Sure, Nfic being called "smut" is a convention (and not just in L&C fic)--but couldn't the convention have been made around a word with a less negative--and in some people's minds--overly dirty (read: unneccesarily, almost disgustingly, kinky--as opposed to just kinky)--connotation?
Apparently I've been reading fanfic for too long because the word "smut" doesn't have a particularly offensive connotation for me. "Porn" - which is also used frequently in discussing fic - seems much stronger. It's interesting how different words are interpreted by different people
However, I don't quite understand the discussion of the word as it relates to this fandom. I see the word "smut" used very rarely around here. L&C uses "nfic" in its place almost exclusively, so far as I've seen. I don't even know what the N stands for, for that matter, though I guess I've always assumed it meant "naughty". (The Jane Austen fandom calls its R & NC-17 fics "Naughty Bits" or NB's, which is almost too cute a euphemism for my taste, but my assumption of the word 'naughty' probably comes from that.) If it stands for something else, somebody clue me in!
Caroline
