Glossary

YAOI	First of all, it is a Japanese acronym for the phrase 'Yama nashi, imi nashi, ochi nashi', which literally means 'No climax, no meaning, no resolution'. Now, with regards to fanfiction, it is generally used in reference to a romantic/sexual relationship between men.
YURI	A romantic/sexual relationship between women
SHOUNEN-AI	Literally means boy/boy love. In other words, there are hints of a male homosexual relationship
SHOUJO-AI	Literally means girl/girl love. In other words, there are hints of a female homosexual relationship

CITRUS	Sexual action in varying degrees, ranging from lime to lemon and somewhere in between
LIME	Non-graphic sexual action
LEMON	Graphic, detailed sexual action

ANGST	Unhappy, heart-wrenching content.
AU	Alternative Universe. Which means the story is set in a universe that is different from the canon. For example, writing the GW boys as knights existing in the medieval period, or as cowboys in a Western setting.
BESTIALITY	Sex involving animals. -.- Call me close-minded, but this really squicks me.
BDSM	Bondage and Domination / Sadism and Masochism Bondage can be mild, or serious, depending on the whole setup. Anyway, it basically involves one party being bound in bed. It's all about trust between partners and I guess that's the turn-on. Well...of course, the turn-on can be all about the control and the infliction of pain too... Sado-masochism equates pain/torture with sex. This could involve smacking, whipping, biting, belting, cutting amongst a whole host of other methods.
CANON	This refers to the ORIGINAL setting/characterisation/plotline. And just a note : it's CANON, not CANNON. I hate to insult anyone's intelligence, but see, CANNON is the weapon that goes boom. And CANON is the one with anything at all to do with writing.
CROSSOVER	Uhm...ok, in a crossover, you have characters from two universes ending up in the same setting. For example, in a Weiss Kreuz/Gundam Wing crossover, I can have Yohji and Wufei meeting and shacking up with each other (someone get my mind out of the gutter, please). The new setting may be either the Weiss Kreuz or Gundam Wing universe. That's how you cross into another universe. ^^
DARK	Story contains disturbing themes, for example, self-mutilation, drug-abuse, suicide tendencies, prostitution, etc.
DEATH	Story involves the death of one or more canon character(s).
EXHIBITIONISM	Putting on an intimate act for the viewing of others.
FLUFF	Think cotton candy. Sweet and melts in your mouth. Content is light-hearted and sappy. The terms 'fluff' and 'sap' are sometimes used interchangeably.
HENTAI	Well...it means perverted, I think. LOL. It also refers to people whose minds are usually in the gutter. I've got this term used on me sometimes, although I can't figure out why. ^o^
IC	In-Character. This basically means the author's characterisation of the characters is accurate and true to the canon.
NCS / NON-CON	Non-Consensual Sexual Situation. It is more or less an euphemism for rape, but generally speaking, NCS can be divided into two categories: Mild NCS can refer to four cases. (1) There is seduction involved. The victim says 'no' at first but eventually ends up participating willingly. (2) There is the use of aphrodisiacs. The victim goes along willingly under the influence of the aphrodisiacs. (3) The Resisting-Virgin Syndrome where the victim goes through token resistance because he/she is a virgin. (4) It just means NCS described non-graphically. Severe NCS is rape, period, maybe even torture, depending on the fic. The rape is often depicted in detail, and therefore has the potential to be traumatising even for the readers. Stay away from this if you can't take it.
OC	Original Character. Story contains original character(s).
OOC	Out-Of-Character. Story has characters behaving in ways very different from their canonical characterisation. For example, Heero Yuy throwing a hissy fit, complete with high-pitched screaming and foot-stamping. And no, I'm NOT providing any ideas.
PWP	Plot-What-Plot? Story has little or not plot because in most cases of PWP, all the focus is on sex! Graphic sex too. Graphic, HOT, toe-curling (Wufei : Enough) sex.
RFO	Relena-Finds-Out (pertains to GW fandom). Story where Relena gets to discover a relationship between !gasp! the boys. (I want that to happen to me too! ^o^)
SAP	Very sweet, romantic...makes you go "Aww..."
SLASH	Has the same meaning as 'yaoi', but slash is normally used with regards to non-anime fanfiction, for example in the LOTR and Harry Potter fandoms.
SQUICK	Story contains icky...I mean, not icky, but uh, potentially perverted content. For example, the use of food (the Return of the Zucchini) or objects during sex. Uhmm...basically kinky sex, I guess.
THREESOME	A three-persons relationship. I am admittedly horribly fussy when it comes to threesomes. All three characters involved have to love/like/lust after each other in near-balanced amounts (at least by the end of the fic) to count as a threesome. A twosome with a third party looking on in jealousy is NOT a threesome - it's called unrequited love. Goes the same for one character taking turns with each of his/her two lovers. That will be called infidelity - and it deserves a hard thwack.
TWT	Timeline-What-Timeline? Basically, the story does not follow the canon timeline.
UST	Unresolved Sexual Tension. Hmm...lots of sizzling sexual chemistry that has no disclosure (I kinda prefer Resolved Sexual Tension. ^__^;)
VOYEURISM	The act of watching others engage in intimate activities. (...I say jump into the action already! Hehehehe...)

x	Solid relationship, and usually there is sex involved
+	Budding relationship, with only slight hints of physical intimacy
SEME	(pertains to yaoi) The 'giver' in bed. He does the penetration during sex.
UKE	(pertains to yaoi) The 'receiver' in bed. He's the one who gets penetrated.

