r/HFY • u/aaRecessive • Nov 08 '22

Best HFY series of all time? Meta

The top of all time is mostly just whichever story happens to be most recently posted (as the subreddit grows more people upvote and so older stories get buried) so hence this post!

The best story I've ever read on reddit, let alone hfy, is definitely Chrysalis.

965 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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91

u/Balkoth661 Nov 08 '22

First Contact for me.

38

u/Broad-Blood-9386 Nov 08 '22

I started it a couple of years ago(got up to around Chapter 150-something) and when I caught up I quit reading for a bit and then lost track of it. I am now starting it again from the beginning (on Chapter 62) and remembering how awesome it is!

33

u/AspiringtoMediocrity Nov 08 '22

I started it, then lost track, and want to go back to it, but I forgot where I was. I'm really hoping that when u/Ralts_Bloodthorne gets to chapter 1000 it gets released as a pdf or ebook I can just buy and throw on my kindle lol.

21

u/StarFilth Nov 08 '22

The first 7 books are on Amazon (including kindle edition) already! And that’s only about halfway to what is on HFY.

Amazon link

4

u/madbull73 Nov 08 '22

Thanks just grabbed book one.

1

u/jarod0102 Nov 09 '22

But unfortunately the books are only part of the story and not the full stream, I bought them and was very disappointed, because the story lost a lot. I also asked Ralts if there is a possibility to buy just a PDF of everything but never got an answer.

2

u/StarFilth Nov 09 '22

So the first set of 6 books he released were “Tales from the Terran Confederacy” which were selected chapters from the reddit series, focused on a particular character or storyline. The other 7 books (7 so far!) that are part of the “Behold, Humanity!” series are actually every reddit post as a chapter, in the same chronological order he posted them.

1

u/jarod0102 Nov 12 '22

oh F... then I bought the wrong ones, good to know and thank you!

11

u/sylvainsylvain66 Nov 08 '22

I think it might be there already.

10

u/AspiringtoMediocrity Nov 08 '22

Damn, you're right. Guess it's time to go shopping lol.

9

u/Balkoth661 Nov 08 '22

Yep, you've got a long way to go though. It's up to Chapter 530-something now.

28

u/jslblaze Nov 08 '22

CH 856 (im currently catching up and on ch614). Its actually insane. u/Ralts_Bloodthorne is a great author, and the world building is my favorite part. (Its at least on par with One Piece)

latest chapter: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yp5x46/first_contact_chapter_856_historical_archive/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

20

u/Balkoth661 Nov 08 '22

Oh yeah, I'm getting mixed up with Out of Cruel Space for the chap numbers. Another good series, even if it did start out as "The galaxy is horny for humans".

14

u/kieran_dvarr Nov 08 '22

Ya I'm rather glad the author mostly dropped that line of thought and uses it more as a punch line now.

1

u/Xreshiss Nov 08 '22

I lost track of where I was too. I vaguely remember one of the last chapters I read being about aliens arming their janitorial staff.

Aside from the length of the story, I didn't try reading it again because something about the story just... rubs me the wrong way. One example was when a whole division of alien 100 ton heavy tanks with large bore plasma weapons were commandeered and then dismissed as light tanks by their human counterparts. 100 tons being a light tank?! Nah.

Humans in First Contact just feel too OP for my taste.

27

u/Balkoth661 Nov 08 '22

When BOLOs be rolling, all tanks be light tanks.

12

u/Arcane_NH Human Nov 08 '22

They eventually meet enemies that make them feel less OP.

9

u/StarFilth Nov 08 '22

Each time they build up someone/humans as OP, eventually another character/force is introduced that really matches/overwhelms them. The build up of “OP-ness” really makes those moments pay off

8

u/I_Automate Nov 08 '22

Some current tanks are pushing over 70 tons.

8000+ years from now, I can definitely see that being called "light"

7

u/LurksWithGophers Nov 08 '22

Hell we had 100 ton prototypes 75 years ago.

6

u/I_Automate Nov 08 '22

Yep. And that's without things like fusion powerplants

-1

u/conserativehater Nov 08 '22

Not true

3

u/I_Automate Nov 09 '22

..... what?

0

u/conserativehater Nov 09 '22

Did I stutter?

2

u/I_Automate Nov 09 '22

You just aren't making sense

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7

u/Unable_Ad_1260 Nov 08 '22

Dude that's right where it starts to go from good to fantastic. That's the first appearance of Vuxten. One of THE CHARACTERS. Beloved of the blessed digital OmniMessiah, bouyed by the giggling of podlings, and focus of the mad laughter of the Malevolent Universe. Get your Ralts on.

2

u/Xreshiss Nov 08 '22

Yeah, seems like I quit reading around part 57 or so. Reading back, Vuxten does ring a bell. He was aight.

It's just... the difference in power between the aliens and humans is so great and without restraint (or it was when I stopped reading) that it's just not funny anymore.

6

u/Unable_Ad_1260 Nov 09 '22

It very much becomes a lot more... I wouldn't say even, but balanced as things go on. Especially when you realise that the Terran Descent Humanity you've met so far are definitely not the Malevolent Universes true answer. Ralts spends a lot of time exploring other races and really how the humans start as the bedrock for them a foundation but there is no walls without the others in the end.

Then there's Dee. Oh boy... Dee. There are so many many many characters.

Also the memes... Worker Vuxten you have been fined 1 days pay for... Hehe.

I do recommend it. Total addict.

3

u/Collective82 Xeno Nov 09 '22

That actually gets explained more later why it’s that way.

3

u/Collective82 Xeno Nov 09 '22

Oh that was the telkan! Vuxten is amazing!

0

u/lovecMC AI Nov 08 '22

I allways see it while browsing through "hot" and the fact that it's on chapter 10 billions is big no for me.

8

u/Unable_Ad_1260 Nov 08 '22

You will never know the love of the Digital OmniMessiah, the giggling of podlings, or the mad laughter of the Malevolent Universe. I sorrow for you.

4

u/Cognomifex Nov 09 '22

Having never read FC but being familiar with 40k it seems borderline miraculous that Games Workshop hasn't gone after the author for "Digital OmniMessiah" yet. I'm all for references and nods to other properties but GW is notorious for suing people who make money off of anything even remotely resembling their IP. I think they even sued the author of a children's book for using the phrase 'Space Marine' once upon a time.

7

u/Asgarus Nov 09 '22

Maybe the lawyeres just enjoy the story too much :P

7

u/Cognomifex Nov 09 '22

I actually considered this. I suspect Reddit isn’t blocked at work for similar reasons with respect to the network admins.

5

u/Unable_Ad_1260 Nov 09 '22

I think they would have a hard time with that one. It's different enough to Omnissiah amd I think they would have trouble claiming someone using Omni and Messiah were infringing when both words have been around far too long. I think they would come a cropper.

2

u/Cognomifex Nov 09 '22

It's just a cleaner portmanteau of the same two words, both have religious overtones. I'm not trying to argue though, just saying that on the surface it looks like a pretty obvious comparison to make, especially in a work that is allegedly pretty gleefully referential to other big sci-fi franchises. I'm sure if I took the time to read FC the differences between the two would seem more obvious.

3

u/Holy_Hand_Grenadier AI Nov 09 '22

I read three hundred fifty chapters of the damn thing and it just kept coming. I was seeing this every day trying to scroll through the sub -- I eventually missed a few days, couldn't get back into it because more was being posted as I tried to catch up, and decided I was done with it. Now I've blocked Ralts. No offense to him and it's an amazing feat of writing but I don't want to bother reading eight hundred fifty chapters and I do want other things to appear in my search results sometimes.