Fansplaining

This month's Fansplaining piece is a bit of a departure from our usual fandom reporting and critical analysis: for the first time, we're very excited to share a virtual art exhibit of sorts, from Toronto-based curators and BTS fans Rea McNamara and Bo Shin.  I came to ruin you: The Collecting Practices of K-pop Fandoms was on display at York University this past spring, and what follows is an expanded version of the exhibition's brochure, plus images, videos, and interviews with some of the fan collectors and participating artists Jiwon Choi and Lux Pyre.  You can listen to the main text of the piece on this feed, but! We'd highly recommend going to the article itself to see all the images and videos (with descriptive captions and alt-text):  https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/i-came-to-ruin-you-the-collecting-practices-of-k-pop-fandoms  

In our newest piece, Sacha Judd goes deep on RPF, tracing it back decades and tackling its thorny intersections with other kinds of fan practices.  "The RPF Question" by Sacha Judd. Amid blurry boundaries between fic, celebrity fandom, and conspiracy theories, how real person fiction evolved from forbidden to mainstream and back again. Read the full piece:  https://fansplaining.com/articles/the-rpf-question  

Our latest piece is by Amanda-Rae Prescott, who was one of the expert guests in our "Race and Fandom" series back in 2020! (https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/135b-race-and-fandom-revisited-part-2) "Bridgerton and Period Drama Fandom's Enduring Racism Problem" by Amanda-Rae Prescott. Complaints about historical accuracy and acting quality are often dog-whistles: some fans only want to see white actors—and white history—on screen.  Read the full piece here: https://fansplaining.com/articles/bridgerton-period-drama-fandoms-racism  

Gav is back in Fansplaining in 2025! This time, she writes about Sam Wilson's recent Captain America debut—and how the MCU failed both the character and the fandom. "Sam Wilson Deserved Better Than Brave New World" by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw: Marvel wants fans to care about lore without thinking too deeply about themes and emotions—the things that brought them to this fandom in the first place. Read the full piece here: fansplaining.com/articles/sam-wilson-deserved-better-brave-new-world  

Our first article of 2025 is here—and it's a big one!   "The War That Almost Broke a Classic Fandom" by Lena Barkin: Blake's 7 fans and actors mixed regularly at cons and on the pages of zines—until an anonymous letter changed everything. Read the full piece here: fansplaining.com/articles/the-war-that-almost-broke-a-classic-fandom

Around this time in December, we usually wrap up Fansplaining with “The Year in Fandom”: a look back at five trends from the prior year followed by five trends from the year coming to a close. With Flourish's departure this summer, the podcast is now on hiatus—but I had a lot of thoughts about 2024, particularly when it came to fanfiction. Many thanks to Flourish for looking this over; in a way, it's a “Year in Fandom” segment in spirit. In 2024, everyone wanted a piece of fic, from AI grifters to traditional publishers to ravenous audiences. Where did that leave the people who write it? Read the full article as you listen along: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/endless-appetite-fanfiction

Our latest article is by Abby Kirby, who writes about her experiences teaching fanfiction to middle schoolers: "Fic does something that my traditional English classes cannot: it places the power in the hands of the student." Read the full piece here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/bringing-fanfiction-into-the-classroom

We're excited to welcome back Allegra Rosenberg, who's written a new article for us on contemporary Beatles fandom: "The Beatles Live! New generations of fans are cultural archaeologists, working with the materials of the past to create the passion of the present." Read the full piece here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/the-beatles-live

Our newest article is “The Scream Fandom's Enduring Divide” by Michael Boyle: Nearly a year after star Melissa Barrera was fired for pro-Palestinian social media posts, fans remain torn over the future of the franchise. Read the full piece here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/the-scream-fandoms-enduring-divide

Our newest article is "The Acolyte's Squandered Potential" by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw: The show brought a whole new set of fans to a stagnating franchise. Its cancellation suggests Star Wars is only interested in looking backwards. Read the full article here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/the-acolytes-squandered-potential    

Our newest article is "The Traumatized Gatekeepers of Broadway" by Laura Wheatman Hill: Theatre fans measure their passion by nitpicking. Does it do the industry more harm than good?  You can read the full article here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles//the-traumatized-gatekeepers-of-broadway

