Those pesky fanfic acronyms, abbreviations, and random odd terms (original) (raw)

Hi, all! The owner/moderator of this lovely community asked me to post about some of the more often used fanfic acronyms/abbreviations. Of course, after I agreed, I discovered that the best fandom glossary I know of no longer seems to function (though it might come back online later, in which case I suggest that those who're interested check back later at http://www.subreality.com/glossary.htm under the fandom acronyms link). However! After some looking about, I've gathered up the following for the edification of anyone who (like me) has ever been puzzled by just what all those random letters mean.

Following are some basic fanfic definitions and/or acronyms:

/: When seen in fanfiction descriptions, it's a "slash" — a little symbol that indicates a pairing in fanfiction, usually romantic/intimate, for both het and slash fics. Like "Obi-Wan/Anakin" or "Brian/Curt." Anymore, it's more slash (homosexual relationships) than het. The character mentioned first is usually the more dominant/aggressive one (see seme and uke for additional info). E.g., a pairing like "Qui-Gon/Obi Wan" would indicate that Qui-Gon is the "top" and Obi Wan is the "bottom" in the relationship (though this is not always so and there's also something called "topping from the bottom"). This, of course, is highly subjective to the authors' preferences — there are no "fixed" positions for characters. See Slash for more info on homosexual pairings.

+: Seen sometimes in fanfiction descriptions to denote the relationship between a pairing, usually romantic, in some fandoms.

!: Fanfic terminology regularly uses an exclamation mark to separate the two morphemes of a compound term, especially when the subject can't be taken entirely seriously, as in "Crack!Fic" or "Fluffy!Vader."

X: Seen often in fanfiction descriptions to denote the relationship between a pairing, usually sexual, in some fandoms. The character mentioned first is usually the more dominant one—see seme and uke for info. See / and Slash for more info.

Alias: Also "Net Alias," this is the name people use to describe their Net personas. Also see Nick.

Anime: As in Japanese "animation," a kind of "cartoon" that some people consider an art form. See manga.

Angst/Angstfic/Angsty: Description of fanfic or fanart, usually involving a high degree of angst. Angst implies putting fanfic characters through the wringer emotionally/physically/mentally and making the readers feel for them - i.e., the characters suffer a lot of emotional pain. An angstfic will focus mostly on a character's negative emotional state. Angst is often prized by fanfic authors and/or readers for the intensity which it adds to a story - or simply for the masochistic thrill of it.

Archivist: Someone who archives fanfiction on his/her/its site. He/she/it may also be a fanfic author archiving his/her/its's own fanfics.

Adjective!Character: I'm not sure where it comes from, but it's basically used like this: Angry!Anakin, Confused!Obi-Wan, Psychotic!Qui-Gon. It's used
to denote the basic characteristic of a player in a story. This has also bled over to a few categories of fanfic itself, as with the generally hilarious and off-beat crack!fic phenomenon.

Avatar: Another name for that dreaded creature, "Mary Sue." Like its original meaning, an avatar is an extension of the almighty fanfiction author in his/her/its story.

AR or Alternate Reality: A fic that transplants characters from the Galaxy Far, Far Away to an alternate setting.

AU: Acronym for "Alternate Universe," usually found in fanfiction. This is fanfic that does not follow the canon storyline in the original series/book/comic/whatever. AU is generally considered different from AR (Alternate Reality, which in fanfic involves transferring characters to different realities - other galaxies, other times and places, etc.), though this is not always the case. Alternate Universe stories are usually "What if . . . " stories that deviate from or otherwise change events in a canon story or its premise drastically.

A/N : Author's Note(s) or Authors' Note(s), generally occurring before or after a story, but occasionally (unfortunately) interjected into the actual story.

BEM: Bug-eyed monster. An alternate reference for MotW (monster of the week).

BDSM: Acronym for Bondage Dominance, Sado-Masochism. Sex/relationships involving sexual slavery, master/slave relationships, sadism and masochism as foreplay, bondage games, kink and fetish. Will usually involve leather, whips and chains. Headers with this label generally involve consensual relationships, unless otherwise indicated.

