So... im reading fanfiction. And,

[Traab]

I think some authors get a little bit carried away. The story I am currently reading, (naruto btw) has 1,262,000+ words in it. As a point of reference? The entire 7 book harry potter series? Total of 1,080,000+ words. Thats right, there would have to be an 8th harry potter book just to approach the word count of this one story. Longest harry potter story I have read is 883k words. basically being longer than the first 6 books or so. And I doubt thats the largest one around.

So, any other fanfic fans out there? Whats the longest story you have read so far? Any subject, any genre.

[DiscipleofBob]

What's that? Fanfiction? Where?

*wags tail excitedly*

I haven't read much long fanfiction. The ones I'm reading now are still being written. If I ever actually finish it, my One Piece fic altogether will probably be about a million words (100,000 words per arc, 10-11 arcs.)

I'm really looking for some good original character stuff. Stuff that uses the same setting, but with new original characters.

[Maxios]

Here is some of the weird crap I've read:

Red Dead Redemption/MLP Crossover: Bill Williams shows up in whateverthesettingis and through the power of friendship, turns into a nice guy! Disliked it. 2/10

Watchmen/Batman: Rorsarch shows up in Gotham City, fights crime, and runs into Batman. The writer nailed Rorsarch, but didn't write Batman very well. Batman came off more as a powerless Spider-Man style guy then the serious guy he normally is. 7/10

Watchmen/X-Men Evolution: Rorsarch somehow survived getting gibbed and winds up in Bayville. Bad stuff ensues as Rorsarch decides that the Brotherhood are evil, and evil must be punished. The author stopped working on it right when it was getting really good, ending with a cliffhanger. 9/10

Spider-Man/X-Men: Peter Parker was born a mutant and is set to Xavier's Academy. I wrote this. I did well on some parts, like a fight scene with Shocker and a dream sequence, but I think I was really bad at the rest. 3/10.

I'd provide a link to the last one, but I'm afraid that if I do, you guys will no longer respect my talents as a writer. Seek it out if you must, it's called Spider X Book One.

[Traab]

So far my main fanfics are naruto, harry potter, buffy the vampire slayer, and im just starting into dc. Its strange, but i enjoy reading the crossovers so much that they get me into the main fics of that world like nothing else. If you like naruto and you like the marvel world, read No Reading. Its got naruto, its got deadpool, its got M day and the civil war, and it has naruto beating up all sorts of people and getting his arse kicked by luke cage! If you like the webcomic Girl Genius , read Spark of Genius. Its another "Xander wears a costume" fic from btvs, but it kicks ASS! 90% of it is spent in the dc comics universe and boy howdy does xander ever have the spark!

As for the main subject, I have always had a preference for 100k+ stories. When it comes time to do a pairing search, I start off at the 100k mark and only work my way lower to about 40k, as I honestly dont believe a decent length story is worth reading if the author hasnt at least gotten past 40k words yet. I HATE waiting on updates to great stories! Though I do have a few solid one shots that work out, they mostly feel like teasers and make me wish the author had expanded on the idea. An author by the name of Obsidian Dreamer has the most epic one shot story ideas ever, and a really nice naruto fic called Mouse of Konoha. The collection of one shots is Win Some, Lose Some.

[Xondoure]

Here is some of the weird crap I've read:

Red Dead Redemption/MLP Crossover: Bill Williams shows up in whateverthesettingis and through the power of friendship, turns into a nice guy! Disliked it. 2/10

Watchmen/Batman: Rorsarch shows up in Gotham City, fights crime, and runs into Batman. The writer nailed Rorsarch, but didn't write Batman very well. Batman came off more as a powerless Spider-Man style guy then the serious guy he normally is. 7/10

Watchmen/X-Men Evolution: Rorsarch somehow and winds up in Bayville. Bad stuff ensues as Rorsarch decides that the Brotherhood are evil, and evil must be punished. The author stopped working on it right when it was getting really good, ending with a cliffhanger. 9/10

Spider-Man/X-Men: Peter Parker was born a mutant and is set to Xavier's Academy. I wrote this. I did well on some parts, like a fight scene with Shocker and a dream sequence, but I think I was really bad at the rest. 3/10.

