Continuing from last week’s explanation of common fandom terms, now we’re branching out past the shipping fun.
As mentioned then, tagging and warning are fairly important within fandom spaces, especially within writing communities. So we are going to start with a few definitions of common tagging and genre terms.
TL;DR (TLDR, tealdeer) – It stands for “Too Long; Didn’t Read”. (Some people like to call it tealdeer to be cute, but it’s not that common anymore.) Any kind of TOS is common for this. You know how you skim past articles, news stories, homework, or so on? That’s this. The good news is that this is usually at the end of said post, combined with a short synopsis. As in: “TLDR: Vader was Luke’s dad all along.”
don’t like, don’t read – This is less about never branching out in your interests and more about taking responsibility for what you are getting into. Do you hate hockey, and have a story about two hockey players falling in love in front of you? Don’t like, don’t read! It’s a simple term to describe avoiding things you don’t want to interact with instead of diving in and complaining about it.
dead dove, do not eat – Included the whole thing (a series of screenshots from Arrested Development) right above this, and related to don’t like, don’t read, but if something explicitly warns you for something, you can’t be surprised that it contains that thing. It is usually a (sometimes cheeky) warning for darker or more serious elements, or things out of the norm sexually.
wank – An older fandom noun referring to someone being upset over something, usually trivial or blown out of proportions. I personally wish it would come back, since it describes so many online space these days.
discourse – While an actual term outside of fandom, fandom has sort of co-opted it for its own definition of… A horrible mixture of puritanical judgment calls, infighting, and more. Most people avoid it, but avidly watch from the sidelines, because this shit is juicy and beyond ridiculous. Similar to wank, but on a far larger scale.
YMMV – Means “Your Mileage May Vary” – basically, a term (that’s also taken mostly from TVTropes) that means you might not get quite as much [insert adjective or noun here] out of it as someone else. So as an example—I thought something was hilarious, but YMMV, as in, you may not find it as funny as I did, or not as funny for long. Can also apply to sadness, shock, enjoyment, and more. Basically, different people have different reactions to things! Who knew!
fanon – With “canon” being the original source material, fanon refers to something so ubiquitous within the fandom that it’s generally agreed upon as unofficial canon. (Not everyone accepts it, of course, but it’s generally so everywhere that it is.)
headcanon – A personal canon that you ascribe to, and can share with others if you so choose. It means that you almost always interpret a character, event, book, movie, etc a specific way for your understanding or pleasure. Sometimes implied by canon, sometimes completely out of the blue. Fun to share with fandom friends. Like many fandom terms, can be a noun or a verb. Example: I headcanon that
BNF – Means “Big Name Fan”. Kind of YMMV, and not always a good thing, but it means someone in a fandom space who is present enough—whether that be writing, drawing, creating other content, or what have you—that a significant chunk of the fandom population is aware of them. Think of it as fandom celebrities. Not as nice to be one as it sounds.
