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dinoLord919

Oh? Something coming out of r/HFY? Haven't read anything from it in a while; last I recall Chrysalis was just finishing and damn I thought that one was good. I'll have to check this one out; the 2D relations kind of put me off for a while.


AjaxAsleep

Honestly, if you haven't heard of it, First Contact by Ralts_Bloodthorne is also really good, though it's more of a space opera than anything, just off of sheer scale. It is really long though, coming up on 900 chapters, a decent number of which spill into the comments.


Cookies8473

If anyone here starts it, have fun and see you in about 3 weeks if you're fast.


junkmail88

That's optimistic


Tsuki_no_Mai

That's *really* optimistic. I started it in the first days of December, still have over a hundred chapters to go. And I can't say I'm a slow reader or that I don't read much.


jodmercer

If you listen to it on audio book which is what I did up unti ran out of audio book, There was over I think 80 hours I have to check of pure read out, And I still had 400 chapters left to read because they weren't recorded yet


OkOwl8971

how do you listen to it on audiobook? Is it on audible?


jodmercer

Youtube: Argo Squirrel Or youtube:asn random(stuff) For a denser format


Lankuri

homestuck readers could do it in two weeks


SolSeptem

First Contact is a nice read but my god its so much. I gave up after about a hundred chapters, and he posts 2 per day!


Wobbelblob

Not anymore. He has slowed down a lot, mostly by his health and by insistence of his family. Currently he posts 1 every day or second day outside of the weekend.


AlanharTheRiver

first contact is a great story. "Victory or death. Either is fine."


NewUserWhoDisAgain

I had someone recc that, and for the record I also recommend it, and another derecc it as it gets Very HFY and not in a good way which is technically true. Until Ralts >!puts humanity in a bag and they have effectively left the story at this time!< When that happens I personally think that's when the story truly hits it stride.


XimbalaHu3

HFY has the same problem as isekai honestly, look at my quirk and uncharacteristic humanity instead of op mc. ​ Obviously you get some bangers that make it worth combing it, but I'll be dammed if most of the stuff posted there is not the most basic I've ever seen. It's basically a fanfic sub, so that is to be expected and I love that people get fun out of it. ​ It does point out however how wildly tastes vary because I'll see stuff that is major ass be super well received and stuff that I find super good never receive any traction. ​ BTW, on the sidebar there is a list of sub classics and whatnot, lots of good stuff there.


Fanfics

>It does point out however how wildly tastes vary because I'll see stuff that is major ass be super well received and stuff that I find super good never receive any traction. right? You get a huge variety, honestly I was super disappointed by this recommendation. There's stuff that blows this story out of the water, no contest, it's kinda mindblowing that it's getting superlatives like "best HFY story"


AlanharTheRiver

it's because the story is already longer than the first dune novel and has spawned over 70 fanfics, most of which create a large and elaborate literary universe. sure, there are probably better stories, but at this time it is arguably one of the best stories being posted on /r/HFY.


MedicalFoundation149

If you want the fanfic one, go over to "sexy space babes." (Don't judge a book by its cover).That one spawned so many spinoffs its insane.


AlanharTheRiver

i know about it, and it is absurd how they manage to keep so many of the interconnected fanfics in a single cohesive timeline. the Going Native fanfic is probably my favorite of them. what's yours?


MedicalFoundation149

Personally my favorite is Semper Shil'vati. As an American it was very impactful.


Victor_Stein

Same


jtmar

Honestly, I like the fanfics more than I like the original story. Although I've enjoyed the original as well.


beetnemesis

I think the problem is that the concept was and is a unique one. It's just that once you read a couple stories with that concept... what else is there? There are some fun blurbs on Tumblr, but reading 50 novels all with their own generic space civilization just to explore the HFY concept is exhausting.


XimbalaHu3

That's why it's so satisfying whem you see a different take, I've seen a LOT of humans are eldritch abominations, I'm biassed because it's what I like, making us the alien, the strange, people get too caught up on the space empire bit and forget about everything else. ​ I think my biggest gripe is that HFY and power fantasies walk hand in hand far too much, people that manage to stay away from that is what I reckon really hit the nail on the thematic. Because if humanity is poised to be the top dog from the story premise where is the fuck yeah bit?


The_Unkowable_

Dungeon Life is rather unique if you want a new concept, it's \*really\* good too


LoquatLoquacious

There's actually a massive overlap between lots of HFY fiction and "invasion fiction" of the early 1900s.


SuccessfulWest8937

Yeah. This and the moderator approved thinly veiled fascists


camosnipe1

could you elaborate on that?


SuccessfulWest8937

They openly said they supported peoples cheering for genocide on stories because quote "hard ideas are what drive peoples forward"


Tain101

You're saying someone is literally fascist because of what they wrote in fiction? And that in turn the mods are bad for allowing fictional fascism? The mod post you linked doesn't really support your argument. Telling OP to fuck off because they were trying to police the subreddit doesn't mean that they love everything the OP hates. Also that post is 6 years old? I think it's more than possible for someone to grow as a person over the span of 6 years..


