Fic Clique Podcast

Put your listening ears on because it's time to learn about the wide world of audio works! In this episode your hosts and special guest of the pod Kassie talk about podfic history, fandom, and what goes into making an audio work. We also celebrate the joys of podfic's ultra supportive community, and highlight some events that intrepid podficcers old and new can get involved in. If you had a potato and a dream, you too could join this world.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"Behind the Pod S1, Episode 4: New(ish) & Old(ish)," by arkadyevna, BehindThePod, Opalsong "Here," by impersonal_villain, sallysparrow017 "FAQ: The Goose Fight Portion of Your Thesis Defense," - please see link for authors "Starting Playback…," by blacklgass, Cait_does_Podfics, coyotecrackers, edible_chemistry, olive2read, Ravin_Pods, wjgravity

Additionally:

The blanket permission extension can be found here: https://github.com/BrickGrass/Blanket-Permission-Highlighter

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

In this episode of Fic Clique, your hosts invite you to saddle up and buckle in for a thrilling discussion of recommendation culture in fandom, including three fics we found through curated rec lists!

Dive with us into the history of reaching and the impact of The Algorithm TM on modern rec culture, setting work wherein a setting can function as its own character, the many different forms an action hero can take, and our incredibly divisive feelings about women's wrongs.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"Benched," by Speranza (Stargate Atlantis) "Unbranded Air" by suitesamba (Sherlock BBC) "5 Times the Raptors Tried to Kill Miriam, and 1 Time They Didn't," by tardigradetardis (Jurassic Park)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

In our second two-host episode of 2026, hosts Nic and Brenna join forces to discuss the current landscape of the fandom and fan fiction for hit HBO medical drama The Pitt. From major ships to the fragmentation o fandom across different social medias to fandom-savvy actors and writers, our conversation covers a lot of ground.

Mini Pitt Reclist from Host Nic

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

You thought Olympics season was over? Think again. We're always ready to talk about sports narratives on the pod and boy do we dig into some meaty ones here. Are you interested in how sports can be akin to martyrdom, and how an athlete's responsibility is not to their body but to the game? What about how fiction allows for tidy narrative arcs of redemption that aren't possible with real people? Perhaps how a family's legacy in sport puts the burdensome expectation of perfect representation onto those who follow in its wake? All that and ore awaits you in this episode.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"and so my heart beats wildly," by lily_winterwood (MDZS)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

Happy Valentine's Day ficlets! Love is In the air, but perhaps the journey to a happily ever after isn't as straightforward as it seems. As we put some beloved characters through twists and turns on classic tropes, we also examine what it means to bridge the distance between your perception of someone and the reality of them, how sense of place can connect to moments of tension, and our lack of knowledge about the court system.

H/N (Host Note): Reid's mic was experiencing some difficulties this episode, we apologize for the occasional impact that had on the audio quality.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"One Last Time," by ElAurian (Ace Attorney) "No Retreat, Baby, No Surrender," by itsnotbleak (MCU) "loving this body," by beetlesandstars, kryptonian (HR)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

Fic Clique goes TTRPG in Nic's 2026 birthday episode! Join us as our GM (Nic) leads two intrepid warriors (played by Brenna and Reid) through a variety of settings and tropes on a quest to save AO3 from bad actors and maintain the integrity of fanfiction as a vehicle for even the most unlikely characters to fall in love.

We're playing a system so simple it feels wrong to say it's adapted from D&D, but that's technically what's happening here! So whether you're a seasoned TTRPG fan or dipping your toe in for the first time, anyone should be able to jump in, get oriented, and enjoy the hijinks.

No fics discussed this episode!

