#zine fandom

This week’s Featured Article is about Charity Zines!

These fan-created publications turn fandom creativity into a way to support charitable causes, with proceeds from sales donated to nonprofits, relief efforts, and other causes. The earliest documented examples date back to the 1980s, with projects like Zine Aid raising money for charitable campaigns.

From early print zines sold through the mail and at conventions to modern digital PDFs, charity zines have evolved alongside fandom technology. They can be focused on a single fandom, or bring multiple together, and online organization has made it easier for fans to collaborate and choose causes together. But charity zines are also part of the complicated history of fandom and profit. Questions about expenses, contributor copies, taxes, legal issues, transparency, and donation receipts have all shaped how these projects are organized. Since charity zines can have short availability windows, documenting their history is important for preserving these ephemeral pieces of fandom culture. Want to learn more? Check out its Fanlore page!

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I’m an elder fan, I think. For the youngins just playing catch up, long before AO3, the X-Files “Shipping Wars” happened on Usenet. (For a more detailed history, I recommend: https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_X-Files).

Now this is my own recollection, but as I remember it, at the time I entered online fandom, Mulder/Scully fanfiction stories were still popular. And slash stories were still contentious (lots of homophobia toward slash & slash writers, lots of “there is no g-rated m/m, and lots of demands that we keep our chocolate away from their peanut butter.)

Many slashers in XFiles got into fanning the show online & seeking other fans by way of the introduction of Alex Krycek (who became Mulder’s partner while Gillian A. was on maternity leave). There were already Mulder/Skinner stories. Then M/Sk/K stories, and Sk/K stories.

The thing is, Krycek wasn’t in that many eps, really. So fans did a lot of work world-building for him and fleshing him out. Fans did a lot of close reading, both in hopes of figuring out CC’s endgame and bc it was fun.

I don’t recall much antipathy toward showrunner Chris Carter for not giving us what we wanted in a gift box. And, as some fans were reading fanfic before seeing the show, there were convos about, “Oh, so that’s not canon?!” As a subculture of a subculture of a subculture, we did our thing. Others did theirs. And I think most of us liked Scully (and saw her as Mulder’s surrogate sister and bff).

So… I look at 9-1-1 and Tommy fans now and feel sort of baffled by fans saying things like insisting that S8.6 & the breakup was poorly written and OOC. I tried to to perceptions of the breakup as disconnected/coming out of nowhere by comparing the transcripts of the first date with the end, concluding there was quite a bit of foreshadowing. https://www.tumblr.com/miriam-heddy/766816705652654080/for-those-who-said-that-the-end-of-bucktommy-came

Early on, fans began story posts online & in zines with a posted disclaimer and notes. Looking back, these show just how much fandom has changed in terms of relationship between

A fanfic writer and

B) her readers

C) her writing community (editors/beta readers/supporters)

D) show canon

E) the showrunner/The Powers That Be.

Take a look at this (fairly typical) header information(writer disclaimer and notes) from a 1997 story by one of my favorites, torch.

As a thought experiment, try to imagine this in 9-1-1 fandom—particularly in Buddie and Tevan fanfiction communities.

⏲️ LESS THAN 1 MONTH TILL PREORDERS OPEN!

There's only a matter of time before our 2nd Feast! 🍖 We'll have a combination of food-themed art, writing, recipes - there'll be something for everyone's One Piece palate 😋 Lovely Art by: @aokkun / @aokamei - 📅 JULY 31 6PM (PST) ⏰ Countdown: https://bit.ly/Feast2POCountdown

This week’s Featured Article is about Gennie Summers, (2 August 1924 - 25 May 2010), who was a prolific gen artist and occasional writer. Her main fandoms were Star Trek and Star Wars. She was very much a Klingon fan.

Summers was introduced to fandom in 1973 when she read a newspaper that supplied the names of several fans, one of them being Jacqueline Lichtenberg, the creator of the Kraith series of Star Trek The Original Series short stories and novellas. Summers wrote Lichtenberg and was sent the address of the Star Trek Welcommittee. Some of Summers’s art was used as covers for HolQeD, quarterly journal of the Klingon Language Institute.

Summers contributed her art to dozens of zines. In a 1990 fannish autobiography she wrote:

“I didn't get in touch with fandom until 1973, though I knew there were other fans. I just didn't know how to find them. When I did, a new world opened up.

I'd never made it as a professional artist; I'm self-taught. But through fandom, I can share with others what I create, and enjoy their creations in turn.”

Learn more about Gennie Summers’s contributions to fandom history on Fanlore!

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For Fanwork Friday we're reading The Love of a Woman.

The Love of a Woman was a multifandom zine that ran for two issues in 2003 and 2004. From Mutant X to Law & Order: SVU to Stargate SG-1, it showcases some of the femslash fandoms and ships that were popular in the early 2000s.

Do you have this zine sitting on shelf somewhere? We'd love your help in expanding its Fanlore page!

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This week's Featured Article fits right in with spooky season, it's Dracula, the 1980 zine edited by Lori Chapek-Carleton.

The Dracula zine was focused mostly on the 1979 film "Dracula" starring Frank Langella, although other Draculas were also represented. It's an anthology that features a variety of fic and art, including a Star Wars crossover which was later nominated for a Fan Q award. Although it was intended to be an annual zine available every year around Halloween, only one issue was ever published.

Curious? Head over to Fanlore to find out more!

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This week's featured article is the humble fig leaf. The term originates from the practice in Western art history of using a fig leaf shape to conceal genitalia, and whether a literal leaf or a conveniently placed emoji, the "modesty panel" has always been a staple in fanart to hide nudity or erotic content.

In fandom, adding fig leaves to art was particularly popular in fanzines! Some zine artists added removable covers so fans could read in public without embarrassment. Others satirised the idea of needing fig leaves entirely — several zines from the 1970s included fig leaf cut-outs for prudish readers to add to fanart themselves!

As you might expect, fans have gotten creative with what they use to preserve characters' modesty — check out the ways fans have used fig leaves in their art on Fanlore!

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