Retro Fanfic Retrospective

RFR Special Episode - Early 2000s Anime Trivia

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.

 

Episode 165: Sesame Street - Exclusive Content

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

Episode 164: Cardcaptor Sakura - Caught on Camera

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

Episode 163: From Eroica With Love - Peripeteia

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

Episode 162: Karate Kid - Backlashed

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

Episode 161: Star Trek TOS - Three Poems by DeForest Kelley

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

Episode 160: Mass Effect - Second

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

Episode 159: Carmen Sandiego - Parthenogenesis

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

Episode 158: Jeeves & Wooster - Scream for Jeeves

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.

RFR Special Episode - Into the Omegaverse

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.

Episode 157: Inuyasha - Rebound

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

Episode 156: Spider-man/X-Men - The Mutant Problem

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

RFR Special Episode - Fanart Discussion

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.

Episode 155: Yu-Gi-Oh! - Yu-Gi-Oh! the Abridged Series

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

Episode 154: XXXholic - The Woolen Monstrosity and Dream a Dream

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

 

Episode 153: The Princess Bride - There Will Be No Survivors

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

Episode 152: Narnia - Cry For Yesterday

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

Episode 151: Mega Man - Day to Live

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

RFR Special Episode - Fanfiction Hypotheticals

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.

Episode 150: Godzilla - Godzilla vs Cthulhu

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

 

RFR Special Episode - Shipping Roundtable

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.)

Episode 149: Addams Family: The Last Rites of Wednesday Addams

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

RFR Special Episode - Therapy for Batman

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.

Episode 148: The Sentinel - Unsung

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  

Episode 147: The Muppet Christmas Carol

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.

Episode 146 - Dungeons & Dragons - The Gamers

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/

Episode 145: Godzilla - Godzilla vs. Jagereth

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

Episode 144: Batman Beyond - Two Short Fanfics

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

RFR Special Episode - Anime Music Videos

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

 

Episode 143: Captain Planet - Alternate Destination

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

Episode 142: Various - Daicon III and IV Opening Animations

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

 

 

Episode 141: Star Wars - Father’s Heart

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

RFR Special Episode - Stefan Gagne Interview

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

Episode 140: The Beatles - The First Year

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

Episode 139: Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet

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

Episode 138: Anime/Fighting Game Crossover - MTCFF Ultra 1-6

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

Episode 137: Buffy - Moving On

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

Episode 136: Buffy - Next

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

RFR Special Episode: About Crossovers

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.

Episode 135: Rurouni Kenshin - Fever Dreams

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

RFR Special Episode: What Is Fanfiction?

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.

Episode 134: Animaniacs/Akira - Akatie

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

Episode 133: Quantum Leap - The Last Measure of Devotion

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

Episode 132: Monkey Island - Curse of Monkey Island Radio Play

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

Episode 131: Hikaru no Go - A Resolution of Territory

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

 

Episode 130: Utena / Anime Crossover - Symphony of the Sword

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

Episode 129: Dark Angel - All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men

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

Episode 128: Rainbow Magic - The University Life Fairies

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

Episode 127: Animorphs - The Wheel

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

Episode 126: Adventure Time - Undeath

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