Retro Fanfic Retrospective

In this roundtable discussion episode our co-hosts discuss the 'why' of fanfiction. What could possibly drive these miscreants to produce such materials? We discuss things like fan culture, seeing yourself in characters and fiction, and creating spaces for exploration of unrepresented groups. Beverly Clearly would not approve.

We make a two-night visit to the fandom of Kino's Journey to read "the nature of uncarved blocks." It's a short piece that explores Kino's transgender journey. (See what I did there?) We get sidetracked overanalyzing the use of parenthesis. Kino is Kino.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/88265

Elite commando fanfic readers Della and Amado read a fancomic that skirts right up to the edge of being official but doesn't quite cross that line. Spartan sharpshooter Jun has some issues that he needs to work through. Della has some Halo lore to talk about. And most importantly, Covenant soldiers get blown up by some sticky grenades.   Link to the comic, where (and we cannot stress this enough) the PDF file is available from the lower-right corner of the page: https://leviathan.bungie.org/flip.html

The magic of Yuletide brings us this delightful pitch for a replacement for Alien 3, in which Ripley becomes a pirate, Hicks sells out, and it turns out the REAL facehugger was Capitalism all along.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/310288

We try not to think about the Pocket Monsters we've left in the box for the last 20 years as we read a love story between a trainer and their huge flying bug with psychic powers. While we're at it, we argue over what happens to Pokemon while they're in their balls, and which interpretation is the most disturbing.   Link to the story: https://forums.serebii.net/threads/butterfree-one-shot-g.557311/

Tory and Amado went to see a play that is a fanfic, and now we talk about it! It's a retelling of Dracula where the REAL evil is patriarchy. And also, uh, vampires. Neither of those things are good.

The world is changed; we feel it in the cold, harsh light of 2024. But fear not: we swoop back in from our hiatus like eucatastrophic eagles to discuss the first section of Mordor apologia The Last Ringbearer. Aragorn and Gandalf are the worst, Saruman and the Nazgul are pretty cool, and Sauron is just some guy. Also, the author would like you to know that proper irrigation is essential for sustainable agriculture.     Link to the translation: https://archive.org/details/TheLastRingbearerSecondEdition

Due to a whole bunch of unforeseen circumstances we are gonna take a break for the rest of this year. We will come back sometime in early in the new year. In the meantime if you have comments, questions, or reading suggestions send us an email at retrofanficretrospective@gmail.com. Stay safe and see you in the cold harsh light of the 2024!

Della takes it upon herself to inflict a You Don’t Know Jack style anime quiz from the early 2000s on her co-hosts.  Hilarity(?) ensues. All questions and answers are taken from Anime Trivia Quizbook Episdoe I by Ryan Omega, © 2000 Ryan Omega published by Stone Bridge Press. All original content used under fair use principles.

Cookie Monster not just noted fan of baked goods, he also co-producer of Monsterpiece Theater. Now HBO asking for special spooky Christmas production, so Cookie and writing team go to pitch them ideas. Maybe this bring to head issues of equitable monster representation in media, and what Monsterpiece Theater mean to monster community. Or maybe they have Count star in production of Hamilton.   Link to story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5466800

In accordance with our mystical premonitions (or at the request of a fan), we view a short and fluffy TomoSaku story. Teenage Sakura and Syaoran's relationship has ended, leaving Sakura to possibly confess her feelings to a new love. It still counts as confessing if you'd unwittingly recorded doing it by a matchmaking third party, right?   Link to the story: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/1169810/1/Caught-on-Camera

TW: childhood sexual abuse, questionable consent   We explore 80s slashfic's favorite manga, From Eroica With Love, the story of three psychic college students... actually never mind, it's about the chemistry between a fabulous art thief and a tank-loving NATO major. In our fanfic, that chemistry is brought to its culmination, with all the horrible and toxic results that one would expect from fandom.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41224?view_adult=true

Sara of Talkin' Fanfic returns to challenge our Dojo but an inadvertent team-up occurs when we decide to discuss Karate Kid fanfic instead. Tory and Della are perplexed by the intricacies of Cobra Kai fandom and we are all still hoping Ralph Macchio will disclose where he found that fountain of youth. Amado is still lost in the mists, but we hope his training goes well. https://twitter.com/TalkinFanfic https://fanfiction.net/s/739729/1/Backlashed

Special guest Communications Officer Taran returns to discover strange new worlds in the form of DeForest Kelley's three part poem, "The Big Bird's Dream."  Della (reluctantly) captains the ship and Tory still doesn't believe that Dr. McCoy's first name is Leonard. We discuss the relative merits of different Star Trek series and boldly go where many people have probably gone before. Link to All Three Poems: https://herethereandeverywhere2ndedition.blogspot.com/2006/06/7-years-ago-today.html

