Harry Potter Porn?”, in The Vancouver Sun, page 96:

The same aspects that made buddy shows attractive to relationship-oriented fans also made them attractive to slashers; the fact that these shows were set in an era of tight jeans and unbuttoned shirts, and of the loosening of formerly strict standards of acceptable male behavior, only provided additional evidence for homoerotic interpretation.

2006, Francesca Coppa, “Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance”, in Kristina Busse, editor, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, page 49:

In other words denied their own voice by a conservative misogynist culture, the original female slashers and vidders needed male characters as surrogates to express their own identity and desires.

2014, Kathryn Hill, “'Easy to Associate Angsty Lyrics with Buffy': An Introduction to a Participatory Fan Culture: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vidders, Popular Music and the Internet”, in Mary Kirby-Diaz, editor, Buffy and Angel Conquer the Internet: Essays on Online Fandom, page 182:

(fandom slang) One who writes slash fiction and/or supports male/male ships.


rivalship

From rival + ship (“a fictional romantic relationship between two characters”).

compound

it took me longer to ship drarry bc when i first read HP i was young and pure and didnt care about ships but now im rivalship trash so

2015 October 16, kat (@saItkath), Twitter:

where are my femslash rivalships/hateships i want girls who wanna DUEL before they smooch

2017 December 20, in the netherdeep (@NatRoze), Twitter:

I dont like kylo ren bc hes a bitch. Also r*ylo sucks because fuck rivalships she deserves better. Dont @ me

2019 March 6, may (@myosotiskills), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A ship involving characters with an adversarial relationship.


slow burn

slow burns (plural)
slow-burn (alternative)

In the ninth inning of a game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Johnny Temple, Cincinnati Redleg second baseman, let a hot grounder sizzle through his legs, looked up to see the Scoreboard flash "error" and began a slow burn.

1957 July 1, “Scoreboard”, in Time, archived from the original on 2011-10-19:

Revson breathed deeply. “I shall try to conceal my slow burn, what the Victorians would call my mounting exasperation. I thought we had parted friends.”

1976, Alistair MacLean, The Golden Gate, page 125:

The comedy comes from the patient slow burn of the parents as they try to ignore the explosive belligerence of the boys.

2008 July 25, Ty Burr, “‘Step Brothers’ is crude, rude—and funny”, in The Boston Globe (film review):

(idiomatic) Something that emerges or unfolds slowly or gradually.

A gradually increasing expression of emotion, espeically anger or frustration.

The second episode of tonight’s two part finale is the culmination of a storyline first introduced way back in the first season (episode ten, “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind”). That aired over seven years ago. Even shows that pay very close attention to serialization rarely manage that kind of slow burn.

2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in The A.V. Club:

You might politely describe this werewolf thriller set in the English countryside, in which the werewolf is kept off-camera, as a slow-burn. A devastating revelation awaits us at the end, but for the first two-ish-thirds of the movie we watch a man in a cottage […] looking alarmed and perturbed, possibly having a psychotic breakdown.

2023 May 2, Cath Clarke, “Wolf Garden review – English rural werewolf horror is a major slow burn”, in The Guardian:

Despite its dramatic opening, this is a slow burn of a novel. Salvioni might not display the flair of [Elena] Ferrante, but Francesca and Maddalena are vibrant characters for whom we quickly root.

2024 June 16, Lucy Popescu, “The Cursed Friend by Beatrice Salvioni review – rebels with a cause”, in The Observer:

(fiction) A work of fiction with a slow-paced plot; also, such a storyline.

Another familiar trope, the slow burn, teases the reader as characters secretly pine for one another . . . for a long time.

2018, Francesca DiPiazza, Fandom: Fic Writers, Vidders, Gamers, Artists, and Cosplayers, page 30:

Slow burns are torture. Why wait? I want my characters getting down and dirty ASAP, and there's nothing wrong with that.

2019, Robinwritesallthethings, “porn with plot”, in Lemon, page 62:

On some nights, I want a good long, juicy 70k word slowburn, mutual pining, angst (with a happy ending, of course, I'm not a monster).

2021, Aditi Dubey, “Considering Fanfic”, in Rabbit Hole, number 1, Australian National University, page 33:

(fiction, fandom slang) A romantic story (especially a work of fan fiction) in which the central relationship develops slowly.

My own very personal journey into the deepest love of all – that of a parent for a child – was a slow burn. But it left me deeply connected to Milo in a way that I never imagined.

2012 May 5, Jim Keeble, “I was a slow-burn dad”, in The Guardian:

The ‘carbon bomb’ stored in the thawing Arctic permafrost may be released in a slow leak as global warming takes hold, rather than an eruption, according to new research. [see title]

2015 April 9, Karl Mathiesen, “Permafrost 'carbon bomb' may be more of a slow burn, say scientists”, in The Guardian:

Thinking of AI like a bomb makes it seem like something that is deployed in a singular event, albeit one with devastating consequences rather than the slow burn that is consuming jobs and culture.

2023 August 22, Peter Lewis, “AI is not a one-time bomb, but a slow burn of devastation that is consuming jobs and culture”, in The Guardian:


slow burn

en-adj

slow burn (comparative more slow burn, superlative most slow burn)

more slow burn (comparative)
most slow burn (superlative)
slow-burn (alternative)


multiship

en-verb

multiship (third-person singular simple present multiships, present participle multishipping, simple past and past participle multishipped)

multiships (present singular third-person)
multishipping (participle present)
multishipped (participle past)
multishipped (past)

Though I do have a habit of picking a lady chara and multishipping her. Especially hermione. 💁♀

2020 July 2, Emlyn (@evilmaid_), Twitter:

As someone who multiships Chaggie and Charlastor. You guys fighting in the tags is annoying the hell out of me. Please stop using the tags. 😒

2021 February 18, ObsessedKatie (@ObsessedKatie), Twitter:

There’s a reason Sakura is multishipped so much and it’s bc she had interactions/development with almost the entire cast

2021 March 26, @uchihassasusaku, Twitter:

(fandom slang) To ship multiple pairings in the same fandom, especially ones featuring the same character.


slashable

en-adj

slashable (comparative more slashable, superlative most slashable)

more slashable (comparative)
most slashable (superlative)

Because we would be away from the car for an hour or more and because the carrier, though zippable, was not lockable and, in any event, was slashable, we put all the suitcases, etc., in the car with us while we drove downtown from the motel.

I met so many other great people who have a similar interest in pairing up those oh-so-slashable couples.

1999, Reesa, “My very late Friscon report”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Suitable for writing slash fan fiction about.


WAFF

en-noun

WAFF (countable and uncountable, plural WAFFs)

Acronym of warm and fuzzy feeling(s). Reportedly coined by fans of the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997). First attested on alt.tv.lois-n-clark as part of a fandom glossary in January 1996.

Why wait until the series is close to an end to change their relationship, leaving fans with a feeling of having been cheated of great WAFFs (Warm And Fuzzy Feelings)?

1996 January 7, Nancy Lemieux, “Re: The girlfriend/boyfriend thing”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

Sharon remembers the WAFFs, the romance, the cuddling, the tender bits, the honesty and openness between our heroes and gives the episode an A+.

