Metal Gear Solid/Fanfic Recs

* br-r-rp…br-r-rp br-r-rp* 

SNAKE: This is Solid Snake. Your reply, please.

COLONEL: ''Good, Snake - you're in position. I'm not going to lie to you: this may be the most dangerous mission of your life.''

SNAKE: I'm listening...

COLONEL: You'll need to infiltrate the darkest recesses of the Metal Gear fandom, and retrieve a fic that is actually worth reading.

SNAKE: Fan...fic? You mean those horrible stories about us that nerds with no life like to write?

MEI-LING: ''That's right, Snake. You need to be extremely cautious in your judgement. Remember what Theodore Sturgeon said: "90% of everything is crud".''

SNAKE: Right, Sturgeon's Law.

OTACON: You'll be working alongside a rogue military group known as "The Tropers", who have already amassed a large collection of works.

SNAKE: So what happens if I actually find something I like?

OTACON: ''You can add it to the list, but remember to use the template found on the Main FanFic Recs Page. You can also expand the notes about the fanfic, or link to similar or related ones. And finally, please, refrain from posting Conversation in The Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.''

SNAKE: So, no Conversation in The Main Page?

OTACON: That's right; all conversations need to go in the discussion page.

SNAKE: ''Got it. I'm beginning the operation now.''

Page Reconfiguration in Progress: Fan Fic Recommendations is being split into pages for each individual series, so help is needed to classify each entry into the appropriate category, and to format it according to the template.

Authors, and Websites
Athena Crikey
 * Recommended by xyzzy, Arsenal Tengu
 * Well-written tales of love and melancholy and life and death and angst and beauty; predominantly Snake/Otacon. So good this troper can't really think of anything more coherent to type here. Or maybe that's because it's four-thirty in the morning. Broken, Light a Candle, and Through a Glass Darkly in particular are highly recommended.
 * Seconded by Arsenal Tengu. Excellent writer with a unique and haunting style.

Peachi's Works
 * All of the following links have been compiled and temporarily moved by the author to here.
 * Let's Destroy Metal Gear! (Metal Gear Solid) parts 1, 2, 3 and 4
 * Let's Destroy Metal Gear again! (Metal Gear Solid 2) parts 1, 2, 3 and 4
 * Let's Destroy the Shagohod! (Metal Gear Solid 3) parts 1, 2, 3 and 4
 * Volgin Thunder CRASH!
 * Let's Defeat the FOX Unit! (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops)
 * OKAY
 * Recommended by Hanz, Extraintrovert, Salty Wound, Premier666, gzl 5000, xyzzy, Alloflifedecays, Enunciability
 * Short comics parodying each of the games, starting with Let's Destroy Metal Gear. The comics often feature the main characters of the games as the Only Sane Man dealing with either the insanity and absurdity of the characters or the plot itself.
 * Seconded by Extraintrovert, so hard, forever and ever. Absolutely anything Liquid or Volgin says is brilliance, and Ocelot is adorably pathetic.
 * Thirded by Salty Wound. I haven't laughed so hard in years. Every other panel is an instant classic.
 * Fourthed (?) by Premier666. Every single panel is an hilarious reaction image. Left me laughing for hours.
 * Fifthted by gzl 5000. Hiimdaisy has a knack for distilling catchphrases into their purest, most hilarious form. "BRRRRRRROTHER!" Add another layer of hilarity by reading Snake's lines in David Hayter's voice in your head.
 * Sixthed by xyzzy. Hilarious, yes, and don't forget that the art is adorable.
 * Seventhed by charliebigpotato. Young Ocelot in particular is a work of genius, as are ALL of Volgin's facial expressions.

Metal Gear Mercenaries
 * Recommended by Occam
 * Synopsis: A group of near-hopeless Mercenaries from the timeline of Metal Gear Solid 4 are forced to re-visit the timelines of the older games in order to 'repair' a time-rip which threatens the universe, while having to protect the necessary characters. The blog is currently half-way through the first game, and earlier in it's development it put up a series of stories concerning the actual Mercenaries themselves.
 * Comments: Written as a Script Fic format. The story itself, in light of a storyline which sounds absolutely confusing, is incredibly funny a lot of the time. A Gary Stu who is completely hopeless, an obese soldier, several lunatics (including one who has been implied as having escaped from a Mental Institution) and a talking Penguin are among the highlights concerning the characters. The Fanfic also does a good job at following the actual story itself, although it does have a tendency to get confusing at times. It also does not focus solely on characters from the games, the titular characters are the protagonists of this Fic (so it seems) The story is also loaded with Take Thats, Shout Outs, Lampshade Hanging and lots more.

General Fics
SNAKE: Otacon, what are these "General Fics"?

OTACON: ''A General Fic is a story focused on the family and/or the various friendly relationships of the cast, like plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. They're pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.''

SNAKE: So..."Snake, Otacon, And Sunny Go To Disneyworld" would be a General Fic?

OTACON: ''Well, that would be a one-shot. But the category also includes novelizations, and even multi-part epics! Reading is fundamental, Snake!''

