Fansplaining

In Episode 170, "Fandom-Tinted Glasses," Flourish and Elizabeth use a letter from a listener weary with certain patterns in fandom as a springboard to discuss pan-fandom dynamics in 2022. Topics discussed include flattening characters and source material, the interchangeability of some fandom memes, supercut videos, and how this is all structured by current fandom platforms and scale. They also re...

In Episode 169, "Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 12," Elizabeth and Flourish dig into a new collection of listener messages. Topics covered include the "Dead Dove Do Not Eat" tag, the intersections of self-inserts and outsider POV fic, and whether "queerbaiting" is a meaningful term in 2022. They also listen to a pair of voicemails about the recent conversation on pseuds and "the right to be forgo...

In Episode 168, "The Entertainment Media Machine," Flourish and Elizabeth use a recent Business Insider article about Netflix's editorial strategy—and some subsequent worries in fan spaces—to talk about the shifting dynamics between the entertainment industry, the media, audiences, and fans. Netflix's Tudum may not affect fans at all in the short term, but what will the entertainment media landsca...

In episode 167, "Our Secret Identities," Elizabeth and Flourish use a listener voicemail on pseudonyms as a springboard to talk about the many facets of fannish personas online. Topics discussed include the way pseudonymous norms vary in different fandom spaces, the effects of platform features like Tumblr's sideblogs or AO3's orphaned works, catfishing and other forms of digital abuse, and what "...

In episode 166, Flourish and Elizabeth are joined by friend of the podcast and recurring guest Destination Toast to talk through Toast's recent stats on trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse characters on the AO3. They supplement this quantitative analysis with qualitative observations and experiences reading and writing trans characters, including letters and voicemails from Gavin Daphne, Flash, A...

In Episode 165, "Fests," Flourish and Elizabeth use a listener letter about Yuletide—a long-running fanfic exchange for tiny fandoms—to talk about fanwork fests more broadly. While they approach fests from an observational perspective (for the record, only Flourish would like to see the return of the "Fuh-Q-Fest"), they also talk about their personal experiences writing in these events: why Elizab...

As the pandemic marches on and Flourish and Elizabeth (and presumably many other people) struggle to remember whether individual events happened in 2020 or 2021, they break their longstanding "year in fandom" format and simply revisit last year's fandom trends, from the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement to the rise of C-dramas in Anglophone fandom to fan campaign movements like #Release...

In episode 163, Flourish and Elizabeth talk to novelist and Be the Serpent co-host Freya Marske upon the publication of A Marvellous Light , the first novel in her historical fantasy romance trilogy "The Last Binding." As they discuss tropes, characterization, genre expectations, and other elements of fiction writing, Freya draws from her prolific fanfic-writing history to talk about the ways that...

In episode 162, "Ways of Seeing," Flourish and Elizabeth dig into their recent respective fannish experiences—and how those experiences differ from the way they've "done fandom" in the past. Flourish considers whether their masked conga-line participation at four consecutive Harry Styles concerts counts as "community"; Elizabeth manfully resists saying Lee Pace's name out loud while describing her...

In Episode 161, Elizabeth and Flourish talk to writer and editor Brent Lambert about his work with FIYAH , a literary magazine of Black speculative fiction. Topics discussed include Brent's formative experiences with collaborative fanfic writing, his journey from fan to pro, how the events of the 2020 Hugo Awards led to the creation of FIYAHCON, and the ways SFF publishing has (and hasn't) changed...

In Episode 160, "The Original Character," Flourish and Elizabeth discuss the ways that fans create their own characters in their favorite story-worlds—especially when those characters are some version of themselves. Topics discussed include the history of the term "Mary Sue," imagines and x Reader fics, generational shifts in the way original characters are perceived, and that time Flourish wrote...

In Episode 159, "Gwenda Bond," Flourish and Elizabeth interview Gwenda Bond, author of many novels, including Lois Lane: Fallout , Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds , and (just released!) Not Your Average Hot Guy . Topics covered include  the differences between writing licensed novels, fanfiction, and original fiction, the way social media impacts the relationships between authors and audiences,...

