Articles - Fansplaining (Page 2)

Image from the back of issue one of Mary Sue, featuring Jessica the blonde vampire riding a bicycle, with Cassie (glasses, long brown hair) hanging on to the back, looking panicked.

Features

Reclaiming the Mary Sue

My new comic interrogates the continued bias against Mary Sues—and brings one life.

Photograph of three people (Alyssa Wong, Lydia Kang, Tessa Gratton) walking onto a stage with a Star Wars-themed backdrop. All three smile and Tessa waves at the camera.

Features

The Fan, the Pro, and the Spaces In Between

Writing for Star Wars challenges me to interrogate fandom power dynamics—and figure out where I fall in a rapidly shifting landscape.

Photograph of the panelists standing on the stage: Meghan, Tessa, Elizabeth, Lin, Brent, Javi, Daphne.

Panels

The Fandom Advantage: How Fan Creativity Fuels Pro Entertainment Careers

Fansplaining’s panel from San Diego Comic-Con 2025, featuring fannish creators who work on television, comics, novels, and more.

Photograph of Hutch and Starsky sitting together against a collection of stacked fruit crates.

Features

How Friendships Onscreen and Off Fueled Half a Century of Fandom

For the admins of the Starsky & Hutch Fiction Archive, preserving fanworks and fannish community go hand in hand.

Photograph of actors Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd with their arms over each others' shoulders, posing for a photo.

Features

The RPF Question

Amid blurry boundaries between fic, celebrity fandom, and conspiracy theories, how real person fiction evolved from forbidden to mainstream and back again.

Promotional still from Bridgerton featuring Kate in a blue Empire-waist gown standing at the base of a set of carpeted stairs, a corgi sitting on one of the stairs near her feet.

Features

Bridgerton and Period Drama Fandom’s Enduring Racism Problem

Complaints about historical accuracy and acting quality are often dog-whistles: some fans only want to see white actors—and white history—on screen.

Still from the film of Sam Wilson in his Cap uniform, cast in a reddish light.

Criticism

Sam Wilson Deserved Better Than Brave New World

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.

Promotional photo of the cast, standing behind a silvery table with props.. See the caption for actors' names.

Features

The War That Almost Broke a Classic Fandom

Blake’s 7 fans and actors mixed regularly at cons and on the pages of zines—until an anonymous letter changed everything.

Illustration of a very dense galaxy of stars—appearing as mostly gold and silver—with a large black hole in the shape of a perfect black circle sitting in the middle.

Criticism

The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction

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?

Image of cardboard cut-outs of a dragon and a castle perched atop some books, against a black background. Image via Freepik.

Features

Bringing Fanfiction Into the Classroom

Fic does something that my traditional English classes cannot: it places the power in the hands of the student.

Fanart featuring John Lennon (done in shades of blue) and Paul McCartney (done in shades of red) against a pink and grey background.

Features

The Beatles Live!

New generations of fans are cultural archaeologists, working with the materials of the past to create the passion of the present.

Still from Scream featuring Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Devyn Nekoda, and Melissa Barrera.

Features

The Scream Fandom’s Enduring Divide

Nearly a year after star Melissa Barrera was fired for pro-Palestinian social media posts, fans remain torn over the future of the franchise.