Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on interpersonal attraction and sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex. While the term was originally restricted to stories in which male media characters were involved in an explicit sexual relationship as a primary plot element (also known as "slash" or "m/m slash"), it is now used to refer to any fan story containing a pairing between same-sex characters. Many fans distinguish female-focused slash as a separate genre, commonly referred to as femslash (also known as "f/f slash", "femmeslash", "altfic" and "saffic"). The characters are usually not engaged in such relationships in their respective fictional universes.