G	Very, very mild content
PG	Mild content
PG-13	Contains mild sexual situations, swearing and/or light doses of violence
R	Contains sexual situations, possibly violence and/or other dark themes
NC-17	Contains graphic sex. Might also contain violence, torture and/or other disturbing material like cutting, BDSM, rape, etc.

~ GLOSSARY ~

Below is a whole list of terms and general themes. This glossary is made to help those who are unfamiliar with ratings, warnings and various terms used in fanfiction. Please bear in mind that most of these are not dictionary definitions. ^_^ The list is drawn from my general understanding.

PAIRINGS

x

Solid relationship, and usually there is sex involved

+

Budding relationship, with only slight hints of physical intimacy

SEME

(pertains to yaoi) The 'giver' in bed. He does the penetration during sex.

UKE

(pertains to yaoi) The 'receiver' in bed. He's the one who gets penetrated.

RATINGS

G

Very, very mild content

PG

Mild content

PG-13

Contains mild sexual situations, swearing and/or light doses of violence

R

Contains sexual situations, possibly violence and/or other dark themes

NC-17

Contains graphic sex. Might also contain violence, torture and/or other disturbing material like cutting, BDSM, rape, etc.

WARNINGS

YAOI

First of all, it is a Japanese acronym for the phrase 'Yama nashi, imi nashi, ochi nashi', which literally means 'No climax, no meaning, no resolution'. Now, with regards to fanfiction, it is generally used in reference to a romantic/sexual relationship between men.

YURI

A romantic/sexual relationship between women

SHOUNEN-AI

Literally means boy/boy love. In other words, there are hints of a male homosexual relationship

SHOUJO-AI

Literally means girl/girl love. In other words, there are hints of a female homosexual relationship

CITRUS

Sexual action in varying degrees, ranging from lime to lemon and somewhere in between

LIME

Non-graphic sexual action

LEMON

Graphic, detailed sexual action

ANGST

Unhappy, heart-wrenching content.

AU

Alternative Universe. Which means the story is set in a universe that is different from the canon. For example, writing the GW boys as knights existing in the medieval period, or as cowboys in a Western setting.

BESTIALITY

Sex involving animals. -.- Call me close-minded, but this really squicks me.

BDSM

Bondage and Domination / Sadism and Masochism

Bondage can be mild, or serious, depending on the whole setup. Anyway, it basically involves one party being bound in bed. It's all about trust between partners and I guess that's the turn-on. Well...of course, the turn-on can be all about the control and the infliction of pain too...

Sado-masochism equates pain/torture with sex. This could involve smacking, whipping, biting, belting, cutting amongst a whole host of other methods.

CANON

This refers to the ORIGINAL setting/characterisation/plotline. And just a note : it's CANON, not CANNON. I hate to insult anyone's intelligence, but see, CANNON is the weapon that goes boom. And CANON is the one with anything at all to do with writing.

CROSSOVER

DARK

Story contains disturbing themes, for example, self-mutilation, drug-abuse, suicide tendencies, prostitution, etc.

DEATH

Story involves the death of one or more canon character(s).

EXHIBITIONISM

Putting on an intimate act for the viewing of others.

FLUFF

Think cotton candy. Sweet and melts in your mouth. Content is light-hearted and sappy. The terms 'fluff' and 'sap' are sometimes used interchangeably.

HENTAI

Well...it means perverted, I think. LOL. It also refers to people whose minds are usually in the gutter. I've got this term used on me sometimes, although I can't figure out why. ^o^

IC

In-Character. This basically means the author's characterisation of the characters is accurate and true to the canon.

NCS / NON-CON

Non-Consensual Sexual Situation. It is more or less an euphemism for rape, but generally speaking, NCS can be divided into two categories:

Severe NCS is rape, period, maybe even torture, depending on the fic. The rape is often depicted in detail, and therefore has the potential to be traumatising even for the readers. Stay away from this if you can't take it.

OC

Original Character. Story contains original character(s).

OOC

Out-Of-Character. Story has characters behaving in ways very different from their canonical characterisation. For example, Heero Yuy throwing a hissy fit, complete with high-pitched screaming and foot-stamping. And no, I'm NOT providing any ideas.

PWP

Plot-What-Plot? Story has little or not plot because in most cases of PWP, all the focus is on sex! Graphic sex too. Graphic, HOT, toe-curling (Wufei : Enough) sex.

RFO

Relena-Finds-Out (pertains to GW fandom). Story where Relena gets to discover a relationship between !gasp! the boys. (I want that to happen to me too! ^o^)

SAP

Very sweet, romantic...makes you go "Aww..."

SLASH

Has the same meaning as 'yaoi', but slash is normally used with regards to non-anime fanfiction, for example in the LOTR and Harry Potter fandoms.

SQUICK

Story contains icky...I mean, not icky, but uh, potentially perverted content. For example, the use of food (the Return of the Zucchini) or objects during sex. Uhmm...basically kinky sex, I guess.

THREESOME