Fanfiction Terms & Reference
I've divided the items into three categories, Episode abbreviations,
Ship abbreviations and common terms.
The base list from Nichole Anell's - The Way too Extensive List of Roswell terms and
the Roswellian Writers' Network, and added to by you, the continuing Roswell Fans.
***If anyone has additional information please submit it***
Common Episode Abbreviations
There aren't abbreviations for all the episode titles
I've just listed the commonly used ones below
285S � 285 South
4S - Four Square
4Square - Four Square
AN - Ask Not
ARCC - A Roswell Christmas Carol
BB - Blood Brothers
BD - Blind Date
BIY - Baby It's You
CYN - Cry Your Name
DB - Disturbing Behavior
EOTW - End of the World
HOM - Heart of Mine
HTOHL - How the Other Half Lives
HW - Heat Wave
ID - Independence Day
ITL&ITB - It's Too Late and It's Too Bad
ITW - Into the Woods
JTNY - Journey to New York
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LN - Leaving Normal
MA - Morning After
MITC - Max in the City
MTD - Meet the Dupes
MTTM - Max to the Max
OTM - Off the Menu
RD - River Dog
RTM - Roswell the Miracle
S&B - Skin & Bones
So47 - Summer of '47
SH - Sexual Healing
TH - Toy House
TLV - Tess Lies & Videotape
TL&V - Tess Lies & Videotape
TS&P - To Serve and Protect
TWR - The White Room
VLV - Viva Las Vegas
WAF - We Are Family
WR - White Room
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Common Character & Ship Abbreviations
I've included some common abbreviations for the characters names and relationships in fanfics. Typically hetro couples are written with the guys' name first, but it isn't a hard rule. For example, Max & Liz is usually written M/L.
For Male or Female slash either name can come first.
In Crossovers ships, usually the Roswell character's name is written first, like L/Angel, if they are even abbreviated. A lot of the time they are not abbreviated for clarity.
I didn't list all couple possibilities or characters below, just the most common. As you can see some names are abbreviated several ways, usually depending on who their partner is, and for clarity.
For example, Max & Maria can be written Ma/Ma or Mx/Ma or M/Ma.
Alex - A
Ava - A or Av
Isabel - I
Khivar - Kh or Kv
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Kyle - K or Ky
Liz - L
Lonni - Lo
Maria - M or Ma
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Max - M or Ma or Mx
Michael - M or Mi
Rath - R
Zan - Z
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A/I - Alex/Isabel
A/L - Alex/Liz
A/Ma - Alex/Maria
A/T - Alex/Tess
K/A - Kyle/Ava
K/I - Kyle/Isabel
K/L - Kyle/Liz
K/Ma - Kyle/Maria
K/T - Kyle/Tess
M/K - Max/Kyle
M/L - Max/Liz
M/T - Max/Tess
M/Ma - Max/Maria
M/Mi - Max/Michael
Ma/Ma - Max/Maria
M/M - Michael/Maria
don't confuse it with mm male/male slash)
also M&M
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Mi/I - Michael/Isabel
Mi/L - Michael/Liz
Mi/T - Michael/Tess
Mx/K - Max/Kyle
Mx/Ma - Max/Maria
Mx/Mi - Max/Michael
R/L - Rath/Liz
R/M - Rath/Maria
S/L - Sean/Liz
S/I - Sean/Isabel
Z/L - Zan/Liz
Z/M - Zan/Maria
Z/Mi - Zan/Michael
Z/A - Zan/Ava
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Roswell Fanfic & Fandom Terms
Terms used in Roswell fanfic and the Roswell Fandom, and some terms used in fanfic in general.
Some of these terms are no longer in common use, but I kept them on the list
for history sake, or if someone runs across them in older fics.
