Flirting — Tag Meaning
Tags fic where the flirtation is the show: charged banter, escalating dares, compliments deployed like chess moves. It often marks dynamics where one or both characters are canonically smooth — or where the comedy is that they think they are.
What to Expect From "Flirting" Fics
Verbal sparring with romantic intent, sustained chemistry, and a fic that enjoys the game as much as the outcome.
How to find Flirting fics on AO3
On AO3, click any tag to see every work that uses it, then refine with the "Filters" sidebar — combine it with your fandom or ship, set a rating, or exclude tags you don't want. See our AO3 filtering guide for the full walkthrough.
Browse "Flirting" works on AO3Popular Fics Tagged "Flirting"
Real examples from AO3's most-kudosed works:
open up your lovin’ arms (i want some, want some)
by oaseas
typing…
by shaneverse
A Lot's Gonna Change
by etymologyplayground
let me make a thing of cream and stars
by missandrogyny
irreconcilable differences (make for surprisingly good bedfellows)
by pocky_slash
Pretty
by astolat
Related Tags
Banter
Celebrates rapid-fire, affectionate verbal sparring as a feature worth tagging. Fics under this tag lead with dialogue — teasing, wit, comebacks — and it is a signature tag for ships whose canon chemistry runs on quips. For many readers, good banter is the entire reason to open a fic.
Tag guide →
Awkward Flirting
The endearing disaster version: characters attempting smoothness and achieving catastrophe — compliments that come out wrong, winks that look like eye trouble, pickup lines researched and bungled. The awkwardness is the charm; competence would ruin it.
Tag guide →
Teasing
Affection expressed through provocation: needling, mock insults, and relentless gentle mockery between characters who adore each other. The tag covers both playful couple dynamics and the longer arc where teasing is how two emotionally guarded people admit they're paying attention.
Tag guide →
Sexual Tension
Flags charged physical awareness between characters as a sustained presence in the fic — the held gazes, loaded silences, and proximity that means too much. The tag itself promises atmosphere, not necessarily consummation; plenty of Teen-rated fics run entirely on this voltage.
Tag guide →
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