fansplaining - Tumblr blog

[fansplaining]

Episode 221: Self-Inserts

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

Episode 221: Self-Inserts

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

We just released our newest episode—a conversation on self-inserts with fan studies scholar Effie Sapuridis—for patrons at $2 a month and up! 🪞 Normally we say "to listen to this and all future episodes early, become a patron," but with only a few epsidodes left before the audio portion goes on hiatus, that feels a little silly! But new patrons still get rewards like our full back catalog of 30+ special episodes, an enamel pin in the shape of our fan logo, and the thrill (haha) (no really) of supporting more fandom journalism in the coming months!

[fansplaining]

Calling all fandom journalists—both current and aspiring! As promised, we've put together a doc for pitching Fansplaining (which will temporarily become a written-only publication after Flourish's last episode next month). If you've got an idea that fits in with our general tone and approach, please send int our way!

We highlight these pieces in the doc, but in case folks are unaware that we're *currently* a written publication as well as a podcast, here's a sample of some of the stuff we've published over the years!

Kayti Burt on the specific challenges of being a “fan-journalist”

@earlgreytea68 on how U.S. copyright law doesn’t understand—or account for—fan creativity

Maria Temming on whump, featuring extensive interviews with whumpers

@areyougonnabe on the ever-mutating life of Tumblr and its communities

Keidra Chaney on stan culture’s intersections with corporate interests

@elizabethminkel on the uneasy relationship between fans and Hollywood at SDCC

Caroline Crampton on WIPs, from modern fics-in-progress to Victorian serializations

@elizabethminkel on the past, present, and future of the “Mary Sue”

@flourish on the deeply annoying reason mainstream publications spell it “fan fiction”

Also please note: we're v transparent about money here. We *deeply* appreciate our Patreon support, but we can't afford to pay a ton or publish super frequently with the current amount we take in. So if any generous folks are interested in sponsoring smart, substantive writing on fandom in the future, please get in touch. fansplaining at gmail dot com. :-))

[fansplaining]

Calling all fandom journalists—both current and aspiring! As promised, we've put together a doc for pitching Fansplaining (which will temporarily become a written-only publication after Flourish's last episode next month). If you've got an idea that fits in with our general tone and approach, please send int our way!

We highlight these pieces in the doc, but in case folks are unaware that we're *currently* a written publication as well as a podcast, here's a sample of some of the stuff we've published over the years!

Kayti Burt on the specific challenges of being a “fan-journalist”

@earlgreytea68 on how U.S. copyright law doesn’t understand—or account for—fan creativity

Maria Temming on whump, featuring extensive interviews with whumpers

@areyougonnabe on the ever-mutating life of Tumblr and its communities

Keidra Chaney on stan culture’s intersections with corporate interests

@elizabethminkel on the uneasy relationship between fans and Hollywood at SDCC

Caroline Crampton on WIPs, from modern fics-in-progress to Victorian serializations

@elizabethminkel on the past, present, and future of the “Mary Sue”

@flourish on the deeply annoying reason mainstream publications spell it “fan fiction”

Also please note: we're v transparent about money here. We *deeply* appreciate our Patreon support, but we can't afford to pay a ton or publish super frequently with the current amount we take in. So if any generous folks are interested in sponsoring smart, substantive writing on fandom in the future, please get in touch. fansplaining at gmail dot com. :-))

[fansplaining]

I’ve come up against the myopic framing of fan communities outside of the “mainstream” on a fairly regular basis—and the cross-cultural nature of K-pop only heightens the problem. Often, American outlets only seem interested in stories about K-pop fan culture if they’re simplistically positive or simplistically negative. The social processes that have flattened much of online discourse into “good or bad?” often manifest in stories that frame K-pop and its interconnected fandom in one of two ways: as a potential panacea to all global inequalities, or as a hivemind of girls and women unable to think critically about their own fannish identities.  Both of these extremes frame K-pop fans as a single massive unit, and they’re driven by the same pandering attitude: if the story is positive, then K-pop girlies will eat it up, and the value will come solely in the clicks it produces. If the story is negative, then it must inherently be important, because what value or complexity past infantile escapism could a K-pop fan community have?

In a piece for us this week entitled "The Fan-Journalist Tightrope," Kayti Burt discusses the deep challenges of being a fannish pop-culture journalist—and especially in covering topics like K-pop in U.S. media. Read it, then listen/read to our interview with her, too!

