Continued Adventures: The Fanfic Thread

[Rumsy4]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've read the last chapter like four times already. hehe

[3dog]

Yes! That last chapter is everything. There's still an epilogue to come I think, which is making me unreasonably happy.

I just started Lilac Wine. You guys recommended it back on like page 4 or 5, but it only recently got completed, it looks like.

[daxx]

You guys so suck. Up reading Every Letter until 3am. Now I have to go to work and be functional...

[3dog]

24 minutes ago, daxx said:

You guys so suck. Up reading Every Letter until 3am. Now I have to go to work and be functional...

Mwahahah! Should have read it at work like I did. (;

[daxx]

A bunch of the wips I follow updated and I feel so behind. feast or famine I suppose?

[Dianthus]

Ugh! Every Letter had me crying my eyes out. Just thinking about what a difference it would've made in Emma's young life if she'd had a real friend, rather than the Lily kind... It kills me.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Dianthus
more words

[3dog]

I just started this modern AU, and it's cute so far:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10291019/1/Sit-Stay-Feel

I've been having trouble really getting into anything since I finished the perfection that was Every Letter, but I've got decent hopes for this one. Anyone read it before?

[OnceUponAJen]

I'm enjoying The Dark Horizon, and The Wish You Make was updated not long ago.

[Rumsy4]

I've read it. Very cute. 

Here's my rec list, if you (or anyone) is interested. :-)

[3dog]

Thank you! I'll read anything you tell me to after Every Letter. (;

[Rumsy4]

Hahaha ... Dawww ...

[RadioGirl27]

I haven't read Every Letter yet, but  with all this love, I think I'm going to read it soon.

The ones I'm hooked right now (pun intended) are The Difficult Kind by nowforruin (a modern AU, a criminal story) and Love, Kindness, and Other Useless Things by KillianJones (a period piece, set in 1815).

And some of my all-time favorites are The Trouble with Faking It by nowforruin, Separate Lives by lenfaz, Fear of Falling by Montana-Rosalie and Whatever Floats Your Boat by Shoedonym.

[daxx]

I don't see this one mentioned often but it was one of the first I read and liked it a lot.

Future AU

What Could Have Been

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9863803/1/What-Could-Have-Been

[Rumsy4]

I don't like it when Emma is in a relationship with Neal, so, I couldn't get into What Could Have Been, even though it has an interesting premise.

Dark Horizon is definitely a current obsession, even if it is a really dark fic. I tend to get hooked on most fics by Hillary (qqueenofhades). I currently started rereading Incarcerus, and plan to rereread Lightbearers next. Seriously man, those fics are epic! 

[daxx]

All great ones. Given the cursed part of the other fic I could tolerate it.

[OnceUponAJen]

Oh, and I LOVE this one! Same author as Dark Horizon, Incarcerus and other epic fics!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4555383/chapters/10370154

[daxx]

Love Hilary's writing. I do wish she hadn't lost her old url it was a cooler name lady silverblood.

[PixiePaws1]

If any of the kind people who read The Chicken Reform are interested,  I wrote a little side story from that AU about Emma's toy ducky

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12144278/1/A-History-of-Henry-Not-Too-Young-for-True-Love-series

[Rumsy4]

I'm really enjoying this fic, Falling Slowly. It's an EF AU where the Curse wasn't cast. There's a bit of a twist with Killian--something that I haven't come across in fics before. There's some pretty stunning artwork to go with it as well. I'm just beginning to catch up with the stories posted for the CS Big Bang.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Rumsy4

[daxx]

I just started that one last week as well. I think there was an update today. I'm enjoying it a lot. 

[3dog]

The final chapter of Every Letter got posted this week. It did not disappoint. Perfect ending.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7305970/chapters/16593694

[Rumsy4]

It was very sweet. I'm glad the author is planning on more one-shots in that 'verse. heee

[Selina K]

Loved this sort of extended one-shot from nowforruin The Stars Walk Backwards  AU Killian and Emma meet in high school and reconnect each year on the same day.  Really nicely done.  Had sort of a Before Sunrise vibe.

