XIII: Eras of Pokémon Fanfiction w/ Butterfree

This week we talked to Butterfree, an Icelandic author of several works of speculative Pokémon fanfiction and the longtime webmaster of Kevin’s favorite Pokémon website The Cave of Dragonflies. We also discussed Morphic, a fanfic about Pokémon-human hybrids that Butterfree wrote as an edgy teen, as well as what is was like to grow up in the heyday of Pokémon fansites. And, of course, the MARQUEE OF DOOM.In this edition of Synthesized Sunsets Backstage, we discuss Gordon’s debut short story “Unfit for Human Perception”, the argument of psychophysical harmony, the mind-body problem, whether we’re in a body horror renaissance, and so much more.No video for this one— Kevin has faced a ridiculous number of technical difficulties with video files, and we’re planning to go forward with audio-only in the future for the sake of our own sanity. But the good news is that we’ll be posting on YouTube soon, which has been a pretty common request in the past.Thanks for listening!TIMESTAMPS00:00:12 - Intro00:00:31 - The tension between violence and kid-friendliness in Pokémon fanfiction00:04:00 - Why is the Pokémon canon so loose? / Variation in Pokémon speech00:07:46 - The magic of Pokémon that have not yet been discovered00:09:49 - Surprising deep canonical narratives in the Pokémon universe00:11:33 - Discussion of Butterfree's fanfic Morphic00:14:48 - Writing a compelling reason for Pokémon to battle each other00:18:06 - Dave and his relationship with the Pokémorphs00:19:17 - Dodging mature topics as a kid on the Internet00:20:40 - Is Pokémon comic-adjacent?00:21:43 - General webcomic discussion00:22:54 - Origins of the Nuzlocke challenge00:23:55 - The ComixMix March Madness Tournament* Correction: Paranatural came in 2nd in this tournament— the actual winner was Girl Genius. Both Unsounded and Lackadaisy made it to the third round. You can find the full results on the linked page.00:24:53 - Finnish webcomic artist Minna Sundberg and Nordic influence on the Internet00:26:32 - Speculative fiction in Nordic countries00:28:10 - MARQUEE OF DOOM feat. lore about Kevin and Gordon becoming friends00:30:46 - Web 1.0 and the era of "secret links" feat. Luigi Mangione's favorite blog00:31:40 - Neocities and Geocities00:34:23 - Is there enough popular will to restore the Internet to its former glory?00:36:28 - Conclusion and Butterfree’s final recommendations* “Foregone Conclusion” by elvyorg (the Grovyle one)* “The Ties that Bind” by Saffire Persian (the Blastoise one)00:37:50 - Synthesized Sunsets Backstage begins00:37:51 - Gordon's debut story "Unfit for Human Perception" and the psychophysical harmony argument for God00:40:49 - What makes successful body horror / Are we in a body horror renaissance?00:41:28 - Gordon thinks a lot about the sensation of pressing fingers onto a human brain for some reason00:42:25 - Are you your body, your mind, or your data?00:44:04 - Kevin talks about getting sedated by Trader Joe's granola00:46:43 - This nightmarish scene in Worm that scarred Kevin for life00:48:33 - Would "Unfit for Human Perception" make it past a publisher?00:49:54 - How Gordon imagined the wider Internet discourse around Alex would develop00:52:07 - Gordon and Kevin theorize that once UFOs become established as scientific fact, most UFO truthers will "change teams"00:53:24 - Conclusion and Gordon’s final recommendations* “Mountain” by Cixin LiuLINKS* The Cave of Dragonflies homepage* Morphic by Butterfree* The Quest for the Legends by Butterfree* Serebii.net homepage* Pokémon: Hard Mode (origin of the Nuzlocke challenge) by Nick Franco* A Redtail’s Dream by Minna Sundberg* Stand Still, Stay Silent by Minna Sundberg* LoveStar by Andri Magnason* “Unfit for Human Perception” by Gordon * “Philosophy with Amos Wollen” on the DeepLeftAnalysis🔸 podcast* “Why I'm An Atheist Despite Psychophysical Harmony” by Bentham's Bulldog* “Real Women Have Bodies” by Carmen Maria Machado * “Spar” by Kij Johnson* Kevin’s really long article about Irritable Bowel Syndrome This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe