That's a lot of Stucky. (MeFi Fanfic Rec List Checklist) September 6, 2018 6:36 PM   Subscribe

Back a month-ish ago, Cozybee posted an ask for recommended fanfiction. Friends, we recommended 239 fics. That's a lot of links to keep track of. Being that you're all great people, I really wanted to give them all a try. And I'm kind of a completest and overly-organized for no good reason, and so...I made a spreadsheet.

I'm posting it here because I figure some of our lovely fanfic-reading and fanfic-rec'ing mefites might like to use it, too. Just save yourself a copy and get to reading. Mods, if this doesn't belong on MeTa, feel free to axe. I've cross-posted in the ask, I just doubt many people will see it there since the post is over a month old.

Rec'er comments are in the notes, and there's a link to each mefite, too, in case you want to message them to squee over their choices after you've read the fic. If, for any reason, you don't want your profile in the sheet, just comment and I'll remove your identifying info.
posted by greermahoney to MetaFilter-Related at 6:36 PM (44 comments total) 41 users marked this as a favorite

This is terrific, thank you!
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:23 PM on September 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Great work! Can it be sorted by Fandom? That way, all the, say, Harry Potter stuff will be together. If not, okay.
posted by MovableBookLady at 7:44 PM on September 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


You can sort it, MoveableBookLady.

Click on the empty square under the fx symbol (this will select all cells).
Right click anywhere.
Click Sort Range.
Click on the drop down and select Fandom.
Click Sort.
posted by sacrifix at 7:50 PM on September 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


Can it be sorted by Fandom?

I kept it by order they were posted in for the main copy, in case anyone was already going along in order. But when you save your own copy, sort it however you'd like! And I put in filters, so you can also filter for your own fav fandom.

Also, you may want to just ctrl-f search anyway. Many works were cross-overs or had multiple tags, so they may appear multiple places.
posted by greermahoney at 7:51 PM on September 6, 2018


This is awesome! Thanks so much for putting this together and sharing it with the rest of us!
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:52 PM on September 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


oh hey, neato! Thanks so much. (One of the fics recced/in the spreadsheet is actually one I wrote, so especially happy.)
posted by huimangm at 8:25 PM on September 6, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm not really a fanfiction person but I wanted to say thank you and that this is fucking awesome nonetheless.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:36 PM on September 6, 2018 [6 favorites]


Ah. I know how to sort but I wasn't saving my own copy to do it to so it wasn't working. Smacks own forehead. Thanks.
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:01 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


I’m not a fanfiction person but suspect I’m about to become one because of this spreadsheet! Thank you!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 4:37 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Squeeeeee

Though I'm Of slight disappoint there is no Sailor Moon fanfiction on that list. I'll have to fix that by finding some recs of my own.
posted by AlexiaSky at 4:50 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Fanfiction and spreadsheets, my two favourite things. Thank you, greermahoney.
posted by ITheCosmos at 4:58 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


I feel remiss that I only popped in a single SGA link to a little ficlet. SGA fic has one of the highest quality to quantity ratios out there, IMO, even though folks were remarkably prolific at its height of popularity. Lots of "gems", so much incredible worldbuilding. And only three Star Trek fics??? How can this be. Okay sorry I'm being a mefite about an askme asking for mefite-filtered recs, I need to stop this madness. Thank you for your hard work, spreadsheets are my enemy but this is very interesting to poke around in!
posted by Mizu at 5:01 AM on September 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


God bless you and your obsessive orderliness!

Winter is a-comin' in and I will need some things to read.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:49 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm not into fanfiction but I do appreciate the hard work and effort you've put into this. Thanks for sharing it with all of us, I'm sure that those people who are into this will greatly appreciate what you've done. :)
posted by Fizz at 6:04 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


this is awesome! I was gonna post in my thread how i wanted to mark best answers but, uh, it was a lot and I'm not done yet.


also, people who want more fics on the list, the original thread isn't closed yet, get your recs in (sorry greermahoney for inviting additional work for you)
posted by Cozybee at 6:54 AM on September 7, 2018 [4 favorites]


I am excited to see this post as I am currently on a plane and super sad about my inability to browse AO3 right now - they are down for the next hour or two doing server stuff - and I had forgotten that fact when I paid for wifi. So instead I will be checking this spreadsheet for future reading. Thank you!!
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:01 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