SuccessfulWest8937

>You're saying someone is literally fascist because of what they wrote in fiction? And that in turn the mods are bad for allowing fictional fascism? Yes. Because they support it in fiction. Someone who writes Homelander isnt bad, but someone who thinks homelander is the good guy is bad. >Also that post is 6 years old? I think it's more than possible for someone to grow as a person over the span of 6 years.. Unfortunayely, no. They've linked it on a much more recent (a week or two ago) post


neon_ns

That's a nice argument senator, why don't you back it up with a source? Seriously, it was all dancing around the campfire and singing kubmayah until someone barged in out of nowhere and accused the entire community of being fascist because like 4 people talked/joked about reciprocal genociding the aliens (that attempted to genocide us first btw), which is a super fringe opinion anyway. Some of y'all are just looking for drama where none exist, I swear...


SuccessfulWest8937

>That's a nice argument senator, why don't you back it up with a source? What a nice way to drown the fish! But [here you go](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/5ei1jy/meta_why_do_many_stories_on_here_seem_to/dacu8z3?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3). Their response to fascist sympathysing and genocide apology on the sub is "wokes ruin everything, cancel culture political correctness boo hoo". >Seriously, it was all dancing around the campfire and singing kubmayah until someone barged in out of nowhere and accused the entire community of being fascist because like 4 people talked/joked about reciprocal genociding the aliens (that attempted to genocide us first btw), which is a super fringe opinion anyway. >Some of y'all are just looking for drama where none exist, I swear... It was rampant in the sub for a few days, a few peoples arguing with them until they gave up drove them away but HFY sewer leakages are nasty. And also, it wasnt joking, they defended it tooth and nail. Also you say that "who tried to genocide us first btw" as if that made genocide any better. Plus for some it's so much worse than that, i'll have to find it again but it was something someone proposed unironically that was so fucked up i posted it on r/40klore asking if it was dark eldar-y enough and nobody even doubted for a second it wasnt meant for dark eldard to do.


saldagmac

Ooh I loved Chrysalis! I binged that a couple months ago!


I_got_too_silly

There's a narrated version of Chrysalis on the DUST podcast on Spotify now. It's pretty professionally made, I'd definetly recommend checking it out.


saldagmac

OOOOH shit thanks, I might give that a go!


Unbentmars

If you haven’t read Creature 88 yet it’s an amazing story Also the Fourth Wave is great


MedicalFoundation149

"Tales from the terran Republic," "out of cruel space," and "sexy space babes" (don't judge a book by its cover) are three of the best stories to put out in recent years.


[deleted]

I also legitimately love the plot of the Sexy Space Babes stories. It's definitely one of those stories where I started reading it for the sexy, but got emotionally invested in the story and characters and started skipping the "plot" chapters to get back to the plot.


SuccessfulWest8937

It's incredible. Seriously it's almost flawless, the only real issue it has is with the community with the occasional r/HFY thinly veiled fascists bleeding into the community, but they dont do it for long considering how hard they get rejected


FrisianDude

Also havent checked in like a year or two? Maybe? Or read anything, I've definitely checked. Tended to see a whole lot of strange fantasy stuff or 'yeehaw exterminatus' vibes


TotemGenitor

[Link to chapter 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/u19xpa/the_nature_of_predators/) Also join r/NatureofPredators


mambotomato

A link in the comments? OP, you spoil me. ​ I'll go read it now, since you've unwrapped it and dropped it into my mouth like this.


SuccessfulWest8937

It's the best hfy story by an incredible margin, i hope you'll like it!


ThirdFloorNorth

I also highly recommend [A Job for a Deathworlder](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/m71tyw/a_job_for_a_deathworlder_chapter_one/) It's a bit of a slow burn at first, but it's coming up on chapter 100 next week, and holy shit has it been a fucking ride.


Rabunum

That fucking link made me waste four days in the best way possible. Thank you


scruffyfan

I've now read the entirety of it up to current chapter in 3 days. Thank you


MurdoMaclachlan

*Image Transcription: Tumblr* --- **sleepysaturn45** the Nature of Predators story on reddit is so fucking good. SO fucking good. Reddit's r\/HFY had so many predator species\/prey species stories being incredibly two dimensional but the author of NoP just turned it completely on its head and gave it a shit ton of reasoning and depth and oh my GOD the world building is so good. aa --- ^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)


TotemGenitor

Thank you


AostheGreat

I love seeing people get excited. I love seeing people do good work. What a wonderful place that I can have both. Thank you.


realthohn

I'll give it the college try but I'll be honest for a sub dedicated to humanity there are few if any stories that feel human on r/HFY. A lot of it feels like the author is working through something and just needed a power fantasy. Which hey, no judgement. It's just not my kinda thing personally. I've read some stories I liked though so I'll check it out.


SuccessfulWest8937

Yeah which is why NoP is so popular, it DOENST fall into thay trap, there humanity is just a specie like any other who was just unlucky with biological characteristics


4thDevilsAdvocate

You might like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yc1xvp/nop_offspring_chapter_1_something_borrowed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), then. Same 'verse, but very much not the parts you don't like.


IPlayPCAndConsole

r/HFY is so hard to get into because it’s always being dominated by a handful of ongoing stories. Instead of self-contained short stories you get Random Story About Aliens: Part 2468. Like just publish a novel at that point.


neon_ns

A bunch do actually get serialized. Sexy Space Babes and An Outcast in Another World did end up as (digital) books.


LoquatLoquacious

Well, they're basically webnovels.


