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The Best Damn Fics You've Ever Read.

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Epsilon Rose said:
Hard derec.

Yule Ball is ... Fine? It's not great but it's not offensive. Hermione and Jasmine (read Harry, because this is also a gender swapped fic that didn't go with the standard feminine form) don't come off as realistic or true to their characters in either their dialog or internal monologs. It's also doesn't really have the buildup for the impact it wants.

The power of love is another thing entirely and it's problems aren't even related to the genderswap or soul bond.

The power of love suffers from what I can only call revolution syndrome. Basically Jasmine repeatedly points out how the teachers haven't been their for her through when hey really should have. Fair enough, the Hogwarts staff are negligent at best. The problem is, this comes across as a complete revelation, that is almost immediately accepted, for everyone she does this to. So far, the list includes Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and McGonagall, in that order.

McGonagall was the breaking point for me. Some how, just by describing the events of the previous years (which are implied to be similar to canon, despite the gender swap) they convince her that she really has failed them. More than that she immediately comes to the conclusion that she should have known better and only didn't realize it at the time due to following Dumbledore's instructions. For bonus points, she then implies they maybe shouldn't trust him.

Oh, also, somewhere along the way she pours herself a stiff drink because she can't handle all the revaluation. Yes, to be clear, this is in front of her students while she's discussing how her judgement might not hive been the best. You know, just in case you might have thought she did the reasonable thing and waited till after they were gone, so she could privately decompress.

Finally, to cap the chapter off, they have McGonagall swear a magic oath to not reveal a secret they're about to tell her. (Spoiler: they're gay and need advice on how the Wizarding world will take that, particularly since Jasmine is absolutely required to take some to the ball, as a matter of tradition.) The story makes a big deal a out how serious a magic oath is, going so far as to explain that flippantly asking for one is considered comparable to assault. But that's OK. After some careful consideration, McGonagall figures she can set it up so it won't be on pain of her magic or life. She'll just get a warning if she's about to break the oath and it'll probably hurt if she goes through with it. Terrifying.

If you're now wondering how they convinced McGonagall to go along with what is supposed to be such a serious, and dangerous, requirement, don't worry. She's in complete agreement with them that they can't trust her and, while she doesn't yet know what they're going to reveal, she's sure that if Hermione's asking she definitely has a good reason.

That all happened in the second chapter. There are 58 more, and a third story, but I can't bring myself to continue.
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I did say the beginning was less than steller. I will also say you are missing out on some really amazing scenes ones the author manages to find their stride.
 
whiterosepixel said:
The included summary is: In life, we're presented with moments where we can grow - opportunities where we can succeed - paths we can take which will lead us to love, glory, and happiness. But what happens when our hopes and dreams don't match up with what the world demands of us? What happens when we're forced to take a different path...one we never imagined for ourselves to begin with?

For a slightly more detailed explanation with very minor spoilers (It's the premise for the fic, really):
Ruby is injured in a hunting accident and loses her memories from her years in Beacon
I really would suggest trying it out, even if romance isn't your genre -- It's one of the best things I've ever read, and certainly the most emotional.

If anyone has read it, please let me know if it was just me who found it so amazing.
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What is it about? I mean is there a plot to support the characters and their relationship's development? If so what's the premise?
 
Moments in Time by Sanfu1000 is one of the best renditions of Dragon Age fanfiction I've ever read and it is finally finished! I heartily recommend it to anyone who appreciates DA but also to anyone who enjoys a good romance.
 
Fencer said:
I did say the beginning was less than steller. I will also say you are missing out on some really amazing scenes ones the author manages to find their stride.
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That's a pretty large mark against it being one of the best fics ever, but even if we were just looking at 'pretty good fics', none of their interactions nor their thought processes really feel genuine and story progress, so far, feels really ham fisted. It also triggers a lot of red flags. So, how far am I supposed to read before it gets good and how does it improve?
 
Epsilon Rose said:
That's a pretty large mark against it being one of the best fics ever, but even if we were just looking at 'pretty good fics', none of their interactions nor their thought processes really feel genuine and story progress, so far, feels really ham fisted. It also triggers a lot of red flags. So, how far am I supposed to read before it gets good and how does it improve?
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To be perfectly frank? I think this is just a case of differing values. I've gone through a number of the fics recommended in the opening post. Quite honestly most of them strike me as either midling quality and interesting, or high quality and boring.
 
