We finally learned what Homestuck is! This week, Emily and V look at a very special double-holiday: April 13, the day that Neil banged out the tunes and, also, Homestuck Day. Who is Neil? The greatest pianist who ever lived, that's who. And what's Homestuck? That was our question every goddamn day of our lives until Emily dipped a toe into the extremely deep water that is the Homestuck multiverse and came back alive to tell V about it.

Sources

Fanlore The Entirety of Homestuck in Five Minutes

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In light of certain fandoms' creators recently using their considerable fortunes to substantively make life worse for trans people, particularly trans women, this week, V and Emily take a look at a pioneering gender-conforming person who, literally, founded modern scifi fandom: Donald Wollheim. We look at Donald's fannish history, including hosting the very first scifi con ever; publishing Lord of the Rings in the US; and founding the Futurians, the early East Coast scifi fan club who definitely won the all-time BNF war. Then, we look at the other side of Donald's life as a landmark figure in the midcentury East Coast trans and GNC community, including penning the first first-person book about being gender-nonconforming and it not being something to shun, but something to celebrate. While certain big-name authors have decided that they want their legacy to be one of division and hate, we look this week at an individual whose legacies in both fandom and the queer community are ones of building. Of hope for the future. And of telling people that they are not alone.

Sources

American Experience: Casa Susannah A Year Among the Girls, Darrell G. Raynor (Donald Wollheim) Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia Fancyclopedia 2 (1959)

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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 trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer Fannibals, celebrating headcanons about trans, nonbinary, or genderqueer characters from the Hannibal Extended Universe. In particular, we look at the zine "Adapt. Evolve. Become," which had its first issue in 2023 and its new issue in 2025! We also swoon over Hugh Dancy just being the fucking best, even if he's also the most boring man alive.

Sources

Hugh Dancy at FanExpo TransHanniDay on Bluesky Kickstarter for 2025 zine Zine submission ideas/memes Adapt. Evolve. Become. (2023) Divination Hollow THD Linktree Fuck Transphobia Grindelwald art silvergoldsea teacupsntime Trans Cannibalism, RED Guhde

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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 her fashion, and V is along for the very sad ride. We also reference other stars who were killed by people claiming to be their fans, such as John Lennon, Rebecca Schaeffer, and Christina Grimmie, so please only listen to this episode if you are in the right mindset to be sad. 

Sources

Wikipedia

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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 judging panel of BNAs. There's so much going on. It's all wonderful. Also, V recounts the single most insane plot-twist she's ever encountered in anything, fic or otherwise, and it's a doozy. Join us, won't you? 

Sources

The Indie Twific Awards on Wayback TLYDF

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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, we look at the total shitheads who made up the band Ministry of Magic. As an extra content warning, if you miss it in the episode title: we discuss Neil Gaiman in this episode -- not in graphic detail, but just, be aware.

Sources

Fanlore wrocklopedia

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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. Femslash has a parallel history to slash fandom, and it's one that we don't get to talk about nearly enough on this show, so it was a delight to skip the shallow wading and get right to the deep dive. Thank you, jarrow!

Find out more about TGIF/F at http://www.tgifemslash.com.

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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 companions... well, that's up for debate. Compared to New Who companion deaths like those of Clara and Bill, Adric's was handled... uh. Well. They made some choices. Who was your favorite Doctor Who companion?

Sources

r/gallifrey ScreenRant

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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 yourself on a podcast, send us a voice note! We’ve turned Submissions on on our Tumblr, and we’ll also accept links to uploaded .mp3 files.
• If you want to answer but don’t want your real-life voice on a fandom podcast, send us an Ask here on Tumblr and we’ll read your response.
• Please include your preferred name (your Tumblr username or AO3 name is fine!) and pronouns at the top of your voice note or Ask message. If you want to be anonymous, you can just say “call me anonymous.” :)

Check http://www.thisweekinfandomhistory.com to see the current minisode question and send us your response!

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 love, and we're 100% in support of it. Did you have your very own Onceler? Tell us on our Tumblr!

Sources

Quinn Clark for Buzzfeed Sexymanthology

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
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