Has your feed suddenly been taken over by one fandom? Are all your mutuals discarding their fandoms and creating for this one new thing? You may be experiencing The Fandom That Ate Fandom.
The Fandom That Ate Fandom is a term used to describe one fandom that all other fandoms seems to turn towards, which seems to absorb all the attention of fans. Some examples of this are Stargate Atlantis, BTS, and The Untamed. This trend can be frustrating for some fans because all their mutuals, fannish friends and favourite creators are focused on one thing, something they may not be interested in, and it can be very hard to avoid.
Have you experienced this phenomena? Come check out Fanlore and see if the fandom that ate fandom you were thinking of is on the page.
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I am aware that we talk a lot of nonsense and that many of the things we say must sound like we are speaking in tongues to the uninitiated, so I have put together a wee glossary of some of the more useful and some of the more chaotic terminologies in the hopes that at least one person will find something helpful within
PD - Punchdrunk; TBC - The Burnt City; SNM - Sleep No More; TDM - The Drowned Man
WM - White Mask (noun); because we simply cannot be typing out " a u d i e n c e m e m b e r " every single time we want to shout out a cool loop buddy or discuss interesting flocking behaviour or just make it really clear we're talking about punters rather than employees
WM - White Mask (verb); for when a performer or other employee is watching the show as an audience member, for example: "I saw Milton WMing the Zagreus loop, I laughed to myself every time he took an unnecessary shortcut"
BM - Black Mask; because it would be EVEN WORSE to have to type out "member of the FOH team or backstage crew" every single time we want to sing the praises of these deeply integral and yet purposefully-mostly-invisible heroes
(FOH - Front Of House; queue wranglers, box office team, cloakroom crew, bar staff, stewards, everyone with a job that's to do with keeping the audience happy and organised as opposed to keeping the show itself running)
Red/blue casting - there are two basic casting configurations, the red cast and the blue cast, because this is a full-on three-hour dance show with no interval. Punchdrunk therefore make sure the performers alternate between travelling characters and resident characters so they don’t burn out and die from playing someone like Apollo or Iphigenia eight times a week. Once you learn who’s who in each cast, it gets easier to predict who you might see in which roles at any given performance, but because people sometimes go on holiday, or get injured, or pursue other short-term projects, or just like to mix it up, it is never completely possible to predict who you will see in any given role on any given night (apart from Hades, who is usually Sam Booth, and Furnace, who is almost always Sam Parker; go on HOLIDAY, Sams)
(NB: when people say a show is looking a bit purple, that means the cast list is more mixed up than the usual blue/red+covers+swings, and some people are playing the roles they wouldn't usually be playing for that night's performance)
Red cast - a small selection of point characters to watch out for to tell if it's a red cast show: Agamemnon (Rob), Iphigenia (Lou), Apollo (Seirian), Hecuba (Kat), Polydorus (Jordan), Orpheus (Naomi)
Blue cast - a small selection of point characters to watch out for to tell if it's a blue cast show: Agamemnon (Jon), Iphigenia (Fern), Apollo (Georges), Hecuba (Emily), Polydorus (Ferghas), Orpheus (Cristina)
Swing/(cover) - the swings are a small but mighty army of performers who have no fixed schedule and are able to play up to eight different roles each to cover holidays and other absences. Where we have taken our other terminologies from Punchdrunk directly, “cover” is my own term for people like Milton and Omar, whose entire job is to cover the resident roles on other cast members’ regular shows off without having to tap into the army of swings. Covers are a little more predictable than swings, as they play fewer roles and are pretty likely to be performing in the majority of shows in a week; swings are impossible to predict unless you have insider knowledge. Some performers are in the red/blue cast pattern and are able to play a couple of additional roles besides so might occasionally swing into one of these other roles, just without being referred to as a swing; some performers (MITCH) are only regularly scheduled for one of the two colour casts so will always be swinging if they’re performing on another night
Travelling character - a higher-intensity role, often (though not always) dance-heavy, often (though not always) seen moving between Greece and Troy. Performers usually get one show off per week in addition to no-show days, and this generally will not fall on a day when they are scheduled to be playing their travelling role. If you prefer Big Story to supporting players, follow a travelling character: Hades, Persephone, Artemis, Apollo, Hecuba, Cassandra, Polydorus, Polyxena, Polymestor, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Aegisthus, Neoptolemus, Patroclus
Resident character - a lower-intensity role, less likely to be dance-heavy, less likely to be seen moving between Greece and Troy. Performers usually get one show off per week in addition to no-show days, and this generally will fall on a day when they are scheduled to be playing their resident role. If you prefer low-level weirdos to major players, follow a resident character: Macaria, Luba, Kampe, Eurydice, Zagreus, Askalaphos, Kronos, Laocoön, Oracle, Watchman
RD - rehearsal director; mostly there to keep an eye on the performers and performances. They rehearse with new performers, they rehearse with established performers in new roles, they rehearse with established performers in established roles in new scenes, they watch the show to identify any areas that might need tightening up, they get final say over whether a performer is ready to take audience members for 1:1s, and they even perform in the show (either semi-regularly like Lily and Omagbitse or as needed like Sarah, Natalie and Eric). If you ever see a familiar-looking WM carrying a notebook, congrats! You’ve spotted an RD in the wild!
