A while back I
requested fanfic recs for my bookclub book choice. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update y'all on the event, but in case you're still interested here it is. Thank you
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fleete and
lazlet for the recs!
( Read more... )
Fanfic comes from an impulse to expand upon the original work that inspired the fic writer. It can be written to fill in a gap in 'canon' (this is how fans refer to the original work that inspired the fanfic), to correct what the fan sees as an error in canon, to ask ‘what if?’ and take that new scenario anywhere the fic author wants to go with it. Fanfic authors also love exploring the mundane details of regular life that you don’t always get to see in canon - ex. what is daily life like for an Avenger? Also, pairing anyone together in romances that weren’t in the canon. Fanfic is what you get when someone explores their ideas in a publication that is not restricted by traditional publishing.
Reading fanfic differs from reading original works of fiction because it is based so heavily on the canon. Most fanfic won’t include quite the same level of detail you’ll get from original fic because the writer presumes that almost everyone reading already knows what X character looks and sounds like, or the details about Y event that was so important to the story or character. Therefore, I’ve tried to pick fandoms (what we call the communities that build up around a particular canon) that most of you have at least some passing knowledge of, or can watch relatively easily. The exception to that ‘rule’ is the Alternate Universe genre, which is where the fic author puts the characters into a brand new situation completely unrelated to the one in the original work. Taking the characters from "Lord of the Rings" and writing about them in outer space is an example. This makes almost any fandom accessible to someone who has never seen or read the canon, and I’ve included one in my selection - "A Place Where We Only Say Goodbye".
As a whole, there are no censuring limits on what can be written in a fic. Fanfic writers often include explicit violence or sex, or content which can be disturbing in any number of ways. To the best of my knowledge none of the stories I’ve picked are explicitly erotic, but some contain other mature content. This content is often communicated to readers through the 'Tags' or in the 'Notes' at the top of the story and is usually thorough. I've included relevant tags in the story headers below. If you have any questions about any given story please ask me about it. I've included some notes about each fic selection (including the length of time it would take you to watch the source material for each story), and indicated them with asterisks. Reviews by other Fanfic readers are italicized and have been gently edited to remove 'spoilers'.
My Fanfic Bookclub Submission List
Freezer Burn by Domenika Marzione | The Avengers all fandoms | 194,178 Words, ~746 pages | Action/Adventure
The adventures of Steve Rogers, defrosted soldier, who is missing time but not really all that lost. He's got a surprisingly broad knowledge of lettuces, a working grasp of modern technology, and may or may not be using both to mess with his teammates and save the world.
**Set directly after The Avengers movie, run time 143 minutes. It also includes stuff from the comics, but I don't think you need knowledge of the comics to enjoy the story.
“This is possibly the most articulately adult, mature, rational, and believable fic I have ever read.
I am so intrigued by the slow build of crime/thriller elements, the artful way you threw in the politics of agencies and made steve NOT. DUMB. but in a rational way without being bound by hyperbole emotions.
Also the perfect balance of the avengers being a decent team but also having their own lives- as a group of people in their 30's-40's is wont to do. LOVE. IT.I feel like i'm reading a sydney sheldon novel with how believable your male leads are in action and thought, and how matter-of-fact your female leads are.
The military life details and understandings are EXCELLENT. I am engaged to an airforce engineer and I truly appreciate that you have given this facet of steve's life depth, insight, and details!” – Elemenohp
“Breathtakingly done. Thank you for writing such a fantastic, immersive, engrossing story with a layer of realism you rarely find in the canon works, nevermind the fanfiction. I've been enthralled with this since I started it, and have been reading as voraciously as my schedule would allow. You do good work.” – PrimaryFeather
“Wow, that was seriously epic. Loved all the day-to-day details of Steve situating himself in the "now," with the food details (OMG, totally drooling over all the food descriptions) and picking up art again. You write great characters - loved all the team interaction, the insight into Natasha and Bruce, Tony and the way different people react to him - all very believable and honest. Loved your OCs as well (um, I think they're OC's; I'm not well versed on the comics), and all the bureaucratic/ military hierarchy details came though very well. Thank you for sharing this!” – joyouslee
“I am really enjoying the MCU but have never read any of the comics (don't get on with the media), so I suspect there are lots of references I'm missing, but conversely there is undoubtedly benefit in being able to be surprised by what happens next more so than I might otherwise be.