Beta or Beta-Reader: A very important person in the life of a fanfic author. The beta is a person who voluntarily proofreads fanfics before the original author posts it (sometimes after posting if the author requests it). This is supposed to improve the quality of fanfics. There are many kinds of beta, the most common of which is the technical beta who takes care of grammar and spelling to make the fic marginally readable/tolerable to the general public. Other betas check up on characterisations, plot holes, the danger of Mary Sues, and even help with ideas. Betas are usually more like advisors and fanfic authors can accept/reject their proposals, depending on what makes sense to the actual author.

Bishonen: Means "pretty boy", usually associated with characters from an anime/manga — though in the case of a lot of anime/manga, don't be too surprised when the boys are prettier than girls. This term can also be used to describe any hottie in the vicinity.

Bishoujo: Means "pretty girl", usually associated with characters from an anime/manga. Term can also be used loosely to describe any hottie in the vicinity.

Canon: The "central dogma" of a fandom. Canon would be things that every fan knows to be true about the original series of films or tv shows or books that a fandom has sprung up around - i.e., the timeline, the characters, etc. E.g., Palpatine is Darth Sidious in the Star Wars fandom.

Characters: Imaginary characters from an existing fandom, used in fanfics.

Crossovers: A fiction where one universe crosses over into another. The most popular such crossover 'verse is probably Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I've also seen use of Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Matrix, Stargate, X-Men, and other comicbook based 'verses in crossover fictions. In most crossovers, characters from two (or more) different fandoms will interact through an accident of some sort, but sometimes characters from one fandom will actually live in the storyline of another fandom, though the characters never meet. The second type is normally altered so that the storyline will work within the primary fandom universe. For example, since the Star Wars universe isn't just a Galaxy Far, Far Away but also one that is "a long time ago," characters from the LotR Lord of the Rings might be alive while events are unfolding in the GFFA.

Dark/Darkfic: Fanfic of the dark variety that may contain themes that are a lot darker than normal. Themes like rape, adult situations, violence, cutting, suicide, etc., etc. . . .

Disclaimer: Something you will find on most fan-created websites and fanfictions - an explanation in the beginning the function of which is to disavow ownership of the fandom/characters and to establish the fact that the site/fanfic in question has been done for non-profit reasons. E.g. "I don't own (insert characters here) or the (insert fandom here) — they belong to (insert original author/creator/artist here) and (insert publisher/broadcasting-company/copyright-holder name here). I make no money from this — please don't sue me, I'm only a poor (insert humble occupation) who spent all my money on (insert merchandise from said fandom in here)."

Doujinshi: 1) Fanart comics of established mangas/anime—not the original mangas by the original creators. Done by "circles" of artists and can be bought commercially. These comics could show what the original could not show (because of ratings and so on) and so don't be too shocked to see het sex or more commonly, yaoi. Warning for the non-slashy-types: a lot of doujinshi tends to be slashy. 2) Sometimes taken to mean fanart in comic form for any fandom/fanfic.

Drabble: Drabbles are very short stories, often barely more than a hundred or so words, and are oftentimes written more as a stream of consciousness than anything else. Most fanfiction communities define a drabble as 100 words exactly and a title that can be up to 15 words (which is not included in the word count).

Essays or Meta: Fan-written essays on areas/issues related to fandom, either as fun/serious stuff or as articles for other fans to read.

"Evil author" fics: Fanfic authors who insert themselves into fics as "Author" or use their pen name. They then proceed to mess around with the characters in fanfic to attain a comic effect of a parody or similar. Works only sometimes depending on how deadpan the unwilling characters are and how wacko the "evil author" is.

Fans: Not the mechanical-thingy you use on a hot day. These are people who love certain shows, authors, actors, singers, etc., etc. . . . This sort of attraction tends to manifest itself in many ways — e.g., fan sites, fanfiction, fanart, the buying of heaps of associated merchandise.

Fandom: A term used to encompass the fans, their activities and mostly everything related to whatever they are fans of. E.g., "The Star Wars fandom has to be one of the largest Internet communities I've stumbled across."