C1 - Contract 1, 22nd March 2022 to 8th January 2023; C2 - Contract 2, 11th January 2023 to currently unconfirmed (and not even strongly rumoured at this point but nonetheless suspected by this individual blogger to be due some time in September) 24th September 2023 (😭😭😭)
Walk-out - when a performer takes a WM by the hand, leads them out of the finale, and removes their mask for them at the end of the show. There are variations on the theme but that's the basic shape for all of 'em
Walk-through - when a performer takes a WM by the hand and leads them from the Troy finale to the Mycenae finale
Shopty - there was a party back in the days of TDM. If your ticket was for both the show and the party, then it had SHO+PTY printed on it. Just a portmanteau for show+party, the nickname has stuck even if the tickets don’t have the shorthand on them anymore
The Souk - there's an off-limits area behind Ciacco's and Hades's house that was labelled as the Souk on PD's original planning documents. This area is inaccessible to audience members and unlikely to ever be opened up, but it does occasionally come up in conversation so it's not not useful to have a name for it
Chaos casting - generally refers to a show that has a greater than usual number of swings performing, which makes for a greater than usual number of exciting new performance choices to watch, but can also refer to the idea of a performer taking on an unexpected role
The Expendables - there are a few characters that the show can function without, so when there's just not enough cast members around, these are the first to be cut. They are (in order of most-to-least likely to be cut): Eurydice, Kronos, Askalaphos, Laocoön, Oracle, Luba, Orpheus, Peep host, Persephone. Yes, the show can function and has functioned without PERSEPHONE. Also, shout-out to that one performance where the usual ‘two Peep hosts + Orpheus’ trio was Literally Just Lily, what a show that must have been!
Lonely X Show - mostly just Zagreus, tbh, a Lonely Zagreus Show/Loop gets a special name because his story so strongly revolves around Eurydice that it's a rare and fascinating treat to see what he gets up to when she isn't there. Though that said, there was also once a Lonely Hades Show, and I would pay VIP prices for the opportunity to witness that for myself one day so PD should definitely consider revisiting that some time
Ghost loop - when a character is missing for whatever reason, but you follow their usual path around the space anyway, guided only by memory, sound and light
Lilydorus - once, back in the mists of last November, the online cast list announced we were due to have Lily play Polydorus. They chickened out in the end but the idea of an incredibly unusual piece of chaos casting has stuck with us since, and a Lilydorus is therefore a piece of casting that is so unusual that you'd be more inclined to think it a data input mistake than a genuine debut (which it almost certainly is, but you're still going to hop on a train and book a last-minute ticket while speeding your way to Woolwich just in case)
Peeple - a Wordle-type game which picks up the performers from the daily online cast list and lets you test your casting skills by having you list who you think each performer is playing at that evening’s performance
Swingo - when you have seen a swing play every character in their repertoire, you have achieved swing bingo: Swingo! Some people like to impose additional rules for themselves, like they must have had a 1:1 from the performer, or they must have been walked out by the performer at least once, but I just play by the bare minimum “followed for at least one loop per performer/character combo (and yes loop 1 counts)” rules
Team Kronos - there are no real rules for being a member of Team Kronos; you don’t need to have followed him a certain number of times, you don’t need to have had the 1:1, you just have to dig his vibes. Anyone who wants to can declare themselves a member of Team Kronos (I suspect that some performers who have played this role would not count as Team Kronos members)
Character nicknames heard in-show - Pols, Polydogface, Polydoofus (Polydorus), Skally (Askalaphos), Zaggy (Zagreus), Iphy (Iphigenia), Neo (Neoptolemus), Pat (Patroclus)
Character nicknames used by the fandom - PolyD (Polydorus), PolyX (Polyxena), PolyM (Polymestor), Aska, Asky, Bird Boy (Askalaphos), Aggers, Aggy (Agamemnon), Cly (Clytemnestra), Aeggy, Eggman (Aegisthus)
Character nicknames used by Punchdrunk no matter how hard performers and audience alike push back against it - Eury (Eurydice)
For this week’s Terminology Thursday we’re celebrating those fics which you know are (sometimes) kind of terrible, but just seem to scratch the right part of your brain: Idfic!
