The title of this post comes from the song, but also from the surprisingly powerful ending of a recent Supernatural episode, a show I’ve had a complicated relationship with over the past few years, but which was the first show that got me really into Fan Studies as an academic discipline. This seemed a particularly fitting title for a goodbye post then.
Since June of 2014, I’ve been lucky enough to write monthly columns for Luna Station Quarterly (a magazine and website that I hold dear). In these columns I’ve talked Fan Studies and Genre Studies. However, like all great things (I think that’s how the cliche goes) it must come to an end. I’ve recently graduated from my MFA program and am seeking full-time teaching work and want to devote some time to that search, as well as completing revisions on a sci-fi novel I’ve been working on (during my MFA).
To send off this column, I thought it would be good to look at some additional resources for Fan Studies as well as to talk about some of the speculative shows (with fandoms surrounding them) that I have found the most compelling/powerful over the years.
One of the absolute best resources for Fandom scholars is the Fandom Studies Network. They have a website, but also are on twitter and have a Facebook group. Their information on journals of Fandom Studies is fairly comprehensive. I’d also like to push two of my favorite fandom scholars (who I had the honor to interview for this column!): Lynn Zubernis and Katherine Larsen, creators of Fangasm!
I also want to recommend some of the shows that have most influenced my own fandom studies: Supernatural (of course!), The X-Files, Orphan Black, Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars, iZombie, The Misfits, and Dead Like Me. All of these shows explore (or explored) genre in amazing ways (sometimes not through their entire runs, but it’s hard for perfection to last).
Finally, I’d like to send a big thank you out to Luna Station Quarterly who not only published one of my short stories, early in my writing career, but also gave me this wonderful chance to write about something I love. I will continue to enjoy reading every amazing thing they publish. And, dear readers, if you’d like to keep up with me, I’ll still be tweeting so many things @PintsNCupcakes This may be the finale, but as always, Keep Fannin On!