Bob9thousand

i stopped reading hfy stories because i read one where it was the standard humans-are-most-powerful-species and it was the leader of an alien species super sad about calling on them for help because, big plot twist, humans would only help people if they gave up slavery! it just read like it was wrote by a teenager super proud that america “beat” slavery but hasn’t got to the part of history class where it turns out they just started doing slavery again afterwards hfy stories are mostly just american exceptionalism disguised as humanity exceptionalism which is only slightly better because we haven’t found any aliens


MisirterE

[so basically...](https://i.imgur.com/0Q67Y9b.png)


CapriciousCape

The Last Angel by Proximal Flame is my favourite HFY-ish story not least because that avoids that problem. Attempting to avoid spoilers in so far as possible: Human civilisation was awesome, we create an awesome spaceship, then the events of the prelude happen and chapter 1 begins 2000 years later. Can't recommend enough


THeWizardNamedWalt

Talk about a name I haven't heard in a few years. Did they ever get done writing the sequel?


CapriciousCape

Yes, and I'd argue its vastly better then the first. The scope and pace pick up quite a bit and you get some incredible moments I've gone back to reread a few times. He's one third the way into the third novel now so it's a good time to start the second one.


Bo_Buoy_Bandito_Bu

I feel like if you're going to go American Exceptionalism in HFY, it's only fun when you turn it up to 11 and embrace the pure bombastic satire. Like Billy Bob Space Trucker


Thatguyj5

As someone who writes there, you're both right and wrong. (why is it right and not write if it's wrong?). A lot of the more mediocre stories are just "humans are the best because.. Um.. humans!" And then you just get a mild "heh" result. But most, if not nearly all the major popular series on the page are far from that, or at least moved well beyond it by now. I recommend giving it another shot.


SuccessfulWest8937

Yeah, which is why Nature Of Predator is so liked, it DOENST fall into that trap, humanity there is just a specie like any other who was just unlucky.


AlanharTheRiver

and they explicitly point out just how complicated and fractious the politics of humanity are even in the story that features a largely idealized version of humanity, which is a nice bit.


neon_ns

Sure there are plenty of stories that are like that, but then you've got gems like NoP, Outcast in Another World, Sexy Space Babes etc etc that don't do "humanity is the most awesomest in the universe" and instead go for a something different. NoP constantly shows us on the backfoot, barely clinging to existence. Outcast is probably the most underdog isekai story I've ever read, and in SSB humanity *loses* and become 2nd class citizens with no self rule in an expansionist empire and at the whims of very rapey aliens. Not to mention all the "humanity what the fuck?" stories that flat out paint us and that aforementioned exceptionalism in a negative light. And that's just the shit I can come up with off the top of my head, there are thousands of great stories on there.


Ornery_Marionberry87

So you read one story, decided it must be about American Exceptionalism and therefore the whole "genre" is bad? I mean, even your example is about humanity that not only banned slavery wholesale but even enforces it on others if they want our help. That isn't American Exceptionalism, it's an actual utopia I'd like to live in. Imagine politicians that don't bow down to dictators and don't ignore their violations just because there's money to be made. Fuck, I really wish that were true. Anyway I have to take your "review" of the whole thing as written in bad faith because that was absolutely not my experience with it and the example you've provided fails to present itself as actually bad. Even if you're correct and that story was written by an American teen who is proud his country outlawed slavery but doesn't know about the reality of prison system that only makes the writer naive but not actually wrong for wanting that to be true. Also, while I am not a regular reader I do dip from time to time into r/hfy and most of the stories I've read there had nothing to do with US pride or even any particular nation in general, most of them deal in biological or sociological quirks humans have which, despite being always presented as standard in our media, would make us quite weird from an alien perspective. Though I do have to admit I usually don't have the time to get into the longer series so maybe our milage varies due to our preferred form?


sneakpeekbot

Here's a sneak peek of /r/HFY using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/HFY/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [The Nature of Predators](https://np.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/u19xpa/the_nature_of_predators/) \#2: [The Nature of Predators 2](https://np.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/u2re5e/the_nature_of_predators_2/) \#3: [The Nature of Predators 4](https://np.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/u7710b/the_nature_of_predators_4/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)


Objective-Farm-2560

This should tell you all what you need to know.


FrisianDude

Yeah number 3 was clearly a hack job


Objective-Farm-2560

We don't talk about chapter 3.


oobanooba-

Now I’m curious about all the people who read chapter 4 but not chapter 3 as this implies


Bob9thousand

just to get this out of the way, i was talking about sharecropping but prison is also legal slavery so good point there i read many hfy stories, the one i read was just the straw that broke the camel’s back i guess the reason it bothered me so bad was just because it acted like slavery was never even a thing humans did. maybe i’m remembering it wrong because this was like 5 years ago i think i mostly stopped reading because it got really boring, there’s only so many times you can read “humans have SPACE SUPER-POWERS BY SEEING THE COLOR YELLOW!!!” or “humans make BIG GUN and EXPLODE everything!!!”


Ornery_Marionberry87

That's fair, HFY, like all media is 90% crap. I can't fault someone for getting soured on something for getting a bad dice roll 50 times in a row, it's why I stopped playing Hearthstone lol


MedicalFoundation149

Just sort by top. The bad stuff stays at the bottom.


neon_ns

Usually.


neon_ns

I suggest you give the current most popular stories a try. Quality has risen drastically across the board in the last 5 years. You've got a prompt. You can start with NoP. As good a time as any.