The overall lack of anime fanfic on this list is staggering to me. Let me look some stuff up.
posted by Caduceus at 7:07 AM on September 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


also, people who want more fics on the list, the original thread isn't closed yet, get your recs in (sorry greermahoney for inviting additional work for you)

That's actually another reason why I wanted to keep the spreadsheet in the order they were recommended. I can add on to the bottom if more show up in the post. And if anybody wants to update their own copies, it won't be too onerous, that way.
posted by greermahoney at 7:09 AM on September 7, 2018


Oh, and huimangm, you're in good company! The_Whelk is on the spreadsheet, too. That makes at least two Mefite writers on there's that I know of.
posted by greermahoney at 7:15 AM on September 7, 2018


I'm on there too, and feeling REAL NERVOUS about it, so if any of you have trenchant and incisive critiques to put in that spreadsheet, just remember that the authors might be fragile weirdos who frequently count beans with you.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 7:21 AM on September 7, 2018 [7 favorites]


today I learned about BNF!? I am a new reader and can’t be fucked. still in the giddy phase of READING ALLL THE THINGS and not ready for internal politics in my new favorite pastime.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:27 AM on September 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm on there too, and feeling REAL NERVOUS about it, so if any of you have trenchant and incisive critiques to put in that spreadsheet, just remember that the authors might be fragile weirdos who frequently count beans with you.

That spreadsheet can only be updated by me, and I won't be including critiques, at any point. Everyone who wants to edit needs to make their own private copy. In fact, I made my own private copy for my own notes. I certainly hope no one would make negative comments and then share their copy publicly. That seems... unlikely. I hope that reassures you, a fiendish thingy.

And welcome to the exclusive and illustrious club!! 3 Mefites and counting! Thanks for writing awesome fanfic!!
posted by greermahoney at 7:47 AM on September 7, 2018 [4 favorites]


What a labor of love for the community! Good on ya!

Since under the "Complete" column you included a "Story Yes/Series No" possibility, I thought you might want to know (though you may or may not want to update your sheet) that the Alexandra Quick series isn't complete, though the four works in that series available on fanfic.net are - the author is working on a fifth one, Alexandra Quick and the World Away (and I believe at some point has said it would be 7-book run like the original series, but as far as I know, they've only made any public comment about this fifth one in concrete terms of what it might include). I don't think any chapters have been published, which is maybe why there's nothing about it on fanfic.net? There are occasional progress updates on her livejournal, and I hope inverarity eventually finds the space in life to finish them all, the first four were really great.
posted by solotoro at 9:08 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


There are occasional progress updates on her livejournal, and I hope inverarity eventually finds the space in life to finish them all, the first four were really great.


Given the length of time that has passed, I would not hold one's breath on that. I've been there, and it's really fucking hard to find the time and emotional energy to go back and finish something, especially something as epic as that would be. I'm grateful to have the first 4 books, which I thought were pretty damned great, but I am not expecting anymore.

That said, thank you for the spreadsheet greermahoney, that's a wonderful thing.
posted by suelac at 9:55 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wow, that's great! And Mizu, I see that "Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose" is on there, but it's entered with fandom and author unknown -- greermahoney, if you're doing any updates, fandom is SGA and author is synecdochic. (The current spreadsheet link is to her personal webpage, and it might be safer long-term to link to it on AO3, which is https://archiveofourown.org/works/6335230 .
posted by Kat Allison at 10:41 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Perfect timing—I recently randomly ran across this old post while looking for something completely unrelated, and now have open tabs full of fic. May I suggest you add the rec's from this comment by nicebookrack to the list? So far they are all wonderful choices (speaking as someone who read virutally no fanfic until about a week ago).

Thanks for the spreadsheet! I'm excited to check out some of the weirder fandoms.
posted by obloquy at 12:28 PM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is amazing!
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 1:28 PM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


All I want to know is how many stories on this list involve two friends getting a hotel room and discovering there's only one bed that they must share.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:59 PM on September 7, 2018 [7 favorites]


^ Further reference.
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:18 PM on September 7, 2018


All I want to know is how many stories on this list involve two friends getting a hotel room and discovering there's only one bed that they must share

I've just started writing fic for relaxation (I know, wtf have I even been doing with my life before now; also, Dragon Age) and it is one of my personal goals to ensure this trope, straight or inverted, makes some sort of appearance every. time. because it cracks me up.