1996 March 18, Colonel X, “Re: Camping With Clark”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

I did love Dad Kent's response to her, beginning with "Dearest Lois, a love... [I've forgotten the rest, but it was a major WAFF for me :-)]

1996 May 14, Polly Robinson, “Re: Clark's disappearance”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

(countable, fandom slang) A warm and fuzzy feeling, especially in relation to a ship.


slashy

en-adj

slashy (comparative slashier, superlative slashiest)

slashier (comparative)
slashiest (superlative)

In the last hour we've managed to do ten [drawings] total (I did six in a more abstract, slashy style, and she did four, neatly and precisely). I've never really done any kind of art outside of school, except for writing.

2007, Julie Halpern, Get Well Soon, page 88:

most contemporary art Bailey gives us images of classical order and balance In place of slashy brushwork and sludgy paint he gives us solid figures and uminous color.

1988 May 1, Bill van Siclen, “Bailey's 'realism' is really something else His 'tablescapes' are deceptively simple”, in Providence Journal, archived from the original on 2013-06-30:

of a work of art, done in the style that suggests the painter was slashing the canvas with a paintbrush


femslash

The demographics of femslash are a little more complicated than regular slash; stories are written by straight and lesbian women and sometimes straight men.

2005, Phyllis M. Japp, Mark Meister, Debra K. Japp, Communication Ethics, Media & Popular Culture, page 178:

One of the driving forces behind slash and femslash is the pervading heterosexism of commercial media – if television will not give us the due proportion of same-sex eroticism we are entitled to expect, then we will make it for ourselves.

2010, Stacey Abbott, The Cult TV Book, page 245:

The point of slash is that the orientation of one or more canonical characters is changed, which is why slashing is strongest in fandoms where the source parades heteronormativity or machismo. Kirk/Spock, Bodie/Doyle, Aragorn/Boromir, Darcy/Bingley and Harry/Snape stories all slash their canons, but a story featuring, say, Sebastian Flyte and Anthony Blanche in bed would not be slash, nor would a relationship between two lesbian characters in The L Word qualify as femslash.

2013, John Lennard, London Review of Books, letter, vol. 35, no. 6:

(fandom slang) Slash fiction that focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between female characters.


slash fiction

en-noun

slash fiction (countable and uncountable, plural slash fictions)

From slash + fiction, from the use of the slash symbol (/) to separate the names or initials of the characters or persons involved.

(countable) A work in the genre of slash fiction


slashfic

slashfic (countable and uncountable, plural slashfics)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-slashfic.wav

I must alert you all to a critical oversight in today's slashfic. Amid all the gleeful anal romping and glute-grinding cock-milking, where, o where, is the santorum?

2003 September 13, Hypatia Kosh, “A critical oversight in slashfic today!”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet), message-ID <bjubpg+bba2@eGroups.com>:

(countable, fandom slang) A work in the genre of slash fiction.


little black dress

little black dress (plural little black dresses)

I've seen Snape/Loki. Little Black Dresses, both of them. They'll go with anybody.

2018 September 23, Marion Beet (@Knitronomicon), Twitter:

Sansa is SUCH a good little black dress. I honestly would read almost any character in GOT with her.

2021 March 24, acequeenking (@acequeenkingpin), Twitter:

Brienne is my little black dress of GOT/ASOIAF. I am happy to read fic with her shipped with many many many characters.

2021 September 24, captainellie (@captainecomb), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A character who is shipped with many other characters.


slashzine

There's also a healthy B7 [Blake's 7] slashzine community.

1994, William James Moyer, “Sinclair vs. Avon (?!)”, in rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 (Usenet):

Slashzines based on Dark Shadows characters are rare; most Dark Shadows fans have never even heard of them.

1998, Cheryl Harris, Alison Alexander, Theorizing fandom: fans, subculture, and identity:

That's why all the SW [Star Wars] slashzines are pubbed underground -- there is no sex, let alone kinky sex, in the SW universe, and by damn LucasArts is gonna see that it stays that way!

2000, Rez, “New Napster Software but for DOOM LEVELS”, in rec.games.computer.doom.misc (Usenet):


hetfic

hetfic (countable and uncountable, plural hetfics)

The only valid objection I can see to slashfics with heterosexual characters is the same one I see to hetfics with established homosexual characters: that they run contrary to the intent of the original creator of the character.

2003 October 4, Kish, “Re: Ron and Hermione - the definitive answer”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

Since I'm always looking for new and different directions to take these characters in, I'd love to know what you *would* like to see in a Kira hetfic.

2004 January 6, czb (Chris), “Re: Fun Stuff I'd like to see in this wonderful new year, in Trekfic”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

I've read two stories, one a hetfic by Lyra and one a slashfic by Birgit, that were so good that they transcended fanfic and became excellent original stories under their own rights.

2006 October 14, Farfalla, “Re: Golden Os: 2005 Winner's Graphics”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(countable, fandom slang) A fanfic based on fictional characters or celebrities involved in an opposite-sex romantic and/or sexual relationship.


bandslash

It's an archive of bandslash about the rock group Orgy, who are best known for their hard-hitting remake of New Order's early 80s chestnut "Blue Monday."

2002 August 10, LadyCyrrh [username], “[ART] The Annex Reviews, 8/10/02”, in alt.sex.stories.gay.moderated (Usenet):

Even more amusing is that those doing the wishful humping in bandslash aren't your usual pin-ups. Bandslash has gone indie. This is a shadowy world where the boys in Franz Ferdinand are each others' fetish objects, and former Libertines Carl Barat and Pete Doherty, lovers.

2006 October 26, Kitty Empire, “Pop idols trade licks”, in The Observer:

Westcott doesn’t even consider the thornier question of fan fiction based on real and often living people, for instance, the “bandslash” or “bandfic” phenomenon built around rock-star characters and often homoerotic subplots.

2008 July 15, Keith Goetzman, “Is Fan Fiction Flouting the Law?”, in Utne Reader:

(fandom slang) Slash fan fiction which pairs real musicians, especially ones belonging to the same group.


popslash

Popslash writers use pop stars as their protagonists, constructing fictional narratives that supplement and enhance those disseminated by the media.

2006, Kristina Busse, “'I'm jealous of the fake me': Postmodern subjectivity and identity construction in boy band fan fiction”, in Su Holmes, Sean Redmond, editors, Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture, Routledge, →ISBN, page 254:

Consequently, popslash grew popular among media fan writers, many of whom created similarly brilliant and science fiction-like premises to explore celebrity culture as a metaphor for gender identity and other performances of the self.

2006, Francesca Coppa, “A Brief History of Media Fandom”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 56:

The popslash phenomenon gathered momentum after a 2001 story that imagined Chris Kirkpatrick of the band 'N Sync experiencing a sudden overnight gender change, […]

2011, Katherine Meizel, Idolized: Music, Media, and Identity in American Idol, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 46:

(fandom slang) Slash fan fiction which pairs pop musicians, especially ones belonging to the same boy band.


selfcest

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-selfcest.wav

And this is where selfcest comes in. For those unfamiliar with Adventure Time, it has two series: the main, phallogocentric one, Adventure Time, and another spin-off version, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, in which gender-flipped versions of the original characters are presented. Marceline spawns Marshall Lee, Jake turns into Cake, Finn becomes Fionna, Princess Bubblegum is chewed up and spat out as Prince Gumball… you get the picture. Enter Fanfiction, which causes them to hook up. Creepy, yes.