After three and a half years and over 1 million words, Forged Destiny by Coeur Al'Aran is finally complete and thus eligible to be nominated. Forged Destiny stands out as the single best RPG-format work I have seen (it's possible Log Horizon might be better, but I haven't watched that show yet). The basic premise is that, in a world where your Class is visible at birth, a young Blacksmith named Jaune finds a way to hide his lowly class and seem to be a Hero. It proceeds to go on an epic journey, combining the characters and creatures of RWBY with unique mechanics and a thoroughly original story. Unlike most RPG-based fanfictions, Forged Destiny does not allow the mechanics to consume the story, nor does it remove the possibility of character flaws or failure from its protagonists. It's a long read, but well worth it.
 
Assembler said:
After three and a half years and over 1 million words, Forged Destiny by Coeur Al'Aran is finally complete and thus eligible to be nominated. Forged Destiny stands out as the single best RPG-format work I have seen (it's possible Log Horizon might be better, but I haven't watched that show yet). The basic premise is that, in a world where your Class is visible at birth, a young Blacksmith named Jaune finds a way to hide his lowly class and seem to be a Hero. It proceeds to go on an epic journey, combining the characters and creatures of RWBY with unique mechanics and a thoroughly original story. Unlike most RPG-based fanfictions, Forged Destiny does not allow the mechanics to consume the story, nor does it remove the possibility of character flaws or failure from its protagonists. It's a long read, but well worth it.
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Seconded. Biggest caveat is that it's a Jaune fic, but the author is at the very least technically competent as a writer and gives good focus on the rest of the ensemble, so it's not too bad unless you hate Jaune fic on principle. It could genuinely stand as an original LitRPG if you filed the RWBY names and references off.
 
Assembler said:
After three and a half years and over 1 million words, Forged Destiny by Coeur Al'Aran is finally complete and thus eligible to be nominated. Forged Destiny stands out as the single best RPG-format work I have seen (it's possible Log Horizon might be better, but I haven't watched that show yet). The basic premise is that, in a world where your Class is visible at birth, a young Blacksmith named Jaune finds a way to hide his lowly class and seem to be a Hero. It proceeds to go on an epic journey, combining the characters and creatures of RWBY with unique mechanics and a thoroughly original story. Unlike most RPG-based fanfictions, Forged Destiny does not allow the mechanics to consume the story, nor does it remove the possibility of character flaws or failure from its protagonists. It's a long read, but well worth it.
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I forget, is Coeur the guy that's like, famous for his Jaune fics? Like, you look up the most popular Jaune fics and most are his?
 
veteranMortal said:
Derec. Coeur Al'Aran has a graft and I respect that, but god his fics are so far from the "best damn fics" it isn't even funny.
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I'll add my vote to the de rec.

Forged destiny is a weird mix between RWBY and an OG TTRPG or similar setting.

What we have is an awkward mess that doesn't really belongs in the messy hotpot that's RWBY.

As far as I can recall, Forged is about Jaune who is an "NPC" class, he will not ever be able to use a sword, or a weapon, all he can do is one job and that's it, until he finds a magical amulet that lets him "switch" classes or something like that.

It reads like someone wanted to try and write a good RWBY x The Gamer fic only they ended writing something entirely different. Its off putting to say the least.
 
I do think Forged Destiny is a genuinely best in class Jaune fic and LitRPG, but you can argue that those categories are also inherently disqualifying for best damn ever.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
It reads like someone wanted to try and write a good RWBY x The Gamer fic only they ended writing something entirely different. Its off putting to say the least.
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Not really it goes explicitly against the gamer premise of unlimited growth in the story and even makes it a plot point that levels slow down over time and how Raven decided to get around that. The story reads like someone wanted to do a normal level up system as a part of there story which isn't really rare or bad. I wouldn't rec it because I stopped reading it around the point where Salem was making her final plans because I didn't care to reread and I didn't remember enough to not need one but it's not a bad story just not one of the greatest. I thought the racism plot was boring and that some of the adults were kind of dumb in how they treated crafting classes given they knew there were items that they couldn't build.

