Recommend Web Orginal Fiction

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#1
All right people, fan fiction is good but it's not the only thing on the web. What original web fiction do people read?

The single best web original I'm reading is Worm. It's a superhero story about a girl with the power to control insects. It is god. It has fantastic characters, exciting plots, fantastic world building and more. I can't recommend it enough. There are some extremely positive reviews on Dark Lord Potter if people want more convincing.

My second favourite web story is probably Mother of Learning. Simply put, it's a 'Groundhog's day' time loop story set in an original fantasy world. Again the characters and world building are great. At the start I wanted to punch the main character (Zorian) in the face for being a jerk but this is a true Groundhog's day story: the personal development of the main character is at least as important as gaining cool super powers.

There are some other stories I like too.

Legion of Nothing A superhero story about the grandchildren of golden age super heroes taking up their forbearer's mantels. It's been running for a while now, has a good cast and some nice development. On the down side, the writing can be a little dry at times (fairly unemotional which is strange since it's first person).

I also quite like Star Harbor Nights. It is also about superheroes but no long updates. The original site is now gone but can be viewed here on the Internet Archive (Some can also be read here but I don't think all). After the content on that site stops, it picks up again here, continues for a few years before stopping again. It's still well worth a read if you've got the time, and can be bothered tracking the bits down.

Another good superhero fic is Flyover City!. Unlike the others I've recommended, Flyover City is not an average super hero story. The star and narrator is Joel, a twenty something phone worker, working customer assistance at a telecom company. He has no powers, his life's a bit of a mess and when someone steals his scooter, that was the last straw. He decides to be a superhero. From there he is drawn into a okay adventure (it didn't really draw me in but it wasn't bad). Again the characters in this are quite good and we get to know then well; it's really more a story of their lives than super heroics. Joel doesn't become like batman (or anything like that) but by the end he really is a hero.

There is also a thread of almost parody like humour running through the story but that doesn't get in the way of the seriousness of the situations. While there were only a few laugh out loud moments, it's still a funny story, in a weird internety surrealist way.

At forty one fairly short parts it won't take that long to read. I'd recommend people give it a look.

Rounding out my super hero recommendations, I have The Last Skrull. It has a good story, full characters and, get this, a beginning, middle and end (!!!). Despite that, I feel there is just something lacking that stops it being truly great. The story stars a 'Sue Daysdale' who follows in her mothers footsteps as the superhero/vigilante the Skrull.

The Nocte Yin Series by 'the point' is also worth a mention. It's about the youngest daughter of an 'evil' family (her father's a mad scientist, her mother a sorceress, oldest brother a warlord, elder sister the wicked witch of the south east, younger sister a psychic with four mind controlled slaves and her youngest brother an Bond-esk evil genius.) The problem? She's not nearly as evil. Most of the time that is... It's a bit fan girlish in places and the writing could use a buff up but I enjoyed it. There are four complete stories with a fifth in progress. Start with Nocte Yin. Please note, the first three stories heavily feature a Evil Academy if you love and or hate the school genre please take note. It's a bit fangirlish in places but I've enjoyed it.
 

Knyght

The Collector
#2
Glimmervoid said:
The single best web original I'm reading is Worm. It's a superhero story about a girl with the power to control insects. It is god. It has fantastic characters, exciting plots, fantastic world building and more. I can't recommend it enough. There are some extremely positive reviews on Dark Lord Potter if people want more convincing.
The fists of an entire legion of angry gods isn't enough to convey how hard I second this.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#3
(Yet) Another really good superhero web serial is the 'Velveteen vs.' stories. It's written by Seanan McGuire, who's a published author so it's got some good chops behind it. It stars Velveteen, a slightly sarcastic ex-child superhero who's managed to live a normal life for several years but finds herself slowly drawn back in. She has the power to bring stuffed toys to life (hence her name) but her conflict with Marketing (the, well, marketing division of the superhero team she used to work for) is the real meat of the story. Funny, witty and not at all standard superhero fair. If you go into it expecting a comic book in prose, you're going to be disappointed. Go it to it with an open mind and you'll find something wonderful.

The first story 'Velveteen vs. The Isley Crawfish Festival' can be read here. For the rest, start at the button of this page and work backwards.

It is well worth a read; I even brought the ebook.
 

PCHeintz72

The Sentient Fanfic Search Engine mk II
#4
Web original fiction... About the only such original fiction I pay attention to would be:

Web Comic 'Outsider' by Jim Francis
Web Comic 'PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi/Forgotten' by snafu -comics

And below is some old stuff not updated in years...