LoquatLoquacious

> So you read one story I've read tonnes and lots and lots of it is Western exceptionalism (idk if it's specifically American, but people will literally bring up WWII era cliches about soldiers handing chocolate bars to the kids living where they've just invaded). That was a solid decade ago, but it was very, very much a thing, and if your experience is different it's not because those stories don't exist.


neon_ns

Wait a second, you think US troops participating in the liberation of Europe was an invasion? Are you a tankie or a wehraboo? It's hard to tell from that statement.


LoquatLoquacious

What? However you cut it, Germany was invaded. It was a justified invasion but it was still an invasion. "Invasion" isn't a dirty word.


neon_ns

What the fuck...


LoquatLoquacious

...? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Allied_invasion_of_Germany


neon_ns

Sorry, you don't just use the term "invasion" when you're talking about invading a dictatorship to end a war and free the people. The term "liberation" is more appropriate. Unless you're the soviets in which case yeah, it's an invasion.


Hakar_Kerarmor

> you don't just use the term "invasion" when you're talking about invading Bruh...


neon_ns

Imagine wanting to associate the western allied liberation of Germany with a negative word like invasion


LoquatLoquacious

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Allied_invasion_of_Germany


neon_ns

You literally posted this exact same link in your last comment... The title of 1 Wikipedia article doesn't change shit.


WikiSummarizerBot

**[Western Allied invasion of Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Allied_invasion_of_Germany)** >The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine, a series of offensive operations were designed to seize and capture its east and west banks: Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade in February 1945, and Operation Lumberjack and Operation Undertone in March 1945; these are considered separate from the main invasion operation. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/CuratedTumblr/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


MedicalFoundation149

Read read "Tales from the terran Republic." It starts off slow but quickly turns into one of the most interesting and nuanced stories i've ever read. It also pretty unique on HFY in having both different human faction that do not get along with each other as well as a wide array of alien characters who are as compelling, if not more so, than their human counterparts. And If your worried about "American exceptionalism" then the main "evil" human faction (The Confederation of Sol, called "porkies" by their enemies) is basically what would happen if you took the American Military, Upper-middle, and elite classes and then exiled them to the deep dark of space.


4thDevilsAdvocate

You might like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yc1xvp/nop_offspring_chapter_1_something_borrowed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), then. Same 'verse, but very much not the parts you don't like. There are no humans involved, other than as passing references to a species thought to be extinct. It's great.


saldagmac

Man, I read the first 50 chapters and kept thinking that the world-building is ass, personally :/ Just a lot of things stretched my suspension of disbelief. I liked the premise, and the scene-writing, but... I finally gave up, reading about the idiot prey species became too frustrating


ChromeBirb

Understandable, there's only so much "humans are deceiving everyone, there's no way they aren't bloodthirsty" you can tolerate over the course of the story, I still like it but honestly I'm more engaged by some of the fanfics than the main story itself, specially the one about a couple of gojid ecologists that raise predators


syzdem

To be honest, the incredibly-long-stretched and long-lasting disbelief of the other species is one of the favorite aspects of it for me. The denial beyond reason just because the reality is really uncomfortable is a irl human trait that I've rarely seen displayed so well in a fictional story


thetwitchy1

Spoiler alert: if you want to read the story, DON’T READ THIS. (I’m on mobile so I don’t know how to hide it, but you have been warned!) It’s actually part of the story later on. The fact that the “prey” species are all basically brainwashed into thinking they are just prey and that predators are pure evil by their nature… down to genetic engineering it into them, wiping out their pre-existing culture, and replacing all religious and cultural norms with prey-based systems designed to prevent them from being able to fight back against it. They’re dumb about it because they’re bred and raised and cultured to be dumb about it. And when they figure that out, it breaks them.


saldagmac

Ok, but while that's a neat plot device / twist, it needed to be introduced wayyyyy sooner, or at least foreshadowed, because it took way too long to introduce that. \*shrug\* that's my humble opinion, anyways. I know the writers on HFY are doing it because they love it, and I'm glad I get to read their stuff, but having a cool twist in your story doesn't negate the first long chunk of it being frustrating/off-putting to people because the twist hasn't happened yet.


thetwitchy1

Oh, I’m not denying that at all. Pacing a story like that is hard to do; I tried to write something for myself and post it there, and failed miserably because I couldn’t get the exciting bits out fast enough and the story didn’t ‘flow’ well. I’m writing it now to completion first before posting it, so I can get the flow right. NoP really had issues with that the whole time, but it was an interesting story (being told from non-human perspectives, which is a fav of mine) so I stuck with it. But I can understand that others would not; if you’re not into that (or you don’t find the non-humans to be believable, which tbh I can understand here) it would lose its interest quickly.


saldagmac

Yeah, it's a shame because I recognize that there's some good stuff there, I just unfortunately was really turned off by certain aspects :/ Not trying to insult the writer fwiw, I love reading but I'd never dare try to write anything, it's way too hard lol. So they're way better than me already by having done anything, nevermind something that's clearly got fans.


Semi-literate_sand

The idea was introduced when they found out from a captured Arxur that the Federation tried to make them herbivorous. It established a precedent that the Feds have both the technology to do so and that they are willing to do it.


venlil

It was foreshadowed


neon_ns

Ayyyyy you're here too Everyone, this is venlil, a Venlil from Nature of Predators. He's a cool dude. Everyone say hi!


venlil

Yep I'm here thank you


Fanfics

gonna be honest I just assumed the writer was bad. It's a neat concept when writers try to integrate things into the story structure more broadly, but in practice almost always worse the prioritizing the reader's experience. Making the narrator and main character a moron... just makes your story seem really, *egregiously* bad.