AA - can stand for All Aliens like another way to say CC, can also stand for Alien Abyss - the section of fanfiction at RF.
actorfic - fic about the actors, as opposed to the characters they play. Most sites don't allow these anymore due to legal issues
AE - Author edited
ALL - usually used in a fanfic heading (CC ALL) and means the fanfic features storylines about all convnetional couples
alt ending - an alternate ending to an episode
Alternate History - aka AH - A story that takes place outside of the canon history of the show. Generally confused with Alternate Universe fiction, alternative history fics change the little things and take canon with them after that. Stories set around the question of what if Michael had been the one to save Liz instead of Max, or if Michael had never reunited with Max and Isabel would be considered Alternate Histories.
Alternate Universe - aka AU - a fic that takes place in an alternative universe that differs from the show in some way (e.g. Max never healed Liz, the humans and aliens are reversed, the entire story is set in a fairy tale, Michael was adopted, there are no aliens, etc.)
angst - antonym for foof, a dark story about a character's emotional suffering (adjective is angsty)
AN or A/N - see Author's note
Archive - A web site where fanfiction is posted to make it available to readers
Archive Fic - A scene written as a fanfic that serves to announce that a website has been updated or launched. Most people dislike these brutally, so if you're starting your own fanfic site and plan on putting these out as announcements, check with your list mommies and daddies before you start posting.
AU - see Alternate Universe
Author Note - a note left by the author, usually explaining something in the fic or giving a reason why the fic is delayed
backstory - a prequel story that takes place before the pilot, either on Earth or on the alien's home planet with the orig aliens before they died
badfic - just what it sounds like, a fic that (intentionally or unintentionally) is just plain bad
BDSM - bondage, discipline, sadomasochism, stuff that may ick you
Before it all began fics - fics that are set on Earth in the lifetime of the Roswell main characters, but before Liz's shooting
Beta or beta reader - when the writer of a story has it proof-read by someone else before posting (the one who does this is a Beta-reader; a proof-read story is Beta'd) No matter how good a writer you are, there is nothing as great as having a second pair of eyes to read for your mistakes and help you with your writing. These people can help you in a variety of ways, critiquing on plot, grammar, continuity, canon, and even help you to work out your ideas.
bondage - yeah, get your mind out of the gutter - it is also a completely harmless term for bonding between two characters (e.g. Maria/Liz friendship)
bump - a short post to move a thread to the top of the list, and make it active. Usually used to ask a fanfic author for an update on the story. Supposedly it is an acronym for 'bring up my post'.
CC - see for Conventional Couple
canon - the text of the show as seen on TV, and what we know about the characters and situations unseen - also see fanon
category - the type of story (AU, CC, UC, xover, etc), the main couple or couples in the fic, and any special info the reader needs to understand (POV, tag, futurefic, etc)
Cement - the term that Future Max first uses to mean making love. The dreamers adopted it and used it on the Max and Liz cherishing threads.
ch or chpt - abbreviation for chapter
challenge - A fanfiction request put out to a group or writers with plot limits and elements that must be included to complete the challenge. For example: Write an AU Roswell fic where the characters are all mermaids -)
challenge fic - a story based on someone else's challenge idea
child-fic - a story focusing on the characters when they were children
Classification - can include the type of story including genre and couple ship.
comp - abbreviation for companion
Companion - a story that continues or accompanies another story, or is related to another story. Example - a set of stories from different characters' POV on the same subject
Conventional couples - conventional couples are romantic pairings between Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Alex/Isabel, Amy/Jim , Kyle/Tess (and sometimes Isabel/Jessie)
No other pairings are considered conventional even though they may have existed on the show
CC has come to mean a fic has Conventional Couples and the Fic is canon, or at least starts out mostly canon. CC Fics may be canon or AU, but if AU is not stated in the description, the fic would be expected to be canon.
credits - acknowledgement of text used from other sources, such as song lyrics, show dialogue, quotes from poems, etc
crossover - two shows, movies, or other fictional works combined together in a story, using characters, places and/or situations from both. (e.g. Roswell/Buffy or Roswell/X-Men) Sometimes romantic pairings are UC and combine characters from both shows, and sometimes the pairings stay CC.
deathfic - fic involving a main character's death
disclaimer - legal statement giving credit for the characters, songs, storylines, etc used in a fanfic. Disclaimers are required on most fanfic sites when posting a fanfic.
