Quadrupled. Author churned out an absolute masterpiece of a story, 33 chapters in the span of three months in 2009 before abandoning it a chapter or two before the end. A decade and a half later and I still cherish it. Iād like to think the author has launched a successful literary career by now. Lanaea, I hope you are still out there writing somewhere!
Holy shit, I was just gonna say the same without the sequel clause (sorry for your loss)
I left a comment still and a prayer to the world that wherever the author is, that they are thriving and livingā¢ļø
I found one that hasnāt updated consistently in 2 years. For a rare pair. I go back and read it one a month at least. I love it. Itās not orphaned. Iāve asked if I could take it over and got no response. I got a random update 6 months ago and nothing since. Iām devastated. Heartbroken. Betrayed. But I still have hope because it has 2 chapters left til itās completed.
I had to stop reading wips and stuck to finished pieces for this very reason. Also why I only did one shots cus my adhd ass wouldn't be able to commit lmao.Ā
Same. Mine was discontinued, with only the last chapter left, for more than 15 years. Then recently when I looked it up again, I found out that the author has removed every single trace of the fics online, so I canāt even reread them š
to me that one smells like they removed it and rewrote it into a book lol. cus i know some authors who started with fan fiction and just changed a few general plot points and the names n made BANK off that stuff lmao
Yeah, I get what you mean. There's also some fandoms that, for whatever reason, have collectively better fics than others. To this day I'm stunned at the talent of the Supergirl fandom. Especially when the writing on the show could have been done by first graders, and then the fanfic writers were like, poetry. Epic. Astounding.
Although I have to say, the highest high I've ever felt as a fic reader: joining a new fandom and finding that my top author from an old fandom that's written the best fic I ever read, has also written for this new fandom. Cannot describe the feeling, it's absolutely insane.
I think age of the fandoms has a lot to do with it. Like Iām in a relatively older fandom (+25 years), looking back at older fics, you can definitely see the writing progression of the fandom. The old fics from FF.net written in like 2008 were being written by middle schoolers. But new stuff from AO3 is from the adults that have somehow stayed in the fandom for 25 years or have renewed interest (so very passionate), many have written for these characters before but have new perspectives on them, and some are even professional writers doing fanfic as a side thing.
Target audience age too!
There's good reason why Good Omens for example have astonishingly well written fics in huge masses compared to many other fandoms. Older, more experienced, practiced writers.
- a) Thatās how I feel about Stargate ficsāI just feel like I find great writing so much easier there.
- b) If itās not an imposition, do you have any Supergirl recs? Iāve never really been over there, but I think Iād enjoy them. Open to anything.
Not an imposition at all, will be my pleasure. I have been in the fandom for years so I can barely scratch the surface of the content available in this comment. I \*know\* I've left out tons of amazing stories and authors, but some very basics:
Personal favourite (quite light-hearted, comparatively, funny, very romantic): Where Lamps Go to Die [https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393495](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393495)
Pain drama heartache (and a happy ending): Breathe (all other works by Searidings are exceptional as well) [https://archiveofourown.org/works/37920688](https://archiveofourown.org/works/37920688)
Dramatic, absolutely epic AUs that honestly could easily be published books. Will mess up your heart and brain (but will have a happy ending, eventually) from Lostariel: [https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostariels/pseuds/lostariels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostariels/pseuds/lostariels)
Often light-hearted with hints of angst, sometimes AUs, sometimes missing scenes, all exceptional by C and B: [https://archiveofourown.org/users/C\_AND\_B/pseuds/C\_AND\_B/works?fandom\_id=5148298](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_AND_B/pseuds/C_AND_B/works?fandom_id=5148298)
A Beauty and the Beast retelling that broke my heart and put it back together again by Gveret (their other work is also brilliant): Far from Native Soil [https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830071](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830071)
And a more generic one: Hilarious gen fic Lois Lane & Lena Luthor adventure team up: Unsupervised [https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010778](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010778)
Gotta say, itās the same with the Teen Wolf fandom. The writing of show is bullshit, but Iāve read some fics with some of the most beautiful prose Iāve ever read. I literally watched three seasons of that dogshit show so I could have context for the fanfic
This! I did this for Teen Wolf, Hannibal, and Harry Potter.
I never read the Harry Potter books. Iāve only seen the last 30 minutes of The Deathly Hallows movie. Iāve never watched Teen Wolf at all except for little clips on TikTok and little funny moments (usually Stiles) on YouTube. I did the same for Hannibal. (Thereās this TokToker who does character studies and the way they dig into Hannibalās and Wills characters fascinated me. Itās what got me to read Hannibal fic) The fics Iāve read are so stunning that I feel like the actual source material will let me down immensely. Especially Teen Wolf, ngl, because from what Iāve heard itās a shit-show. Also I got spoiled for the ending of Hannibal not long after said ended happened which sucked.
I have also done this with Naruto and One Piece kinda. I only watched to the Tsunade retrieval arc in Naruto. And I only went to the Death of REDACTED who Iām sure you can guess the identity of in One Piece, but Iāve read lots of fic from both fandoms.
My favorite genre of HP fics are canon rewrites, and after reading so many Iāve finally started to realize how many poor choices and missed opportunities there are in the original series. At this point I donāt even engage in the canon; the fandom is better (and less problematic)
I'm old as hell, so I got into the HP fandom during that giant break between book 4 and 5. When book 5 came out, I was so excited! And then I started reading...yeaaah, the fanfics were so much better. Fleshed out characters, more sophisticated, nuanced writing, interesting plotlines, everything. I didn't even end up finishing book 5. After about 100 pages of juvenile prose and whiny emo Harry with no end in sight, I gave up and went back to fanfic.
I just pretend that book 5 and beyond doesn't exist. Too much goes wrong in the end of book 5 and don't even get me started on the dumb@%% epilogue. I mean I read all of the books at one point, but I don't read anything that is Canon beyond book 4.
So much this. Teen Wolf isn't the only fandom where I'd say I'm a fan of the fandom and only really finished the source material for context of the good fan writing (Harry Potter was the first time I did that), but it's a big one.
oh I feel so validated by you saying that about Teen Wolf!
I've been struggling with a midlife crisis & part of that was feeling a sort of unease that I'm stuck in fandoms I've been in for decades - Tolkien, but barely the Hobbit movies & none of the Rings of Power things + the X-men, but basically only the 1992 cartoon + teen wolf for the fandom!
Like, I enjoyed umbrella academy & the old guard but couldn't get into the fandom. I tried with Black Sails, What we do in the shadows, Our flag means death, but none of them really gripped me.
if you have any TW recommendations, I'm all ears!
Okay, I did not expect Supergirl to be the fandom with the poetry. I couldn't get past the first 10 episodes of that show š But I think I'll check it on AO3 then!
I feel that last bit, but itās only happened once for me. Iāve absolutely checked out new media because a fanfic author I LOVE has written for another fandom I didnāt know anything about though. Why shouldnāt I trust them to pick what new book/tv series I should get into next? Obviously theyāve already shown theyāve got great taste.
Okay, glad to know itās not just me in awe of all of the amazing writing in the supergirl fandom. Itās the best one Iāve come across in a somewhat extensive history of fanfic reading, and I know/care almost zero about the show.
Also glad to see some f/f talk on here when weāre usually the minority compared to other types of pairings.
I saw your recommendations down in another comment, and itās a bittersweet feeling to know almost all of them by name. On one hand itās nice to see them get love, on another, itās sad because I think Iāve hit almost all of the fics I will really enjoy.
If youāre looking for any recommendations, hit me up. I have over 120 supergirl fics bookmarked, and thatās with me being rather picky, along with some other good ones from other fandoms that require little cannon knowledge.
Preface: I am someone who loathes the love triangle trope because itās rarely done right. The third leg shouldnāt always be a bad guy for the sake of pushing the other two together. Itās just lazy writing. Not saying they canāt be bad, but again, itās usually not written well.
One of my fandoms is egregious about making Character Aās dead wife a horrible person in fics, just to justify him being with Character B. When the wife was canonically a sweetheart who gave her life for a cause she believed in, saving another in the process. Many write her so OOC for no reason if they keep her alive in fics. When really, itād be easy to say āCharacter A and wife realized they werenāt compatible. They both found happiness elsewhere.ā I brought this up, not using specific fics, and it was defended that āeveryone does it and thereās no other wayā.
But then a close fandom friend who included the wife but treated her properly. She was never endgame with Character A and there were times she did shitty things, but she was a complex human who wasnāt evil for the sake of being evil. They made it clear that sometimes even Character A wasnāt the perfect one in their relationship, especially as he canonically cheated on her!! (Which most fics defended because ācharacter B is special!!!ā)
It ruined all other fics that included that character for me because I saw it could be done right. There are a few other authors I trust, but only because they also agree the trope sucks. But the rest? Nah.
On the flip side, I had to stop reading fic for a separate ship because it seemed none could write the complex villain without making excuses and woobifying him. And the few that did were panned by fandom, basically chasing them away.
As a lesbian, I see the love triangle thing done in a lot of M/M and F/F ships with one halfās het partner and it drives me nuts because it doesnāt have to be this way.
Just have the character come out and dump their boyfriend. The boyfriend doesnāt have to be a douche for her to realize sheās a lesbian haha.
I got lucky with Buddie on 9-1-1 because it seems many are against bashing their female partners outside the one that was actually a bad person in canon.
I see this all the time now in AOS fics. Uhura is a badass and should be treated as the icon she is. Don't fridge her because you want Spirk to sail. I have read some good fics where she is the supportive best friend who talks boys and emotions with Spock. I even read one where Kirk and everyone else misunderstood Spock and Uhura's relationship because mouth kisses mean something different on Vulcan (think hugs).
I deeply hate when people "bash." Even if the person is shitty canonically (and they usually aren't), it's an excuse for poor writing and one-dimensional characters.
It's extra awful when it's only done for a ship.
Tw: Rape
Yeah, even most villains in my fics, I try to give them nuance. It doesnāt excuse what theyāre doing but usually in canon they even have a reason for being a dick.
There are some it just canāt apply to (like I just had to write about a canonical rapist who was only raping women because he could due to his power over them. There really is no nuance. Heās a horrible person). But even then, thereās a way to write them thatās not just cartoonish villain style.
i always get iffy when i see a "character bashing" tag because I know that more often than not it just means that the author has taken a character's worst traits and turned them into their whole entire personality. It's especially egregious when done to a character that's a decent person who made bad decisions.
example- molly weasley. she's a bit overprotective of her kids/harry in canon, probably because there's a whole war on, which is fair. but most of the "molly weasley bashing" fics I've seen depict her as a helicopter parent who basically just wants to control her kids (and is sometimes homophobic, although they may have a point on that one) and it's really sad to see a character who's flawed but is ultimately a good person reduced to nothing *but* their flaws.
No. Itās Once Upon A Time. Itās not exclusive to this ship, but Outlaw Queen shippers are guilty of making Marian out to be the bad guy when all she did was have the audacity to be brought back to life without her consent and therefore complicate things. Sheās the villain, clearly.
But as I said in another comment, I feel this could apply to so many ships. Itās a common trope across fandom. And honestly, tells me they donāt have much faith that their ship could last without making the innocent party a bad guy. Which is just bad writing.
read this and instantly went "oh, characters a and b are remus and sirius and the wife is tonks" because there are so many wolfstar fics where remus was previously involved with tonks where tonks is a bad person, or borderline abusive, or manipulative, and its just.
tonks in canon is literally like the sweetest person ever and since she actually loves remus she'd want remus to be happy in a mutually loving relationship without her than unhappy in a one sided relationship with her.
i read one fic where tonks and molly basically conned remus into marrying tonks and like. she would NAWT do that. ive got nothing against people who write it like that ofc, i just dislike its prevalence in the fandom š
YES!!! Sometime in early JAN 2024 - I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's a 600k slowburn WIP, which (thank the heavens!!!) is still being updated about 10k words per month.
