I catch up with costume designer Jennifer May Nickel regarding the aftermath of the Eaton fire in LA.

Jennifer & JP’s gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jp-jennifer-may-nickel-eaton-fire-relief-fund?modal=donations&tab=all

RA recovery fund: https://give.randomacts.org/campaign/random-acts-natural-disaster-recovery-fund/c656615

Geekscape podcaster’s gofundme: bit.ly/DustinErin

Creation Entertainment’s employee, Leticia, gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-leticia-serafin-rebuild-after-eaton-fire

Other links of interest:

Variety story about Jennifer’s experience: https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/the-ark-writer-john-paul-nickel-gotham-knights-costume-designer-jennifer-nickel-la-fires-1236274591/

Jennifer’s original In Defense of Fandom podcast interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-4-the-costumes-of-gotham-knights/id1674695211?i=1000633178023

Story on Supernatural’s creator, Eric Kripke, also lost his home in the fires: https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-boys-creator-eric-kripke-shares-devastating-photo-after-home-burned-in-la-fires/

LA Strong Volunteer Donation Fund: https://lacity.gov/LAstrong

Geekscape Specific: http://www.geekscapegives.com/

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What started as a random question on Bluesky turned into a whole conversation about fandom conventions (and why I seem to go to so many of them). Thank you Shae for agreeing to jump online with me to chat over the winter holidays so that I could answer your question in far more depth than you were expecting.

Remember if you have a fan question of your own, you can reach me on insta, X, bluesky, or my website!

Curious to learn more about conventions? Here's some interesting links:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/stars-getting-rich-fan-conventions-933062/

https://alihazelwood.com/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-terror-amc-camp-fandom

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/if-thanos-actually-wiped-out-half-all-life-how-would-earth-fare-aftermath-180972005/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_of_Interstellar

Editorial Support by Dr. Anna Funk: @DrAnnaFunk

Music written & performed by Chris Scott: @Chrispscott

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

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Today, we answer Anna’s query!

Solution 1: Fifty Shades of Grey is an example of fanfiction that became published as a standalone series.

Serialization & Fifty Shades of Grey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzk9N7dJBec

Solution 2: Some writers start in fanfiction, but have to leave that world behind so that it doesn’t influence their own, cannon writing (and accidentally steal ideas)

How Tamsyn Muir* had to leave the fanfic community behind to avoid being influenced by the fic about HER story: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/811/the-one-place-i-cant-go/act-three-6 

*Apologies, I crediting Nerdette for this one but it was actually This American Life

Solution 3: Melissa Good was a fanfic writer who ended up writing a few episodes of Xena

Interview with Melissa Good about going from a fanfic writer, to a show writer: https://www.ausxip.com/interviews/mgood.html

The reddit thread of more examples: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/st2lsf/has_any_fanfiction_writers_ever_became/?rdt=62907

Solution 4: And we SHOULD have more fanfic writers writing for TV!

Fansplaining, Episode 17: on understanding how shows get made in Hollywood: https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/17-the-powers-that-be 

Thanks to Fansplaining’s Elizabeth & Flourish for letting me sample just a tiny bit of their fascinating conversation!

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Welcome to our experiment! Podcast editor Dr. Anna Funk steps up to the mic to ask a question that's been bubbling in the back of her mind. Listen next week for the reveal of the answer!

And do you have a fandom question? Send it out way! Either through twitter DMs (@SadieWit), instagram (@Sadie_Wit), or via the webform at https://www.sadiewit.com/contact-1

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We're back! And with some exciting news!

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Alright, let's wrap up everything we've learned on endings: from the fan experience to the changes in how TV is made. And of course, we'll try to answer the question of whether we think Supernatural will ever be back for a season 16th.

Support the show on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/in_defense_of_fandom

Thanks to the voices you heard in this episode (in order of appearance):

Mark Hampton: NA

Rob Benedict: @RobBenedict

Jeffery Bell: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068272/ 

Craig Titely: @CraigTitley741 

Ben Edlund: @ben_edlund

Richard Speight Jr: @dicksp8jr

Editorial Support by Dr. Anna Funk: @DrAnnaFunk

Music written & performed by Chris Scott: @Chrispscott

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

Additional Links of Interest:

Can Hollywood sequel its way to box office success?

