#fanspeak

岩 = iwa, rock

男 = otoko/o, man

Put that together, and guess what you get? Besides a homonym for a fairly common boy's name? XD

More often, 岩男(Iwao) is used to refer to the franchise as a whole, but it can also be in reference to the blue bomber himself.

It doesn't preserve the original meaning of "rock" as a music genre, but it's just to get the point across.

(Aside: You can tack on "X" to talk about Mega Man X. 岩男X. We'll be talking about Classic 'cause that's where this happens the most.)

Some of these are fairly straightforward.

EXAMPLE: 泡(awa) = bubble. 泡男 = Bubble Man. 蛇(hebi) = snake. 蛇男 = Snake Man.

Shit starts to get weird when you start straying away from words that don't have a single-character equivalent. Or when you have two guys whose names mean similar things.

EXAMPLE A: 春(haru) = spring. Not like the coil, but like the spring season. This is regardless used to refer to Spring Man. 春男 (when I see it, it's more often just 春 though).

EXAMPLE A-2: 巻(maki) = roll. But like a roll OF something (like thread, or cloth, or paper), it's not the action of rolling. This is regardless used to refer to Roll. There's no 女(onna, woman) tacked to the end of her nickname btw.

EXAMPLE B: 影(kage) is defined as shadows, or silhouettes. 陰 is pronounced and defined just like it (unless you're going for the alternate reading of in), but you can't use them both interchangably to say Shadow Man. 影男 is Shadow Man, 陰男 is Shade Man.

The point is brevity, so nicknames are typically only two kanji characters. Those whose nicknames are two characters long don't get 男 slapped onto the ends.

EXAMPLE: 重力(juuryoku) by itself is Gravity Man, even if it just says Gravity. 根性(konjou) by itself is Guts Man, even if it just says Vitality/willpower...refer to Example A above.

Very rarely does it go on to three words, but those exist too.

Like 太陽神(taiyoujin), meaning "sun god". ...You need to know Sunstar's name is Sungod in Japan for that to work. A couple of the Stardroids do that, because all of them borrow the names of their respective planets. 冥王星(meiousei) is Pluto, for instance.

Using kanji is a popular way to tag ships too. If I knew then what I know now, I could've blocked certain keywords and browsed artists' personal sites in peace.

It's really as simple as mashing two names together (using an x between the two is optional).

EXAMPLE: Snake Man x Gemini Man? Remember that 蛇 is what we call ol' Snakey. Once you know that Gemini Man goes by 双子(futago, twins), you just say 双子蛇.

Going back to my very first point about name-truncation, the ship naming conventions work there too. You just mash two cutoff names together.

(I think the kata method has gained popularity as of late, 'cause I see both methods in equal measure nowadays.)

EXAMPLE A: Blues x Kalinka = ブルカリ(Burukari, from ブルース and カリンカ).

EXAMPLE A-2: Elec Man x Cut Man = エレカト(Erekato, from エレキマン and カットマン).

Sometimes there's a little weirdness.

EXAMPLE: Snake Man x Toad Man = スネード(Suneedo, from スネークマン and トードマン.) Using the prolonged sound mark to join two names is pretty unconventional.

And yes, the order does matter. Whoever tops goes first. People generally arrive at a consensus about who tops and reversing the order gets you less results.

With Jupiter(木星, mokusei) x Gyro Man(旋回, senkai), it's 木星旋回, not 旋回木星. I mean, it could be. But you're playing in a way smaller pool.

There are characters who are more popularly in front than others, which is directly proportional to how masculine they're presented (through dialogue or appearance). That's why you almost never see a girl's name in front. I don't know if I've seen Roll in front for any ship she's ever been in. We have yet to escape our biases, I guess.

Extra note: If you see something like 光速光 (光 = light, for Flash Man, 速 = speed, for Quick Man), that doesn't mean two Flash Men. That's more like...implying that the topping goes both ways. It means you're not picky about who takes what role.

Extra info worth noting:

In JP fandom, they sort shipping into, BL (boys' love, yaoi), GL (girls' love, yuri), and NL(normal/nonke love, straight pairs. Yeah. I know.)

Girls and guys who are into BL and GL are called fujoshi and fudanshi. You probably don't need all this fucking background, you're a fan of a Japanese IP, you've been here before.