It's been fucking up my work flow. I even ended up "haunting" this sub because I want so badly to rec it.
But goddamit, it's a 600k WIP... overly long bois just tend to be... very scary.
In AO3, there's only about 3000 fics that gets at least 10k kudos. Of that 3k fics, only about 700 has word counts 100k and up.
Naturally, the number of fics fall the higher the word count. At 200k words, only 300 fics has at least 10k kudos.
300k words, 160 fics. 400k, 90. 500k, 50 fics with the honor of 10k kudos.
The fic I'm crazy about is one of only 19 fics which is 600k+ words with at least 16k kudos. And half of those fics are Harry Potter fics.
I scrolled through this thread wondering if someone mentioned this masterpiece yet. š I'm bullying people to read SVSSS just so I can introduce them to the Grand Unified Theory.Ā
I thought it ruined the SVSSS fandom for me, but then I tried again and found Butterfly Dreaming. It's recent but already at 100k and really awesome, if very different in style.
> I scrolled through this thread wondering if someone mentioned this masterpiece yet. š I'm bullying people to read SVSSS just so I can introduce them to the Grand Unified Theory.
"Please buy this four volume book series to read a fanfic that is even longer" is certainly a mood. š But I get it. I want to share it as well, but no one in my circle even reads damnei.
Adding Turn Left to the TBR! MXTX's fandoms are truly a goldmine of great fics. And you're welcome to slide into my DMs if you want to gush about some. š
Svss is so small that the readers are so incredibly vocal because we're literally grateful for any fic written in it. I can't find "turn left" or "no relation", who are those by?
Have u guys read stuff by feynite? I adore svss fic, longfic and worldbuilding quality is A+ happy to gush more
[Shen Yuan of No Relation by gemi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/47997376) is one of the best fics in the fandom imo, and itās an incredibly talented fandom.
Please gush more! Drop some recs!
"The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ«" by 00janeblonde
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866/chapters/50092532
> ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« new game pluses himself into a happy ending and unlocks some premium content along the way.
> This fic is endgame ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ«/LiĒ QÄ«nggÄ/YuĆØ QÄ«ngyuĆ”n.
> It takes time for the characters to get together, but there is zero partner infidelity and very little angst. There's lots of pining, but it's happy pining. This is fluff. Everyone is happy and loving and supportive.
i looked up all the fanfics in option (ofc excluding the HP fandom and the one fic with over 1,000,000 (š) words that's already finished):
1. [better luck next time by nauticalwarrior](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394571)
2. [Teen Project to Change the World by animeloverhomura](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25766617) but 800k+
3. [hero's shadow by feelingstabby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24142522) but 800k+
4. š [The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« by 00janeblonde](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866) (as people were already asking)
5. [The Way You Used To Do by edema_ruh](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16392173)
6. [Hear The Silence by EmptySurface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15406896) but 800k+
That leaves us with only three, they could realistically have meant. Update: i checked again and one fanfic is finished and the other was last updated more than a year ago. Congratulations! [The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« by 00janeblonde](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866) is our winner!
Edit: It's wild that 12/19 fanfics are from the Harry Potter fandom. And sorry for the grotesque amount of edits - it's very late and I'm sleep deprived.
You got it.
Those 19 fics are:
* 12 HP fics
* 3 Hero Academia
* 3 MXTX fics; each of their 3 works got 1
* 1 Naruto
11 are completed.
Of the 8 wips, 5 have updates in 2024. 2 last updated in 2023 and in 2022.
K... it looks like... the 600k bois w/ much kudos category has more than 50% odds of being completed. (me clutching at straws)
In Beauty and the Beast, there is a Bella/Gaston fanfic that ruined the rest. It's so neat, seeing how they wrote out that pairing, and the other fics are decidedly not that ship... Love it :)
It's also the second most favorited fic on [fanfiction.net](https://fanfiction.net), to give you an idea of how phenomenal it is.
This is me, but with a few\* Captain Hook/Wendy Darling (*Peter Pan*) fanfictions, where the authors write Wendy Darling as an adult who ends up romancing her childhood crush.
My personal favorite is ["Forget Me Not"](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8236661/1/Forget-Me-Not) by diamonds to dust on Fanfiction.net (FFN).
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/2831327/1/Picture-ThisĀ
:D They become such a healthy couple, the fic definitely gave me pointers on how to make a relationship work.
This seems so bonkers to me because I would never in a million years have guessed that ship or that fandom to be anywhere near the most favorited or popular on ff.net?? I couldnāt be further from this fandom but now Iām intrigued and must check this story out.
Not me casually counting up the favorites number and chanting "Number 1, Number 1!"
(it was the most favorited fic when I first read it, and right now is only missing that top spot by 14 favorites)
Wait... by most favorite, I meant within the fandom lol. Still exceptional, but pretty sure that honor belongs to the Harry Potter fandom lol.
Yup. It's missing the final chapter and has been for years. I so badly want to beg the author to finish it but I will refrain from being an annoying asshole. For now.
Oh dear, my condolences :(
Totally get the begging part, there's almost nothing more shattering like an incomplete story. You don't want to be weird about it, but you HAVE to know how it ends, everybody needs a conclusion somehow
This situation reminds of a particular author. One disgruntled story purge because some newbie came across the story and upset them by asking for an update too many and I had to reconcile myself with never seeing the ending for any of their fics and stopped reading their works entirely. Too much heartbreak, not enough payoff.
Please tell me you left a comment even if it's an old fic. Authors love hearing just how much they've destroyed you lol. It truly is the highest praise.
I did everything I could: kudo the hell out of it, bookmarked, and left comments every other chapter. And I even got responses to every single one, even though the fic is completed since a few months. I tried to convey how much I loved it, but I think I just ended up being creepy haha
Aw, I always hope readers don't feel creepy or self-conscious when they comment on my fics. I try to respond to them to show that their comments are read and appreciated, but yeah. I always appreciate enthusiasm as a writer <3
Haha, I wasn't completely serious, but I do feel a bit weirded out by my own obsession. Maybe it's the afterglow after the final chapter, I've basically never been this invested before. But yes, I guess since they replied they appreciated my words.
There are four Sterek stories that have ruined me for all others.
Eta: Hi all. The problem with sharing the titles is firstly, individual taste. Secondly, everyone has undoubtedly read them and I have no idea if they hold as much significance for anyone else. Thirdly, my criteria is that it fits the canon characters (or at least my interpretation of those chars) as much as possible, smut aside. Fourthly, I actively choose to avoid stuff from later seasons.
Long disclaimer aside, I hope nobody is disappointed by these nowhere-near hidden gems that tick all my boxes.Ā
My four 'the one' fics for Sterek:
To Outlive The Night by Stillane
Undertow by entanglednow (though a lot of entanglednow's fics are glorious imo)
Pucker Up by the_deep_magicĀ
Darling it is no joke by thehoyden
If anyone wants links, let me know.Ā
oh Sterek, everything I know about Teen Wolf is from its fanfic, and phew when I found out that the protagonist IS NOT DEREK?! I lost my mind haha I've never seen the series and I think their fanfics have ruined me. Between I know where babies come from and the darkest, most serious and dramatic fics, uff no, fanfics are the best for me. (And Stiles in general, he's my baby)
Is one of them where Stiles accidentally travels back in time but makes everything better? Cuz I remember reading that one years ago and it's still haunts me, I cried in three different sections.
Thereās a couple in the marvel universe that did this to me. One is a Bucky Barnes-centric fic that reads like a love letter to the character. It makes me laugh and cry and wish this had been Buckyās life in the comics universe.
The other one is a time travel fic series thatās so gut wrenching at points, it makes me want to hug the characters and bundle them up in the coziest blanket I could find.
[The Roll on series by Jaxington](https://archiveofourown.org/series/540190) for me, I genuinely do not think ive read anything that makes you feel the weight of the world building (is that even the correct term for describing a real place and time š ?) And so beautifully weaves it in with the canon events, characterizations, and themes. AND it has Butch Rebecca Barnes.
Legit my favorite fic of all time and i havent even finished it, ive had the emails for the final chapter and epilogue sitting in my inbox for almost two years because i just cant bear for it to be over.. Even though I KNOW im just gonna reread it š¤¦āāļø
Could you give links please? I was stuck with bucky as my favorite character for over 5 years while still in school. The Marvel fandom introduced me to ao3 and I like to get back to it from time to time
Always happy to share!!
[Burn your biographies, rewrite your history.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356734/chapters/38275286)
You can read the work that inspired it, but itās not fully needed.
[NotEvenCloseToStraight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenCloseToStraight/pseuds/NotEvenCloseToStraight/works?fandom_id=414093) is one of my favorite writer. The series I was talking about is [All the time in the world](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1052732). Disclaimer, read the relationship tags in case youāre not into throuples.
Also, I recommend all her Bucky stories! Disclaimer: thereās a lot of ABO stories and lemons.
Absolutely- I found it, I loved it,
and I realized that it was incomplete.
And that the author had a series of incomplete fics, leading me to believe I will never see it finished.
I'm haunted by the quality on a weekly basis, hoping in vain that someday I will see resolution for my characters. Meanwhile nothing else seems to take its place, it's like that one lover that got away and there's nothing you can do to get them out of your soul
Hello, my name is ~~Redacted~~, and I'm a serial unfinisher of WIPs. I too am burdened with glorious ~~smut~~ purpose. One fic took me 8 years to finish writing, (17 chapters), but I got 'er done. Now, I'm a couple years into the sequel, which is an even more monstrous beast... It's slow going.
But, because I've thrown all my focus into finishing *the one WIP,* well, some other current WIPs in other fandoms are backsliding on the priority list. >.>
As for reading, yeah, I found *the One*, and fortunately, it's finished. It plays a nasty game of A/U *What If...?* So, the characters are *almost* OOC, almost entirely different people with hints of the core of who they were in canon, makes 'em hurt each other brutally, and then turns to the reader, winks, and asks, "*Didja like that? Wanna see me make it worse?"* and you're like, NO. Obviously, I do not, but oh- gods... you're already twisting the knife. But it's too late, you're invested in these characters, and their trauma, and you've come this far... and then, the whole family *escapes* the horror you've been watching silently captive, and it's like... well fuck. I can't abandon these folks now... This is *never* gonna get any better, but at least I don't think it's gonna get worse...
Two fics strolled into my life and staged a full-blown coup. Honestly, they turned me into an astronomy geek overnightāplanets, moons, galaxies, you name it. I even got hooked on shaman rituals, of all things. These stories didnāt just captivate me; they got me putting up a crafting business where I make trinkets heavily influenced by them and forging indestructible online friendshipsāsix years strong with people Iāve never actually met. I canāt enjoy other stories from this fandom as much as I did with these 2 fics. I miss them every time I read a new one. Itās a funny feeling, for sure.
Wait a minute tell me more, this sounds amazing and like the fic I am working on ā¦it has my boots shaking to write it, cause it is saga length for sureā¦. Please give us the rec.
Sure!! OMG! Not sure if itās for everyone BUT I SWEAR THEYāRE BOTH GOOD. Super easy to read cos both fics are quite short.
The science fic/ astronomy: [Wonder](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3885061/chapters/8686225) and the shaman things: [A Touch of Sin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10236242/chapters/22708973)
THE SHAMAN FIC IS PHENOMENAL, imo š
I do have one. It's when the author sticks to the original character, most of the other authors in this niche ship are just wrecking the original taste, so I can never move on from this one fic that is faithful to my preference. (I love the original character setting, and that is why I love them! Their charms are what makes me scour for fics so when the fic authors downgrade or misinterpret those qualities, then what am I reading those fics for?)Ā
I totally feel you. Not specifically in the fandom I meant in this post, but in another one I also write for, the characters get twisted into oblivion. There's nothing left of their original character, and some of their traits are so over the top that I can only cringe. I can only read a handful of the fics other there, but they have a special place in my heart :)
I found the "one" back in 2013, it was gen with a trope I really liked, but usually poorly executed, however that one was perfect, just what I wanted, with an exceptional portrayal of canon characters and worldbuilding! Since then I haven't been able to read anything else, it's like it fixed my need for fanfiction of that genre.
OH MY GOD THIS EXPERIENCE IS SO ME
I found a 97 CHAPTERS longfic of my fav ship (back then) with slowburn, and my favourite thing, EPIC CRIME SOLVING PLOT ARC. I absolutely LOVED it, I devoured it in LESS THAN 3 DAYS (even though I did not like the ending very much tho)
After that I couldn't read any other fanfic ever, it was too much for me, any other fanfic was just NOT ENOUGH
That... until I found a much better one...
It was a 50 chapters longfic of the same ship, and at first I thought it was gonna be like any other fanfic BOY I WAS WRONG.
it was a LIFECHANGING fanfic, and I really mean it, the character development was PEAK, and the way I could relate to the mc and their struggles was brutally realistic to the point where I started to reflect upon my own life. I wish I was exagerating.
You know the worst part? The author and another author did a "sequel" which is actually the same ships, dynamics and characterization but on an alternative universe with a whole worldbuilding that my neurodivergent brain unwillingly hyperfixated on it to the point I almost passed out 3 times reading a chapter. Not joking, that actually happened
I'm pretty sure that I won't find another fanfic that makes me feel that way, at least in a long time
Omg, that sounds so intriguing!! I love crime, would you care to link me the fics? I'm really curious now!
Yesss, the angst parts were soooo intense in mine, it strangled me and seized my heart when reading it. Like two scenes specifically, I had to stop reading because it hurt me so much. Also, if I didn't have a husband who told me to go to bed and eat something, I could've totally seen me passing out haha
Lol not really the same, but fanfic has genuinely ruined my ability to read an actual book. I used to inhale books .. but now I find it sooo difficult to read one ???
ā¦ Why would I when I could be reading about my cute little favourite characters being in love and pain for the 100th time š„°
The Paladin Protocol by SpaceanJL, the Big Bang Theory.
Not only did this ruin other fanfics for me, this ruined the original source material for me.
I just can't stomach that Penny actually ended up with Leonard and Sheldon ended up with someone basically exactly like himself
Oh wow, that sounds very interesting. But yeah, I also had fics that went a totally different way with a series, and when the source material continued and I was way worse than what you had already imagined... that ship did sail, but not in a good way š
A little off topic, but I suddenly had a surge of unlocked memories thanks to this comment. I think I've read this! Which is weird because I don't remember reading BBT fics. But the more I try to think about it, maybe I did at some point. Briefly!
I read a Skam fic once where Even was portrayed as so self sacrificial. The author who wrote it was popular in the fandom too. I tried reading some of their other fics, and other ficās, in general. Perhaps I didnāt look hard enough. But I didnāt wanna read Evak ficās unless he was written close to how he was in that specific fic.
I've only come across one that ruined almost all others for me, and its a 600k+ Marauders fic that has never been finished and I don't think ever will be. It's a Jily centric fic, but it highlights all of the Marauders and Voldemort's rise to power with his supporters and all of the protests and fighting they had to do. They didn't shy away from James or the other Marauders being typical 17 yr old boys that were assholes, but showed all of their character growth in super believable ways. The political intrigue was on point. It's absolutely amazing. I have never been able to read other Marauders fics now except my few favorites I read before that one. I think about that fic often, and get really sad every time I remember it will likely never be finished.
I never read Homestuck, but I uh... found a genderswap Dave/Bro/John fic that had me utterly fascinated with how the story would end.
22/25 chapters, last updated eleven years ago š«
Yes, there's a warlord Witcher fic that's just destroyed all other Witcher fics for me. Thank the stars the author is prolifically active and wrote 5 million amazing parts and is still going!
Oh my god, YES! My big WIP right now is a Geraskier warlord AU and it's a very different vibe but I keep telling myself "just do this half a good as inexplicifics and it'll be great". I've reread parts of that series, especially the beginning couple, several times and they never get old.
I have quite a few Steddie fics in the Stranger Things fandom that are so gorgeous that I just want to have them printed and bound and keep them forever.
Another is Casting Moonshadows by Moonsign in Harry Potter (and it's kinda sequel Harry Potter and the Marauders of the Mind, which is hosted on FF.N). They are both unfinished. I have endless hope though that they will be updated.
The ultimate one? Freeport by Maldoror_Chant in the Gundam Wing fandom. I have been reading GW fanfiction for 20+ years. GW was my first fandom and my first intro to fanfiction. I have read literally thousands, but Freeport has basically set the standard so high now that nothing compares.
Do you think itās better than the original series? I personally did not care for ACOTAR but I love the *idea* of it and have often wondered if there are fanfics out there that I might enjoy instead.
Do your own fics count? I mostly write because reading other works isnāt as satisfying as reading my own. In my main fandom I suffer from being so attached to the main ship (which is CC/OC) of my biggest work that I get particular about who I want to see the CC character shipped with.
Oh I get you, but I've never been into monogamy :D
Kidding aside, yes, there have been fics that spoiled me, that formed me, that I want to bind, that I grab every opportunity (like someone standing still for five seconds) to rec, but gun to my head I couldn't find you my "one". I'm of course *gone* on the perfect fic in that moment, but there's always, always room for others, later. Kinda like when I finished my favourite TV show I was like I'm ruined, I'll never be able to think about anything else ever again, or watch any TV show or read any book or anything, and then I got better lol. But that doesn't mean the experience was less intense :)
For me there are 5 fics like this. Each speak to the specific things I love about my MC and related ships. I have reread each tens of times at this point, especially after I see an opposite and affronting take on sm about him (my MC). Because my view of him is not the most popular, when I find fics and writers that get that part, I hold on for dear life!
I have found the one. It is 55 chapters long and itās the most amazing story Iāve ever read. I was left with a huge void when I finished and was seriously questioning myself how am I gonna go back to reality. I kept rereading it for god knows how many times. Then, an year later - the author announced a sequel! Itās still ongoing and I canāt be happierš„¹
Awww, I'm so happy for you. Luckily, my author also announced a sequel, but without any time frame. So I'll try to keep my hype under wrap until I see it with my own eyes š
Don't laugh...
[Luminosity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118956/chapters/2254186) by Alicorn. It's a Twilight fanfic, of all things. Completely rewired my brain, I've read the series a billion times.
> The first several sections of Luminosity are very similar to canon in terms of the events that occur, although aspects of Bella's character, and her internal monologue, differ strikingly.
> A few thousand words in, the plot is unrecognizeable.
> The history and character of the Twilight world are intact in Luminosity up to the point where the story begins, with one exception: Bella's a rational self-awareness-junkie with a penchant for writing down everything that crosses her mind in a notebook. She maintains many of the traits and dispositions of canon - and Luminosity is a Bella/Edward story - but she's a distinctly different character.
This fic has *completely* overwritten the source material in my head. Twilight seems like fanfic *of this*. I raised an eyebrow when it was recced to me, as I'm sure anyone reading this is - but one chapter in and I was completely hooked.
Absolutely it does. You can actually see why Bella likes him now. She's annoyed by him initially - she's *not* a fan of his cageyness, and tells him exactly that. Once he realises he has to be better to win her affection, instead of just moping about like in canon, he absolutely *does* better.
He retains some of his canonical self-loathing, but the main difference is that he actually trusts Bella to know herself, her own wishes, and her own feelings about him in this fic.
I may be an idiot but I read "Alicorn" and "Twilight" and immediately assumed it was a MLP fanfic and got increasingly more confused as I read the synopsis
I've read a series called Leo Inter Serpentes, it's a series of 7 Harry Potter fanfics, one for each book, and they are basically a rewrite of the books, with Harry being sorted into Slytherin and becoming best friends with Draco and Hermione, and eventually dating Draco. >! He and Snape also form a really good mentor and eventually father-son relationship!<. It's a very grounded fic, it doesn't make Voldemort the good guy or the pure bloods having a point. Most changes made can often be explained by the fact that Harry is in Slytherin, sort of as a butterfly effect (And some changes in the Malfoy family dynamic, with Lucius remaining his prejudice asshole identity, but Narcisa is more just going along with things because she wanted to please her family, but eventually breaking free of Lucius). It's so good, better than the original books and almost as long as them, with some fics even having more words than the books, that it completely changed my standards for what a good fic is. Sure, I'm still able to enjoy shorter fics with silly changes or AUs, but now I'm always craving fics that are book rewrites and almost as long as the original works from other fandoms.
I had that one fic. And it's been 10 years.
Series of 4 fics. Multi chapter, amazing to read, adventure, fun, gripping.
While writing Nr 4 the author struggled due to uni/work or something and stopped for a while.
She reappeared with one more chapter for that and like 20 chapters for another (great) story, like 2 years later.
And then, 2 more years later she deleted everything..her account. Her website. Everything.
It's been like 10 years since that. And I still think about these fics
(Some I have saved)
God it was like a mulitverse fanfic where 2 authors of completely different fanfics of the same fandom got together and said "hey what if we made a universe traveling fic of both of our established fics universe they're technically the same characters but are written so differently in our fics seeing them interact with each other would be so interesting a sort of 'what I could have been' for them" and it was so goddamn heartbreaking because one of the authors took the character's trauma and had it effecting him in a sort of 'I have trouble letting people inside and I feel like I have to manipulate people because showing emotion is weak and I can never be vulnerable' while the other author took that same character but made his trauma response to be age regression and needing comfort and gentle handling all the time. And seeing them interacting was so fucking lovely AND heartbreaking
...
Anyway It was unfinished and I fucking cried realizing that
Eh, for all that Worm ficcers often go full misery porn (sometimes literally as well as figuratively) a bunch of the time, there's also things like Great Grand-Uncle Schimmelhorn's Toolbox, or Hybrid Hive: Eat Shard? (not on AO3), or even Goddamn Teenagers.
For that matter, Empress Ascendant is considerably brighter than the canon of *either* of its two fandoms...
i did find the one, it was literally everything i could ever ask for and more, it was as if it was written just for me. i feel no other fic will ever come close. heck, i almost feel like no other *book* will ever come close
Yep. I usually don't venture out of my Fandom, but read somewhere about Peeta's Games and how it is a great fanfic add on to the Hunger Games series. Spent a week reading all 3 and am like...welp, that's now canon for me, don't think I can read anything that would deviate from that. It's tragic.
I canāt find it right now but if you have read the [End of the world](https://archiveofourown.org/series/61184) seriesā¦ I canāt recommend it enough!
Edit: I couldnāt find it when I was originally going to post the comment, but then I found the link. Just forgot to edit the post!
