#fandom terminology
Text
headcanon: "i have decided that this is true about the character, and it doesn't matter to me if the canon text supports my idea or not."
interpretation: "after considering elements present in the canon text, I have decided that this might be true about the character and here's why."
subtext: "I can show you strong evidence in the text and context of the work that this interpretation could be the actual authorial intent."
3K notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi, they ask you in you asks quite often and cant find an answer everybody agrees from the internet, what would you call "meta"? like what does it means i hace no idea? is it like fanfiction? or what is the difference ? what does it entails??
Hi! <3
(quick disclaimer that i'm not greek and i'm operating on latin and terminology classes, so if any greek speaking people spot an error, please do correct it!)
The word "meta" itself is a greek prefix and in this context roughly translates to "above". If you talk about the meta-level of something, then it refers to the level above the current one.
To give another example, let's have a look at the name "Metatron". You can divide the name into "meta" and "tron". We already know that "meta" often means above, and the suffix "tron" tends to denote an instrument of some sort, like cyclotron, which is a particle accelerator. So the Metatron is an instrument (used by God) that is above the other beings in heaven.
In fandom context specifically, meta-discourse, or meta for short, is an umbrella term for any discussions that talk about the show from an outside perspective.
When you write fanfiction, you are on the same level as the good omens show itself. You're analyzing stuff from for example Crowley's perspective, so you are limited to the knowledge Crowley has and how he thinks about things. You are in the world.
If you write a meta post, you are discussing the show and the world itself. When I analyze Crowley's actions I am not operating based on what he knows but on what we as the audience know. I am above the show/world and using my own thoughts and opinions.
I hope this answered your question, if not don't hesitate to ask more questions!
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
General Fandom Terminology
Do you want to be more involved in fandom, but you don’t know all the crazy words fandoms use? Below is a collection of common fandom terms and their definitions.
Fandom - The collective fans of a piece of media (including TV shows, movies, books, comics, video games, etc.).
Fanfiction/fanfic/fic - a fictional work created for free by fans of an existing media about the characters &/or world of that media.
AO3 (An Archive Of Our Own) - a website that acts as an archive for fanfiction, run by the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture. As an archive, AO3 is not a social media platform, and it does not have an algorithm. Instead, it has a complex search engine that allows users to filter fics based on fandoms, characters, relationships, ratings, warnings, and other tags.
Zine - an amateur-created magazine. In fandom spaces, zines contain fan content like fanfiction or fanart that is made by and for fans of a particular fandom.
Canon - a term adopted by fandom to mean the events and elements of the original media or text, exactly as they were published.
Headcanon - an idea that a fan imagines to be true despite not being supported by evidence from the original media.
Fanon - ideas introduced by the fandom that are not part of the original media but that are canon-compliant and widely treated as canon by members of the fandom community. An idea becomes fanon based on its longevity in the fandom.
Blorbo (originally “Blorbo from my shows”) - your favorite character. The term comes from a tumblr post complaining about people constantly tagging their favorite characters on unrelated content.
Poor little meow meow - a miserable, pathetic, problematic character, used as a term of endearment.
Cinnamon Roll - a sweet, kindhearted character. The term comes from a 2014 article title from The Onion: “Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too Good For This World, Too Pure.”
Shipping - a variation on the word “relationship,” this is the act of thinking that two characters would be good together in a romantic relationship and wanting them to get together.
Ship - a desired relationship between two characters.
Ship name - a portmanteau combination of the names of two characters in a ship. This could be first or last names, aliases, or occasionally a descriptive word/phrase. Examples of ship names are “Steddie” (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson from “Stranger Things”), “Sleeping Warrior” (Aurora/Mulan in “Once Upon A Time”), and “Ineffable Husbands” (Aziraphale/Crowley from “Good Omens”).
Slash - a fanfiction in which characters of the same sex are in a romantic or sexual relationship. Slash often refers to two men, while femslash refers to two women. The term comes from the backslash symbol used to tag two characters as being in a romantic or sexual relationship, as in [Character 1]/[Character 2].
Anti - a person who is vocally against a particular ship and harasses people who create content for that ship. (Don’t do this.)
