Meet the Wandering Hippie

Hello, everyone, Roderick J Fritz here with another round of Fan A&A Spotlight. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a fanfic writer that I should have covered months ago. He’s one of my personal favorites on fanfic.com, I talk to him frequently in PM’s, and I consider him to be a good friend. Meet the Wandering Hippie!

If you’re reading this, Hippie, I’m only saying what you’ve told us on Fanfic.com. No personal info.

The Life of the Hippie

Hippie’s been very open about the details on his life, enough that I can get a clear picture of him. He grew up in Pittsburgh and is currently in his early-mid twenties and an aspiring writer. From what I can gather, he was a huge geek growing up, being a fan of many popular cartoons, anime, and comics. In addition, he’s also an avid play of Dungeons & Dragons and a proficient Dungeon Master.

However, it seems his early years of adulthood were rough on him. According to his author’s notes, he made some poor decisions in his last years of college that made him feel like he wasted his time. On top of that, his friends started to drift apart, and he lost a ton of money to an online scam. As a result, he wasn’t in a good place for a while. All that changed, though, in June, 2017, when the Wandering Hippie published the first chapter of a fanfic story called “A Tale of Moon and Monsters.”

As it turned out, working on his fan writings was just what the doctor ordered. It gave him a sense of purpose in life, and within months, he turned things around. He got a full time job as a caretaker and bird handler at a pet store, joined a volunteer fire department, and found a new group to play D & D with. Most importantly, though, he found recognition from the fans he gained from his stories.

As A Writer

Thanks to his time as a Dungeon Master, the Wandering Hippie became proficient in the delicate art of world-building. That skill would translate well into his recreation of the universe of Star vs. The Forces of Evil, letting him build up a complex and storied world that not only builds upon the show, but even improves it in some aspects. At the time of this writing, it’s basically at Game of Thrones levels of complexity. Some may think that’s a bit much, but I see it as pushing the concept of Star vs. beyond what Disney allowed. If you read my character analysis for his stories, you’ll know he gets bonus points for fixing characters with less than desirable personalities (*cough* Rhombulus *cough*)

The best way I can describe the Wandering Hippie’s writing style is taking the comedy and drama of Star vs., mixing in PG-13 elements. Then he stirs in some tastefully chosen soundtracks and songs from shows and movies, the complex history of a Game of Thrones world, add fourth wall breaking Author’s notes and numerous pop culture references. The result is a story that, somehow, manages to work really well.

Messing with the Fourth Wall

One of Hippie’s trademarks is that he likes to use his Author’s Notes to mess with the fourth wall of the story. By the time he starts Star the Monster Princess, he uses them to speak to the readers directly. More often than not, he uses it to tell jokes or act out some cool scene he wants to do. I.E. pretending to be a thief, facing down the embodiment of reality, fighting an evil squid version of himself. However, he also uses them to discuss serious elements, letting us know when something’s of personal importance to him. Heck, he even admits that he cried during some of the more serious moments of Monster Princess, which he says is a sign of a good writer. I’d have to agree with him.

He’s also not alone in the author’s notes, either. He’s joined by three other people who help him. The first one is Omnitraxus Prime who, thanks to being aware of the multiverse, can somehow hang out with Hippie. There’s also the Narrator Guy from Spongebob Squarepants, who gets into arguments with Hippie every now and then. Lastly, we have Janna, who’s trolling abilities in his story have risen to fourth-wall breaking levels. Hippie tried getting rid of her at first, but since she’s Janna, he gave up on that; now she just hangs out with them.

Pop Culture Aficionado

I dub the Wandering Hippie as a pop culture aficionado because his stories are filled with references to various cartoons, books, and other mediums of story-telling. In fact, this goes beyond simple references and using other brands soundtracks. Many chapters of his stories include characters from the many cartoons and movies he watched growing up. Since this is a fan work, he can get away with it without those pesky ownership rules.

I personally enjoy the entire concept, because almost every reference or character he uses are from things I’m already familiar with. The latest chapter alone included cameos from Hellboy, Jackie Chan Adventures, Ed Edd n’ Eddy, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Say Hello to the Hippie

Now, there’s another reason why I wanted to make this post. A while back, I had suggested to Hippie that he get a new logo for himself. So to surprise him, I hired a fan artist by the name of Gogola on Instagram to make a drawing of him. Thus, I figured that this post would be the best way to share it with him. Hippie, this is for you, man!

Hope you enjoyed this, guys!

Click here to read Hippie’s awesome stories.

Click here to see more of Gogola’s work