Fanfiction (Fanfic): Fiction written by fans of a particular fandom involving characters/places/scenarios from said fandom. Done mostly for fun and covered with disclaimers to prevent the copyright holders from suing them.

Fannish: Referring to stuff associated to a fandom—"fannish resources" like links to sites with scripts, pictures, stores with merchandise, etc.

Fanon: Usually found in fanfiction to describe certain storylines/ideas (AU or otherwise) created by fans/some fic author that has attained a level of notoriety/fame and has spawned its own fanfics by other authors. Not official canon descriptions of characters, but generally accepted by the fans.

Fans: The people who make fandom happen.

Fan sites: Web sites showcasing fandom and fannish devotion in it's myriad forms. Fanfic, fanart, reviews, opinions, funny stuff, lists, other fans, episode guides, miscellaneous stuff and more stuff that defies description . . . (You'll know what I mean if you visit your favourite links in your fandoms of choice.)

Fanzine or 'Zine: Unauthorized fan-produced magazine; before the internet, fanzines were the only place for most people to find fanfic.

Feedback: The customary thank you note sent to authors whose fanfic one reads; often includes editorial critique. Acts on most authors as a highly addictive recreational drug.

Fem slash: A label found on fanfic, fanart or site content that constitutes a warning. A homosexual relationship involving two female characters from a fandom. Also known as "yuri" or f/f for short.

Filk: A song that's been written by an author to reflect certain themes/ideas/characters from their fandom. Compare with Song parody. Some of them are really quite ingenious and funny.

FIJAGH: Fandom Is Just a G*ddamn Hobby.

FIAWAOL: Fandom Is a Way of Life.

Fluff: Considered a step down from mush, fluff is "warm-and-fuzzy" fic involving romance.

G: A rating for content or fanfiction, according to the popular MPAA rating system — "General Audiences." Generally describes fanfiction with kiddie-safe content.

Gen: A story not focused on romantic interactions between characters.

Hentai: Genre description. Originally Japanese for "weird/strange/perverse". 1) Loosely coined to indicate graphic (NC-17) depictions of sex, often in picture form or video form and even fanfic. You shouldn't be allowed within ten feet of this unless you're 18 in most countries. Check your location's Net laws. 2) Can also be used to describe gutter-minded people - e.g., "You hentai!" or "I've got a hentai brain!"

Het: Sometimes short for "heterosexual sex/relationships/situations." In other words, a heterosexual romance fic.

Humour: Either humour related to a fandom (e.g. lists entitled "Sexually-Slanted Star Wars Lines") or humour in fanfiction - i.e., funny fics (sometimes known as crack!fics). Stuff that fans from a fandom can relate to and laugh about, probably incomprehensible to non-fans.

Hurt/Comfort: At the most basic level, a fiction where one character is hurt, and others have to comfort them. These are generally not quite as dark as angst fics or dark fics, as hurt/comfort is often used as a way of getting two of the main characters to acknowledge feelings for one another that otherwise might normally never come to light.

Keeper: A Keeper is a fan who "keeps" personal items of his/her/it's favourite character. As these characters are imaginary, these "keepsakes" are also imaginary. Like hair, underpants, smiles, virginity, and even body parts. They tend to state their status in their e-mail sigs with their titles. For example, I'm the Keeper of Snape and Lupin's (from "Harry Potter") leather pants, as well as Snape's Voodoo Childe LP. (Keepers and keepsakes do not always have to make sense, and they seldom do anyhow.)

Mailing List: An online bunch of fans from a fandom/with similar tastes who use a list-server to facilitate discussions by delievering said discussion straight into your mailbox. Most commonly known list-servers are Yahoo!, Topica and Bravenet—search and you will find fans with similar interests. Also great for fanfic authors to meet up with other authors.

Manga: Japanese comics that some people (including the site Keeper) consider an art form. Mangas are also the original starting point for a lot of anime shows like Akira, Gundam (which I hope I'm spelling right), etc. They come in translations, or so I've been told.

