Fic Clique

By Fic CliqueSociety & Culture

Fic Clique episodes

August 30, 2024 Minisode: Books & Fanfiction
In this minisode, your fearless hosts reflect on our own personal reading trends, books that may have started as fics, and offer some bespoke book recommendations for lovers of certain fics we've brought to the pod! Let's read, baby!
53 min
August 16, 2024 97: “Schrodinger's Happiness”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Upside Down," by redbrickrose (Inside Out) @16:07, "Thick as Thieves," by robotboy (Black Sails) @42:21, and "sinking/synching," by radicchio (SVT RPF) @1:07:40.

Reflections on personhood are at the core of this episode, with fics that consider what it means to be at the wheel of your own identity, how far you can or cannot stray from a predestined narrative, and refractions of ambition as a means of character work.
1 hr 37 min
August 02, 2024 96: “Two Flesh, One End”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "the goosekeeper game," by offlight (The Untamed) @18:19, "Mercy and Augustine's Cake Simulator!," by reconditarmonia (The Locked Tomb) @47:39, and "suppose you are returning," by desmodus (Fire Emblem Three Houses) @1:16:18.

Grab your controllers and get ready to lock in because Reid's birthday episode this year is all about video games. In the intersection of interactive fiction and video game canon itself, we found rich narratives that traverse genres and create potential for some true magic.
1 hr 48 min
June 21, 2024 95: “The Connections are Connecting”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Wittenberg Days," by norah (Hamlet) @14:08, "bend and sway," by tciddaemina (Legend of Zelda) @41:33, and "Empress of Sand and Water," by Sheeana (Dune) @1:09:17.

Ficlets, we heard your delight at our previous Dune June episode and your clamors for more, and we are here to deliver! This time around we tried to pick fics a little more connected to our source material, with overlapping themes of destiny, power, and the role of fate.
1 hr 38 min
June 07, 2024 94: “We Understand Media in a Way You Never Could”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "And Harder Still to Make Noise," by sophiahelix (The Office) @18:13, "Death Insurance," by Nimori (Discworld) @47:45, and "a romantic fool," by spqr (Challengers Movie) @1:11:09.

The sun is out, summer is here, and Fic Clique pod is bringing you three hot and fresh fic discussions to enjoy. The relationships in these stories encompass a wide array of dynamics; from quiet loneliness, to mutually beneficial gain, to something both sexy and a little messed up.
1 hr 44 min
May 24, 2024 93: There Was Only One Fandom: The Untamed
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "most times a wish," by impossibletruths (The Untamed) @17:41, "the red dark shifting," by typefortydeductions (The Untamed) @45:38, and "蓝色生死恋; a blue love (to live and to die for)," by yiqie (The Untamed) @1:14:01.
We are once again introducing a new series to the pod, and as you may have realized it involves bringing three fics for the same fandom! We're starting this series with a focus on The Untamed. In these works we found common throughlines of grief, the things you can no longer hide from one another, and the infallible truth that Wangxian invented love.
Alternate titles include: "Whoops! All Wangxian," "Repression and Undying Devotion," and "Rolling in the Mud For 1,000 Years"
1 hr 45 min
May 10, 2024 92: “That Man is a Killer! ... UwU”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "take the hidden paths that run (towards the moon or to the sun)," by erroneous_hedgehog (Wayward Children Series, Chronicles of Narnia) @ 8:43, "we could jump the state lines (we only get the one life)," by notcaycepollard (Captain America) @ 35:14, and "home is an anchor," by Marks (Sk8 the Infinity) @ 1:08:09.
Travel with us along the many varied paths of fanfiction, as we voyage through discussions of the things you lose in childhood, avenues for characterization from fragmented canon, and setting as a means to reframe interpersonal dynamics.
1 hr 34 min
April 26, 2024 91: “I Grew Up in the Trenches”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "The Malteser Falcon," by Toft (Great British Bake Off) @15:22, "Threat as Greeting," by FlipSpring (Murderbot Diaries) @43:08, and "you and her loathing this cruel world," by thememoriesfire (Glee) @1:09:00.

On your marks... get set... go! Right into this episode, where we cover the stylings of noir as a genre, how fic formats can be in service of character work, and one host's unfortunate first blorb.
1 hr 40 min
April 12, 2024 90: “Poised to Absorb Homoerotic Media”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "Everything About It Is a Love Song," by pocky_slash (X-Men First Class) @10:56, "i am here like there is sky and there is air," by Lauren (Welcome to Nightvale) @37:28, and "The End of All Things," by Telanu (Devil Wears Prada) @1:04:29.

While we don't quite tell the youths to get off our lawn in this episode, we have put a spotlight on older characters! These authors explored characters later in life; and we explored what one is willing to give up to be happy, the vastness of the universe, and an excellent example of tension and dread woven through a fic.
1 hr 39 min
March 30, 2024 89: “Reverse U-Hauling”
In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts discuss "on that dizzy edge," by littledata (Warrior Nun) @17:14, "Applied Heresy," by Kaesa (His Dark Materials) @44:27, and "A Country Mile," by bropunzeling (England Series - K.J. Charles) @1:12:38.
This unintentionally themed episode is all about WOMEN!! It's also about what makes a friends to lovers arc satisfying, morally flawed yet still compelling protagonists, and how to play off reader expectations within a genre.
1 hr 41 min