It's explained in the story that Salem gives cursed wishes that always kill the person who gets one and the amulet was supposed to be one of them. It was never explained how Jaune got one given that your supposed to need to summon Salem with human sacrifice but it was supposed to change the appearance of the class name over his head to knight but since it didn't change his stats or give him any other skills he should have died really quickly. Spoilers he didn't
 
Something in the Water is an excellent short casefic crossover between Rivers of London and Midsomer Murders. DCI Alexander Seawoll just wants a quiet week in the country without having to deal with any Weird Shit. Unfortunately, he wakes up to a body floating past his bed and breakfast. And surprise surprise, there's some weird shit going on, too...

This is a great little look into Alex's head. Watching him reluctantly get dragged into the investigation is almost as amusing as his continual willful ignorance when it comes to all things supernatural, and his crabbiness just works here. I also absolutely loved the pokes the fic takes at MM's problematic politics—one of the many great things about the Rivers of London series is how inclusive it is, and it was super satisfying to see that contrasted with MM's incredible whiteness.
 
Been a while, but here's another rec:

Lord, Send Me a Mechanic by JeanLuciferGohard is a post-canon fic of Anaïs Mitchell's fantastic musical Hadestown.

Ao3 Summary:
A girl kneels on a train platform, head between her elbows, elbows tucked to knees, like a comma, like it's not over, just stopped for a spell, like this whole thing is gonna keep going, and she don't move. And then behind her, a man walks up and folds his dark glasses back into his breast pocket, one-two, click-click.
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Eurydice in the Afterlife.
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So, uh, where do I begin. Well, first of all, everyone do yourself a favor and read this fic! Even if you haven't seen Hadestown, its absolutely worth it just for the imagery alone. The narrator is absolutely pitch-perfect, too, seamlessly fusing the personal and the mythic to create something that is wholly itself. This bit in particular is just... Wow:
But angry will get you up, even on an empty stomach, on an empty everything, angry will get a body up and at 'em, and it does get her up, even if it's just to sit slumped back into her heels. The only trouble with it is that angry, angry's like coke. Burns hot, burns bright, and the smoke'll kill anything and everything inside a mile if you don't bank the damn oven sometime. A coke fire, a coal fire, can burn for years before you put it out. Goes down, comes right back up farther down the seam. Ilium burned for three days and three nights, and Laurel Run for the better part of forty years. Centralia's still goin', heard tell. Eurydice is burning up, down under her ribs.

And Mr. Hades, his eyes are so black and still and far away it makes it seem pointless to even try being angry in the first place. Like whatever you'd do would just break over him, and he'd still just be there, looming like the end of everything.
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I'm going to stop here before I quote the entire story, but please, do yourself a favor and check this one out.
 

Decaying Bluebells Chapter 1: Arc I - Introduction, a naruto fanfic | FanFiction

www.fanfiction.net www.fanfiction.net

I'm gonna preface this with the fact that this story nearly brought me to tears at more than one point, and I'm not usually an emotional person so any fic that elicits such a strong reaction from me instantly makes it onto my favourite fic list.

Of course, it is also a Naruro SI/OC fic based on the time period of canon and up to the War. So that may bring some peoples opinion of it down based on that alone but I promise it's great. To me at least.

I powered through this fic in a single day and while I feel some parts were skimmed over I still think it was exactly as long as it needed to be.

"The Butterfly Effect dictates that the smallest pebble dropped into the ocean would create the greatest of tidal waves. How much change could one new life make, if added to a world it was never meant to be in? Self-Insert, OC. -COMPLETE-"

A definite rec from me.
 
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KnownParadox said:
A definite rec from me.
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I'm starting to read it and...



Baby chapter, weird explanations that don't really fit the way the Yamanaka's shtick works when your fanfic by the 2nd chapter has detail that are so easy to look up wrong. It kinda starts to drag the quality down of the overall premise. These are not small details, its a lack of accurate knowledge of how the setting works and it retorts to fanon to fill the gaps.

Its not even artistic license, its just plain bad writing and lazyness, it took me less than 5 minute to type the three things I needed to disprove "Yamanaka Clan has Kekkei Genkai".

De.Rec.
 
