Retro Fanfic Retrospective

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...

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...

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...

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. Someti...

Averting tomorrow's disasters today can be a rough job, and Gary pushes himself a little too far in the process. The author writes what she knows, and what she knows is respiratory illness. Chuck tries to step up to the plate, to limited success. We smile nostalgically about the quaint concept of reading the newspaper.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrsand Author's website: http://mpmcdonald.com/  ...

You'd think that after escaping from his apocalyptic timeline, Future Trunks's life could only improve. But now he has to spend a year trapped in a room with a hateful, malevolent entity that thrives on his anger and bloodlust. And that's just his dad - there's an evil spirit involved, too.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrroom   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Somet...

It's the late 60s, and aspiring writer Velma Dinkley and her college buddies are facing some tough choices. For instance, is it better to go to war in Vietnam, or cruise around the country in a sweet hippie van with your best friends and a large dog? ...okay, maybe that choice isn't so hard after all.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrscooby   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might b...

An unexpected gap in the schedule gives Dom and Tory the opportunity to breakdown another new animation. This time they discuss season one of Bluey, an Australian made cartoon for a preschool audience that has been gaining popularity worldwide after being included on Disney+ which emphasizes the importance and benefits of playtime.  Would you enjoy watching it even if you're not babysitting a kid?...

(TW: fucked up non-consensual sex)   In the melting pot of Deep Space Nine, can two people of different species who are both sort of smug jerks fall in LOVE? Yes, but it will probably take Shakespearean levels of misery to get someone to confess. "Anthony and Cleopatra" is the book club discussion topic of the day. Dukat is terrible. Garak and Bashir get it on. And on. And on.   Link to the story:...

Thundercracker gets an unexpected promotion that thrusts him into prominence early in the war on Cybertron. He'll grow a little, learn a little, and maybe, just maybe, become a better, kinder evil space robot. Some Transformers are beasts and some are cars, and everyone is just going to have to live with that. Flywheels is more than meets the eye.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrbest   Three friend...

Will this Tamers fanfic finally break the Digimon curse? Takato has been written out of reality, but that won't stop him from being the viewpoint character. Forced romantic pairings among children abound. It all reads like an early-2000s https://www.facebook.com/RetroFanficRetrospective/ See our tweets and episode previews at https://twitter.com/RetroFanfic

Dom and Tory turn away from Retro to talk about some new animation. Midnight Gospel has them waxing philosophical and nerdy as they discuss death, drawing, and what it's like to watch a show so completely unwrapped from reality that it ends up making the most sense.  Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are not. Check out our web...

The cinematic spy shenanigans continue as Harry and Hermione get involved with MacGuffins, secret plans, double-crosses, triple-crosses, and body doubles. Harry is a superwizard. Hermione messes with time magic again but it's fine. Draco is in leather pants way back in the year 2000.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrpou   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes the...

Amado sits down with one of his nostalgic favorite authors, John Biles, to discuss his decades-spanning fanfic writing career. The topics are wide-ranging and very, VERY geeky. We return to the previously-featured "Children of an Elder God" as well as his other major collaboration "Sailor Moon Z." John can't resist a crossover. He also never stops writing.   Children of an Elder God: bit.ly/rfrchi...

Thom and Nina of the Mobile Suit Breakdown podcast join Amado to discuss a First Gundam fanfic from 1988. Military cadets Char and Garma are best buds, except for part where one is planning to murder the other. A heist is planned and executed perfectly. The sexual content is shockingly heterosexual.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrsomething Find Mobile Suit Podcast at: https://gundampodcast.com/  ...

Amado & Taran team up to tackle two short fanfics. In "Reminiscence," an adult Calvin looks back with rose-colored lenses on his childhood, Susie gets fridged, and the torch of imagination is symbolically passed on but also maybe regained somehow. In "Geniuses," college-aged Calvin gains a romantic interest in the form of Jason Fox. And we are so on board with that premise.   Link to the stories:...

We need a lot of help tackling Suburban Senshi, the text fanfic turned irc-formatted fanfic turned sprawling fan project. Luckily the original author himself, Dr. Xadium, joins us to explain just what we're looking at. The breadth of geekiness involved is staggering. Michiru is Dr. X's nemesis. The real Suburban Senshi are the friends we made along the way. Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrss   Three...

Our first podfic - an audio recording by Serena, of lvlyvmk's BTS fanfic "out of the woodwork." Enjoy, and send your thoughts and suggestions!   Link to the story: bit.ly/cefdbts   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.co...

Amado and Serena host Cutting Edge Fanfic Deep-cut as we discuss a high-kudos BTS fanfic. Taehyung gets soap opera amnesia. Serena is ARMY and Amado is barely a recruit. The joy of the Vmin pairing is that they can cuddle, stroke, and call each other pet names, and still angst over whether the other person is into them.   Link to the story: bit.ly/cefdbts   Three friends read old fanfiction that t...

In the midst of professional ennui, Hemione gets caught up in the work of her best friend Harry Potter. As the most famous hero in the wizarding world, he’s obviously well-suited to be a professional spy. Ron is gone. Warning shots are fired. Cho plays a certain narrative role.    Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrpou   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good. Sometimes they are...

Special guest Chris joins us to take a trip down memory lane with Zell, in this post-series FFVIII fanfic. Somehow the game made being a child mercenary seem more glamorous than it really is. But at least Zell got some good stories out of it, that he'll keep locked up deep inside and never share with another living soul. How about some fairy tales, instead?   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrstory   T...

CJ isn’t the only special guest this week, as Loki, X-Factor, Power Pack, and more pop in to finish Jessica Pierce’s story in the second half of Kid Dynamo. Magik is incredibly useful all the time. Apocalypse has some very on-the-nose Horsemen. The epilogue is more upsetting than Harry Potter’s.   Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrdynamo   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good...

Special guest CJ returns to discuss the first part of Kid Dynamo. Since it’s set firmly in late-1980s Marvel comics continuity, this is slightly disorienting. Luckily, teenage telekinetic fireproof mutant runaway Jessica Pierce is just as new to things as we are! Stevie and Magneto go on a date. Jessica is vegetarian for a very good reason. We get very excited about Mutant Prom.   Link to the stor...

Amado throws Dom a bone and reaches into the near past of 2007 to discuss an Avatar fanfic. Zuko and Sokka have a buddy road-trip adventure in escaping from the capitol and trying to reunite with the Avatar. Iroh makes friends with everyone. We all agree that The Beach was a really good episode. Link to the story: bit.ly/rfrbrothers   Three friends read old fanfiction that they think might be good...

We take a break from reading works to enjoy (?) some peacekeeping brutality in this classic fan film. The dialogue and the scenery are spot-on. Beru and Owen meet an ignominious fate. We get distracted and ramble about roleplaying Disney villains.   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://bi...