2013, Boo Patrick, "Selfcest", Manifesto (University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts), April 2013, page 8

Several Loki fans shared their horror over the idea of Loki and Sylvie getting together, as it would be an example of selfcest.

2021 July 2, Sabrina Barr, “Loki fans defend Marvel series over ‘queerbaiting’ claims as director says God of Mischief’s bisexuality won’t be explored further”, in Metro, UK:

'"The Time Traveler's Wife” having selfcest was not on my 2022 bingo card,' another [Twitter] user commented.

2022 May 25, Erica Tempesta, “'Selfcest was not on my 2022 bingo card': The Time Traveler's Wife baffles viewers with 'wild' and 'disturbing' oral sex scene between the HBO show's protagonist and HIMSELF”, in The Daily Mail:

(fandom slang, fiction) Sexual activity with an alternate version of oneself, such as a clone, duplicate, alter ego, or a version of oneself from a different time or alternate universe.


shipfic

shipfic (countable and uncountable, plural shipfics)

Just make sure you don't let me know where your shipfic is available, won't you? <g>

2001 December 6, Eva, “Re: 48 Hours: Please God, tell me that's not Daniel's replacement! ***Spoiler***”, in alt.tv.stargate-sg1 (Usenet):

HP slashfic gives me the creeps, not because of homophobia, but more because I get this imperceptible vibe that it's written by people who are obsessed with the movie stars, and in some peculiar way want to debase them because they can't have them. Actually, I shouldn't single out the slashfic. There's plenty of shipfic that gives me this same impression, too.

2003 August 20, Chistaya, “Re: and either must die at the hand of the other...”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

I've just started looking for DW fanfic to see if there's any Rose-meets-altuniverse-Doctor, and have been drowned in shipfic on places like ff.net (or whatever its^([sic]) called now.

2006 September 2, JACUK, “Re: What has happened to DW fanfic...?”, in alt.drwho.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Fan fiction revolving around or dedicated to shipping.


ship war

Oh, no, not another ship war between members of Team Edward and Team Jacob.

They seemed fascinated by my and Meg's absorption in the Harry Potter culture, so we told them stories of the ship wars […]

2008, Melissa Anelli, Harry, A History, Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 236:

'Ship wars' are discussions, usually between female fans, about who the best partner would be for their favourite character or artist, a classic example being the debates over whether Yoko Ono was good for John Lennon.

2013, Mark Duffet, Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture, Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN, page 248:

Habermas may not have imagined ship wars as a context for practical discourse, but fandom is in fact an excellent space in which to engage in the forms of contestation he describes.

2013, Emily Regan Wills, “Fannish discourse communities and the construction of gender in The X-Files”, in Transformative Works and Cultures, volume 14:

(fandom slang) An intense and sometimes hostile disagreement between shippers of rival ships in a fandom.


antishipping

[…] and passed an antishipping liquor law which prohibits the carrying or shipping of liquors for beverage purposes […]

1927, Ernest Hurst Cherrington, The Anti-saloon League Year Book, page 99:

The Luftwaffe also conducted antishipping offensive operations, which ranged over vast areas, from France to far out over the Atlantic in great operational arcs emanating from Germany and Norway.

2012, Walter J. Boyne, Clash of Wings: World War II in the Air:


schmoop

Mulder/Krycek and a bowl of kittens, what more could you want from schmoop?

1999 April 3, Drovar [username], “Re: Slash Suggestions?”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Would someone please give me some M/K or Sk/K or M/K/Sk or K/Sp or M/Sp or Sk/Sp (you get the picture) recs on some super super, sugar sugar, sweet sweet, honey-dipped, cavity-causing schmoop or hurt/comfort slash?

1999 May 3, geoffrey2 [username], “Re: Sugar sweet syrupy schmoopy slash”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative.mature (Usenet):

Oh, and schmoop - this chapter's got a great heap of schmoop, but there'll be plenty of angst as well, not to fear.

2003 July 2, nik_cleo [username], “[atxc-pi] NEW: Life's Little Quirks, Part Three -R- (1/1)”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Fan fiction, or part of a fan fiction, which is sweetly romantic or cute, usually to a degree considered maudlin.


schmoopy

en-adj

schmoopy (comparative schmoopier, superlative schmoopiest)

schmoopier (comparative)
schmoopiest (superlative)

Ah... I find that the best way to maintain joyous shipperhood is to not read much schmoopy shipper fic.

1999 July 22, Kipler [username], “Re: Mulder/Scully "relationship"”, in alt.tv.x-files.analysis (Usenet):

Nothing wrong with schmoopy fic Ingrid...

2002 September 7, Carolin, “Re: A What if.....?”, in alt.tv.smallville (Usenet):

That "Barbie Shippers" faction of XF fandom is currently cloistering itself somewhere in really dreadful, schmoopy fanfic where no other character threatens the purity of their "deep, abiding luv".

2005 June 25, campylobacter [username], “Re: Never Again question”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Characteristic of schmoop; maudlin.


schmoopiness

Warnings on the series: Contains post-Emily angst. Some Mulder/Scully schmoopiness, but emphasis on UST.

1998 August 3, JenRose [username], “New! Facing Janus chap 5 (actually a repost, but hey...)”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

A bit more angst than schmoopiness, but the underlying feelings are very well communicated.

1999 April 3, | vlbb | [username], “Re: Slash Suggestions?”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

I'm all for earthy romance. I know a lot of folks abhor schmoopiness, and I'm not comfortable with the term schmoopy, but I'd love to see some long romantic kisses, or just one.

2000 July 4, Deborah, “Re: "Powerful good news"?”, in alt.tv.x-files.analysis (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The state or quality of being schmoopy.


shipperhood

This ep pushed me off the fence and right into full-fledged shipperhood ( I WANT TO BELIEVE !!!)

1997 February 3, Colleen Sullivan-Baier, “Re: "Never Again"”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

Look, it's all happy and hopeful and absolutely wonderful--but I need more to sustain my Odo/Kira shipperhood!

2002 September 21, Tori Sky, “Re: FB: DS9: Edge of the World 1/2 (O/K; NC-17)”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The state or quality of being a shipper.


soulbond

LearethGFS: Heehee... he's my soulbond.... he runs the place occasionally.

1998, "Arikyas, Leader of the Dark Ones" (quoting "The Cypher"), Re: Atma's confession... (on newsgroup alt.games.final-fantasy)

Whenever I'm reading a book or watching a movie, I'm there in my imagination, usually as a small (6-ish feet long) dragon talking to the characters, urging them to do what I want, flaming or growling at their enemies, etc. Reminds me of the role my spirit guide/daemon/soulbond/imaginary friend/whatever-the-hell-he-is, Phantos, plays in my life. Except that I directly talk to Phantos, whereas the characters never really notice me.

2009, Fledgling Raquiri, “Re: On Obsession and Living in Fantasy”, in alt.fan.dragons (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A fictional character to whom an individual forms an emotional attachment.


altfic

Another rumor I heard: Seven kisses Janeway, Janeway tells Seven it's inappropriate. Why? Cuz it's on the bridge? Seven's nekkid? Why would it be inappropriate? What a spate of altfic coming out of that....Interaction seems to be what's missing from a lot of the season lately, not just J/7.

