Fic Clique

116: Romance Gone Sideways

Happy Valentine's Day ficlets! Love is in the air, but perhaps the journey to a happily ever after isn't as straightforward as it seems. As we put some beloved characters through twists and turns on classic tropes, we also examine what it means to bridge the distance between your perception of someone and the reality of them, how sense of place can connect to moments of tension, and our lack of knowledge about the court system.

Fics discussed in this episode: "One Last Time," by ElAurian (Ace Attorney), "No Retreat, Baby, No Surrender," by itsnotbleak (Captain America Movies), and "loving this body" by beetlesandstars & kryptonian (Heated Rivalry). 

H/N (Host note): Reid's mic was experiencing some difficulties this episode, we apologize for the occasional impact that had on the audio quality.

115: Roll for Birthday

Fic Clique goes TTRPG in Nic's 2026 birthday episode! Join us as our GM (Nic) leads two intrepid warriors (played by Brenna and Reid) through a variety of settings and tropes on a quest to save AO3 from bad actors and maintain the integrity of fanfiction as a vehicle for even the most unlikely characters to fall in love.

We're playing a system so simple it feels wrong to say it's heavily adapted from D&D, but that's technically what's happening here! So whether you're a seasoned TTRPG fan or dipping your toe in for the first time, anyone should be able to jump in, get oriented, and enjoy the hijinks.

114: "The Love of the Game"

All roads lead back to Sidney Crosby in host Brenna's 2026 birthday episode, where we discuss all things hockey! Guest of the pod Em joins us and provides vital information about the current state of hockey — thank you, Em! — as we dive into: material-discursive analysis of masculinity in men's hockey, internalized homophobia, relative degrees of emotional safety as a fan engaging with different iterations on the same sport, generational talent and failure, and what gives rpf the sauce. It's a meaty one, y'all.

Fics discussed in this episode: Yekaterinburg Standard Time by sevenfists (Hockey RPF), the art of staying by nightswatch (Check Please!), and love takes miles by corsi (Game Changers Series / Heated Rivalry)

We also reference the academic article "What a bust": Character selection and the possibilities of failure in hockey RPF, by Júlia Zen Dariva  and Natália Brauns Cazelgrandi Ferreira, which is open source on the OTW's journal of transformative works and cultures.

Minisode: 2025 Year in Review

Another journey around the sun is coming to a close, and that means Fic Clique is taking a look at the year on a grand scale. Join us as we make predictions for hot 2026 fandoms, list some of our "best of"s, and manifest greatness for the pod in the year to come.

Alternate titles for this episode include: "Paid Dust but the Dust Is Delicious," "My Crying Levels Are on the Decline," and "Your Algorithm Terrifies Me."

113: Open Your Heart to Toxic Yuri (Zeitgeisty Fandoms of 2025)

In 2025's last full-length episode, your hosts brought some hot fics and even hotter takes to the table as we discussed our perspective on what fandoms "hit (or remained in) the zeitgeist" this year. From The Pitt to Arcane to Interview With the Vampire, our conversation led us to discuss topics such as:

• humor as a cultural indicator
• the impact of big media companies in an increasingly siloed media landscape
• the risks of creating progressive media
• and science fiction as a reflection of social anxieties

The fics we discussed this episode were the fifth element (series) by copycat_punisher (The Pitt), love, letting go by theroyalsavage (Arcane), and Cunk on Fangs by beemovieerotica (Cunk on Earth, Interview With the Vampire).

 

Minisode: Reader Insert Fic

Welcome one and all to a rousing discussion of a long awaited topic: reader insert fanfiction! In our first ever two-host minisode, Nic and Reid get into the beautiful weeds of different fanfic traditions, degrees of closeness and how POV can mediate your self-concept as a reader, fantasy and (dis)comfort, and communal fic reading experiences that will have you gathering hands with your friends and declaring: We are All Y/N.

Alternate titles for this episode include:

• Put Up Your Messy Buns
• The Cringe Among the Cringe
• People Want to Fuck That Skeleton Man
• My Lesbian Hall Pass

112: "We're Losing the Ancient Texts" ft. Meghan Fitzmartin

Today's very exciting episode of Fic Clique welcomes author Meghan Fitzmartin as a guest! Listen to us discuss Meghan's upcoming comic, delve into her fandom history and her work as an author, and discuss "Search for the Lost Ones (Guardians of Light)" by fanfiction.net user Jensfire.

This was a super fun episode to record with our first guest that wasn't already our friend, and we dove deep into sexism and misogyny in fandom/fanfiction, the stories and fandoms that shaped us in our teenage years, and the importance of horniness in our stories.

Meghan's comic Mary Sue is out now in comic book stores and you can find her on Bluesky at megfitz89.bsky.social and on Tumblr at megfitz89.

111: "Kidnapping Can Be Gender Neutral"

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Where the Dead Live" by mirabella on dreamwidth (Inception), "three's a crowd" by ctimene (Formula 1 RPF),  "The Seal Song" by Blackeyed_blackeyed (Original Fiction), and "A Cabin in the Woods" by Nightwalker (The Avengers). Four for the price of one!

Happy Halloween, Ficlets! Put on your witch hats and Hamlet costumes, because each of these fics is on theme! In this episode we do our best to dissect the question: Why is horror so wildly popular in media as a whole but disproportionately underrepresented in fanfiction? We also explore what makes horror so beloved as a genre in the first place, diving into horror as parable, subversion of expectations, catharsis, social and moral commentary, response to global crisis, queer allegory, and more. 

110: "Healing the World Through Fanfiction"

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Blood in the Moonlight," by rosemeister (Baldur's Gate III). 

With one long fic guiding our discussion this episode we packed in everything a person could want: academic texts as references, discussions of the queer as monstrous, breaking of cycles to forge your own path, and a whole lot of extoling the joys of femslash. 

109: "The Laundry Chair of Fanfiction"

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Dust," by levelone (TAZ Balance) @06:38, "A Game of Two Halves," by stickmarionette (FE3H) @34:32, and "the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you," by greatunironic (Stranger Things) @1:00:55. 

Ficlets we are so back! Season two of Fic Clique kicks off with us honoring our long journey as a podcast alongside you the listeners, specifically by picking fic recommendations from three different eras of the pod. We dig in to what it is we love about fanfiction that has kept it so near and dear to our hearts for all these years, with some classic tropes to guide our way.