Our first piece in this new era of Fansplaining is "The Yellow Balloon Movement" by Maria Temming: Within jam band fandoms often dominated by substance use, clean and sober fans are building their own communities. You can read the full article here: https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/the-yellow-balloon-movement  Hi, Fansplaning listeners, Elizabeth here. So everyone probably knows by now that the podcast is on hiatus. And you may be wondering why is this still showing up in my feed?Thanks for not unsubscribing, because I would say with 95% certainty, the podcast will be back in some form before too long.   But this is showing up in your feed because, as you may recall, in the hiatus portion of the podcast itself, I'm going to be ramping up our publication arm, which we've, you know, kind of periodically added to over the years. Now, there's going to be at least one new piece per month, and we had a listener when I announced this suggest that we also do audio versions. And so everyone who's writing one of these stories also knows they have to record themselves, reading it and then we'll put it up alongside the text.    And so I thought, well, you know, for folks who do like listening, why not use this feed to share the audio with them? You can also find it with the article itself on fansplaining.com, and if you listen to this and enjoy it I would really appreciate if you go back there and maybe share it with folks, whether they like listening or reading.   So that's all to say,I thought I would just, for this one, explain what I was doing, but rather than just dropping the audio into your feet with no, with no warning. So I won't have a big introduction for, for all of them, but for this one, because it was showing up again after a few weeks, I wanted to explain why something new was showing up in your feet.   So without further ado, the first article in this new era of Fanplaining that I am thrilled to publish is actually a repeat contributor. It's by Maria Temming who was the author of "The Pain Fandom," the article we published on whump. She also came on the podcast to talk about that article.   And importantly, she has been one of our two transcriptionists for the past few years. Extraordinary transcriptionist, incredibly meticulous, and she brings that meticulousness to her journalism. The whump story was extremely deeply and thoughtfully reported, and this story is no different. It's about yellow balloon groups. They are clean and sober fans who basically have meetings, like AA-style meetings, right within the concerts they're attending. So it's like creating fandoms within fandoms, and huge, you know, diversity range of ages and experiences of the folks that she talked to for this.   And so it was a real pleasure to edit and to learn about this, like this corner of fandom. And so I really hope you enjoy it. So without further ado, here's Maria Temming.  

After nine years of collaborating on Fansplaining, Flourish and Elizabeth mark Flourish's final regular episode by casting back to the state of fandom when they first met on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2015. A decade ago, we were at the height of Hollywood's “Geek is Chic” arc, facing the rapid mainstreaming of fandom and the beginnings of the “creator-ification” of fanworks. What's changed for the better—and what's gotten worse? Plus: in the ultimate ironic twist, Flourish accepts their own personal journey into lurkerdom, a truly fitting end to a podcast run that nearly ended during a fight on the subject 215 episodes ago…

Flourish's final “Ask Fansplaining Anything” episode follows the format of the previous 18 (!!), with a new batch of (thoughtful as ever!) listener letters and voicemails. Topics discussed include people bringing a prior adaptation's fandom baggage to a new version, writing RPF about people who aren't actually famous at all, the tropification of fanfiction, and whether multiple versions of a character can feel true simultaneously.

On Episode 221, “Self-Inserts,” Elizabeth and Flourish welcome fan studies scholar Effie Sapuridis to talk about the wide world of self-inserts, including Y/N and x reader fic, imagines, shifting, and classic Mary Sues. Topics discussed include differences between platforms, including AO3, Wattpad, Tumblr, and especially TikTok; ties to things like roleplaying, LARPing, and theme parks; and whether self-insert forms are leading us towards a future of ~personalized AI storytelling~. Plus: they talk about why there's so little academic work on self-inserts, and the ethical issues around continuing to study the Harry Potter fandom.

On Episode 220, “The Fan-Journalist,” Flourish and Elizabeth welcome one particular fan-journalist—Kayti Burt—to discuss her recent article for us on the specific challenges of covering things you love in a very precarious industry. Topics discussed include Kayti's journey from youthful fandom to pop culture reporting, a step-by-step rundown of how an article goes from idea to finished product, and the many ethical questions journalists have to weigh when writing about fans or their objects of fandom.