2000 February 11, kaboom [username], “Re: [OT] Re: Sisters are doing it for themselves indeed! (SPOILERS for "Lyre, Lyre")”, in alt.tv.xena-subtext (Usenet):

One of my favorite Xena altfic bards in Katelin B., who's fine Xena/Gabrielle stories, ranging from short stories to longer novella-length works, can be found at [URL redacted]

2000 May 26, fluffsterbrian [username], “Re: Best fanfic”, in alt.tv.xena-subtext (Usenet):

Snarky, who gave in to hir lust for fanfic late last year (I resisted for so long because I knew it would take time away from reading the newsgroup devoted to my first love, Doctor Who (radw), which it has), starting small, with the alt.callahans epic tale of "Action, Adventure, Excitement!", before moving on to XWP altfic in March

2001 October 4, Demon Lord of Confusion Snarky [username], “Re: FIN II & VS7-1 (was: Lucy was asked]”, in alt.tv.xena-subtext (Usenet):


slashdom

Apart from that, it's usually for the sex itself, or to explore some interesting question that's come up either in the programme/book or in society in general or in slashdom.

1998, Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture and Identity, eds. Cheryl Harris & Alison Alexander, Hampton Press, →ISBN, page 30:

The slash community has extensively discussed this issue of slashdom as a homoerotic space.

2006, Kristina Busse, “My Life is a WIP on My LJ: Slashing the Slasher and the Reality of Celebrity and Internet Performances”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 219:

What thrills me, as a slash reader of almost any slashdom (and currently I write in two and read in a total of four, and happily so) is the actual crafting of the storylines and the variety of experiences and activities described in each.

2009 August 9, Jean Roseman, “Re: Questions on slash Thanks for the responses everybody!!!!!”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The culture or community of slash fiction writers.


smush name

When my friend Danielle (there's THAT name again) was pregnant with her oldest daughter we came across a book (of which I forget the title) which actually advocated smush names. One of the more...ahem...interesting names I remember is Shetom. It was a smush of Sheila and Thomas.

2010, Danielle Reed, Emily, Jacob and Boniqua: What NOT to Name Your Child, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 17:

She looked up at them, half-expecting paparazzi to leap from the very walls to take photos, to give the couple a smush name that would undoubtedly be the key in making the new media darlings.

2014, Grace McDermott, Mirrorfall, Wibbly Press (2014), unnumbered page

They yell, “Sup, Shage,” when we walk past; we're a smush name now.

2015, Ann Aguirre, The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things, Feiwei and Friends, →ISBN, page 243:

Brangelina and Snamione are smush names.

(informal) A portmanteau name created by blending two different names, especially one used to collectively describe a celebrity couple or fandom ship.


enemyslash

As an intimatopic 'enemyslash' fic, Harry Potter and the Bound Prince centers on the development of intimacy as expressed through sex and eroticized comfort between two characters that are enemies in the series canon […]

2010, Darlene Rose Hampton, "Beyond Resistance: Gender, Performance, and Fannish Practice in Digital Culture", dissertation submitted to the University of Oregon, page 102

As a result, Harry Potter fandom again denies well-known theories of slash, as its most popular pairing – Harry/Draco – belongs to the enemyslash category.

2010, Sigrid Sindhuber, "Slashing Harry Potter: The phenomenon of border-transgression in fan fiction", thesis submitted to the University of Vienna, page 65

Catherine Tosenberger suggests that the joy of an enemyslash pairing lies in watching the antagonists overcome their differences.

2013, Anne Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, BenBella Books, →ISBN:

(fandom slang) Slash fan fiction focusing on a romantic and/or sexual relationship between adversaries.


buddyslash

Slash about Harry and Draco, who are enemies in canon, complicates academic theories of slash that are predicated upon the Kirk/Spock “buddyslash” model.

2007, Catherine Tosenberger, "Potterotics: Harry Potter Fanfiction On The Internet", dissertation submitted to the University of Florida, page 124

Although the pairing of Harry and Ron may seem as a typical example of buddyslash, one has to consider the presence of Hermione Granger as Harry's second sidekick.

2010, Sigrid Sindhuber, "Slashing Harry Potter: The phenomenon of border-transgression in fan fiction", thesis submitted to the University of Vienna, page 67

It is most commonly noted that the first famous pairing of Kirk/Spock, or Spirk, falls under the category of buddyslash.

2013, Janidean Bruner, "I 'like' slash: the demographics of Facebook slash communities", thesis submitted to the University of Louisville, page 10

(fandom slang) Slash fan fiction focusing on a romantic and/or sexual relationship between friends.


powerslash

The second most popular Potter slash pairing is Harry/Snape, which belongs to the powerslash category, and again defies findings of early fan fiction studies focusing on buddyslash.

Order of the Phoenix featured Harry and Snape (a powerslash pairing par excellence) forced to become uncomfortably intimate with each other: Snape is teaching Harry how to prevent Voldemort from reading his thoughts by...reading Harry's thoughts; […]

2011, Catherine Tosenberger, “Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fanfiction”, in Michelle Ann Abate, Kenneth B. Kidd, editors, Over the Rainbow: Queer Children's and Young Adult Literature, →ISBN, page 343:

Although the second most popular pairing in Potter slash fandom, Snape/Harry (or Snarry), could be categorized as enemyslash, it is also a prime example of powerslash.

(fandom slang) Slash fan fiction focusing on a romantic and/or sexual relationship between characters of unequal social status or rank.


右側

[mʲiɡʲiɡa̠β̞a̠]

(fandom slang) bottom (referring to the order of names in pairings)


rarepair

rarepairs (plural)
rare pair (alternative)

/ˈɹɛə(ɹ).pɛə(ɹ)/

Rare pairs might also slash together people or creatures that are considered unnatural, such as a human character with a magical creature such as a centaur or a house elf, or Dumbledore with any young student from Hogwarts.

2011, Nina Kaipia, "Drarry, Snarry and Snape: The Queerest of the Queer - Heteronormativity and Queer Theory in Harry Potter Slash Fan Fiction", thesis submitted to the University of Helsinki, page 61

If a Yuletide reader requested a rare pair (Silver Surfer/Aunt May?) in The Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers, that story will now assemble with its more popular Hulk/Iron Man and Captain America/Bucky Barnes fanfic colleagues in the Avengers tag.

2018, Anne Jamison, “Kant/Squid (The Fanfiction Assemblage)”, in Paul Booth, editor, A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies, page 534:

With rarepairs and crackships, it's the unlikeliness or even impossibility of their coming together that gets you going.

2019, "Thefudge", "The Marvelously Crafted", Lemon, 1 February 2019, page 49

(fandom slang) A ship that generally receives little attention from fans and has few associated fanworks.


soulmark

“Unfortunately, it's not defective. Though most people's soulmarks only recognize one other soul, yours seems to recognize two.”

2011, Angela Corbett, Eternal Starling, unnumbered page:

The changes to Darcy's soulmark correspond with her soulmate's state of mind.

