Lexicon
AU (Alternate Universe): Fic in which the characters from a fandom exist in a universe separate from the universe of their original text. The differences in this case can be small (a good example is Copperbadge’s Stealing Harry, in which Sirius Black takes a wrong turn in his pursuit of Peter Pettigrew and thus avoids being sent to Azkaban), or enormous (OMG Harry/Draco as PIRATES!!!1!!!).
Canon: A term adapted from the Catholic Church, originally denoting the scriptures that were considered officially part of the New Testament, as opposed to the apocrypha. So, for example, in Harry Potter fandom, the seven books are canon, as are the two Comic Relief textbooks and anything J.K. Rowling says in an interview or on her website (although she does contradict herself sometimes). The movies are not canon. (I would say that things like movie adaptations are used like a second Canon, since people often write fanfiction specifying whether it is in the book or movie universe)
Continuity: Problems of continuity arise only in fiction, when a text seems to contradict itself or its own rules. If, in reality, something happens in the past, then it has definitely happened. Rules of reality (barring quantum physics) are immutable. Not so with fiction, where sometimes a creator will simply forget a piece of canon and thereby contradict it. For example, if a certain character complained for an entire episode about being allergic to shellfish and was seen two and a half seasons later heartily enjoying some shrimp cocktail, that would be a continuity error. See Retcon.
Cosplay: When fans dress up as favorite characters, sometimes acting out little skits. It can be as simple as drawing a lightening bolt on one’s head and putting on a cape or as complex as putting together a full costume, complete with accessories like swords and wigs. Most common at conventions, it most commonly is associated with anime. The wikipedia article defines it as only associated with Japanese culture, but I would disagree with that.
Crossover: Fan creations that use two different sources (different Universes) and have their characters interact. For example: Frodo goes to Hogwarts and meets Harry Potter.
Fanboy/Fangirl
Fanfic: Stories, varying in length from 100 words (drabbles) to novel-length and up, written by fans but set in the universe of a particular canon. Short for “fan fiction”. In Sherlock Holmes fandom, fic is known as pastiche and is often published, however it is rare that fic is accorded such legitimacy.(I would argue that the very term “fanfic” denotes a type of fiction written outside of the accepted bounds of “canon.” Thus, in the Oz universe, multiple authors, like L. Frank Baum, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Jack Snow, and even Eric Shanower write works that are not considered to be “fanfiction.” In the case of Star Wars novels, what would otherwise be called “fanfiction” is called the “extended universe.” Thus, “fic” is antithetical to something like “pastiche,” in that its very reason for existence is that its series does not *allow* for multiple authorships.)(Yes, I agree that fanfic is by definition outside of canon. I think the confusion here is arising from my phrasing. Holmes pastiche is definitely not canon — the only Holmes canon is by Conan Doyle. However, the nature of the narrative form Conan Doyle chose, i.e. the premise that Watson was only publishing select case files, left open opportunity to “fill in” other cases, and these are the published “pastiches”. In its normal use, a pastiche is a work in the style of another author, often as parody, but in Holmes fandom the word really is used for the major form of fanfic. There is, of course, the more traditional (haha) form of fic — Holmes/Watson abounds online — but such writing is, to my understanding, not included in the Sherlockian community. I would argue that the term pastiche in this usage should also be applied to the recent spate of Austen-verse novels, chronicling Lizzy and Darcy’s marriage and such, which are also definitely not canon but are not fic in the form to which we would normally apply the term.)
Fan-friendly
Fanon: Stands for “fan canon,” or something that was never established in the series, but is widely accepted by the fandom. Was coined by a Swarthmore graduate. (I would replace “series” with “text” in the above entry, to include non-TV Fanons)(A good example of fanon is the idea that Remus Lupin has facial scars from wounding himself while in werewolf form. I think this was introduced in The Shoebox Project, but is now found in numerous MWPP- or Marauder-era fics. SBP has within it many bits of MWPP fanon.)
Filk
Hee: Expression of humor or amusement. Belongs to the family of typed-out nonverbals; see Squee
Het: Fan creations where the main ship is heterosexual. Also can be used as a genre, ie: like how people say “I like to read mysteries”, a person might say “I like to read het.”
