Unfandom #1: Original Works
Mar. 10th, 2008 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trace_by_echoThis may seem a little counter-intuitive - isn't "original works" just published fiction? But there is a thriving section of the Archive Of Our Own dedicated to original works; the genre slews heavily toward sci-fi and fantasy, with an extra helping of erotica. Basically, this part of AO3 is a sandbox for authors to have fun in, and maybe test a story concept before trying to publish. I'm considering writing a few short stories for it myself.
The ones I have recommended are usually - but not always - community favorites as well (I'm tracking the AO3 tool "bookmarks", as generally people will only bookmark a fic they think is worthy of a reread, and so it is a better aggregate statistic than kudos or comments). I also took advantage of the expansive erotica subsection, so be warned that not all of these are SFW.
Science-Fiction:
~basil makes everything better, by angharad_crewe. Falling for your college friend can get complicated, especially when you're both the daughters of high government officials and she's an alien as well.
Tropes of note: xenophilia, alien biology
~Blanket Fic for a New Millennium, by TheApplesofEpicurius. "Baby, it's cold outside", especially when you've crash-landed your ship on an ice planet with only a slimeform alien for company. Since the two starfarers are friends, this is a somewhat rare example of two people happily enabling each other's kinks.
Tropes of note: slime inflation, enthusiastic consent, xenophilia, tentacles
~The Course of Honour, by Avoliot. After his first arranged spouse dies, Jainan must uphold the treaty between Thea and the Iskat Empire by remarrying to another prince. Prince Kiem is used to being a backup royal comfortably far away from politics and allowed to spend all his time on charitable works, so being chosen as the new treaty spouse surprises him. Can these two men form a true relationship despite intrigue, assassination attempts and fumbling attempts at romance?
Tropes of note: past noncon, abuse recovery, gender as a truly neutral construct, fish out of water, arranged marriage
--->And Now, A Short Speech; in case anyone was wondering about the missed Braska Prime School presentation, here's what eventually happened when it was rescheduled.
--->NEWS FLASH: Apparently this was so successful that it has been published as a novel. The online version is wiped from AO3, but you can find the published work as "Winter's Orbit" by Everina Maxwell.
~Cultural Collision, by Udunie. After a gentle alien takeover of Earth, a young man finds himself short of cash & dreams, and willing to get paid for carrying alien eggs. He wasn't expecting to become fond of the male alien who requested him.
Tropes of note: oviposition, mpreg, xenophilia
~Salma and the Hive, by bravelittletoreador. The Hymenopterans are looking for female Humans to join the crews of their first space fleet. Salma arrives for her job interview, and finds out the reason why.
Tropes of note: oviposition, xenophilia, enthusiastic consent
~The Worst Thing Ever, by Artemis1000. Part of the Human/Gomassi agreement includes having willing humans host gomassi eggs. Ryan has no attachments and likes the idea of being paid to watch TV and incubate; he wasn't prepared for the gomassi female to check up on him regularly, or for her to try to liven up his life.
Tropes of note: xenophilia, oviposition, heterosexual mpreg
High Fantasy:
~The Adellia Hawke Chronicles, by Ovipositivity. Considering that she's starting out as a very inept monster-hunter trainee, Adellia survives an awfully long list of monster encounters, with a statistically improbable amount of sex.
Tropes of note: oviposition, some dub and noncon, some f/f and m/f sex
~Advanced Techniques in Propagation, by sleeperservice. A woman with a casual interest in succulent plants and a business in carpentry is surprised by the arrival of her horticulture penpal on her doorstep; he's used forbidden magic on his plants, and accidentally knocked himself up.
Tropes of note: mpreg, matriarchal society
~Dragon Rider series, by BiffElderberry. I have come to expect a certain amount of sexuality in my dragon rider stories, the inspiration for which I credit Anne McCaffrey. In a world where dragon riders have to be ready to incubate if their dragon goes into rut without a same-species partner around, one particular rider seems to be unduly attractive to every dragon and dragonet he meets.
Tropes of note: dubious consent, bestiality, gangbang, oviposition/quasi-mpreg
~The Fox's Grief, by nirejseki. I'm not actually sure if this has fantasy elements, or if it's just the quasi-historical China setting giving it that vibe. A beleaguered spymaster has to work with a cheerful martial artist-slash-detective-slash-hidden identity royal to solve a crime.
