I don't even go here (copy-editing this piece was the first time I actually stopped and went and watched a TVL clip, so i could see the BLOOD SHOWER lol) but I adored this interview. It's so clear this crew had an absolute ball on set. fansplaining.com/inside-the-v... @fansplaining.bsky.social

Inside The Vampire Lestat’s Brilliant Production Design

Blood farms and custom guitars: TVL production designer Andres Cubillan shares insights into the season’s most memorable setpieces.

fansplaining.com

I am so freaking stoked to have @fansplaining.bsky.social publish my essay from HERE FOR ALL THE REASONS, a book my co-editor and I have truly spent years, a ton of labor, and so much love on. We're so proud of it, and so proud to be part of this incredible site dedicated to taking fandom seriously!

Fansplaining@fansplaining.bsky.social · 2d ago

Today we're thrilled to publish our first book excerpt! An essay on gender, performance, and Bachelor fandom from critic and novelist @ilanaslightly.bsky.social, the co-editor of "Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor":

Does anyone on this butterfly app do digital transcription for music notation? Can you DM me your rates/info please 🙏🙏🙏 thank you!

Every post and article headline about climate extremes: Wow this is so shocking ah yes. who could have predicted that the thing scientists predicted for decades is happening just as predicted. shocking. quelle surprise. this is so unexpected. what can be going on here. what could it possibly be.

My beloved aunt's memorial service is tomorrow. In my tribute I wrote about how loving and supportive she was when I came out to her in college. My family has basically edited out this part without my consent and is refusing to just not read the sanitized homophobic version and I'm so heartbroken.

Beautiful piece. Holy shit.

Joshua Rivera@jmrivera.bsky.social · last wk.

a little bit of personal lore: my culture writing career began with a cranky blog about spider-man. for Fansplaining, I imagine the end of that career, with another blog about spider-man fansplaining.com/what-spider-...

ahhh what an honor

allegra frank@legsfrank.bsky.social · 6d ago

a delightful press release to be a surprise part of

This piece rips—sparked a lot for me. Maybe to Joshua’s point, this year I’ve been looking for ways to turn the page on nihilism, and words like these, held together with grit and hope, feel like a good reason to. And to get to writing, too!

Joshua Rivera@jmrivera.bsky.social · last wk.

a little bit of personal lore: my culture writing career began with a cranky blog about spider-man. for Fansplaining, I imagine the end of that career, with another blog about spider-man fansplaining.com/what-spider-...

The world of fanfiction has changed a lot since our 2017 episode, Fanfiction (Don’t Judge.) I talk with Fansplaining editor Elizabeth Minkel about the controversial fanfiction-to-media pipeline and how that’s changing the relationship between fanfiction writers and readers.

Is Money Ruining Fanfiction? — Imaginary Worlds

The world of fanfiction has changed a lot since we covered it on the show in 2017. I talk with Fansplaining editor Elizabeth Minkel about the controversial fanfiction-to-media pipeline and how that’s ...

imaginaryworldspodcast.org

This is a beautiful piece of writing

Joshua Rivera@jmrivera.bsky.social · last wk.

a little bit of personal lore: my culture writing career began with a cranky blog about spider-man. for Fansplaining, I imagine the end of that career, with another blog about spider-man fansplaining.com/what-spider-...

Joshua knocked it out of the park with this piece! I'm so happy we got to work with him on this thoughtful, poignant musing on Spider-Man, power and responsibility, and what it means to leave nostalgia behind.

Fansplaining@fansplaining.bsky.social · last wk.

Our latest is live! 🕷️ @jmrivera.bsky.social looks back on the first time he wrote about Spider-Man—and wonders if this will be his last. "The world has coarsened, and I’m not sure that stories that presume we care about one another carry the same weight anymore." Read & listen to an audio version:

Good for them. Until the Grammys stop making whiteness the default, it will never improve and more acts like BTS should refuse to participate. K-pop & J-pop may be distinct categories but lumping them into a generic “Asian acts” like a Panda Express is bullshit. deadline.com/2026/07/bts-...

BTS Withdraws From Grammy Consideration In Over New Asian Pop Category

BTS will not submit its music for Grammy consideration this year, apparently in protest over a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.

deadline.com

This is the TERF equivalent of planting one (1) tree every time you generate a billion carbon emissions

Seanan McGuire@seananmcguire.bsky.social · last wk.

"Every purchase unlocks a 5% donation to GLAAD at checkout, the world's largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization. Our LGBTQ+ community has always been part of this brand and always will be. 💛"

"We are donating 5% of proceeds to charity whenever we sell a thing that benefits a woman that is actively killing you" is basically stabbing someone with a knife and then saying it's okay because you also gave them a bandaid.

Seanan McGuire@seananmcguire.bsky.social · last wk.

"Every purchase unlocks a 5% donation to GLAAD at checkout, the world's largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization. Our LGBTQ+ community has always been part of this brand and always will be. 💛"

If anyone's belonging is conditional and can be revoked because of WHO THEY ARE, then EVERYONE'S belonging is conditional. The excuses and "reasons" do not hold.

people who champion gen AI don't seem to understand that for millions of us the 'boring, time-wasting tasks' are non-negotiable. Reading, writing, research, creating–we *want* to do this! It's fun! We learn stuff! Why would we cede them to any machine, let alone one that spits out a false reality?

Brendan Keogh@brkeogh.bsky.social · last wk.

Surely the solution here is just *don't use AI tools* for your writing and research and continue to do your writing and research in ALL the ways you were doing it before you started using AI instead of doing the work??