By Della's request, we jump into the expansive and fanfic-fertile Mass Effect universe. While Commander Sheperd (he/him) is off the ship doing one of the many Mass Effect 2 sidequests, the rest of the crew are left under the authority of Miranda Lawson, and must grapple with questions like Hey Wait, Are We Part of Cerberus Now? Will a bitter mutiny ensue, or will everyone talk it out like responsible adult lifeforms?    Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14314455/chapters/33028899

Unreasonably-cool phantom thief Carmen Sandiego has disappeared off the face if the earth... one might even say nobody knows where she is! Turns out she's lying low while raising her daughter. Being raised by Carmen Sandiego is as educational and harrowing as you might expect.   Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6974921/1/Parthenogenesis

It's an explosion of initials as author P.H. Cannon crosses over H.P. Lovecraft and P.G. Wodehouse. There are all the expected Mythos references and jokes and Jeeves saving Bernie Wooster from his terrible fashion sense, but most importantly, Amado has an excuse to enthuse about Wodehouse.

Tory and Della are joined by the Fanfic Maverick, who kindly explains the Omegaverse, a sort of conceptual spawn of the Supernatural fandom that originated around 2011 and is therefore almost retro. I would describe it as kind of a second layer of gender coding that can be applied over our traditional gender coding, and that's exactly why you should listen to the Fanfic Maverick talk about it instead of me.

After an extremely awkward breakup, an adult Kagome returns to the Sengoku era, that magical land of friendship, adventure, and distressingly crude medicine. There she reunites with Inuyasha, who is hounded by his tragic past but still doggedly making a living splitting bark. Will he follow her back through the well to retrieve 'er, or can you not teach an old dog new tricks?   Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1009692/1/Rebound

New York Times photojournalist Peter Parker takes introduces us to a wide variety of mutants, the only marginalized social group to all look like attractive movie stars. Jean-Paul's favorite book is Atlas Shrugged. Peter kind of creeps out toward Monet. Even the photojournalist doesn't want to talk to Scott.   Link to the story: http://www.madweasel.com/kattsaerie/MutantProblem/NYT_mutantproblem_index.html

One of us is an artist and all of us are fans of something, so that qualifies us to talk about fanart, right? It's kind of like fanfiction, except it's a picture. Sounds innocuous, but be careful - Della delivers a warning story about the deep rabbit hole of content consumption that a single piece of fanart can lead to.

It's time to unleash the Swords of Revealing Light (of 2023) on the genre-setting parody fandub, Yu-Gi-Oh! the Abridged Series. We are completely unable to summarize the plot of Yu-Gi-Oh!, so we ignore it in favor of circling around the types of jokes - which work, which don't work, and which are quite casually hateful. Della might have some new phrases to work into her conversation.   Link to the series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTagxffHmpfT765IfQj68dMmfFs3W7s1f

Della steps in to (spiritually) guide Amado and Tory through two short XXXholic fanfics from the late aughts. She needs to emphasize that the source material was NOT, in fact, all about the Watanuki/Doumeki romance. And that Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was a different series.   Link to The Woolen Monstrosity: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/4423737/1/The_Woollen_Monstrosity   Link to Dream a Dream: https://doumekiwatanuki.livejournal.com/447846.html

Wesley attempts to induct Inigo into a new line of work, but there are a few moral (and logistical) problems to work out first.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1634336

Because we were all so good back in 2007, Yuletide brings us a little gem of a story exploring with great precision how much it sucks to be the Pevensie children. (Adults? Re-children?) Especially Susan, obviously.    Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2007/works/154341

We pick a story from fanfiction epic Mega Man: the Series, but rather than the eponymous Blue Bomber, this story focuses on his brother/housecat Break "Proto" Man. The author's commitment to their corpus is very impressive - almost as impressive as their ability to feel affection for Captain N: The Game Master, which Amado and Tory find mega-difficult. Link to the web site: http://mmhp.net/TheSeries/BookList.html

If there's one thing we love more than actual fanfiction, it's navel-gazing about what does and does not count as fanfiction. If fanfiction is using other peoples' material without permission, who is allowed to give that permission? The author? The rights-holders? Your child self? The reincarnation of William Shakespeare? The fictional character Sephiroth, speaking to you from another dimension? Does it matter if I was raised on a fanfiction commune? One thing's for sure: our answers will be comprehensive and authoritative, and we will not hedge in the slightest. We promise.

