Brutus Was Totally Just As Cute As Caesar!
October 3: Mean Girls Day with Allegra from STAN Podcast
This Week In Fandom History Episode #183
Credit: Paramount Pictures
She doesn't even go here! This week, V and Emily are joined by a friend who, indeed, does not normally go here, but we're glad she did for this episode: Allegra Ponti from STAN Podcast. She is here to join our cafeteria clique as we discuss the 2004 movie phenomenon Mean Girls, and how the worldwide fandom for this movie a) destroyed Lindsay Lohan, and b) shaped our own high school experiences to varying degrees. (While we didn't have time to get into it in the episode, the Broadway musical and 2024 film musical are also big fandoms in their own right! Toxic femslashers rise!) We discuss the differences between American and British school culture, the 2000s cultural exports of the United States, and the continual cycle of Hollywood child sacrifices. Plus, another installment of V's teachers not knowing how to handle a very lesbian, very fannish child!
ABOUT THE EPISODE
One Time, Regina Punched Me In the Face. It Was Awesome.
Listening back to this episode in editing, I realized that we didn’t really get into how the transformative works fandom for Mean Girls does its thing. We talked a lot about our own relationships to the movie, and about the movie’s wider relationship to pop culture, but we didn’t get into the thing that is our whole deal: fandom and fanfiction.
So does Mean Girls have a transformative works fandom?
The short answer is, yes, and it’s femslash.
The combined power of the Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls musical, and Mean Girls (2024) tags on AO3 – it’s a little weird that there’s no ‘Mean Girls – All Media Types’ umbrella tag yet – boast 4,895 fics as of writing this newsletter. The most recent was posted on the day our episode came out, and I for one am choosing to believe there’s a connection there. (Hah!)
The most popular relationship is, unsurprisingly, Regina George/Janis [insert last name here; she has three canonical ones]. It’s fascinating to me that even though there ISN’T an umbrella fandom tag, Janis’ canonical tag is shared between the adaptations of her: Janis Ian | Janis Sarkisian | Janis ‘Imi’ike.
(I also want to think that her last name being “Sarkisian” in the Broadway adaptation is a nod to Mean Girls’ feminist roots and Anita Sarkisian, but I can’t confirm that.)
However, the second-largest ship is one that walloped me in the face.
I did not see it coming, people.
It’s a crossover ship, which is already surprising for something Doing Numbers.
And it’s not, like. “Mean Girls/Bring It On,” which would make sense on many levels. Or, like, “Mean Girls/Jennifer’s Body,” “Mean Girls/Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls/Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,” or “Mean Girls/Heathers,” all of which I totally can see. Please write them, tbh.
No.
The second-largest ship in the Mean Girls fandom is apparently Regina George/Rodrick Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
You can’t see the face I’m making at the screen, but rest assured, it is Baffled.
(Cue me spending an hour reading about the publishing history of Jeff Kinney to find clues to his connection to Tina Fey. Spoilers, there are none.)
That said, I kinda love it? I have never Diary of a Wimpy Kid’d, but according to the Shipping Wiki, “Rodrina” is, like all crossover ships, a totally fanon creation… and it blew up in 2025. When I read that, I thought, “Surely that means this crossover got its roots in the 2024 movie.”
No.
It comes 100% from work by visionary fanartist @monia_lynn on Instagram and TikTok.
The original fanart was captioned, “I MIGHT be a genius,” and girl, you are. I don’t even go here and I’m here for it. (I just have a lot of feelings!)
So the question is not, “Is there a transformative works fandom for Mean Girls?”
It’s “Is there a limit to the Mean Girls transformative works fandom?”
And, in a beautiful meta twist:
The limit does not exist.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
High School AU (and canon) Fic Recs
This isn’t a genre that I read super often, but when I do, they’re very good. Here are four fic recs + a vid… kind of. Technically.
a resistance jacket torn to shreds, and a dream inside our heads by folkloricfeel, jannika
By the time he’s fifteen, Poe has an old, beat-up guitar, a steadily-growing record collection, a dozen books on Resistance Records, five hours of footage from old shows at the Millennium Falcon downloaded to his laptop, and fourteen vintage magazines. He likes to think it’s a passion, not an obsession.
Poe is a self-proclaimed punk and a rebel with a cause, Rey is a scrappy foster kid who's found a niche, and Finn is an overachiever on the verge of a breakdown. This is the story of their senior year. (High school AU, but not really, because the story's just getting started.)
Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Pairing: Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey Skywalker
A Reptile Dysfunction by makesomelove
Or, Louzard.
"So what's wrong with me then?" Louis says.
"Well, I'm no expert..." Liam says. "But in my opinion, I’d have to guess, well. Yer a lizard, Louis!”
Fandom: One Direction
Pairing: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Everyday Superhero by stoneage_woman
When a field trip to Stark Industries ends in disaster, Roger Harrington finds himself faced with an impossible choice. Suddenly, Tony Stark is shoving an NDA in his face while Peter Parker stares at him with terrified, desperate eyes. Nothing in his 13-year teaching career could have prepared Harrington for this, but he knows one thing for sure: ten years ago, he'd stared down into the sightless eyes of a seventeen-year-old girl, and he'd sworn to himself that he would never again lose another student. He's going to do everything in his power to keep that promise now…even if it costs him everything.
Set during and post Spider-Man Homecoming. A realistic field trip story that also explores the long-term consequences of trauma and responsibility, written by a real-life teacher.
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man
Pairing: None/Gen
Instant Kill Mode by Isnt_it_pretty_to_think_so
"Is there a reason you're calling this late at night?" Tony asks, worried in spite of himself. "Tell me what's going on, kid."
“Everything is one-hundred-percent fine,” Peter says. “Seriously, I've never been better. But I should let you know I have about thirty bricks of cocaine in my bedroom. Also, Karen won't let me turn off Instant Kill Mode. Also, Walmart discontinued my special razzleberry pink squeezy lemonade. Which isn't related to tonight's patrol, I'm just bummed about it.”
Or: The five times Instant Kill Mode is activated +1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man
Pairing: Gen, Peter Parker/Michelle “MJ” Jones
Note: This is legit one of my all-time favorite, formative fics. This is canon TO ME.
And I would count this as a vid AND a cosplay:
For the next month of newsletters and episodes, please send us your fic recs for…
PBS Kids recs OR Classic Literary AUs
Blake’s 7
Steven Universe
Legend of Zelda
Send us your recs (and self-recs count!) at our website and check future newsletter editions to see recommended fics!
Other events that happened This Week In Fandom History…
Events in Fandom Right Now!
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We’ll see you next week with another recap of what happened… This Week In Fandom History.
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