Fanpals

Liz attended an awesome convention called Confabulation (or ConFabCon) and then sat down with three of the founders to talk about the con's origin story, and its future. If you like hanging out with fanpeople without the pressures of a big, celeb-attended convention, then you'd definitely love ConFab.

It's an extended slumber party for fanpeople!

Thanks to Chaneen, GirlPhenom, and Mary for being guests this week and sharing their stories with us.

If you'd like to be a guest on Fanpals, you can email [email protected] or tweet @fanpalspodcast. If you have comments or feedback on this episode, you can also send it to those places or just use the #Fanpals tag and we'll find you! <3

This week Fanpals invited a guest, Rachel aka the_deep_magic, to talk about Teen Wolf. We've been deep in our feelings about this show lately, and we wanted to really hash out what it was about the show and the fandom that sucked us in.

We also discuss our unpopular opinions, what we'd change about canon (SHERIFF'S NAME IS JOHN, NOT NOAH, FFS), and our favorite fanon. We also talk about our OTPs and NOTPs.

Listen in and then share your Teen Wolf opinions with us!

If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

New segments! Fanpals want to share your fandom confessions, your OTPs, and your family anecdotes. For information on Fandom Confessions, Fleet Week, and Fan Families, check out the episode AND the supplemental post on keysmashblog.com.

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

3:20 - New segment intros

3:50 - Fandom confessions

5:50 - Tangent about people asking AO3 to ban some fic

11:15 - Back to confessions!

19:50 - Fleet Week (Inej/Kaz, Harry Potter/Charlie Weasley, Christian Yelich/Lorenzo Cain, Hermione/Krum, Peter/Stiles, Timeless OT3)

49:40 - Fan Families

Also, do you prefer to read/write the word cock or the word dick? Liz is undecided.

If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

Is our generation more nostalgic than others? When you're removed from a fandom, is a rewatch of a show or movie more enjoyable? Do you more closely identify with your childhood pop culture or the pop culture from your teenage years? Fanpals Lauren, Liz, and Mel explore these questions and more with returning guest Meg.

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

3:00 - Topic intro and childhood nostalgia (Nickelodeon cartoons and other shows, PBS shows, the Baby-Sitter's Club, etc.)

12:00 - Nostalgia specifically for millenials/xennials

20:00 - Shows of the 00s (BtVS, QaF, Merlin, Teen Wolf, etc.)

26:30 - A The Good Place tangent

27:30 - Reboots and remakes

39:00 - When nostalgia is bad for you (and us)

47:00 - The difference between hatewatching and making fun of stuff that knows it's ridiculous

58:00 - Movie nostalgia

1:03:00 - Music nostalgia

1:06:00 - Using nostalgia to connect with kids (or new fans)

1:07:45 - What would you want to be remade?

There might be a political rant or two sprinkled throughout, but they're relatively short and non-nausea inducing, we promise.

No supplemental post this week, but you should still check out keysmashblog.com. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

No timestamps this week because this whole episode is about hockey! But don't worry, non-hockey fans, it's not like super in depth or anything. In fact, just the opposite. Lauren and Liz (both hockey fans) make Mel (a total non-hockey fan) pick a team based only on visual aides (mascots and team headshots of the team's "leaders") and the basic fandom knowledge she has. We think her choice will surprise - and please - everyone!

Head to keysmashblog.com for the same visual aides that Mel was given, as well as the brackets created from her top picks from each division, and then you can play along!

If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

We were LONG overdue for a good Harry Potter chat. We barely scratch the surface in this week's episode with guest Ash. It's all sorting and Fantastic Beasts, and a little bit of J.K. Rowling needing to not screw up anymore of our headcanons.

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

1:20 - Hobo children

3:15 - Guest introduction

5:25 - WILLY NILLY FRIENDING & Pillowfort

9:15 - "Ash, back to you!"