Kai and Sergio of the So You Think You Can Fanon podcast join us for a battle of the oceanic titans, as written by professional author C.L. Werner. Japan has a Deep One cult problem, but don't worry, your tax dollars are at work in trying to fix it.  Godzilla is ready to throw down with anyone who looks at him funny, up to and including a giant stone pillar. Cthulhu is a very sleepy space wizard.   So You Think You Can Fanon: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/so-you-think-you-can-fanon/id1505089805 Link to the story: http://www.kaijuphile.com/fannest/fiction/godzillavscthulhu_1.shtml

In honor of that day where you can buy heart-shaped chocolate, we discuss the concept and practice of shipping. Is it shipping if we don't actually like the characters involved? How about if we're so goddamn basic that our ships are canon? And how do shipping containers fit into all this? (They fit into a cargo ship very well.)

Serena joins us on this Monday to talk about Wednesday, but not the Wednesday from Tim Burton's Wednesday, although you'd better believe we talk about that anyway. In the story, Wednesday must decide how to fulfill the honored traditions of her Nightshade ancestors... no, not the Nightshades from Wednesday... look, the important thing is that Pugsley got buff, okay?   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68398

Gaelan returns to offer his expertise as an art therapist while we try to figure out how to provide therapy for "old Batman." We revisit "Only One Can Wear the Crown," a Batman Beyond fanfic, with Gaelan's new hot takes. Spoiler alert: he definitely thinks Bruce is gay for Dick--Dick Grayson, that is, what were you thinking? Tory fumbles a lot doing Amado's job and they didn't even have to find the fic! We all learn to appreciate Amado more and maybe, also, ourselves.

We welcome back ChaosBlue of the Fanfic Maverick podcast, a true Fanfiction First Responder ready to jump into action to help in any fandom emergency.  A natural catastrophe pushes Jim's powers, and his relationship with Blair, into uncharted territory. Simon is our audience identification character in wanting those two to hook up. And the story puts forth the controversial thesis that people are pretty good, actually.   Link to the Fanfic Maverick podcast: https://www.fanficmaverickpodcast.com/ Link to the story: https://www.squidge.org/~theforest/lrecent/unsung.htm AO3 link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/797282

At what point does "movie adaption" become fanfiction? Possibly when you double the number of Marleys and add a talking rat. Or maybe not, but that's not going to stop us from talking about the Muppets' first big foray into classic literature. Gonzo has more range as a dramatic actor than Amado thought. The Christmas Ghosts are the best one-shot Muppets ever.    The movie is available for viewing on Disney+, and probably on a VHS shoved into the back corner of your garage.

Tory, Amado, and Della (and don't forget Mark!) look back over their hastily-scribbled session notes about The Gamers, which might not be fan fiction but is definitely a fan project. And what they're fans of is goofing around with a bunch of your friends being low-key assholes to each other as your character fumble their way forward to an inevitable villain confrontation. The essence of roleplaying.   Link to the film: http://deadgentlemen.com/projects/the-gamers-series/the-gamers/

Telepathic homeless orphan high-school student Miki Segusa finds herself psychically linked to the King of the Monsters himself. Will they be able to relate to each other? Will Godzilla defeat the Flying/Psychic-type kaiju, Jagereth? Will the real treasure be the friends we made along the way? And will G-Force do anything useful? (In order: yes, yes, yes, no.)   Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2804025/1/Godzilla-Vs-Jagereth

We plunge into the DCAU ass-backwards with two short Batman Beyond stories. In "Only One Can Wear the Crown," Bat "Bruce Wayne" Man reminiscences about how goddamn good Dick Grayson was at acrobatics. (Spoiler: very good.) In "Hope Is The Thing With Leather," Max finds herself drawn increasingly deeper into the bat-lifestyle, which is a great idea that nobody ever regrets.   Links to the stories: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7091848/1/Only-one-can-wear-the-Crown https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3096336/1/Hope-Is-the-Thing-With-Leather

Anime Music Videos: the carefully-crafted works of transformative media that we watched in our youth, largely because downloading full episodes of anime off the internet was nigh impossible. Tory, Della, and Amado each pick a few AMVs to discuss, and somehow we don't hit any Evanescence songs. (We've got U2 and Linkin Park covered, though.) Amado tries to force his arbitrary categorization dichotomy on the others to limited success.   Links to the AMVs: Jinnai and the Bugrom Live (El-Hazard): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypGWEXFpxyA Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Utena): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYPGqyF4GJY Elevation (FFIX): https://youtu.be/Hdum57uAOLQ 500 Miles (Ranma): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkeuzElAIDA Move Bitch (Various): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yilAb5phPc In the End (Rurouni Kenshin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd73iNKUCds Caffeine Enconium (Kodomo no Omocha): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc8dFL9Mk0o

Soviet and/or Eastern European Planeteer Linka is transported to an alternate (?) future where she died five years ago, but her troubles don't end there - she'll need to survive a cruise ship full of villains, environmental devastation, Central Park, and maybe a Balrog if we're lucky. Also, romancing sad future Wheeler.   Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2819108/4/Alternate-Destination