腐 is a clipping of fujoshi/fudanshi, and 向け is a form of 向く(muku), meaning "to aim at, to be geared towards". 腐向け(fumuke) is "for the fujo/fudan".

So when you see 腐向け岩男(fumuke-Iwao), or 腐向けロクマ(fumuke-rokuma), or just the 腐 anywhere near your results, that's "Rock Man for the fujo". It's basically shorthand for gay robots. If you notice this string of characters, you're gonna see gay robots. Don't forget that.

Never forget that.

So, that's interesting, right? I thought it was, anyway.

No idea when this whole thing started, but I'll take a wild guess it was to save time. Or cut down on text messaging fees. That's assuming Japan had the same data fee fuckery as the US back in the 2000s, but eh. I digress.

I've got a list of nickname kanji for most of the robot masters. Might attach it to this post as a reblog or something.

(((EDIT: Guess what.)))

It might be of some use to you if you're looking to take a walk on the other side of the world while looking for fan art and fan fiction (*dun dun dunnnn*).

Kl8r.

1. Canon

Think of this as the source material, or the official details of the storyline and plot of the show you're watching.

Example: "I can't believe Frank and Laurel are actually canon in HTGAWM! I didn't think the writers would actually let them get together..."

2. Shipping

Of the word "relationship", the fan belief that two characters should be or will be together. A very hot topic in most fandoms, shipping requires fans to root for characters to enter into a (usually) romantic relationship, despite some not being particularly likely to be canon. Ships are attached with a portmanteau of the characters' names for ease of reference and tagging within fandom platforms.

Example: "I love how Greg and Rebecca banter on CXG. I definitely ship Grebecca!"

3. OTP

"One True Pairing", your OTP is your favorite relationship within a fandom, above all others.

Example: "As much as I love Sherlock and Molly, my Sherlock OTP is 100% Johnlock, obviously. I can't help but love them."

4. TPTB

"That Powers That Be", otherwise known as those with control over our favorite shows, whether it be writers, showrunners, or producers. Throughout fan history, we've seen TPTB have increasing relationships with audiences (specifically since most fandoms took up homes on social media), allowing creators to hear fan ideas and concerns (whether or not they listened to them).

Example: "TPTB really listened to Brooklyn 99 fans after it got canceled! This is the one time they actually listened to us."

5. The Fourth Wall

Best described as the boundary between fictional characters in a show and those that watch it. Usually means that show characters are aware they're in the show, breaching the divide that most shows keep up.

Example: "My favorite episode of Supernatural is when they are thrown into a world where they are actors in a show called Supernatural. It completely breaks the fourth wall!"

6. Headcanon

A fan's own interpretation of existing canon, taking it one step further to express a belief of something that could've been true about a storyline, but was your own inference.

Example: "Eleanor hustles Chidi in a game of Scrabble the first time they play? Headcanon accepted."

7. Queerbaiting

A ploy showrunners use to appeal to an LGBTQ+ audience by hinting at a character's "ambiguous" sexuality, but never actually following through with meaningful representation.

Example: "I really liked Supergirl at first, but the writers really took advantage of our love for Kara and Lena. They would have these long romantic speeches and stick "friend" at the end, even in the series finale! I'm tired of waiting."

8. Slash

Slash is the popularized slang term for a genre of fanwork that features characters of the same gender in a romantic relationship, whether or not it's canon.

Example: "All I read this weekend was Clarke/Lexa slash. I'm obsessed."

9. Fic

Short for "Fanfiction" or "Fanfic" (but never, ever "fan fiction" is a fan-made piece of writing based on existing work (which can be virtually anything), using the existing characters and plotlines for inspiration. Taking the story further with one's own imagination, no longer relying solely on canon to fully enjoy a work of fiction.

Example: "I've spent hours on my ODAAT fic and I'm only on the fifth chapter! Would you mind reading it and letting me know what you think?"

10. RPF

RPF, or "Real Person Fic" is fanworks created about real people, rather than the fictional characters they play. Frequently done for those that play characters in a popular ship, but for the real, personal figures of those actors or celebrities.

Example: "I love Supernatural so much, I can't imagine that Jensen and Misha aren't actually together, right? I could write RPF about them all day."