Zamtrios7256

Google "Unreliable Narrator"


Fanfics

yeah there's a lot more going on there than an unreliable narrator


venlil

A character not the main a character and they are dumb about that not really anything else just that


SuccessfulWest8937

Good thing they arent morons then


syzdem

Also if you want something marked as a spoiler, put "||" without the " ofc at the start and end if the text you want to hide


Fanfics

yeah, four chapter in, I'm gonna have to agree with you there 😬 It's far from the worst thing on the sub, but I don't think my suspension of disbelief would be able to last through much more. I mean it starts off with 'first contact is being conducted ad hoc by some dude in his office.' If they were as terrified as the narrator wants me to think they are they would be putting a lot more effort into this, and probably would have intercepted the ship offworld. At least give the guys some earpieces come on. The premise is an interesting one, but it's already been [done pretty well](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/) by someone else.


venlil

I think you need to reread chapter one


WahooSS238

I got halfway through the first one and couldn’t take the fundamental misunderstandings of zoology


venlil

SPOILER: it's VERY much so on purpose


kindtheking9

Kind of the point, it's a major part of the story


SuccessfulWest8937

It's on purpose


[deleted]

If you make your story obnoxious to read for 50 chapters on purpose, don't be surprised when a lot of people put it down. Personally the cowardly narrator who cringed at everything the humans did and the fundamentally naive worldview they had turned me off a few chapters in, and I'm not going to wade through more of that just for the promise of a cool twist later on


SuccessfulWest8937

It's not obnoxious


[deleted]

There's people all over this thread saying they couldn't get through more than a few chapters for various reasons. There's only so many times you can read "oh no, the humans are being nice, they must be getting us to let our guard down, or scouting for weakness, or some other bullshit" before it becomes, as I said, obnoxious. I understand that there's a twist that justifies it. That doesn't make it any less annoying and whiny to read.


TotemGenitor

And there are other who went through it fine. Taste and colours, people who don't like are more likely to talk about it, yadda yadda


gkamyshev

50? I couldn't make it through nine Felt like a jarring projection of euro-american colonialist mindset in more ways than one. HFY isn't that great but this isn't even entertaining enough to offset it


saldagmac

There's some decent stuff in HFY, but like every source of content, there's more trash than treasure and everyone's opinion of which stuff is treasure is different. This one's quite popular but... I really tried. I kept hoping it'd get better, and maybe it did? but way too late.


thetwitchy1

Tbh the story took far too long to take off, but it was a great example of scene and world building in the first place so it’s a fun read from a technical standpoint. And honestly I find that the average HFY writer is about as good a writer as a lot of published authors in the 80’s and 90’s and even the early 00’s… I haven’t gotten a lot of newer stuff from the book store, so I’m not sure the quality now, but when I re-read some of my favourites from back in the day (books that were not widely known as great, but were by authors that you would recognize if you read SF then) they’re really… not good, technically speaking.


saldagmac

Oh for sure; Being published doesn't mean you're a great writer, and being unpublished doesn't mean you're a bad one. Some of my favorite stuff is unpublished (Well, Practical Guide to Evil is soooooort of published now?) - and there're definitely some stories in HFY that I'd say meets the quality of stuff I've read from bookstores, minus some editing. EDIT: and honestly Nature of Predators might be one of them, the author's prose is decent, and it's a premise that clearly appeals to some people. I mean, Harry Potter is \*insanely\* popular, but on a technical level its... meh. 'Good' writing is... highly subjective. Just comes down to whether you like it 🤷‍♂️


4thDevilsAdvocate

>Felt like a jarring projection of euro-american colonialist mindset in more ways than one. HFY isn't that great but this isn't even entertaining enough to offset it You'd like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yc1xvp/nop_offspring_chapter_1_something_borrowed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), then. Same 'verse, completely breaks the mold you're concerned about. No humans involved other than as offhand references. It's beautiful writing, and arguably the only thing r/HFY has put out that actually made me feel something. It sounds like you didn't read the main series, actually. The two "antagonist" factions are either (a) Colonialists In Space^(TM) with healthy dashes of ecocide, bigotry, paternalism, discrimination, and Manifest Destiny, or (b) what's pretty explicitly a bunch of genocidal facists. "Otherizing people, genocide, bigotry, authoritarianism, hatred, and extractive economics are all bad" is not an "euro-american colonialist mindset". I mean, I don't really like the main story either, other than as a sort of "visiting Bedlam House to observe its occupants" kind of thing, but you're giving it way too much flak for someone who apparently hasn't read most of it.


SuccessfulWest8937

My brother in christ it's litterally a story about unmaking an authoritarian colonialist genocidal government


Lucky-Worth

I read the first chapters and honestly the depiction of the UN and humans in general is very naive


SuccessfulWest8937

It's not. Trust me you'll see later on. The faction that deals the most damaging blows to humanity are by far themselve


DavidC438

If we talkin HFY may I recommend The Last Angel (might not be on the sub, but same genre and incredible story) as well as First Contact by u/Ralts_Bloodthorne. The Last Angel is on it's third full length chapter book, and First Contact on it's 894th chapter. Both great reads, both still WIP, and should hopefully keep you goin for a while.