We continue to stretch the ambit of our podcast by discussing proto-Gainax's fan animations for the Nihon SF Taikai science fiction conventions. It's a kind of fanfiction, although the narrative that emerges is mostly "what if all of early-1980s sci-fi crashed into each other and exploded?" In the time it took you to read this, a woman dressed as a playboy bunny could already have beaten up Godzilla, Darth Vader, and a Xenomorph.   Daicon III and IV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THZqXJotlBY Remastered Daicon III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQjruwkyOaU   Remastered Daicon IV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDN68LxWW-8&t=314s Densha Otoko Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jg7tpJO6P4

In the wake of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series, we return to Fernwithy's take on young Leia, the Alderaanean princess who is also a senator who is also the bio-kid of a fascist supervillain who used to be a child slave. Could it be that underneath Vader's cold shell is a deeply wounded man desperately seeking personal connection? Probably. Is any relationship with him going to end in horrible betrayal? Oh, definitely.   Link to the story: http://fanfic.theforce.net/fanfic.asp?action=view&ID=368

Erstwhile fanfiction author and Arcade Spirits co-writer Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne joins us to talk through his background in anime fanfiction. There are plenty of digressions along the way, as we talk old anime fan culture, the utilization of nostalgia in fiction, and Stefan's one degree of separation from Bryan Lee O'Malley.   Link to the author's webfiction: stefangagne.com  Link to the Arcade Spirits site: https://www.arcadespirits.com

Sara B. rejoins us with a strong recommendation to the world of music RPF. In Liverpool circa 1958, John Lennon is a charismatic asshole, while Paul McCartney is less charismatic but also less of an asshole. Together, they make music and have outrageous chemistry together. Stuart Sutcliffe is also there. Everyone needs to be a lot nicer to poor George Harrison.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/188089 Link to Sara's AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storyshark2005

It's time to investigate a 100 year-old fanfic zine, with Vincent Starett's The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet (no, not like a small town). The author writes what he knows, and what he knows is bibliophiles. The more Sherlock moves like some kind of dog or spider, the happier we are. We expect more of Watson.   Link to the story: http://www.bestofsherlock.com/story/unique-hamlet-text.htm

Taran joins us, ready for a moderate amount of Ultraviolence, as we chat about the beginnings of the classic Improfanfic headliner, MTCFF Ultra. It's a wrestling-style gonzo megacrossover where Gambit, Dan Hibiki, Lina Inverse, and Shinji fight under the sponsorship of God Herself, Kasumi Tendo. But the real struggle is for each author to keep their predecessor's plot threads going.   Link to the story: mtcffultra.com

Actual fanfiction writers OutHereNow and EveHypo555 of the Canon Divergent podcast join us to talk Buffy. Spike commandeers a company jet to deal with a crisis from his past in Italy. Italy is also where Buffy is half-heartedly sleeping with the hottest supernatural being on the continent. Could these two crazy kids get back together? Maybe it would be a good start if someone got around to telling Buffy that he was still alive?   Link to the story: http://spikeluver.com/SpuffyRealm/viewstory.php?sid=24538 Canon Divergent on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/canon-divergent-a-fanfic-podcast/id1615306973

Post-series Buffy needs a vacation, and what better way to relax than to spend some quality time with your erstwhile enemy who totally stole your body at one point? Well, beggars can't be choosers.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35958

We continue our ongoing series discussing the fundamentals of fanfiction.  This week we discuss crossovers, what we ourselves look for in a good crossover and elements we found in some not so good crossovers.

Taran, also known as the deadly Podcaster X, joins us to talk Rurouni Kenshin. The guys fall in a freezing lake and it's up to Kaoru to nurse them back to health. Sano is about as good a patient as you'd expect. Kenshin/Battousai overcomes his psychological trauma through fever-induced therapeutic roleplaying with edged weapons.   Link to the story: http://www.sekiharatae.com/Akabeko/fanfic/fever/index.html

As a break from our usual routine, we sit down to hash out what the definition of fanfiction is, once and for all. Della's community-based theory sounds like too much work for Amado. On the other hand, Amado accidentally talks himself into categorizing Disney's Snow White as fanfic. RPF continues to stress us out.