I'd provide a link to the last one, but I'm afraid that if I do, you guys will no longer respect my talents as a writer. Seek it out if you must, it's called Spider X Book One.

The one you wrote raised a thought. I then proceeded to scroll through the entire marvel multiverse to see if I had officially been beaten to it. Turns out that I haven't which is strange.

Anyways, I now want to see a Marvel U where every body with superpowers is a mutant (from Iron Man, to Thor, to the Fantastic Four.)

[otakuryoga]

i do believe Fallout:Equestria beats that word count
plus its available in e book...audio book..and recently got published in hardcover
if it doesnt do so by itself you can add in the various side stories(Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons is longer than the original i believe) and absolutely blow that away

from what i hear its pretty damn good...i just dont have the time to start on a story that long atm

[erikun]

I am currently on a MLP kick. I've read some Sailor Moon as well, and looked at a few of the more infamous ones (My Immortal, My Inner Life).

For Sailor Moon, the amount of fanfiction I've been exposed to has been very limited. I think I've read stories from less than five authors. There just wasn't that much available back in 1998, or at least I didn't find it at the time. Nothing really impressive, although some of them have disappeared from the internet by now.

For MLP, I tend towards the shorter stories. The problem is that there are a lot of "just okay" stories, and you can easily get six chapters in before realizing that the whole experience is just boring and uninteresting. There have been 15+ chapter stories I've just glanced at and avoided without even reading anything. Plus, the ones that are more interesting to read tend to be the shorter ones anyways; a lot of really long stories are trying to pull a Lord of the Rings, or copy success from one of the longer existing MLP fanfics.

[Tavar]

Crossovers? Where!

Hmm...as for long fics....

Nobody Dies(596,438), Hammered Down (528,176), Dreaming of Sunshing ( 268,469), Knives in the Dark (138,836), The Gentleman of Weapons (118,863), One Hundred Days (395,571), Uninvited Guests (138,240), The Hill of Swords (356,642), and In Flight (525,800).

Mostly though it's smaller stories: no reason to discount short stories or novella's, imo.

Some odd crossovers(Avatar the Last Airbender/Stargate, and it's good). Two! good Buffy/Bleach ones, and more.

Heck, I've even found a good Self Instert. Yes, it exists, and it's pretty long too.

[Cespenar]

The only fanfiction I may have read in earnest (probably 10 years ago) should be Pokemon Master, which clocked over some 200k words. It was a fairly good one as well, surprisingly.

[Serpentine]

I don't really read fanfiction all that much. I read a friend of mine's unfinished erotic X-Men fic (the blue fur goes all the way down ). The video for that Half Life 2 fanfic is amazing (THE PANTS WERE DEAD).
I have read some of our own Kaytara's Good Omens fanfiction. It's really good, and actually makes me wanna read the book.

[thubby]

as anyone from ponythread will tell you, i read ravenously.

[Anarion]

The "Rainbow Dash Presents" readings of really awful pony fanfics done humorously are amazing. I highly recommend them.

Pre-pony, I can't say that I read too many fanfics, although I've always enjoyed novella and short story style books.

Edit: By the way, please forgive all the ponies coming out of the woodwork for this one. You have to remember two things. One, we're all frequent posters here anyway. Two, I think MLP fanfic was the first fanfic ever for many many people.

[Maxios]

I don't really read fanfiction all that much. I read a friend of mine's unfinished erotic X-Men fic (the blue fur goes all the way down ). The video for that Half Life 2 fanfic is amazing (THE PANTS WERE DEAD).
I have read some of our own Kaytara's Good Omens fanfiction. It's really good, and actually makes me wanna read the book.

Great, now I'm going to have nightmares of a naked Beast

[MLai]

Two, I think MLP fanfic was the first fanfic ever for many many people.

Really? Why is that? Seems unusual.
AFAIC, fanfics started at about the same time as webcomics, i.e. early on in the life of the internet. Highly likely pioneers include Star Wars fanfics, Star Trek fanfics, Super Mario fanfics, Sailor Moon fanfics etc (I'm guessing)... Why would MyLilPony specifically be the first for many ppl here?

(I couldn't figure out what MLP meant until someone said ponies.)