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Duncan Idaho said:
Baby chapter, weird explanations that don't really fit the way the Yamanaka's shtick works when your fanfic by the 2nd chapter has detail that are so easy to look up wrong. It kinda starts to drag the quality down of the overall premise. These are not small details, its a lack of accurate knowledge of how the setting works and it retorts to fanon to fill the gaps.Its not even artistic license, its just plain bad writing and lazyness, it took me less than 5 minute to type the three things I needed to disprove "Yamanaka Clan has Kekkei Genkai".De.Rec.
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I feel like the author not grasping the difference between Hiden and Kekkei Genkai (or even deliberately changing which category a technique sits in, which is also a possible explanation) is going to be a relatively minor sticking point for some people, especially when it's a clan that doesn't get that much screen time in canon, though I can definitely see how it could be very irritating.
 
Tried Decaying Bluebells, up to chapter 10. Sorry to say, it's bad. Not interesting bad, just bad.

It does the baby chapter thing, the toddlers speak like adults (but not really because nobody actually speaks like an actual person would), the relationships between characters need a lot more fleshing out, and it's rehashing canon, but without the cool details.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
I'm starting to read it and...



Baby chapter, weird explanations that don't really fit the way the Yamanaka's shtick works when your fanfic by the 2nd chapter has detail that are so easy to look up wrong. It kinda starts to drag the quality down of the overall premise. These are not small details, its a lack of accurate knowledge of how the setting works and it retorts to fanon to fill the gaps.

Its not even artistic license, its just plain bad writing and lazyness, it took me less than 5 minute to type the three things I needed to disprove "Yamanaka Clan has Kekkei Genkai".

De.Rec.
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SolipsistSerpent said:
I feel like the author not grasping the difference between Hiden and Kekkei Genkai (or even deliberately changing which category a technique sits in, which is also a possible explanation) is going to be a relatively minor sticking point for some people, especially when it's a clan that doesn't get that much screen time in canon, though I can definitely see how it could be very irritating.
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I'm generally pretty ok with author's changing setting details to better fit the story they want to tell, provided they do it with intention and they keep it consistent, but the first chapter had so many issues with tense and perspective that I found it both hard to follow and incredibly off putting.
 
SolipsistSerpent said:
I feel like the author not grasping the difference between Hiden and Kekkei Genkai (or even deliberately changing which category a technique sits in, which is also a possible explanation) is going to be a relatively minor sticking point for some people, especially when it's a clan that doesn't get that much screen time in canon, though I can definitely see how it could be very irritating.
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I am still reading it, I am having severe internet issues at the moment so I haven't been able to update the post with everything else.

The Omniscient "Council" makes a comeback with a vengeance as they decided (instead of the Hokage) that Sasuke was to live alone in his compound. There are numerous problems with this The Council or The Civilian Council are a mix of fanon and actual stuff. Like, you have the two advisors of the Hokage and they help coordinate with the Hokage on important matters, but they just, advise. Is Up to the Hokage to listen or not.
Epsilon Rose said:
I'm generally pretty ok with author's changing setting details to better fit the story they want to tell,
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Its a Big Change because its used to make the SI/OC onto a special snowflake among his clan. The way it was worded, he's a telekinetic, not a telepath. He's a "mutant".

We also have... like obscenely wrong details on Sasuke's personality pre massacre. He was a cheerful kid and probably would have gotten along Naruto. He isn't this... bitter kid, he only becomes as much after Itachi mind rapes him.

The fic is written in first person POV and while unique, it feels too tell and little show, for example: the SI/OC has "pangs" of jealousy towards Ino bonding with Sakura as friends, but we never see this "jealousy" we are merely told about it.

Another problem is that he is put on a "separate training regime" we... aren't told what is it about, what it does, or how is it done, only he gets put on it and then he isn't, we are also never shown this training, he only tells the audience about it which is a re occurring problem.

Sakura also vanishes entirely off the story without nary an explanation beyond "she and Ino aren't friends because they both like Sasuke".

Onmur said:
the toddlers speak like adults
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This is something I tend to give a pass because its honestly, difficult to write kids (I know, I am trying to write a 5 year old Ash Ketchum and he sounds horribly like an older person would, sans the pronunciation problems here and there) so I can see why authors fail at this.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
We also have... like obscenely wrong details on Sasuke's personality pre massacre. He was a cheerful kid and probably would have gotten along Naruto. He isn't this... bitter kid, he only becomes as much after Itachi mind rapes him.
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I think I've seen, like, 1 or 2 fics where the massacre didn't happen and the fic actually acknowledged that Sasuke would be a very different person.
 
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