OTP (one true pairing) - your favorite ship.
OT3 - your favorite polyamorous ship. If the polyamorous ship contains more than three characters, OT4, OT5, etc. are used.
NOTP - pronounced “no-T-P,” this is a pairing or ship that you personally dislike.
Plot armor - a character is said to have plot armor when they are too important to the story to die.
DLDR (Don’t Like, Don’t Read) - a general piece of fandom advice that if you don’t like the content described in the tags, don’t read the fic, and especially don’t complain to the author that you don’t like the tagged material.
SALS (Ship And Let Ship) - A fandom rule that says not to harass people who like ships that you don’t like.
YKINMKATO [Your Kink Is Not My Kink (And That’s Ok)] - A fandom rule that says not to dissuade or harass people who create kink content, or content more generally, that you don’t like. Sometimes referred to as “kinktomato” because of how the acronym looks.
Beta reader - a proofreader or editor of a fanfic who is not the author of the fic.
If you want to learn more, fanlore.org is a great place to start!
#fandom terminology#fandom terms#linguistics#fandom#ao3#let me know if I got anything wrong!#fic#fanfic#fanfiction#zine#canon#headcanon#fanon#blorbo#blorbo from my shows#poor little meow meow#cinnamon roll#shipping#ship#ship name#the term anti#OTP#OT3#NOTP#plot armor#DLDR#don't like don't read#SALS#ship and let ship#ykinmkato
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
I've seen quite a few people here criticize the use of the words "consume" and "content" in reference to various media and art forms. I understand why this might be; it has some very commercialized implications.
However, please, I beg of you: Understand that some of us are trying not to be specific about medium. I refuse to write something like "read/watch/listen to/play/view/etc." every time I want to be more general.
Either someone suggests a better way to phrase this, or you are consuming content and you're going to have to deal with it.
If it helps, you can always think of it in an erotic cannibalism way. People are into that, right?
#I am serious about taking suggestions for a better way to phrase this. I'm trying to think of one and drawing a blank.#I've got a few but they all seem to imply something more specific about how you approach the content. Or sound very unnatural.#content creation#fandom terminology#terminology#media#fiction#literature#entertainment media#content consumption#entertainment
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
I’m looking for a fandom term.
What is it called when you have an idea that’s not headcanon because you think it’s true to the story, but you just think it would be *really funny* if it were true?
For example, I think it would be hilarious if the Host from @monstrousagonies was actually a Jellicle cat and the Understudy just never found out
44 notes
·
View notes
Note
What label should I use for characters that I get genuinely upset, as in shaky, to see getting hurt?
Comfort character might perhaps be the best label.
Others might chime in with alternatives.
10 notes
·
View notes
Note
I looked through tags but couldn’t find it. What’s the significance of the alligator on the pants Louis is wearing? I saw it somewheee but but not the meaning behind it
Hi dear,
Oh I don't have anything about that because it's twitter speak for babygate. From what I was told it's because "gator" kinda sounds like the 'gate' in babygate. Or maybe bc they think they're "babygaters"????? I honestly don't know.
We already have the terminology for babygate. It's babygate. But fandom is reinventing the wheel periodically and coming up with more terminology for the same stuff.
15 notes
·
View notes
Note
Is whump the same thing as sadomasochism or is there something different about it?
That is a really fascinating question that I am not fully equipped to answer, friend.
What I can tell you is that "whump" specifically refers to a genre of fiction concerned with the suffering of fictional characters in both platonic and sexual contexts, and also the recovery/treatment of suffering characters.
"Whump" as a concept is something painful and bad that happens to a character, almost exclusively without that character's consent internal to the narrative, or in a context where any consent in the narrative to such a thing is dubious or compelled.
You can read more about the history of the term here on fanlore.
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
If SALS is for ‘Ship And Let Ship’ then SALSA is for ‘Ship And Let Ship, Asshole’
10 notes
·
View notes
Note
Sometimes I wonder if Kids These Days know that "kinning" a character involves genuinely believing you *are* that character from a past life or other dimension, not just that you relate to them.
I mean...does it, actually?