Mary Sue: An original female character in fanfiction. Watch out — it's the ultimate OFC! Run for it! Readers have come to dread the appearance of Miss Mary Sue, the most perfect limelight-hogging heroine you'd love to hate. Mary Sue is an avatar gone wrong because she takes over the fanfic entirely, out-shining even the main players. Mary Sue is self-insertation personified, an indulgence of the author in question. But not all Mary Sues are truly bad, as some can fade into the background quite well and become mature characters in their own right.

Marty Stu: An original male character (OMC) in fanfiction. Also known as Gary Stu or Harry Stu, this male version of Mary Sue arrives on time to sweep the heroine off her feet. While less common than the average Mary Sue (reason for this is probably the skewed ratio of female : male fanfic authors), Marty Stu is also more likely to appear in slash fanfic than his female counterpart, for obvious reasons, but it still very rare.

Missing Scene: A fiction that's written as a moment between characters within a series; it's meant to be inserted into the canon storyline as a missing moment rather than to be taken as AU.

ML: Acronym for "Mailing List." Similar to a flist (a friends list).

Mush: A softcore romantic fic, though a step above fluff. May involve sexual innuendo, but never actual smut.

NC: A label found on fanfic, fanart and sometimes even site content that constitutes a very serious warning indeed. It stands for a "non-consensual" (non-con), usually sexual situation. This includes depictions of rape —squeamish people should avoid these fics like the plague.

NC-17: A rating for content or fanfiction, according to the popular MPAA rating system — "No One 17 And Under Admitted." Generally describes fanfiction with graphic depictions of sex and/or violence.

OOC: Out of character. This is used to denote that a character is acting in a manner unlike that in which they are normally portrayed in either the canon or in other fandom works. OOC is a bit of a double-edged sword. If used correctly, it can be used to explore and expand a fuller range of character personality, especially when dealing with characters who may tend towards one-dimensional or archetypal (or even stereotypical) behavior/mannerisms, and, thus, act as a logical basis for differences that crop up in an AU fic and even for differences in character importance to a specific fan-created version of the overall fandom 'verse. An example would be something like an author writing a scene where the spirit of Qui-Gon, alone and unseen by his former Padawan, weeps over how badly he has wronged Obi-Wan - something he never does in the actual Star Wars universe but which, if built up properly, can work very well as a beginning point for a fic that more fully explores Qui-Gon's character and address the mistakes he made, in the actual series, in greater detail. On the other hand, badly written OOC's, such as fictions revolving around Obi-Wan Kenobi suddenly pitching a fit and screaming in the middle of a meeting with the High Council, are usually considered annoying and/or simply bad fic.

OFC: Acronym for "Original Female Character." Found in fanfiction. Usually this is not just a run-of-the-mill character made up to fill in a role in a fanfic. If you see "(insert character here)/OFC," it means the protagonist of the story has a relationship/falls in love with the OFC. Comparable with, but may not always be, a Mary Sue.

OMC: Acronym for "Original Male Character." Found in fanfiction and slash fanfics too. See Mary Sue and OFC for more info. Comparable with, but may not always be, a Marty Stu/Gary Stu/Harry Stu.

One Shot/One Off: A story contained entirely within one fiction, one that is not meant to be continued in other works, since it is considered complete in one part.

OSE: The filk equivalent of angst, describing a song in which "everyone dies except the dog, and then the dog dies too."

OTP: One true pairing. In the minds of fans and fanfic authors and other creators of fandom related goodies, a OTP is the only logical pairing (ship)for two (though I've also seen this concept successfully translated to a trio) of the characters. These are considered bonded soulmates, not just a married couple but two people who actively complete each other and whose spirits would be tied so closely together that they could not be fully separated from one another even in death. Believers in reincarnation would add that souls so tightly bound would follow one another and find one another through all the cycles of their lives. One true pairings do not, necessarily, have to coincide with the pairings that are established in the canon, though they work much better if they are at least somewhat canon-tight (meaning they are based on evidence presented in the canon, if only through the subtext).

Parody: A form of fanfiction that spoofs other movies/books/popular media by inserting the characters of one fandom into said media just for laughs. Most fandoms have fanfics that are spoofs or re-writes of popular shows like Titanic, Rocky Horror Picture Show or Star Wars with all the characters replaced by the author's own dream cast.