[OnceUponAJen]

I think this is hilarious: A Tight Spot

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8141575

[Dianthus]

So I was over at AO3 earlier (compulsively checking for a Dark Horizons update) when I came across a fic called Henry Trolls Captain Swan (IIRC) that purports to be CS, but isn't really. It's three chapters in and it's written by a SwanFire fan. Honestly, you don't have to like a pairing, but you don't have to be a little bitch about it (unless it's SQ ;p).

[3dog]

On 10/9/2016 at 0:26 AM, Dianthus said:

So I was over at AO3 earlier (compulsively checking for a Dark Horizons update) when I came across a fic called Henry Trolls Captain Swan (IIRC) that purports to be CS, but isn't really. It's three chapters in and it's written by a SwanFire fan. Honestly, you don't have to like a pairing, but you don't have to be a little bitch about it (unless it's SQ ;p).

Wow. That's a loooong way to go to troll. Writing a fic of any length is a lot of work and I would assume a total labor of love.  Huh.

[InsertWordHere]

With all due respect to anyone from here who has commented on that fic, some of those comments are really, really awful. It's a crack fic. 

[Rumsy4]

Thanks, @InsertWordHere I didn't read or comment, but I read the author's warnings. They make it quite clear that it was anti-CS. Sometimes, it's best to let things go. Ao3 is not tumblr, and people should be free to post what they wish. 

I was writing an Emma-centric story where Regina backslides. I put up big fat warnings on the description that it was not pro-Regina. Since I had included Regina as a character, a lot of Regina fans commented on the fic, basically lambasting me for tagging it with Regina's name. I basically stopped writing the story and any fics for a long time. 

[Dianthus]

I read the warnings too, but what bugs me about it is that it really isn't CS, no matter what the author says. She insists that it is, because Hook and Emma are together. While true, if it really was a CS story, Hook would have a chance to prove himself to Henry and win him over. Instead, it seems like merely an excuse for the writer to use Henry as her mouthpiece to rag on Emma and give her shit (like she doesn't take enough crap already). There's nothing adorable about emotional blackmail. Also, if it's just Henry giving Emma grief the whole time, it'd get old pretty fast.

There's another story (I forget the name) that starts out CS (for, like, the first 50 chapters. Fifty!), then switches to slow burn SwanFire. You'd think people would have better things to do with their time.

[InsertWordHere]

16 minutes ago, Dianthus said:

Instead, it seems like merely an excuse for the writer to use Henry as her mouthpiece to rag on Emma and give her shit (like she doesn't take enough crap already). There's nothing adorable about emotional blackmail.

This I totally agree with. Henry acts like his grandpa (not the charming one) in that fic. 

[OnceUponAJen]

I'm leery of stories with too many chapters.  Some of them just seem to have no good direction.

[3dog]

On 9/28/2016 at 4:59 PM, Selina K said:

Loved this sort of extended one-shot from nowforruin The Stars Walk Backwards  AU Killian and Emma meet in high school and reconnect each year on the same day.  Really nicely done.  Had sort of a Before Sunrise vibe.

Really enjoyed this one. Thanks for the recommendation. So angsty.

On 9/29/2016 at 4:47 PM, OnceUponAJen said:

I think this is hilarious: A Tight Spot

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8141575

Very funny! But I wanted her to keep going with it!

 

Right now I'm in the last chapter of this fake!dating CS. The twist is that Emma is pretending to date Liam when she meets Killian. It's well done:

Oh, Brother...

[OnceUponAJen]

I'm really liking this one.  Thief/wench Emma, Captain Hook.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8156440/chapters/18691969

[PixiePaws1]

On Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 2:07 PM, Dianthus said:

I read the warnings too, but what bugs me about it is that it really isn't CS, no matter what the author says. She insists that it is, because Hook and Emma are together. While true, if it really was a CS story, Hook would have a chance to prove himself to Henry and win him over. Instead, it seems like merely an excuse for the writer to use Henry as her mouthpiece to rag on Emma and give her shit (like she doesn't take enough crap already). There's nothing adorable about emotional blackmail. Also, if it's just Henry giving Emma grief the whole time, it'd get old pretty fast.

There's another story (I forget the name) that starts out CS (for, like, the first 50 chapters. Fifty!), then switches to slow burn SwanFire. You'd think people would have better things to do with their time.

That one is Ruins of Camelot....was so annoyed..got right into it and then the author switched to SwanAssWipeFire.....

The comments on that Henry Trolls CS fic..absolutely brutal....

