7 Adult Fanfiction Terms You Should Know

Adult fanfiction has always been very popular. And the popularity seems to be growing.

Adult fanfiction is fiction, written by a fan that involves two characters from a television show, book, movie, etc., who are involved in a mature, usually explicit, relationship.

The world of fanfiction can be confusing to anyone new to it. And the world of adult fanfiction can be doubly confusing. If you're unfamiliar with the terms and warnings used to give readers some idea of the kind of material a story might contain, you can find yourself stumbling across stories you'd rather not have read.
To make navigating the world of adult fanfiction a little easier, here are some terms you should keep in mind.

Ratings: Ratings give you your first clue the story you are about to read is adult fanfiction. Stories rated R, NC-17, M (meaning it contains content not suitable for children and young teens) or M+ (meaning it contains material suitable for adult readers only) are for mature readers. These ratings don't always mean a story contains sexually explicit material. It could mean the story contains graphic violence, or other subject matter some readers might find objectionable.

Het: Adult fanfiction classified as "het" depicts romantic or sexual relationships between characters of the opposite sex.

Slash: These stories depict romantic or sexual relationships between characters of the same sex. Stories depicting two female characters in a romantic or sexual relationship is often called femslash.

PWP: Stands for "Plot, What Plot?" or "Porn Without Plot." Adult fanfiction classified as PWP doesn't pretend to be about anything but depicting the characters engaged in some sort of sexual activity. If you like your erotica to contain some kind of story or character development, you won't find it in PWPs.

RPF: Stands for "Real Person Fic." This sort of adult fanfiction isn't about the characters from a movie or television show. It's about the actors and actresses who portray those characters. There is a lot of controversy about RPS fanfiction. Some people feel that writing adult fanfiction about fictional characters is one think, but writing adult fanfiction about real people is crossing a line.

RPS: Stands for "Real Person Slash."

MPreg: MPreg stands for "male pregnancy." As you might imagine, this is a form of fanfiction that is much maligned by some. But it does have its fans. Not all mpreg fic is adult fanfiction. However, a lot of mpreg stories like to show the reader how the male character got into that condition in the first place. While some readers will find these stories enjoyable, if a bit strange, others will want to steer clear.

There are a lot of other terms you'll pick up as you navigate the world of adult fanfiction. But the terms above will help start you on your way.