What makes an idfic is different for everyone: it’s not exactly good fic or badfic, but it’s compelling because it satisfies particular kinks, either sexual or emotional. This could be a crackfic which follows a ridiculous premise to its silly conclusion, or a fic about something you might consider “wrong” in real life but love in fiction — as long as it appeals to your id!
Learn more about idfic on Fanlore!
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Do you have a character that you love so much that you just want to wrap them up on a blanket? This Terminology Thursday we’re learning all about “woobie”, which is the term for a beloved fannish character that you just want to cuddle.
The term is often described in conjunction with characters that are hard-working or endure difficult circumstances bravely, and the majority of characters perceived as woobies are white and male.
Some well-known examples of woobies are Rory Williams (Doctor Who), Bucky Barnes (MCU), Dean Winchester (Supernatural), and Damon Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries).
Check out which other characters are considered woobies over on our Fanlore page and let us know in the comments if we left off your favorite!
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We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!
It’s time for sailing cause this Terminology Thursday, we’re looking at Juggernaut Ship, a term used for an extremely popular pairing within a fandom.
Although opinions may vary on what can be considered a juggernaut ship, it is typically understood as a pairing that completely overwhelms all others from the same fandom in the amount of fanworks produced.
The predominance of a juggernaut ship can potentially spark ship wars or wank in a fandom as it makes fans of other pairings feel left out. A direct contrast to the juggernaut ship is the rarepair.
Check out the examples for juggernaut ships on Fanlore and consider adding your own to the mix!
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We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!
You may have seen fans in zines, mailing lists, communities, or archives affirming that they are over a certain age (usually 18). These are known as age statements — this week’s Terminology Thursday feature!
Age statements have a long history in fandom. Zine publishers, community moderators, and archives often require age statements to keep underage viewers from accessing adult content. In other cases, moderators have taken the approach of warning for adult content, with an implicit assumption that participants are of age until proven otherwise.
Learn more about the history of age restrictions on Fanlore!
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We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!
[ID: Infographic explaining the term 'Derivative Ship'. It uses little cut-outs of two green figures and a red heart to represent the original ship, with various 'derivative ships' branching off in different colors (blue, yellow and pink), signifying alternative versions of the original ship in different media. The main text reads 'Derivative Ship' in both English and Chinese. /End ID]
This Terminology Thursday, we’re looking at Derivative Ship: a term commonly used in C-Drama fandoms for a popular pairing that spawns crossover ships featuring other characters played by the same actors.
For example, fans of the pairing Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan (巍澜) from the series Guardian would look for other roles the two actors have played and ship these characters together. These fanworks would be labelled as WeiLan Derivatives or 巍澜衍生.
The term originated among Chinese fans who also use it for ships from non-Chinese fandoms. English speaking fans typically refers to Derivative Ship as Adjacent Ship or Actor-based crossover pairings.
Help us expand the page on Fanlore!
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We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!
Have you ever come across words and phrases in fandom that even Urban Dictionary had no definition for? Introducing Terminology Thursday: our new regular feature where we discuss interesting fannish vocabulary, old and new!
Every Thursday, we’ll highlight different terms with the hashtag #Thurminology. So reblog this post and tell us some fandom terms you are curious about!
