!
From Fandom wank wiki
You may sometimes see in fandom circles an exclamation point (!) between a word and a name. This is used to signify that word is describing that character, or refers to a certain instance when that description applied. Prior to this development, another symbol was inserted between two associated words, called "a motherfucking space," but this fell into disuse during the Middle!Ages.
In extreme cases, where the character alteration has become common and near-archetypal in fanfic, the exclamation point is a defining aspect of this new fanon identity. For example:
- CAPSLOCK!Harry : that time in Order of the Phoenix in which Harry Potter was so angry he ACTED like WILLIAM SHATNER!!!
- leather pants!Draco : Draco Malfoy as depicted in fanon; (dis)credit for this particular version of Draco is usually given to Cassandra Claire
- Ho!mione : the usual badfic trope where Hermione Granger gets a makeover, then starts sleeping around
- Abusive!Thranduil: Legolas's daddy hurts him and makes him cry until he's saved by Mary Sue or buttsex
Nobody knows why or when this usage started, but you'll see it now and then on Fandom Wank. The convention is considered standard on many Mary Sue sporking communities and on GAFF. ! seems to be most used in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fandoms, although it is not exclusive to them.
Is this some computer thing?
Although programmers have unleashed untold amounts of irritating^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hclever syntax on the Internet, this is not one of them. In most computer languages the exclamation point is used as a negation operator. Consider these two methods of expressing not equal to:
- != -- written by a hot sex god, possibly while doing two chicks at once
- =/= -- clearly written by a total loser who will never amount to anything