2017, Kinga Kowalska, “Embodied Soulmarks and Social Expectations: The Materialization of Romantic Love in Soulmate AU Fanfiction”, in Anna Malinowska, Michael Gratzke, editors, The Materiality of Love: Essays on Affection and Cultural Practice, unnumbered page:

In the fan fiction adaptation, Someone_aka_me uses the same lines to forge a connection between Alec and Magnus, both figuratively (putting both characters in the same scene and having them react to and impact each other) and literally (this particular piece of fan fiction introduces an alternative plotline in which Magnus’s words activate a soulbond between them, as they match a pre-existing soulmark imprinted on Alec’s skin).

2018, Malin Brus, "'I Don't Think We've Been Formally Introduced?": Re-contextualising a Literary Model for First Meetings through Adaptation Theory and Fan Fiction", dissertation submitted to the University of Gothenburg, page 21

(fandom slang) A mark on a character's body identifying their soulmate(s); the physical manifestation of a character's soulbond.


TJLC

The queer utopianism infusing TJLC fanworks is shaped by a strand of collective fan labor often dismissed by mainstream sources as self-indulgent and overemotional: that of protest, in this case against toxic heteronormativity.

2018, Diana W. Anselmo, "Gender and Queer Fan Labor on Tumblr: The Case of BBC's Sherlock", Feminist Media Studies, Volume 4, Number 1, Winter 2018, page 93

These expectations became confronted with the decision on the side of the screenwriters that angered many fans supporting the TJLC theory.

2018, Małgorzata Lisowska-Magdziarz, “Authors, Owners, Influencers, Entitled Fans And Ultimate Fanboys: TJLC Controversy And The Politics Of Media Content Creation”, in Tadej Pirc, editor, Participation, Culture and Democracy: Perspectives on Public Engagement and Social Communication, page 85:

Where TJLC differs from traditional Sherlockian fandom and fannish scholarship is in its insistence on a single correct reading of the text: […]

2019, E. J. Nielsen, “The Gay Elephant Meta In The Room: Sherlock And The Johnlock Conspiracy”, in Joseph Brennan, editor, Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities, page 83:

(Sherlock fandom slang) The Johnlock Conspiracy; a theory prevalent in Sherlock fandom before series four, which interpreted the show as having a strong queer subtext, and held that the showrunners intended an eventual romance between Sherlock and John.


TJLCer

Stalwart TJLCers were the only ones clever enough to have unearthed the plot and follow the trail of the imaginary breadcrumbs.

2017, Christopher Redmond, About Being a Sherlockian: 60 Essays Celebrating the Sherlock Holmes Community, page 171:

TJLCers still believe that outing Sherlock and John as a romantic couple on worldwide television can propel ideological shifts in national attitudes and global awareness, resulting in broader social equality for everyday queer people.

2018, Diana W. Anselmo, "Gender and Queer Fan Labor on Tumblr: The Case of BBC's Sherlock", Feminist Media Studies, Volume 4, Number 1, Winter 2018, page 92

Treating a gay relationship as a puzzle that must be pursued by the clever viewers and hidden from "casuals" until the narrative reveal at the eleventh hour seems antithetical to the idea of normalized representation that TJLCers claim as the main reason they want Johnlock to be canon, […]

2019, E. J. Nielsen, “The Gay Elephant Meta In The Room: Sherlock And The Johnlock Conspiracy”, in Joseph Brennan, editor, Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities, page 91:

(Sherlock fandom slang) A proponent of The Johnlock Conspiracy (TJLC).


crackship

crackships (plural)
crack ship (alternative)

From crack + ship, alluding to the erratic behaviour of crack cocaine users.

Moreover, in the more silly venues of fandom, some fans generate "crack ships," or nonsensical couplings, such as sensing chemistry between Bonnie/A Rock.

2015, Kristen J. Warner, The Cultural Politics of Colorblind TV Casting, unnumbered page:

We carve out little fiefdoms with the common love of a middle-aged actress, and we march up the gangplank to board our favorite crackship.

2016, Kathleen Smith, The Fangirl Life: A Guide to All the Feels and Learning How to Deal, unnumbered page:

(fandom slang) A ship that is canonically implausible, bizarre, or humorous.


femslasher

Femslashers follow onscreen lesbian couples alongside their subtextual favorites and have often clamored for one of the latter characters to “come out” on television.

2013, Julie Levin Russo, “Textual orientation: Queer female fandom online”, in Cynthia Carter, Linda Steiner, Lisa McLaughlin, editors, The Routledge Companion to Media & Gender, page 457:

This erasure was criticized by both femslashers and nonwhite fans of other genres, who pointed out how these selections of what is considered noteworthy in fan texts perpetuate and reinscribe erasures and biases within fan communities (allofthefeelings 2015).

2018, Rukmini Pande, Squee from the Margins: Fandom and Race, page 165:

The way that femslashers are treated in this fandom is disgusting.

2019, anonymous, quoted in Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games, page 99

(fandom slang) A person who writes femslash and/or supports female/female ships.


shippy

shippy (comparative shippier, superlative shippiest)

shippier (comparative)
shippiest (superlative)

Well, we have been here since Mid-June, beside a reefy and shippy shore, with sails by day and lamps by night, all over the water, and a sunrise and sunset gun from an obsolete fort across the harbor.

1899, William Dean Howells, quoted in Michael Anesko, Letters, Fictions, Lives: Henry James and William Dean Howells (1997), page 349

About the interior decorations, however, there was nothing shippy.

1982, Eileen Simpson, Poets in Their Youth: A Memoir, page 11:

[…] there were always vehicles parked there, and anyone driving by will think we're just tourists gawping at all the shippy stuff.

2008, H. A. Covington, The Brigade, page 127:

Related to or characteristic of a ship (vessel).


shippiness

Highly polished rosewood, ebony and brass; a main saloon with walls "pierced by rows of high, narrow, round-headed windows, outlined with rims of polished brass," gave the Bremen a marine look, a "shippiness" that ran directly counter to the cozy house-in-the-country look of British ships and the vacuously empty hotel-lobby atmosphere of the American liners.

1972, John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic, page 454:

The Fairways Trawler, however, reflects the same "shippiness" in her appearance and sports a wheelhouse which would not disgrace a real trawler.

1978, Country Life, volume 164, page 312:

Oh, this boat, this familiar boat! She felt a surge of love for it, for its compact practicality, its orderly shippiness, its dutiful precision, its homely solid shelter against the storm.

2003, Libby Purves, Casting Off, unnumbered page:

The state or quality of being a ship or like a ship.

My first thought as a shipper, and even the list admin of the XF Romantics mailing list which is dedicated to shippers, is to crow about the "shippiness" in this episode.

1997 February 11, KSJ, “Momento Spoilers”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

I don't believe "shippiness" either helps or hurts the X-Files ratings.

1999 March 10, Michael P. Walsh, “Re: Arcadia ratings”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

One could theorize that shippiness can 'ruin' an episode because it takes some people's focus away from the main story even if it doesn't alter the main story.

2000 December 20, Jane, “Re: Doggoneit Be Gone”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The state or quality of being shippy.


pre-slash

The piece of work was a short pre-slash story around Hulkling and Wiccan from The Young Avengers, it was posted under the alias Confidenceiskey on 18 October, 2007.

