Story codes and their meaning

(c) 2023, by P.D. Vile

(Last update: September 1, 2023)

Many writers of erotic fiction use so-called “story codes”. This are short codes that are often placed in parentheses after the title, or (as I do) at the start of the story. But what is the purpose of those story codes, and what do all those different codes mean?

What is the purpose of story codes?

The purpose of story codes is to give readers a very quick, generic idea of the type of content that they can expect in the sex scenes. (Story codes may also be used to describe the type of content of the non-sex scenes, but that is only done very rarely).

This has two benefits. First, it helps readers quickly find stories that they will probably like. Do you like to read about loving family? Then stories with the “inc” code (which stands for incest, family sex) are probably right for you. But even more important is that it helps readers to avoid stories that they’ll probably not like. Believe me, writers do not want “the most possible readers”, we want readers who enjoy our stories. So if I include anal sex in a story, I will include the “anal” story code. And if you really cannot stand the idea of anal sex, then that code makes it easy to avoid the story.

What do the story codes mean?

Most story codes are abbreviations or mnemonics, to keep the story codes short and sweet. But that does make them harder to understand for the non initiated. It also doesn’t help that there is no single authoritative list of “official” story codes. And that writers (myself included) sometimes make up their own codes, if they cannot find a good code.

In the lists below, I have tried to gather all commonly accepted story codes, with their meaning. I have assembled this list from the sources I could find, but removed those I have never seen and believe to be no longer in use, and added new codes from my own experience reading and writing stories on many different websites. This list is not intended to be complete, nor authoritative. It is intended to be a help for those who encounter story codes for the first time. No more, no less.

If you encounter a story code that is missing from this list, please let me know!

Codes for sex and age

These codes are typically placed first. They are used to inform the reader of the sex and age of all characters that participate in sex. Note that for these codes, capitalization is relevant.

The absence of story codes for transgender individuals is due to the age of my sources. They were all written or last updated long before transgenderism gained wider recognition and acceptance.

M	Male adult, at least 18 years old
m	Male teenager, 13 to 17 years old
t	Teenage male (used in gay stories)
b	Boy, up to 12 years old
F	Female adult, at least 18 years old
f	Female teenager, 13 to 17 years old
g	Girl, up to 12 years old
H	Hermaphrodite adult, at least 18 years old
h	Hermaphrodite child or teenager, up to 17 years old
-+	(Combined with one of the codes above) Multiple of the same category, e.g. M+F is a single woman with an unspecified number (but at least two) of men
-dom	(Combined with one of the codes above) Dominant, e.g. Fdom would be a dominant woman
-solo	(Combined with one of the codes above) Masturbation, e.g. msolo or m-solo is a teenaged boy masturbating
animal type	Specific type of animal, always to be used in combination with “best” from the list below. E.g. m/dog means an adolescent male having sex with a dog

All of the codes above are sometimes combined with a number to indicate exact age. So both b9 and b(9) indicate a 9-year-old boy.

These codes are typically combined to indicate all participants in a sex scene, or in a story. For example, MF is adult straight sex, ff would be a teen lesbian couple, and MFf could be a threesome with the teenage babysitter. Sometimes, a slash is used when one partner is more dominant than the other, e.g. g/H would be a girl taking the lead when having sex with an adult hermaphrodite. But in my experience, most writers simply list all the participants, typically in order of age (descending) and sex (male before female). None of this is a rule though, the story code ggMfFb means exactly the same as MFfbgg.

Some writers use separate story codes for each major sex scene. Others only indicate all people who participate in one or more sex scenes. So a story about a married couple that have straight sex, then the husband has a gay encounter, and then the wife and husband each individually have sex with their underage daughter could be labeled as “MF, MM, Fg, Mg” or as “MMFg”.

Other codes (alphabetically)

These codes are used to indicate what type(s) of sex is or are described in the story, or what generic type (genre) of story to expect. They are typically placed after the codes for sex and age, and they can be placed in any order. The first letter may or may not be capitalized, that makes no difference.

Note that not all writers include all codes. Especially codes that can be considered to be implied by other codes are seldom used. For instance, if the sex and age code is Mg, then there is no need to explicitly specify ped (for pedophilia) since that is already clear. And I have never seen a code for fucking, because that is very much expected in a sex story.

Finally, please note that I will never use many of the story codes listed here. I compiled an as complete as possible list to help readers of all story sites, not just my own.

