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Recs for a novice?
I'm back! And I have a mission.
A friend asked me to rec fic for her. She's read some and she knows what fanfiction is, and she knows it's amazing porn and a cool concept. But she hasn't been sucked in yet. I'd love to help her with that -- but what stories to list? I don't know much about sources she'd be familiar with, except Star Trek, and I don't read that. She's a sci-fi fan, I know that much.
What stories would you rec to a person like that? The fandom I know best right now is Tokio Hotel, but twincest might be too much at first.
Here's what I've got:
Queen of Spades by astolat
"Bond," M said, as he paused in the doorway to hear her out,
"the next time you do something like this will be once too many."
James Bond fic! A familiar source, and M is amazing in this. Het.
West Wing het fic by Speranza
I don't know if she knows West Wing, but then again, I haven't seen much of it and I fell in love with these stories. A relationship between Josh and Donna that I love.
This MCR (bandom) fic where there's role playing (games) by sinsense
Because RPG is her hobby, and I think a bandom AU might be easy to start with; AUs in general, of course.
Scientist, Astronaut, and Nymphomaniac: The nine lives of John Crichton by feldman
A lauded Farscape genderswap fic, het
I didn't find this one that hot but it's been recced all over the place, and Farscape is probably something my friend is familiar with, and a genderswap (a bodyswap, actually) fic would be fun to include, since it's such an interesting fic phenomenon.
Anything else? Maybe more AUs? I'd love to include astolat's Supernatural fic but that's incest, so... maybe I'll still include it because I love it (Under Hill where their memories are wiped and they just remember that they love each other, so they think they're lovers when actually they're brothers). But these should be fics that introduce the characters and the world to the reader, and the more familiar I am with the fandom (like with TH), the less I can tell which fics are like that because everything is so familiar to me.
Rec me anything, I'm curious to know what fics you think are absolutely the best! But I'd love to rec fics to her that are hot, and easy to understand without knowing the canon (or the fanon).
A friend asked me to rec fic for her. She's read some and she knows what fanfiction is, and she knows it's amazing porn and a cool concept. But she hasn't been sucked in yet. I'd love to help her with that -- but what stories to list? I don't know much about sources she'd be familiar with, except Star Trek, and I don't read that. She's a sci-fi fan, I know that much.
What stories would you rec to a person like that? The fandom I know best right now is Tokio Hotel, but twincest might be too much at first.
Here's what I've got:
Queen of Spades by astolat
"Bond," M said, as he paused in the doorway to hear her out,
"the next time you do something like this will be once too many."
James Bond fic! A familiar source, and M is amazing in this. Het.
West Wing het fic by Speranza
I don't know if she knows West Wing, but then again, I haven't seen much of it and I fell in love with these stories. A relationship between Josh and Donna that I love.
This MCR (bandom) fic where there's role playing (games) by sinsense
Because RPG is her hobby, and I think a bandom AU might be easy to start with; AUs in general, of course.
Scientist, Astronaut, and Nymphomaniac: The nine lives of John Crichton by feldman
A lauded Farscape genderswap fic, het
I didn't find this one that hot but it's been recced all over the place, and Farscape is probably something my friend is familiar with, and a genderswap (a bodyswap, actually) fic would be fun to include, since it's such an interesting fic phenomenon.
Anything else? Maybe more AUs? I'd love to include astolat's Supernatural fic but that's incest, so... maybe I'll still include it because I love it (Under Hill where their memories are wiped and they just remember that they love each other, so they think they're lovers when actually they're brothers). But these should be fics that introduce the characters and the world to the reader, and the more familiar I am with the fandom (like with TH), the less I can tell which fics are like that because everything is so familiar to me.
Rec me anything, I'm curious to know what fics you think are absolutely the best! But I'd love to rec fics to her that are hot, and easy to understand without knowing the canon (or the fanon).
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except Star Trek, and I don't read that. She's a sci-fi fan, I know that much.
War Games (http://archiveofourown.org/works/65014) by seperis (Star Trek 2009, Kirk/Spock, ~109,651 words).
Fabulous action/adventure plot that does amazing things with the Star Trek universe. It's the sequel to a pon farr story but you don't have to read that one to enjoy War Games.
The Federation and the Romulan Empire have been on the verge of war for what sometimes feels like forever; this is the place where what passes for peace might end.
Leave No Soul Behind (http://archiveofourown.org/works/187333) by whochick (Star Trek 2009, Kirk/Spock, ~260,000 words). A true SciFi epic. Someone recced it to me like this: "It's an AU where Spock, instead of winding up at Starfleet, winds up at EPAS, the organization that goes in and cleans up the broken bodies Starfleet leaves in its wake. Enter Kirk, a brash young man disenchanted with the way Starfleet handles its disasters. Sparks fly. And that's just the prologue."
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If she likes cheerful, fluffy romances, or if she's not a big fan of speculative fiction: The Student Prince, by FayJay. Classic romance fiction plus magic. (Merlin, Merlin/Arthur)
This one would be perfect for a beginner raised in the US, UK, Australia, etc. It's based on a TV show, yes, but also on a very familiar legend. Even if your friend doesn't know much about Merlin and Arthur, it's still a good choice because it's the easiest in; magic is a basic concept, and the setting - modern-day England, university - is a very familiar one. Also, this is pure romance fiction at its best.
If she reads a lot of science fiction and fantasy, or if you think she's going to do better with het: Phoenix Burning, by Yahtzee. Time travel adventure with vampires. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy/Angel)
This one is incredible. It's probably better if you know who Buffy and Angel are, but since the premise is that Buffy wakes up way in the future and has no fucking clue what's going on, it's easy to learn the key parts along with Buffy. Also, this one has not just a het pairing, but a canonical het pairing.
If she reads a lot of science fiction and fantasy and she's pretty good at just going with it: Diplomatic Relations, by maldoror. NINJAS IN LOVE. (Naruto, Gaara/Rock Lee)
This one is set in the Naruto universe. You don't need to know the source at all, but you do need to be familiar with certain conventions of manga, or else good at accepting that, hey, these people can do things that people absolutely cannot do. (Ninjas who can run for four days! Who can do, and take, a ludicrous amount of damage! Whose training regimens would kill an Olympic-class athlete in a matter of days!) But if she can take that, this is another perfect love story - because the characters hardly interact in the canon, maldoror has to do a lot of work to get them together, meaning you really get to know them, and this works like a traditional love story even if you don't know the genre.
If she's interested in a love story and knows anything about U.S. mythology: Reconcilable Differences, by astolat. (Smallville DCU mashup, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor)
This is the equivalent of the Merlin story, really: a classic love story using characters most people know from mythology, even if they've never read or seen the source. Superman and Lex Luthor are US heroes in the same way Merlin and Arthur are UK ones, and if she knows about them at all, she'll know everything she needs: once friends, now enemies, meant to be together. (Make sure to tell her Kon is real, and is really the son of Clark and Lex in canon.) It's another happy love story.
So obviously this is the fairly fluffy starter set. I can't get any fluffier than this, especially the first and last ones, but if she does better with darker and gritter, that I can do.
These all meet what I consider the primary characteristic of a good introduction to fan fiction, which is that they work as stand-alone stories; if you're looking for recs of shorter stories (which can be easier points of entry), I can provide those, too.
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I don't know about her fluffy/dark preferences, but I know she's a sci-fi and fantasy fan (RPGs, classic Star Trek) and we talked about fanfiction as porn, so I'm going to look for fics that combine those elements. Maybe I'll just try to describe all the stories for her as I link so she can decide what kind of tone she wants to read.
I'm sure she's very familiar with US/UK culture. You've got really good points -- her cultural knowledge, reccing famous mythology fandoms. This is so helpful!
I haven't read any of those fics so now I've got stories to read myself, too! The Merlin and Buffy fics sound SO GOOD. Time travel! University romance! I'm pretty sure my friend knows Buffy, too, so they're perfect for her.
Diplomatic Relations sounds perfect as well because you get to know the characters while reading the story. And yes, Superman must be familiar to her. Although -- I haven't ever watched the show and even if I thought I know a lot about Clark and Lex via fannish osmosis, I didn't know they used to be friends! Huh.
After I wrote this post I remembered Resonant and thought at least Experience would be a good rec -- a SGA AU, so you don't have to know a lot about the canon, and Rodney's voice is usually so sarcastic and funny that the reader can't help but be charmed. And Resonant writes such hot stories.
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If she's been watching Doctor Who the past two seasons, you could do a hell of a lot worse that Vita Longa, by Sam, and its exploration of the Last Centurion, the plastic Roman with a human heart.
Did she love Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles? I'm not sure if this stands alone as a short story without knowledge of fannish conventions, I've been reading fic too long, but I lean toward yes for Lithium Doll's The Fire Handler.
Killing Elvis,, by David Hines, requires no canon familiarity, but she probably knows the Alien series anyway. It is AMAZING and HILARIOUS.
My favorite Torchwood casefic is And Indeed There Will be Time by kaydeefalls, which is funny and heartbreaking by turns.
Fifteen Things You Never Knew About Hogwarts, by Siria, is the best Harry Potter fic of all time and I will brook no argument. Although Penknife's Bad News makes a valiant try. (Requires canon familiarity, but come on, it's Harry Potter.)