Giant FanGiant Fan | Illustrated by Randy Gallegos

I'm am overjoyed to discuss something that is a phenomenon that I was apart of for a long time.

Tumblr was a popular site between the years of 2011-2014, and it was well known for its ability to form a fandom. A fandom is best described as a congregation of fans of a particular intellectual property (IP). Members of the fandom would share ideas--and head canons--about characters, write fan fiction, draw fan art, and even cosplay their favorite characters.

A "fangirl", a term that can be gender-neutral but that often is applied to women, is a person who particularly participates in many different fandoms, falling into the archetype of someone who loves the culture of fandoms. There's also the less commonly used term "fanboy", for the male counterpart. We like to obsess and share communally our obsessions with characters or elements of a particular IP. I am proudly such a person.

What does this have to do with Magic: The Gathering? Universes Beyond! I've compiled a list of fandoms that would make a 2011 fangirl's toes curl if they came to Magic as Universes Beyond.

Disclaimer: This list isn't exhaustive. I just picked particularly voracious fandoms. I wasn't a participants in all these fandoms, but I did some research about the ones I wasn't apart of. Not all of them were popular between 2011 and 2014, but most were popular somewherearound there. The ones that weren't around that time were usually resurgences of the vibes of that era in the more modern time.

The IPs

I've organized these IP by the year of their height of popularity.

Doctor Who

The first one worth mentioning is a fangirl IP that has already been adapted, and I'd be remiss not to mention Doctor Who, a show that originally came out in 1963 that was revitalized with a modern series in 2005, reaching its height of popularity around 2009. As a Magic, fan you should be familiar with the Doctor creature type and the Doctor's companion mechanic, which were flavorful adaptations of the central theme of the show.

It was huge on Tumblr; everyone had their favorite Doctor iteration, which was always David Tennant, the 10th Doctor. It's one of the oldest fandoms of the Tumblr era and simply worth mentioning because of that and the fact that fangirls have already been blessed with a Doctor Who Universe's Beyond set.

Supernatural

This is one of the biggest Fandoms I've every been a part of. It started in 2005 but got huge around 2010. If you don't know, it's a story about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who initially are looking for their father, fighting all the things that go bump in the night, from demons to djinn. With a wide cast of cool characters, like Castiel, an angel who struggles with his faith, and Crowley, a conniving demon, the show is filled with all the necessary tendrils of fandom.

Here are some ways they could scratch the itch of fangirls with a Universes Beyond set. I'd love a Vehicle card for their iconic 1967 Chevy Impala. It could crew 2, because of the brothers. They could also bring back night and day with the werewolves, vampires, demons, and angels. Maybe a Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast reprint as Sam Winchester when he was one of Azazel's chosen.

It really could be a typal support set because Sam and Dean have basically fought everything that goes bump in the night. We can get some cool reprints of Angels and Demons and Vampires. Additionally, there could be a bunch of really cool Equipment, like The Colt and The First Blade.

Homestuck

This is a fandom that I started in due to hype but never finished. It was hugely popular online, hence why I got into it. Everyone was talking about this story. It started in 2009 and gained most of its popularity in 2012. It was a web comic that feature four kids playing an online game called Sburbs to save their world from meteors falling and destroying their world. They are accompanied by 12 trolls from another world.

I'm not deep in this fandom, but I think it would be cool to bring back partner for these cards, or maybe to reprint some of the partner commanders as Karkat Vantas, Kanaya Maryam, Terezi Pyrope, and Vriska Serket along with John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, and Jade Harley.

Sherlock

This is a show based on the Sherlock Holmes novels, but brought to the modern day. It first aired in 2010, with the height of its popularity being around the Season 2 finale: "The Reichenbach Fall." I remember the flooding of forums and post on post surrounding how Sherlock survives the Reichenbach fall. I used to be deeply invested in this fandom.

This set could be a UB set where you could bring back Clues and Detectives, like in Murders at Karlov Manor. It could support with Humans as well. Unique Case enchantments that are related to the cases that Sherlock solves over the course of the game would also be cool to include.

Adventure Time

Airing in 2010 initially, the effect of this single IP is insane. It resulted in board games, card games, and infinite cosplay potential. It was a show about a boy hero, Finn, and his dog, Jake, and their adventures in the Land of Ooo. There is a lot of subtle storytelling here, which made fangirls ravenous. Every little detail of information sent us to the forums. The colorful and exciting cast of characters, like Princess Bubblegum and Marceline, gave fans lots to obsess over.

In the UB design we could bring back Battles. It could be there various iconic fights that Finn and Jake have to face. I think it would be cool to do a reprint of Winota, Joiner of ForcesWinota, Joiner of Forces as Finn. Perhaps even something technical like Urza, Chief ArtificerUrza, Chief Artificer for Princess Bubblegum. I'd also love unique UB cards for all the major characters.

Steven Universe

This is the fandom of fan theories. I remember the way people posted about pixelated pictures of Rose Quartz's room as evidence of who she really was. It came out in 2013 and the height of its popularity was around 2016. It's a show surrounding a young boy named Steven Universe who finds out he's a Crystal Gem and goes on a journey of growing up and trying to be a hero. It's a deeply sophisticated and emotional show for adolescence and adults alike.

WE ARE BRINGING BACK MELD. The crystal gem fuse a lot and make some cool combinations, so having some cards with a front side that's Amethyst but Opal on the other side would be cool, either as MDFC or just meld cards. It would also be a good time to reprint Cathartic ReunionCathartic Reunion with Ruby and Sapphire.

Gravity Falls

A cartoon that came out in 2012 with a peak in popularity in 2016, Gravity Falls is about two siblings, Dipper and Mabel, who come to Gravity Falls for Summer vacation and uncover bizarre happenings in the town. They work together with various people in town to solve the mysteries and return to a sense of normalcy.

This would be a lovely artifact and creature type support set. It could be Goblin, Gnomes, and Bear support with cards like Gremloblin, Gnomes, and Multi-Bear, respectively. It could include artifacts like Bill Cipher's Throne or the Cloning Copy Machine. I'd really love to see a Group Hug legendary creature for Mabel.

BTS

A huge phenomenon during 2019 was BTS. It was impossible not to hear their music on the radio and to not see people frothing at the mouth at the mention of Jungkook. I, sadly, wasn't one of these fans. I dabble in K-Pop, but I got into it much past their height, listening to some TWICE and BLACK PINK. Either way, it was a huge fandom, where tons of fan fiction sprung up.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how Magic will adapt this. Perhaps if they leaned into a K-Pop Demon Hunters kind of theming, where there is some mystical approach to just human men. It would be really cool to see what they might do, as WOTC has mentioned wanting to dabble in K-Pop as an IP.

Conclusion

I'm not going to hold you, I really got excited to write this article because being able to blend Magic with all the things I obsessed about in the past is incredible. I think we should normalize this sort of fandom. It's often labeled as feminine to fangirl, and thus unnatural and cringe, but this behavior is identical to every person frothing at the mouth at the idea of an Iron Man, Titan of InnovationIron Man, Titan of Innovation card.

The things that are traditionally dominated by femme-presenting people are valid and worth exploring, especially in a hobby that's 30% women. I know this wasn't the point of the article, but it's important that articles like this be seen and presented in the same light as any other Universes Beyond articles. If this article made you roll your eyes or glaze over, consider how that makes people like me feel in this community.

Well, anyway, I'll get off my pedestal. Let me know which one of these "fangirl" IPs you're most excited to see or which ones I didn't mention but should have! To be honest this list was originally very long, but I had to curtail it. Anyway. I'm @Strixhavendropout on Blue Sky!

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