[Eakin]

I read some random video game fanfics in the past, but I've read about 3.5 million words worth of pony fan fiction according to fimfiction. I've also been meaning to read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality when I get a chance, but really if you're embroiled in the brony community you'll get funneled towards fan fiction sooner or later.

[Serpentine]

Great, now I'm going to have nightmares of a naked Beast

Oh, it wasn't about him.

[Tergon]

Chicks dig the fuzzy dude.

[Forum Explorer]

Really? Why is that? Seems unusual.
AFAIC, fanfics started at about the same time as webcomics, i.e. early on in the life of the internet. Highly likely pioneers include Star Wars fanfics, Star Trek fanfics, Super Mario fanfics, Sailor Moon fanfics etc (I'm guessing)... Why would MyLilPony specifically be the first for many ppl here?

(I couldn't figure out what MLP meant until someone said ponies.)

Like has been said if you interact frequently with a lot of bronies then you will be funneled to MLP fanfics they enjoy. Other fandoms don't seem to do that as much being content to talk more about the actual content from the source material.

[Lord Raziere]

ooooohh gods above.

I just realized that I've read a lot of fan fiction.

and that I can't remember them all. but they are weird. delightfully, fantastically weird. I love weird stuff.

[thubby]

Really? Why is that? Seems unusual.
AFAIC, fanfics started at about the same time as webcomics, i.e. early on in the life of the internet. Highly likely pioneers include Star Wars fanfics, Star Trek fanfics, Super Mario fanfics, Sailor Moon fanfics etc (I'm guessing)... Why would MyLilPony specifically be the first for many ppl here?

(I couldn't figure out what MLP meant until someone said ponies.)

i think it's because of how connected bronydom is. there are a gazillion places to see starwars stuff, but almost all brony communities draw on EQD, FiMFiction, and poni/derpibooru. so when you look for good fiction you can find the best in the entire fandom, not just what one community produces.
or at least that's been my experience. i fell out of love with fanfiction a while ago, but mlp brought me back with it's sheer volume of quality writers.


but lets not make this more pony than it already has to be and get back to the fanfiction.

[Starwulf]

I think some authors get a little bit carried away. The story I am currently reading, (naruto btw) has 1,262,000+ words in it. As a point of reference? The entire 7 book harry potter series? Total of 1,080,000+ words. Thats right, there would have to be an 8th harry potter book just to approach the word count of this one story. Longest harry potter story I have read is 883k words. basically being longer than the first 6 books or so. And I doubt thats the largest one around.

So, any other fanfic fans out there? Whats the longest story you have read so far? Any subject, any genre.

Sadly, my favorite fanfics were written by a guy called "Jeffrey "One-Shot" Wong". His fanfic centered around Ranma from Ranma 1/2, but quickly incorporated multiple characters from other animes, and even eventually the X-Men universe. Was my favorite fan-fics of all time, and I have no doubt that his works probably matched the one you're referencing(Not all in on though, but all together it was probably triple that). I say sadly because I am unable to find the series anymore, as his site was taken down, and no-one seems to have it anywhere else. It was called the "Just Wont Die" series. erk, now I'm craving reading it again :-(

[Balmas]

i do believe Fallout:Equestria beats that word count
plus its available in e book...audio book..and recently got published in hardcover
if it doesnt do so by itself you can add in the various side stories(Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons is longer than the original i believe) and absolutely blow that away

from what i hear its pretty damn good...i just dont have the time to start on a story that long atm

I can testify to this. I am a voracious reader, especially of fanfics. Google tells me that Fallout: Equestria itself comes in at 484,000 words. For comparison, an average paperback comes in a 100K. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is 473,000.

I've been reading this story every spare minute for about a week now, and I've only just now reached the half-way point. It is one of, if not the best, grimdark fanfiction. Be warned: it's violent, has profanity, and certain side stories contain sexual content. Still great, though.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Really? Why is that? Seems unusual.
AFAIC, fanfics started at about the same time as webcomics, i.e. early on in the life of the internet.

Fan Fiction pre-dates the world wide web by quite a long way. There was a lot of Fan Fiction in the early fanzines, there were (and still are) Fan Fiction newsgroups and I believe there were simillar things back in the Victorian era (albiet with a more limited distribution...)

The massive spread of fan fiction today is, however, undoubtedly down to the internet.