At its core, fanfiction is, in fact, copyright infringement. There are very few, if any, cases where authors have been prosecuted (I think they're all just lore, honestly,) but a short disclaimer stating that the characters and fandom are not of your creation but the property of the producers and writers and all them folk, is a good thing to have posted with your story. If they really wanted to prosecute, they still could, but it's extremely unlikely.
Distribution - In your posting headers, this indicates who may automatically archive your fic without emailing you. If you would like others to ask, tell them here.
DOT - Death of Tess, short stories about Tess dying written by Tess haters
Draft - A story that isn't completely finished and hasn't been edited or beta'd yet. (Also: Rough Draft or Rough)
D/s - stands for Dominance/submission (see "hardcore")
dupefic - fanfic about any or all the dupes of Roswell fame - Zan, Rath, Lonnie, Ava
epilogue - a brief part or chapter that takes place after the last chapter, usually used to wrap up the story
eplg - short for epilogue
Fan Fiction - aka fanfiction, fanfic, fic - stories written by fans based on characters and plots from movies, television series or books
Fandom - Everything related to the fan activities of the show, including fanfiction.
Feedback Slut - A writer who does everything humanly possible to get feedback, up to an including holding a story hostage, saying they won't posts more parts unless they get a certain amount of feedback. This is generally frowned upon and holding stories hostage is banned on most sites.
FF - see "futurefic" not to be confused with lower case ff
ff - see "femslash" not to be confused with upper case FF
femslash - romantic or erotic story about two female characters
feedback - comments and reviews left on fanfic by readers, usually positive
-fic - can be used at the end of a name to show the story is mainly about a certain character or time - example Max-fic, Zan-fic, Kyle-fic. Also can be used to describe the type of fic - for example futurefic, pastlife fic, songfic, angstyfic, fluff-fic, etc
Fic Tag - Like the Round Robin, fanfic written by a number of writers each picking up the story where the last leaves off.
ficlet - a short fic
filk - well-known songs, with lyrics altered to fit the show
flame - aka flames, flaming - negative, argumentative, abusive or bashing
feedback. Flaming is banned on most boards
fluff - see foof
foof - harmless, happy, humorous stories (esp. CC ones), love and bonding between characters (adjective is foofy)
forward - aka preface, prologue - a brief part or chapter that takes place before the first chapter, usually used as a sort of teaser for the story
fwd - short for forward
futurefic - or future fiction is a fanfic that takes place in the future
gen - short for general, usually denotes a non-adult rating
Genre - The story type, it can range from the couple classification to the general tone of the story. (ie: Angst, M/M)
H/C - See Hurt/Comfort.
hardcore - involves something readers may find, like, really incredibly offensive (e.g. rape, incest, necrophilia)
Headers - See Posting Headers.
het - short for heterosexual (as in het UC, het smut, het foof)
Humor Fic - As opposed to Parody, humor fic doesn't necessarily make fun of the show, but is funny.
Hurt/Comfort - aka H/C - A plot device where one character is hurt and the other comforts them, this sometimes is a device to get two characters together or show a canonically strong character's vulnerable side.
lost scene - see "missing scene"
Lurk or Lurkers - people who read fanfic or other postings without signing-in to stay anonymous
mm - male-male slash
main characters - depending on the season this refers to Max, Liz, Michael, Isabel, Maria, Kyle, Alex, and sometimes Tess and Sheriff Valenti
Mary Sue - a character invented by the author, the connotation is that this is a disguised or overly glorified version of the author him - or herself
missing scene - a fic about something that may have happened during an episode or between episodes, but wasn't shown onscreen
Momogram - see Holo-mom
multi - usually refers to multiple shows combined together in a crossover fanfic, (eg. multi xover Buffy/Roswell/Charmed)
N/A - abbreviation for No Aliens, meaning the story has no aliens in it. Usually paired with AU N/A (Alternative Universe No Aliens)
next generation or next gen or new gen - futurefic about the children of Roswellians
near canon - some people consider some ships that almost happened on the show to be near canon. For example - there was definately some attraction between Kyle/Tess even though they never really got together. The near canon couples are usually considered to be Brody/Maria, Kyle/Tess, Michael/Courtney, and some include Liz/Nasedo when he was Max. You could probably make arguments for others like Isabel/Kyle in season 3
Newbie - In fanfiction terms, anyone new to fanfic writing, or reading.