[fansplaining]

Episode 220: The Fan-Journalist

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

Episode 220: The Fan-Journalist

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

Today we're thrilled to publish our newest article, by longtime pop culture journalist (and even longertime fan) Kayti Burt. On the especially precarious position of fan-journalists in an already precarious industry:

To be in entertainment reporting and cultural criticism today means to constantly be fighting to do a good job in an industry that feels increasingly designed to chisel away at the dignity of the work and profession. Most days, aspiring to a higher quality of writing feels less like a fight against intentional industry bias—as fans may assume is the case—than it does a fight against the negligence that comes from ongoing institutional decay. 

And speaking of paying journalists, we were only able to commission this article because of our patrons! If you'd like to see more in-depth fandom journalism out in the world (especially as Fansplaining transitions into a written-only publication), please consider donating.

[fansplaining]

Kayti is also our guest this week, and we've released the new episode for patrons at $2 a month and up! 📝 Hear it now—and help us commission more pieces like this—by becoming a patron today!

Today we're thrilled to publish our newest article, by longtime pop culture journalist (and even longertime fan) Kayti Burt. On the especially precarious position of fan-journalists in an already precarious industry:

To be in entertainment reporting and cultural criticism today means to constantly be fighting to do a good job in an industry that feels increasingly designed to chisel away at the dignity of the work and profession. Most days, aspiring to a higher quality of writing feels less like a fight against intentional industry bias—as fans may assume is the case—than it does a fight against the negligence that comes from ongoing institutional decay. 

And speaking of paying journalists, we were only able to commission this article because of our patrons! If you'd like to see more in-depth fandom journalism out in the world (especially as Fansplaining transitions into a written-only publication), please consider donating.

[fansplaining]

Today we're thrilled to publish our newest article, by longtime pop culture journalist (and even longertime fan) Kayti Burt. On the especially precarious position of fan-journalists in an already precarious industry:

To be in entertainment reporting and cultural criticism today means to constantly be fighting to do a good job in an industry that feels increasingly designed to chisel away at the dignity of the work and profession. Most days, aspiring to a higher quality of writing feels less like a fight against intentional industry bias—as fans may assume is the case—than it does a fight against the negligence that comes from ongoing institutional decay. 

And speaking of paying journalists, we were only able to commission this article because of our patrons! If you'd like to see more in-depth fandom journalism out in the world (especially as Fansplaining transitions into a written-only publication), please consider donating.

[fansplaining]

Tumblr algorithm recommended this page to me yesterday - I’m on episode 2 of the podcast and will be bingeing to catch up. Very fun!! A lot more in depth than my single semester of undergrad fan studies class. Very excited for some of the episodes I saw scrolling through the feed.

Also - I’m listening on Spotify & all the episodes are available there, but the oldest one available on Apple Podcasts is the Camp Austen episode #76 - you’re probably aware but thought I should mention in case you didn’t know!

Loving the pod so far. <3

Ahh, thank you for letting us know! So it turned out that fixing this was an ADVENTURE. We had to go through a bunch of hoops, including a multi-week waiting period, with Apple, and then when we finally got through to them they were like "Uh...that's wrong. We will have an engineer look at it." Which took a minute.

ALL THAT TO SAY, they did indeed have an engineer look at it and we/they have triumphed! Now all the episodes are available on Apple Podcasts again! Thank you for alerting us to the problem, we're sorry it took so long to fix, and we're glad it's fixed now!

[fansplaining]

Fansplaining! Fansplaining! I have news!

Since I started listening to the pod on spotify and the backlog only went back to episode 110 or so. But now they go all the way back to 1! So now, after making my way up to November 2023 in Fansplaining, I'm taking a trip back to 2015. I have no idea why this happened but its some very exciting stuff!

LOL! I'm so glad. This is Flourish and I'm the one who usually tends the RSS feed... Libsyn changed the way RSS feeds worked awhile back and did not, ahem, sufficiently flag it to us, so when we figured it out we went and corrected it and that's why things are suddenly showing up. (Apple Podcasts took a little longer...see our next ask response...) Anyhow, HOORAY, really glad you're enjoying the back catalog!!

[fansplaining]

FYI we will have a more formalized call-for-pitches soon, but if you have a pitch right now, please send it our way!

Episode 219: Tropefest Speedrun

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

Episode 219: Tropefest Speedrun

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.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[fansplaining]

We just released our newest episode, in which we jet through ten fic tropes/themes in an hour (and make a big announcement). 😘 Pledge $2 a month to get access to this and all future episodes a day early—and for $3 a month or more, you'll get our full back catalogue of "Tropefest" special episodes, which inspired this speedrun!

[fansplaining]

🥰 Aw we're happy to oblige!

(A reminder that you, too, could receive this particular treat in the mail if you pledge $5 or more on Patreon!)

Does getting real mail ever stop being exciting? I sure hope not.

Thank you @fansplaining for the wee treat amidst the coupons and bills and notices for church services that belong to the former owners of the house.