There's another one 'I Dreamed of Neal' that the author tagged as CS and anti-CS and it's starting to collect some ugly comments too....

Really..it is hard to feel sorry for some authors when they tag just to dig the boot in. I  do believe there are some who genuinely get it wrong and don't mean to troll.

[Dianthus]

There may be some who are well-meaning (tho' I find it hard to believe). Mostly they just seem like total asshats. It's like being true to the letter of the thing (CS are together), while being completely against the spirit of the thing. They're deliberately trolling for negative comments to feed their persecution complex or something, IMO.

[Daisy]

This is what this season would have been in my head -

They come back from New York. Captain Swan is starting to build a life, there is no drama. but Emma feels burdened with the Saviourdom - like she just wants to know if she'll ever get peace, rest, whatever. On patrol, Emma helps a townie we've (and she's) never seen and they realise with the border up and all the drama and stuff - there are some people they simply don't know who is in town. but the Townie isn't bad or anything she's an oracle, and not just any oracle, but like the Norn, or the Oracle (from Greek myths). and she goes well, she only generally offers Sight to people once they ask One Question, and they get One Answer, for helping her,she'll answer Emma's question before she asks the question. Emma will indeed find peace, but only after great tragedy. The Sky will fall and a flame that will never die will lead to that path. Emma freaks out and asks a question regarding Hook, and she finds out that Hook is not her one true love and burns her "One Question, One Answer" so she doesn't even know what the great tragedy is - but she thinks it's something to do with Killian. 

Other life-y stuff happens, including Emma and Hook getting engaged, and Emma pushing the prediction out of her mind (akin to this stupid "i'm going to die" crap on the show now). then on the night of their engagement - they see shooting stars (one falls into the woods, and a bunch fall in the opposite direction - Sky is falling). they realise it was something serious as they feel the earth quake, and when they go into the woods they find a woman with no memory, knowing she needs to find something, but doesn't know what.  They take her home (Charming home) and try to help her out. The other "stars" were actually the Valkyrie from Norse mythology, and Loki is among them, and they are looking for the Rhinegold. Rumple can sense this power as well, and they realise that the Girl is also trying to find it (but can't remember what "it" is) until something happens to trigger her memory (i don't know she finds it or something).

Emma and Grinhilda butt heads and Grinhilda says stay out of her way and no one gets hurt. Again everything is basically in a cold-war stand off, no one is doing anything really bad (or "good") but they are all searching for the Rhinegold. by this point Rumple + belle are over, (completely), and Rumple just wants more power. Through fairybacks and the like we realise that the Rhinegold is a source of ultimate power, and whomever has it can gain more power. Odin hid it anand we think thats why the valkyrie are after it but Grinhilda is actually wanting the power for her self (as this is how the show works). 

The penultimate episodes lead up to Emma/Grinhilda standing off because Grinhilda believes Emma knows where the Rhinegold is. Grinhilda was milking Henry and his concept of Magic Bad (so he was "against" team Charming for most of this season AND wanting to be a Hero). Mystery Girl at this point has the Rhineghold, but Emma steals it because Grinhilda says she will kill Henry if she doesn't get it back. Mystery Girl screams that the power of the Rhinegold is too great and Emma says she will not sacrifice her son and gives it to Grinhilda.She gets it and then shoves Henry through a portal (the Great Tragedy). 

Mystery girl remembers everything and says there is a curse - anyone who possess the Rhinegold has magic powers and super strength - but at a price. If you've not forsaken love - you'll lose the thing you love most. And then she points out it's impossible to forsake love. hence the "protection" around it. Mystery Girl's story is revealed (via fairyback) that she was actually transformed from a Unicorn (the last Unicorn -favourite story and "rare" in Norseland) by Balder, Odin's favoured son. As she was not "human" she actually had no feelings, making her the perfect guardian to the Rhinegold. until she actually fell in love. When Grinhilda came to take it - To project her + everyone else, Mystery Girl actually put the ring on, to defeat the Valkyrie opened the portal and threw the ring to hide it  - but she at that point lost all her memories.

