Squick
- This article is part of the SM-201 Macropedia
The term squick was introduced in the Usenet newsgroup alt.sex.bondage in the early 1990s to refer to an otherwise unremarkable act that crosses someone's personal boundaries in an extreme fashion, i.e. be something that person considered gross or otherwise extremely unpleasant to think about.
Squick is also commonly used in fanfiction to refer to any topic covered in the writing that might cross the average person's tolerance/comfort boundaries, as well as to convey one's personal discomfort with material that others might not find objectionable. Common "squicks" range from particular romantic pairings, sexual orientation, dynamics within pairings, and specific sexual acts to character death, violence, rape, and even non-canonical characterizations. Authors generally preface their stories with warnings for the benefit of the easily-squickable.
The proposed unit of Squickliness (also known as "squick factor") is the milliWinger, named for furry artist Doug Winger. An alternative unit is the Shudder, equal to the number of milliseconds the victim shudders after encountering the squick-inducing image or concept.
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