Now that you have decided to join us crazy fans, I think it's time to learn some phrases and terms frequently used on the internet. If you have been around the internet world for some time and are familiar with the terms, feel free to skip this chapter and go ahead to the next one! This chapter is rather short, and focuses more on "What not to do" if you want to spend the rest of your time in this fandom peacefully.

LJ: LJ is short for Livejournal, which is a journal and blog site. I'm sure there are a lot of other journal sites around, but LJ remains the most widely-used amongst Gackt fans. You don't have to sign up to read other people's journals, but of course having an account helps identify who you are. However, if you would like to read a person's friends-locked posts, you do have to sign up and be added as a friend by that person. Livejournals have both users and communities. Users are maintained by individuals and works like a blog, whereas communities are maintained by users (usually in groups). Communities have rules and the maintainers have the right to delete or do other moderating jobs depending on the rules. Some communities are "friends-locked" and you will need to sign up before you can post or comment. Well, there are various types of users in LJ, and it may seem hard to adjust to it at first, especially in communities, but you should be fine as long as you remain polite and respectful to other users. ^^

Noobs: Those who have just entered the fandom are often given the title of noob (or n00b), and unfortunately, it doesn't have a positive connotation to it. "They inherit the definition of "newbie" but are generally used in a derogatory manner to indicate uselessness because of the ignorance associated with being a newcomer." (Wikipedia) The term noob should not be confused with newbie, who is simply someone new to the fandom.

BNF: BNF is short for Big Name Fan. This refers to a member of a fandom who is popular or well-known for contributing something to the fandom, such as fanart, fanfiction, articles, information, etc. The term BNF used to be held in high regard and was only given to someone who had earned the respect of other fans. However, it has taken a negative connotation of late and can also refer to someone who is notorious in the fandom or simply anyone who is well-known in the fandom even though they did not contribute anything. While some do enjoy receiving the title of BNF, there are a number of people who dislike being called one due to the negative meanings associated with it. Naturally, the Gackt fandom has its fair share of BNFs too, but names will not be mentioned here. If you stick around in the fandom long enough, you will eventually learn who they are anyway. Who knows, you might even become one yourself! (The good BNF that is)

Wank(ery): There is a community called fandom wank, whose members follow wankery on various fandoms and posts about them there. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the term means, but in general it's making fun of the absurdity and ridiculous behaviours within various fandoms. According to Fandom Wank, "wank" is a British sexual slang word referring to masturbation which is used here in a metaphorical sense to refer to fans who have gotten so carried away that they are getting off on their egos in public. Our own Gackt fandom has made it there once or twice. ^^;; Usually, it starts with a quarrel in a fandom and when it becomes a full-fledged war within the fandom, it will end up in the fandom wank community. Note though, that the wanks are directed at the behaviour of the fans or the people who are involved as opposed to the act which caused the fight.

Flaming: You flame someone when you insult or criticize that person online. A flamewar occurs when the people involved in a debate or discussion online give up reason and logic in favor of flinging derogatory insults to the other person. Most of the time the flames are not related to the topic discussed and are attacks on that person's personality, or in some cases even that person's language-speaking abilities.

PWND: The word pwnd is derived from owned or ownd. It was originally a typo, since the letters P and O are right next to each other on the keyboard, but people make this typo so often that it gradually became a word on its own. According to Wikipedia, PWND means "beaten thoroughly"/"destroyed quickly and with ease".

Trolls: According to Wikipedia, "In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding. They may also plant images and data on networks that others may find disturbing (usually indirectly relating to the individual in person) in order to cause confrontation.” Trolls in the fandom are almost always people who aren’t regular members of a community and don’t contribute at all.

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