2008, Gemma Corin, "From 'Ambiguously Gay Duos' To Homosexual Superheroes: The Implications For Media Fandom Practices", thesis submitted to the University of Waikato, page 53

The first, a lengthy Kirk/Spock pre-slash story “The Immovable Object,” appeared in the zine The Other Side of Paradise, no. 2.

2012, Catherine Coker, “The Angry! Textual! Poacher! Is Angry!: Fan Works As Political Statements”, in Katherine Larsen, editor, Fan Culture: Theory/Practice, page 95:

Some pre-slash fan fiction does not develop into slash at all; other stories make it clear that slash may be a possible development in the future but they do not elaborate on it; yet other stories, or better series of stories, include pre-slash chapters or pre-slash stories (which function as one-shot stories and work on their own), but the following stories in the series are already slash.

2014, Lucie Cupalová, "Slash Factor: Characteristics and Varieties of Slash Fan Fiction", thesis submitted to Charles University, page 38

(fandom slang) A subgenre of slash fiction in which a homosexual relationship between two characters has not yet developed or is only implied.


Scullyslash

Okay...for Scullyslash, you have Walking the Line and The Road Not Taken by XFStew and DeeJay, r'spectively […]

1998 March 21, Coolcat350, “Re: Question re) Best of Fan Fic”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

But there is quite a lot of Scullyslash. Maybe not archived on Gossamer, but there are at least two Scullyslash archives that I know of and one very active mailing list.

1999 June 12, Dasha K, “Re: A DARE... Hmm...”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Radclyffe began writing online with Scullyslash stories that paired Dana Scully from the X-files with an original character of her own creation.

2004, Elizabeth Florence Pearce, "Reading the Lesbian Romance: Re-imagining Love, Sex, Relationships, and Community", thesis submitted to the University of Iowa, page 151

(X-Files fandom slang) Fan fiction featuring Dana Scully in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with another woman.


boyslash

I prefer the Scullyslash, boyslash leaves me kind of cold.

1998 April 21, jenroses, “Re: X-Files Fan Questionnaire”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

I have come across only one scholarly paper about treksmut on the web, about a Borg boyslash zine (rather esoteric no?) […]

2000 January 6, ms. julie levin russo, “Re: Writers on Writing”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

Yes, it's dark, angsty boyslash, and yes, I'm as surprised as you are since this is hardly my usual XF vibe, but hey, man, give slash a chance .

2001 March 26, Caz, “xfc: NEW: Zaghruda (1/1) by CazQ (NC-17, V, A, M/K)”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Slash fiction that focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between male characters.


shippery

shippery (comparative more shippery, superlative most shippery)

more shippery (comparative)
most shippery (superlative)

I'm a noromo. I mostly care about the story. I don't pick up on or remember shippery things that Mulder and Scully do with each other during the ep that don't advance the story.

2000 June 13, laura capozzola, “Re: Noromos, help me understand...”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Related to, characteristic of, or appealing to a shipper (a person who ships characters).


shipperdom

If there has never been a psychological examination of shipperdom, then there should be one.

2008, Jon Lachonis, Amy J. Johnston, Lost Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other:


KSR

Since, I've written more, mostly MSR and KSR.

1998 July 13, Athena1600, “Re: ARCHIVISTS AND AUTHORS!”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

It's the identification thing... maybe some of the people writing KSR *do* hate Mulder.

1998 December 3, Daddy793, “Re: Question for SKipper fic authors”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

I'm a MSR and a KSR type myself, these are the stories I WANT to read.

1999 January 2, Char Priolo, “Re: "A KeyChain in the snow"”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(X-Files fandom slang) Krycek/Scully romance; fan fiction involving a romantic relationship between the characters Alex Krycek and Dana Scully of the The X-Files.


age is just a number

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-age is just a number.wav

Age is not an important attribute in a person.


girlslash

For quotations using this term, see Citations:girlslash.

(fandom slang) Slash fiction that focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between female characters.


WAFFy

WAFFy (comparative WAFFier, superlative WAFFiest)

WAFFier (comparative)
WAFFiest (superlative)

Part 1 was all the wonderfully WAFFy scenes of them getting ready to be married.

1996 February 13, BeBe 4 LC, “Possibilities, Possibilities”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

SUMMARY: Not much to say. After an emotional day, Scully and Mulder bond platonically over beer and pizza. Lots of WAFFy moments.

1996 April 22, Eric Johns, “Someone To Lean On 1/2”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Now if you are unfortunate enough to read on, immediately read some WAFFy fiction or something by Helm to wash out the bitter taste.

1999 December 28, Bastion, “[DARK][Songfic] This Is Not Hell (R)”, in alt.fan.sailor-moon (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Evoking, related to, or characteristic of warm and fuzzy feelings (WAFF).


fandom bicycle

From town bicycle, the jocular idea being that, like a hypothetical bicycle shared by an entire fandom, "everyone gets a ride" with the character.

LOL Hermione is SO the fandom bicycle more so than Harry I think.

2010 September 14, Menacherie (@Menacherie), Twitter:

I am multiship TRASH. especially in Dragon Age, I'm happy with my faves kissing really any of my other faves. Especially Anders. man is the fandom bicycle and that is delightful, he deserves many smooches.

2021 September 7, Tirs For Fears (@potatowitch666), Twitter:

When I say Will Graham is my fandom bicycle I mean I’d pair him up with anybody. Stanitz….Zeller….Freddie….that policeman that was questioning him when he was sleepwalking…

2022 August 7, Hannigramwich (Darling Idiot) (@hannigramwich), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A character who is shipped with many other characters.


multishipping

Multishipping culture is that you having no idea why people must fight over ships when you can ship them all

2018 January 26, @Sikaloolala), Twitter:

Multishipping is fun cause life is too short to fight with yourself over which ships you like

2019 August 20, a busy weeb (@trashsketch), Twitter:

The sooner you accept the existence of multishipping the easier your life becomes I promise

2020 December 3, Eikos (@Iceikory), Twitter:

(fandom slang) The practice of shipping multiple pairings in the same fandom, especially ones featuring the same character.


hateship

From hate + ship (“a fictional romantic relationship between two characters”).

compound

also hateships gave us some real great classics like Drarry and Han/Leia so fight me

2016 December 22, Elliott (@elliohill), Twitter:

I remember back in the day when I though Draco/Harry was dumb bc they definitely hate eachother^([sic]) and now all my favorites are hateships lol

2017 August 8, v a p o r w a v e p a i s s a (@MildKat), Twitter:

Call me vanilla but I really don't get hateships or the enemies to lovers trope.

2019 April 8, E'dmund Tia (@catboy_on_main), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A ship involving characters with an adversarial relationship.


BroTP

BroTPs (plural)
BrOTP (alternative)
BROTP (alternative)
brotp (alternative)

Blend of bro (“male comrade or friend”) + OTP (“one true pairing”).

blend

"Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers are adorbs together as friends, but I'd never ship them — total BROTP."

2015, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, page 31:

BROTPs and OT3s (shipping three characters in a polyamorous relationship) abound.

2016, Bethany A. Scettrini, "Fan Responses to Orphan Black and The 100 via Blogs, Fan Fiction, and Ship Wars", thesis submitted to Baylor University, page 51

Being in a fandom means that we willingly signed on to watch as our—soon-to-be — favorite character(s) die, as we find out our OTP may never truly get to be happy, or that our BroTP will always be at odds.

