Re: Finding new (to you) SFF to read

On 11/25/2024 5:56 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 11/24/2024 10:19 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
...

The Worm fandom is somewhat unusual compared to other fandoms, perhaps because most canon characters vary from "deeply flawed" to "makes Dr. Josef Mengele vomit" for reasons that become clear later on. It attracts both fanfic authors who want to make everything better (like the author of _Taylor Varga_ mentioned earlier) and authors who want to write depressed, flawed, messed up, etc characters.

 The author of "Taylor Varga" also wrote this story which is quite dark:
 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12405120/1/She-Summons-Sea-Things-by-the- Sea-Shore
 From
 https://wormstorysearch.com/? is_nsfw_eq=any&story_keywords=mp3&page=1&limit=20&sort=stories.rating&direction=desc&searching=true

Checking my notes, I see that I have read (or attempted to read) 15 of the 17 listed stories. My favorite is the novella _Insect Outside_ (21K words, https://archiveofourown.org/works/11861061/chapters/26780430), which is a bit longer than it has to be, but it does "optimistic existential terror" and "involuntary transhumanism" quite well. "She Summons Sea Things by the Sea Shore" is, at 8K words, also a bit longer than strictly necessary, but is decent-to-good otherwise.
I gave the rest of mp3.1415payer's fics anywhere between 5/10 and 5.8/10 where "5/10" is "mediocre" and "6/10" is "decent". Mind you, even his mediocre fics have memorable and/or amusing moments now and then:
 > They said the best revenge was living well. It was possible they were wrong, and the best revenge was *revenge*, but Taylor was willing to give the first option a try. For now. ["Vespa"]
but they drown in a sea of giggles and repetitive mutual back-patting.