Throughout my undergrad, (especially as I was applying to co-ops) I was discouraged from putting fan art onto my portfolio because it could be deemed as "unprofessional".
But the way I saw it: fan art was actually how I got started with my journey for content creation and digital marketing. When I was 12 or 13, I created a fan page on Instagram for Youtube content creator Bethany Mota. By managing this account I learned a lot of the skills that I use in my career today. I was able to learn photo and video editing (across multiple softwares), graphic design, social media management, and more.