So far, we don’t have many entries that start with not-a-letter, and they all open with brackets, but nonetheless, here we are: the final installment of our main Fandom Lexicon!
Notice an omission? Think we made a mistake? Let us know!
Lexicon Entries Beginning with Non-Letters:
[Character A] & [Character B]: When referring to a fanwork, using an ampersand between the names of the characters means the characters are being portrayed as in a platonic relationship, usually as friends, found family, or family. May include more than two characters.
[Character A] x [Character B]: see [Character A]/[Character B]
[Character A]/[Character B]: When referring to a fanwork, using a slash between the names of the characters means the characters are being “shipped,” or portrayed as being in a non-platonic relationship with each other, usually a romantic or sexual relationship. May include more than two characters. Note that characters in a QPR may be an exception, and sometimes characters in QPRs (which are neither romantic nor sexual) may still be listed with a slash between their names.
[Character’s] A+ Parenting: The character in question is a terrible parent and is shown being a terrible parent. Usually used as a tag, especially on AO3.
[Character] x Reader: When referring to a fanwork, the character is portrayed as being in a romantic relationship with the person reading the fanfiction. These stories are usually written in the second person, will often specify the gender and sometimes the sexuality or romanticism of the reader, and will use a place holder (often y/n – “your name”) to refer to the reader. May include more than one character. Sometimes referred to as a genre as “x Reader” works.
[Gender]/[Gender]: Indicates the genders of characters in a relationship in a fanwork. May include more than two characters. The genders are usually given as abbreviations. The most common are: m = male; f = female; nb = non-binary.
[Sexuality/Romanticism/Gender] Spec: Shortened form of “[sexuality/romanticism/gender] spectrum.” A term used to say that a person or character is on the spectrum for the sexuality/romanticism/gender specified. For example, if someone is “arospec,” it means they feel that they are aromantic to some degree, as they are on the spectrum of identities that fall under the umbrella of aromanticism.
[Tag] for TS: Abbreviation for “[tag] for tumblr saviour.” A tagging protocol related to a browser extension, Tumblr Saviour, that made Tumblr more usable for some people. Most people no longer use browser extensions to filter in this way because Tumblr introduced an internal tag-filtering system.
[Thing]-coded: A person or thing that shares certain core element(s) with the “thing” in the brackets, but is not actually that thing. For example, if a media is queer-coded, it has implied or subtextual queer content but nothing explicit/textual.
[Thing]blr: Refers to the blogs/community on Tumblr that focuses on [Thing]. Typically used to differentiate what’s happening inside that sphere of interest (the thing, on Tumblr) from everything outside it (anything else, any location other than Tumblr). These tags also enable people interested in these communities to find more, while those not interested in them can ignore or blacklist. For example: writeblr (used by writers), momblr (used by moms), lawblr (used by lawyers), etc.
[Thing]core: Used when the target’s aesthetic is focused on [Thing]. Example: “That house is Deancore” = that house looks like Dean lives in it. Also commonly used for genres, such as “cottagecore” as a term that means something is cozy and fits with a cottage aesthetic.
[Thing]punk: A fiction genre featuring counterculture protagonists in an (often, but not always) anachronistic world dominated by a specific type of technology that operates based on [thing]. For example, cyberpunk, steampunk, aetherpunk, etc.
[Thing]sona: Originally coined as the term “fursona” in furry communities, the term has gotten genericized to apply to alternate versions of a persons persona/how they project themselves. Fursona, or a version of a person where they are combined with an animal(s) of their choice, is still the most common usage, but other terms such as worksona (the person we project as ourselves while at our job) and similar usages have come into use.