1st	First time intercourse (see also “virg”)
anal	Anal sex
bd	Bondage (and discipline)
bdsm	Combination of “bd” and “sm”
best (also beast)	Bestiality: sex with animals
bi	One or more characters have bisexual contacts
blackmail	Sex through threat of exposure
bondage	Bondage (and discipline)
caution	Something in the story might offend (or even sicken) you, but the author isn't telling you what
cbt	Cock and ball torture
celeb	Story is based on a celebrity
cheat	Married or committed people having sex outside of the commitment, cheating on their partner, as distinct from swinging
con or cons	The sex is consensual: all partners are willing to engage in their activity
contest	Used for stories that are written as a contest entry
creampie	I have seen various different opinions on what this code means. Some say it is everything related to semen, so say it specifically semen deposited in a vagina or anus (and then dripping out afterwards), and some say that the term creampie only applies when someone eats the semen out of the vagina or anus
cuckold	Cuckolding: Wife has sex with another man in front of her husband, usually in order to humiliate him
diaper	Stories involving a diaper fetish
dom or ds or d/s	Dominance and submission
dubcon	Dubious consent: Used for stories where the consent is questionable (e.g. person consenting is drunk or otherwise unable to make clear decisions)
enem	Enemas
exh or exhib	Exhibitionism
fanfic	Fan fiction: a story that uses characters, themes, and/or settings from another (usually well-known) story, movie, or show
feet	Feet or shoe fetish
fist	Fisting: insertion of the entire hand into anus or vagina
furry	Animals with human characteristics
gay	Gay sex: male on male action. May not be included when it is implied by sex and age codes such as e.g. MM or mb.
giant	Abnormally large (tall) persons
group	More than three people having sex (see also: “orgy”)
hist	Has a historical theme
humil	Humiliation
humor	The story is intended to be funny
inc or incest	Incest: sex with family members
interr or ir	Interracial sex
lac	Lactation: anything to do with breasts that produce milk
les or lesb	Lesbian sex: female on female action. May not be included when it is implied by sex and age codes such as e.g. Ff or gg.
long	Long story
magic	Not only magic, per se, but also demons, fantasy worlds, etc.
mast	Masturbation
mc	Mind control (usually as a means to make people “want” to have sex)
menstr	Menstruation: sex during a woman's period
nc	Non consensual sex. One or more participants in the sex did not choose to be there. (See also “dubcon”, “reluc”, and “rape”)
nec	Necrophilia: sex with a dead body
nepi	Nepiophilia: sex with newborns and babies (up to 2 years old)
nosex	Used for a story (or part of it) that has no sex scenes
nudism or nudist	People living a nudist life style, or areas where nudity is the norm (e.g. nude beach, nudist resort)
oral	Oral sex: mouth-genital contact
org or orgy	Large-group sex. When “group” isn’t good enough
parody	The story is a parody on another story, movie, show, etc.; or on a particular genre
ped	Pedophilia. Usually not included because this is already implied by sex and age codes such as Mg or Fb
pett	Heavy petting
piv	(Penis in vagina) – straight sex
poem	Poems and other forms of poetry
preg	Can refer to impregnation (getting someone pregnant) or having sex with someone who already is pregnant
preteen	Includes preteens. Usually not included because this is already implied by sex and age codes such as Mg or bbgg
rape	Rape. Used when one or more people is or are violently raped. Use “nc” when the victim is forced without (threat of) violence
real	Supposedly true
reluc	Reluctant. Used when someone declines at first, but then grows into it. (See also “dubcon”, “nc”, and “rape”)
rim or rimming	Rimming: oral-anal contact
rom	Romantic story. These stories are usually slow, and one might expect the sex to be consensual. (Though some writers tend to have strange ideas, at times)
rough	Consensual rough sex
sad	Sadism: (sexual) arousal from inflicting pain and suffering
safe	Safe sex
scat	Scatology: all sexual activities that involve feces.
scfi or scifi or sci-fi or sf	Story has a science fiction setting or theme.
short	Short story
size	Over- or underdeveloped body parts
slash	(Usually) homosexual intercourse in fanfic
slow	Story with slow buildup
sm	Sadomasochism: inflicting pain or suffering for the pleasure of both
snuff	Killing for sexual gratification
span or spank	Spanking: basically a mild form of “sm” or “sad”
stroke	Story intended simply to arouse; these are typically short stories with little or no plot, that jump straight in the sex
swing	Swinging: mutually consensual adultery
teen	Includes teenagers. Usually not included because this is already implied by sex and age codes such as Mt or Fh
tg	Transgender
tod	Toddlercon: Participants age 5 or below
tort	Torture (see also “sad”)
toys	Vibrators or other adult toys
tragic (also: sad)	The story has a sad ending. (Using “sad” instead of “tragic” can be confusing, because it can be interpreted as “sadism”).
trans	Transgender
true	Supposedly true
twins	Twins having sex (see also “inc”)
vag	Vaginal sex
viol	Violence, not necessarily connected to the sex
virg	Virgins (see also “1st”)
vore	Eating (literally) someone or something alive. Think Jonah
voy	Voyeurism, peeking
ws	Water sports: all sexual activities that involve urine.
zoo	Zoophilia: caring and consensual sexual relationships between humans and animals

Sources used for the lists above:

https://www.asstr.org/~Uther_Pendragon/code/scfr.htm

https://www.asstr.org/~Uther_Pendragon/code/scfr-sub.htm

https://histoires-fr.asslr.org/genres.html