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—
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!
TIMESTAMPS
00:00:12 - Intro
00:00:31 - The tension between violence and kid-friendliness in Pokémon fanfiction
00:04:00 - Why is the Pokémon canon so loose? / Variation in Pokémon speech
00:07:46 - The magic of Pokémon that have not yet been discovered
00:09:49 - Surprising deep canonical narratives in the Pokémon universe
00:11:33 - Discussion of Butterfree's fanfic Morphic
00:14:48 - Writing a compelling reason for Pokémon to battle each other
00:18:06 - Dave and his relationship with the Pokémorphs
00:19:17 - Dodging mature topics as a kid on the Internet
00:20:40 - Is Pokémon comic-adjacent?
00:21:43 - General webcomic discussion
00:22:54 - Origins of the Nuzlocke challenge
00:23:55 - 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 Internet
00:26:32 - Speculative fiction in Nordic countries
00:28:10 - MARQUEE OF DOOM feat. lore about Kevin and Gordon becoming friends
00:30:46 - Web 1.0 and the era of "secret links" feat. Luigi Mangione's favorite blog
00:31:40 - Neocities and Geocities
00:34:23 - 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 begins
00:37:51 - Gordon's debut story "Unfit for Human Perception" and the psychophysical harmony argument for God
00:40:49 - 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 reason
00:42:25 - Are you your body, your mind, or your data?
00:44:04 - Kevin talks about getting sedated by Trader Joe's granola
00:46:43 - This nightmarish scene in Worm that scarred Kevin for life
00:48:33 - Would "Unfit for Human Perception" make it past a publisher?
00:49:54 - How Gordon imagined the wider Internet discourse around Alex would develop
00:52:07 - 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 Liu
LINKS
Morphic by Butterfree
The Quest for the Legends by Butterfree
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
“Philosophy with Amos Wollen” on the
podcast“Spar” by Kij Johnson
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