Man, I Don’t Know What I’m Doing

#StreamBTSDynamiteNewSong! This week, V and Emily head back to the days of quarantine to look at an event that is... sigh. It showcases the culture differences between pre-2020 fandom and post-2020 fandom, Twitter fandom and the lineage of Livejournal-originated fandom, and corporate internet versus free internet. When fans take it upon themselves to become de facto employees for their blorbos, are they still acting out of fandom or does it become purely parasocial? Is there a difference? What is the line between self-interested fandom and selfish fandom? Plus, why -- yet again -- AO3 is different from other sites, and why those differences matter. We're very nervous putting this episode out. We've been told repeatedly not to cover BTS or we'll get yelled at. Please don't yell at us, we did our best!!1! #JIMIN!

Sources

Fanlore: BTS vs. AO3 Fanlore: Kpop Stan Twitter Kpop Army Battle Royale by Geoff Golberg Fanlore: BTS ARMY Fanlore: How BTS Became... Fanlore: BTS Time Magazine Fandom Exile Reading the Room: The Magicians, BTS, and the Responsibility of Creating Popular Culture

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Virtual TGIF/F - Our friends at TGI Femslash have just announced a brand-new, online fan con happening this summer. On August 29–30, Virtual TGIF/F will bring femslash fans from around the world together for discussion panels, online events, and more. Registration opens June 1st. Find out more at tgifemslash.com/virtualcon

Dragons in the Details - Dragons in the Details is the podcast that helps YOU better understand your favorite books. We never recap chapters—we find new insights, make new connections, and give you those WOW moments you love. WARNING: Once you hear these theories, you can't unhear them. Join Abby and Ronnie as we laugh, cry, and lose our minds diving deep into the internet's favorite stories!

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory

Muffins! This week, Emily and V are... surprisingly heartwarmed? Pleasantly shocked? Tentatively on board with a fandom they were very nervous to cover? We're talking about Bronies this week, which is to say, adult (mostly male) fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. This week in fandom history, they were acknowledged by their show canon with the inclusion of their fandomwide blorbo, a backgrounder named... well... therein lies the wank. It's a rare thing when both Emily and V agree with all sides of a fandom argument, but this is one of those cases. Everyone was right, and everyone was wrong, and while nobody won, nobody really lost, either. Get your background cels aligned and hoist your mailbag onto your shoulder, because this is the Ballad of Derpy Hooves.

Sources

Fanlore: Derpy Hooves Fanlore: Save Derpy Equestria Daily MLP Wiki

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory

Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

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Virtual TGIF/F - Our friends at TGI Femslash have just announced a brand-new, online fan con happening this summer. On August 29–30, Virtual TGIF/F will bring femslash fans from around the world together for discussion panels, online events, and more. Registration opens June 1st. Find out more at tgifemslash.com/virtualcon

On this special crossover episode, Emily and Vee and joined by - wouldn't you know it - Emily and V, the cohosts of @thisweekinfandomhistory! We talk about the fandoms that shaped us (looking at you, Ducktales), fanfiction we love, and the possibility that one of us might be a reincarnated passenger from the Titanic. 

Sources from today's ep: 

V's epic Hunger Games companion book

The American Girl Doll anthology

Send a SASE! This week, V and Emily take a look at the illustrious -- pun intended -- life and career of Big Name Fanartist and writer Beverly Zuk, whose Fanlore page is a riot of full-frontal Vulcans. We look at the fascinating fic she wrote, particularly "The Third Verdict," and read through her instructions of how to become a fanartist in 1978. Plus, we marvel at the Star Trek Welcommittee and their work to help fans connect in an age before the internet made connecting simple, if not always easy. The key thing we take away from Beverly Zuk's legacy is that fandom is about being a fan together with others.

Sources

Fanlore: The Third Verdict Fanlore: Beverly Zuk IDIC #10 In Memoriam, Bev Zuk How To Break Into Treklit So You Want to Be A Fanartist!

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Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

Virtual TGIF/F - Our friends at TGI Femslash have just announced a brand-new, online fan con happening this summer. On August 29–30, Virtual TGIF/F will bring femslash fans from around the world together for discussion panels, online events, and more. Registration opens June 1st. Find out more at tgifemslash.com/virtualcon

Wow If True - Wow If True is your one-stop internet culture shop, explaining how what’s happening online shapes the real world. And they're the internet experts and real-life besties to unravel it: tech culture journalist Amanda Silberling and science fiction author slash attorney Isabel J. Kim, Esq. More importantly, they're the only podcast that will mention Neopets and horizontal mergers in the same episode. So check out Wow If True, wherever on the internet you find your podcasts. New episodes every other Wednesday.

