Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your fan fiction!

March 9, 2017 4:12 PM

Give me your favorite fan fiction! I'm invited to a fan fiction reading night on Sunday and want to make the group happy with something extra special.

Anything that's available online goes. Weird and wild are of course welcome- e.g. K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider having sexual relations with a giant squid, etc.

Thank you!

posted by foxy_hedgehog to Writing & Language (12 answers total)

the case for human intrusion into the waste isolation plant is one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever though it's a Yuletide and referencing a physical place rather than a fandom.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 4:23 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

One of my favorite fan fiction pieces of all time comes from the Stargate Atlantis universe. It's a piece entitled "Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose". You can find it on Dreamwidth here.
posted by Roger Pittman at 5:16 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

For isolated exposures to a random fic, I usually say go with something from the annual Yuletide fic exchange. They're usually the fics that are most enjoyable and understandable even without the fandom context. Also, they tend to be on the shorter side. I love Freedom's Just Another Word, but if you read that, you'd be there for hours. Here's some stuff from a quick look at my Yuletide bookmarks.

For funny/clever:
Wait Wait Don't Eat Me [NPR + Zombies]
The Dead Authors Fanfic: Christopher Marlowe and Walt Whitman [for the Dead Authors Podcast. I'm biased probably because this was my Yuletide gift last year and I LOVE IT]
Experiments in Intelligence [remember that video of the octopus that stole the dude's video camera and swam off?]

For sexy:
C'est si bon [the rumored Eartha Kitt/James Dean/Paul Newman threesome]

For creepy:
Bakcheios [an expansion of Euripides' The Bacchae. this also has some creepy sexy bits so caution on that front]

For extreme difficulty level that will impress the hell out of everyone:
Interlude (Rise Up) [Hamilton, in full rap verse]
posted by yasaman at 5:58 PM on March 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Given that it's a reading, are you hoping for particularly terrible/mockable fanfics, as your example seems to suggest? The Rangers of NIMH, a Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers/Secret of NIMH crossover fanfic certainly qualifies for that.
posted by Aleyn at 5:59 PM on March 9, 2017

Terrible: I am not going to look this up right now but I have been reduced to giggles by a piece of Star Trek fanfic called "The Next Penetration of Deanna Troi".

Wacky: "The Morning After" by ambyr, on Pinboard and Delicious.

Awesome: "Fifty Years in the Virtuous City" by Leo Mandel (on Sultana's Dream by Roquia Sakhawat Hussain), "Sisters of Bilhah" by throughadoor (on Handmaid's Tale), "The First Time" by afrai (on Star Trek), "Scientific Interest" by singlecrow (on Star Trek), "Inexplicably and without method" by tree (on Stranger Than Fiction), "Five New Love Truths You Need To Know" by sprat (on Dykes To Watch Out For), "Lunch and Other Obscenities" by Rheanna (on Star Trek).

Seconding several of the previous suggestions, especially "Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose" and "The Case for Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant".
posted by brainwane at 6:18 PM on March 9, 2017

I spend a lot a lot of time reading fanfic. If you want something actually good (and broadly accessible, in terms of not being from a super niche fandom), you can't go wrong with The Family Evans, which is a Harry Potter alternate universe where Petunia Dursley wasn't terrible. I know loads of people who do not understand or are uncomfortable with fanfic who really like this. It's lovely prose and an interesting thought experiment!

If you just want garbage, I highly recommend perusing the Political RPF (real-person fanfic) section on AO3. It's been a hit at many a drunken nerd party. here
posted by goodbyewaffles at 6:21 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think it was mentioned on the blue but No Reservations: Narnia is a favorite.
posted by oneear at 6:46 PM on March 9, 2017 [4 favorites]

A bit wistful, but my favorites:

What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in?

Can we talk about Susan Pevensie for a moment? And, in answer to that: Can we talk about Susan's fabulous adventures after Narnia?

Just saw that my first link was already posted, consider it seconded.
posted by Mchelly at 7:02 PM on March 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm going to second two of the points made many times earlier in this comment thread, which is to say 1) yes, Freedom's Just Another Word is great, and 2) but for a Sunday night discussion group you want short and accessible. Which means that you want No Reservations: Narnia.
posted by capricorn at 8:06 PM on March 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Seconding everyone that for your purposes you need short, accessible, and well-done. The Internet Is Not (Just) For Porn fits all three criteria while also being hilarious. Bonus: it's a Sherlock fic so chances are your audience has a passing familiarity with the characters.
posted by Tamanna at 9:36 PM on March 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

A few MCU/Captain America related:

Steve Rogers, PR disaster
A little help from my friends (the podfic is especially excellent)
Mistake on the Part of Nature: in my opinion, the best banana story in the MCU
posted by snakeling at 1:14 AM on March 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

How Wizards Do Money is a wonderful series of short stories that Nicole Dieker wrote for The Billfold. Seriously, I went to look for the link and ended up rereading most of them for the fifth time. I lucked out and was at an event where the author debuted the final installment (Harry, of course) and they're a good length for reading.

She also did the same thing for the Baby-Sitters Club but I think the target audience for that is a lot narrower.
posted by yeahlikethat at 9:15 AM on March 10, 2017