[MLai]

Fallout Equestria... wait, MLP in Fallout?
WTF.
A longer-than-LOTR fanfic about MLP, in Fallout?! Whatswrongwityouppl.

[thubby]

Fallout Equestria... wait, MLP in Fallout?
WTF.
A longer-than-LOTR fanfic about MLP, in Fallout?! Whatswrongwityouppl.

what isn't is a shorter answer.

[Eldan]

I'm not familiar with most Anime/Manga, most American TV shows, or pretty much any American comic character that wasn't featured in a movie in the last five years, so I often find it rather difficult to actualy find any fanfiction that features characters I know. And what I find is often pretty bad.

That said, there are a few I have enjoyed.

[Rogerd]

Do not read fanfiction on ff.net, most of it is total dross and of extremely low, or poor calibre. If you want good fanfiction go to:

http://forums.spacebattles.com/forum...ve-writing.18/

Most of the stuff is of a higher calibre, and reviewers will generally tell the author, exactly what they think and how to improve it.

[Aotrs Commander]

I have been reading a lot of fanfic over the last few years... It's free, and most importantly, allows me to read new things without having to buy an endless stream of books I then have to store...!

Mostly I read Naruto, Harry Potter and now MLP, with a bit of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha to boot; the former three are all pretty big fandoms (the first two are by far and away the largest on fanfic.net). This means the signal-to-noise ration is somewhat better. Though in the cases of Naruto and HP, I tend to constrian looking only at 10k plus fics (and then seeing if the author has done anything else.) That at least mititaes some of the tripe, and all the half-fics started with one or two chapters that never go anywhere. (The price of loosing some of the shorter, better one-shots was fair trade off in that case, and you can often pick them up from the authors you're reading, or even their favourites.)

Sadly, in the case of Naruto, the overall qualitiy of writing has gone down in the last year or two, and only a handful of my preferred writer have moved to other generas (i.e. pony...!) The rest just appeared to have moved on in life, and without any (skilled) new blood to take their place.

Currently, though, as I'm well into the pony fix, I'm using mainly Fimfiction and EQD as my sources (the latter has fairly stiff quality control); fanfic is of a more variable quality. (Also, I have to say, after ten years of using the site - I started on Pokemon fics, back in the day - I'm not enamoured of the recent style changes to the front end, personally.)

There's been some grand stuff, though, through the years.

Of course, the usual disappointment is that a fair chunk of the best stuff is done by authors that never finish or lose interest, while the mediocre stuff carries on to completion.



I think some of the length issues (if you want to complain about there being stories that are too long!) is due to the internet format. Without printing or selling costs, there's no need to be as harsh with editing (self or otherwise), which is, I would guess, the hard part of professional writing. (In a similar manner to how webcomics have the infinite canvas effect.)



My own contributions run to one Adam West-style Naruto parody and a brief Pokedex over the course of ten years. (Plus a few umpteen hundred words on my headcanon on ME£'s ending which there is a remote possibility I might finish one day; though with the ending DLC finally out and completed, I'm not sure I can work up the enthusiasm. Trouble is, I have lots of ideas of snippets of things, but I can never get enough - or work-up enough energy to actually write the down. The day they have thought-to-text interface is the day my writing will prolifierate!)

[Traab]

Do not read fanfiction on ff.net, most of it is total dross and of extremely low, or poor calibre. If you want good fanfiction go to:

http://forums.spacebattles.com/forum...ve-writing.18/

Most of the stuff is of a higher calibre, and reviewers will generally tell the author, exactly what they think and how to improve it.

Meh, ive been a member of ff.net for like 6 years now. I have found hundreds of stories worth reading and rereading. Yeah there is a lot of crap, but that search function is freaking awesome. Its not perfect, but I like it better than say, hpfanficarchive.com. That one there has a really crappy search function. You almost have to know the story and author before you ever start looking. Blind searches stink. Though I have to admit, it is hard to wade hip deep in yaoi searching for a decent ff.net story sometimes. People are disturbingly obsessed with naru/sasuke stories. Or xander/spike

[Tavar]

Spacebattles does have another good feature: in the index section, there are many rec threads, including a compilation thread, that only lists recs, organized by fandom.

How I've found several good works.