PG: A rating for content or fanfiction, according to the popular MPAA rating system — "Parental Guidance Advised."

PG-13: A rating for content or fanfiction, according to the popular MPAA rating system — "Parental Guidance Cautioned."

Plot bunny: A story idea or an idea for part of a story.

Pregfic/Preggie: Description usually found in fanfiction of the slashy variety. Involves male pregnancy, childbirth, and even raising the little sprog. Also known as MPREG.

PWP: A label found on fanfic/fanart that also serves as a warning. It is usually the acronym for "Porn Without Plot" or "Plot? *What* Plot?" — either one fits the bill. Applies to het and slash pairings both. Sometimes known as lemons or yaoi. Likely to be rated NC-17 and fairly graphic. Pure smut, in other words.

R: A rating for content or fanfiction, according to the popular MPAA rating system — "Restricted." Generally describes fanfiction with marginal depictions of sex and/or violence, swearing and other not-so nice things.

Rating: Similar to ratings on movies, these ratings on fanfic or fanart are meant as a warning of how suitable the contents are for certain age groups. The G/PG/PG-13/R/NC-17 system is mainly derived from the American MPAA system for rating movies and may not always be understood by non-American readers. Heck, sometimes it's not very well understood by American readers or writers, for that fact . . .

Scripts: Usually means the scripts of a TV-show/movie/anime, transcribed by the fans for other fans who may have missed something or need fanfic references. (This is one of the reasons why online communities are so wonderful.) Also good for people in need of translations if the version of the show you've got was not in your language of choice.

Self-injury/Self-abuse/SI: Fictions that include themes of self abuse,
like cutting or burning, in them. All fictions with these themes are supposed to have a warning on them.

Self-insertation: Meaning that the author has written her/him/itself into the fanfic. Not necessarily Mary Sue, but close.

Seme: As opposed to uke. The "top" in the sexual relationship or the more dominant of the relationship.

Ships: Ships (short for relationships) are essentially slightly organised groups of fans who follow a particular relationship. It can also be used to name the relationship. Some ships are given specific names that combine parts of the names of the characters involved (Clark and Lex become Clex in the Smallville fandom, for example), etc., but ships can also be denoted by using initials (O/A would be Obi-Wan/Anakin in the Star Wars 'verse). The only problem arises when more than one character has the same initials (which happens a lot in fandoms like Smallville and Superman, where you have lots of people with the initals LL). In that case, fans generally spell the names out or use abbreviated forms of the names.

Sigs: Short for "signature", something found at the end of e-mail messages which may contain webpage links, quotes or titles.

Site content: Stuff that appears on a website. Varies widely.

Slash/Slashy/Slashyness: A label found on fanfic, fanart and sometimes even site content—most definitely should be considered as a warning. It implies homosexual relationships between characters from a TV series/book/comic/anime/anything that is the basis of a fandom. Also known as m/m or f/f for short. The term "Femmeslash" and/or "Femslash" is sometimes used to denote a female pairing.

Smut: Smut is a story that revolves around sexual activity, sans plot. Explicit sex, in other words.

Snoglet: A snoglet is essentially fluff without plot, but a lot of making-out (because snogging = kissing, etc.).

Songfic: A variety of fanfiction that either has song lyrics interspaced within the text (in which case the lyrics are there to provide atmosphere or to emphasis what is not being said in the fic proper — usually very angsty lyrics) or is simply a story built around a specific song or song lyrics. Usually, but not always, romantic in nature.

Song parody: A filk where the authors takes a (usually) popular song and rewrites the lyrics using themes/characters from a fandom for a laugh.

Spoof: An adaptation of any existing media, altered to give a comic effect. Very close to a parody. E.g., "Spaceballs was a spoof of Star Wars."

Squick: It means that one is seriously uncomfortable with a concept, a pairing, or something kinky in intimate situations. E.g., "Incest! Ewww! Squick!" or "This pairing just squicks me something wicked!"

TPTB: Acronym for The Powers That Be. The writers/directors of the original show. Often regarded much in the way that X-Files agents regard Deep Throat and Mr. X, or, if a more classical analogy is preferred, in the way Doctor Faust must have regarded Mephistopheles.