Video Shorts series 'There she is' by SamBakZa

A original story called 'In the Service of the Red Lady' by bsmart-Tiek Mo Shet
A original story called 'Kurukshetra' by Smartalek-Arun
A original story called 'Original Snippet' by Thrythlind

Hmmm... do Star Trek Ship design sites count? Not technically fan fiction, since it has no content from any series per se, but at the same time not exactly stories either.
 

sg377

Well-Known Member
#5
knight504 said:
Glimmervoid said:
The single best web original I'm reading is Worm. It's a superhero story about a girl with the power to control insects. It is god. It has fantastic characters, exciting plots, fantastic world building and more. I can't recommend it enough. There are some extremely positive reviews on Dark Lord Potter if people want more convincing.
The fists of an entire legion of angry gods isn't enough to convey how hard I second this.
Yes. From the void I emerge just to endorse these two posts. Additionally, the updates are as regular as clockwork - a beautiful fact in itself.
 

MangoPDK

Well-Known Member
#6
Should note that Wildbow, Worm's author, has stated that Worm is planned to end within the year. This gives it the distinction of being a long, good webnovel/webserial with a documented plot and lifetime.
 

Vog

Well-Known Member
#7
I just caught up to the most recent chapter and all I have to say is that it's amazing. I can't remember the last time I didn't want to stop reading something.
 

Knyght

The Collector
#8
Another superhero fic called Super Powereds which happens to be second on the list of Top Web Fiction, right behind Worm. The story's about a group of teenagers who were originally a part of a group who possessed uncontrollable superpowers but underwent a brand new procedure that grants them control. Now they're just like every other Super and are undertaking a course that teaches them to be Heroes whilst they keep their former status a secret. Think Sky High but awesome. The writing at the start was a little awkward and it doesn't have the most interesting beginning but it definitely picks. It's near the end of Year 2 (of 4) and the recent update was fucking tasty.
 

Valint

Well-Known Member
#9
Glimmervoid said:
The single best web original I'm reading is Worm.
Thanks for this recommendation. This is just head and shoulders above most web fiction out there; easily good enough to be published were it not for the sprawling length.

I would, however, like my Tuesday back.
 

Knyght

The Collector
#10
The author is actually planning to publish it once it's completed. Presumably as a series because of how huge it is.
 

WizardOne

Well-Known Member
#11
knight504 said:
The author is actually planning to publish it once it's completed. Presumably as a series because of how huge it is.
... really?

Dissapointing.

Last I checked, she said she was going to leave worm up, and then try to get the funds for a followup done on kickstarter so she could get on with writing full time.

Selling out to publishers dissapoints me, as its pretty much the total opposite of what she was saying before.
 
#12
WizardOne said:
knight504 said:
The author is actually planning to publish it once it's completed. Presumably as a series because of how huge it is.
... really?

Dissapointing.

Last I checked, she said she was going to leave worm up, and then try to get the funds for a followup done on kickstarter so she could get on with writing full time.

Selling out to publishers dissapoints me, as its pretty much the total opposite of what she was saying before.
Self publish, rather than traditionally publish. Provided I can naturally navigate the hurdles.
 

Ranger64

Active Member
#14
Worm is the best piece of superhero fiction I've ever read. Keep it up.
 

WizardOne

Well-Known Member
#15
Wildbow said:
WizardOne said:
knight504 said:
The author is actually planning to publish it once it's completed. Presumably as a series because of how huge it is.
... really?

Dissapointing.

Last I checked, she said she was going to leave worm up, and then try to get the funds for a followup done on kickstarter so she could get on with writing full time.

Selling out to publishers dissapoints me, as its pretty much the total opposite of what she was saying before.
Self publish, rather than traditionally publish. Provided I can naturally navigate the hurdles.
Oh well, allow me to take back my criticism. Pardon me.
 

The Sandman

Well-Known Member
#16
I'll toss another recommendation on the pile for Worm. It's kind of amazingly good.

For something new, I'll suggest the works of Stefan Gagne, aka "Twoflower" from way back when in Ranma and Slayers fanfiction. In particular, his two more recent original series, Anachronauts (which is finished) and City of Angles (which is ongoing).
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#17
(Yet) Another superhero web serial I want to recommend: Wonder City Stories by Jude McLaughlin.

The Web Fiction Guide has this to say,
Superpowers are the least of their problems...

Wonder City Stories is an ongoing serial that explores gender, race, and sexuality in a richly-populated superhero comic book universe, actively deconstructing the persistent themes of the genre through the eyes of a group of compelling characters who are unusual in that context: women, elderly people, POCs, LGBTQI people, and more.

It’s a universe where the equivalent of Superman is a short, round, middle-aged black woman, and its version of Captain America is a homeless, elderly veteran living out of her van. Where superpowers don’t guarantee special treatment, money, or success, and where time continues to flow forward so that most people age and have to live with consequences, with no reboots or retcons.
On a personal note, I'd say Wonder City needs and deserves a lot more love than it gets. Its a really good story with really real people. Check out some of the reviews at the Web Fiction Guide link if you want more opinions.
 