Episode 219, “Tropefest Speedrun,” kicks off with a big announcement: as you might have guessed with Flourish a few months away from a) giving birth and b) being ordained as a priest, they are going to be leaving Fansplaining in May. Post-Flourish plans for the podcast still TBD, this episode builds off the long-running “Tropefest” series for Patrons and jets through ten fanfiction tropes and themes in an hour, including classics like time loops, identity porn, truth serum, and sex pollen. 

Following previous installments on the thorny intersections of money and fanfiction, Episode 218, “The Money Question 3: Books???” tackles the recent debacle around people illegally selling bound copies of others' fic, which has mostly centered on mega-popular Dramione works. Jumping off from Elizabeth's WIRED article on the subject—which ties the practice to the current pull-to-publish wave as well as the Twilight fan-run presses of the early 2010s—Elizabeth and Flourish discuss the context collapse when a fic “breaches containment,” double standards in attitudes towards money and various fan practices, and, for likely the 1,000th time on this podcast, what exactly “fair use” means.

On Episode 217, “Fanbinding,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Tiffo (aka Fanboundbooks) about the art of turning fanfiction into physical books, and the fanbinding collective known as the Renegade Bindery. Topics discussed include how exactly you make a book, Renegade's origin story and huge growth in recent years, fanbinders' firm commitment to the non-monetized gift economy, and Binderary, a month-long event this February with challenges, fan-run classes, and more. Plus! (Spoiler) Flourish literally joins the Renegade Discord during the recording session.

On Episode 216, “Allegra Rosenberg,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to the fandom journalist and Terror Camp organizer about her journey from tween fan reporter to writing a book about the pre-digital history of fan culture. Topics discussed include coming of age on Tumblr, learning to put on IRL events while deep in music fandom, getting that fannish feeling from immersive theater, and, of course, Terror Camp, a fandom-academia hybrid event that celebrates fans' investment in historical research.

In Episode 215, “The Broken Contract,” Flourish and Elizabeth look at the sorry state of television in 2024, where the streaming revolution has devolved into sudden cancellations, deleted or shelved shows, opaque viewer numbers, and very little stability for audiences—and especially fans—to get invested in something new. How can fans build fandoms—and, for that matter, how can TV creators build the works themselves—when executives are constantly pulling the rug out from under them? Plus: they respond to a pair of letters about the previous episode, on AI and dealing with a negative AO3 comment, respectively.

In the newest installment of the long-running “Ask Fansplaining Anything” series, Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a fresh batch of listener comments and questions. Topics discussed include fic that “breaches containment,” AI and fanworks, differing norms around the AO3's “Major Character Death” tag, and what to do when Someone Is Wrong On the Internet.

As they do every December, Elizabeth and Flourish revisit the previous year's fandom retrospective, and then turn to the biggest fan culture stories and trends in 2023. Topics discussed include the mainstreaming of purity culture, the fracturing of social media platforms, the shortening of fandom life cycles, and, of course, the big two: the Hollywood strikes and the rise of AI.

In Episode 212, “Fandom Truthiness,” Elizabeth and Flourish break down the recent pair of (GREAT) video essays on James Somerton, a YouTuber known for queer (and often fandom-related) media analysis who's been wholesale lifting passages from others' articles and books—while playing fast and loose with the truth in his original writing. Somerton himself fed plenty of falsehoods into the fannish ecosystem, but how much of this is about a pattern of, to borrow Stephen Colbert's phrase, fandom “truthiness,” which we can see far beyond a single bad actor? Plus: they read and respond to a pair of letters about Episode 210: “The RPF Tipping Point.” 

