Respawn of the Dead

Fanfiction
Title:	Respawn of the Dead
Author(s):	Cat Bountry
Date(s):	13 February 2009 - 30 July 2009
Length:	Respawn of the Dead: 95,477 words Respawn of the Dead & How Heavy Met Medic: 149,011 words
Genre(s):	Gen; M/M Zombie Apocalypse AU; Darkfic
Fandom(s):	Team Fortress 2
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Respawn of the Dead on Archive of Our Own How Heavy Met Medic on Archive of Our Own
Fanmade cover for Respawn of the Dead by axis-intercept.
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

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 atoned 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.

NC31 Nov 18, 2014 @ 10:45pm

You guys ever read the fanfic Respawn of the Dead? http://dotchan.com/?p=1634 Pretty good fanfic and has received alot of praise.

SirKaiDoumeki 10/10/2009 7:43:37 PM

Kind of roller coaster of quality; awful start, meh ending/conclusion/epilogue (I think the author just rushed to finish it sadly), but just about everything in between is gold.

Posted by u/Blakey001 Fri, Aug 23, 2019

I know fanfiction is often looked down upon within fandoms, however I've come across some gold mines while reading TF2 specific fanfictions, specifically 'Respawn of the Dead' and 'With Apologies to Harlan Ellison' both being completely FANTASTIC reads.

However, after finishing both I NEED MORE, what are some of the best around? I NEED MY FIX MAN!

Be_Weird_Have_Fun on Chapter 21 Thu 14 Sep 2023 04:59AM PDT

Very, very late to the party, but holy fucking shit this was awesome

Heartwrenching and tense and just shdjsjjjdjd

Thank you for writing this. Thank you so so so much.

CatBountry on Chapter 21 Thu 14 Sep 2023 10:11AM PDT

Thank you for enjoying it 14 years later.

SoppoTwoJr98 on Chapter 21 Fri 16 Jul 2021 03:51PM PDT

Hey, it shocks me you are still quite active, at least on this site, so i want to say a few things.

First of all, this is quite possibly the best TF2 fanfiction, at least for me. I remember the first time i had read this years ago, and i didn't expect an emotional rollercoaster of this level, but you are quite profficient in writing a lot of great TF2 fanfics, so thank you.

Besides, i do get quite nostalgic reading your TF2 works, after all, you wrote them so long ago, they might as well be from a different era, lol

CatBountry on Chapter 21 Tue 20 Jul 2021 02:51PM PDT

It really does feel like a different era of my life. The times sure have changed.

And I get email alerts on the site when I get comments or kudos, so when somebody leaves me a comment, I like to respond to let them know that I appreciate the feedback. Just seems polite, you know?

I love how everyone in the tf2 fandom has read Respawn of the Dead.

And the only part ever referenced is the part where Soldier fucks his shovel

hugh--jassmann asked:

I just finished reading "Respawn of the Dead". Crying my eyes out forever. Honest to God, I’ve never read anything that… bone-meltingly sad before. Cat, if you are reading this, you ruined TF2 for me and I love you for it.

I FINALLY FINISHED READING RESPAWN OF THE DEAD

MY HEART HURTS.

I HAVEN’T READ FANFICTION IN FOREVER AND THIS IS WHAT I CAME BACK TO.

IT WAS GREAT, THOUGH.

AMAZING JOB, CATBOUNTRY.

I LOVE YOU.

*points at a fence* Thats it. Thats th e fucki <ng RESPAWN OF THE DEAD.

Just finished the Respawn of the Dead fanfic. Wow. I can see why so many people like to read fanfiction.

Whoever wrote it needs to become a novelist.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut

To all of my followers who are even slightly into TF2, I highly recommend reading this fanfic.

Here’s the link: http://dotchan.com/?p=1634

rathsin also made a formal, long-form critical review, which can be read here, ^{Archived version}. Cat Bountry made a response to it here, ^{Archived version}.

Example/Notable Fanac

The story was recced by JustAnotherMadOne on her journal, My Top 10 TF2 Fanfics, ^{Archived version}.

Fan Comic

• RotD-TheComic, ^{Archived version} by Kichi-Art and MadHatterLupin, an incomplete 24 page fancomic for Respawn of the Dead.
• drew this while listening to a sad song by pybun, ^{Archived version} (Oct. 2012)
• might as well start with some golden oldies by zetadraws, ^{Archived version} (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.

• I just finished reading this TF2 fan fic, dem stories just kept inspiring me to draw the scenes that made me- by pybun, ^{Archived version} (Oct. 2014.)
• ......am I kicked out of the TF2 fandom yet..... ;_; by sleepywes, ^{Archived version} (Nov. 2013.)
• The scene where Engineer sings Folsom Prison Blues really stuck in my mind by a-bloody-fruit-shop-owner, ^{Archived version} (Jan. 2015.)
• I redrew this piece of Fanart for Cat Bountry’s amazing tf2 fanfic, Respawn of the dead by axis-intercept, ^{Archived version} (unknown, 2015 - before 27 May 2017.) Their first fanart can be seen here, ^{Archived version}.
• fanart by zarla-s, ^{Archived version} (unknown, before 06 November 2014.)
• finished! i don’t like the background but w/e by tides9/peanutfairy, ^{Archived version} (unknown, before 17 March 2014.)
• What could have been by Kichi-Art, ^{Archived version} (Feb. 2013)
• Stumpy. The most adorable zombie. by ysmniv2, ^{Archived version} (Jan. 2013.)
• I really loved Respawn of the Dead and I do want to draw more from it.. by chromajelly, ^{Archived version} (Nov. 2012.)
• untitled by maskarie, ^{Archived version} (Dec. 2012.)
• My Halloween contribution. Stumpy from Cat Bountry’s TF2 fanfic Respawn of the Dead. Enjoy~ by misstooni, ^{Archived version} (Oct. 2012.)
• Heavy Weapons Guy: Mostly Spoilers For Respawn of The Dead Edition, ^{Archived version} (Oct. 2012), featuring art made by catsandcider, villainsgoleft, Veitstanz, theuglymuffin, devious, Lintufriikki and Cat Bountry.
• please dont kill me sarcasmosaur for posing it really badly by qatarz, ^{Archived version} (Mar, 2012.)
• Birthday gift for Cat Bountry! by art-of-monkan, ^{Archived version} (Aug. 2011.)
• Respawn of the Dead by traumjanos, ^{Archived version} (unknown, before 13 November 2012.)
• i havent been able to draw in a while so have a rough old concept of stumpy from (the most heartbreaking fanfic ever) ’respawn of the dead’ by klementev, ^{Archived version} (Feb. 2014.)