non-con - contains non-consensual sex, rape (see "hardcore")
OC - see original character
Original Character - a character not in the series, that is created by the writer
Parody - A humor-based fic that tends to make fun of the show or particular character.
pastlife - a story that takes place before the Pilot, usually on the alien's home planet with the orig aliens before they died. Stories that take place on Earth, set before the Pilot are usually called prequels or backstories.
Pod Squad - Max, Michael, Isabel, and sometimes Tess
Podsters - another name for the Pod Squad
post-ep or post epi or post episode - same as tag
Post-fic - same a tag
Posting Headers - A list of information about the author and story added before the story begins and posted with your story. May include some or all of the following information:
Name: (your name or username)
Email: (your email - not recommended)
Title: (Of the story you are posting. If it's in a series, you would also include the installment title, if any)
Installment: 1 of 1 (if a one off piece) # of complete # in series, ? if you don't know yet.
Summary: (short but sweet, don't give too much away)
Classification or Genre: (couple ships? slash? what section you think this story should be archived)
Rating: (DO NOT use American Film Ratings! Use Child, YTeen, Teen, Mature, Adult - see Ratings)
Spoilers: (warnings about possible show spoilers that might be included in your story - not really necessary any more since the show has been off the air for years)
Warnings: (got character death? unexpected slashiness? extreme content?)
Distribution: (who may automatically post this story, ie: list archives, etc...)
Disclaimer: See Disclaimer
Feedback: (how badly do you want it, where should it be sent?)
Author's Notes: (anything else you might have to say; dedications, thanks, etc...)
POV - character Point Of View, usually written in first person from a certain character's POV, or a story focusing on one character's thoughts and feelings
Pre-Fic - Fanfiction based before the show actually began which makes assumptions on events that would lead up to show canon.
pref - short for preface
preface - aka forward, prologue - a brief part or chapter that takes place before the first chapter, usually used as a sort of teaser for the story
prequel - also sometimes called a backstory, a story that takes place before the Pilot. Usually is only used for the stories on Earth. Stories that are from the aliens' planet are usually called 'pastlife'
prlg - short for prologue
prologue - aka forward, preface - a brief part or chapter that takes place before the first chapter, usually used as a sort of teaser for the story
promo- - can be used in front of any character, promoMax, promoIsabel. It was used to describe something that happened in a promo clip for Roswell that never aired. For example in the promo for 'HTOHL' promoMax tried to call Isabel after Grant took her and said her couldn't get a hold of her - but the scene didn't run in the show. So fans said that only promoMax was concerned Isabel disappeared.
Psychokiller - person who likes angsty fanfics with rape, violence and death
pt - abbreviation for part
PWP - either stands for Plot? What Plot? or Porn Without Plot - either way it means the same thing
Rating - the rating of the story, like the rating of a television show or movie. We used to use standard movie ratings - G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, but the movie rating association, the MPAA, threatened to sue if we didn't stop using their copyrighted ratings. So in 2005 we switched to more general ratings Child, YTeen, Teen, Mature, Adult
Recurring / Secondary characters - this usually refers to characters who were not the main focus of the show but had parts in several episodes - for example, depending on the season, Deputy Blackwood, Diane and Philip Evans, Hank Whitmore, Milton, Deputy Hansen, Amy Deluca, Jeff and Nancy Parker, Kathleen Topolsky, River Dog, Grant Sorenson, Brody, Courtney, Congresswoman Whitaker, and Nicholas. An argument could be made for a few others. Some would classify Tess as a recurring character.