In Episode 211, “The Copyright Conundrum,” Flourish and Elizabeth welcome prolific fic writer and copyright expert EarlGreyTea68 back to the podcast to discuss her new Fansplaining article, “How U.S. Copyright Law Fails Fan Creators.” After giving a little primer on copyright, trademark, fair use, and how they all intersect with fandom, EGT discusses the ways current U.S. intellectual property law is unequipped to deal with non-monetized creativity—and how the system fails everyone but the big publishers and studios. They also discuss copyright and AI, and whether copyright claims have the potential to take down LLMs and AI tools.  And an exciting note: this episode has a sponsor!! Ellipsus is a new collaborative writing tool that lets you and your co-writers/editors/betas create different drafts and merge them together. They are very anti-generative AI, and they reached out to us because they have roots in fic fandom. Ellipsus is currently in closed beta, but if you use our SPECIAL LINK, you'll go to the top of the list. We've really enjoyed testing it out—and we hope this can supplant Google Docs (ugh) in our fic writing.

On Episode 210, “The RPF Tipping Point,” Elizabeth and Flourish welcome back Grace and the Fever author Zan Romanoff to talk about her new podcast, On the Bleachers, on Taylor Swift, football player Travis Kelce, and the pop-culture firestorm their relationship (???) has sparked. Topics discussed include the backlash against the ripped-from-the-headlines romance novel Roughing the Princess, the fuzziness between RPF, biopics, celebrity profiles, and social-media narratives, and how Zan—who's written plain old RPF in addition to meta fiction about celebrities and fans—thinks about her own work in light of these thorny boundaries.  

In the newest (17th!) installment of the “Ask Fansplaining Anything” series, Flourish and Elizabeth read a mix of responses to recent episodes and fresh queries. Topics discussed include communal versus solitary fandom, how the “BNF” role shifts when global fandoms rely on fan translations, asexuality and aromanticism in fic, their (EXTREMELY MIXED) experiences running surveys, and, importantly, AMC's Interview with the Vampire.

In Episode 208, “What Fans Owe Each Other,” Flourish and Elizabeth share a letter from longtime friend-of-the-pod Destination Toast about whether we can make fandom culture kinder and more nuanced (spoiler: they take a far more pessimistic stance than Toast!). Topics discussed include good old-fashioned “netiquette,” whether we're at the end of big social media, the dangers of toxic positivity, and systemic versus individual change. They also share and respond to a pair of listener comments on the recent “Fanfluencers” episode, and the way fans' comments online connect back to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

In Episode 207, “Paul Cornell,” Flourish and Elizabeth talk to the eponymous writer (of a bazillion different things) (seriously, look at his Wikipedia) about his journey from fan to pro—and about continuing to be a deeply fannish pro. Topics discussed include how his Doctor Who fanfiction became both an official novel and a pair of episodes on the show, the enormous flurry of creative fandom activity in the 15 years Doctor Who wasn't on TV, depicting fans in a loving way while writing on Elementary, and, among his many current projects, Con & On, a comic that chronicles the changes over the years at a totally 100% fictional large comic-book convention in Southern California. 

Woobies, poor little meow meows, anti-heroes, and problematic faves: in Episode 206, “Bad Fans Revisited,” Flourish and Elizabeth use a listener voicemail on investment in morally dubious fictional characters to revisit a perennial hot topic in fandom. Specifics discussed include the heightened language of performative tags, blurred lines between fiction and reality, what a dark AU can offer that a dark original story might not, and yes, Lestat de Lioncourt. Plus: Flourish lets you know how you, too, can become a Certified Villain Fucker (there's a test!). 

In Episode 205, “Fanfluencers,” Flourish and Elizabeth use a listener voicemail on fan screenings for Red, White & Royal Blue to dive into a broader conversation about influencers, fandom, and the Hollywood strikes. Marketers today know more about fans than they ever have before, and more types of properties are both targeting and featuring fans in their promotional campaigns. How does that sit within the broader entertainment ecosystem—and what does it mean for fan communities? 

Flourish and Elizabeth celebrate their eighth (!) anniversary with eight (!) guest responses to their traditional query: What changes and trends have you observed in fandom over the past year, on a broad level and/or on a personal level? Topics discussed include accessibility on fandom platforms, rethinking “canon” in an era of franchise oversaturation, finding fandom at scale vs. deeper individual connections, and the effects of the Hollywood strikes on fan conversations today—and the entertainment industry in the future.

