Ship, Slash, PWP: Decoding Fanfiction Terms

Fanfiction, and fandom in general, has developed a large set of terms and references which newcomers might find confusing. A list of definitions to basic, general fanfiction terms is certainly helpful, but sometimes a more specific guide is needed to decipher the terminology used to describe certain works of fanfiction. To that end, here are some definitions of terms used in fandom to describe romantic and/or sexual pairings and the fanfiction about them.

Challengefic - A fanfiction story written in response to a challenge, e.g. "write a Harry/Ginny story using three Princess Bride quotes." Challenges are not always sexual in nature, but when they are they may involve very specific fetishes.

Gen - Short for "general"; this usually denotes a story with no romantic or sexual pairings, but sometimes is used to describe a story that has romantic or sexual pairings but is not explicit.

Lay Story - A fanfiction story whose sole purpose is to get an original character, usually a Mary Sue and a stand-in for the author, in bed with an attractive character.

Lemon - A sexually explicit fanfiction story. Originally part of a "citrus scale" denoting the level of sexual explicitness in fanfiction, but the rest of the terms are no longer in use.

OTP - A favorite or preferred romantic or sexual pairing; stands for "one true pairing."

OT3 - A favorite or preferred "pairing" of three characters in a romantic or sexual relationship; i.e., "one true threesome." OT4 means "one true foursome," etc. Sometimes written as 3TP, although this makes little sense.

Pairing Names - In some fandoms, romantic pairings will be given cutesy names that are either a portmanteau of the character names (e.g., Buffy/Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is labeled "Spuffy") or a description of something about the pairing (e.g., Harry/Hermione from Harry Potter is called "H.M.S. Pumpkin Pie").

PWP - Can stand for "porn without plot" or "plot, what plot?"; signifies a story focused solely on sex, usually explicit, without any other plot points.

Ship - Short for "relationship"; denotes a romantic or sexual pairing between two characters of the opposite gender.

Slash - A homosexual romantic relationship. Usually the term "slash" refers specifically to male pairings and the term "femslash" is used to denote lesbian pairings. Depending on the fandom, or even the particular fan, a pairing might have to be non-canon (i.e., not portrayed in the source material) to be considered slash; according to these rules, Willow/Tara from Buffy would be considered ship even though the pairing involves two women, because it is canon. Another possible rule is that a slash story must have explicit sexual content; if so, stories with homosexual pairings that are not explicit might be labeled "pre-slash."

WAFF - Stands for "warm and fluffy fic"; denotes a short, light-hearted, feel-good story about the characters doing something fun without any hint of danger. This does not always involve a sexual or romantic pairing, but it is a common way for authors to show a couple having a good time and deliver something fun to readers, especially in fandoms with a high level of danger or angst.