I've never really ventured into that part of internet subculture, but I know that cultural terms and tropes that arise on the internet can often have different meanings for different generations, or even just in different media. A term can mean one thing on TikTok and another slightly but meaningfully different thing on Tumblr.
I don't use the term "stan" because it originates in a song by Eminem about a deranged fan who ends up murdering his pregnant partner and dying by suicide. (The song itself is fantastic but you're not meant to identify with Stan quite that way.) In fandom culture "stan" came, generally, to mean simply someone who's a superfan, and then over time in some regions came to be a derogatory term for someone who's a superfan of something you don't like. Ultimately, I will never see it without mentally flinching, but my experience is not universal and I don't police its use because it’s not that big a problem and who has the time or energy to die on that hill.
I am extremely wary of declaring that there's only one correct definition of certain words that have very recent origins or reuses. Kinning I would imagine derives from kin, which does mean relative, after all, and not reincarnation. There are very few people who are delusional enough to believe that a fictional character existed or exists and they are the rebirth of that character, but "kin" is used fairly commonly and has been for many years, so I suspect that whatever its original definition might have been, its common use now is an ingroup slang term for "relating heavily to" a character.
Honestly, I'm quite curious as to why you sent this ask to me, considering I don't think I've ever used the term or engaged in any kind of discussion about it. I'm not mad or anything, just wondering!
(As always, if folks wish to engage in what for all I know might be a very fraught debate, please do so in comments or reblogs, as I don't post asks sent in response to other asks.)
82 notes
·
View notes
Text
What does Pro/Shipper Mean?
I’m only typing this cause I had to explain to a friend why the label of pro/shipper is so controversial and I like to act on the benefit of the doubt that some people may not be informed so under the cut I’m gonna explain this and why there’s so
I’m not really gonna debate the morality of it but I am going to just explain the general gist of the term and WHY a lot of people don’t like the word and I hope it helps some people when it comes to fandom labels.
Reblog if you want but please do not come to my inbox or IMs to debate this topic. This is an information post ONLY. Not a discussion one.
Warning before you read, this post will cover Problematic Ships with triggering topics. They are mentioned for the sake of information. But I don’t want to unintentionally trigger anyone.
Going to start with the fact that this word has changed meaning over time. When I first got into tumblr rp and heard this term, it meant a completely different thing than it does now. And I think this is important cause when words change meaning and people just may not know, it can lead to a lot of misunderstandings that could be avoided if people just y’know...communicated. But that’s besides the point.
Pro/shipper at some point USED to mean one who supports a specific ship or shipping in general.
I’m currently very much so still in my Owl House hyperfixation so I will be using ships from this fandom to better explain the point. So if you are a big fan of Goldric (Hunter x Edric) then you were considered a pro/shipper for that ship. The opposite of this would be an Anti-Shipper as you did not like this ship. There was nothing generally wrong with being pro or anti as long as the ship was not problematic. Most of the discourse came from Antis sorta flooding the tags of the ships either due to their pettiness or tumblr’s shitty tagging system.
HOWEVER that is not the case now. Roughly around the 2010s (I like to think it happened somewhere around 2012-2015) the word changed its meaning.
That’s because people who supported what are called Problematic Ships.
These are your ships (with examples) that ignore canon sexualities of one or both parties of a ship (such as Hunter x Amity), are in/cest (Such as Lilith x Eda),have inappropriate age differences (such as any ship regarding a minor and an adult), those that display abusive dynamics ( such as Lilith x Belos ), etc. Ships that generally will make the average fan feel uncomfortable.
Some people who highly enjoyed problematic ships started using the term Pro/Shipper as a way to either defend their ships or justify their reasons as to why they were okay.
At this point the meaning has changed.
Pro/shipper NOW means one who supports a ship or shipping deemed problematic and/or believes in the freedom to create and consume fanworks with such elements.
Now content with toxic or abusive dynamics is more of a gray area, they’ve sorta always existed even before fandom culture became what it is today and it of course isn’t just purely tied to ships (For example, Hunter and Belos have this dynamic but are HOPEFULLY not a ship). Its all dependent on if the person making the content genuinely ships it or is making content for some other purpose that’s far less problematic and its complicated and definitely a case by case basis. But for the previous problematic examples, well there’s really no reason to ship in/cest now is there? Its just pretty gross.