We're hiring! 📣 Join Buffalo's Fire as a General Assignment Reporter. 📍 Bismarck, ND or Remote (U.S.) 💰 $40,000–$65,000/year 📅 Apply by Aug. 1 📧 tori@imfreedomalliance.org #NowHiring #BuffalosFire

Are you a student or educator, or are you un/underemployed and/or have a lower income? You might not be aware that we have an affordable discount tier for anyone who needs it, no questions asked! Just email info@fansplaining.com and we'll happily share the codes.

"Being a K-pop fan in an African country isn’t the same as being a fan anywhere else." I love @tabbykibugiwriter.bsky.social's latest for Fansplaining—so well-reported. Amidst hurdles these fans face (e.g., the K-pop industry treating them like an afterthought) they're finding so much joy in fandom:

African K-Pop Fans Are Building Their Own Spaces

While the K-pop industry largely ignores them, fans in Kenya and Nigeria create K-pop communities for themselves.

fansplaining.com

This era has shown us over and over that a whole lot of ostensibly left-leaning people are extremely quick to suspend their practice of leftist principles so that they can 1) get ahead in a fight and 2) feel really smug about it

Hillary Monahan@hillarymonahan.bsky.social · 2w ago

Perpetual reminder that making fun of "bad" fat people means that "good" fat people are one infraction away from you being an asshole at them about their bodies and it is completely at your whim and mercy. It's not a good look.

Our latest is live! 💞 @tabbykibugiwriter.bsky.social reports on the blossoming K-pop scene in Kenya and Nigeria. As the industry continues to largely ignore the continent, fans are left to build K-pop spaces for themselves—and they're thriving. Read or listen to an audio version:

African K-Pop Fans Are Building Their Own Spaces

While the K-pop industry largely ignores them, fans in Kenya and Nigeria create K-pop communities for themselves.

fansplaining.com

This week's Fansplaining longread explores the steady rise of K-pop communities in Kenya, Nigeria, and other regions of Africa—even as the industry and broader global fandom pass them by. A joyous piece with fantastic reporting from @tabbykibugiwriter.bsky.social! fansplaining.com/african-k-po...

African K-Pop Fans Are Building Their Own Spaces

While the K-pop industry largely ignores them, fans in Kenya and Nigeria create K-pop communities for themselves.

fansplaining.com

yelling "ARE THE SHADES OF PEMBERLEY TO BE THUS POLLUTED" like i'm at a pep rally

five pennies in a trenchcoat@snickettes.bsky.social · 2w ago

OMG HE JUST STARTED READING IT! I GET TO EXPERIENCE THIS IN REAL TIME!!! ... IS THIS WHAT SPORTS FANDOM IS LIKE

Imagine if, in 2026, people were pouring billions into trying to convince people they weren't really left-handed, and the richest writer on earth was funding leftie eradication, and SCOTUS said lefties couldn't play sports, and the NYT opined that drs erred in letting teens write w/their left hands

Madisyn Parisi (they/them)@madisyn-writes.bsky.social · 3w ago

AI has reached a new frontier: conversion therapy for trans kids. Detrans AI‘s site claims it helps users explore their gender dysphoria. Instead, it cites conspiracy theories and seeks to invalidate trans people — even if it risks their lives. Read my original reporting @rewirenewsgroup.com

👇👇👇👇

Elizabeth Minkel@elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 3w ago

I also think anyone curious about what reporting on fans looks like should read this and Maria's other work, e.g., her first feature for us on fans of whump and hurt/comfort. Real fandom reporting involves getting in there and talking to folks rather simply browsing public commentary!

I've been in the 'Cameron's Avatar left no cultural footprint' camp forever and now I have to shift to the 'okay, maybe a small imprint' camp because of Maria's fascinating, joyous piece on conlangs! It's seriously so good. Also I need the last guy to write a cultural guide to Dothraki 🙏

Fansplaining@fansplaining.bsky.social · 3w ago

Our latest is live! ✨ Maria Temming reports on the worlds of fictional constructed language (aka conglang) speakers. For fans gathering around Na'vi, Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki, or High Valyrian, it's about more than a connection to canon—it's about community. Read or listen to an audio version:

As a longtime fanfiction reader (and occasional fic writer), I am deeply concerned about the way AI is impacting fandom spaces. @fansplaining.bsky.social was the perfect place to explore this anxious curiosity in the context of the booming Heated Rivalry fandom.

Elizabeth Minkel@elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 4w ago

I've been looking at AI in fic spaces since these tools were released to the public, and it's not surprising that HR—huge numbers of new readers & writers in fandom, a promise of Manacled-like deals in the air—was where this melted down. @kaytiburt.bsky.social does a fantastic job reporting this:

Oh, well. (h/t @bpal.bsky.social). www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/if-...

If Only There Had Been a Sign That the Face-Melting Nazi from Indiana Jones Wouldn’t Make a Good Senator

“There’s simply no way any of us could have predicted a Nazi SS guy with his eyeballs dangling out of his sockets and the Staff of Ra broiled into his flesh ...

mcsweeneys.net

I'm especially hopeful that folks from fandom who've written a lot—meta, analysis, etc—will get in touch. They often have sharper perspectives than a lot of the pro-published stuff I see on the same subjects. Any writing you can show us, we'd love to read it; they don't have to be fancy clips!

Fansplaining is officially open for pitches! 🥳 Please read our guide to get a sense of what we're looking for, and if you have any questions we haven't answered here, feel free to get in touch! info@fansplaining.com