This Week In Fandom History

Do you see, Will? This week, V and Emily finally have a happy, joyous, euphoric episode! And it's about... Hannibal, the scariest show ever to be on television. But the fandom has embraced the show and one another so wholly and so delightfully that we can't help but be charmed. In particular, we are looking at the annual fannish holiday of Trans Hanni Day, a day celebrating fanworks created by tra...

This week, Emily and V look at the brilliant life and tragic death of the Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who was murdered by the president of her national fan club. While Selena's life was cut way too short, the amount of genius and joy that she exuded onstage and offstage is the most important part of her story. Emily skillfully guides us through Selena's life, her music, and he...

AU/AH/OOC! This week, V and Emily fall down an Internet rabbithole to the wild and weird world of Twilight fanfiction in 2010, where contests, rec blogs, and awards reigned supreme. Specifically, the rabbithole of the Lazy Yet Discerning Ficster blog led straight to the Indie Twific Awards, where undersung Twilight fics in quirky and delightful categories were given laurels by readers and a judgin...

Yuck... This week, Emily and V tackle a requested topic and look at the downfall of wrock, AKA Wizard Rock, aka music about Harry Potter made by semi-pro musicians in the 2000s and early 2010s. Much of the wrock genre was caught up in the blizzard of allegations that made up YouTube Abuse in 2014, the pre-MeToo movement that aimed to take vloggers who preyed on their fans to account. In particular...

Thank god it's femslash... part two! This week, in lieu of a minisode, V and Emily were joined by jarrow, the founder of FaberryCon and TGIF/F (see Episode #111 ), for a lengthy chat about all things femslash. We talk migratory (fem)slash fandom; subtext; female friendships and friend-ships; and why the death of the 22-episode season is killing shipping, especially for noncanonical pairings. Femsl...

To the TARDIS! This week, V and Emily tackle a requested episode about a deeply controversial Doctor Who episode: Earthshock, which aired in 1982, featuring the Fifth Doctor. This episode killed off -- 40-year-old spoilers -- child companion Adric, and we're still seeing the effects of that choice in the writing of the show today. Although as far as it actually affected the Doctor or his other com...

What was the most shocking character death you've witnessed, and how did it make an impact on you? In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new… minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the wonderful listeners who sent in replies for these minisodes! If you've ever wanted to hear yourse...

How bad can he be? This week, Emily and V peek through their fingers at their MOST REQUESTED TOPIC EVER: how The Onceler, from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, became Tumblr's #1 Sexyman in 2012. Not other 2012 villains like Loki or Moriarty or Cato The Hunger Games. No. The Onceler . The animated Onceler. And you know what? After this episode, we kind of understand what was going on with all the Onceler lov...

That's not a name, that's a major appliance! This week, V and Emily use the release of iconic teen film "Pretty In Pink" as an excuse to look at the influence of the Brat Pack on film, fandom, and film fandom since 1985. "Pretty In Pink" is a part of why Star Wars IX has the chopped-up feel it does; the Brat Pack themselves changed the nature of how fans and celebrities were meant to relate to one...

How would you celebrate a holiday all about your blorbo? + What is the biggest contribution you've made to your fandom? Anything counts, including being a kudos-leaver and headcanon-cheerleader! In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new… minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the w...

Thank god it's femslash! This week, Emily and V discuss the absolutely pie-in-the-sky delightful FaberryCon, a long-running convention dedicated to Quinn Fabray/Rachel Berry in the Glee fandom, a noncanonical femslash ship. Then, even more delightfully, after the end of Glee, the conventioneers transformed the experience into @tgifemslash, a multi-fandom, ship-neutral, femslash convention OF DREAM...

Thank you for your consideration! This week, V and Emily are joined by a very special guest, Heidi Tandy AKA Heidi8, who is on the show to explain the intricacies of fandom and copyright law because, well, she was V's attorney for the event this week in fandom history. In 2011, V made a fanwork map of the fictional country of Panem from The Hunger Games novels -- not the movies, which had not even...