In Episode 158, "Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 11," Elizabeth and Flourish read and respond to a new batch of listener questions. Topics covered include the primacy of shipping in fanfic culture, the ethics of pirating Chinese novels, how to organize your fic collection, and how worried we should be that the entertainment industry is spying on fandom.

In Episode 157, Flourish and Elizabeth interview Nichole Perkins, host of the podcasts This Is Good For You and Thirst Aid Kit and author of her recently released memoir, Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be . Topics discussed include her history with romance novels, the importance of pleasure in her work and life, the philosophy behind Thirst Aid Kit , and Elizabeth and Nichole's shared fand...

In Episode 156, "The Exit Interview," Fansplaining marks the end of Flourish's time in the entertainment industry (!) with a conversation about what they've observed over thirteen years working on fan-related projects in Hollywood. Topics covered include the rise of streaming services, the fall of transmedia storytelling, executives' attitudes towards fans of their properties, and why, after more...

Flourish and Elizabeth celebrate their sixth anniversary in the traditional fashion: inviting back guests from the past year to talk about changes they've observed in fandom, from the global to the personal. Topics covered include the uncertain future of some fanfiction platforms, growing more protective of your fannish spaces, the ever-growing influence of purity culture, and the year's racial re...

In Episode 154, "Fans are Discussing…" Elizabeth and Flourish...discuss (heh) the way Twitter's trending topics reflect—and fail to reflect—what fans are actually talking about. The conversation touches on the platform's editorial decisions, how Twitter trends are interpreted by both Hollywood and the press, and the way fan speculation fuels the geek media ecosystem. They also respond to a teen li...

In Episode 153, "The Productive Fan," Elizabeth and Flourish respond to a listener letter about some fic authors' tendencies to see themselves as 'bad' if they aren't producing written work. Topics covered include the perils of prescriptive writing advice, the Protestant work ethic, Flourish and Elizabeth's personal writing habits, and the impact of professional authors' conversations on fanfic au...

In Episode 152, "Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 10," Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a new batch of listener questions that all center on the theme: "free your mind by cleansing your timeline." Topics discussed include mismatched expectations on Tumblr, monetizing Twitter stan accounts, ageism in fandom, and the growing trend of pro publishers using AO3-style tags in book marketing. 

In Episode 151, "Teaching Fanfiction," Flourish and Elizabeth talk to Dr. Anne Jamison and PhD candidate Maria Alberto about teaching college courses on fanfiction. Topics discussed include how they approach fic in the classroom, the ethics of including fic in syllabi, and the difference between just enjoying fic and studying it from a critical perspective—and they also give advice for people who...

In Episode 150, "Post-Pandemic Fandom," Flourish and Elizabeth reflect on the way the pandemic has changed fandom in the past 18 months—and speculate about what that might mean for fans in the coming months and years. Topics discussed include delayed film and television production and release dates, potentially returning to tours and cons, changes in fandom participation and fanfic habits, and the...

In Episode 149, "The Real Character," Flourish and Elizabeth examine the rhetorical phenomenon of framing fictional characters as real, living people, independent of the texts in which they were created. Topics covered include Plato's allegory of the cave, "comfort characters," bad writing advice, and how people choose to externalize their emotions.

In Episode 148, Flourish and Elizabeth discuss "Do Not Interact" warnings, a kind of social signalling that's proliferated across social media sites recently—including in fandom spaces. Topics covered include the framing and efficacy of these warnings, and intergenerational fandom clashes around how much information about yourself you should put on the internet. They also read two listener letters...

In Episode 147, Elizabeth and Flourish talk with Anisa Khalifa, cultural critic and co-host of the K-drama podcast "Dramas Over Flowers." Topics covered include K-dramas' structural and emotional characteristics, the way these shows' export and consumption has changed over the past decade, transnational fandom exchanges between Korean/Korean diaspora fans and international fans, and the enduring l...

In Episode 146, "If You Give a Fan a Cookie," Flourish and Elizabeth consider the Snyder Cut: What happens when fans demand something…and they get it? Topics discussed include the inherent conservatism of (some parts of) fandom, whether the Snyder Cut was worth the financial gamble, and how it might impact fans' expectations in the future. They also respond to a pair of listener letters about the...