2019, Star, "Fixing What Shouldn't Be Broken", Lemon, page 14

(fandom slang) A platonic relationship between two characters that is a personal favorite of a fan.


NOTP

Usually it is best to keep your NOTP to yourself, unless you wish to start a shipping war.

2013, "Severus Snape", "Ship happens", The Sandscript (Sanderson High School, Raleigh, BC), March 2013 (April Fool's issue), page 5

Add the words you want to avoid to your black list (anything from your NOTP to seriously triggering topics), and posts containing them will never again show up on your dash.

2015, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, pages 66–67:

When questioned on why they disliked their ‘NOTP’, most respondents claimed it was often due to notable inclusion of paedophilic, incestuous, abusive, or non-consensual relationships and intercourse within the stories.

2019, Amy Pollard, “An investigation of fanfiction readers' and writers' views on fanfiction, with a focus on LGBTQ+ themes”, in Mesh: The Journal for Undergraduate Work Across English Studies, number 3, published 2009, pages 22–23:

(fandom slang) A ship that one strongly dislikes.


左右固定

左右固定 (canonical)
sayū kotei (romanization)

Referring to the "top"–"bottom" ordering of names in pairings.

左右固定過激派

(fandom slang) accepted top and bottom status


bifictional

From bi- + fictional, based on bisexual.

I don't know if Henry Wyckoff is bi-fictional, but the stories of his that I've read were gen.

1999 October 2, Sally, “Re: looking for. . .”, in alt.tv.sentinel (Usenet):

Recently some Sentinel fans have been discussing the various types of fanfiction written in the fandom. Some were curious about the proportion of gen only, slash only, and bifictional readers.

2000 June 6, S. Mallet (AKA Marmoset), “Preferences in Sentinel Fanfic -- New Poll”, in alt.tv.sentinel (Usenet):

At any rate, the first Trekfic I posted was non-slash, and I'm pretty much rampantly bifictional in my reading, although I don't like most het (probably because I don't have good enough filters in place to eliminate the bad stuff).

2000 June 22, laura jacquez valentine, “Re: Slash versus non-slash”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(fandom slang, dated) Interested in the two predominant genres of fan fiction within a specific fandom (generally genfic and slashfic, or hetfic and slashfic).


shippar

pt-verb

shippar (first-person singular present shippo, first-person singular preterite shippei, past participle shippado)

shippo (first-person present singular)
shippei (first-person preterite singular)
shippado (participle past)
shippar (impersonal infinitive)
shippar (first-person infinitive singular)
shippares (infinitive second-person singular)
shippar (infinitive singular third-person)
shipparmos (first-person infinitive plural)
shippardes (infinitive plural second-person)
shipparem (infinitive plural third-person)
shippando (gerund)
shippado (masculine participle past singular)
shippados (masculine participle past plural)
shippada (feminine participle past singular)
shippadas (feminine participle past plural)
shippo (first-person indicative present singular)
shippas (indicative present second-person singular)
shippa (indicative present singular third-person)
shippamos (first-person indicative plural present)
shippais (indicative plural present second-person)
shippam (indicative plural present third-person)
shippava (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
shippavas (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
shippava (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
shippávamos (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
shippáveis (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
shippavam (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
shippei (first-person indicative preterite singular)
shippaste (indicative preterite second-person singular)
shippou (indicative preterite singular third-person)
shippamos (Brazil first-person indicative plural preterite)
shippámos (first-person indicative plural preterite)
shippastes (indicative plural preterite second-person)
shipparam (indicative plural preterite third-person)
shippara (first-person indicative pluperfect singular)
shipparas (indicative pluperfect second-person singular)
shippara (indicative pluperfect singular third-person)
shippáramos (first-person indicative pluperfect plural)
shippáreis (indicative pluperfect plural second-person)
shipparam (indicative pluperfect plural third-person)
shipparei (first-person future indicative singular)
shipparás (future indicative second-person singular)
shippará (future indicative singular third-person)
shipparemos (first-person future indicative plural)
shippareis (future indicative plural second-person)
shipparão (future indicative plural third-person)
shipparia (conditional first-person singular)
shipparias (conditional second-person singular)
shipparia (conditional singular third-person)
shipparíamos (conditional first-person plural)
shipparíeis (conditional plural second-person)
shippariam (conditional plural third-person)
shippe (first-person present singular subjunctive)
shippes (present second-person singular subjunctive)
shippe (present singular subjunctive third-person)
shippemos (first-person plural present subjunctive)
shippeis (plural present second-person subjunctive)
shippem (plural present subjunctive third-person)
shippasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
shippasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
shippasse (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
shippássemos (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
shippásseis (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
shippassem (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
shippar (first-person future singular subjunctive)
shippares (future second-person singular subjunctive)
shippar (future singular subjunctive third-person)
shipparmos (first-person future plural subjunctive)
shippardes (future plural second-person subjunctive)
shipparem (future plural subjunctive third-person)
shippa (imperative second-person singular)
shippe (imperative singular third-person)
shippemos (first-person imperative plural)
shippai (imperative plural second-person)
shippem (imperative plural third-person)
não shippes (imperative negative second-person singular)
não shippe (imperative negative singular third-person)
não shippemos (first-person imperative negative plural)
não shippeis (imperative negative plural second-person)
não shippem (imperative negative plural third-person)
shipar (alternative)

From ship + -ar. The use of ⟨pp⟩ was likely influenced by English spelling rules, e.g. shipping.

Em um beach club em Saint-Tropez, os dois posaram para algumas fotos juntos e deram esperança aos fãs. "Pior que daria um casalzão", opinou um. "Eu shippo", disse outro. Apesar disso, o funkeiro mandou um recado: "Proibido shippar."

2024 July 16, Julia Bonin, “'Proibido shippar', diz MC Daniel ao posar com Anitta”, in Revista Quem [Magazine Who], Notícias [News]:

At a beach club in Saint-Tropez, the two posed for some photos together and gave their fans hope. “I'm afraid they'd make a great couple,” said one. "I ship [them]," said another. Despite this, the Brazilian funk singer sent a message: “No shipping.”

(Brazil, fandom slang, transitive) to ship (to support or approve of a romantic relationship between two characters or people)


Larrie

From Larry (“real-person fiction ship of Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles”) + -ie (suffix signifying an associated person).

suffix

As 1D are now on a hiatus and band members are pursuing solo carreers,^([sic]) the Larries still live on as a community engaged with support for LGBTQ youths—and producing 1D-themed merchandise for charity.

2019, Paola Brembilla, “Transmedia Music: The Values of Music as a Transmedia Asset”, in Matthew Freeman, Renira Rampazzo Gambarato, editors, The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, →ISBN:

Representation of the Larry fandom has gone beyond pathologizing fangirls to framing their shipping practice in terms of “fake news.” The conspiracy theory panic around Larries misses the complex ways that subtext and queer reading are mobilized within the fandom to invoke feelings of queer intimacy and belonging. Drawing on a digital ethnography conducted on Twitter with Larries, we argue that these fans engage in queer reading strategies to explicitly imagine and interrupt dominant heterosexual narratives, and thus queer the figure of the fangirl.