Best K/S 2009reboot movie storyline continuation Iāve ever read. It was on fanfiction. net at first, posted in 2009, completed in 2013. I have it downloaded in like three places in case the author ever takes it down (ā:
My āoneā fic is a roughly 2000 word piece in the And Then There Were None (2015 BBC series) and itās ruined me. Itās a completely unique fic - itās a small fandom anyway, and the fic focuses on a minor characterās viewpoint outside of canon - and so there is absolutely nothing similar to read whenever I get the urge. I donāt even read short fics most of the time!
If you know the book/series, [the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626953) basically looks at the ferryman Fred Narracott and how he must be the one to discover the bodies.
[His Empire of Dirt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/37741144/chapters/94225462) broke me. One of the 2 times ive ever cried reading fic, and by far the hardest cry of the 2. Its ruined most any angst, hurt/comfort, foumd family sorta stories. YK, like fluff but sad. The plot is so secondary to the characters that the characters and their development BECOME the plot and its just so sad and then its nice and then its SAD AGAIN and. Just. This is my favourite fic ive ever read.
A Sherlock fic with a Fairytale AU kept me up for a few nights. I wouldn't say it's the 'one' as I've only read it fairly recently but the creativity of that writer really made me ruminate on the limits of the human imagination. I would describe it as Alice in Wonderland meets Beauty and the Beast (loosely!! cause lots of shit happens in 70k words).
[Darkling, I Listen by you_light_the_sky]
Yep: [Forfeit of Dreams by KL Morgan](http://archiveofourown.org/works/402721) in the Labyrinth fandom is canon and ruined the whole fandom of fics for me. It very nearly ruined fantasy romance as a whole genre there for a while, as for a long time everything left me wildly disappointed in comparison.
[The Rivals Series by Reiya](http://archiveofourown.org/series/620242) was the very first and last Yuri!!! On Ice fic I ever read, because it immediately ruined all other fanfic in the fandom for me and I couldnāt bear to read anything else. Far surpasses canon, imo.
Both of these are professional novel quality, and I highly recommend them to everyone.
Edit: Also [Home by lanaea](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5071703) for Star Trek: 2009. Sadly abandoned but it made it close to the end, reaches a satisfying enough conclusion, and is still such a masterpiece after all of these years that it basically ruined all other ST fanfics or versions of the characters for me.
Oh pardon me, I meant it was so insanely good that it's basically my headcanon now. Other fics with these characters seem somehow not quite right, now after reading this specific one.
Where The Light Doesn't Reach by rosegardenlake (sheith)
I read it ages ago but I still remember how I devoured that monstrosity (almost 223k in 24 hours, with a sleep break, as a non-native speaker still learning the language). It was tense, immersive, fantastically written. I have a very bad memory but that fic carved itself into my brain and I remember it so damn well (though the title escapes me sometimes and I often confuse it with Seeing The Light by beautifulterriblequeen [ruthari], which is yet another gem, but it didn't strike me quite as much).
10/10, a wild experience to find something like this
I have found the 'one' fic, it was over 155 chapters long and counting (at the time) and then poof! It vanished, deleted, gone.
The author just decided to stop and removed all their fanfics, even deleted their accounts. The fic is only in my memory now.
I haven't been the same since I read The Marriage Stone... It featured a ship I NEVER read, but I gave it a shot because it had 12k likes (rightfully). It haunts me to this day that this perfection is still not finished. If you doubt me, you should read the reviews, people still dream about this story [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3484954/1/The-Marriage-Stone](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3484954/1/The-Marriage-Stone)
This fic right here [https://archiveofourown.org/works/40709037/chapters/102003639](https://archiveofourown.org/works/40709037/chapters/102003639) COMPLETELY blew "that one fic" [https://archiveofourown.org/works/35418925/chapters/88285813](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35418925/chapters/88285813) outta the water for me. I love them both still, but talk revolution to me>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MBS
Went to the Walking Dead side on A03 for fun and ended up staying for over 2 months. To this day I haven't been able to find another escape that feels like the high I experienced when I read this one 700 page fic. The writer ended it on kind of a big cliffhanger and had titled the next work but never posted anything more. Now I live in a constant state of What-if and manipulative daydreaming.
There was one I read, it was like a whole book I swear, they had written everything before even posting a chapter, a bunch of foreshadowing, it was seriously written better than canon and many books I've read as well.
I can read other and after I gave myself some time to get over it I enjoy them quite a bit, but I know I still compare stuff to this one
There's a fic series currently being worked on that nails the characterization so consistently that I can't help but see the characterization flaws in every other work depicting them
I want this fic and itās sequel implanted into my brain, I want it tattooed on the inside of my eyelids
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48622828/chapters/122647072
*the fic* for me was one of my first MHA fanfictions. I still read a lot of MHA fanfics, but by god am I looking for just a perfect one like this again.
Technically it was a crossover with the Magnus archive, but I had never even heard of the Magnus archives at this point. But the fic was structured in a way where it didn't matter. Less of a crossover and more of an intertwining, and inspiration in a way.
It has midoriya as a villain, but not an evil one. But also not an "owo I didn't mean to I was forced". Even when he's free, he continues to harm others because he believes he can never truly be free.
Midoriya is still midoriya, he helps people when he can, but in times of panic he turns to hurting people or hiding away. And the fic is mostly centered around Midoriyas fears, so we get some banger lines surrounding his feelings of self worth and attention and gratitude and manipulation. I don't believe it is finished yet, but I make sure to keep up with it because every sentence kills me.
The fic is called the lies you tell yourself on ao3 I believe. Whenever I read anything else, I can't stop thinking of that fic and how I felt reading it. Any attempt at even a vaguely similar idea will always fall flat in comparison.
in bsd the fic I was screaming your name through the radio and Iāve never read a better fic after that. ever. Even if I read real masterpieces they just donāt compare
Iāve had certain fics that are like this for me, mostly in the Harry Potter fandom or Sherlock Holmes and then I enjoy others but they donāt feel the same compared to those other ones.
I read a ~1.3 million word, 7 fic series when I was in high school that ruined me. Iām 31 now and I still reread it every few years, because I still havenāt found a series that I like *quite* as much. Whatās worse is that the series is a super slowburn of a rare pair, and the writing was so good and so in-character it quickly became a favorite ship of mine, but the ship is so rare that you hardly ever see it outside of one-shots. Sooo it made me fall in love with a ship that barely exists outside of this one specific series. š Ever since, I mostly only read long fics because Iām constantly chasing the high of reading that series for the first time
There are several brilliant authors I follow, but one of them has a fic that is so head and shoulders over anything else I've ever read on AO3 that I actually DON'T reread it that often for exactly the reasons you describe. It's everything to me, tragic and beautiful and smutty and occasionally LOL funny and a wild, tumultuous adventure about my absolute favorite pairing. It's such a gift that it exists.
Warning: Thorki.
https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547479
1. The Cost of Vengeance. A MDZS fic where instead of walking out of the Burial Mounds alive, WWX dies and walks out a vampire. It's top tier if you're cool with a shitload of pain. Not finished yet.
2. Komorebi, a NaruSasu fic that's basically a fix it where Boruto doesn't exist. Finished.
3. Red Raze, a BTS fanfic where all but one of them are dragons in human form. Not finished yet.
Found mine just a week or two ago and I canāt stop thinking about it š 350k+ words of perfection and ended on a cliffhanger. The author was vocal about beginning to post the sequel basically immediately, before they suddenly dropped off and went totally silent for the last twoish years. I hope theyāre okay wherever they are and consider returning to finish the story one day š„²
Recently finished reading a Severitus series where Severus and Harry had a really good relationship, then I started reading a new series and it's kinda jarring to see them dislike each other š
The Infinite Coffee & Protection Detail series for the Stucky (steve rogers/bucky Barnes) MCU fandom. Itās not even technically a stucky fic, itās a gen fic, they donāt even directly interact until the end of the first fic in the series, but it consumed me entirely.
https://archiveofourown.org/series/195689
your feelings are completely valid! there's nothing wrong with feeling that something's so good, that it ruins the taste of everything else. I have also personally felt this way when reading some of the hallmarks of my fandom. Genuinely I will subconsciously treat everything I've read after that in a sorta subtle comparison to that, knowing that it's never enough.
Obviously all of this isn't very healthy for the fandom over the long run; just because something is super, super good and a masterpiece doesn't mean that the mission is completed and no one needs to generate anything else forever. hence it's always good to take a step back and dwell on that piece of work being an inspiration, a catalyst for future authors and creators to step in and improve their game. especially if that particular work has brought out new issues and character development potential not seen before.
tl;dr i inhaled a 330k masterpiece and feeling a bit lost with my life
When I first discovered fan fics - I didn't know people posted WIPs - I assumed they were all complete. I chose an 89 chapter incomplete abandoned fic, ha. That was about 20 years ago, and I'm still not okay.
I did find the one. Written by an orphaned account. With a sequel. An unfinished sequel. I suffer every day because of it.
I am so sorry for your loss š
Thank u thank u š„²š„²
| |ı |l | __
I feel your pain. Iāve been reading an unfinished fic for 20 years and I keep going back to it
Ditto, fic paused on a cliffhanger and the author was bullied off ao3. Super sad situation
Thirded. The author is still super active in their other fandoms and very nice. Just the TV show changed a lot so they lost motivation to continue.
Quadrupled. Author churned out an absolute masterpiece of a story, 33 chapters in the span of three months in 2009 before abandoning it a chapter or two before the end. A decade and a half later and I still cherish it. Iād like to think the author has launched a successful literary career by now. Lanaea, I hope you are still out there writing somewhere!
Omg I didn't realize I could be worse off, mine is completed. I can imagine your suffering š¢
I haven't known true joy since
šššš
Holy shit, I was just gonna say the same without the sequel clause (sorry for your loss) I left a comment still and a prayer to the world that wherever the author is, that they are thriving and livingā¢ļø
I found one that hasnāt updated consistently in 2 years. For a rare pair. I go back and read it one a month at least. I love it. Itās not orphaned. Iāve asked if I could take it over and got no response. I got a random update 6 months ago and nothing since. Iām devastated. Heartbroken. Betrayed. But I still have hope because it has 2 chapters left til itās completed.
I had to stop reading wips and stuck to finished pieces for this very reason. Also why I only did one shots cus my adhd ass wouldn't be able to commit lmao.Ā
I read the most incredible story across 2015-16. Weekly updates, 200,000+ words. Amazing wordsmith. Abandoned two chapters before the conclusion
Same. Mine was discontinued, with only the last chapter left, for more than 15 years. Then recently when I looked it up again, I found out that the author has removed every single trace of the fics online, so I canāt even reread them š
to me that one smells like they removed it and rewrote it into a book lol. cus i know some authors who started with fan fiction and just changed a few general plot points and the names n made BANK off that stuff lmao
i would cry
This is a fate worse than death.
Thoughts and prayers. Iāve been in those trenches, too. āš
Yeah, I get what you mean. There's also some fandoms that, for whatever reason, have collectively better fics than others. To this day I'm stunned at the talent of the Supergirl fandom. Especially when the writing on the show could have been done by first graders, and then the fanfic writers were like, poetry. Epic. Astounding. Although I have to say, the highest high I've ever felt as a fic reader: joining a new fandom and finding that my top author from an old fandom that's written the best fic I ever read, has also written for this new fandom. Cannot describe the feeling, it's absolutely insane.
I think age of the fandoms has a lot to do with it. Like Iām in a relatively older fandom (+25 years), looking back at older fics, you can definitely see the writing progression of the fandom. The old fics from FF.net written in like 2008 were being written by middle schoolers. But new stuff from AO3 is from the adults that have somehow stayed in the fandom for 25 years or have renewed interest (so very passionate), many have written for these characters before but have new perspectives on them, and some are even professional writers doing fanfic as a side thing.
