Fanthropological

“Critical Role is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons. The show started streaming in March 2015, partway through the cast's first campaign” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Role](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Role) \ \ Fandom Facts * Holy **crap** Critical Role is popular: is is the most popular it has ever been (aside from March 2019), but also, its popularity coincides with a [massive increase in popularity in Dungeons and Dragons](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fg%2F11clghjr0y,%2Fm%2F026q9,%2Fm%2F04dzk1_) (but _not _Pathfinder) * There is a site entirely devoted to [stats about the critical role game](https://www.critrolestats.com): d20 rolls, puns, lore, you name it! * “After the split from Geek and Sundry, the cast announced a fundraiser for an animation of the popular Whitebriar arc. The campaign asked for $750,000 but reached $1 million within an hour, ending with a record-breaking $11.3 mill

This subject of this week's minisode turns inwards as the Nicks ask themselves if they consider themselves a good fan and break down what being a good fan even means ## What is the Race Against Time? The Race Against Time is our annual charity livestreaming marathon where we get as many endings as possible in Chrono Trigger to raise money [for the Alzheimer Society of Canada](https://alzheimer.ca/)! This year’s event will be August 10 and 11th from noon until midnight each day. This year, we hope to outdo all of our previous records and raise $1500 CAD. For more details on the event, you can check out the main website at [raceagainsttime.io](https://raceagainsttime.io), [our Twitch page](https://twitch.tv/theraceagainsttime) where we host the stream, or you can follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/raceagainstio) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/raceagainsttimeio) for news about guests, giveaways, and other special surprises! Heck, you can even [donate right now](https://raceagainsttime.io/donate

Are retro gamers missing out on the newest, hippest games or are they right to dig deep into the style that they love? The Nicks dive into the breadth, depth and philosophy of getting into a niche! ## What is the Race Against Time? The Race Against Time is our annual charity livestreaming marathon where we get as many endings as possible in Chrono Trigger to raise money [for the Alzheimer Society of Canada](https://alzheimer.ca/)! This year’s event will be August 10 and 11th from noon until midnight each day. This year, we hope to outdo all of our previous records and raise $1500 CAD. For more details on the event, you can check out the main website at [raceagainsttime.io](https://raceagainsttime.io), [our Twitch page](https://twitch.tv/theraceagainsttime) where we host the stream, or you can follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/raceagainstio) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/raceagainsttimeio) for news about guests, giveaways, and other special surprises! Heck, you can even [donate right now](h

After nearly 20 years of con-going, and collectively well over 40 different conventions been attended, what kinds of things are missing from conventions (anime, sci-fi, comic, or otherwise), anyway? ## What is the Race Against Time? The Race Against Time is our annual charity livestreaming marathon where we get as many endings as possible in Chrono Trigger to raise money [for the Alzheimer Society of Canada](https://alzheimer.ca/)! This year’s event will be August 10 and 11th from noon until midnight each day. This year, we hope to outdo all of our previous records and raise $1500 CAD. For more details on the event, you can check out the main website at [raceagainsttime.io](https://raceagainsttime.io), [our Twitch page](https://twitch.tv/theraceagainsttime) where we host the stream, or you can follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/raceagainstio) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/raceagainsttimeio) for news about guests, giveaways, and other special surprises! Heck, you can even [donate right now]

Who would’ve thought that spinning battle tops could enchant kids and adults alike? And that the franchise has more in common with Transformers than meets the eye? Definitely not us -- listen along as we learn about the fandom that shouts “Let it Rip!” with glee. ## Episode Outline **Topics:** Beyblade as the first anime series that ran up against our budding cynicism, the complexity of the toys, the complexity of the battles, the reality of the tournament scene, Beyblade World Championships, the World Beyblade Organization, adults are fans?, the physical appeal of Beyblades, why does [this guy](https://knowtechie.com/5-tips-and-tricks-that-every-beyblade-player-must-know/) have four apple watches?, Beyblades and bathtubs don’t mix ### Fandom Facts “Beyblade, known in Japan as Explosive Shoot Beyblade, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki to promote sales of spinning tops called "Beyblades" developed by Takara Tomy. ... The series focuses on a group of kids who form teams wit

We dig into authorial intent, the challenges of animation, and fan work (and entitlement) as we talk about Rooster Teeth’s RWBY and its fans! ## Episode Outline **Topics:** RWBY (obviously), Anime, Linguistics, the _Tales of_ series, authorial intent, dudebros, expectations and fan work ### Fandom Facts “RWBY (pronounced "ruby") is an American anime-style web series and media franchise created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. The show is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors (called "Huntsmen" and "Huntresses") to protect their world from monsters called Grimm. The name RWBY is derived from the four main characters' forenames: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, as well as their associated theme colors; Red, White, Black, and Yellow. Following several promotional trailers, the first episode was screened at the Rooster Teeth convention event RTX and then released on their website in July 2013.” ‒ [Wikipedia - RWBY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWBY) * A fan s