Tentacles: A warning attached to some graphic artwork or fanfiction depicting sex involving an evil (most of the time) tentacled monster. This may squick some people.

Top Ten Lists: What it says. Lists of stuff pertaining to the fandom, usually amusing or funny. Almost every fandom has these. As a friend once said, "Blame Letterman" for the popularity of the lists

Triangle: A fiction where two more people are vying for the affection of a third character, or where everyone is in love with someone who loves someone else, who loves someone else, who loves the first character.

UC: Unconventional couple. These are couples that would normally never happen in the actual canon or related published material for a fandom. There are various reasons for a UC pairing being labeled as such: age, blood status (with regards to certain characters in certain fandoms, and sexuality are the most common. Some argue that all slash pairings are UC, but others (including yours truly) believe that UCs are, more properly, pairings that involve OCC characters or characters who simply don't ever interact all that much in the canon or related published material of a fandom 'verse.

Uke: A description of a character's position in sexual encounter. As opposed to seme, the "bottom" in a sexual relationship.

UST: Acronym for Unresolved Sexual Tension. Canonical or fanfictional sexual chemistry between two characters who are not at the time in a sexual relationship.

Vignette: A very short story, generally involving internal dialgoue. Often done in a series, snap-shot style. Often vignettes are not much longer than a drabble. Vignetts are usually a character sketch.

WAFF: Acronym for "Warm And Fuzzy Feelings" - means that the fanfic contains content that usually would produce this effect.

Warning: What it says. These are literally warnings that come before certain kinds of content that may be offensive to certain groups of people. Like slash, explicit sex scenes, nudity, swearing, alternative views, religious views and so on so forth. (It's this thing about human nature and not being able to make everyone happy all at once . . . one never knows what will set someone else off.) Take warnings seriously — you never know when you might see things you never wanted to see/hear/read.

WiP: Work in progress. A fanfic or other fandom-inspired work that is not yet complete.

Yaoi: A label found on fanfic, fanart and sometimes even site content —should be considered as a very serious warning. Originally, YAOI stands for yama-nashi (without climax), ochi-nashi (without a conclusion) and imi-nashi (without content) within a manga/anime context. In other words, a PWP that doesn't sure any function beyond getting two/more people into the sack together. It has now come to occupy almost the same meaning as slash. The difference being that yaoi needs less plausible reasons for slash to exist. And so slash is not yaoi (except perhaps when it's a PWP), but with some more plot, yaoi can sometimes be slash.

YKYOW Lists: You might have seen these on sites around the 'Net. Know the joys of "You Know You're Obsessed With (insert character/fandom here)" Lists, something every fandom worth its salt has in abundance. They're like checklists or one of those magazine self-tests, but quite firmly tongue-in-cheek most of the time.

Yuri: A label found on fanfic, fanart and sometimes even site content —should be considered as a very serious warning. The other (female) side of yaoi—f/f slash (fem slash).

And then there are the acronyms that spring up around specific fandoms . . .

I don't begin to claim to be an expert on all such terms, but in the case of an Ewan-friendly 'verse like Star Wars, there are a couple of terms to watch out for, including the following:

Canon: All Star Wars products, storylines, and events stated by Lucasfilm to be accepted as "official" events in the Star Wars universe.

G-canon: "George Lucas" canon; the six Episodes and anything directly provided to Lucas Licensing by Lucas (including unpublished production notes from him or his production department that are never seen by the public). Elements originating with Lucas in the movie novelizations, reference books, and other sources are also G-canon, though anything created by the authors of those sources is C-canon. When the matter of changes between movie versions arises, the most recently released editions are deemed superior to older ones, as they correct mistakes, improve consistency between the two trilogies, and express Lucas's current vision of the Star Wars universe most closely.

C-canon: "Continuity" canon, consisting of all recent works (and many older works) released under the name of Star Wars: books, comics, games, cartoons, non-theatrical films, and more. Games are a special case, as generally only the stories are C-canon, while things like stats and gameplay may not be; they also offer non-canonical options to the player, such as choosing female gender for a canonically male character. C-canon elements have been known to appear in the movies, thus making them G-canon; examples include the name "Coruscant," swoop bikes, Quinlan Vos, Aayla Secura, YT-2400 freighters, Salporin, and Action VI Transports.