Role playing game - aka role play, RPG - a type of fanfic where people are assigned characters and each writes their own part or parts. Usually there is a general direction given for the story.
Ros-author/Ros-writer - an author who writes Roswell Fanfiction
Rosfic - abbreviation for Roswell Fanfiction
Ros-canon - aka canon - the text of the show as seen on TV, and what we know about the characters and situations unseen - also see fanon
Ros-ology - the study of Roswell, and obsessing over all the details and theories about the show. (invented by RoswellOracle)
Ros-ologists - people who are obsessed with studying and discussing all the details and theories about the show. (invented by RoswellOracle)
Roswell High - The name of the book series by Melinda Metz that the show is based on. Also what the show is called in Europe.
round robin - a fic continued by various authors. Usually one author writes one scene or chapter, and then it is continued by the next author.
Royal Four - Another name for all the aliens, Max, Michael, Tess & Isabel
RPG - see role playing game
RPS - a subgenre of actorfic - stands for Real Person Slash. These are not allowed on most sites for legal reasons
S1 - Roswell Season 1
S2 - Roswell Season 2
S3 - Roswell Season 3
S/M - Refers to Sado-Masochism. See BDSM.
Sea 1 - Roswell Season 1
Sea 2 - Roswell Season 2
Sea 3 - Roswell Season 3
Self Insertion - Unlike the dreaded Mary Sue, a self insertion is an original character who, while they "are" the author, have faults and are not major players in the storyline.
seq - abbreviation for sequel
sequel - a story that continues a previous story
series - a group of interconnected fics
ship - the romantic pairing(s) in the fanfic
slash - romantic or erotic stories involving characters of the same sex. Typically same sex relationships between two females is called femslash, and relationships with two males is called slash, but slash is also used as a general term to describe all same sex relationships
smut - adult story mainly about sex
Snuff fic - A fanfiction written for the sheer purpose of killing off a certain character, generally in the most heinous way possible and usually it is Tess.
songfic - a fic interspersed with song lyrics
Spoilers - advance rumors and news about plot developments on the show. Not everyone wants to know about them, hence the need to be discreet when discussing them. Since the series is no longer being made, spoilers aren't an issue anymore.
Spoiler Warning - A warning in a story's posting headers that reading the story will spoil an episode for you if you haven�t seen it or read it. (probably not necessary now that the show has been off the air for several years)
Spoiler-fic - a fic based on spoilers about the show.
Squick - how icky something makes you feel or your tolerance for those things that might seem taboo. (ie: Many people are squicked by Actor Fic.)
Subtext - Refers to something that happens on the show which fans decide is the reason that two characters might get together in a fanfiction. Can be as small as a look between two characters or just a vibe.
Summary - this has mostly turned into a setup for the fic and not a true summary
tag - a fic that takes place directly after a particular episode
TPTB - The Powers That Be (the WB, Fox, Katims, UPN, etc.)
TPTS - The Powers That Suck (the WB, Fox, Katims, etc.)
Twincest - sex between twins - ick
UC - see for Unconventional Couple
Unconventional couple - any romantic pairing not between Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex or Kyle/Tess, Valenti/Amy or Isabel/Jesse
ust - stands for Unresolved Sexual Tension, in het or slash
Vignette - A short fanfiction that is about a moment in time, generally from 100 - 3,000 words.
W/A or WA - abbreviation for With Aliens, meaning the story has aliens in it. Usually paired with AU W/A (Alternative Universe With Aliens)
Wincest - In crossover stories with the TV show Supernatural, means the story contains sex between the Winchester brothers - ick
WIP Work in Progress... A series fanfiction that the writer may or may not go back and tweak when the story installments are complete. Also refers to an unfinished story
W/O or WoA or Wo/A - abbreviation for Without Aliens, meaning the story has no aliens in it. Usually paired with AU W/O, AU WoA, AU Wo/A (Alternative Universe Without Aliens)
XO - see crossover
x-over - see crossover
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