~Goblin Fruit, by Nowanuno. Goblin reproduction requires a human, but it's very difficult to find one given the cultural and language barriers. Luckily for the dwindling tribe, they find a lonely young male who in turn finds happiness with his new hybrid family.
Tropes of note: gangbang, dubious consent which becomes enthusiastic consent, mpreg
~I Can't Eat Love, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. The former fiancee of the crown prince is betrayed at every turn and dies destitute in the gutters... only to wake up five years in the past. She takes advantage of her extra years of life experience to get around the obstacles to her continued survival; it's a shame that she's also learned not to trust people, because she needs to unbend and recognize true allies.
Tropes of Note: time travel fix-it, courtly intrigue
~I Refuse to Be A Named Character, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. A college-aged woman from the real world is badgered into reading a terrible high fantasy series by her step-sister (you know the type: mistakes a high body count and gore for seriousness, full of disposable female characters, the male leads are morally despicable, etc.). Shortly afterward, she dies and wakes up in said fantasy world, and decides that the best way to survive is to draw no attention whatsoever to herself. She's not very good at this, but she's very determined.
Tropes of Note: fix-it feels, villain redemption, actually-strong women
~Of Princesses and Towers, by Feynite. Hmm, it is true that there are two very distinct types of fantasy characters that hang out in towers - wizards and princesses. Is there any reason why someone - perhaps a princess whose family thinks tower entrapment is a great way to find a husband - couldn't be both?
Tropes of note: trope subversion/aversion like whoa, but an initial nod to the patriarchy
~The Seventh Test, by mylordshesacactus. Rule one: don't fall in love with faeries. Rule two: if you failed rule one, be prepared to learn their rules instead.
Tropes of note: faerie bargains
~Wings of Desire, by taiyakisoba. A harpy needs a human man to reproduce; she chooses one who looks sad and abducts him. But can she convince him to stay, without a language or a species in common?
Tropes of note: oviposition, dubious consent which becomes enthusiastic consent, xenophilia
Modern Fantasy/Fiction:
~a chain of beads, by zinnia13. While his adopted country's tradition of using beads to remember significant events doesn't have the same meaning for Goodman Stone, he's still got enough empathy to want to pull a suicidal student back from the edge.
Tropes of note: fish out of water, college, suicidal tendencies, weight of memories
~Antler-Guy Saga, by Erinnightwalker. The author took the tumblr meme about a lawn sculpture being an eldritch creature and ran with it. It turns out most of Suburbia is technically part of Hell. Surprisingly, eldritch abominations make good neighbors.
Tropes of note: fish out of water, passing reference to child predators who get what they deserve
~caught in your tangles, by somehowunbroken. Owen wasn't expecting Hot Chad from Macro Econ to be his lay tonight. He also wasn't expecting Chad to be an incubus whose fetish is consent. Owen is apparently the epitome of zen, though, so it's all good. ***You need to read the comment section as well, since the author adds a bit of future story speculation.
Tropes of note: enthusiastic consent, friendly demons
~The Hundred-Point Child, by KelinciHutan. When couples have to save up points to purchase a child from the orphanage, most don't bother to get the cheapest, lowest-quality children. The Carsons don't see any reason to wait for better children when there are so many in need of a home.
Tropes of note: adoption, found families, classism
~It Came From The Sea, by darlingstars. A college student who enjoys the beach makes friends with a sentient slime, which eventually follows him home; over time as unusual roommates, they become lovers, and the slime asks for even closer levels of intimacy: living in the young man's intestines. It can come and go freely, and when it's inside the human looks full-term pregnant.
Tropes of note: slime inflation, enthusiastic consent, tentacles (technically not mpreg)
~Lord of These Future Lands series, by Askerian. A young engineer with mage powers picks up a golem for a one-night-stand, only to find out that their magic compatibility has made him the de facto hereditary owner of this golem and all of his compatriots.
Tropes of note: enthusiastic consent, body modification, implications of slavery
~The Town of Lily Lake, by Yevynaea. In the Wild West, some towns don't have any rules or laws. Lily Lake sure does, though - it's a Fae town.
Tropes of Note: faerie bargains, POCs, trans characters
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mashups:
~Please Fix The Story!, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. A woman is constantly shifted from one fictional universe to another, and tasked with "fixing" stories that were abandoned by their untalented authors. She replaces one of the characters in the story, and has to change it from within. She no longer remembers why she has to do this, and she doesn't know why two other universe-travelers seem to keep popping up... WIP.
