Nerdology 101: The Terminology

Heys! Welcome back, dearest nerdy readers (lol). Thank you once again for joining me. This week, I want to take some time out to go over some standard nerdy terminology. My hope is to make our communities more accessible to those who are curious, but still trying to find their footing. With that being said, let’s get into some Nerdology!!!!

Quick Search Info (as always, listing for anime and books are longer. I’m more personally involved in these nerdoms. I game, but I don’t game nearly enough to know everything about the subject):

1. Terms used in this blog

2. Terms used when talking about Anime/Manga

3. Terms used when talking about Books

4. Terms used when talking about Gaming

Terms Used Frequently in this Blog:

Here’s some general nerdy terms I use (non-specific to the niches that fall under the nerdom):

Nerdom - The nerdy community as a whole. Meant to combine nerd and kingdom.

Nerdology - The name of my blog. Technically, it can mean the study of the nerdom (people, culture, etc.).

Both of these terms are used by others within the nerdom, so they’re good to know.

Anime Terms:

These terms mostly have to do with anime/manga:

Anime - An animated show or movie made by Japanese people.

Manga - A serialized style of story that is often the basis for anime made by Japanese people.

Shonen - Anime or manga targeting young boys. Most of your mainstream anime fall under this umbrella (Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, My Hero Acadamia, etc.).

Yaoi - Anime featuring a love story between two men.

Yuri - Anime featuring a love story between two women.

Harem - A single male character ends up with multiple female love interests.

Reverse Harem - A single female character ends up with multiple male love interests.

Ecchi - An anime or manga with a lot of fanservice or sexual content.

Isekai - An anime or manga where the main character dies and is reborn into a new world.

Slice of Life - An anime of manga where the story is based in every day life.

Josei - Anime or manga made for adult women.

Seinen - Anime or manga made for adult men.

Mecha - Anime or manga featuring robots.

Shojo - Anime or manga primarily made for young girls.

Note: A lot of these definitions have gendered definitions, but anyone can watch and enjoy any of them. Many do. The only real difference is in the fact that anime targeting boys/men focus on action/adventure and anime targeting girls/women focus on romance/emotion. Many of the action/adventure still have romance in them. Many of the romance/emotion still have action in them. I’ve watched anime that fall under all of these and more at some point or another. Please remember to be inclusive.

Bookish Terms

Romantasy - The combination of Romance and Fantasy, usually in equal parts. (Romantic fantasy and fantasy romance are terms for if the book leans more one way than the other).

Dark Romance - Romance books featuring a lot of dark, potentially triggering content. Dark in this case meaning high spice, kink, and sexually explicit content. (In same cases, like the term Dark Romantasy or Dark Fantasy, people may use the word dark to describe dark storylines, gothic settings, etc, or they might still be describing the spice. For clarities sake, I describe The Fate of Angels and Demons as Romantasy with Dark Romance like spice so there’s no mistaking that I’m talking about the kink/sexual content in it).

HEA - Happily ever after

HFN - Happy for now (usually in reference to a series where the couple ends the book together and happy, but it’s implied that things might not stay that way).

FMC - Female Main Character (there can be two FMC’s in sapphic/WLW romance)

MMC - Male Main Character (there can be two MMC’s in gay/MLM romance)

*I was recently asked about nonbinary characters. Just saying MC since “main character” isn’t inherently gendered might be okay. Alternatively, if you want to specify that the character is nonbinary, NBMC . Ultimately, though, I’m not nonbinary. I can’t decide how they want to be referred to in fiction. These are just options that are available for speaking inclusively in the interim. If a nonbinary person would like to share their preferred term for referring to a nonbinary main character, they’re free to send me a message via the form on the home page of this website and I will update this based on that. The same applies to other gender identities. I do read a range of works written by nonbinary people, but I really haven’t seen a specific term emerge for characters, so please feel free to correct me.

One Bed - A popular book trope where love interests end up at an inn, hotel, shack, or some sort of sleeping place on their journey and there’s only one bed so they just have to sleep together and usually also end up sleeping together.

Enemies to Lovers - A popular book trope where the love interests start out as enemies. Similar terms include friends to lovers, which means the characters start out as friends and become lovers.

Side Character - Character that isn’t the main character.

Smut - Books with a lot of spice. (The word smut does not mean the book lacks literary value, is porn, or anything of the sort).

Spice - Sexually explicit content in books.

ARC - Advanced Reader Copy (Ebooks or physical books sent to readers to encourage early reviews of a title that is not yet released).

ALC - Advanced Listener Copy (An ARC, but it’s an audiobook).

Beta Reader - Early readers that provide an author with feedback early on in the manuscripts development.

NetGalley/BookFunnel/Booksprout - Platforms for distributing, finding, and receiving pre-release ARC’s and ALC’s. Netgalley is best for large publishers and popular books, but is also the place new ARC readers are most likely to be rejected. BookFunnel and Booksprout are cost-friendly alternatives mostly used by indie authors. On all of these platforms, the reader pays nothing.

Indie Author - Independent author. Self-publishers or those with small presses.

Trad - Shorthand for Traditional publishing.

Gaming

TTRPG - Table top roleplaying game (like Dungeons and Dragons)

MMORPG - Massively Multi-Player Online Roleplaying Game (like Genshin Impact).

RPG - Roleplaying game. Game where you assume the role of a fictional character and have a real impact on the storyline and character development.

First-Person Shooter - A game where the primary mechanic is shooting (like Call of Duty).

Open-World - A gaming world where you can wander freely and without restriction.

Sandbox -A gaming world that is inbetween Open and Closed world. You have a degree of freedom, but not total freedom.

Cozy - A relaxed game (like Stardew Valley).

Farming - A game where growing food/materials is the primary focus (like Stardew Valley).

Otome - Romance games, primarily in the anime/manga style (like the Ikemen games).

Okay, we covered quite a few terms here. There are still a lot I haven’t talked about, but these should be enough to help you start connecting with the nerdom and engaging in conversation without feeling totally confused, or start engaging with a part of the nerdom that you haven’t previously. I’ll see you back next week for another segment of Nerdology 101. Don’t forget to stop by the STORE and buy a copy of my book, The Fate of Angels and Demons, coming April 1st. Have a nerdy week!