Features - Fansplaining (Page 2)

Photo of the exhibition in a white-walled gallery. A figure stands in the center. "I came to RUIN you" on the wall. Video installation in corner. T-shirt hangs in the foreground.

Features

I Came to Ruin You: The Collecting Practices of K-Pop Fandoms

From photo cards to video art installations, a tour through a recent exhibition showcasing K-pop fans’ communal creativity and cross-cultural exchanges.

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.

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.

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.

Photograph of rows of red theatre seats.

Features

The Traumatized Gatekeepers of Broadway

Theatre fans measure their passion by nitpicking. Does it do the industry more harm than good?

Photograph of a tent labeled SOBER SIDE with several people sitting at tables draped in colorful cloth, with yellow balloons on the edges of the tent.

Features

The Yellow Balloon Movement

Within jam band fandoms often dominated by substance use, clean and sober fans are building their own communities.

Screengrab from the X-Files featuring Mulder in a hospital bed and Scully sitting beside the bed.

Features

The Pain Fandom

How whump—one of fandom’s oldest and most divisive genres—gained a fanbase of its own.

A stack of blank white books against a deep turquoise background.

Surveys

The Fic and the Source Material

Do you need to know the canon to read the fic? Breaking down the preferences of the 6,744 people who responded to our most recent mini-survey.

A painting of a person clawing their way out of a coffin.

Features

The Ever-Mutating Life of Tumblr Dot Com

Reports of the platform’s death have been greatly exaggerated.