RePROs Fight Back - Right now reproductive health is facing seismic shifts and can feel confusing, overwhelming, and exhausting. On rePROs Fight Back, host Jennie Wetter really makes it feel like you’re learning from your friend. rePROs Fight Back breaks down the big, overwhelming issues in ways that actually make sense and really shows the ripple effects happening after the news cycle moves on. Jennie brings on experts and advocates to talk about everything from abortion access and sex-ed to the real impact of gender inequality and threats to LGBTQI+ rights. Plus, she’s always honest about how she’s managing these heavy feelings and how she’s coping. Check out rePROs Fight Back wherever you’re listening to this podcast right now.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Roar! This week, V and Emily look at a 70-year-old fandom that we'd never considered before: Godzilla. Thanks to a request, we look at the schism in the fandom, and the Godzilla canon, caused by Hollywood's GODZILLA (1998) -- also known as Zilla or GINO -- as well as the special effects fanzines of the '60s and '70s. We learn about Japan's bananas intellectual property laws in the '90s, and about a BANANAS crossover zine that spanned over 600 pages of fic. This is truly a giant-size episode chock full of kaiju content.

Sources

Fanlore: GINO The Kaiju Apostle Building Bridges in the Godzilla Fandom Fanlore: Welcome to Earth! Fanlore: Bite of the Wolf Fanlore: Urban Legends Urban Legends: The Site TV Tropes: Vathara

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Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

Virtual TGIF/F - Our friends at TGI Femslash have just announced a brand-new, online fan con happening this summer. On August 29–30, Virtual TGIF/F will bring femslash fans from around the world together for discussion panels, online events, and more. Registration opens June 1st. Find out more at tgifemslash.com/virtualcon

Simple & Clean - Simple and Clean is a show where hosts Mischa Stanton and Mayanna Berrin (and friends) talk about Kingdom Hearts, a little video game franchise about really big feelings. Join us as we discuss the plot, characters, world building, music, fashion, fanbase, and societal impact of a thing that by all means, probably shouldn’t even exist. New episodes every Sunday, wherever you listen to podcasts!

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Accio legal system? This week, Emily and V look into the super-bummer that was a harbinger of even worse super-bummers to come: the time JK Rowling sued her biggest fan for basically knowing more about Harry Potter than she did. And everyone in the whole world sided with her, because it was 2008 and the deification of that woman was REAL. Fortunately, it's 2026, the scales have fallen from our eyes, we've already covered Lindaaaaa for precedence, and we can have a real discussion about what the ruling meant for fandom, fanworks, and poor Steven Vander Ark. 

Sources

Fanlore

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Check out our new pod-friends STAN! You really think you could be besties with Hailey Bieber? That’s cute. A podcast dedicated to exploring parasociality, celebrity worship and digital intimacy. We explore digital media through the lens of girlhood, constructed intimacy, and pop culture. Each episode centres on a cultural icon or phenomenon—ranging from The Hunger Games, erotic fiction, 2010s YouTubers and (of course) Taylor Swift—to unpack how the media we consumed, particularly during our formative years, shaped our desires, ideals, and sense of self.

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Welcome to another episode of the TWIFH special miniseries podcast, CONstruction: How to Throw A Fan Convention. Each month, V will catch up with John @jarrow, the logistics guy with all the spreadsheets and contracts for TGI Femslash, about, well, how to throw a successful fan convention. If you've ever thought, "It sure would be fun to spend the weekend with other people talking about my blorbo" but didn't know where to start, John has the knowledge and is willing to share it. This month, we're 9 months away from the next TGI Femslash in-person con, and we look at a recent celebrity con that got all the wrong kind of buzz on social media. The keyword of a successful event is "ecosystem," and John sings the ballad of treating vendors with respect. If you have any questions for John about TGI Femslash or about the logistics behind planning a convention, you can send them to him via the TWIFH inbox on our Tumblr!