Mary-Sue: When the author of a fanfic inserts herself (if author is male this phenomenon can be known as Gary-Stu, but fandom being 90% female it doesn’t pop up much) into the universe that she is writing in as an idealized fictional character. Often the character solves the problems that are vexing the actual characters canon and in the process the male character that the author is attracted to falls for the Mary-Sue. The Mary-Sue often has characteristics like supernatural beauty, long silver hair, purple eyes, and poor characterization.
Mash-up: generally musical or televisual. An intertextual object which recombines and recontextualizes unrelated media into a new object/narrative. A musical example is the DJ Girl Talk, who barely has any original material (if any), but uses many samples from other songs in order to create new songs (new narratives). A televisual example is TV Carnage. Mash-ups are not necessarily fan-produced.
Meta: a) Fan produced commentary on the text, or on fan produced texts, usually in essay form. This commentary goes beyond simple reactions to the events shown on screen (“I really enjoyed tonights episode because the explosion was really cool” is not meta) and extrapolates larger themes in the show or fandom (“Everyone keeps writing fic featuring explosions, but it only happened ONCE. I think that this reflects the overwhelming concern of people being interested in the violence of the show to the point of excluding other things.” Like that but longer)b) When a show makes a self aware reference. On Stargate: SG-1 (a show about space explorers that had problems portraying female characters) they had a show inside the fictional universe called “Wormhole X-treme!” about space explorers (meta), and an actress in Wormhole X-treme mentioned that they had trouble trying to figure out what to do with her character (very meta).(here’s a link to meta_fandom, which is a repository of meta of type (a))
Mundane
Neologism: A newly-coined word or phrase; usually a combination of a few words.
NWS or NSFW: Not Work-Safe or Not Safe For Work. I.E., not something you want your boss to catch you reading (usually because it makes you look like a pervert).
OTP: One true pairing. When a shipper strongly believes that two characters are made for each other, and should be with no one else. Sometimes used ironically (liek OMG they r so OTP!!!!11!) but in an non ironic context can be used to express a strong preference (sometimes to the point of exclusion) for a certain ship. Sometimes has spin offs into things like OT3 (Harry/Ron/Hermione).
PWP: A fic that comprises a sex scene with little to no context. There are two possible breakdowns to the acronym. First, “Plot? What Plot?”, implying an attitude towards fanfiction in which the author sees sexual explicitness as trumping any possible narrative value, and second, “Porn Without Plot.”Retcon: When previous canon is contradicted (deliberately) by current canon in order to establish something as different from what was originally said. Most often used in comics to try and deal with years and years of canon with different authors (see Crisis on Infinite Earths)
Ship: Short for relationship. A pairing of characters that the fan likes. Often indicated with a “/” (for both homosexual and heterosexual pairings). For example Harry/Draco or Harry/Hermione.
Shippers: A derivative of the word “relationship”, a “shipper” (a fan) espouses a certain “ship”. In Doctor Who fandom, there are Doctor/Rose, Doctor/Martha, and Doctor/Master shippers, to name a few.Slash: Fan creations (usually fic or art, but conceivably applicable to vids, fanfilms, role-playing, etc.) that center on male/male or female/female relationships. Slash about women is often called femmeslash. In Japanese anime fandom, slash is known as yaoi, from a saying that translates to “no mountain, no peak, no point” (there’s not very much G-rated yaoi) and often uses an x instead of a /, i.e. MugenxJin instead of Remus/Sirius.
Squee: High pitched noises of extream excitement. Usually used by fangirls instead of fanboys.
UST: Unresolved Sexual Tension between two characters. Often employed in serial storytelling (like TV series) to create romantic expectation without bringing the relationship to closure (e.g. Sam and Diane on Cheers, Mulder and Scully on The X-Files, Picard and Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jim and Pam (until recently) on The Office). Often when the tension is “resolved,” the series is said to have “jumped the shark” (for example: Moonlighting).(UST is often cited as evidence for a ship, but is a very subjective condition — to some, Draco and Harry hate each other, while for others, their behavior is clearly a feeble front for their desire to jump the other’s bones.)
Vidding/Vids
Zines