# Description We hopped back into the Millenium Falcon with Alex Robinson of The Star Wars Minute podcast to get an inside look at Star Wars fandom (and to try to figure out how anyone could watch the prequels a minute at a time)! ## Episode Outline **Topics:** Phantom Menace Number, Barnacle Facts, Spaceballs, Star Wars: The Fandom people love to hate?, Star Wars the new Geek Stereotype, Online Fandom Divisive, In-Person Fandom Down to Earth, How a Summer of Star Wars was Possible During the ‘70s, Richard Nixon, A Special Message for Star Wars Fans Everywhere ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but specifically... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](htt

This week, the Nicks tackle iconic 90s nerdy show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They'll talk about the emergence of genre television, what Buffy means as a Strong Female Characters & how the whole world now sounds like 90s teens! Here are some of the sources we used for the episode: [The Importance of Being the Zeppo: Xander, Gender Identity and Hybridity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Mark Camron](http://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/camron.pdf) [Buffy Summers: Third-Wave Feminist Icon](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/07/how-buffy-became-a-third-wave-feminist-icon/493154/) [The Complex Feminist Legacy Of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’](https://decider.com/2017/03/09/the-complex-feminist-legacy-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/) [How Buffy the Vampire Slayer transformed TV as we know it](https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/10/14857542/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-explained-tv-influence) [10 Ways Buffy The Vampire Slayer Changed the World](https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/buffy-th

Anthony of the [Transformers University podcast](http://tfu.info) joins us to clear the air about what Transformers fandom is actually like… and about how the fandom may be held together with duct tape. You can here our original take here: [https://fanthropological.com/transformers](https://fanthropological.com/transformers) ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but specifically... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s) and many others! * Keep up-to-date with our latest goings-on on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast), [Twitter](https://twitter.co

# Description In 1993, special agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder began their quest for irrefutable proof of the existence of the paranormal and popular culture has never been the same. ## Episode Outline **Topics:** the importance of fan-fiction to the X-Philes community, the strength of the community over the decades it has existed, creators’ interactions with the 90s fandom, fans’ reactions to the recent reboots, can a fandom survive without new content? ### Fandom Facts * “The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who investigate X-Files: Marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal, while Scully, a medical doctor and a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries to debunk his work and thus return him to mainstream cases.” -[Wikipedia - The X-Files](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X-Files)

This week, this Nicks have a look at the hot new (3-year old) shounen anime that's sweeping the world - Boku no Hero Academia! They'll talk about the strengths and weaknesses of ensemble shows, what the superhero craze looks like reflected through and Japanese mirror and whether or not anyone axtually likes Mineta! [Click here](https://fundraise.cancerresearch.org/fundraiser/1947095) for more information on the Livestream for the Cure! ### Fandom Facts “My Hero Academia … follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers (called quirks) in a world where they have become commonplace, but who still dreams of becoming a hero himself. He is scouted by the world's greatest hero, who shares his quirk with Izuku after recognizing his potential, and later enrolls him in a high school for heroes in training.” * The BNHA subreddit is pretty popular: Within the first three months of the subreddit’s creation, it went from almost 300 000th to somewhere in the 15 000’s ([and is now ~1400th most popula

What is it about the show that has managed to keep it relevant for over thirty years, even far from its home? And what exactly is the appeal of the show? Is it the lo-fi, retro-ness of it through a nostalgia filter? All this and more on this week's episode! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts * It is currently in its 26th (ish) season with almost 900 episodes since 1993. It is based on the Super Sentai meta-series in Japan that started in 1975 and has been running over the same timespan. * Interest in the various Power Rangers series has been [relatively constant since 2004](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F017dbx) though it has had some ups and downs and is on a bit of a downward trend right now. * There are almost 6000 fan works related to Power Rangers [on Archive Of Our Own](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Power%20Rangers/works) (about ⅓ Gen, ¼ F/F, and ¼ M/M) * The Power Rangers subreddit [has about 20k followers](https://www.reddit.com/r/powerrangers/). #

This week, we take a departure from our regular fandom discovery and examination, and instead, travel to a bold, familiar new (old?) world. More importantly, we give a small taste of an exciting new podcast we'll be launching in May! ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but specifically... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s) and many others! * Keep up-to-date with our latest goings-on on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast), or [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast), all `@thenickscast` * W

We chat with special guest friend Sid about his over twenty years of convention experience, including how conventions have changed, positive experiences, and dealing with WTFery. If you want to learn more about Victim Services of Waterloo Region, check out [https://vswr.ca/](https://vswr.ca/), or [donate now](https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/victim-services-of-waterloo-region/). ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but in specific... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s) and many others! * Keep up-to-date with our latest goings-on on [Facebook](ht

