Retro Fanfic Retrospective

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.  ...

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://...

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 Dis...

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/work...

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...

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...

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...

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.fanat...

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 f...

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...

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/rfr...

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.l...

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 f...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 frie...

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://b...

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 th...

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 r...

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 th...