So when a person says “I’m a pro/shipper” today while there is a good chance they’re very much so meaning the first definition, it may be automatically assumed by others that they mean they are the latter. And for those other people, they may not have the energy or time to invest in meeting this person and learning what they think a pro/shipper is and if they still stand by that label if they know the connotations it presents. Its generally safer to them to just call it a lost and not interact.
So if you read this and you still think this label is for you, then this is the sort of risk you are taking by taking on this label. Does it suck? Maybe, depending on who you are. But like I said, this post is meant to inform people and I’ve done just that.
Words have power now and days, more than people know. Especially when it comes to labels. And when words change meaning like this one did, then I feel its important that everyone gets on the same page.
#psa#fandom culture#fandom terminology#tw: incest mention#tw: abuse mention#tw: toxic relationships#tw: proship#tw: abusive dynamics mention#tw: homophobia mention#tw: lesbiphobia mention#tw: problematic ships#I think I tagged everything but if I didn't please tell me
13 notes
·
View notes
Note
Not the anon but I have to ask, related to the whole stereotyping of top and bottom, part of it that I have seen is that they get conflated with being a sub or being dom. Wonder what's your take on that in particular; to me it seems that the correlation exists, but don't know enough people to tell with certainty
I think people outside the community can easily get that impression, and because they're not directly involved they may be less familiar with terms invented to clarify on that point, like power bottom and sub top. (I've seen "topping from the bottom" pretty much exclusively in a heterosexual context, so it's also possible that they're just less familiar with sexual lingo in general.) I do know that the assumed correlation with BDSM may be stronger in other languages - French uses actif and passif for top and bottom even though everyone is well aware that those labels don't always describe the penetrator/penetrated relationship - not that I expect that to have any impact on Anglophone fandom spaces.
Either way I do feel like the pendulum swung back a bit the other way sometime in the 2010s, with the belief that strict tops and bottoms perpetuate heteronormativity and that actual gay guys are all vers. Anyone could spend five minutes on Grindr and be disabused of that notion, but I still don't know if that accounts for how the switch label got mixed up in here. It might again be a matter of ignorance, that BDSM has its own scene and rulesets and that you can take a more dominant or submissive role in bed without it being considered kink.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
What the hell is "safeshipping?" Google turns up nothing but commercial websites about postal options.
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
what is an f/o?
🔸Fictional Other: (also written as F/O) A fictional other is any character that you consider yourself to be in a romantic relationship with. This relationship can be more serious, or more for fun depending on the individual.
Some people have Fictional Others who are also soulbonds or other fictives, but most are not, and are closer to a specific type of comfort character. A person who has a fictional other or multiple fictional others is called a “self shipper”.
11 notes
·
View notes
Note
What does ot in ot5 stand for?
One True. It’s just an old fandom term that comes from OTP (One True Pairing) which people would use to label their main ship.
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
“I read Shakespeare like an academic because it’s very refined and elegant and sophisticated-”
Oh yeah? Well I read Shakespeare like how theater kids read Be More Chill. Cordelia is my sweet cinnamon roll. Lady Macbeth is a gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlboss. Hamlet is my problematic fave. Orsino probably has the aesthetic of Lil Nas X. Malvolio is my poor little meow meow (actually, apparently he was also King Charles I’s poor little meow meow). It’s what Shakespeare would have wanted.
(This isn’t really to bash on academics. Ya’ll are just the side of the fandom that does in depth analysis of the plays and their themes)
#shakespeare#shakesqueer#shakepeeps#shakespeare fandom rise up#theater#classical theatre#theatre#classic plays#classical literature#plays#theater kid#fandom culture#fandom terminology#king lear#angel x cordelia#lady macbeth#macbeth#hamlet#orsino#duke orsino#twelfth night#malvolio
25 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
mr-js-stuff
Untitled
claudiameetscat
Claudia Meets Cats
jensawesomeworld
Raindrops and Roses
tabletopsoapco
TabletopSoapCo
lovelygirlp-blog
LovelyGirlyP's Blog