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

All roads lead back to Sidney Crosby in host Brenna's 2026 birthday episode, where we discuss all things hockey! Guest of the pod Em joins us and provides vital information about the current state of hockey as we dive into: material-discursive analysis of masculinity in men's hockey, internalized homophobia, relative degrees of emotional safety as a fan engaging with different iterations on the same sport, generational talent and failure, and what give rpf the sauce. It's a meaty one, y'all.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"Yekaterinburg Standard Time," by sevenfists (Hockey RPF) "the art of staying," by nightswatch (Check Please) "love takes miles," by corsi (Heated Rivalry)

Other media referenced:

"'What a bust': Character selection and the possibilities of failure in hockey RPF," by Júlia Zen Dariva and Natália Brauns Cazelgrandi Ferreira (OTW Journal)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

In 2025's last full-length episode, your hosts brought some hot fics and even hotter takes to the table as we discussed our perspective on what fandoms "hit (or remained in) the zeitgeist" this year. From The Pitt to Arcane to Interview With the Vampire our conversation led us to topics such as:

humor as a cultural indicator

the impact of big media companies in an increasingly siloed media landscape

the risks of creating progressive media

and science fiction as a reflection of social anxieties

Fics discussed in this episode:

"the fifth element," by copycat_punisher (The Pitt) "love, letting go," by theroyalsavage (Arcane) "Cunk on Fangs," by beemovieerrotica (IWTV, Cunk on Earth)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

Welcome one and all to a rousing discussion of a long awaited topic: reader insert fanfiction! In our first ever two-host minisode, Nic and Reid get into the beautiful weeds of different fanfic traditions, degrees of closeness, and how POV can mediate your self-concept as a reader, fantasy and (dis)comfort, and communal fic reading experiences that will have you gathering hands and declaring: We are All Y/N.

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

This very exciting episode welcomes author @megfitz89 as a guest! Listen to us discuss Meghan's new comic series, delve into her fandom history and her work as an author. We had the pleasure of discussing sexism and misogyny in fandom/fanfiction, the stories and fandoms shaped us in our teenage years, and the importance of horniness in our stories.

Fic discussed in this episode:

"Search for the Lost Ones (Guardians of Light)," by Jensfire (Star Wars)

Other media referenced:

"Mary Sue," by Meghan Fitzmartin, Lisa Sterle (Issue #1)

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

Happy Halloween, Ficlets! Put on your witch hats and Hamlet costumes because each of these fics is on theme! In this episode we do our best to dissect the question: Why is horror so wildly popular but disproportionately underrepresented in fanfiction? We also explore what makes horror so beloved as a genre in the first place, diving into horror as parable, subversion of expectations, catharsis, social and moral commentary, response to global crisis, queer allegory, and more.

Fics discussed in this episode:

"Where the Dead Live," by mirabella (Inception) "three's a crowd," by ctimene "The Seal Song" by Blackeyed_blackeyed "A Cabin in the Woods," by nightwalker

Other media referenced:

"Why do we like horror?" from NPR "The Psychology Behind Why We Love (or Hate) Horror," from Harvard Business Review

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

With one long fic guiding our discussion this episode, we packed in everything a person could want: academic texts as reference, discussion of the queer as monstrous, breaking of cycles to forge your own path, and a whole lot of extolling the joys of femslash.

Fic discussed this episode:

"Blood in the Moonlight" by rosemeister (BG3)

Other media referenced:

"Come as you are: Sex, race and writing in f/f slash fan fiction communities" by Clare Sears "Becoming the Monster: Queer Monstrosity and the Reclamation of the Werewolf in Slash Fandom" by Jaquelin Elliott Zero to Well Read Podcast - "Twilight by Stephanie Meyer" Diabolical Lies Podcast - "Biblical Womanhood, MAGA Girlbosses, and the Useful Myth of 'Tradition'"

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom! 

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky

Ficlets we are so back! Season two of Fic Clique kicks off with us honoring our long journey as a podcast alongside you the listeners, specifically by picking fic recommendations from three different eras of the pod. We dig in to what it is we love about fanfiction that has kept it so near and dear to our hearts for all these years, with some classic tropes to guide our way.

We also have incredible new artwork from friend of the pod @averytree !

Fics discussed this Episode:

"Dust" by levelone (TAZ Balance) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/12537664 "A Game of Two Halves" by stickmarionette (FE3H) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27023386/ "the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it's you" by greatunironic (Stranger Things) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/40083423/

Fic Clique is a bi-weekly podcast about fanfcition and fandom!

Follow Fic Clique on Bluesky