What Does Anti Mean?
Fandom CultureA fan defined by opposition — to a ship, a character, or a category of fan content. In current usage, anti most often means someone who campaigns against ships or fics they consider morally wrong.
Anti in Practice
The label began simply: an 'anti-[ship]' fan disliked a pairing and said so in their own spaces. Over the 2010s, particularly on Tumblr and later Twitter, anti evolved into shorthand for fans who treat disapproval as a moral cause, sometimes harassing creators of content they object to. The opposing position is often called 'proship' or 'anti-anti,' meaning support for AO3-style freedom to create and tag rather than approval of any specific content. The anti/proship divide is one of modern fandom's most persistent conflicts, fought largely over fiction's relationship to real-world harm. Most fans use blocking and filtering tools to avoid the argument entirely.
Example usage
"She keeps her ship art locked down because antis kept flooding her replies."
Related Terms
Discourse
Fandom's term for recurring public arguments about ethics, ships, and content — said with a weariness the dictionary definition lacks. 'The discourse' is less a conversation than a weather system.
Definition →
NOTP
A pairing a fan actively dislikes — the anti-OTP. Where an OTP is the ship of your heart, a NOTP is the one you scroll past, filter out, or rant about to trusted friends.
Definition →
DNI (Do Not Interact)
An abbreviation for 'do not interact' — a notice listing the kinds of accounts a user does not want engaging with their posts, such as 'proshippers DNI' or 'minors DNI.' A staple of Tumblr and Twitter fandom profiles.
Definition →
Squick
Content that triggers personal disgust or discomfort — visceral, individual, and explicitly not a moral judgment. 'That's my squick' means 'not for me,' not 'this shouldn't exist.'
Definition →
More Fandom Culture Terms
Read fanfiction on the go
Fanfict Reader is the best way to browse, search, and read AO3 fanfiction on your iPhone. Download for free and start reading your favorite stories today.