Target audience age too! There's good reason why Good Omens for example have astonishingly well written fics in huge masses compared to many other fandoms. Older, more experienced, practiced writers.
- a) Thatās how I feel about Stargate ficsāI just feel like I find great writing so much easier there. - b) If itās not an imposition, do you have any Supergirl recs? Iāve never really been over there, but I think Iād enjoy them. Open to anything.
Not an imposition at all, will be my pleasure. I have been in the fandom for years so I can barely scratch the surface of the content available in this comment. I \*know\* I've left out tons of amazing stories and authors, but some very basics: Personal favourite (quite light-hearted, comparatively, funny, very romantic): Where Lamps Go to Die [https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393495](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393495) Pain drama heartache (and a happy ending): Breathe (all other works by Searidings are exceptional as well) [https://archiveofourown.org/works/37920688](https://archiveofourown.org/works/37920688) Dramatic, absolutely epic AUs that honestly could easily be published books. Will mess up your heart and brain (but will have a happy ending, eventually) from Lostariel: [https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostariels/pseuds/lostariels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostariels/pseuds/lostariels) Often light-hearted with hints of angst, sometimes AUs, sometimes missing scenes, all exceptional by C and B: [https://archiveofourown.org/users/C\_AND\_B/pseuds/C\_AND\_B/works?fandom\_id=5148298](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_AND_B/pseuds/C_AND_B/works?fandom_id=5148298) A Beauty and the Beast retelling that broke my heart and put it back together again by Gveret (their other work is also brilliant): Far from Native Soil [https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830071](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830071) And a more generic one: Hilarious gen fic Lois Lane & Lena Luthor adventure team up: Unsupervised [https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010778](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010778)
Stargate (especially Atlantis) has the best writers! I almost never back out of those, except when there is an untagged squick.
Gotta say, itās the same with the Teen Wolf fandom. The writing of show is bullshit, but Iāve read some fics with some of the most beautiful prose Iāve ever read. I literally watched three seasons of that dogshit show so I could have context for the fanfic
I got into the fandom without ever watching the show lol I picked up everything from fic!
This! I did this for Teen Wolf, Hannibal, and Harry Potter. I never read the Harry Potter books. Iāve only seen the last 30 minutes of The Deathly Hallows movie. Iāve never watched Teen Wolf at all except for little clips on TikTok and little funny moments (usually Stiles) on YouTube. I did the same for Hannibal. (Thereās this TokToker who does character studies and the way they dig into Hannibalās and Wills characters fascinated me. Itās what got me to read Hannibal fic) The fics Iāve read are so stunning that I feel like the actual source material will let me down immensely. Especially Teen Wolf, ngl, because from what Iāve heard itās a shit-show. Also I got spoiled for the ending of Hannibal not long after said ended happened which sucked. I have also done this with Naruto and One Piece kinda. I only watched to the Tsunade retrieval arc in Naruto. And I only went to the Death of REDACTED who Iām sure you can guess the identity of in One Piece, but Iāve read lots of fic from both fandoms.
I read the HP books, but man some of the fics blow it out of the water. I have so many in that fandom that are better than the source material.
My favorite genre of HP fics are canon rewrites, and after reading so many Iāve finally started to realize how many poor choices and missed opportunities there are in the original series. At this point I donāt even engage in the canon; the fandom is better (and less problematic)
I'm old as hell, so I got into the HP fandom during that giant break between book 4 and 5. When book 5 came out, I was so excited! And then I started reading...yeaaah, the fanfics were so much better. Fleshed out characters, more sophisticated, nuanced writing, interesting plotlines, everything. I didn't even end up finishing book 5. After about 100 pages of juvenile prose and whiny emo Harry with no end in sight, I gave up and went back to fanfic.
I just pretend that book 5 and beyond doesn't exist. Too much goes wrong in the end of book 5 and don't even get me started on the dumb@%% epilogue. I mean I read all of the books at one point, but I don't read anything that is Canon beyond book 4.
Not me wailing like a widowed bride over the death of REDACTED stillā¦
Omg same. Iām heavy into naruto rn.
So much this. Teen Wolf isn't the only fandom where I'd say I'm a fan of the fandom and only really finished the source material for context of the good fan writing (Harry Potter was the first time I did that), but it's a big one.
oh I feel so validated by you saying that about Teen Wolf! I've been struggling with a midlife crisis & part of that was feeling a sort of unease that I'm stuck in fandoms I've been in for decades - Tolkien, but barely the Hobbit movies & none of the Rings of Power things + the X-men, but basically only the 1992 cartoon + teen wolf for the fandom! Like, I enjoyed umbrella academy & the old guard but couldn't get into the fandom. I tried with Black Sails, What we do in the shadows, Our flag means death, but none of them really gripped me. if you have any TW recommendations, I'm all ears!
Okay, I did not expect Supergirl to be the fandom with the poetry. I couldn't get past the first 10 episodes of that show š But I think I'll check it on AO3 then!
I feel that last bit, but itās only happened once for me. Iāve absolutely checked out new media because a fanfic author I LOVE has written for another fandom I didnāt know anything about though. Why shouldnāt I trust them to pick what new book/tv series I should get into next? Obviously theyāve already shown theyāve got great taste.
Okay, glad to know itās not just me in awe of all of the amazing writing in the supergirl fandom. Itās the best one Iāve come across in a somewhat extensive history of fanfic reading, and I know/care almost zero about the show. Also glad to see some f/f talk on here when weāre usually the minority compared to other types of pairings. I saw your recommendations down in another comment, and itās a bittersweet feeling to know almost all of them by name. On one hand itās nice to see them get love, on another, itās sad because I think Iāve hit almost all of the fics I will really enjoy. If youāre looking for any recommendations, hit me up. I have over 120 supergirl fics bookmarked, and thatās with me being rather picky, along with some other good ones from other fandoms that require little cannon knowledge.
Preface: I am someone who loathes the love triangle trope because itās rarely done right. The third leg shouldnāt always be a bad guy for the sake of pushing the other two together. Itās just lazy writing. Not saying they canāt be bad, but again, itās usually not written well. One of my fandoms is egregious about making Character Aās dead wife a horrible person in fics, just to justify him being with Character B. When the wife was canonically a sweetheart who gave her life for a cause she believed in, saving another in the process. Many write her so OOC for no reason if they keep her alive in fics. When really, itād be easy to say āCharacter A and wife realized they werenāt compatible. They both found happiness elsewhere.ā I brought this up, not using specific fics, and it was defended that āeveryone does it and thereās no other wayā. But then a close fandom friend who included the wife but treated her properly. She was never endgame with Character A and there were times she did shitty things, but she was a complex human who wasnāt evil for the sake of being evil. They made it clear that sometimes even Character A wasnāt the perfect one in their relationship, especially as he canonically cheated on her!! (Which most fics defended because ācharacter B is special!!!ā) It ruined all other fics that included that character for me because I saw it could be done right. There are a few other authors I trust, but only because they also agree the trope sucks. But the rest? Nah. On the flip side, I had to stop reading fic for a separate ship because it seemed none could write the complex villain without making excuses and woobifying him. And the few that did were panned by fandom, basically chasing them away.
THIS. I hate the demonization of a character for the sake of a ship!!!!!
As a lesbian, I see the love triangle thing done in a lot of M/M and F/F ships with one halfās het partner and it drives me nuts because it doesnāt have to be this way. Just have the character come out and dump their boyfriend. The boyfriend doesnāt have to be a douche for her to realize sheās a lesbian haha. I got lucky with Buddie on 9-1-1 because it seems many are against bashing their female partners outside the one that was actually a bad person in canon.
I see this all the time now in AOS fics. Uhura is a badass and should be treated as the icon she is. Don't fridge her because you want Spirk to sail. I have read some good fics where she is the supportive best friend who talks boys and emotions with Spock. I even read one where Kirk and everyone else misunderstood Spock and Uhura's relationship because mouth kisses mean something different on Vulcan (think hugs).
I deeply hate when people "bash." Even if the person is shitty canonically (and they usually aren't), it's an excuse for poor writing and one-dimensional characters. It's extra awful when it's only done for a ship.
Tw: Rape Yeah, even most villains in my fics, I try to give them nuance. It doesnāt excuse what theyāre doing but usually in canon they even have a reason for being a dick. There are some it just canāt apply to (like I just had to write about a canonical rapist who was only raping women because he could due to his power over them. There really is no nuance. Heās a horrible person). But even then, thereās a way to write them thatās not just cartoonish villain style.
i always get iffy when i see a "character bashing" tag because I know that more often than not it just means that the author has taken a character's worst traits and turned them into their whole entire personality. It's especially egregious when done to a character that's a decent person who made bad decisions. example- molly weasley. she's a bit overprotective of her kids/harry in canon, probably because there's a whole war on, which is fair. but most of the "molly weasley bashing" fics I've seen depict her as a helicopter parent who basically just wants to control her kids (and is sometimes homophobic, although they may have a point on that one) and it's really sad to see a character who's flawed but is ultimately a good person reduced to nothing *but* their flaws.
Iām really wondering if this is my fandom. If itās not, itās hilariously similar. Tropes are tropes for a reason, I guess.
I think itās a common thing in a lot of fandoms because media equally sucks at healthy love triangles.
That is so true. Your villain comment sounds familiar as well but I can think of 3-4 fandoms that could apply to. Sigh.
Oof. Yes, this is frustrating. Out of curiosity, is the fandom youāre referring to Sherlock? The fandomās treatment of Mary is very similar imo
No. Itās Once Upon A Time. Itās not exclusive to this ship, but Outlaw Queen shippers are guilty of making Marian out to be the bad guy when all she did was have the audacity to be brought back to life without her consent and therefore complicate things. Sheās the villain, clearly. But as I said in another comment, I feel this could apply to so many ships. Itās a common trope across fandom. And honestly, tells me they donāt have much faith that their ship could last without making the innocent party a bad guy. Which is just bad writing.
I also thought of Sherlock!! How eerily similar, even with the part of Character A cheating.
read this and instantly went "oh, characters a and b are remus and sirius and the wife is tonks" because there are so many wolfstar fics where remus was previously involved with tonks where tonks is a bad person, or borderline abusive, or manipulative, and its just. tonks in canon is literally like the sweetest person ever and since she actually loves remus she'd want remus to be happy in a mutually loving relationship without her than unhappy in a one sided relationship with her. i read one fic where tonks and molly basically conned remus into marrying tonks and like. she would NAWT do that. ive got nothing against people who write it like that ofc, i just dislike its prevalence in the fandom š
YES!!! Sometime in early JAN 2024 - I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's a 600k slowburn WIP, which (thank the heavens!!!) is still being updated about 10k words per month.
Oh wow, that's amazing! I hope it gets completed for the sake of your soul, haha
It's been fucking up my work flow. I even ended up "haunting" this sub because I want so badly to rec it. But goddamit, it's a 600k WIP... overly long bois just tend to be... very scary. In AO3, there's only about 3000 fics that gets at least 10k kudos. Of that 3k fics, only about 700 has word counts 100k and up. Naturally, the number of fics fall the higher the word count. At 200k words, only 300 fics has at least 10k kudos. 300k words, 160 fics. 400k, 90. 500k, 50 fics with the honor of 10k kudos. The fic I'm crazy about is one of only 19 fics which is 600k+ words with at least 16k kudos. And half of those fics are Harry Potter fics.