In Episode 203, “Solidarity and SDCC,” Elizabeth debriefs Flourish on a very unusual San Diego Comic-Con: one held during the parallel WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Building off of Elizabeth's coverage of the topic for WIRED, they talk about how the strikes affected the convention, how fans responded, and how conversations about labor and the entertainment industry there reflected broader concerns about the future for both creators and fans.

In Episode 202, “Dylan Marron,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to the creator and host of the new (and very fandomy!) podcast, The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks. They discuss the threads of his career that influenced the project—including his early encounters with fandom as part of the Welcome to Night Vale cast and his viral video series on racism in film, Every Single Word—and talk through the many layers of Jar Jar, which details what happened when some Star Wars fans on the early internet declared war on Jar Jar Binks—and destroyed the life of the man who played him.

Following closely on the heels of last December's “Artificial Fandom Intelligence” episode, Elizabeth and Flourish bring you the extremely depressing sequel, “Artificial Fandom Intelligence 2: Rise of the Grifters.” Spurred by recent comments from a Silicon Valley VC about the potential “market” for AI-fueled chatbots amongst fanfiction fans, they take a deep dive into the state of fandom and AI in recent months. Spoiler: it's bleak. They also read to a trio of letters responding to the “Reflecting Reality?” episode, on placelessness in fic, and the centering of U.S. experiences in stories written by and for people in other parts of the world.

For their 200th!!!! episode, Elizabeth and Flourish are joined by artist, author, and longtime Fansplaining collaborator (and fan!) Maia Kobabe to celebrate the occasion. Topics discussed include the fandom elements of eir graphic memoir, Gender Queer, the pleasure of creating fanart while working as a professional artist, eir experiences in K-pop fandom, and the secret to making friends, whether fellow fans or a pair of podcast hosts (spoiler: make art for them!) (like the cover of this episode—thank you, Maia!).

In Episode 199, “Reflecting Reality?” Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a trio of listener questions on the ways fanfiction does—and doesn't—mirror our own lives. Topics discussed include changes in how queerness has been depicted over the past few decades, whether longer-running fandoms tend to produce more generic modern AUs, and the ways English as a global language of fandom shapes fic setting choices—and creates a sense of placelessness, no matter where an author lives.

In Episode 198, “Strikesplaining,” Elizabeth and Flourish are joined by screenwriter, executive producer, and longtime friend of the podcast Javier Grillo-Marxuach to talk about the Writers Guild of America strike. Javi breaks down how television writing, production, and compensation have changed drastically in his three decades in the industry, and how this action is connected to broader labor struggles facing workers today. They also talk about the specific ways this strike touches fandom, including how streamers' exploitative practices affect everyone from the people making the shows to the people who want to watch them.

In Episode 197, Flourish and Elizabeth welcome back Stitch, the media critic and fandom journalist who was one of their original “Race and Fandom” guests way back in 2016! Stitch discusses their career trajectory from omnivorous fan to independent blogger to writing the “Fan Service” column for Teen Vogue, where they've tackled everything from escapism to boys' love fic to racism—and especially anti-Blackness—in fandom. They also talk about the specific dangers they and other Black commentators face in being vocal about these topics—and how the threats they've received will likely make their work unsustainable in the long term.

In yet another (the sixteenth!) installment of “Ask Fansplaining Anything,” Flourish and Elizabeth discuss a fresh batch of listener questions and comments. Topics include portmanteau ship names, permissive fanart attitudes amongst video game developers, fic self-promotion etiquette, and a pair of letters about big name fans, and what exactly that term means in fandom right now.

In Episode 195, “Fandom Life Cycles,” Elizabeth and Flourish respond to a voicemail from listener Gin/myrmidryad about their appreciation of a “closed canon”—in this case, a show ending—when it comes to fanwork creation. Some fans love this relatively stable ground; others complain that with no new material on the horizon, a fandom is “dead” or close to it. They also read a response to the previous episode on whump, and talk about idfic more broadly.

In Episode 194, “The Pain Fandom,” Flourish and Elizabeth are joined by journalist Maria Temming to discuss her recent article on whump, hurt/comfort, and fandom communities centered around fictional characters in pain. Topics discussed include the history of whump and its place in modern fandom, the overlap (and divergence) between broader fandom interest in h/c and self-declared whumpers, and why the lack of “comfort” in much of our violent media means some see whump as an inherently anti-violent subgenre.

