Fan culture has existed since the dawn of time. Well, not exactly, but it has been around in the way we know it today since the 1960s, through Star Trek-inspired works that were shared in fanzines. However, unauthorized sequels and adaptations have been created for hundreds of years before that, establishing transformative work as a common part of interacting with media. Some Shakespeare plays, and Dante’s Divine Comedy, are examples of writing that are derived from another author’s work. Since the advent of the internet, fan fiction has been shared on social media sites and fan-run archives, linking people across the world in a semi-underground shared space. However, fandom culture has been progressively integrated into the mainstream since the pandemic forced us all online six years ago. The merging of these two spaces is especially apparent this year through conversations surrounding Heated Rivalry and Harry Potter.
From Fan fiction to the front page
On Feb. 23, “Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys”, an article by journalist E. Alex Jung, was posted on Vulture and New York Magazine, focusing on the cultural phenomenon that Heated Rivalry has become. The show, based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, follows hockey rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who develop an intimate relationship while competing against each other over many years. Among other pieces of media, Heated Rivalry has stirred discussions about queer media and the women who make up a portion of its fanbase. This percentage of women who interact with this media has been the source of controversy out of fears that it might erase true gay experiences and prioritize a warped point of view, though there are many detractors to this argument.
Fandom has historically been a safe space for women and queer people, with many people discovering their transgender or nonbinary identities through these online interactions. This corner of the internet relies on anonymity so that people who might be confined to their home lives can adequately express themselves. Jung’s article represents an infringement on that space due to the author linking a specific fan fiction within his writing. The fanfiction author posted online that he was not consulted prior to publication, pushing the boundary of professional and amateur writing. Fanfiction is most often on public websites that are available to anybody, but they don’t usually escape these confined spaces.
While fanworks have been referenced in publications, Jung is one of the first journalists to name a specific “fic” and hyperlink to the archive where it is housed, all without the author’s permission. Additionally, the author of the linked fan fiction is a gay man, going against Jung’s claim of “Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys” being a prevalent occurrence in modern media consumption. The link was removed after the fanfiction author reached out, but only after being up for 12 hours on Vulture and The New York Magazine, showing how fandom has crossed over to traditional print media in this 60+ year old publication.
fan work in mainstream media
Heated Rivalry is not the only instance of a merger between mainstream culture and digital subculture. Famous books and their adaptations, such as Fifty Shades of Grey, After, and Red, White & Royal Blue, are all said to have been based on fanfiction. These have gone through a process known as “filing off the serial numbers,” where names and other identifiable information are removed so that the work won’t face copyright strikes. However, people were driven online in 2020 and discovered fan communities, amplifying the overlap between popular culture and fan spaces and increasing the prevalence of this type of story.
One of the fandoms that experienced the most growth during this time was Harry Potter, specifically through the Marauders subsect and “Dramione” shippers. The Marauders refer to friends James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, though fans have expanded this into a universe of characters that they interacted with in their years at Hogwarts. The primary appeal of the Marauders is diversifying Harry Potter, almost in opposition to J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans stance, which she affirmed during this period of fandom growth. As such, the relationship between Sirius and Remus is often the focus of this group of fans, with almost 50,000 stories about this pairing having been posted on Archive of Our Own since the pandemic began in 2020.
Despite the popularity, Sirius and Remus fics have not been picked up by publishers; Draco and Hermione ones have. Known as Dramione, these two characters are often shipped due to their stance as enemies in the book, establishing tension which has been reinterpreted as romantic. The pairing exploded in popularity in 2020, with over 36,000 fics with this tag being uploaded to Archive of Our Own in the past six years.
Several of these have been edited into traditionally published novels, leading to people dubbing 2025 “The Year of Dramione.” Unlike previous instances where publishers aimed to hide the fan fiction nature of books, these recent works—Alchemised, Rose in Chains, and The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy—have been loudly and proudly declared as such. Some publishers even sent promotional material to Edelweiss, a book cataloguing program, that explained the origins and included images of fan-bound copies of the fanfiction. Such acknowledgments from publishing professionals demonstrate the shifting media landscape as fangirls and their work are being brought to the forefront.
The most famous of these Dramione books is probably Alchemised by SenLinYu, formerly titled Manacled. This story, which combines Harry Potter characters and a Handmaid’s Tale-inspired universe, is one of the most popular fan fictions in terms of interaction. Interestingly, the author chose to maintain their pseudonym for publication despite most fan fiction authors reverting to their legal names; this signifies a pride in fan fiction that wasn’t apparent in publishing just a few years ago. SenLinYu and the industry’s success with Dramione and fan fiction titles is further evident by Alchemised’s first printing being 750,000 copies. Additionally, Legendary published the movie rights before publication, for an estimated 3 million dollars, one of the largest book adaptation deals.
The media landscape has changed significantly recently and will not be returning to what it was. But this is for the best; it is good for people to have access to more stories to be able to discover the media that fascinates them. Fandom can be a welcoming space for people who are searching for community, and fan fiction also provides an opportunity for them to express themselves creatively. While book and movie deals show that traditional media companies are opening up to fan spaces for their future projects, fan boundaries must be maintained and respected throughout this shift. Fan communities deserve to exist without monetization, as a place for analyzing media, discussing identity, and developing relationships.