Season Finale is that Grinhilda turns into Grindl, everyone is chasing after the rhinegold now, and a good Valkyrie decides to save the girl, the ring and cause a stalemate - she'll turn into a ring of flame (last hint of prophecy), and protect them until the Girl's true love comes save her.

the next season is wrapping all of THAT Up. how i don't know. I think in my head, I had Emma falling in love with someone non magical, Henry came back  cooler, and less annoying, and Girl's true love was Hook (or Balder, who was missing in action for some reason). you then could be introduced to to Beowulf, more Odin, etc. figure out how Emma got her "peace" why the true love wasn't Hook (maybe it is still hook, I don't know).

(and then somehow i'd re-introduce the Anti-Magic-Squad. like make them a legitimate thing not whatever Pan had them as). 

[Dianthus]

Pocket Anon, author of Scar Tissue, has another story going now. It's three chapters in so far. It's a take on the movie Enchanted, only instead of a Fairy Tale Princess in New York, it's a pirate.

[OnceUponAJen]

Ok, I am loving this story,  A Place in Time.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7886248/chapters/18013588

[Writing Wrongs]

This was before the latest episodes, but I had been thinking about one where in the future, Adult Neal and Gideon are best friends and both in love with Robin. She loves Neal and Gideon, being Rumple's son, inadvertently causes her death. So Neal goes back in time to Storybrooke present day to stop Gideon being born. He goes to Zelena for help. Of course once his family figure out who he is, they try to talk him out of it. That's all I got. I haven't tried writing fanfic since I was obsessed with Charmed.

[Rumsy4]

28 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

 Adult Neal and Gideon are best friends and both in love with Robin. 

You really really should have clarified this statement/used their nicknames, WW. I had a moment of complete mindf@ck. lol 

[Writing Wrongs]

LOL. Damn this show for re-using names.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Writing Wrongs

[KingOfHearts]

On 12/4/2016 at 8:46 PM, Writing Wrongs said:

This was before the latest episodes, but I had been thinking about one where in the future, Adult Neal and Gideon are best friends and both in love with Robin. She loves Neal and Gideon, being Rumple's son, inadvertently causes her death. So Neal goes back in time to Storybrooke present day to stop Gideon being born. He goes to Zelena for help. Of course once his family figure out who he is, they try to talk him out of it. That's all I got. I haven't tried writing fanfic since I was obsessed with Charmed.

I'm waiting to see the fic where Robin, Gideon and Neal all grow up in the Dark Realm the Black Fairy took them to, or where they join the Home Office.

Does anyone know of any good fics that are: Canon compliant or canon divergent and not purely shipper fic?

Edited December 8, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[InsertWordHere]

I am really enjoying the CS Enchanted/OUaT fusion A Fairytale Beginning. 

8 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

Does anyone know of any good fics that are: Canon compliant or canon divergent and not purely shipper fic?

I would be interested in those as well. There used to be a few but that was before fandom seemed to retreat to its separate corners. In particular there was a really good canon divergent season 1 fic where Charming touched the mobile instead of the windmill and remembered his true self, but it was written during season 1 and now feels kind of outdated. It was a Snowing fic obviously but it wasn't a pure couple fic. 

[KAOS Agent]

I've rec'ed this one before, but I still love it. I Want to Start a Petition! is random people of Storybrooke writing letters to the editor because they are pissed about what's going on in town. The first few chapters are the best. I felt like later on some of it got to be more about pet social issues rather than funny Storybrooke grievances, but if you want to read something different, this one is good.

[PixiePaws1]

I'm tossing about a way over ambitious idea (in my twisted little brain its working title is 'Plugging Gaps & Course Corrections'...)

Fanfics are already all about different takes on scenes, eps and entire seasons...but they're scattered, disjointed. Like many others, I feel so disappointed at the way the series has lost pretty much all of the heart and soul that made it so interesting and captured our attention. So many ops for emotion fuelled scenes squandered; so many adventurous roads bypassed for a surprising 'twist' that really wasn't all that inventive.

For me the rot began to set in around 3b...with the totally undeserved Neal worship, Snowing starting to get sidelined and Emma being shoved out of the way so Regina could save the day using white magic WITHOUT her heart...! Emma's attitude was so wilfully cruel and resentful at having to come back, i thought she was pushed too far out of character. I think they took it way over the top in order to contrast her revelation in Rumple's vault (in the wonderful 3b finale)...

