Before I became a writer, I was a reader, well, I still am. I love to immerse myself in a good story. Honestly, one of the best things in the world (in my admittedly biased opinion) is a story with something to say. The Once and Future Nerd is one of these stories for me. Christian T. Kelley-Maderra has done so much work in crafting “a years-long labor of love” with so many talented people — only to hope that other people cherish it as much as he and his friends have. The Once and Future Nerd (TOAFN) balances witty in-world humor with hilarious 4th wall breaking callbacks to today’s nerd culture, and crafts a special blend of classic “kings and mages” fantasy with an increasingly present introspective critique of current issues in fantasy and gamer culture and media. The characters are refreshingly real and complex; the world surprisingly interesting for all its classic familiarity to Tolkien and the Dungeons & Dragons setting.
In an unspecified ‘modern day’ close to our own, Nelson, Jen, and Billy, three teens from a rural Pennsylvania town, are magically whisked away to a strange and unfamiliar place: the realm of Iorden (yore-den), a land ruled by lords and kings, defended by elves, and under assault by orcs and rebels. Over the first several episodes, a ragtag band of unlikely allies is assembled, and the development of the individual characters and interpersonal bonds is something I still look forward to every other Sunday when a new episode is released.
Nelson is a nerdy social outcast and the son of two late racial activists. He grew up on Lorde as much as Tolkien and has beaten every Zelda game. Jen is a cheerleader, and wicked smart but still afraid to let people find out. Billy is Jen’s boyfriend, an affable yet problematic QB — I promise, he’ll grow on you. There’s Brennen, a soldier who is getting on in years but is still very deadly, and unerringly loyal to his ailing king. Yllowyn (yeel-o-ween — you can laugh, they did it on purpose) is an arrogant elven youth serving as court advisor and is also known for his keen ears and great hunting skill. Nia is a mage as well as a religious scholar and seems to be the only cool head most of the time. Finally, there’s Regan, an orphan who grew up to be a prickly cactus with a fondness for knives and pushing people away. There’s a lot more to her story than you think, and you’ll just have to listen to learn more. And over all of this, we have a sassy all-knowing narrator with a very British accent and a self-proclaimed “impeccable sense of story.”
TOAFN clearly puts thought into the stories they tell and who they tell these stories about. This is not a handful of white boys talking into the mic like their content exists in a vacuum because 'fiction.’ This podcast addresses tropes and common flaws in media, sometimes by confronting it head-on with complete respect to the serious nature of an issue, but sometimes, TOAFN takes a step back, and crafts a brilliant moment where you can laugh at something because it’s honestly just something silly that just keeps happening in the genre. The characters of TOAFN — because I cannot speak for the creators — are well developed, and there is representation. Like a lot of media, it may still be lacking in visibility for disabled characters, but there is racial diversity, representation of the LGBTQ+ community, and an overall swath of unique characters with their own complex perspectives and flaws, flaws that are called to attention by others and demanded to be acknowledged and learned from. I think Nelson’s words from Book 1, Chapter 9, Part 2 really sum up what I appreciate so much about this story, and what it pushes me to consider as I continue in my own work as a writer and creator: “Stories matter. You wanna understand people, understand their stories. You wanna change people, change their stories. People are the stories they tell. Power is who gets to tell the stories.”
I will say that the audio quality for the first three episodes is a little rough, but quality improves rapidly, and by mid-Chapter 2 or so, most of the technical bits have evened out. Like most podcasts, TOAFN really benefits from listening with headphones. If you, like me, prefer longer episodes to listen to at work, the gym, or while knitting, Chapter One was released in entirety as one episode when the podcast reached 10,000 downloads.
This show has some amazing voice acting, but sadly, there have been a few changes in casting. I think that these adjustments have had little to no impact on the quality of performances or the caliber of the characters presented. For those with sensitive ears, this show does have an explicit rating. Several characters curse (profusely), a few are straight up jerks, and mature themes and content will arise, though they are nearly always prefaced with both a note in the episode description and a quick announcement before the start of the episode.
TOAFN describes their show as a self-aware fantasy comedy, and that basically covers it. If you love fantasy, but also cringe at some of the choices made by JK Rowling or the army of people behind GoT, and appreciate a show that won’t always take itself too seriously but can handle some big issues with grace and consideration, please, give this a listen. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you like it. TOAFN can be found on iTunes, and at www.onceandfuturenerd.com. If you want to find more information, some spoilers and fansourced playlist, or contact the creators, there is www.onceandfuturenerd.tumblr.com, www.facebook.com/toafn, @_toafn on Twitter, and www.patreon.com/onceandfuturenerd.