SNAKE: ...

Love's Sorrow
 * Recommended by Redneck Rocker
 * Pairings: The Boss/The Sorrow
 * Synopsis: Explores more about the past between the Cobra Unit during World War II, especially focusing on The Boss and The Sorrow. Long, but interesting.
 * Comments: A bit long, but otherwise extremely well-researched and written. The author obviously does their best to make the characters three-dimensional. Goes into more detail about.
 * This fic came so highly recommended that I feel terrible that it was disappointing. The supposed research had so many flaws that even a casually World War II-literate reader would be frustrated. The dialogue was flat and stilted, and there was hardly any characterization. Most of what was there relied on Doomed By Canon as a means to elicit an emotional response. My theory is that this is an important fic mostly because it was the first finished long-form Cobra Unit fic published online. Although it's rather newer (only a few months old), the fic The Joy of Battle: Historical Espionage Action seems to be doing a much better job of telling a similar story so far. If it is completed in the near future, I'll probably add it as a rec.

Nature's Bounty
 * Recommended by Lady Nomad
 * Pairings: No real pairings here.
 * Synopsis: Eva was searching for Naked Snake's supplies to give back to him. There, she discovered what lengths Major Ocelot will go to understand his nemesis. He will even eat live green frogs.
 * Comments: This is a very funny story that takes canon and runs with it. Everyone is in character and it shows that weird chemistry that Eva and Major Ocelot have.

Tactical Idiocy Action
 * Recommended by Big Daddy P
 * Pairings: As much of it as there is in the first game (Snake/Meryl, Otacon/wolf)
 * ''Synopsis: A humourous rehash of Metal Gear Solid full of humour, lampshading, and running gags.
 * Comments: Funny parody of Metal Gear Solid. The author (DarkGidora) is well aware of the Fridge Logic and points out everything wrong. Snake is great here as a Deadpan Snarker, and Roy Campbell is drunk for most of the story (Meaning he now has an excuse for being vague and unhelpful).

The Night Ocelot Was Conceived
 * Recommended by Miss Monkeh
 * Pairings: The Boss/The Sorrow
 * ''Synopsis: A funny little one-shot focusing on The Sorrow's retelling of Ocelot's conception, with Ocelot as the audience.
 * Comments: An underrated little fic. The author writes witty, snappy prose with a slightly surreal edge. It's as silly as it is fun.

Shipping Fics
SNAKE: Otacon, what are these..."Shipping Fics"?

OTACON: ''It's short for "Relationship", Snake. People write them to further expand the romantic (and even erotic) relationships between different members of the cast. It's how love can bloom, even on the battlefield!''

SNAKE: ''It's blooming all over the place. You've got Meryl and me, Meryl and...Liquid, Meryl and...Ocelot? Ocelot and...young Ocelot? Me and...Big Boss?! Otacon, what the hell?!''

OTACON: Just be glad you didn't get into the Metal Gear/Snake fic --

SNAKE: Arrrrrrgh!

Rising Sun by Thene (M/F sex)
 * Recommended by xyzzy, seconded by Charcoal, thirded by Super Geek Girl
 * Pairings: Boss/Sorrow
 * Synopsis: The Sorrow reflects on a failed mission, the meaning of life and death, and gets it on with the Boss for the first time.
 * Comments: Far more poignant and beautiful than my flippant summary suggests. A touching, poetic second-person tale where each sentence can barely contain the emotions of the words within. Seriously, it's so good I am tripping over my own lack of words to describe it.
 * Absolutely agree. This fic is fantastically written, better than most published short stories.

Stray by Dahne. (Slash, non-graphic sexual content, Time Paradoxes.)
 * Recommended by Floria
 * Pairings: Otacon/young!Ocelot (the character as he is in Metal Gear Solid 3)
 * Synopsis: Otacon accidentally summons Major Ocelot forward in time (to a little after the MGS 2 era) with a homemade time machine. Ocelot learns about his future and doesn't like it much. Over seventy chapters' worth of plot, and eventual romance, ensue.
 * Comments: Very long (enough to have multiple plot arcs), with elements of romance, drama, and quirky humor. The story is loaded with ShoutOuts, ContinuityNods, and quotable lines. For a story with a rather crackish premise, it takes itself fairly seriously, and gives a lot of attention to individual psychology and character development. There's an Alternate Universe element in the later chapters. The tvtropes page for it is here with more detailed information.

Grenades by Argus Black. (Heavy slash, lasting injuries, violence towards civilians, and a bad-ass violent villain plan.)
 * Recommended by Doing This Again
 * Pairings: Otacon/Snake
 * Synopsis: A maniacal villain's scheme blinds Snake, and Otacon is left to find a way to heal his friend, cover their trail, and figure out where he stands with his partner in the process.
 * Comments: It's pretty long, but you'll be hooked in by the first chapter and it will not let you go until you've finished it. The villain is just crazy enough to fit in the MGS universe, and Snake is a wonderful mix of tough and tender, like a good piece of meat.