fanwank

[beccaelizabeth]

Have seen used, often, the term 'wank' to refer to any discussion that is getting too wound up over small stuff.

I learned the term 'fanwank' in a rather different context - it's what fans do when a bit of canon doesn't seem to fit, when it kinda sits there sticking out awkwardly. They fiddle around with it until they reach a satisfying conclusion.

Did that definition go away? Or is the 'fan' part just that important?

Comments

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

There's also the oddity that old school Who fandom (as in, the OG crowd who are unlikely to be involved in other online fandoms) define fanwank totally differently, as a story containing lots of continuity - closer to what most fandoms call fanservice.

[beccaelizabeth]

hadn't heard that one before.

think I'll stick with fanservice for that version.

[strangerian.livejournal.com]

I think the definition of "fans finding a plausible explanation for continuity (or other) problems in the source" is a bit older, and is still used on occasion. The high-profile "over-serious discussion of small stuff at which other fans point and laugh" gets a great deal more publicity and may eventually drown the first one out completely, but it hasn't happened yet!

Both usages come of "fans playing with themselves," whether the "play" is picayune or constructive.

[beccaelizabeth]

*nods*