I am not a Regina fan but I  believe she was deprived of the true ephiphany she needs to have about the way she treats/treated people before she can really be properly redeemed. With Zelena turning up in 3b it opened the door for Regina to have some major character growth. Because of the power imbalance and the reluctance of the writers to allow non magical people contribute clever ways to combat magical.villains, all we got was some petty name calling in a fairly dull High Noon scenario that lasted about 3 minutes until Regina sailed through the clock -great visual but rather empty of any deep or lasting emotional impact. 

I mean...c'mon...Regina has a sister! Surprise! How could they not give her a chance to react to that in a more human fashion??? The writers really missed out on some great ops.

Then there's the mess they've made of  Belle and Rumple...good grief...I have no doubt there are Rumbelle fans who have just about torn their hair out over that trainwreck.

Then came s4....yes...well....!

I would love to 'collect' in one place all the fics /gif sets/manips/artworks for those scenes, that i think are missing or improve on, what we got served up....to create a cohesive narrative from maybe 3b onwards. A sort of more emotionally satisfying beginning to end version of 3b thru 6.

Not sure i could actually do it....but I  really wanted Snowing to know what the Brains Trust of August and Neal did to Emma. I want Emma to have deep emotional and cathartic conversations with her parents and stop groveling for Regina's friendship. I want EVERYONE to learn how Graham died. I  want Regina to get some meaningful self awareness and a fully earned redemption. I  want the adults to remind Henry he's a kid and slap him in the face with his double standards. I want the Snowing I adore from s1 to come back (that's possible while still sticking to canon, I'm sure it is!). I want all the little character beats we were deprived of such as Emma dealing with watching Belle giving up her kid..(really, Writers??? You gave us NOTHING???). I want Emma's story to be back, front and centre, because that's the show I bought into. I  want Killian's PTSD after his extreme torture by Hades. I want Belle and Rumple to not be a story of worsening spousal abuse. 

Big dream (maybe arrogant of me to think useless me could improve on the professional writers)...probably too big for me to make happen while I work full time..but i can hope to get it up and running.

[KingOfHearts]

I've wanted something like for a long time, PixiePaws1. I want to be able to connect the dots.

[Rumsy4]

I enjoy canon divergence fics that sort of "fix" the issues with the writing in the show. Two of my favorites are Cursed!Killian fics (Peace I Leave With You and Until the Fog Lifts). Both start in S1 and are now in S3. I don't think they will go beyond S3. I would absolutely LOVE to read a canon divergence fic that starts around 3B. Go for it, @PixiePaws1 if you can! I enjoy your writing. :-) 

6 hours ago, PixiePaws1 said:

Emma's attitude was so wilfully cruel and resentful at having to come back, i thought she was pushed too far out of character. I think they took it way over the top in order to contrast her revelation in Rumple's vault (in the wonderful 3b finale)...

Taking this discussion to the writing thread. 

[KingOfHearts]

I always had a really crazy idea for a 3B fic that's very canon divergent. Simply, it puts Emma and Henry in the Dorothy and Toto roles, respectively. They get taken to Oz and Glinda is trying to get them to stop Zelena and save Emma's family. Emma's belief comes more from being in a magical world and learning everything slowly, as opposed to an instant forgetting potion. There's a lot more to it, but that's just what I had in mind.

Another idea was Memoryless!Emma coming to Storybrooke. Hook pretends he's a client with a bounty on Zelena. I thought it would be fun to watch Emma do her thing without magic. It would be a total opposite of S1 - Emma and Henry would be the only ones with fake memories.

Quote

For me the rot began to set in around 3b...with the totally undeserved Neal worship, 

As much as I hated Swanfire, I wish we could have gotten an alternative fate for his character. He had potential, but the writers' lack of creativity kept him dead in the water. Quiet Minds was really clunky.

Edited December 27, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[OnceUponAJen]

I like the idea of fic working out the weak spots in the original material.  However,  I don't really like reading fic that follows canon too much.  For me, it's basically like reading an episode and I feel like it's sort of "been there, done that," and I can't retain my interest in the story.

I just started this completed fic. I'm only 5 chapters in, but am liking it so far. The author uses the main characters from the show,  and I'm liking the way they're introduced.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5966074/chapters/13710862

Edited December 28, 2016 by OnceUponAJen

[PixiePaws1]

Finly got another chapter of Crushing Ice...if anyone's interested 

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11807844/15/