S-canon: "Secondary" canon; the materials are available to be used or ignored as needed by current authors. This includes mostly older works, such as much of the Marvel Star Wars comics, which predate a consistent effort to maintain continuity; it also contains certain elements of a few otherwise N-canon stories, and other things that "may not fit just right." Many formerly S-canon elements have been elevated to C-canon through their inclusion in more recent works by continuity-minded authors, while many other older works (such as The Han Solo Adventures) were accounted for in continuity from the start despite their age, and thus were always C-canon.

N-canon is "non-canon." What-if stories (such as stories published under the Infinities label, which are essentially published work of AU) and anything else directly and irreconcilably contradicted by higher canon ends up here. N-canon is the only level that is NOT considered canon by Lucasfilm.

EU: Expanded Universe. This would be anything officially licensed in the Star Wars universe that has not been expressly written, spoken, or dictated by George Lucas himself. EU material essentially expands and continues the stories told in the films. While the six films (and also their scripts and novelizations) are considered one level or another of canon, just about everything else would be considered EU - the comics, the novels, the young adult books, the storylines in the games, the games themselves, etc. Since the Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas, including books, comic books, video games, spin-off films, television series, toys, and other media, it currently encompasses a history taking place roughly anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to about 130 years after Return of the Jedi. This, of course, is always expanding.

FLT: Faster than light, as in a specific form of travel.

Big Three: Term for Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.

Darth Chicken: Derogative term for Vergere, used mainly by those who dislike the Potentium or its acceptance by the New Jedi Order.

DLOTS: Acronym for Dark Lord/Lords/Lady of the Sith.

KOTOR Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (referring to a specific era following a specific comicbook line in the SW EU).

MA or M/A: Master/Apprentice. Generally refers to a specific type of pairing in the SW fandom, involving a pair who were (or are) each other's Master and Padawan Apprentice.

SW: Star Wars. What it says.

TPM: The Phantom Menace. The novel/film by this name, also known as Episode I (Ep. 1).

AotC: Attack of the Clones. The novel/film by this name, also known as Episode II (Ep. 2).

RotS: Revenge of the Sith The novel/film by this name, also known as Episode III (Ep. 3).

ANH: A New Hope. The novel/film/script/radio drama of this name, also known as Episode IV (Ep. 4).

TESB (ESB): The Empire Strikes Back. The novel/film/script/radio drama of this name, also known as Episode V (Ep. 5).

RotJ: Return of the Jedi. The novel/film/script/radio drama of this name, also known as Episode VI (Ep. 6).

OT: Original Trio. That would be the first three filmed and released SW films - ANH, TESB, and RotJ.

Prequels: The prequel films. From our point of view, these three films were released long after the OT films were, even though, from the point of view of the SW timeline, they precede the OT. TPM, AotC, and RotS are the prequel films.

Fandalorian: A term for fans of Mandalorians, Boba Fett, and/or Karen Traviss.

Fanon: Fan canon. Fan-created ideas or products that belong to none of the canon levels but are sometimes considered equal with S-canon in certain parts of the fandom.

The Flannelled One: Term for George Lucas, who is also known as GL. Also known as The Man in Plaid.

GFFA: Acronym for Galaxy Far, Far Away. Another term for the universe of Star Wars.

Luca$: Term used to describe George Lucas by those who feel his primary motivations for making the special editions and prequels was to milk fans for money, not to make high quality entertainment.

NJO: Acronym for the New Jedi Order series. Also sometimes used to refer to the era of Luke's New Jedi Order, which technically begins as soon as he begins to try to pass on the knowledge and skills of the Jedi to others.

And I think I may have to make a separate list just for SW related terms, after all, because I don't think this will all fit . . .

PS: People who REALLY want to see a big honkin' list of fanfic terms might also want to visit the fanfiction glossary, at http://www.subreality.com/glossary/terms.htm