Missed contributing to the recs thread before but going to comb through my bookmarks and try to add some of my favorites (spoiler alert: it's all Dragon Age). Thanks, Cozybee and greermahoney!
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:24 PM on September 7, 2018 [4 favorites]


also if anyone writes DA, just send me your shit, send it right the fuck over
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:25 PM on September 7, 2018


* please
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:48 PM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


If I could make a suggestion about the organization? Would you consider making specific pages for the biggest Fandom? For example MCU/HP could use their own page simply because of the volume.
posted by tedious at 6:33 AM on September 8, 2018


Tedious, I’m keeping the order the way it is, due to the reasons I outlined in my comments above. But, please, save a copy for yourself and organize it how you like!

For those requesting updates, thanks for the info. I’ll update, but I likely won’t get to until next week. Going forward, you should be able to comment directly in the doc. Let me know if you can’t. If you put the comments in the affected cell, others will see it without me having to go in and edit, which means your awesome info won’t be dependent on my free time :-)
posted by greermahoney at 8:37 AM on September 8, 2018


Mr. Encyclopedia, I regret that I did not have the bandwidth to put in a column for tropes. This spreadsheet would be so much better if I didn’t have work for a living.
posted by greermahoney at 8:55 AM on September 8, 2018


Oh man, there was an Ask... I want to say two years ago? That was a request for recs for Sherlock fanfiction. Many recs were made. We should dig it up and add to the spreadsheet.
posted by tzikeh at 6:58 PM on September 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


Okaaaaay... I found the Ask, and found that I was the first commenter, with a link to my recs... from 2011.

Wow, those are some stories I haven't thought about in a long time.
posted by tzikeh at 7:01 PM on September 8, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is amazing, thank you so much!

If you're looking for the author of the Iron Man fic The Kids Aren't All Right, she goes by M. I think she might still on LJ as samdonne, but here's her Fanlore page. I still think about that fic once in a while.
posted by jameaterblues at 10:41 AM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


I still think about that fic once in a while.

She also wrote "Your Cowboy Days Are Over", which is a brilliant anti-colonial SGA novel set after the end of season 1, but I don't know if it's still available online.
posted by suelac at 12:12 PM on September 9, 2018


This seems like as good a place as any to ask... There was a comment I read somewhere maybe half a year ago, and I feel fairly certain it was on MeFi but I can't find it now. It was part of a larger comment about fanfiction, and it had a line about how when someone put a lot of energy into saving a character, on some level they were really trying to save themselves. As someone who did exactly that, I keep looking for this comment so I can give its writer credit, and it's maddening that I can't find it. Does it ring any bells?
posted by shirobara at 1:22 PM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


suelac, it looks like it's available on her author page here.
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:22 PM on September 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


Oh, good. The last time I tried to get to her page I got a 404 and I wasn't sure if she'd taken it down. She's basically done with fandom (I think), and when people walk away I'm always afraid they'll take down their work when they go...
posted by suelac at 9:00 AM on September 10, 2018


Since my comment has a couple favorites, I thought I'd check back in to say I'm working on it. I haven't much fanfic the last decade, and could have just tossed off the only ones I really have checked back on over the years, but I wanted to figure out whether I could dig up some other stuff and it's getting away from me. I dunno how long Asks stay up but I ought to put something coherent together in a couple of days. Also I need to read this and that thread in more detail and figure out a polite way to format things and provide content warnings and such, cause I wasn't doing that to begin with and the post was getting away from me. I'm sleepy and I'm rambley when I'm sleepy.
posted by Caduceus at 7:59 PM on September 10, 2018


Maaan, I didn't ever get around to ordering that by fandom. An Enchanted Forest Chronicles fic? A Dark is Rising fic? Gonna be checking those out. That Dark Tower one for sure, and then all that Potter fic. Some Potter fic will go down real fine. I hope some are just school day soap operas.

Oh and I guess I commented about the two I could just toss off recently, so I'll drop that here if you're interested. It wasn't that long ago so if you're on MeTa in a thread about fandoms you probably saw it already.
posted by Caduceus at 8:27 PM on September 10, 2018


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