Fan-fiction, the freakish child of fandom, is at it’s worst a fouling of beloved characters or an incoherent mess. At it’s best it is a continuation in sprit of an adored fiction, or an examination of that fiction in a different vein; it has even, on rare occasions surpassed the art it is attempting to imitate. Like most things, specific examples of fan-fiction often fall between these two points, but more often closer to the less positive side of the spectrum.

Time, energy, luck, and not a small amount of persistence must be employed in order to wade through the considerable rough in order to find the diamonds within. Some say that his toil is worth the pay-off; that a single exemplary piece of work can make hours or days of searching worthwhile. These adherents also claim that the task of searching for good fan-fiction is getting easier; first with the emergence of the internet, then the increased popularity of fan-fiction archive sites, and now the advent of communities surrounding those sites so that fans of various stories can share those rare gems with each other. However most fond that the cost in time and energy, which cannot be replaced, is to great a cost for the fleeting time that a good story allows, and that the amount of trash fan-fiction that must be wadded trough to find a decent example is too great.

More and more I find myself falling into the second camp as my responsibilities increase. I still read the few stories that I discovered in the past that are still continuing, and check what my favorite authors are writing. Unfortunately, the rate at which my favorite stories are abandoned, degenerate into exercises in self torture, or become completed (all of which lead to less active fan-fiction that I follow) far outstrips my acquisition rate of new authors and stories. Unless things change, I will be abandoning fan-fiction altogether shortly, and I find myself thinking that I will be poorer for it. Those few shining examples of penmanship helped me through some rough times, and helped me to know the difference between superb and just passable writing. I find myself nostalgic.

In the spirit of the fan-fiction enthusiast, the following are the best fan-fictions that I have ever read:

Ranma ½ fan-fiction: Avenging, by D.B. Sommer, Shadow of Ranma by Kyokukou, Comes the Cold Dragon by Donald Lee Granberry, Honour and Pride by Beer-Monster, Eldritch Asylum by obsidian-fox, Careful Destiny by Lorien, Ah! My Ranma ½! by Dreamweaver4121, and Hearts of Ice by Krista Perry

Firefly: The Blue Sun Job by Guildsister, and Flying Lessons by Izhilzha

Teen Titians (animated show): Path to Tamaran by Adament Eve

Spider-man (movie): Just a Face on a Train by Katheryne

DC comics: Wally and Kyle: Two Friends by Darth Yoshi