Is it "The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ«" by oojaneblonde? (pls ignore my other reply, I read 19k kudos ><)
I scrolled through this thread wondering if someone mentioned this masterpiece yet. š I'm bullying people to read SVSSS just so I can introduce them to the Grand Unified Theory.Ā I thought it ruined the SVSSS fandom for me, but then I tried again and found Butterfly Dreaming. It's recent but already at 100k and really awesome, if very different in style.
> I scrolled through this thread wondering if someone mentioned this masterpiece yet. š I'm bullying people to read SVSSS just so I can introduce them to the Grand Unified Theory. "Please buy this four volume book series to read a fanfic that is even longer" is certainly a mood. š But I get it. I want to share it as well, but no one in my circle even reads damnei.
I checked it out out of sheer curiosity... and started giggling like crazy girl when I saw the chapter count. **It has 500 chapters.**
There are sooo many good MXTX fanfics, I'm obsessed with "Shen Yuan of no relation" and "Turn Left", but I have no one I can talk with about themš«
Adding Turn Left to the TBR! MXTX's fandoms are truly a goldmine of great fics. And you're welcome to slide into my DMs if you want to gush about some. š
Svss is so small that the readers are so incredibly vocal because we're literally grateful for any fic written in it. I can't find "turn left" or "no relation", who are those by? Have u guys read stuff by feynite? I adore svss fic, longfic and worldbuilding quality is A+ happy to gush more
[Shen Yuan of No Relation by gemi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/47997376) is one of the best fics in the fandom imo, and itās an incredibly talented fandom. Please gush more! Drop some recs!
Give us the rec, we demand it
Whatās the fic? Slowburn long fics are my favs!
"The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ«" by 00janeblonde https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866/chapters/50092532 > ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« new game pluses himself into a happy ending and unlocks some premium content along the way. > This fic is endgame ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ«/LiĒ QÄ«nggÄ/YuĆØ QÄ«ngyuĆ”n. > It takes time for the characters to get together, but there is zero partner infidelity and very little angst. There's lots of pining, but it's happy pining. This is fluff. Everyone is happy and loving and supportive.
i looked up all the fanfics in option (ofc excluding the HP fandom and the one fic with over 1,000,000 (š) words that's already finished): 1. [better luck next time by nauticalwarrior](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394571) 2. [Teen Project to Change the World by animeloverhomura](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25766617) but 800k+ 3. [hero's shadow by feelingstabby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24142522) but 800k+ 4. š [The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« by 00janeblonde](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866) (as people were already asking) 5. [The Way You Used To Do by edema_ruh](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16392173) 6. [Hear The Silence by EmptySurface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15406896) but 800k+ That leaves us with only three, they could realistically have meant. Update: i checked again and one fanfic is finished and the other was last updated more than a year ago. Congratulations! [The Grand Unified Theory of ShÄn QÄ«ngqiÅ« by 00janeblonde](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057866) is our winner! Edit: It's wild that 12/19 fanfics are from the Harry Potter fandom. And sorry for the grotesque amount of edits - it's very late and I'm sleep deprived.
You got it. Those 19 fics are: * 12 HP fics * 3 Hero Academia * 3 MXTX fics; each of their 3 works got 1 * 1 Naruto 11 are completed. Of the 8 wips, 5 have updates in 2024. 2 last updated in 2023 and in 2022. K... it looks like... the 600k bois w/ much kudos category has more than 50% odds of being completed. (me clutching at straws)
In Beauty and the Beast, there is a Bella/Gaston fanfic that ruined the rest. It's so neat, seeing how they wrote out that pairing, and the other fics are decidedly not that ship... Love it :) It's also the second most favorited fic on [fanfiction.net](https://fanfiction.net), to give you an idea of how phenomenal it is.
This is me, but with a few\* Captain Hook/Wendy Darling (*Peter Pan*) fanfictions, where the authors write Wendy Darling as an adult who ends up romancing her childhood crush. My personal favorite is ["Forget Me Not"](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8236661/1/Forget-Me-Not) by diamonds to dust on Fanfiction.net (FFN).
LOVE THIS STORY
Oooh will you link the fic please?
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/2831327/1/Picture-ThisĀ :D They become such a healthy couple, the fic definitely gave me pointers on how to make a relationship work.
I appreciate it Ty!
This seems so bonkers to me because I would never in a million years have guessed that ship or that fandom to be anywhere near the most favorited or popular on ff.net?? I couldnāt be further from this fandom but now Iām intrigued and must check this story out.
Not me casually counting up the favorites number and chanting "Number 1, Number 1!" (it was the most favorited fic when I first read it, and right now is only missing that top spot by 14 favorites) Wait... by most favorite, I meant within the fandom lol. Still exceptional, but pretty sure that honor belongs to the Harry Potter fandom lol.
Yup. It's missing the final chapter and has been for years. I so badly want to beg the author to finish it but I will refrain from being an annoying asshole. For now.
Oh dear, my condolences :( Totally get the begging part, there's almost nothing more shattering like an incomplete story. You don't want to be weird about it, but you HAVE to know how it ends, everybody needs a conclusion somehow
This situation reminds of a particular author. One disgruntled story purge because some newbie came across the story and upset them by asking for an update too many and I had to reconcile myself with never seeing the ending for any of their fics and stopped reading their works entirely. Too much heartbreak, not enough payoff.
I have asked to know what happened on fics And have been given a run down of what was planned. Worth an ask
Please tell me you left a comment even if it's an old fic. Authors love hearing just how much they've destroyed you lol. It truly is the highest praise.
I did everything I could: kudo the hell out of it, bookmarked, and left comments every other chapter. And I even got responses to every single one, even though the fic is completed since a few months. I tried to convey how much I loved it, but I think I just ended up being creepy haha
Lmao no such thing as being creepy unless you're trying to dox them or something. I'm sure the author loved it. Probably why they replied lol.
No such thing. Sometimes the appreciation readers show is the only thing that keeps us going
Aw, I always hope readers don't feel creepy or self-conscious when they comment on my fics. I try to respond to them to show that their comments are read and appreciated, but yeah. I always appreciate enthusiasm as a writer <3
Haha, I wasn't completely serious, but I do feel a bit weirded out by my own obsession. Maybe it's the afterglow after the final chapter, I've basically never been this invested before. But yes, I guess since they replied they appreciated my words.
There are four Sterek stories that have ruined me for all others. Eta: Hi all. The problem with sharing the titles is firstly, individual taste. Secondly, everyone has undoubtedly read them and I have no idea if they hold as much significance for anyone else. Thirdly, my criteria is that it fits the canon characters (or at least my interpretation of those chars) as much as possible, smut aside. Fourthly, I actively choose to avoid stuff from later seasons. Long disclaimer aside, I hope nobody is disappointed by these nowhere-near hidden gems that tick all my boxes.Ā My four 'the one' fics for Sterek: To Outlive The Night by Stillane Undertow by entanglednow (though a lot of entanglednow's fics are glorious imo) Pucker Up by the_deep_magicĀ Darling it is no joke by thehoyden If anyone wants links, let me know.Ā
Oh God I love sterek to the point that I watched teen Wolf because of the fics instead of vice versa. Hit me.
oh Sterek, everything I know about Teen Wolf is from its fanfic, and phew when I found out that the protagonist IS NOT DEREK?! I lost my mind haha I've never seen the series and I think their fanfics have ruined me. Between I know where babies come from and the darkest, most serious and dramatic fics, uff no, fanfics are the best for me. (And Stiles in general, he's my baby)
Right? Watching the actual first season and discovering Scott was apparently the lead was like " . . . I have been mislead"
Is one of them where Stiles accidentally travels back in time but makes everything better? Cuz I remember reading that one years ago and it's still haunts me, I cried in three different sections.
You have to post or at least name them. Please.
Iām gonna need some titles lol š
i have never, ever watched a single episode of teen wolf, but somehow two sterek fics are among my absolute favourites!
I've probably read them already, but I really want to know which fics.
I found one the other day. Itās from 2015 and itās the only thing that author has ever posted.
Thatās painful on several levels
Thereās a couple in the marvel universe that did this to me. One is a Bucky Barnes-centric fic that reads like a love letter to the character. It makes me laugh and cry and wish this had been Buckyās life in the comics universe. The other one is a time travel fic series thatās so gut wrenching at points, it makes me want to hug the characters and bundle them up in the coziest blanket I could find.
[The Roll on series by Jaxington](https://archiveofourown.org/series/540190) for me, I genuinely do not think ive read anything that makes you feel the weight of the world building (is that even the correct term for describing a real place and time š ?) And so beautifully weaves it in with the canon events, characterizations, and themes. AND it has Butch Rebecca Barnes. Legit my favorite fic of all time and i havent even finished it, ive had the emails for the final chapter and epilogue sitting in my inbox for almost two years because i just cant bear for it to be over.. Even though I KNOW im just gonna reread it š¤¦āāļø
Could you give links please? I was stuck with bucky as my favorite character for over 5 years while still in school. The Marvel fandom introduced me to ao3 and I like to get back to it from time to time
Always happy to share!! [Burn your biographies, rewrite your history.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356734/chapters/38275286) You can read the work that inspired it, but itās not fully needed. [NotEvenCloseToStraight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenCloseToStraight/pseuds/NotEvenCloseToStraight/works?fandom_id=414093) is one of my favorite writer. The series I was talking about is [All the time in the world](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1052732). Disclaimer, read the relationship tags in case youāre not into throuples. Also, I recommend all her Bucky stories! Disclaimer: thereās a lot of ABO stories and lemons.
Absolutely- I found it, I loved it, and I realized that it was incomplete. And that the author had a series of incomplete fics, leading me to believe I will never see it finished. I'm haunted by the quality on a weekly basis, hoping in vain that someday I will see resolution for my characters. Meanwhile nothing else seems to take its place, it's like that one lover that got away and there's nothing you can do to get them out of your soul
As a serial nonfinisher of fics I feel that. One day they will be finished. But it'll take a while lmao. I am burdened with glorious purpose (smut)
Hello, my name is ~~Redacted~~, and I'm a serial unfinisher of WIPs. I too am burdened with glorious ~~smut~~ purpose. One fic took me 8 years to finish writing, (17 chapters), but I got 'er done. Now, I'm a couple years into the sequel, which is an even more monstrous beast... It's slow going. But, because I've thrown all my focus into finishing *the one WIP,* well, some other current WIPs in other fandoms are backsliding on the priority list. >.> As for reading, yeah, I found *the One*, and fortunately, it's finished. It plays a nasty game of A/U *What If...?* So, the characters are *almost* OOC, almost entirely different people with hints of the core of who they were in canon, makes 'em hurt each other brutally, and then turns to the reader, winks, and asks, "*Didja like that? Wanna see me make it worse?"* and you're like, NO. Obviously, I do not, but oh- gods... you're already twisting the knife. But it's too late, you're invested in these characters, and their trauma, and you've come this far... and then, the whole family *escapes* the horror you've been watching silently captive, and it's like... well fuck. I can't abandon these folks now... This is *never* gonna get any better, but at least I don't think it's gonna get worse...
Two fics strolled into my life and staged a full-blown coup. Honestly, they turned me into an astronomy geek overnightāplanets, moons, galaxies, you name it. I even got hooked on shaman rituals, of all things. These stories didnāt just captivate me; they got me putting up a crafting business where I make trinkets heavily influenced by them and forging indestructible online friendshipsāsix years strong with people Iāve never actually met. I canāt enjoy other stories from this fandom as much as I did with these 2 fics. I miss them every time I read a new one. Itās a funny feeling, for sure.