Taran joins us to do the same thing we do every night: read an old fanfic and talk about it. Classic anime movie Akira is smashed together with Animaniacs... and long story short, Akira wins. Brain's friendship with Pinky is front-and-center, while Pinky's friendship with Crow T. Robot is sadly secondary.   Wayback Machine link to the first chapter: bit.ly/rfrakatie

Annie of the Fangirls Library and Audio Fanfic Podcasts leaps temporarily into our recording room to discuss a post-series-ish Quantum Leap story. Ziggy is breaking down and Sam is losing his self-identity, so Al is willing to do whatever it takes to bring him back home ASAP... and the best way to do that is definitely lying to him about them being in a long-term sexual-romantic relationship. It's possible that people might be acting a wee bit out of character?   The Fangirls Library podcast: https://thefangirlslibrary.com/ Audio Fanfic Podcast: soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrlmod

We set a course for pirate shenanigans with this collegiate radio adaptation of LucasArts' classic adventure game, The Curse of Monkey Island. They've got one banger of a script to wrestle down to size, and a limited number of thespians to cover the roles. You work with what you have, even if what you have is a rubber chicken with a pulley through the middle.   Link to the audio files: bit.ly/comiradio

Pop culture chronicler Aja Romano introduces us to a story about two kids who really love Go... and each other. Hikaru has the most wholesome sexual awakening a queer himbo could ask for. Waya has to put up with a lot, but not as much as Hikaru's mom does. Sai's absence haunts the story. (See what I did there?)   Aja Romano's website: https://www.ajaromano.com/ Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20460

We summon Chris from across the dimensional void to help us tackle one small corner of the expansive Undocumented Features universe. Exiled from her home world of Cephiro, post-series Utena Tenjou needs to make a new life in the 25th Century. Luckily, she'll have the support of author-avatar-offspring roommate Kaitlyn Hutchins, Kaitlyn's friends and family, and a steady trickle of familiar Ohtori faces. Really, there's a whole lot of support going around in every direction - it's all very wholesome. Wholesome and long.   Link to the story: http://www.eyrie.net/UF/FI/SOS/symphony-1.html

Special guest Brihana joins us on a trip to the future Seattle of the Dark Angel TV series. It's dark, but probably not as dark as our actual present. When Alec's tryptophan run goes south, he's forced to take refuge at Logan's place, and we've all read enough fanfiction to know where this is headed. (Towards some thoughtful characterization, obviously.)   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46739?view_full_work=true Link to the podfic: http://audiofic.jinjurly.com/all-kings-horses-and-all-kings-men

Someone must have stolen one of the Podcasting Fairy's magic objects, because we need to fill a last-minute gap in our recording schedule. Serena and Amado discuss a hefty Rainbow Magic sequel from someone who has lots to say about fairy bureaucracy, goblin revolution, and the differences between Kirsty Tate and Rachel Walker. (For example, Kirsty is brunette while Rachel is blonde.)   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027782?view_full_work=true

Sergio and Kai of the So You Think You Can Fanon podcast join us as we head over to the Fanfiction Scholastic Book Fair and pick up a lovingly-written Animorphs pastiche. Between us, we are vaguely-qualified to talk about it! Having a friend who you think might be a Yeerk is very stressful. Robot doubles are very convenient for maintaining your secret identity.   Link to So You Think You Can Fanon: https://anchor.fm/sytycfanon Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1026376/1/The-Wheel

We ring in the new year by reading an Adventure Time fanfic that's so new, it's not even old enough to drive. Also, it's a monologue by entropic demigod The Lich - perfect for welcoming in another year of global pandemic! But even as our bile-filled bodies crawl screaming toward oblivion, at least we can take comfort in the fact that the Lich has a really sweet character design and voice acting.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685537

Do not adjust your television set: Christmas magic has returned us to our youth of three years ago, and we are once again discussing Blue's festive Ninja Turtles story. "Festive" here means, of course, that it's full of awkward family tensions and simmering resentments. Not to mention love, cookies, cute puppies, toxic masculinity, and Lutheranism. (Just like every year, Casey Jones brings the toxic masculinity.)   Link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5807/1/Peace-On-Earth-Goodwill-To-Turtles

We venture far off the beaten path with Steven Shaviro's mid-90s "theoretical fiction" named after Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, which is absolutely not fiction but was definitely written by a fan. Amado struggles with the definition of postmodernism, Tory struggles to stay positive, and Dom is along for the ride.   Link to the essay: http://www.dhalgren.com/Doom/index.html

We're delighted to have erstwhile 8-Bit Theater author Brian Clevinger join us to discuss his college independent project that got slightly out of hand. It's an improvement over our previous 8-Bit Theater discussion, in that he's actually re-read the whole comic recently! The conversation touches on author-artist collaborations, Cecil Turtle, and the Street Fighter combos that are apparently permanently seared into Brian's memory.   Link to the Atomic Robo website: https://www.atomic-robo.com/ Link to Brian (and Scott's) Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tesladyne

Regular guest Chris brings more (he-)manpower to our table as we discuss the first three chapters in a Masters of the Universe saga. A collection of extradimensional floating visitors come to Eternia to romance Orko, mentor Orko, and/or manipulate Orko . He-man is mostly irrelevent. Skeletor is mostly bored out of his skull. We're not 100% sure what Evil-Lyn's game plan is, but she seems to know what she's doing and we're definitely here for it.   Link to the fanfic: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/numbskul/fic/index.htm