~The Robot Magic Shop, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. An evil wizard is looking for a new servant and summons several from different universes (ranging from robots, to trolls, to demons); they happen to be terrible servants, since the first thing they do is accidentally banish the wizard, but quite good at running a magic shop.
The ones I have recommended are usually - but not always - community favorites as well (I'm tracking the AO3 tool "bookmarks", as generally people will only bookmark a fic they think is worthy of a reread, and so it is a better aggregate statistic than kudos or comments). I also took advantage of the expansive erotica subsection, so be warned that not all of these are SFW.
Science-Fiction:
~basil makes everything better, by angharad_crewe. Falling for your college friend can get complicated, especially when you're both the daughters of high government officials and she's an alien as well.
Tropes of note: xenophilia, alien biology
~Blanket Fic for a New Millennium, by TheApplesofEpicurius. "Baby, it's cold outside", especially when you've crash-landed your ship on an ice planet with only a slimeform alien for company. Since the two starfarers are friends, this is a somewhat rare example of two people happily enabling each other's kinks.
Tropes of note: slime inflation, enthusiastic consent, xenophilia, tentacles
~The Course of Honour, by Avoliot. After his first arranged spouse dies, Jainan must uphold the treaty between Thea and the Iskat Empire by remarrying to another prince. Prince Kiem is used to being a backup royal comfortably far away from politics and allowed to spend all his time on charitable works, so being chosen as the new treaty spouse surprises him. Can these two men form a true relationship despite intrigue, assassination attempts and fumbling attempts at romance?
Tropes of note: past noncon, abuse recovery, gender as a truly neutral construct, fish out of water, arranged marriage
--->And Now, A Short Speech; in case anyone was wondering about the missed Braska Prime School presentation, here's what eventually happened when it was rescheduled.
--->NEWS FLASH: Apparently this was so successful that it has been published as a novel. The online version is wiped from AO3, but you can find the published work as "Winter's Orbit" by Everina Maxwell.
~Cultural Collision, by Udunie. After a gentle alien takeover of Earth, a young man finds himself short of cash & dreams, and willing to get paid for carrying alien eggs. He wasn't expecting to become fond of the male alien who requested him.
Tropes of note: oviposition, mpreg, xenophilia
~Salma and the Hive, by bravelittletoreador. The Hymenopterans are looking for female Humans to join the crews of their first space fleet. Salma arrives for her job interview, and finds out the reason why.
Tropes of note: oviposition, xenophilia, enthusiastic consent
~The Worst Thing Ever, by Artemis1000. Part of the Human/Gomassi agreement includes having willing humans host gomassi eggs. Ryan has no attachments and likes the idea of being paid to watch TV and incubate; he wasn't prepared for the gomassi female to check up on him regularly, or for her to try to liven up his life.
Tropes of note: xenophilia, oviposition, heterosexual mpreg
High Fantasy:
~The Adellia Hawke Chronicles, by Ovipositivity. Considering that she's starting out as a very inept monster-hunter trainee, Adellia survives an awfully long list of monster encounters, with a statistically improbable amount of sex.
Tropes of note: oviposition, some dub and noncon, some f/f and m/f sex
~Advanced Techniques in Propagation, by sleeperservice. A woman with a casual interest in succulent plants and a business in carpentry is surprised by the arrival of her horticulture penpal on her doorstep; he's used forbidden magic on his plants, and accidentally knocked himself up.
Tropes of note: mpreg, matriarchal society
~Dragon Rider series, by BiffElderberry. I have come to expect a certain amount of sexuality in my dragon rider stories, the inspiration for which I credit Anne McCaffrey. In a world where dragon riders have to be ready to incubate if their dragon goes into rut without a same-species partner around, one particular rider seems to be unduly attractive to every dragon and dragonet he meets.
Tropes of note: dubious consent, bestiality, gangbang, oviposition/quasi-mpreg
~The Fox's Grief, by nirejseki. I'm not actually sure if this has fantasy elements, or if it's just the quasi-historical China setting giving it that vibe. A beleaguered spymaster has to work with a cheerful martial artist-slash-detective-slash-hidden identity royal to solve a crime.
~Goblin Fruit, by Nowanuno. Goblin reproduction requires a human, but it's very difficult to find one given the cultural and language barriers. Luckily for the dwindling tribe, they find a lonely young male who in turn finds happiness with his new hybrid family.