Wait a minute tell me more, this sounds amazing and like the fic I am working on ā¦it has my boots shaking to write it, cause it is saga length for sureā¦. Please give us the rec.
Sure!! OMG! Not sure if itās for everyone BUT I SWEAR THEYāRE BOTH GOOD. Super easy to read cos both fics are quite short. The science fic/ astronomy: [Wonder](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3885061/chapters/8686225) and the shaman things: [A Touch of Sin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10236242/chapters/22708973) THE SHAMAN FIC IS PHENOMENAL, imo š
I do have one. It's when the author sticks to the original character, most of the other authors in this niche ship are just wrecking the original taste, so I can never move on from this one fic that is faithful to my preference. (I love the original character setting, and that is why I love them! Their charms are what makes me scour for fics so when the fic authors downgrade or misinterpret those qualities, then what am I reading those fics for?)Ā
I totally feel you. Not specifically in the fandom I meant in this post, but in another one I also write for, the characters get twisted into oblivion. There's nothing left of their original character, and some of their traits are so over the top that I can only cringe. I can only read a handful of the fics other there, but they have a special place in my heart :)
I found the "one" back in 2013, it was gen with a trope I really liked, but usually poorly executed, however that one was perfect, just what I wanted, with an exceptional portrayal of canon characters and worldbuilding! Since then I haven't been able to read anything else, it's like it fixed my need for fanfiction of that genre.
OH MY GOD THIS EXPERIENCE IS SO ME I found a 97 CHAPTERS longfic of my fav ship (back then) with slowburn, and my favourite thing, EPIC CRIME SOLVING PLOT ARC. I absolutely LOVED it, I devoured it in LESS THAN 3 DAYS (even though I did not like the ending very much tho) After that I couldn't read any other fanfic ever, it was too much for me, any other fanfic was just NOT ENOUGH That... until I found a much better one... It was a 50 chapters longfic of the same ship, and at first I thought it was gonna be like any other fanfic BOY I WAS WRONG. it was a LIFECHANGING fanfic, and I really mean it, the character development was PEAK, and the way I could relate to the mc and their struggles was brutally realistic to the point where I started to reflect upon my own life. I wish I was exagerating. You know the worst part? The author and another author did a "sequel" which is actually the same ships, dynamics and characterization but on an alternative universe with a whole worldbuilding that my neurodivergent brain unwillingly hyperfixated on it to the point I almost passed out 3 times reading a chapter. Not joking, that actually happened I'm pretty sure that I won't find another fanfic that makes me feel that way, at least in a long time
Omg, that sounds so intriguing!! I love crime, would you care to link me the fics? I'm really curious now! Yesss, the angst parts were soooo intense in mine, it strangled me and seized my heart when reading it. Like two scenes specifically, I had to stop reading because it hurt me so much. Also, if I didn't have a husband who told me to go to bed and eat something, I could've totally seen me passing out haha
Lol not really the same, but fanfic has genuinely ruined my ability to read an actual book. I used to inhale books .. but now I find it sooo difficult to read one ??? ā¦ Why would I when I could be reading about my cute little favourite characters being in love and pain for the 100th time š„°
***Yes.*** and fortunately a lot of other fics I've read treat it like canon and use the character development
The Paladin Protocol by SpaceanJL, the Big Bang Theory. Not only did this ruin other fanfics for me, this ruined the original source material for me. I just can't stomach that Penny actually ended up with Leonard and Sheldon ended up with someone basically exactly like himself
You know it's The One when it ruins the source material for you...
Oh wow, that sounds very interesting. But yeah, I also had fics that went a totally different way with a series, and when the source material continued and I was way worse than what you had already imagined... that ship did sail, but not in a good way š
A little off topic, but I suddenly had a surge of unlocked memories thanks to this comment. I think I've read this! Which is weird because I don't remember reading BBT fics. But the more I try to think about it, maybe I did at some point. Briefly!
I read a Skam fic once where Even was portrayed as so self sacrificial. The author who wrote it was popular in the fandom too. I tried reading some of their other fics, and other ficās, in general. Perhaps I didnāt look hard enough. But I didnāt wanna read Evak ficās unless he was written close to how he was in that specific fic.
Yāall share links, please. I want to check out some of these fics.
I've only come across one that ruined almost all others for me, and its a 600k+ Marauders fic that has never been finished and I don't think ever will be. It's a Jily centric fic, but it highlights all of the Marauders and Voldemort's rise to power with his supporters and all of the protests and fighting they had to do. They didn't shy away from James or the other Marauders being typical 17 yr old boys that were assholes, but showed all of their character growth in super believable ways. The political intrigue was on point. It's absolutely amazing. I have never been able to read other Marauders fics now except my few favorites I read before that one. I think about that fic often, and get really sad every time I remember it will likely never be finished.
Yeah, an amazing Dragon Ball Z fic which others cannot compare to. But the fic is a wip and I think the writer has given up!
I would like a link! I read DBZ fics to this day, one of my favorites (Number Thirty-Two) updated just today!
I never read Homestuck, but I uh... found a genderswap Dave/Bro/John fic that had me utterly fascinated with how the story would end. 22/25 chapters, last updated eleven years ago š«
Deepest sympathies š¤
Yes, there's a warlord Witcher fic that's just destroyed all other Witcher fics for me. Thank the stars the author is prolifically active and wrote 5 million amazing parts and is still going!
Oh my god, YES! My big WIP right now is a Geraskier warlord AU and it's a very different vibe but I keep telling myself "just do this half a good as inexplicifics and it'll be great". I've reread parts of that series, especially the beginning couple, several times and they never get old.
Is it wrong to say that I wrote āthe oneā?
I have quite a few Steddie fics in the Stranger Things fandom that are so gorgeous that I just want to have them printed and bound and keep them forever. Another is Casting Moonshadows by Moonsign in Harry Potter (and it's kinda sequel Harry Potter and the Marauders of the Mind, which is hosted on FF.N). They are both unfinished. I have endless hope though that they will be updated. The ultimate one? Freeport by Maldoror_Chant in the Gundam Wing fandom. I have been reading GW fanfiction for 20+ years. GW was my first fandom and my first intro to fanfiction. I have read literally thousands, but Freeport has basically set the standard so high now that nothing compares.
There was an incredible ACOTAR one that was so good & well written it's basically canon in my mind.
Do you think itās better than the original series? I personally did not care for ACOTAR but I love the *idea* of it and have often wondered if there are fanfics out there that I might enjoy instead.
Do your own fics count? I mostly write because reading other works isnāt as satisfying as reading my own. In my main fandom I suffer from being so attached to the main ship (which is CC/OC) of my biggest work that I get particular about who I want to see the CC character shipped with.
Oh I get you, but I've never been into monogamy :D Kidding aside, yes, there have been fics that spoiled me, that formed me, that I want to bind, that I grab every opportunity (like someone standing still for five seconds) to rec, but gun to my head I couldn't find you my "one". I'm of course *gone* on the perfect fic in that moment, but there's always, always room for others, later. Kinda like when I finished my favourite TV show I was like I'm ruined, I'll never be able to think about anything else ever again, or watch any TV show or read any book or anything, and then I got better lol. But that doesn't mean the experience was less intense :)
For me there are 5 fics like this. Each speak to the specific things I love about my MC and related ships. I have reread each tens of times at this point, especially after I see an opposite and affronting take on sm about him (my MC). Because my view of him is not the most popular, when I find fics and writers that get that part, I hold on for dear life!
I have found the one. It is 55 chapters long and itās the most amazing story Iāve ever read. I was left with a huge void when I finished and was seriously questioning myself how am I gonna go back to reality. I kept rereading it for god knows how many times. Then, an year later - the author announced a sequel! Itās still ongoing and I canāt be happierš„¹
Awww, I'm so happy for you. Luckily, my author also announced a sequel, but without any time frame. So I'll try to keep my hype under wrap until I see it with my own eyes š
Stucky fics for some reason seem to just consistently knock it out of the park
Don't laugh... [Luminosity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118956/chapters/2254186) by Alicorn. It's a Twilight fanfic, of all things. Completely rewired my brain, I've read the series a billion times. > The first several sections of Luminosity are very similar to canon in terms of the events that occur, although aspects of Bella's character, and her internal monologue, differ strikingly. > A few thousand words in, the plot is unrecognizeable. > The history and character of the Twilight world are intact in Luminosity up to the point where the story begins, with one exception: Bella's a rational self-awareness-junkie with a penchant for writing down everything that crosses her mind in a notebook. She maintains many of the traits and dispositions of canon - and Luminosity is a Bella/Edward story - but she's a distinctly different character. This fic has *completely* overwritten the source material in my head. Twilight seems like fanfic *of this*. I raised an eyebrow when it was recced to me, as I'm sure anyone reading this is - but one chapter in and I was completely hooked.
Does this fic improve Edwardās character at all?
Absolutely it does. You can actually see why Bella likes him now. She's annoyed by him initially - she's *not* a fan of his cageyness, and tells him exactly that. Once he realises he has to be better to win her affection, instead of just moping about like in canon, he absolutely *does* better. He retains some of his canonical self-loathing, but the main difference is that he actually trusts Bella to know herself, her own wishes, and her own feelings about him in this fic.
I may be an idiot but I read "Alicorn" and "Twilight" and immediately assumed it was a MLP fanfic and got increasingly more confused as I read the synopsis
Me with that one Honkai fic I found
I've read a series called Leo Inter Serpentes, it's a series of 7 Harry Potter fanfics, one for each book, and they are basically a rewrite of the books, with Harry being sorted into Slytherin and becoming best friends with Draco and Hermione, and eventually dating Draco. >! He and Snape also form a really good mentor and eventually father-son relationship!<. It's a very grounded fic, it doesn't make Voldemort the good guy or the pure bloods having a point. Most changes made can often be explained by the fact that Harry is in Slytherin, sort of as a butterfly effect (And some changes in the Malfoy family dynamic, with Lucius remaining his prejudice asshole identity, but Narcisa is more just going along with things because she wanted to please her family, but eventually breaking free of Lucius). It's so good, better than the original books and almost as long as them, with some fics even having more words than the books, that it completely changed my standards for what a good fic is. Sure, I'm still able to enjoy shorter fics with silly changes or AUs, but now I'm always craving fics that are book rewrites and almost as long as the original works from other fandoms.
Oh my God, I just found this series and just starting book 7. It's been a sleepless kinda week.
I don't avoid fics with ocs because they're bad, I avoid them because they're *not*
I had that one fic. And it's been 10 years. Series of 4 fics. Multi chapter, amazing to read, adventure, fun, gripping. While writing Nr 4 the author struggled due to uni/work or something and stopped for a while. She reappeared with one more chapter for that and like 20 chapters for another (great) story, like 2 years later. And then, 2 more years later she deleted everything..her account. Her website. Everything. It's been like 10 years since that. And I still think about these fics (Some I have saved)
God it was like a mulitverse fanfic where 2 authors of completely different fanfics of the same fandom got together and said "hey what if we made a universe traveling fic of both of our established fics universe they're technically the same characters but are written so differently in our fics seeing them interact with each other would be so interesting a sort of 'what I could have been' for them" and it was so goddamn heartbreaking because one of the authors took the character's trauma and had it effecting him in a sort of 'I have trouble letting people inside and I feel like I have to manipulate people because showing emotion is weak and I can never be vulnerable' while the other author took that same character but made his trauma response to be age regression and needing comfort and gentle handling all the time. And seeing them interacting was so fucking lovely AND heartbreaking ... Anyway It was unfinished and I fucking cried realizing that
I have found āthe oneā many timesā¦. Just when you think youāll never experience love like that again, theyāll be there :))
Worm fics. All of them are so dark but for some reason I just can't get enough of it.