10:45 - Liz talks about Mel writing blog posts

13:00 - Attempting to give Lauren a heart attack via fic organization talk

15:30 - Ash's fandom history

16:45 - A Discovery of Witches tangent

19:00 - SO MUCH TELEVISION (which Ash doesn't watch)

21:15 - Harry Potter fandom

27:30 - What Ash reads

33:00 - Brief sports tangent & linguistic shenanigans

34:30 - RPF & the TwiRPF stigma

35:15 - Merlin

36:30 - Baseball chat

39:00 - Ash finally gets to tell us what she's reading

40:30 - Harry Potter houses and ships

53:30 - Post-canon JK Rowling

1:13:30 - Yule Ball invite

1:17:15 - Upcoming Fanpals stuff: Fleet Week, Fandom Confessions, Fan Families

Prepare yourself for more Mel rants. ;)

Keep an eye on keysmashblog.com for the supplemental post because Matthew Goode chasing a deer is too good to miss. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

CHRIS PINE'S PENIS. That's it, that's the episode.

Okay, not really. But that's why guest Steph came back. She really, super wanted to talk about Chris Pine's penis. But first we made her listen to us talk about some of our old favorites who have new gigs we're excited about.

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

1:00 - How the Cubs ruined 2016 (and probably the world)

6:00 - Tomiwa Edun and A Discovery of Witches

11:45 - Eoin Macken and Nightflyers

18:30 - Anna Kendrick and Life After Beth

21:30 - Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mary Poppins Returns

25:00 - Renee Elise Goldsberry and The House With a Clock On the Walls

26:15 - Tyler Posey and PVMNTS

35:00 - Laverne Cox

38:00 - CM Punk and The Girl on the Third Floor

41:45 - Simon Pegg and Slaughterhouse Rules

43:00 - Zachary Quinto and the Golden Age romance

46:45 - CHRIS PINE'S PENIS

We didn't include timestamps for when Mel rants about Merlin and How I Met Your Mother, or when Liz decides that Chris Pine is the Harry Styles of Hollywood, because we want you to discover those nuggets of joy for yourself.

Keep an eye on keysmashblog.com for the supplemental post: SO MANY GOOD VISUAL AIDES. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

You know those awesome timestamps we introduced in the last episode's liner notes? Those were a suggestion from this week's super-smart (and super-lovely)guest, Chelle. We talk about rekindling the community spirit of fandom on Pillowfort, vicarious fannish joy, and Liam Payne being a ding dong. And, Liz and Chelle's geographic rivalry heats up!

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

4:30 - Accelerated fandom history of Chelle, including New Kids on the Block, The X-Files, My So-Called Life, and more!

17:00 - Pillowfort, and how the communities are going to revitalize fandom

31:00 - Chicagoans and Milwaukeeans don't always get along

35:00 - Vicarious fannish joy

38:00 - Liam Payne is a ding dong

45:00 - How we currently fandom, a deeper dive

The best part of that 31 minute mark is Mel being super concerned about Chelle and Liz, even though they really do love each other (under all the local sports disagreements).

No supplemental post for this episode, but you should check out keysmashblog.com anyway. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

It's a slumber party! Get in your jimjams, get back in bed, and cuddle up with your fanpals. This week's guest Mary is here to talk about ageism in fandom, MST3K, the slap that propelled her into One Direction fandom, and the ways in which all of that changed her life.

Rough timestamps for topic changes (note that we go on a lot of tangents, so these aren't terribly specific):

5:15 - Mystery Science Theater 3000

12:45 - The Beatles

22:25 - Celebrity-fandom relations (featuring cute stories of fan interactions from One Direction, Star Trek, and other fandoms)

45:30 - Mary's meet-cute

47:00 - Ageism in fandom

1:02:00 - "Chasing the Ghost of Harry Styles Down Broadway"

That last story really is a gem.

Don't forget to go to keysmashblog.com to read the supplemental post and get all the visual aides for this episode. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, or have an idea for a topic you'd like to hear us chat about, please email [email protected]. Feel free to tweet us @fanpalspodcast with comments or questions about the episode as well. <3, Mel, Liz, and Lauren

Fanpals Mel, Liz, and Lauren discuss the apocalypse in their first themed episode. Play along with new segments This, That, Or the Other and Snog/Marry/BFF, where your fanpals try to choose which awful end-of-the-world scenario they'd rather live in, and decide whether Thomas from the Maze Runner would make a better life partner than Old Alice.

Stick around for Liz's chat with Adron Buske of the Fictitious podcast, which covers everything from taking comfort from apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, to whether or not our current political situation will eventually make for good entertainment.

If you find yourself wanting to talk back, PLEASE DO! Comment here, or go to keysmashblog.com and leave a comment on the supplemental post for this episode. <3