The short-lived TV show Wonderfalls might have only squeaked out one season, but you can always count on fanfiction to continue the story. A fire in Jaye's trailer leaves her scrambling for a place to live, and eventually leads to Tyler siblings' romantic lives being outed to their parents. But honestly, with dialogue as fun as this, who cares what the plot is?   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1152583/chapters/2337081

Taran joins us to revisit the most popular fanfic webcomic of our youth, which retells the original Final Fantasy as a tabletop RPG-influenced bizarro comedy. In an example of life emulating art, we talk in circles and take forever to get anywhere in the discussion. To our credit, however, none of us attempt to murder each other.   Link to the story: https://www.nuklearpower.com/8-bit-theater-archive/?archive_year=2001 Link to our Discord channel: bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Kerri of the Stargate SG-1 rewatch podcast Window of Opportunity joins us to compensate for Amado's complete lack of Stargate knowledge. Following "Shades of Gray," Daniel is kidnapped and Jack, unsurprisingly, doesn't take it well. Villains of the day recieve their inevitable comeuppance. The depiction of trauma is pretty astute for a fanfic from circa 2001.   Window of Opportunity podcast: https://windowofopportunity.libsyn.com/website Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrripples

(TW: child abuse) The cycle begins again, as special guest Mar joins Amado and Tory to scratch futilely at the surface of Sailor Moon 4200 chapters nine through fifteen. We see Crystal Tokyo fall, up-close and personal. Sailors Moon die, and are (re?)born. The Church of Serenity makes some sound theological points.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrsm4200 Link to our Discord channel: bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Schedule blip means Tory and Dom get a chance to talk about the newly released season 1 of Centaurworld. Tory ends up enjoying themselves after the characters stop personifying their farts and start supporting each other, and Dom gets overwhelmed trying to list all the Broadway credentials of the cast while restraining herself from talking too much about how much she enjoyed the songs. Both agree that they'd love to have more show set in Rider's world, that just looks badass.   Retro fanfic discussion resumes next release. Thanks for listening!

(Trigger warning: sexual assault & abuse)   ChaosBlue of the Fanfic Maverick Podcast joins us for an A-Team story that goes some places we did not expect. A long-term undercover mission led by Face absolutely requires him to pretend to be married to Hancock, and also for Hancock to pursue a career in design. Then things start going south, and they keep going south. Hannibal is surprisingly hands-off. B.A. has a very high tolerance for fools.   The Fanfic Maverick podcast: https://fanficmaverickpodcast.tumblr.com/ Link to the story: http://ateamslash.sockiipress.org/archive/1/darkpassage.html Link to our Discord channel: bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Sara of Talkin' Fanfic carefully curates a fanfic for us from the early Smallville fan scene. Like, pre-season-two early. Clark is lying low in his professional life at the Daily Planet, when a sudden loss of powers brings Lex Luthor back into his life. Lois Lane is awesome even when she's petty and unhelpful. There's nothing more punkish than thoughtful attention to characterization.   Link to the story: http://https://archiveofourown.org/works/3180 Link to Talkin' Fanfic: https://talkinfanfic.podbean.com/ Link to our Discord channel: bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Resident Lewis Carroll enthusiast Julia returns to help us tackle two Advanced Dungeons & Dragons modules written by D&D codifier Gary Gygax. He's more in his "Tomb of Horrors" mode than his "Keep on the Borderlands" mode. Roleplaying is a realm of limitless possibility, but you absolutely can't cut through the thick garden hedge. The White Rabbit needs to stop polymorphing people into weird animal hybrids. Amado is definitely going to loot the Caterpillar's hookah.   Link to the modules (on the old TSR website!): bit.ly/rfrdungeonland

Chris completes our trio of divine fanfic readers as we tackle the classic O!MG/Hellblazer crossover, Dire Fates. A bevy of goddesses and demons suddenly gain an interest in John Constantine (the Hellblazer who blazes in Hell), leading to the Constantine/Skuld team-up we didn't know we wanted. The Norns are not the most responsible sysadmins. It is perhaps a LITTLE too easy to bluff archangels.   Link to the fanfic: bit.ly/rfrdirefates Swing by our Discord channel! bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Special guest Victoria of the Sailor Moon Fan Club podcast joins us to read a whole novel worth of fanfiction! Welcome to Crystal Tokyo, where you can take a standardized test to become a magical warrior of love and justice for the definitely 100% praiseworthy immortal monarchy. The story jumps from school to space. The queer romance is completely happy and angst-free.   Link to the story: http://www.lethesbanks.com/BestFanfiction/mi_orion.txt Link to the Sailor Moon Fan Club podcast: https://www.sailormoonfanclub.com/ Link to our Discord channel: bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Special guest Rache joins us to discuss the fandom of Robin of Sherwood, an acclaimed fantasy TV series that Tory and Amado missed out on because they are practically babies. She's full of information about the Major Oak fanfiction awards that she ran, and amazing anecdotes from decades of conventions. Also, Tory tries to catch up on the show while podcasting, with limited success.