In Episode 193, “As Me About My Fanart,” Flourish and Elizabeth talk to longtime fanartist Fox Estacado about the business and the pleasure of fanart. Topics discussed include changes she's observed in the practice over time, the way platforms like Etsy handle legal issues, meeting fellow fans in artists' alleys at cons, and her mixed feelings about monetization versus the fandom gift economy.

In Episode 192, “Death, Mourning, and Fandom,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk about the complicated dynamics around death within fandom, where our connections to each other can be deep but transient. Jumping off an article Elizabeth recently wrote for WIRED on the AO3's Fannish Next-of-Kin feature—which lets you leave your fanworks to a fellow fan if you die—they talk about the failings of other digital death policies, disconnects between peoples' fandom personas and regular lives, the differences between losing a fandom friend and a favorite fanwork creator, and how rarely the subject of death is talked about—in fandom or more broadly.  

In Episode 191, “Femstats February,” Flourish and Elizabeth welcome back Destination Toast—the Steve Martin of Fansplaining—to talk through their massive stats analysis comparing the F/F, M/F, and M/M categories on the AO3. Length, rating, frequency of certain tags and warnings: What results matched their expectations, and what results were surprising? And what do the differences between them suggest about fandom? (Prepare yourself: armchair theorizing and hot takes abound!!)

In the latest (fifteenth!) installment of “Ask Fansplaining Anything,” Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a new collection of listener letters. Topics discussed include defining “canon” in RPF fandoms, the sad fate of fandoms on Twitter, and what to do about non-fandom friends who judge your fannish activities. Plus: a query about the hypothetical legality of physically printed fanfiction in libraries, with an answer from *actual lawyer* and copyright expert Earlgreytea68.

In Episode 189, “No Cultural Impact,” Flourish and Elizabeth look at the entertainment industry's “fan-first” strategy for franchise-building, and the already-massive box-office success of Avatar 2: The Way of Water, part of a property that, as people continue to say on social media, no one remembers or cares about. Are fan activities, memes, or online chatter necessarily good indicators of franchise success? And when Hollywood privileges a certain idea of “fandom” in their strategic plans, does that actually serve fans—or viewers in general?

Continuing an end-of-year tradition, Flourish and Elizabeth review five big fandom-related trends they followed in 2022. Topics discussed include clashing norms between fans on different platforms, the increasing precariousness of the streaming space, brands doubling down on fandom—and anti-fandom—in high-profile celebrity stories, and yes, of course, the collapse of Twitter. Plus: they read a letter from an artist in response to the previous episode on AI and fanworks.

In Episode 187, “Artificial Fandom Intelligence,” Elizabeth and Flourish respond to a listener's letter about AI tools like ChatGPT and Lensa, which are currently sparking anxiety in fandom and across the broader web. What are the realities of this technology, now and in the coming months and years? Are we looking at a future where any fan can plug in a few terms and receive a halfway-decent computer-generated piece of fanfic or fanart?

In the second and final installment of the “Disability and Fandom” double episode, Flourish and Elizabeth get the perspectives of even more disabled fans. Featuring conversations with Lindsay Mixer and Valerie Gristch, and voicemails/letters from Soph, TallysGreatestFan, Lizard Socks, May Barros, Cora Maria, miscellanium, Bodge, Julia, and Jessica. Topics covered include depictions of disabled characters in erotic fanfiction, conflicting accessibility needs on the web, and how both music venues and artists make concert-going difficult—if not outright impossible—for disabled fans.

In the first installment of the “Disability and Fandom” double episode, Flourish and Elizabeth get the perspectives of a wide range of disabled fans, including conversations with Rebecca Milton and Joan Miller and voicemails/letters from Dr. Paul D. C. Bones, buffer-overrun, Taylor, Wheelchairidan, Hannah, and Sandy. Topics discussed include Mad studies and depictions of disability in video games and the horror genre, how ADHD can shape fannish obsessions, and the difficulties disabled cosplayers and con-goers face with both staff and fellow fans.