Fanfics

I mean I'm gonna go read it right fucking now but it's gonna have a hard time beating Chrysalis or that one with the hot axolotls or, like, the first 200 chapters of the Jenkinsverse or that one about that like one woman trying to communicate with a huge alien thing while inside it (honestly it's been a while since I read that one)


ThePurpleZoroark

As someone who’s read it an os a fan of NoP I don’t think it beats Chrysalis but I will say it’s still pretty good with a slowish start. Also, what’s that with the axolotls? Or the communicating inside an alien?


Fanfics

Yeah I'm afraid I couldn't get more than a couple chapters into NoP. I appreciate anyone out here writing but the writing and worldbuilding just aren't there for me. Especially since there's another [story with a similar premise](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/) that seems better executed. The communicating one I'm rereading right now! [https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/giayss/the\_humans\_do\_not\_have\_a\_hivemind/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/giayss/the_humans_do_not_have_a_hivemind/) She's not really inside the alien, it's been a while since I read it. But it's so good. No wonder it's still near the top of all time even though it's old. I can't find the one with the axolotls :/ it's about a human and his alien handler who runs tests and is a neat little romance that eventually starts spiraling into bigger plot stuff that I stopped reading. The aliens are notable for ~~being pale~~ they aren't lol and having large external gills like axolotls. ~~EDIT: seems like it might be this one?~~ [~~https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/p7se2j/deathworlder\_meet\_1/~~](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/p7se2j/deathworlder_meet_1/) ~~Been a long time since I read it though, so I'm not sure that's the one (I think it is) and I can't give a full-throated recommendation like with the others~~ EDIT EDIT: it's not that one, it's [https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/60fs0q/interactive\_education/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/60fs0q/interactive_education/) No shade to deathworlder's meet but I wouldn't personally recommend it like I would interactive education


CherubielOne

Adding my totally unbiased opinion, I also agree that 'The humans do not have a hivemind' series is really good and everyone should read it. Twice.


ThePurpleZoroark

Damn, well I will say it gets better as the story progresses. I will say I have read a love Prey but it’s a different story than NoP (Which as the story progresses ,spoilers, >!Is more about battling fascism and colonialism(kinda) or well, reminds me of colonialism!< . The alien cultures are kinda bland and two dimensional, which is on purpose because of a twist later on. But to each their own. Oh, I’ve read that one too! I agree it’s really good! Damn 😔. Though it does sound familiar. Are the aliens psychic? Because it reminds me of a story where they are.


Fanfics

I have been informed of the twist, and that does temper my criticisms a bit. >!In retrospect the humans displayed the complex internal lives lacking in the rest of the writing. Making your story very dumb for the sake of integrating a plot point is... a choice lol. But not one I'm willing to devote dozens of chapters to finding out if it pays off. It does sound pretty different to Prey.!< The aliens are kind of psychic. God *damn* is this series good


venlil

There is complexity in the aliens in fact I would say the best writing is in the aliens internal issues


ThePurpleZoroark

Fair enough, personally it wasn't that big of a deal but I can see why it would turn people away (though, it does get better imo, like with Slanek, Solvin, and Kalsim for example). But yeah, it isn't for everybody. I saw your edit. I read some of Deathworlders meet before but I think I only read the first couple chapters. From how you talk about it I might have to read it again


Fanfics

Ah, I should specify I'm talking about the 'Humans Aren't \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_' series when I'm raving about quality lol. I haven't gotten to rereading Deathworlders Meet yet, and don't think it's quite as good by my reckoning.


ThePurpleZoroark

lol. Totally agree with Humans Aren't, and I'm rereading Deathworlders Meet and so far it's, well, cute!


Fanfics

Glad to see it holds up all these years later. I dropped it once the focus shifted away from the characters and toward plot, but I do indeed remember it being, well, cute! Definitely gonna reread it.


Fanfics

Whoops, never mind! Deathworlder's meeting is totally the wrong fic lol. Might be related, the axolotl species seem pretty similar? Anyway here's the actual one I was thinking of: [https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/60fs0q/interactive\_education/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/60fs0q/interactive_education/) No shade to Deathworlders meet, I respect anyone out here practicing their craft, but it doesn't seem like it has the level of writing quality that Interactive Education achieves


FrisianDude

Best one is still the glowbug alien who got fucked so good by a human he couldn't stop glowing


FrisianDude

Best one is still the glowbug alien who got fucked so good by a human he couldn't stop glowing


TheGhostEnthusiast

That's not even mentioning the FANFICTION! If you finish all the current chapters, Recipe for Disaster and Offspring are great reads.


Fanfics

you rang?


ThePurpleZoroark

"If your going to eat me..." is also a fun, if blursed, short read.


crusadeingshrek

Yeah I’m really glad I convinced the author to post it.


neon_ns

True. Hell, I should know, I wrote one of the first ones. There are so many amazing fanfics that I honestly have a hard time picking a favorite, but those are my 2 favorite currently ongoing ones.


[deleted]

Idk I had such trouble getting into it. Is it really worth reading?


venlil

It very much so is


Zamtrios7256

It is, but you have to remember that the characters being really stupid about biology is a plot point and foreshadowing


Fanfics

four chapters in and I'm gonna go with no 😬 But! It's a pretty cool premise and it's been done well here \\/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/) or at least done Pretty Good


KingoftheRednecks

Unfortunately it's only a quarter-done at best.