AO3 collection of how Chuck won theories

Will Supernatural get a 16th season?!

Also, apologies for the potato-sound quality from my end. A confluence of covid + mic issues = my final audio quality. I promise next season will sound better!

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Howdy Y'all! I hope to see some of you at the Austin, Texas Supernatural convention this weekend. Please don't feel shy, come say hi to me. I'll have stickers!

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Nothing ever really dies in the land of Hollywood! Reboots, revivals, and resurrections are all possible returns of fan favorite shows. Not that fans always want more of the story...

Support the show on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/in_defense_of_fandom

Thanks to the voices you heard in this episode (in order of appearance):

Kevin Grazier: @kevingrazier

Matt Kelly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saintmort/

Gabe Garza: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4509179/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr6

Paul Booth: @pbooth81

Elizabeth Minkel: @elizabethminkel

Rebecca Williams: @augustaquarius

Have thoughts on TV endings? I want to hear them!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuaL485NpQ3iqinVjq7GUAoId0gPqKU26LpQCntngiGhVHgQ/viewform

Editorial Support by Dr. Anna Funk: @DrAnnaFunk

Music written & performed by Chris Scott: @Chrispscott

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

Additional Links of Interest:

Richard Hatch's support of new BSG: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-hc-richard-hatch-battlestar-20090105-story.html

Twin Peaks return: https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/09/11/twin-peaks-the-return-review

Twin Peaks revival review: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/twin-peaks-2017-review-1005878/

Fan euthanasia: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt22h6qtt

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Spring of 2020 was a rough time for basically every industry, and television was no different. COVID-19 restrictions changed the way that television was made and what could be possible; unfortunately, this was at the perfect moment to completely alter the ending of Supernatural.

9:55 and onward contains spoilers for the last 3 episodes of Supernatural, so beware!

Support the show on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/in_defense_of_fandom

Thanks to the voices you heard in this episode (in order of appearance):

Rob Benedict: @RobBenedict

Richard Speight Jr: @dicksp8jr

Georgia Carroll: @fansumption

Have thoughts on TV endings? I want to hear them!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuaL485NpQ3iqinVjq7GUAoId0gPqKU26LpQCntngiGhVHgQ/viewform

Editorial Support by Dr. Anna Funk: @DrAnnaFunk

Music written & performed by Chris Scott: @Chrispscott

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

Additional Links of Interest:

Filming supernatural during covid: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/how-supernatural-filmed-during-covid-19-1234772638/

How covid changed the planned ending: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/supernatural-finale-recap-covid-destiel-deans-death-castiel

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Look, this is the episode we all knew I was going to do. I can't talk about endings without talking about the different perspectives on Supernatural's finale. Lynn Zubernis joins me for a conversation on the last season, the last episodes, and how different fans interpreted the ending vastly differently from each other.

Spoiler Warnings! Want to avoid all spoilers? Use these timestamps to skip them completely:

Well... in this conversation you wont be able to. Lynn and I discuss multiple aspects of the Supernatural finale, from the general arc of the season to specifics in the last three episodes. If you don't want to be spoiled, you'll have to skip this one.

Support the show on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/in_defense_of_fandom

Thanks to Lynn Zubernis for speaking with me on this episode! (@fangasmSPN)

Editorial Support by Dr. Anna Funk: @DrAnnaFunk

Music written & performed by Chris Scott: @Chrispscott

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

Additional Links of Interest:

Find Lynn's writing here: https://fangasmthebook.com/

Book on how fangirls created the internet: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374539184/everythingineedigetfromyou

Research on the narratives we tell ourselves about our lives: https://www.amazon.com/Redemptive-Self-Stories-Americans-Live/dp/0195176936

Hannah Gadsby's Nannette: https://www.netflix.com/title/80233611

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