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Fandom Lexicon
Hi. It occurred to me that some of you (Maree) don't really know what I'm talking about when I make TV/movies/entertainment news posts, because I use fan termionology. For that I apologize and so, here's your crash course on Terms to Know When Navigating Fandom.
Fandom - A collection of fans for a single show, movie, band etc. Short for Kingdom of Fans. e.g. "The Firefly fandom is mighty because they done the impossible and brought the show back from cancellation." (True story.)
S.O.S.- Save Our Show. An organized attempt by the fans to prevent a show from cancellation. e.g. "Did you hear that the VM SOS Campaign hired a plane to spell out "Save Veronica Mars" in sky writing just to get the attention of the studios and advertisers?" (Also a true story).
TPTB- The Powers that Be. Sometimes used in reference to the writers while other times referring to the studio execs, it is always used in reference to a group of people in the industry who threaten fandom's wishes. e.g. "Let's hope that TPTB don't screw up my squint squad dynamic by keeping Cam in the mix." or "Damnit, why won't the stupid TPTB just renew How I Met Your Mother already?!"
Promo Monkeys - The people who pull together promos, often criticized for being purposefully misleading or giving away key plot points. Called monkeys because monkeys could do a better job. e.g. The stupid Promo Monkeys gave away the Chuck/Sarah kiss at the end!"
Shipper - Short for "relationshipper" or someone who supports a certain pairing. Shipper pairings are often denoted by the couple's name, separated by a slash. e.g. The Harry Potter Shipper wars made no sense because the Harry/Hermione shippers and Ron/Hermione shippers hated each other to the point of civil law suits; yet the Draco/Harry shippers got along with everyone." (ALSO a true story)
OOC/Character assassination - Out of Character behavior. Taken to the extreme, OOC behavior can become outright character assassination when the viewers no longer believe the character can be redeemed to their former glory. e.g. "Putting Izzie and George together was so OOC, that I'm afraid they committed character assassination and destroyed the characters for me."
Canon - Uncontested facts within fandom because the events aired on the show/appeared in the book. Also considered to be the sweetest word in existence for fandom. e.g. "Canon, baby! Jim/Pam are canon!"
Fanon - Fan based canon. Speculated theories that have such a strong plausibility factor that the fans consider it to be their canon. e.g. "Up until JKR confirmed that Dumbledore was gay and that he was in unrequited love with Grindelwald, Dumbledore/Grindelwald was purely fanon."
OTP - One True Pairing. The belief that a specific couple is the ultimate pairing that can never be broken and is the core relationship that represents the true heart of a fandom or show. e.g. "The X-Files's Mulder and Scully and Farscape's John and Aeryn are pretty good examples of textbook OTPs." Few fandoms can agree on a single OTP, but that doesn't stop them from trying- which usually leads to rifts in the fandom (see: Buffy/Angel vs Spuffy, R/Hr vs H/Hr in Harry Potter, and Dean/Rory vs Jess/Rory in Gilmore Girls)
OT3 - One True Threesome. Like OTP but with 3 people, wherein you ship the relationships between 3 people equally. ETA: Note- while more often than not it refers to a threesome, sometime usage of OT3 is not necessarily sexual in nature. It can also refer to the unbreakable bond between three people, that again, is the core relationship that represents the true heart of a fandom or show. e.g. "Jack/Tony/Michelle are 24's first OT3 because CTU just wasn't CTU without them."
Commonly Used Acronyms and Sayings
IATWC- I agree with this comment.
MTE- My Thoughts Exactly.
WRT- With Respect To.
WORD- Well Said. Used to denote agreement. e.g. "WORD to that entire post."
THIS. - One-word response placed after a quote on a message board as an affirmation of the author's agreement with the quoted person's view or opinion, so much that you don't even finish the sentence, "This is so true." e.g. "If you don't like the Princess Bride, you have no sense of humor. And possibly no soul." "THIS."
WTF- What the Fuck? A negative emotional response to a certain event or character. e.g."WTF! They killed Daniel Jackson AGAIN?"
FTW- For the Win! A positive emotional response to a certain event or character. e.g. "Jack Bristow is so.badass. SpyDaddy FTW!"
OMG- Oh My God.
OMFG- Oh My Fucking God. Usage: see the Gossip Girl Ads
OMGSQUEE!- Oh My God. *squeal of delight* Used to denote extreme happiness and giddiness. e.g. "OMGSQUEEEEE! Booth and Bones kissed!!!!"
OMGWTFPOLARBEAR?! - Oh My God, What the Fuck, Polar Bear?! Inspired by the sudden appearance of a polar bear on the supposedly deserted island in S1 of Lost. Now used whenever there's an absolutely out there twist. e.g. "BEAVER? It was BEAVER??!? That's so OMGWTFPOLARBEAR!"