He's a special li'l guy! This week, V and Emily look at a very recent event in fandom history, Star Wars: The Clone Wars' fannish holiday celebrating their main man, almost everyone's favorite clone, Cody. Since his clone identification number is CC-2224, a mysterious yet enterprising fan saw the date 2/2/24 approaching and ran with it, creating a delightful celebration of all things fannish and a...

Get in position! This week, Emily and V look at one of the most impressive fan campaigns that we've ever covered on the show, and we also got to revisit one of our favorite fandoms to cover: Forever Knight. When FK was canceled mid-season in 1996, the fandom scrambled to cover all bases and make sure USA Network knew that these vampires needed their day in the sun. So to speak. What ensued was a b...

If you could save one TV show from cancellation, what would it be — and what would you send to the network to save it? In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new... minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the wonderful listeners who sent in replies for this minisode! Additionally, th...

Up, up, and oh no! This week, V and Emily take a request from listener @nerteragranadensis a little bit sideways and look at the ways that the "Death of Superman" arc -- geez, '90s DC had problems -- almost ended the American comics industry as it blew up the boom-and-bust comics speculation culture that arose after 1989's Batman movie. We look at how money is dumb, how capitalism is stupid, and a...

What is your favorite collectible or piece of fannish merch that you own? In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new... minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the wonderful listeners who sent in replies for this minisode! Check out our tumblr to see some photos of the submitted merc...

Oy, vey. This week, Emily and V have a loosey-goosey look at the dumbest celebrity beef in the history of Twitter: Jared Padalecki versus the Beliebers. And also, a look at the dumbest celebrity arrest in the history of Los Angeles: Justin Bieber in 2014. And also, the dumbest tweets in Jared Padalecki's long history of dumb tweets. And then also, just to round it out, some celebrity drama and feu...

What is the silliest celebrity feud you've ever followed or had investment in? In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new... minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the wonderful listeners who sent in replies for this minisode! Show Notes Agents of SHIELD/Agent Carter Dubsmash War If...

In brightest day, in blackest night...! This week, V and Emily look at a demographic that we haven't covered too much on TWIFH: fan boys . And this week, it's the fan boys who are behaving badly, as once AGAIN we head over to DC Comics in the early 1990s for some straight-up bullshit. This time, it's all grand and it's all green as an "Emerald Twilight" descends over Coast City and hoo, boy, were...

Which fictional character would you go to battle for -- especially against their canon writer(s)? Happy New Year! In 2025, TWIFH is starting something new... minisodes! These will be released on Wednesdays as a li'l sneak preview of the topic for the upcoming full-length episode on Sunday. Huge thank-you to all of the wonderful listeners who sent in replies for this very first minisode! If you've...

Twitter is a mistake... This week, Emily and V delve into the sordid, racist behavior of Reylos (Rey/Kylo Ren shippers) towards John Boyega (Finn) in the wake of Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and how they weaponized their white femininity to excuse their actions. This is a tough, emotional topic, but the episode also explores just why Star Wars makes people so uniquely insane, possible reas...

To us, our X-people! This week, V and Emily try desperately to understand the X-Men-specific fic genre of Subreality, created by Kielle, a huge community builder who passed too soon. We look at many of Kielle's amazingly impressive undertakings in '90s and early '00s X-Men fandom, including the creation of Subreality and the Subreality Cafe, her website the Comic Fan-Fiction Authors Network (CFAN)...

Oh my god. This week, Emily and V discovered the existence of the single most galaxy-brain brilliant fanfiction of all time. No spoilers, but you WILL NOT predict ANY facet of this story. Also, we delve into the extremely long and impressive (and sometimes hilarious, because the '90s) history of Hanson fanfiction, AKA Hanfic. The Wayback Machine really earned its $2 donation this week, folks, beca...

Holy shit, two cakes! This week, V and Emily poke around over on Dreamwidth and its potentially coolest rec comm: Fancake. Its founder and former longtime mod (9 years of work!) @jerakeenc did a really thoughtful interview with V about the inspiration for the community, things they've learned over the long course of modding a panfandom comm, and tips for starting and maintaining a positive social...