Tropes of note: gangbang, dubious consent which becomes enthusiastic consent, mpreg
~I Can't Eat Love, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. The former fiancee of the crown prince is betrayed at every turn and dies destitute in the gutters... only to wake up five years in the past. She takes advantage of her extra years of life experience to get around the obstacles to her continued survival; it's a shame that she's also learned not to trust people, because she needs to unbend and recognize true allies.
Tropes of Note: time travel fix-it, courtly intrigue
~I Refuse to Be A Named Character, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. A college-aged woman from the real world is badgered into reading a terrible high fantasy series by her step-sister (you know the type: mistakes a high body count and gore for seriousness, full of disposable female characters, the male leads are morally despicable, etc.). Shortly afterward, she dies and wakes up in said fantasy world, and decides that the best way to survive is to draw no attention whatsoever to herself. She's not very good at this, but she's very determined.
Tropes of Note: fix-it feels, villain redemption, actually-strong women
~Of Princesses and Towers, by Feynite. Hmm, it is true that there are two very distinct types of fantasy characters that hang out in towers - wizards and princesses. Is there any reason why someone - perhaps a princess whose family thinks tower entrapment is a great way to find a husband - couldn't be both?
Tropes of note: trope subversion/aversion like whoa, but an initial nod to the patriarchy
~The Seventh Test, by mylordshesacactus. Rule one: don't fall in love with faeries. Rule two: if you failed rule one, be prepared to learn their rules instead.
Tropes of note: faerie bargains
~Wings of Desire, by taiyakisoba. A harpy needs a human man to reproduce; she chooses one who looks sad and abducts him. But can she convince him to stay, without a language or a species in common?
Tropes of note: oviposition, dubious consent which becomes enthusiastic consent, xenophilia
Modern Fantasy/Fiction:
~a chain of beads, by zinnia13. While his adopted country's tradition of using beads to remember significant events doesn't have the same meaning for Goodman Stone, he's still got enough empathy to want to pull a suicidal student back from the edge.
Tropes of note: fish out of water, college, suicidal tendencies, weight of memories
~Antler-Guy Saga, by Erinnightwalker. The author took the tumblr meme about a lawn sculpture being an eldritch creature and ran with it. It turns out most of Suburbia is technically part of Hell. Surprisingly, eldritch abominations make good neighbors.
Tropes of note: fish out of water, passing reference to child predators who get what they deserve
~caught in your tangles, by somehowunbroken. Owen wasn't expecting Hot Chad from Macro Econ to be his lay tonight. He also wasn't expecting Chad to be an incubus whose fetish is consent. Owen is apparently the epitome of zen, though, so it's all good. ***You need to read the comment section as well, since the author adds a bit of future story speculation.
Tropes of note: enthusiastic consent, friendly demons
~The Hundred-Point Child, by KelinciHutan. When couples have to save up points to purchase a child from the orphanage, most don't bother to get the cheapest, lowest-quality children. The Carsons don't see any reason to wait for better children when there are so many in need of a home.
Tropes of note: adoption, found families, classism
~It Came From The Sea, by darlingstars. A college student who enjoys the beach makes friends with a sentient slime, which eventually follows him home; over time as unusual roommates, they become lovers, and the slime asks for even closer levels of intimacy: living in the young man's intestines. It can come and go freely, and when it's inside the human looks full-term pregnant.
Tropes of note: slime inflation, enthusiastic consent, tentacles (technically not mpreg)
~Lord of These Future Lands series, by Askerian. A young engineer with mage powers picks up a golem for a one-night-stand, only to find out that their magic compatibility has made him the de facto hereditary owner of this golem and all of his compatriots.
Tropes of note: enthusiastic consent, body modification, implications of slavery
~The Town of Lily Lake, by Yevynaea. In the Wild West, some towns don't have any rules or laws. Lily Lake sure does, though - it's a Fae town.
Tropes of Note: faerie bargains, POCs, trans characters
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mashups:
~Please Fix The Story!, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. A woman is constantly shifted from one fictional universe to another, and tasked with "fixing" stories that were abandoned by their untalented authors. She replaces one of the characters in the story, and has to change it from within. She no longer remembers why she has to do this, and she doesn't know why two other universe-travelers seem to keep popping up... WIP.
~The Robot Magic Shop, by Screaming_At_An_Empty_Room. An evil wizard is looking for a new servant and summons several from different universes (ranging from robots, to trolls, to demons); they happen to be terrible servants, since the first thing they do is accidentally banish the wizard, but quite good at running a magic shop.