OMGWTFBBQ!- Oh My God, What the Fuck, Barbeque. Used to denote extreme confusion and/or excitement.
TL;DR (or Teal Deer)- More commonly, on message boards, it means, "too long; don't read" meaning that the person has lost patience with a previous post because it's too long. e.g. "TL;DR. Is there anything interesting up there that I should know?" In some case, it refers to when you get so excited, you slam the key board and hit "tl;dr."
KKTHANX BBAI! - Okay, thanks! Bye-bye! Used with a sarcastic tone, usually in anger, as a way to mock stupidity. e.g. "OMFG, people. Lj-cuts are there for a reason. USE THEM. KKTHANX BBAI!"
PWNED! - When you kick ass so thoroughly, you "own" them, but you hit the keyboard so hard you accidentally hit the P button instead. e.g. "Aeryn Sun pwned everyone on Farscape, no contest"
DIAF- Die In a Fire. While quite violent in tone, this is not a threat to be taken literally. Usage is similar to the idiom, 'Go jump off a cliff." e.g. THEY CANCELED PUSHING DAISIES? NOOOOOO! GO DIAF, ABC!
GTFO- Get the Fuck Out. Can be used both as an angry response as well as surprise.
STFU- Shut the Fuck Up. Can be used both as an angry response as well as surprise. (See GTFO)
FLAIL - When words are too much to describe the amount of excitement/desperation in you and are so worked up that if someone were to look at you, all they would see is a blur of flailing arms. (see also, SQUEE)
KEYBOARD FLAIL- When you are at your computer and are so worked up that you flail onto the computer board. See: keyboard flail
GPOY - Gratuitous picture of yourself.
ATTMO- ...And then they made out. Usage is similiar to "And that's when they made me their chief" as a non sequitur to close an argument or at the end of a post.
Any questions?
Fandom - A collection of fans for a single show, movie, band etc. Short for Kingdom of Fans. e.g. "The Firefly fandom is mighty because they done the impossible and brought the show back from cancellation." (True story.)
S.O.S.- Save Our Show. An organized attempt by the fans to prevent a show from cancellation. e.g. "Did you hear that the VM SOS Campaign hired a plane to spell out "Save Veronica Mars" in sky writing just to get the attention of the studios and advertisers?" (Also a true story).
TPTB- The Powers that Be. Sometimes used in reference to the writers while other times referring to the studio execs, it is always used in reference to a group of people in the industry who threaten fandom's wishes. e.g. "Let's hope that TPTB don't screw up my squint squad dynamic by keeping Cam in the mix." or "Damnit, why won't the stupid TPTB just renew How I Met Your Mother already?!"
Promo Monkeys - The people who pull together promos, often criticized for being purposefully misleading or giving away key plot points. Called monkeys because monkeys could do a better job. e.g. The stupid Promo Monkeys gave away the Chuck/Sarah kiss at the end!"
Shipper - Short for "relationshipper" or someone who supports a certain pairing. Shipper pairings are often denoted by the couple's name, separated by a slash. e.g. The Harry Potter Shipper wars made no sense because the Harry/Hermione shippers and Ron/Hermione shippers hated each other to the point of civil law suits; yet the Draco/Harry shippers got along with everyone." (ALSO a true story)
OOC/Character assassination - Out of Character behavior. Taken to the extreme, OOC behavior can become outright character assassination when the viewers no longer believe the character can be redeemed to their former glory. e.g. "Putting Izzie and George together was so OOC, that I'm afraid they committed character assassination and destroyed the characters for me."
Canon - Uncontested facts within fandom because the events aired on the show/appeared in the book. Also considered to be the sweetest word in existence for fandom. e.g. "Canon, baby! Jim/Pam are canon!"
Fanon - Fan based canon. Speculated theories that have such a strong plausibility factor that the fans consider it to be their canon. e.g. "Up until JKR confirmed that Dumbledore was gay and that he was in unrequited love with Grindelwald, Dumbledore/Grindelwald was purely fanon."
OTP - One True Pairing. The belief that a specific couple is the ultimate pairing that can never be broken and is the core relationship that represents the true heart of a fandom or show. e.g. "The X-Files's Mulder and Scully and Farscape's John and Aeryn are pretty good examples of textbook OTPs." Few fandoms can agree on a single OTP, but that doesn't stop them from trying- which usually leads to rifts in the fandom (see: Buffy/Angel vs Spuffy, R/Hr vs H/Hr in Harry Potter, and Dean/Rory vs Jess/Rory in Gilmore Girls)
OT3 - One True Threesome. Like OTP but with 3 people, wherein you ship the relationships between 3 people equally. ETA: Note- while more often than not it refers to a threesome, sometime usage of OT3 is not necessarily sexual in nature. It can also refer to the unbreakable bond between three people, that again, is the core relationship that represents the true heart of a fandom or show. e.g. "Jack/Tony/Michelle are 24's first OT3 because CTU just wasn't CTU without them."