#18
As I'm not sure where else to put it I'll just say here that Mother of Learning has updated after 2 months or so!
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/18/Mother-of-Learning
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#19
Emerald Oracle said:
As I'm not sure where else to put it I'll just say here that Mother of Learning has updated after 2 months or so!
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/18/Mother-of-Learning
Saw it updated yesterday. I'm still really liking this story; I just wish it would update more. The delays are really breaking momentum.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#20
Another good story: Lovelace 1/2. For the record, this is orginal fiction, with no connection to Ranma or Black Lagoon. Per WoG the title should be read 'Lovelace, One Over Two'. It's a fantasy story set in the modern world were a hidden group of people have super powers. I'd say its a superhero story in style but there's been no super heroics so far.

It's novel about a young woman named Andi. She’s an expat Brit going to a private school in America. Until her Freshman year she was a completely normal person, but things change when she gets super powers. Her power would be a Thinker under the Worm classification system. Simply put she's developing super intelligence in the form of flash calculation, pattern matching, perfect memory and some other related stuff. The plot is only just starting but there are some very interesting hints about other people with powers and her parents.

This link is a list of all available chapters (8 so far). This is a link straight to the first chapter for those who want to dive right in.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#21
(Yet) Another good story. A Grey World.

A Grey World follows Alexis, a girl who is struggling with a drug-addicted parent and singled out at school for her differences. She has difficulty trusting others but decides to change when Beth, a girl from her school, makes an effort to reach out to her. A deep hatred for drug dealers and those who pick on the weak threatens to take her down a dangerous path.
First off, this is near future sci-fi. Earth has been sending out wormhole gates on STL starships for years. Alexis' top dream is to become a pilot and get off Earth. She also may or may not be the result of an illegal genetic engineering experiment. If she is, the results are not X-men or anything like that. Its more realistic: fast healing and better muscles. This style is also seen in the world. Despite being sci-fi, the urban world Alexis lives in is still pretty recognisable.

There are two main plot threads. At school, Alexis is really withdraw and the subject of heavy bullying. At the story starts, she makes her first friend in Beth. Running parallel, Alexis decides to beat up and rob drug dealers. These threads interweave and feed in with each other.

Spelling is top but there are some grammatical errors here and there (malformed speech tags and comma splices mostly). Characters are good and gaining depth with each passing chapter. Very tense emptions. I'd recommend it without hesitation.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#23
Based on the well known fact that fanfiction transforms into fine art if your source is old enough, I give you something new and not even related to superheroes! Thalia’s Musings

Thalia’s Musings is a series of original novels written by Amethyst Marie. It’s narrated by Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, as she observes the comedy, drama, and tragedy of the ancient Greek pantheon. But when Thalia becomes more than an observer, the Fates take notice. Are Thalia’s powers limited to helping mortal playwrights hack out a comedy sketch, or can she create happy endings in real life, even for the gods? The Fates want to know.
As the summery said, this is a story about Greek Mythology. At a rough guess, it's one third straight mythology, one third re-interpreted mythology and one third fairly seamless original content. It's written from the first person perspective of Thalia, the Muse of Comedy. It can be quite funny in places but grows a plot as things progress. The characters are alive and the use of obscure mythology can be very fun in places.

There are currently two 'books' out, with a third coming this winter. The second feels a bit slashy in places but that's to be expected I suppose. It features Adonis heavily and this is Greek myth. Male gods hitting on effeminate young men sort of goes with the territory.

I very much enjoyed it but there are a couple of down points. First, it doesn't feel like Ancient Greece overly much. While theoretically set there, the language and much of the culture feel very modern western. The main character mostly condemns and exalts what a modern reader would condemn and exalt, not what a Greek Goddess or human living at the time would think, going by original sources.

The second bad point links back to my 're-interpreted mythology' point above. While often done cleverly, sometimes I found myself frowning. Characters we are meant to like get their mythological actions justified and explained to a far greater than the rest of the cast. At times, it feels unfair to me.

Overall, I'd definitely advice giving it a read. First chapter here.
 

daniel_gudman

KING (In Land of Blind)
Staff member
#24
Glimmervoid said:
Emerald Oracle said:
As I'm not sure where else to put it I'll just say here that Mother of Learning has updated after 2 months or so!
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/18/Mother-of-Learning
Saw it updated yesterday. I'm still really liking this story; I just wish it would update more. The delays are really breaking momentum.
Aaaaand Chapter 20 is up.

BTW this is just a programming note but can anyone think of a better thread to use for update notifications for this story?
(I can't, as demonstrated by putting it here.)
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
#25
daniel_gudman said:
Glimmervoid said:
Emerald Oracle said:
As I'm not sure where else to put it I'll just say here that Mother of Learning has updated after 2 months or so!
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/18/Mother-of-Learning
Saw it updated yesterday. I'm still really liking this story; I just wish it would update more. The delays are really breaking momentum.
Aaaaand Chapter 20 is up.

BTW this is just a programming note but can anyone think of a better thread to use for update notifications for this story?
(I can't, as demonstrated by putting it here.)
Here's probably best for now. Someone could create an original fiction update thread there aren't that many original stories TFF follows closely enough to need updates for.

Anyway, good chapter, but by the (apparently missing) gods, this story is slow. It is crawling along, with limited development per chapter and big breaks between them.
 
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