Your writing is always like catnip to me, I always end up more invested in your characters(/characterisations) and universes than the source materiel. As always, I am in love with your characterisation, your long and wonderfully plotty story arc, the funny, the accuracy and realism you bring; you have this knack for lots of detail without unnecessary exposition, and, particularly in the more person centred scenes, leaving just the right amount up to the reader's imagination, and that brevity always seem to pack a more powerful punch.” – vonknibble
“Wow, this was without a doubt the most ambitious, amazing, detailed and awesome story I have ever read in Avengers fandom. It took me ages to get through (which is a good thing!!) and I don't even know what to flail most about. The whole thing is simple awe-inspiring. Thanks so much for writing and sharing it.” – pulangaraw
""And I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose than to have never have lain beside at all." He's served Rose Tyler coffee almost every day for a year, but he's never worked up the courage to really talk to her. Then he finds himself stuck repeating the same day a year in the past. Is this a chance at a different ending?"
**Fanfic can take the characters from the show and place them in a completely different setting so you can see how they stand up to entirely new circumstances. This is called an Alternate Universe - in this case it's a Coffee Shop AU, which is a common fanfic trope. It's a great way to get into a new fandom if you haven't watched the show because you don’t need any knowledge of the show to understand the plot of the story, as is the case for this fic. The 'Angst' tag is often used for situations of emotional difficulty. If you're interested in checking out the characters you can watch Dr. Who 2006 (Season/Series2) on Amazon Prime, iTunes, or Netflix - a good one to start with might be School Reunion. Runtime for each episode is about 45 minutes.
"God, I am so in love with this verse. And I'm going to be that person who'll suggest you just go right ahead and sell this to publishers. Get an editor, an agent, anyone. Because if something like Twilight or 50 Shades or Mortal Instruments got published, I don't see why the hell this can't. Because the premise, the pacing, the characterizations... as a fellow writer and storyteller, I am just so, so in love with this.
At one point, I was reminded of Audrey Niffenegger's book, The Time Traveler's Wife. I know that the plots are quite different, but this story has encouraged a similar level of emotional attachment to the protagonists as with that book. I do not doubt for a moment that if you let someone who has not even heard of Doctor Who or the term 'fanfiction' read this, it would still be much appreciated. I could go on and on, but let me just end it with a thank you. Thank you for giving us this absolutely wonderful story. I look forward to the day you'll get to treat us to a brand new literary journey with The Doctor and Rose." – rarelycanon
Bad things happen. Life gets strange. Dudley tries to carve out a little bit of normality in a world that has gone mad around him.
**Fanfic can redeem characters that are portrayed as bad or difficult in the book by putting them through events that give them the opportunity for growth. This one is not offered as a download at Fanfiction.net. If it is chosen you can either read it on the web, or I will make sure an ebook copy is available to anyone who wants it. There are 7 books and 8 movies in the series - obviously a lot to watch if you're starting fresh. I know the club read most of the books together and I think most of you have seen all the movies so I thought I'd take a chance and include it. We'll see if it gets picked :)
“Thanks for this unusual story! I think what I liked most is how you stayed in character for Dudley AND combined that with the important after war themes. Great original characters too.” – Mari83
“An excellent tale, well told. I thought you did a good job of providing a realistic journey for Dudley to choose to step up instead of passively fading away. I like that you ended with hope and that you didn't brush away the aftershocks of the war and the cultural divides as if everything would go back to just fine after Voldemort was dead. All in all, thank you for writing!” – Phoenix Flight
“Great story. Dudley's journey just fits - no hurried redemption, no overdose of angst, a good, logical mix of drama and evolving characters.” – Starfox5
“Great story! I loved the format you used with news articles at the end of each chapter. And the final one - Molly's article was a perfect ending to the story, put the message of the whole fic into perspective. You are so right about Dudley's "side character" status, which is not only limited to canon. Even in the HP fanfic community, his story is rarely explored and his character seldom a protagonist. So bravo! Great fic all-around!” – Inexplicably Waiting
“I have not read such fanfiction in a very long time. Incredible portrayal of characters. Dudley's transformation from Big D was the in-depth reveal that I always wanted from jkr. And making him a werewolf? Clever. I also loved how you let readers learn what happened to other characters though Dudley did not realize the significance. Very well done. I will be keeping my eyes open for new posts!” – bloombaby26
“I was lucky enough to stumble across your story today and got to read it all at once. It was heartbreaking and warming all at once.