2019 spring, Hannah McCann, Clare Southerton, “Repetitions of Desire: Queering the One Direction Fangirl”, in Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, volume 12, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Berghahn Books, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 56–57:

The theory is so popular that one of the most retweeted tweets of all time is simply Louis wishing Harry well with “Always in my heart @Harry_Styles. Yours sincerely, Louis,” sent in October 2011. Larries, or Larry Stylinson shippers, believe the message is indisputable proof that the two were and are together, despite the fact that neither party has vocalized an interest in men and have only ever publicly partnered with women. When Tomlinson began dating Eleanor Calder in September 2011, one year into the band’s existence, Larries believed she was acting as a beard, though Louis assured fans that he wasn’t hiding homosexuality.

2020, Maria Sherman, Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS, New York, N.Y.: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, →ISBN:

While I mope my way out of junior year, my classmates meet a person worth skipping class for: our adolescent mainstay; Tumblr’s participation trophy; the face of all things wholesome yet perverse and totally, definitively, how-many-retweets-for-you-to-go-to-prom-with-me, fuck-the-larries-they’re-invasive, masturbate-to-a-Y/N, let’s-sell-out-a-Chelsea-boot, Internet. / Harry Styles.

2021, Via Bleidner, If You Lived Here You’d Be Famous by Now: True Stories from Calabasas, New York, N.Y.: Flatiron Books, →ISBN:

There is some room, mostly in offline conversations, to equivocate about Larry. Mina Hughes, a student from Texas, told me she didn’t identify as a Larrie, but she was invested in the story. “I am a grown-up, and I am self-aware enough to know that it’s really childish to want total strangers to be dating,” she told me. […] She [“Lisa”] fields questions nearly every day from new Larries who don’t have the same knowledge of a decade’s worth of lore—if she’s in the mood, that is. Otherwise she might simply command them to “scroll down.” Her bio explains that she has been part of the fandom since 2012 and a Larrie “since day 1.”

2022, Kaitlyn Tiffany, Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, New York, N.Y.: MCD × FSG Originals, →ISBN:

From causing friends to drift apart, to committing oversexualization that disrespects Louis' and Harry's individual craft, Larries continue to exist and dominate spaces within the online world. […] “Louis and Harry are one day closer to being free” are the words tweeted daily by a Larrie twitter^([sic]) user @rogueskimo. While its realisation is yet to come, and the not-yet remains to be ever present, the Larrie sub-fandom, through occupying the field of romance and utilizing its unending potential will continue to yield a powerful noise that shall sustain not just their narrative of Louis and Harry’s relationship, but their very existence as a sub-fandom.

2022, Andrea Anne I. Trinidad, “‘Shipping’ Larry Stylinson: what makes pairing appealing boys romantic?”, in Ann Brooks, editor, The Routledge Companion to Romantic Love, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part VI (South and southeast Asian romance communities), pages 231 and 236:

(fandom slang) A shipping conspiracy theorist who believes that former One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson have a long-term and secret romantic relationship.


ship and let ship

The second way the fandom anti is seen to transgress fandom mores is to ignore the fandom etiquette of "Ship and Let Ship" and attempt to impose their definition of appropriateness on popular character pairings, or ships, in various media texts.

2024 January 1, Rukmini Pande, “"Get out of here you anti": Historizing the Operation of Structural Racism in Media Fandom”, in Feminist Media Histories, volume 10, number 1, Oakland, C.A.: University of California Press, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 114–115:

(fandom slang) A pro-shipper slogan encouraging fans to focus on their preferred ships, avoiding ship wars and discourse over which ships are acceptable.


comship

Blend of complicated + ship, or complex + ship.

I know, but he's not a human and that makes it a comship. And there are many canonical comships, it's not necessarily a bad thing

2023 September 11, Julián (@Justigodesgod), Twitter:

I've always hated comships (besides the usual ones like immortal x mortal), but I just.. block people. It's as simple as that.

2023 September 12, Lumi (@oneiricstar), Twitter:

as long as you're nice and don't only talk about your comships as some make me uncomfy

2024 January 16, Lana (Ame-Chan) (@Ena_Irl_), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A ship featuring elements deemed morally complex or problematic, such as abuse, incest, or a power gap.


Solavellan Hell

Oh dear. Poor you. You're done for once you enter the Solavellan Hell.

Welcome to Solavellan Hell. Kleenexes on the table, and weeping is done in the corners.

We’ve all been through enough heartache with Solavellan Hell, so gotta keep it uplifting in here haha.

2024 February 9, [deleted user account], Reddit:

(Dragon Age fandom slang) The state of exquisite agony experienced by shippers of Solas and the Inquistor (Solavellan)


tinhatting

However, when RPF tips into tinhatting, it rightly raises concerns about the blurred line between fiction and reality.

2019 August 12, Stacey M. Lantagne, “Tinhatting the Constitution: Originalism as a Fandom”, in Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review, volume 2, number 1, page 38:

What the fans do not realize is that tinhatting happens to hurt and harm the very same people that they so adore.

2022 August 18, Shweta Basu, “The Xiao Zhan Controversy and the Case of Misplaced Fan Activism”, in The Phoenix Papers, volume 5, number 1, page 60:

The casual ableism in the label is rampant across fandoms; tinhatting is not exclusive or original to TJLC.

2025, Katherine Anderson Howell, Disability and Fandom, page 86:

(fandom slang) The act or practice of promoting a conspiracy theory within a fandom space, especially with regard to shipping or a speculated celebrity relationship.


tinhat

It is the conspiracy theory aspect of this caricature that is most important here: the LOTRPS tinhats believe in a complex conspiracy in which the stars of the trilogy were being forced by PR to hide their relationships, but the stars in question would find ways to communicate the "truth" to their fans.

2014, Anna Martin, "Writing the Star: Stardom, Fandom and Real Person Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Lancaster University, page 94

Two people do reply, and the second is noteworthy: "I seriously doubt very many people here legitimately believe any of the boys – okay, with the possible exception of Brendon *facepalm* – is actually gay. Those that do are teenies and tinhats."

2020, Judith May Fathallah, Emo: How Fans Defined a Subculture, page 59:

A year later, some "Domlijah" shippers became convinced that the dream relationship between Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood wasn't fiction after all, but an elaborately covered-up tragedy. They became the very first "tinhats."

2022, Kaitlyn Tiffany, Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, unnumbered page:

(fandom slang, derogatory) One who promotes a conspiracy theory within a fandom space, especially with regard to shipping or a speculated celebrity relationship.


tinhatter

Tinhatters are the minority in RPF fandom.

2019 August 12, Stacey M. Lantagne, “Tinhatting the Constitution: Originalism as a Fandom”, in Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review, volume 2, number 1, page 18:

But it can be fun to be obnoxious online, in zines, and with friends, so more power to the tinhatters –as long as they aren't promoting harm.

2020, Maria Sherman, Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS, unnumbered page:

Sports RPF fandoms are not immune to this either, even though it is much less likely to be so-called “tinhatters” breaking the fourth wall deliberately by bringing the ship to popular attention in mainstream sports fan spaces.

2023, Judith Louise Tuffentsammer, "How Real Are People?: Sports-centric Real Person Fiction Between Mainstream and Fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of British Columbia, page 16

(fandom slang, derogatory) Synonym of tinhat.


bi-fictional

(fandom slang, dated) Alternative form of bifictional.