SpacePaladin15

Wow, thanks for the shoutout!


neon_ns

Not much of one tbf, most seem to be accusing you of colonialism or something idk Look, it's both reddit and tumbl what did you expect


SuccessfulWest8937

I mean tumblr would probably find a way to tell you about how teddy bears are the CEO of racism


LustrousShadow

NoP is impressively good, but my favorite is still [The Xiu Chang Saga](https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/the_xiu_chang_saga/).


neon_ns

Oh that's a certified hood fuckim classic right there


SilverMedal4Life

Thank you for the recommendation! ... I've been reading this for four hours now. Maybe I should curse you, instead.


Saxton_Hale32

i enjoyed the races and Slanek's relationship with that human but had to stop reading after a bit just felt a bit too... self-indulgent? not quite the right word but the only one i can think of i also just don't have much tolerance for darker stories these days and that's my fault


runfromcreepybadguys

Didn't know what r/HFY was and thought this was about vore at first.


Lankuri

HFY have so many stories where i lose suspension of disbelief because it’s shit like “oh yeah humans can just adapt from injuries easily.” homie. do you *really* think that would be an uncommon trait in spacefaring races


westofley

I'm still partial to the OG deathworlders serial


oobanooba-

A series that I liked but was unfortunately a nightmare to figure out what I’m supposed to read. Very difficult to keep track of when you also read like 5 other serials


jodmercer

I know a crazy amount of you are going to see this post please for the love of God I need more reading recommenations I read too much


CherubielOne

May I recommend [Synchronizing Minds](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/giayss/the_humans_do_not_have_a_hivemind/) (also known as 'The humans do/are not...' series)?


jodmercer

Wonderful! You absolutely may I will start it immediately


StraightTurd

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10qpoCFU8ydQY3zsQa23mk_1_fPT5mABpFKsbwS_GHcM/edit?usp=drivesdk I just casually have a list of mostly hfy stories, enjoy


jodmercer

Oh my God thank you, Absolute legend


Arandomdude03

First contact by u/Ralts_Bloodthorne


jodmercer

Actually that 1 is my favorite, It's a great story


Arandomdude03

Oh haha yeah its amazing


jodmercer

Thank you for recommending it anyways, I appreciate your effort.


Laenthis

A really good story on HFY is also Sexy Sect Babes which is honestly a lot less horny than it’s title suggest. There is a bit of sexy time in it but it’s far from the most important things. It’s pretty well written, often very funny and the protagonist is fairly simple but interesting (and is an interesting mix of OP and extremely weak, since he brings bullshit technology with him but constantly faces cultivators that are absolute monsters who can definitely spell his end quite easily if he isn’t very careful.)


zuckerbergthelizard

Best thing to come out of HFY since a while. (Also the fandom is horny as HELL)


NewUserWhoDisAgain

Must also remember Sturgeon's law "ninety percent of everything is crap" Dont be afraid to drop a story if it's vibing with you.


Voluptuous_Bird

I did NOT expect to see a NoP shoutout here of all places. Certainly not complaining


wat_is_this_readit

mark hamill here is tryna get us to be into space furries again


ThePurpleZoroark

Did not expect to see one of my favorite stories on reddit on here! Seeing it on this subreedit after just leaving r/NatureofPredators was quite a suprise. Love the twist and the clues that led up to it! And some of the fanfics are *chef's kiss.*


BjornAfMunso

Offspring is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever read (at least online) and if anyone wants to read it without reading Nature of Predators you only really need to know that the Arxur are a species that eats the other species in the galaxy and uses them as cattle, the federation consists only of herbivores, and the Gojid are a hedgehog like species who have a religion that hates predators and that they actively try to exterminate them.


AostheGreat

I wrote [an HFY story](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/njnvl7/for_they_were_too_hungry/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) if you like the genre and stories about humans as predators. It’s not much but I’m proud of it. :-)


Mega_Rayqaza

I love it so much


neon_ns

I swear, if I see one more comment about how this story is "American exceptionalism" I will go grab the nearest extermination officer's flamethrower


kindtheking9

u/spacepaladin15 i summon thee!


Enderkitty5

I mean I loved it when I started, and the premise REFUSES to leave my head, but when the terror attack happened on Venlil Prime I’m just like “yeah no there’s no way humanity’s coming back from this” and stopped reading


neon_ns

Spoiler alert: >!we do come back from this!<


Azagorod

I honestly found it quite shit, to be frank. It is definitely well-written, technically speaking, but everything else sucks. The characters are thoroughly unlikeable to me since they are constantly whining and crying. There are way too many sudden things happening that made me feel like I'm watching the 8th season of GoT again, with people and armies just jumping around willy-nilly and appearing out of thin air without any kind of buildup (the _entire_ army of multiple races just decides to embark on some kind of warpath, proceeds to get wiped out and then suddenly their _homeworld_ is completely ravaged and plundered. Are there no orbital defenses? Why the hell would they _completely_ empty their entire reserve to throw on an unknown opponent who didn't even act aggressively so far, while they were already waging war against a known aggressive species for years upon years? It's like being a prey species, genetically engineered or not, comes with a healthy dose of fetal alcohol syndrome or whatever aliens get), there is no attention to logistics and too many times it seems like the plot only works because everybody is an idiot. Even if those are all intentional decisions by the author, it is still very frustrating to read and lacks basically every entertainment value that I would seek out.


neon_ns

There's a reason for pretty much everything listed here, but it's a massive spoiler. It's pretty foreshadowed.