Dom and Tory discuss "J'ai perdu mon corps," the award-winning animated movie about a hand in search of a body. It's incredible, although officially not as good as Toy Story 4. Dom gets to exercise her French. Tory describes the plot in terms of short stories, but the episode runs rather long. C'est la vie.

Dom(-ald Duck) completes our trio to discuss a Duck Tales 2017 fanfic that's a series of fluffy, characterful vignettes. Donald has his nephews' backs, the triplets have each others' backs, and they also have Webby's back. Basically, everyone's got each others' backs. It feels like your heart is nestled in duck down.   Link to the fanfic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16979757 Swing by our Discord channel! bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Special guest Anika Dane takes the command chair to lead us through this even more depressing version of the episode Timeless. Shockingly, a desperate plan in Star Trek doesn't work. Janeway keeps her shit together for an impressively long time. Children are the future except when their future is retroactively taken from them. Sorry, children!   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2401565 Link to Anika's website: https://www.manicpixiedust.com/ Come chat fanfiction at our new Discord channel! bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

We wave our sacred baton to call upon Rosie, author of a Wind Waker novelization that took years and years to complete. Link is a little chattier than in the game. The King of Red Lions is kind of a jerk. Amado tries to contribute to the conversation despite neither having played the game nor finished the fanfic.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942435/chapters/1838259   Come chat fanfiction at our new Discord channel! bit.ly/rfrdiscordserver

Katie & Britt of the "Is it an X-Man?" podcast return to the show, ready to rag on Cyclops and enthuse about X-Men: Evolution. In the fanfic, a grown Kurt and young Kurt switch places in what you might call a... cross-time caper? This results in temporal angst, fun character work, and an obligatory fight against Magneto. Amado is almost as enthusiastic about Nightcrawler as the author is.   Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5224844

It's turtles all the way down as Chris joins us to discuss a crisis on finite turtle-earths. Renet Tilley has a very bad day, but the Mighty Mutanimals have an even worse one. A lot of turtles are not very good ninjas. Amado gets passionate about methods of mutant turtle propagation.   Link to the story: http://www.thegreenlanterncorps.com/tmnt/transcension.html   We read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

We call forth Taran from his itty-bitty living space, to join us in reading a follow-up to Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Life in Agrabah is quiet enough for Aladdin to get bored, for about fifteen seconds. Cassim and Iago plunder ancient tombs because why not. You can't throw a rock in the Seven Deserts without hitting an evil sorcerer.   bit.ly/rfraladdin

Sequoia of the podcast Fanatical Fics and Where to Find Them joins us to educate us about Muggle Quiddich (and also discuss a Harry Potter fanfic). Lily Potter, Professor of Charms, gets involved in some continuity-crossing time travel shenanigans. Harry has an impressive number of super-powers. Two Ginnys is awkward, but it's impossible to have too many Lunas.   Fanantical Fics: https://www.fanaticalfics.com/ Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrlily

We're joined by Nick and Victor of the MEGASheen podcast, who bring their impressive Jem knowledge to bear on a post-series continuation. Jerrica has a whole lot on her plate, such as the illicit affair that she's having with her own boyfriend. Pizzazz seizes creative control. Eric acts truly outrageous, even for Eric. And Riot also exists.   MEGASheen: https://www.podofthesheen.com/ Link to the fanfic: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/960902/1/Our-Time-Is-Now

We drag special guest Fire Princess Lily of the One Half Podcast into the deep end of the cursed waters of Ranma 1/2 fanfiction. In this post-manga continuation, Ranma tries to pull his shit together and be a better person, and so does practically every other character in the series. Obviously this is going to take a lot of work. I'm looking at you, P-chan.   Link to the fanfic: bit.ly/rfrinward   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Dom takes a break from terrorizing the sprites and binomes in our editing software to chat about ReBoot with Tory and Amado. We witness the end of the series from the perspective of the incongruously-named Key Tool, Glitch. Turns out he's the host of a party inside Bob, and all the Key Tools are invited! It's all a very accurate representation of how computers work.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrglitch   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Sue of the Women at Warp podcast leads us where we've hardly gone before - Star Trek: The Next Generation fanfiction! In the wake of the Enterprise's destruction, Jean-Luc and Beverly finally have the free time to address twenty years of built-up sexual tension. It's going to take quite a lot of addressing. At least they'll be relaxed for that Starfleet court-martial!   Link to the PG story: bit.ly/rfraipg Link to the NC-17 story: bit.ly/rfrAINC17   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Chris, Tory and Amado sample the finest aged delicacy that the Rescue Rangers fandom has to offer, with a graphic novel featuring action, Gadget/Chip romance, and cool panel layouts that are hard to describe verbally. Former one-shot characters get promoted. Gadget gets trauma but also therapy. The Rescue Rangers deliberately murder almost no humans.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrmayhem   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