# Description In 2013, two short years after it first appeared on the internet, Vaporwave was declared "dead". And yet, it still lives and has spawned a brood of micro-genres (Simpsonwave, Zeldawave, Glo-Fi, Mallsoft) in 2019. And what about the fans? Somehow, we try to tackle what this music is and figure out the people behind it. ## Episode Outline **Topics:** What is Vaporwave?, Is it a joke?, An internet micro-genre that seems to be constantly changing, Earnestness versus irony, pretentious art ideals versus memes ### First Impressions #### Z: When I first stumbled across Vaporwave, I was shocked by how evocative of some sort of nostalgia it was. Which is strange because I never was much of a mall rat, or spent a lot of time in places that played heavy muzak. And yet, there's a strange atmospheric quality to the music that reminds me of listening to a warbly radio from the bottom of a swimming pool -- which is still weird because I have never done that before in my life. #### T: I know next to

# Description To expand on our episode on Tabletop Gaming, G & Z sit down with Caleb & Christian from the Trailblazer Network (home of Pathfinder Academy and Trailblazers) to talk about how they got started with Pathfinder over D&D, their experiences as both players and GMs and some of the controversies that tear the community asunder. Their podcasts can be found over at [https://www.tblazer.net/](https://www.tblazer.net/) and wherever fine podcasts are heard! ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but specifically... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc

This week on the show, the Nicks take a look at the fate that's befallen Digimon & its fans! Is it always doomed to trail in the shadow of Pokemon or is it underappreciate genius ahead of its time?? ### Fandom Facts * Digimon has spawned 7 anime series, 16 movies, 8 manga series, 43 video games, and a collectible card game. * There was a point in history where Digimon was more popular that Pokemon… [in North America at least](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-02-19/fox-kids-wins-broadcast-ratings). In February of 2001, it took the number two rating slot among kids 6-11 (Pokemon was third). Similar, but unconfirmed: Digimon was Fox's most popular kids show (even more than Power Rangers) * The series was only expected to last 13 episodes: "Digimon was just supposed to be a series of half-hour commercials for the toys. Specifically, the Digimon cartoon was to be released in tandem with the PlayStation game Digimon World. But when the show became unexpectedly and wildly popular on its own,

# Description We return to Hogwarts to chat with the Real Weird Sisters about why *Harry Potter* is so important to fandom in general and **still** so popular. This episode is a follow up to our (very) early episode about the series [here](https://fanthropological.com/e/3632cca54d92c4/). And who are The Real Weird Sisters? Hailing from Bozeman, Montana, Alice and Martha, grew up reading, rereading, and re-re-reading the *Harry Potter* series. **Alice**, who was seven when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published,** estimates that she has read the series' first book over 75 times**! Although Martha's tally isn't quite as high, she would like to clarify that she was a mere toddler when Alice first started reading the books, so she was doomed to forever be six years behind. Both sisters have made local news for their *Harry Potter* fandom. Alice was interviewed for a newspaper in 2005 after she read *Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince* overnight, and Martha and her friends were on TV in 2011 w

### Fandom Facts * Relative to Mushrooms (general), not a lot of folks are looking up information on magic mushrooms (Psilocybin), [or even mycology](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F052sf,%2Fm%2F057v5,%2Fm%2F09l4w) and are getting more interested in mushrooms over time * There are at least five different subreddits on mushrooms, all tackling a different aspect of mushrooms ([identifying mushrooms](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShroomID/), [psilocybin](https://www.reddit.com/r/PsilocybinMushrooms/), [anything mushrooms](https://www.reddit.com/r/shrooms/), etc.), the largest being [r/mycology](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/) (but just by a few thousand) * In _Star Trek: Discovery_ there is a character, Lieutenant Paul Stamets, who is an astromycologist and is named after a real U.S. scientist of the same name who is investigating how mushrooms might be able to [save the world in different ways](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/paul-stamets-star-trek-mushroom

We're locked in again for another 60ish minutes to better understand fans of escape rooms, this time with escape room enthusiast Errol ([Room Escape Divas](http://www.inversegenius.com/roomescapedivas/)). A follow-up to [our previous episode on Escape Rooms](https://fanthropological.com/escaperooms). ## Episode Outline **Topics:** Escape Rooms, Puzzles, Escape Room Industry, Social Gaming, the future of Escape Games, Puzzle Solving Strategies ## Where can you find Errol? He can be heard on [Room Escape Divas](http://www.inversegenius.com/roomescapedivas/) as well as producing a multitude of articles & information at [The Codex](https://thecodex.ca/)! ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but in specific... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcast