Fansplaining

Episode 222: Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 19

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.

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

It's totally wild to me that we've been able to do 19 of these in the past ~5 years—not to mention the many listener letters/voicemails that have prompted entire episodes, or the ones we've read during non-AFAs. We truly have the smartest, most thoughtful listeners. 😭

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!

Effie was SUCH a wonderful final guest for what I'm dubbing The Flourish Era of Fansplaining. 😭 You'll note the 9,000 things I listed in the blurb—self-inserts really do connect to such a huge range of fannish (and more broadly affective) behaviors and interests, and I can't wait to follow Effie's work on this stuff in the coming years.

(Also definitely recommend clicking through to the show notes to watch those TikToks....wild to compare what young fan creators are doing today, publicly with their own faces, vs Back In My Day lol)

I'm looking for this long post where someone asked what they learned as a result of writing fanfic. (Not the grilled cheese one, I have the grilled cheese one.) I need it for a paper, and I can't find it. I know it was from Tumblr because it got reblogged a lot. @transformativeworks @fansplaining Someone help me please?

This is not ringing a bell—can anyone help out?

Episode 218: The Money Question 3: Books???

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. 

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

You knew we were gonna discuss it—and of course this one ran super long lol. It was so helpful to talk this through with @flourish, who has a ton of historical knowledge in this realm (threatened by Warner Bros. as a pre-teen!) and, in their previous life working in Hollywood, has been in the room with the rights holders who are looking at monetized fanworks and taking...a variety of stances.

Earlier this week I reported on the very depressing for-profit fic pirating happening in certain corners of fandom—but (somewhat coincidentally, timing-wise) I also had the joy of reporting this story on fanbinding, and the work of the @renegadeguild! Featuring the words (and fanbinds) of the brilliant @celestial-sphere-press, @butterfingersbookbinding, and @fanboundbooks (who also talked about Renegade on the most recent Fansplaining episode).

Renegade's binders are strong proponents of the non-monetized gift economy—they truly embody the spirit of fanfiction, in my opinion, both in the communal way they share their work with fic writers and each other, and in the DIY way they approach making books:

It's a shame seeing people conflate the bad actors of the pirating situation—many of whom don't appear to be in fandom and seem motivated by pure profit—with the work of fanbinders at large, and seeing people scared to try out fanbinding because of the recent news. Not-for-profit fanbinding is just as legal as writing fanfiction, and I don't speak for all fic writers, but if someone ever bound one of my fics, I'd be so touched I would almost definitely weep. 😭

As promised! I wrote about the illegal fanbinding that's led to writers deleting their works recently, how that connects to the current pull-to-publish wave, and what happens when the rapidly expanding sphere of fic readers starts to get disconnected from *fandom*:

We'll also talk about this in some capacity on the next episode of @fansplaining! (In contrast with today's episode, on the non-monetized, gift-economy practices of many fanbinders, whose hobby is also imperiled by the people selling and buying fic.)

Episode 217: Fanbinding

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 (@renegadeguild). 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.

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

It was such a delight to have Tiffo on to talk about fanbinding and Renegade! I also have two articles on fanbinding coming out this week, which I will post on here when they're live:

I'm already seeing comments about this episode conflating the two, which is a bummer—Renegade and the vast majority of fanbinders I've seen are the strongest adherents to the non-monetized gift economy I've ever encountered in fandom. It would be a shame if people allowed the actions of bad actors (many of whom don't seem to be in fandom at all) color a practice like fanbinding.

We've now received multiple emails about the illegal fic-selling situation happening in parallel to gift-economy fanbiding and just as an FYI, we'll address it in the next episode in some capacity!