It occurred to me after the vid post that I used some common fan terms that people might not be familiar with. I learned it slowly as it developed and came into usage much in the same manner that text speak was invented and evolved.
Like text language – there’s way too much to cover here but I thought I’d give you a list of the major terms. Some I’m just going to mention as they may have come up before. Definitions have been collected from a half dozen websites or my own explanation. For further exploration go to: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Category:Glossary
Canon – the official product, what is produced by Hollywood, Marvel, DC, J. K. Rowling, Tolkien, A. C. Doyle, G. R. R. Martin, etc. (canon is originally from the Greek kanōn, ‘rule’, and was first incorporated into English – via Latin – with the sense ‘a rule, law, or decree of the Church’)
Headcanon – refers to an individual’s interpretation of canon they make to explain or account for some aspect of the actual canon
Fanon – which is what the luckiest of headcanons grow up to be: unofficial conventions, character traits, or theories that are widely and casually accepted as true by the fandom. As an example a character without a first name given in the show have names given in the fic and one of these become fanon. This has happened in both The Sentinel and Teen Wolf fandoms though the characters’ names in TW were revealed before the show ended. A lot of fans still prefer the fanon name they got used to.
OTP – One True Pairing, i.e., the characters you will ship together forever. You usually have one OTP per fandom but you can have as many OTPs as you have fandoms. Or you can have one and just the one that takes over your life. For example – I have OTPs in The Sentinel, Highlander, Teen Wolf, The Hobbit, Hannibal, Bond films (Craig), Stargate SG-1, Merlin, Sherlock, The Magicians, etc. Alternatively, you have fandoms where you prefer a certain pairing but are willing to entertain others. These are fandoms like (for me): Potter, MCU, NCIS, and Criminal Minds where you have a large number of characters to mix and match from. Though in MCU, you will find some serious believers in only Stony or Stucky as OTP if you want to get into those debates.
OT3 – One True Threesome or Foursome or whatever number you need. This is not as rare in fandom as you might suppose. It is fiction after all. Also you can, depending on the pairing, work a third in with no trouble. So – OT3s that were almost canon or can be easily gotten to from canon: Hardison/Parker/Eliot from Leverage, Peter/Neal/Elizabeth from White Collar, (she was such a fabulous wife in that show that fans hated to break up the marriage so…), Poe/Finn/Rey, Will Turner/Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann, PepperStony (Pepper/Tony/Steve), Stuckony (Steve/Bucky/Tony), I know- the ship names can be killer, and Stark Spangled Banner (Tony/Steve/Bruce) which is honestly the best ship name EVER. And then threesomes that were because you like the OTP but you can see them with someone else. So like you are a Quentin/Eliot (Queliot) shipper but you like them with Margo, or you are all for Destiel (Dean/Castiel) but hey throw in some Sam occasionally (Wincestiel).
Fix-it – type of fanfiction in which a problematic element of canon is corrected
AU – ‘alternate universe’ refers to fanworks that transpose characters into a world other than the canonical one. But this is a very simplistic definition and I covered it in an earlier blog post.
WIP – work-in-progress or an unfinished story being posted chapter by chapter as it’s written
PWP – Plot? What plot? which is what the label says. No plot just sexy times. Also it can be interpreted as porn-without-plot
Het – Short for “heterosexual,” this term refers to pairings involving a straight male/female couple
Slash – male/male pairings, usually non-canonical male/male pairings. The term originates from classic Star Trek fandom; early fans who shipped Kirk and Spock stylized the ship name as “Kirk/Spock,” which led to calling the whole genre “slash.” With “Femslash” describing the other female/female pairings
Gen/Genfic – No pairings other than friendship or what is presented in the original
RPF and RPS– “real person fiction” and “real person slash” is fiction using the actors rather than the characters, which fans of have to be sure and remember that it is FICTION.
OOC – out-of-character is character in a piece of fanfiction is doing something at odds with the way the reader expected them to behave, based on their personality as presented by the source material.
MPREG – male pregnancy commonly used in magical fandoms like Potter, etc and A/B/O universes
A/B/O – Alpha/Beta/Omega was invented by a fan in a kinkfest and has taken on a life of its own. There are 6 genders: male Alpha, female Alpha, etc. where a character is usually referred to as male with the alpha portion as a “secondary gender characteristic” All Omegas can get pregnant and female Betas as well. Alphas are usually the exaggeration of alpha characteristics: tall, powerful, physically big and strong, super aggressive, super possessive and having a penis with an expandable knot. Omegas are supposed to be gentle, smaller, nurturing, submissive, needing children, comforting and control and produce slick or lubrication for mating. Betas are middle of the road normal standard human. Usually the couple is linked with a bonding bite to the neck which changes body chemistry and are attracted by distinctive personal scents/pheromones. Omegas have Heats and alphas have Ruts which are sexual frenzies for breeding usually noted by other chemosignals/scents. Universes usually explore slavery concepts, bucking the system, rewriting the rules, etc. The Alphas can be the top of society or the Omegas can depending on the rules the writer set. Also the character can be atypical of their gender which causes issues. There are not nearly so many fics written (or that I have read) dealing with female alphas so my knowledge of the mythology there is pretty much zero.
Meta– This is non-fiction writing about canon or other fanworks usually opinions on episodes, plot points like time-travel, plot holes, character decisions or even things like quills versus normal pens for Potter. Good metas can become headcanon or fanon.
Recs– Short for “recommendation.” Reccing other people’s fanwork is a long and valued fandom tradition
Kink – refers to an unusual element of a story that some authors and readers find especially pleasing, but which others may consider squicks, vary from mild (PG-13) to extreme (NC-17), often but not always consist of sexual acts (food porn, blow-jobs, cross-dressing, massage, shaving, etc.), and should be listed in the author’s warnings
Squick – possibly offensive elements (ie: bestiality, abuse, rape, torture, slavery, suicide, etc…) of a story which may cause feelings of unease or revulsion in a reader, and should be listed in the author’s warnings usually called “Trigger Warnings”. Likely derived from the combination of the word “squeamish” and the slang term “icky.”
Stan – a hardcore, obsessively enthusiastic fan; a portmanteau of the words stalker and fan and is the name of an obsessed fan in the Eminem song of the same name
BAMF – Bad Ass Mother Fucker refers to a character that is particularly awesome and impressive, extremely clever, effective, and hard to defeat. BAMFs may be male or female, stereotypically heroic or unexpectedly amazing, consistently so or just during brief moments. Also called a “competency kink”
Dub-Con – Dubious Consent refers to the presence of borderline non-consensual sexual contact within a story, whether implied or described
Jossed or Kripked – stories or ideas, originally intended to be canonical, which have become AU only after-the-fact because the canon material continued on and went down a different path than the fanfiction author expected (from Joss Whedon and Eric Kripke)
Well, Christmas is over. We all got together last night to ring in the new year. This has been a long one for many of us, and 2020 already shows every sign of having it’s share of joys and sorrows.
Cat.A.List Crafts 