Commonly Used Acronyms and Sayings
IATWC- I agree with this comment.
MTE- My Thoughts Exactly.
WRT- With Respect To.
WORD- Well Said. Used to denote agreement. e.g. "WORD to that entire post."
THIS. - One-word response placed after a quote on a message board as an affirmation of the author's agreement with the quoted person's view or opinion, so much that you don't even finish the sentence, "This is so true." e.g. "If you don't like the Princess Bride, you have no sense of humor. And possibly no soul." "THIS."
WTF- What the Fuck? A negative emotional response to a certain event or character. e.g."WTF! They killed Daniel Jackson AGAIN?"
FTW- For the Win! A positive emotional response to a certain event or character. e.g. "Jack Bristow is so.badass. SpyDaddy FTW!"
OMG- Oh My God.
OMFG- Oh My Fucking God. Usage: see the Gossip Girl Ads
OMGSQUEE!- Oh My God. *squeal of delight* Used to denote extreme happiness and giddiness. e.g. "OMGSQUEEEEE! Booth and Bones kissed!!!!"
OMGWTFPOLARBEAR?! - Oh My God, What the Fuck, Polar Bear?! Inspired by the sudden appearance of a polar bear on the supposedly deserted island in S1 of Lost. Now used whenever there's an absolutely out there twist. e.g. "BEAVER? It was BEAVER??!? That's so OMGWTFPOLARBEAR!"
OMGWTFBBQ!- Oh My God, What the Fuck, Barbeque. Used to denote extreme confusion and/or excitement.
TL;DR (or Teal Deer)- More commonly, on message boards, it means, "too long; don't read" meaning that the person has lost patience with a previous post because it's too long. e.g. "TL;DR. Is there anything interesting up there that I should know?" In some case, it refers to when you get so excited, you slam the key board and hit "tl;dr."
KKTHANX BBAI! - Okay, thanks! Bye-bye! Used with a sarcastic tone, usually in anger, as a way to mock stupidity. e.g. "OMFG, people. Lj-cuts are there for a reason. USE THEM. KKTHANX BBAI!"
PWNED! - When you kick ass so thoroughly, you "own" them, but you hit the keyboard so hard you accidentally hit the P button instead. e.g. "Aeryn Sun pwned everyone on Farscape, no contest"
DIAF- Die In a Fire. While quite violent in tone, this is not a threat to be taken literally. Usage is similar to the idiom, 'Go jump off a cliff." e.g. THEY CANCELED PUSHING DAISIES? NOOOOOO! GO DIAF, ABC!
GTFO- Get the Fuck Out. Can be used both as an angry response as well as surprise.
STFU- Shut the Fuck Up. Can be used both as an angry response as well as surprise. (See GTFO)
FLAIL - When words are too much to describe the amount of excitement/desperation in you and are so worked up that if someone were to look at you, all they would see is a blur of flailing arms. (see also, SQUEE)
KEYBOARD FLAIL- When you are at your computer and are so worked up that you flail onto the computer board. See: keyboard flail
GPOY - Gratuitous picture of yourself.
ATTMO- ...And then they made out. Usage is similiar to "And that's when they made me their chief" as a non sequitur to close an argument or at the end of a post.
Any questions?
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Thanks dear, for that "behind the scenes" look at what fandom is. Oh fandom. We are so obsessed with TV...
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I usually see tl;dr used to mean a little off/incorrect/weird. As in "sorry my English is a little tl;dr" or sorry my comment is a little tl;dr".
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What I've seen a lot for 'being so excited/pleased/etc. about something that you can only flail at the keyboard' is "asdfjk" or any variation of that. Some people also just write "keyboard flail".
Another thing I've seen is a huge variety of complicated emoticons to conveying everything from glee to embarrasment to outrage and back again.
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True. I think my favorite are the victory arms: \o/
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my favorites are probably the kitty smile :3
and shifty eyes (>_>);
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Joining in on the "tl;dr" thread - every group I'm in, that stands for "too long;didn't/don't read." Which does work for the "Sorry for the tl;dr comment" sentence.
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It wasn't until later (when shows started to show multiple pairings and/or unconventional couples (UC) that had equal popularity) that "shipping" as a verb started to be used as an identifier for a preference (e.g. "I ship Tony/Michelle because they're awesomecakes and Nina's a traitorous bitch").
So in a way, we can thank the X-Files for the Harry Potter Shipper Wars.