Your characters didn't pull a deus ex machina and make everything perfect at the end or "magically" make everything better by getting involved, but they did make a difference by moving past apathy and taking action.
You showed Percy finding the cause he was looking for. Loose ends that bothered me in the books were neatly wrapped up or proved to not be loose ends at all. And, quite importantly, Dudley found a new normal. That's not an insignificant achievement.” – Code Aster
In which Molly Hooper gets a job, gets a degree, breaks a heart, has her heart broken, falls in love, keeps a secret, saves a life, runs a morgue, falls apart, pulls it together, and finds exactly what she didn't know she was looking for--not necessarily in that order.
**Fanfic gives minor characters, particularly women in this case, a lot more life than they are given onscreen. An audiobook version of this story is available here, recorded by magicranberries. This story comes after the season finale of Season/Series 2 of BBC Sherlock. Each season consists of 3 1.5 hour episodes, totaling almost 9 hours for both seasons. You can stream/buy them on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Netflix, or you can borrow my copies if needed.
"How do you take these characters that we know relatively little about, and breathe life into them, and make us care about them, and put them in relationships that are loving and wonderful and amazing and fully complement the characters?" - Wex
"What an utterly gorgeous piece of work--the story and the art. Love and adoration to you both! I wasn't intending to read all of this in one go, but there wasn't any way to stop. The whole arc unveiled itself so smoothly, so effortlessly--just spot on, from start to finish." – sheffiesharp
Kista by Jane Land | Star Trek Original Series | 94,060 Words, ~365 pages | Romance, Drama Spock and Christine are stranded on a planet with a paleolithic technology level, they have to adapt to the local culture and a relationship develops between them.
Kista is "...an attempt to rescue one of Star Trek's female characters from an artificially imposed case of foolishness. Try to think objectively for a minute about what we know of Christine Chapel's background, education, accomplishments... and you will come up with a far more interesting character than she was ever allowed to be...I like her. I hope you do too."
**Kista was originally published in 1986 by Jane Land in a Zine she put together herself and mailed out to those who wrote to request it. This was the way fanfiction was widely dispersed before the internet came about, and the way fans kept in touch with each other. The story has since been put up on the web, where you can download your own copy. It does contain romance with at least a couple of sex scenes, but best I can tell they aren’t explicit. You can read about Chapel here (including some of the most significant episodes for the Chapel/Spock relationship) and you can stream/buy original episodes from Amazon Prime, Netflix, or iTunes, or stream the episodes for free on YouTube. Each episode runs 50 minutes.
“So good to see this wonderful piece of writing published here, and now easy to read!” – Jackie
We Two Alone by Shoreleave | Star Trek 2009 | 101,877 Words, ~350 pages | Angst, Slavery, Major Character Illness/Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Dark, Drama, Action/Adventure, Friendship "Academy fic. Dr. Leonard McCoy thinks he has nothing in common with command-track cadet Jim Kirk, until a series of events forces them together. When a simple training mission is derailed into a seemingly hopeless situation, both have to learn to trust one another, and they’ll need all their wits and survival skills to stay alive.
Author's Note: I love plot holes, and here’s a biggie:
Pike: “And if all else fails, fall back and rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian system. Kirk, I’m promoting you to first officer.”
Huh? I mean, that doesn’t make any sense! Jim’s just an untried cadet, and surely there are more seasoned officers on the Enterprise who should be first officer. Unless… does Pike know something about Kirk that we don’t? If he does, it must be pretty compelling…
That got me thinking, and it was the inspiration for this story."
**Fanfic of reboots re-imagines the cannon, just like the reboot itself does. In this case, Jim Kirk's time in Starfleet Academy and on Tarsus IV. 'Hurt/Comfort' is a tag that indicates one of the characters has gotten sick or injured, often significantly, and is cared for by another character. This is a prequel to the 2009 movie, which runs 126 minutes.
"Hello new head canon. This was absolutely fantastic! One of the best survival stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading!" – dentalfloss
"Superb characterization, clinically tidy, excellent work with the storyline, I'm definitely coming back to this one later. Also, I would totally watch this movie. Even if it wasn't Star Trek." - casicastiel
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