This week, _Arya_ ready for our look at fans of Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire! We are! _And_ you definitely don 't learn Dothraki to enjoy it! Plus, we have a special guest from the award-winning [A Podcast of Ice and Fire](http://podcastoficeandfire.com/), Amin! Next week, we'll be keeping the fantasy setting (sort of) to talk about one of the most popular RPG series in Japan; we'll be talking about fans of the _Tales_ series of video games! ## Where can I learn more about Amin? If you want to learn more about Amin, you should definitely check out the aforementioned [A Podcast of Ice and Fire](http://podcastoficeandfire.com/); they even provided us with [some slides](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4fkEcWiuGpCV0t6anU3WTAyMW8/view) from their panel at San Diego Comic Con (which we brought up in this week's episode)! You can also find him on his other podcasts, [The Bastards of Kingsgrave](https://bastardsofkingsgrave.wordpress.com/), which covers anime, manga, western animation and other pop culture, and [Vassals of Kingsgrave](https://vokpodcast.wordpress.com/)! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Introduction, Origins, and History:** Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television adaptation of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" epic fantasy novels. For the purposes of the fandom, we'll be referring to both of them interchangeably. _A Game of Thrones_ , the first volume in the series, was written in 1991 and published in 1996. Since then, four other volumes have been released, with a total of seven volumes planned. The series follows the adventures of a wide cast of different characters of the continents of Westeros and Essos. Though there are many different perspectives, the books and TV show follow three main plot lines: an epic war among several families for control of ...
What if you only had 60 minutes to _escape from this podcast_? To unravel the puzzles of _Crimson Room_ or the (surprisingly) lucrative business of locking people in a room? Well, you'd probably fail (but so would we). Listen in as we talk about fans of an even more puzzling experience: Escape Rooms! Next week, we wrap up the season with a Nickscast favourite (and a special guest) as we talk about fans... of the _Legend of Zelda_ series! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins and history:** Escape rooms, also known as _room escape_, _escape games_, _escape the room_, and so on, are physical adventure games where participants are required to solve a variety of puzzles using riddles, clues, and hints contained in the room within a fixed time limit. Sometimes, the rooms are thematically linked (e.g. a museum heist) or they can be a series of abstract puzzles with no linking theme. The concept of an escape room is heavily inspired by the similarly named video game genre where players are required to escape a room by pointing and clicking around a room to exploit their surroundings. The earliest example of this style of game is likely the 1988 text adventure, _Behind Closed Doors_, where the player has to escape a restroom, but some better known examples might include _MOTAS_ (Mystery Of Time And Space, 2001), _Crimson Room_ (2004), and _Viridian Room_. Arguably... fans of escape rooms are fans of this genre of video games, but that remains to be seen! The first escape room was created in Japan by SCRAP in 2007 and the concept later spread to other parts of Asia, then Europe... then, the world! There are now almost ...
What happens 30 years after a TV show finishes? Is the fandom … over? What is the relationship between a series ending and a fandom ending? And what happens if the creator turns out to be an _awful_ person. This week it’s all over as we talk about the role and effect of endings in fandom… and in life? In particular, we talk about: * How the peak of a fandom may have already passed by the time you get there * How fandoms connect people through time, even when they do end * How endings… really any discontinuity… is hard for humans. * ...Honestly, a lot about Twin Peaks, Lost, and Harry Potter. And more! All in under thirty minutes. ## Episode Outline **Topics:** Distinction between media franchise and fandom; media is always “new to you”; fandom “peaks”; twin peaks; fandoms connecting across time; how poor endings can decimate fandoms; the allure of avoiding the ending; zombie fandoms. ## Where can I get updates? If you want to follow us on social media, we’ve got you covered: * Facebook: [facebook.com/fanthropological](https://facebook.com/fanthropological) * Twitter: [@fanthropologic](https://twitter.com/fanthropologic) And of course, we can be found where all fine podcasts are found (e.g. [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)). Oh, and here at [fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) ## What is the “Race Against Time”? The Race Against Time is an annual charity livestreaming marathon run by [the Nickscast](https://thenickscast.com) where we beat Chrono Trigger _thirteen times_ to raise money for charity; this year that charity is [Trans Lifeline](https://www.translifeline.org/)! Tune in on August 8 and 9th from noon until midnight each day. We hope to outdo all of our previous records and raise $2300 USD. For more details on the event, you can check ...