Promotions

Virtual TGIF/F - Our friends at TGI Femslash have just announced a brand-new, online fan con happening this summer. On August 29–30, Virtual TGIF/F will bring femslash fans from around the world together for discussion panels, online events, and more. Registration opens June 1st. Find out more at tgifemslash.com/virtualcon

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Attention ancient history nerds and fans of really weird and unusual fantasy books, THE WISDOM OF EMPERORS kickstarter campaign just launched!

Hello, btw, I'm Alexandra Rowland, the author of A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND, YIELD UNDER GREAT PERSUASION, and several other books. This is my new one!!

Inspired by the story of the Ancient Roman emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous, THE WISDOM OF EMPERORS is a second-world adult fantasy novel written in the style of a fictional academic text. It documents the translation and study of a world-changing artifact discovered in an archaeological dig: a manuscript which provides the clues to finally unravel one of the most perplexing mysteries in all of ancient history.

If this sounds like your jam, go back it on kickstarter! If you're not sure whether it is your jam, the merch reveal updates on the campaign include excerpts from the book so you can get a flavor for it -- the ENTIRE Foreword to the book is on there!

I do not have a publisher to help with a marketing and publicity budget, so this book's success really depends on grassroots support from readers -- if you can spare a signal boost, that'd be amazing.

I'M GONNA GO WALK INTO THE SEA NOW AND BECOME ONE WITH THE MOLLUSCS, but before i do, here is the full summary of the book:

SUMMARY:

     An ancient emperor who, along with his entire army, vanished from the historical record for ten years, as if into thin air. A long-suffering scribe, dragged along on a quest that was doomed from the start, furiously scrawling his thoughts in a manuscript that will be lost for millennia. An enslaved young man, as beautiful as a marble statue, breaking his chains and flying to freedom. And a patient, steadfast scholar, dauntlessly seeking the answer to a mystery that has plagued historians for two thousand years.

The great tragedy of studying history is that there is so much we will never know. But a recent archaeological excavation has discovered an ancient manuscript, allegedly the journal kept by one of Emperor Cabian’s scribes during the years of his mysterious disappearance. Though most historians initially dismissed it as a hoax or a forgery, Amatio Orlanti took on the challenge—not only proving the authenticity of the manuscript, but translating it, uncovering the most jaw-dropping corroborating sources and, at last, presenting these astonishing revelations to the world: The truth of Cabian’s ill-fated journey, the twin poisons of imperialist violence and desperate, misguided love that drove him relentlessly onwards, and the ultimate fate of his lost beloved, the legendary beauty Anaticula. This new edition of Orlanti’s dissertation, with its academic commentaries and explanatory footnotes now revised for the general public, offers a glimpse of one of the most famous figures of Ancient Lausa—and casts a light on the rot and depravity lying behind the empire’s outward magnificence.

Miracles in history and archaeology just don’t happen… except when they do.

To the Common Room! This week, V and Emily look with such fondness at the best era of fic since the internet began: the 2012 Avengers Tower era. This requested episode features Clint in the vents, Thor eating Pop-Tarts, a surprising number of penguins, Darcy Lewis, and genuine softness towards Tony Stark. Also, we have a pitch for Disney+ and a new drinking game for all you listeners. Journey back with us to a time and a place where everyone had their own apartment in the tallest skyscraper in New York City, movie nights were interrupted by galactic-level stakes that turned out okay, and every robot had a name and personality. Are you a fan of 2012 Avengers Tower fic? Which of the most popular ships is your OTP? Let us know on Tumblr or in the comments wherever you're listening!

Sources

Fanlore: Toasterverse brown-betty on LJ Fanlore: The Avengers Movieverse mcufandomhatespeopleofcolor

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Check out our new pod-friends Normal Curves! If you’ve ever seen a study headline and thought, “wait… is that actually true?” then you might like Normal Curves. It’s a podcast where two statisticians – Regina Nuzzo and Kristin Sainani –  take big claims about things like sex, health, and human behavior and figure out what the research actually shows… and where it gets a little shaky.

Check out our new pod-friends STAN! You really think you could be besties with Hailey Bieber? That’s cute. A podcast dedicated to exploring parasociality, celebrity worship and digital intimacy. We explore digital media through the lens of girlhood, constructed intimacy, and pop culture. Each episode centres on a cultural icon or phenomenon—ranging from The Hunger Games, erotic fiction, 2010s YouTubers and (of course) Taylor Swift—to unpack how the media we consumed, particularly during our formative years, shaped our desires, ideals, and sense of self.

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Gross! This week, V and Emily are balls of white-hot rage as they discuss the very 2008 debacle that was the Open-Source Boob Project at Penguicon '08. The originator of the project -- the same dude who created the Purity Test that everyone in the late aughts took in college, because of course he was -- tried to defend his lechery with a veneer of "social science experiment," and as usual, it did not work and just remained totally gross. The bright side of this requested episode? It really highlights a positive culture shift that has occurred in con spaces, and in wider culture (kind of), since 2008. Do you feel safe and supported at conventions? Let us know in the comments where you're listening or on our Tumblr!

Sources

Fanlore Wikipedia

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Check out our new pod-friends Normal Curves! If you’ve ever seen a study headline and thought, “wait... is that actually true?” then you might like Normal Curves. It’s a podcast where two statisticians – Regina Nuzzo and Kristin Sainani –  take big claims about things like sex, health, and human behavior and figure out what the research actually shows... and where it gets a little shaky.

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

So excited to reveal the cover to my new book today, The Wisdom of Emperors! You can check it out on Kickstarter, along with the full summary!

Inspired by the story of the Ancient Roman emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous, The Wisdom of Emperors is a second-world adult fantasy novel written in the style of a fictional academic text. It documents the translation and study of a world-changing artifact discovered in an archaeological dig: a manuscript which provides the clues to finally unravel the mysteries surrounding one of the most famous emperors of the ancient world. 

The Kickstarter campaign is for the deluxe collector's edition, but you'll be able to preorder the standard hardback/paperback, PLUS the early-access ebook, available to backers well before general publication to everyone else. And there's going to be some really, REALLY cool merch as well (genuine papyrus bookmarks, designed and blockprinted by my own hands!)

Yikes, Scoob! This week, Emily and V hold their noses and sink into the cesspit that is the Tumblr blog of ASOIAF BNF and certified GOT Hater, Lindaaaa (Linda Antonsson). We literally can't use any of the words that Lindaaaa uses to refer to fellow A Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones fans and still have this episode be SEO-searchable and able to show up on your podcatcher, so, uh, make sure you're wearing headphones if you plan to listen around other people. Of any age. She's a peach. But also, we learn about a type of fanfiction -- BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT IS, LINDA -- that we'd never encountered before: the MUSH. 

Sources

A Storm of Hate (Link now defunct) Beximilian: The Ballad of Lindaaaa (Wayback Machine)

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Check out our new pod-friends That Aged Well! Feel conflicted about the movies you loved as a kid? Let Paul and Erika guide you through all that beloved garbage we watched… after all, nostalgia is more fun when you aren’t the only one embarrassed by it. Come dive into yesterday’s pop culture today!

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Yikes. This week, V and Emily try their best to be Carefully Neutral (well, V does) as they delve into the sordid, obsession-fueled assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr, who wanted very badly to impress child actress Jodie Foster. After the event, though, came the fallout: the idea of "the obsessed fan" became a cultural boogeyman of the early '80s. So what was fandom supposed to do if not write scathing LOCs in Star Trek zines? We look at how the demonization of "fans" played out in the dialogue of actual fans in fannish spaces, and really, we did our best to be classy. Well. V did.

Sources

Wikipedia Fanlore: I'd like to comment, yet again... Fanlore: So many topics in the past few months... Fanlore: Interstat Fanlore: Public Image

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Check out our new pod-friends That Aged Well! Feel conflicted about the movies you loved as a kid? Let Paul and Erika guide you through all that beloved garbage we watched... after all, nostalgia is more fun when you aren't the only one embarrassed by it. Come dive into yesterday's pop culture today!

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.

Weewoo! This week, Emily and V talk about not Steve and Bucky, nor Steve and Eddie, nor Edward and Stede, but the FOURTH slash pairing with the same names: Buck and Eddie from 9-1-1. Specifically, the glorious handling of Buck's realization of his bisexuality and the awesome way his actor, Oliver Stark, is stewarding his role and the storyline. Of course, not everyone loved Buck's coming out -- either because of biphobia specifically, homophobia generally, or being a dick about shipping -- but Oliver Stark seems to love BiBuck enough to make up for that. Also: V comes up with some really great new nicknames for Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.

Sources

Fanlore: 9-1-1 Fanlore: Evan "Buck" Buckley

Promo Codes

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

We’re now on Instagram! @/thisweekinfandomhistory

Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifh

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.