Articles - Fansplaining

Image of Pasha the pirate captain, falling into a swirling sea.

Criticism

Be Gay, Do (Sea) Crimes: Pirate Tropes and Queer Resistance

As Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, pirate stories thrive on “all the old romance, retold exactly in the ancient way.”

Production still featuring Lestat posing for selfies surrounded by a crowd of fans with their phones out.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: Hurtling Towards End Times

In episode 4, “The Devil’s Road,” Lestat’s reality begins to fracture as Armand returns with portents of doom.

A nighttime photo of a display of the main characters from Heaven Official's Blessing. The display is a 3-D stand of the couple sitting together on the crescent moon together.

Features

The Global Crackdown on Creativity

Governments around the world are censoring—and criminalizing—the currents in which fanworks flow.

Still from the episode featuring a line drawing of Lestat in a gilded frame, set on a table with a glass of wine and three burning candle

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: You Have to Ask for It

In episode 3, “Toronto,” the show takes bold creative swings as Lestat tries (and fails) to rewrite his own sexual trauma.

Image from Game of Thrones featuring Daenerys and Jon Snow walking towards a pair of dragons, with many skeletal remains on the ground.

Features

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dragons

Working in the Game of Thrones content mines killed my fannish feelings for the franchise. Here’s how I got them back.

Production still featuring Sam Reid as Lestat and Jennifer Ehle as Gabriella, both sitting at a piano, Gabriella smoking a cigarette and resting her head on Lestat's shoulder.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: The Oedipiphany

In episode 2, “Toledo,” Gabriella stars in a Freudian trip down memory lane, pairing flashbacks to Lestat’s youth with a sleazy mother/son date in Ohio.

A collage of the three covers of Drake's triple-album release

Criticism

Drake and His Fans vs the World

The chart-topping album Iceman has broken records—and done little to quell ongoing criticisms of the artist. Where does that leave his fandom?

Production still from The Vampire Lestat featuring Lestat onstage with his band (Larry, TC, Salamander visible behind him), holding a violin and singing into the mic.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: Sex, Drugs, and Unstable Narrators

In episode 1, “Detroit,” Sam Reid reintroduces Lestat as a messy, self-destructive rock star—and proves he was born to play this role.

Thai GL stars Orm Kornnaphat and Lingling Sirilak Kwong, aka LingOrm strikpose with foreheads touching and eyes closed in a gauzy promotional poster for the upcoming series In Love Forever.

Criticism

The Limits of Fan Service in Thailand’s Vibrant GL Genre

Thai “Girls Love” thrives on real-life star pairings—for better and for worse.

Image of Carl lying on the floor and Harper standing looking down at him. Orange carpet and conference table behind them. TV screen on the wood-paneled wall reads "Hypergnosis".

Criticism

Too Big To Fail (On Television)

TV’s structure was perfect for tech’s failure narratives—but as Silicon Valley embraces a post-failure mindset, will audiences still tune in?

Production still of Aziraphale and Crowley looking at someone offscreen. Aziraphale holds a newspaper.

Criticism

Good Omens’ Final Love Letter to Fanfiction

The author is dead. Long live the authors.

Image of three portions of the languages drop-down on AO3, with one larger in the center flanked by two others. "Kiswahili" is highlighted. Red background.

Features

The Elation and Anxiety of Reading Fic in Your Native Tongue

For fans in Kenya, Nigeria, and Burundi, “uncringing” non-English fanfiction is an endeavor in decolonialism.