We're joined by Katie & Britt of the "Is It An X-man?" podcast to confirm that Gambit is, indeed, an X-man. But is he the traitor that Bishop says will one day lead the X-men to ruin? Or is his whole deal way, way more convoluted than that? Don't worry, though, things aren't so serious that we can't fit in some good old-fashioned Rogue/Gambit romance.   Link to the fanfic: bit.ly/rfrbetrayal Want to check out "Is It An X-man?" : https://linktr.ee/isitanxman   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

No, it's not fanfiction fanfiction. Amado, Tory, and Dom look back on the many, many episodes of fanfic discussion we've produced over the last couple years, as well as where we're going in the future. To the cold, harsh light of 2021 and onward!   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

The continuation of Evangelion continues as Taran, Tory, and Amado tackle ONE of its endings, at least. We finally reach the theatrical trailer and its professional voice work. Rei's soul does a super-cool battle move. The ending is either happy or existentially terrifying.   bit.ly/rfrevar   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Taran the Third Podcaster joins us to discuss Evangelion: R, the classic fanfic with such high production values (for a fanfic) that it has original voice talent, a trailer, a soundtrack, and VHS covers. And there's a story there too! Rest assured that more children with mother-related emotional trauma get shoved into giant alien robot thingies.   bit.ly/rfrevar   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Skeptical Tory and true-believer CJ team up to investigate a short X-Files fanfic from early 2000. The author, who pays close attention to the relationship between two federal agents, writes about an author who pays close attention to the relationship between two federal agents. The truth may or may not be out there, but a twist ending is definitely in the cards.   bit.ly/rfrstrangers   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Tory and Amado are joined by Serena to try out a new format of fanfiction, which starts out cutely creepy and then becomes steadily less cute. Billy has a rough time at camp. Tom Nook holds many secrets. Only part of the horror comes from capitalism.   bit.ly/rfrac   We read old fanfiction that we think might be good. Sometimes we are right. Sometimes we are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Special guest Mar joins us to talk about Sailor Moon 4200, a perpetually-unfinished masterpiece. The utopian Crystal Tokyo was destroyed long ago by monstrous forces, but we still have a pair of plucky talking cats wandering the streets seeking out young girls to awaken as Sailor Senshi, so things can't have changed that much, right?     bit.ly/rfrsm4200   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Special guest Rosie joins us to talk about Doctor Who. Rose makes the difficult decision to leave the Doctor, because she's understandably got hella trauma. She deals with things in very healthy, productive ways, then in some more questionable ways. Sarah Jane is a cool friend to have. The fanfic only barely avoids becoming a threesome with two Doctors.   bit.ly/rfrdisintegration   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Tory and Amado keep their sacred promise to return to Revolutionary Girl Utena, with an unusually short post-series fanfic. Juri, Professor of Being a Cool Lesbian, is our viewpoint character to a mysterious reunion of duelists. Saionji is less bad, Touga is probably equally bad and Nanami is on-point as usual.   Link to the story: bit.y/rfrtenyears   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Special guest Chris is enlisted as a minion on our ageless, decadent podcast to discuss a Vampire Hunter D fanfic out of a 1980s anime fanzine. Rei Ginsei has a rough and confusing backstory. Facing down vampires is, in fact, terrifying. Everybody finds something to like about the award-winning art, but nobody can agree on what.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrrule Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

We're delighted to find an epistolary fanfic based on everyone's favorite C.S. Lewis work that doesn't have any lions in it. The story is only 1600 words, but our meandering conversation takes far more than that. Screwtape's Rolodex is probably pretty impressive. The cosmologies of the Buffyverse and the Screwtape Letters aren't... completely incompatible.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrscrewtape   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

We return to everyone's favorite unsettling childhood movie in this sequel to The Secret of NIMH. We spend equal time exploring the rats' sweet-ass civilization, and Elizabeth Brisby's solid single parenting. Meanwhile, a special ops team of rats survives behind enemy lines. And Johnathan Brisby has a lot of explaining to do.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrnimh   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Intrepid partners Amado and Serena unveil the mysteries of Neil Gaiman's award-winning mashup fanfic. Baker Street attracts consulting detectives in any timeline. The rich and powerful might as well be tentacled monstrosities, for all the difference it makes. The moon is a comforting red.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrstudy   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our website at https://bit.ly/retrofanfic  Send us emails at RetroFanficRetrospective@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic