Respawn of the Dead

Respawn of the Dead by Cat Bountry is an English zombie apocalypse AU fic for Team Fortress 2. In the story, respawn critically fails at the eve of a zombie apocalypse started by BLU Medic. RED team must survive the apocalypse, and each other, to escape the infested New Mexico for good. 
Respawn of the Dead is considered to be one of Team Fortress 2's first longfic. It was released in parts on TF2chan, an anonymous imageboard which was once the central hub for TF2's slash and homoerotic fanworks. The fic has since been hosted on Archive of Our Own.
Because of TF2's Slash and non-slash fandom once both used the same online forums and imageboards, such as 4chan's /v/, plus4chan, YouTube, and Valve's own Steamcommunity forum to share content, this fic "breached containment" and is fondly remembered by many TF2 players and fans who usually would not read fanfiction, along with some of Cat Bountry's other works such as With Apologies to Harlan Ellison. It helped popularize Heavy/Medic, which is what the prequel story, How Heavy Met Medic, primarily focuses on. Many of Cat Bountry's works are beloved by both early and modern TF2 fandom, and she was one of its first BNFs. 
Respawn of the Dead is poorly regarded by some fans. Its use of phonetic accents, having RED Medic be an atonedThe Atoner: Medic. He's rather shockingly unremorseful about being an ex-Nazi in the prologue, but that eventually changes.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/RespawnOfTheDead (Accessed September 29th, 2023) Nazi, and overall mannerisms in-universe reminiscent of 2000s imageboard culture, are in-removable from the story itself and date it to the time period and social setting it originated from. Ca tBountry is also somewhat infamous in TF2 fandom. She was once a mod on Kiwifarms and got involved in drama surrounding TF2 fandom, as documented on the receipt blog, shatbountry-blog, though she has since distanced herself from the website and its users. Her legacy overshadows Respawn of the Dead's overall discussion in some fan circles when the fic is alluded to. However, this infamy is not brought up when TF2 fans not accustomed to Slash shipping mention the fic, and many fans across the board consider it a classic and a must read.
==Reviews==
All links to Dotchan, a personal website which once hosted all of Cat Bountry's Team Fortress 2 fanfiction, no longer work and are included only for the sake of archival.
rathsin also made a formal, long-form critical review, which can be read . Cat Bountry made a response to it .
==Example/Notable Fanac==
The story was recced by JustAnotherMadOne on her journal, .
===Fan Comic===
* by Kichi-Art and MadHatterLupin, an incomplete 24 page fancomic for Respawn of the Dead.
* (Oct. 2012)
* (Jul. 2012)
===Fan Songs===
*The End by Phemiec, a fan song for the story included in the filk album Songs from the Dustbowl.
===Fan Art===
Some of these were made in Source Filmmaker, 3D animation software created by Valve.
* (Oct. 2014.)
* (Nov. 2013.)
* (Jan. 2015.)
* (unknown, 2015 - before 27 May 2017.) Their first fanart can be seen .
* (unknown, before 06 November 2014.)
* (unknown, before 17 March 2014.)
* (Feb. 2013)
* (Jan. 2013.)
* (Nov. 2012.)
* (Dec. 2012.)
* (Oct. 2012.)
* (Oct. 2012), featuring art made by catsandcider, villainsgoleft, Veitstanz, theuglymuffin, devious, Lintufriikki and Cat Bountry.
* (Mar, 2012.)
* (Aug. 2011.)
* (unknown, before 13 November 2012.)
* (Feb. 2014.)
==References==
Category:Team Fortress 2
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:2009 Fanfiction