Fic Clique

In this minisode your hosts reprise their panel from Geek Girl Con 2026, where they discussed nontraditional fanworks.  As always on the podcast we love to create a semi-coherent framework through which to examine fic & fandom culture, and you'll never believe it but we've done it again! In this minisode we discuss the limits of what exists as a fanwork and how those boundaries have shifted ov...

Nic & Reid are back for another two-host episode and they're here to talk about interactive (fan)fiction. You've heard of standard prose fanfiction, now get ready for: fics you can play like a game! From choose-your-own-adventures to explorative social media to fully voiced visual novels, the world of interactive fanfiction is vast and varied. This minisode explores not only a range of said fi...

Ficlets, you're invited to our Halloween party! We're starting the spooky season festivities early by visiting fics that feature costumes each of us has worn over the years, from a childhood look to a teenage crew to a full group organized effort from a few years ago.  These fics contain major themes of legacy (establishing one, running from one, embracing one), reckoning with mortality, what make...

"The average podcast doesn't make it past seven episodes. Fic Clique Georg, who is celebrating their seven year anniversary, is an outlier adn should not have been counted." - Nic Fic Clique In honor of our seventh anniversary we have once again returned to a For Our Consideration, where we discuss a beloved fic recommended to us by the ficlets! In addition to a heartfelt discussion about language...

Happy back to school season, Ficlets! Whether you or a ficletlet are headed back to your studies or you're just looking forward to cooler weather and autumn vibes, this time of year has plenty to celebrate. In this themed and studious episode your hosts explore setting as a vehicle for found family dynamics, mentorship and intergenerational friendship, the tradition of bildüngsroman and college AU...

This special episode of Fic Clique treads familiar ground with new faces as your hosts welcome guests of the pod Isis, Morbane, and Pendrecarc!  Yuletide is an annual exchange that is beloved not just to the pod but to fandom at large, and we were thrilled to chat with some of the mods and dig a little deeper into the event. This episode provides everything you need to know about Yuletide, from pa...

In this not-so-mini two-host minisode, Brenna and Reid explore one of their most beloved corners of Ao3: Astolat's Geralt/Emhyr Witcher works! Using a rubric we created from the foundational elements of this ship we analyze how each work functions to help craft the narrative of this rarepair we love so much.  Works discussed in this episode are all of Astolat's Geralt/Emhyr Witcher fics, which can...

3...2...1...Liftoff. We're rounding out this year's birthday episodes with one of Reid's favorite genres: space opera! With themes of language, sacrifice, and human connection, the backdrop of space provides a rich setting for us to play in.  Media discussed in this episode include:  - "Protostellar" by ninamonday (BTS RPF) — fanfiction - "A Memory Called Empire" by Arkady Martine — novel - "Proje...

Ficlets, we don't know about you, but your hosts are having a Greek God Summer. Join us in this episode for a sweeping discussion of mythmaking, why we tell stories, and which ones have the most staying power. And also a surprisingly high amount of chatter about Hadestown for an episode that doesn't feature a Hadestown fic. Works discussed in this episode: seventy-five perpetual deaths for the und...

Hot off of our omegaverse episode, we jumped into another classic fandom mainstay: the trio of fandoms known (perhaps only to us) as SuperWolfLock — Supernatural, Teen Wolf, and Sherlock. If that wasn't enough of a uniting theme for you, these fics also have something else in common, and the prognosis is not looking good. Join your hosts as we dive into fic about harrowing (sometimes terminal) ill...

What's the smell in the air? Is it fresh coffee grounds, or the earth after rain? No, it's something a little... wolfier?  Ficlets, it's time to foray into the omegaverse! This episode looks at the trope from its inception to modern day, with our discussion examining the trope's worldbuilding, allegories of oppression, and lasting power in fanfiction spaces. Works discussed in this episode:  - "bu...

Put your listening ears on because it's time to learn about the wide world of audio works! In this episode your hosts and special guest of the pod Kassie talk about podfic history, fandom, and what goes into making an audio work. We also celebrate the joys of podfic's ultra supportive community, and highlight some events that intrepid podficcers old and new alike can get involved in. If you have a...

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts invite you to saddle up and buckle in for a thrilling discussion of recommendation culture in fandom, including three fics we found through curated rec lists! Dive with us into the history of reccing and the impact of The Algorithm TM on modern rec culture, setting work wherein a setting can function as its own character, the many different forms an action...

In our second two-host episode of 2026, hosts Nic and Brenna join forces to discuss the current landscape of the fandom and fanfiction for hit HBO MAX medical drama The Pitt. From major ships to the fragmentation of fandom across different forms of social media to fandom-savvy actors and writers, our conversation covers a lot of ground, including touching on a wide variety of fics! Some of the fic...

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss “and so my heart beats wildly,” by lily_winterwood (MDZS).  You thought Olympics season was over? Think again. We're always ready to talk about sports narratives on the pod and boy do we dig into some meaty ones here. Are you interested in how sports can be akin to martyrdom, and how an athlete's responsibility is not to their body but to the game?...

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 kn...

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 f...

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 i...

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 Algor...

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 medi...

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 an...

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...

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...

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. 

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...