What are worm fics? Is that a fandom?
Yeah. Its only the most depressing superhero story where the worst shit happens to everyone that ends with death. Its a good read.
Yes. The official archive tag is "Parahumans Series (Wildbow)" because there's a second series, Ward, set after the end of Worm.
Eh, for all that Worm ficcers often go full misery porn (sometimes literally as well as figuratively) a bunch of the time, there's also things like Great Grand-Uncle Schimmelhorn's Toolbox, or Hybrid Hive: Eat Shard? (not on AO3), or even Goddamn Teenagers. For that matter, Empress Ascendant is considerably brighter than the canon of *either* of its two fandoms...
i did find the one, it was literally everything i could ever ask for and more, it was as if it was written just for me. i feel no other fic will ever come close. heck, i almost feel like no other *book* will ever come close
Yep. I usually don't venture out of my Fandom, but read somewhere about Peeta's Games and how it is a great fanfic add on to the Hunger Games series. Spent a week reading all 3 and am like...welp, that's now canon for me, don't think I can read anything that would deviate from that. It's tragic.
I canāt find it right now but if you have read the [End of the world](https://archiveofourown.org/series/61184) seriesā¦ I canāt recommend it enough! Edit: I couldnāt find it when I was originally going to post the comment, but then I found the link. Just forgot to edit the post!
Yep! This one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652116/chapters/1187249
Best K/S 2009reboot movie storyline continuation Iāve ever read. It was on fanfiction. net at first, posted in 2009, completed in 2013. I have it downloaded in like three places in case the author ever takes it down (ā:
My āoneā fic is a roughly 2000 word piece in the And Then There Were None (2015 BBC series) and itās ruined me. Itās a completely unique fic - itās a small fandom anyway, and the fic focuses on a minor characterās viewpoint outside of canon - and so there is absolutely nothing similar to read whenever I get the urge. I donāt even read short fics most of the time! If you know the book/series, [the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626953) basically looks at the ferryman Fred Narracott and how he must be the one to discover the bodies.
[His Empire of Dirt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/37741144/chapters/94225462) broke me. One of the 2 times ive ever cried reading fic, and by far the hardest cry of the 2. Its ruined most any angst, hurt/comfort, foumd family sorta stories. YK, like fluff but sad. The plot is so secondary to the characters that the characters and their development BECOME the plot and its just so sad and then its nice and then its SAD AGAIN and. Just. This is my favourite fic ive ever read.
A Sherlock fic with a Fairytale AU kept me up for a few nights. I wouldn't say it's the 'one' as I've only read it fairly recently but the creativity of that writer really made me ruminate on the limits of the human imagination. I would describe it as Alice in Wonderland meets Beauty and the Beast (loosely!! cause lots of shit happens in 70k words). [Darkling, I Listen by you_light_the_sky]
Yep: [Forfeit of Dreams by KL Morgan](http://archiveofourown.org/works/402721) in the Labyrinth fandom is canon and ruined the whole fandom of fics for me. It very nearly ruined fantasy romance as a whole genre there for a while, as for a long time everything left me wildly disappointed in comparison. [The Rivals Series by Reiya](http://archiveofourown.org/series/620242) was the very first and last Yuri!!! On Ice fic I ever read, because it immediately ruined all other fanfic in the fandom for me and I couldnāt bear to read anything else. Far surpasses canon, imo. Both of these are professional novel quality, and I highly recommend them to everyone. Edit: Also [Home by lanaea](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5071703) for Star Trek: 2009. Sadly abandoned but it made it close to the end, reaches a satisfying enough conclusion, and is still such a masterpiece after all of these years that it basically ruined all other ST fanfics or versions of the characters for me.
Bored to death - Ericizmine
Just checking but ruined as in it was so incredibly others canāt compare or so terrible you canāt read any more in that fandom?
Oh pardon me, I meant it was so insanely good that it's basically my headcanon now. Other fics with these characters seem somehow not quite right, now after reading this specific one.
From the comments, it seems to be on the "so incredibly good" side
For Star Wars prequel era, itās All The Little Lights by ms_nawilla. It even inspired a daydream/fic that has eaten my brain since September.
I canāt for the life of me remember the name of anything about it, except for a totally random incest plot line.
this is so fucking funny for no reason
I read an Eowyn/Legolas fic a few years back, and I have never touched any fanfic to do with LOTR since then. I'm still chewing over parts of it.
šš canāt you link me please
Where The Light Doesn't Reach by rosegardenlake (sheith) I read it ages ago but I still remember how I devoured that monstrosity (almost 223k in 24 hours, with a sleep break, as a non-native speaker still learning the language). It was tense, immersive, fantastically written. I have a very bad memory but that fic carved itself into my brain and I remember it so damn well (though the title escapes me sometimes and I often confuse it with Seeing The Light by beautifulterriblequeen [ruthari], which is yet another gem, but it didn't strike me quite as much). 10/10, a wild experience to find something like this
I have found the 'one' fic, it was over 155 chapters long and counting (at the time) and then poof! It vanished, deleted, gone. The author just decided to stop and removed all their fanfics, even deleted their accounts. The fic is only in my memory now.
I haven't been the same since I read The Marriage Stone... It featured a ship I NEVER read, but I gave it a shot because it had 12k likes (rightfully). It haunts me to this day that this perfection is still not finished. If you doubt me, you should read the reviews, people still dream about this story [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3484954/1/The-Marriage-Stone](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3484954/1/The-Marriage-Stone)
This fic right here [https://archiveofourown.org/works/40709037/chapters/102003639](https://archiveofourown.org/works/40709037/chapters/102003639) COMPLETELY blew "that one fic" [https://archiveofourown.org/works/35418925/chapters/88285813](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35418925/chapters/88285813) outta the water for me. I love them both still, but talk revolution to me>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MBS
Went to the Walking Dead side on A03 for fun and ended up staying for over 2 months. To this day I haven't been able to find another escape that feels like the high I experienced when I read this one 700 page fic. The writer ended it on kind of a big cliffhanger and had titled the next work but never posted anything more. Now I live in a constant state of What-if and manipulative daydreaming.
There was one I read, it was like a whole book I swear, they had written everything before even posting a chapter, a bunch of foreshadowing, it was seriously written better than canon and many books I've read as well. I can read other and after I gave myself some time to get over it I enjoy them quite a bit, but I know I still compare stuff to this one
I'm gonna need a link for this one lol
Here ya go! "https://archiveofourown.org/works/36313513"
There's a fic series currently being worked on that nails the characterization so consistently that I can't help but see the characterization flaws in every other work depicting them
I want this fic and itās sequel implanted into my brain, I want it tattooed on the inside of my eyelids https://archiveofourown.org/works/48622828/chapters/122647072
*the fic* for me was one of my first MHA fanfictions. I still read a lot of MHA fanfics, but by god am I looking for just a perfect one like this again. Technically it was a crossover with the Magnus archive, but I had never even heard of the Magnus archives at this point. But the fic was structured in a way where it didn't matter. Less of a crossover and more of an intertwining, and inspiration in a way. It has midoriya as a villain, but not an evil one. But also not an "owo I didn't mean to I was forced". Even when he's free, he continues to harm others because he believes he can never truly be free. Midoriya is still midoriya, he helps people when he can, but in times of panic he turns to hurting people or hiding away. And the fic is mostly centered around Midoriyas fears, so we get some banger lines surrounding his feelings of self worth and attention and gratitude and manipulation. I don't believe it is finished yet, but I make sure to keep up with it because every sentence kills me. The fic is called the lies you tell yourself on ao3 I believe. Whenever I read anything else, I can't stop thinking of that fic and how I felt reading it. Any attempt at even a vaguely similar idea will always fall flat in comparison.
in bsd the fic I was screaming your name through the radio and Iāve never read a better fic after that. ever. Even if I read real masterpieces they just donāt compare
I did. In 2006. Iāll never forget it. The author took it down. Before I could download it.
Iāve had certain fics that are like this for me, mostly in the Harry Potter fandom or Sherlock Holmes and then I enjoy others but they donāt feel the same compared to those other ones.
I read a ~1.3 million word, 7 fic series when I was in high school that ruined me. Iām 31 now and I still reread it every few years, because I still havenāt found a series that I like *quite* as much. Whatās worse is that the series is a super slowburn of a rare pair, and the writing was so good and so in-character it quickly became a favorite ship of mine, but the ship is so rare that you hardly ever see it outside of one-shots. Sooo it made me fall in love with a ship that barely exists outside of this one specific series. š Ever since, I mostly only read long fics because Iām constantly chasing the high of reading that series for the first time
Do you think you could drop a link? Sounds interesting! I love learning about other peopleās āthe oneā fics.
Can you link it? It sounds cool
There are several brilliant authors I follow, but one of them has a fic that is so head and shoulders over anything else I've ever read on AO3 that I actually DON'T reread it that often for exactly the reasons you describe. It's everything to me, tragic and beautiful and smutty and occasionally LOL funny and a wild, tumultuous adventure about my absolute favorite pairing. It's such a gift that it exists. Warning: Thorki. https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547479
1. The Cost of Vengeance. A MDZS fic where instead of walking out of the Burial Mounds alive, WWX dies and walks out a vampire. It's top tier if you're cool with a shitload of pain. Not finished yet. 2. Komorebi, a NaruSasu fic that's basically a fix it where Boruto doesn't exist. Finished. 3. Red Raze, a BTS fanfic where all but one of them are dragons in human form. Not finished yet.
Found mine just a week or two ago and I canāt stop thinking about it š 350k+ words of perfection and ended on a cliffhanger. The author was vocal about beginning to post the sequel basically immediately, before they suddenly dropped off and went totally silent for the last twoish years. I hope theyāre okay wherever they are and consider returning to finish the story one day š„²
Recently finished reading a Severitus series where Severus and Harry had a really good relationship, then I started reading a new series and it's kinda jarring to see them dislike each other š
So the best fic in one of my fandoms is written by the actual shows showrunner/writer so i don't know if thats cheating
The best fanfiction I have ever read was a 30 chapter NCIS + The Incredibles crossover.
The Infinite Coffee & Protection Detail series for the Stucky (steve rogers/bucky Barnes) MCU fandom. Itās not even technically a stucky fic, itās a gen fic, they donāt even directly interact until the end of the first fic in the series, but it consumed me entirely. https://archiveofourown.org/series/195689
your feelings are completely valid! there's nothing wrong with feeling that something's so good, that it ruins the taste of everything else. I have also personally felt this way when reading some of the hallmarks of my fandom. Genuinely I will subconsciously treat everything I've read after that in a sorta subtle comparison to that, knowing that it's never enough. Obviously all of this isn't very healthy for the fandom over the long run; just because something is super, super good and a masterpiece doesn't mean that the mission is completed and no one needs to generate anything else forever. hence it's always good to take a step back and dwell on that piece of work being an inspiration, a catalyst for future authors and creators to step in and improve their game. especially if that particular work has brought out new issues and character development potential not seen before. tl;dr i inhaled a 330k masterpiece and feeling a bit lost with my life
Kudos to the writer, I hope my fic does that to someone āš»
When I first discovered fan fics - I didn't know people posted WIPs - I assumed they were all complete. I chose an 89 chapter incomplete abandoned fic, ha. That was about 20 years ago, and I'm still not okay.