Azagorod

If you mean the plot twist that >!the prey species have been engineered to be that way!<, I managed to get so far. I find it to be a good plot twist, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't enjoy the characters and the overall story. Just because there is an explanation to the incessant whining and general incompetence doesn't mean that it's enjoyable, and that whinyness and incompetence extends to the human characters as well, who don't have that excuse.


neon_ns

I'll admit that the main story isn't perfect, but the universe is incredibly compelling to me. It's spawned a metric shit ton of fanmade works that, frankly, often exceed the quality of the actual story. Offspring is a masterpiece, is all I will say.


Fanfics

EDIT: this review isn't entirely applicable and if you want to know why you're gonna have to look at the spoilers elsewhere in this comment section ​ ~~Sorry OP, gonna have to disagree with you on basically every point. I'm four chapters in and 😬 The writing is ok as fanfiction, but given that the sub has stories that are good even by professional standards, this one can't compare. Especially because the premise has been done better before.~~ [~~https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/~~](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/prey/) ~~(obligatory disclaimer that it's just Pretty Good and still falls into the HFY trap of getting a bit masturbatory, but at least the writing is good and the worldbuilding makes sense)~~ ~~Seriously you expect me to believe the entire galaxy is utterly terrified of predators but when some nukes went off on the world of the second predator species to ever achieve sentience, they just... didn't send anyone to check? Job done, thank god that saves us a trip? asdfadfdhf "Oh man they survived and want to talk to us, we have to buy time and fool them, send, uhh... Dave the administrator and Carl his assistant who can't act for shit, good luck gents the entire planet is counting on you!" "hey should we have given them earpieces or had, like, a strategy meeting?" "nahhhhhh"~~ ~~like bro stop just telling me how the predators gassed a bunch of kids and show how much they're hated through people's actions, through narrator boy's internal monologue. You already have Carl there to ostensibly serve that role but none of his actions sell it because our narrator doesn't do~~ *~~any~~* ~~analytical thinking beyond the bare minimum. The only motivation these people are supposed to have is fear and I'm simply not sold on that. If he actually thought the planet was on the line he would have at least~~ *~~tried~~* ~~to put on a show when Carl immediately gives the game away, like punch him and berate him for insubordination and weakness, tell him he'll be executed later since you think that's what the predators respect. Don't just say "well shit" and then take them back??? to your office??? where you left the news on??? and have a picture of all the other sentient species you're trying??? to hide from them?????????~~ ~~It's an ok attempt, but if you read Nature of Predators and think it's "the best HFY story" or even a good execution on its own merits that's a sign your standards have degraded. Props to anybody out there writing, but that one's got a long way to go.~~


Digitigrade

Eeeh, be a bit more lenient to beginner writers who are learning as they go? That's what most writers in these themed subs are. I've enjoyed the series, I'm a big zoology nerd so some aspects, especially in the beginning bugged me but it's still been engaging and interesting to follow. Sidenote, but the series Humans Are Weird is lots of fun as well. Most of the stories are standalone pieces too, just taking place in the same universe.


Fanfics

I've since learned that my criticisms are in fact an intentional choice by the author, and >!they're probably capable of much better writing that gets shown off later on (and in one or two places in the early chapters that are easy to miss)!< It's not a choice I'm interested in exploring, but they're not as flat-out bad at writing as the early chapters suggest.


Sir_Jaques

To be honest even if it was on purpose your criticisms are still valid, getting better at writing does make a story more enjoyable but it doesn't erase the bad chapters away; it's still bad, the only thing you told us by pulling that twist/revelation is that "It was bad with a purpose" Imagine all the people who got disinterested on the story because of the bad worldbuilding, bland characters, or weird zoology and pacing, and stopped reading; you can't tell those people "You see, I planned it all along" and expect them to regain their interest.


Fanfics

I'm reminded of the joke character Comfortable Doug in the show centaurworld, who's gimmick is that he takes up way more screen time than he merits for no reason. And like, yeah, congrats you successfully executed on your premise, by making your show worse lol. I don't think NoP is as bad, just in a similar vein. I could see the narrator working if we got, like, one break early on where we see things from the human perspective and he notes that this alien deer is clearly borderline delirious with pants-shitting terror. Just to reassure the audience that this is a function of this specific narrator and not the writer themself.


venlil

SPOILER: Tarva is also scared and if they belive predators to be that brutal then a war amoung predators with nukes should be guaranteed extinction or at least not something to worry about for some time and if they aren't fighting with them now they will be soon your treating them like they didn't just have their worst nightmare show up at their door (arxur were uplifts they never developed nukes on their own and im not patient enough to explain the rest about them and how they got to this point or how them being this way is the federations fault)


SmashBro0445

Thank you for this rabbit hole I started reading this morning and I'm already on chapter 26 Of currently 83


MedicalFoundation149

"Tales from the terran Republic," "out of cruel space," and "sexy space babes" (don't judge a book by its cover) are all also in the running for me.


xlbingo10

my personal favorite hfy story is sexy space babes it’s good i swear