TRON: Legacy/Fanfic Recs

Proof that the remaining 10% is worth dying for here.

These are recommendations made by Tropers for Tron fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.

You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation In The Main Page though; that goes in the discussion

General Fics

Tron Adagio by Shadow Chaser.

• Recommended by Ignus Zwei
• Synopsis: A "novelization" of the events leading up to the Purge, with the Tron: Betrayal comic serving as a base.
• Comments: Good, solid writing all around, cleverly paced and toned to the soundtrack entries and titles. A must read if you simply can't get your hands on the comic. Almost finished, updates often.

For Want of a Voxel by Skye Writer

• Recommended by Ignus Zwei
• Synopsis: A "What If" scenario: what if Quorra didn't quite get to Sam on time?
• Comments: Well written fic that examines the alternate consequences that come about one single failure. Worth a read.

Outer Limits by Nan00k

• Recommended by Tantopat
• Synopsis: A continuation of Tron: Legacy, involving two hackers who break into Encom's systems one night to steal a file. They're looking for the "Tron" video game file, but end up with something called "Rinzler"...
• Comments: A brilliantly written ongoing fic with an engaging and fascinating storyline. The OCs in this story are genuinely likeable and feel like they belong in the Tron universe, and the ideas behind the story (and the way it plays out) are pure genius. It also explores programs' experiences with coming into the user world, including things like how they learn to eat, use their muscles, and deal with things like different sensations and not being connected to everything. In short, well worth a read.

A whole new world by Virtual Deliverance

• Recommended by Devil Master
• Synopsis: Clu outsmarts Kevin Flynn and enters the real world, alone. Here, he sets up the invasion by masquerading as Kevin Flynn and arranging a setup that will lead the users themselves to invite programs to invade them. In short time, he reveals his real Magnificent Bastard persona and the fate of the world is sealed.
• Comments: The darkest Tron fanfiction I've read, with an enthralling and disturbing take on Clu.

Subroutine by Sakura123

• Recommended by Allronix
• Synopsis: Jet Bradley and Sam Flynn live in a world of computers, their entire life built around them, but the idea of electronic beings living within them was one they never comprehended, not even when they find themselves smack in the middle of it.
• Comment: It's not uncommon to find a Shout-Out or two to Tron 2.0 in Legacy fanfic, but extremely rare to go for a full-blown Patchwork Fic. It disregards both game and Legacy canons to Take a Third Option and create a compelling Alternate Continuity that will integrate the characters from both, including Ma3a as "progenitor" of the Isos, the protagonists as estranged Heterosexual Life Partners, Mercury as a fighter against Clu's regime, etc.

Shipping Fics

We Are Pilots by shirozora.

• Recommended by Love Is Weird
• Pairings: Tron/Sam
• Synopsis: Tron deals with inevitable guilt with Sam.
• Comments: I can't really summarize things all that well, but I'll say this: this story is one of the best continuations I have ever read. The writing is superb, and shirozora has an excellent grasp of each character involved, and the OC's are also fleshed out quite well. It's completed, and the author is currently working on a sequel.

Of Warm Jackets, Sleeping, and Arcade Games by humansrsuperior.

• Recommended by Sanfranman 91
• Pairings: Sam/Quorra.
• Synopsis: An exploration on how Quorra manages in her first days in the real world.
• Comments: From learning about the weather and movie nights to understanding how to play an arcade game, Quorra learns about normal User life. It's very funny and quite romantic too.

Old Habits Die Hard, also by humansrsuperior.

• Recommended by Marzipan 91
• Pairings: Sam/Quorra.
• Synopsis: While taking a coffee break at Encom, Sam remembers his father and how he aged in The Grid. Soon enough, Sam is faced with a dilemma about his future with Quorra... He chooses to stay with her, albeit aware that he will gradually age and die while she will remain her 20-something self.
• Comments: Unlike many other Sam/Quorra shipping stories, this one not only portrays it in a mature, realistic matter, but also uses accurate portrayals of the characters. The fanfic also explores the ideas of aging and angst and how it will affect Sam's decision.

Untitled series starting with Dear Wired Magazine, I Never Thought This Would Happen To Me But… ^{[dead link]} by seriousfic.

• Recommended by Jonn
• Pairings: Sam/Quorra.
• Synopsis: Sam and Quorra's developing relationship.
• Comments: In this corner, a worldly, somewhat cynical young man! In this corner, a Wide-Eyed Idealist with Internet access! Can love bloom in the shipping-container-house? (Yes.)
  • The rest of the author's fics are in the same vein and are just as enjoyable, in this troper's opinion.

Rectify by Aldhibah (Link is to the Kink Meme thread.)

• Recommended by Inkmage
• Pairing: So far Rinzler/Clu, and the author has mentioned possible Clu/Jarvis/Rinzler in the future.
• Synopsis: Clu's plan succeeds, and he manages to bring his army into the real world, where he gets a nasty shock. None of the fighting methods his soldiers know are especially useful in the user world. Throwing a disk does nothing except maybe annoy the person it bounces off of, he can't manipulate the environment in any way, and guns? What's a gun?
• Comments: The only Tron fic I've ever read that makes me cheer on Clu. This has a rather heavy dose of Humans Are the Real Monsters, but if that doesn't bother you, this is possibly one of the best fics on the meme. Right up there with We Are Pilots. It's ongoing, but the author updates very quickly, considering the length, detail, and lack of mistakes.

Resist by Brightdreamer

• Recommended by Allronix
• Pairing: Clu / Tron
• Synopsis: There is more than one way to break a man...even ones made of digital code.
• Comments: I hesitate to put this under "shipping," aside from this containing some twisted elements of Foe Yay, but Users, it drips with the stuff. Clu is an inventive bastard. He'd know that he wouldn't be able to break Tron using pain, which means "pleasure" is much more efficient tool.

Survivor's Tale by Ridyr.

• Recommended by Allronix
• Pairing: Tron/Yori (established)
• Synopsis: "I gave [Lora] up because there was someone else, here, that meant more to me than any user. I gave her up for Tron. Tron is why I've done what I've done, and am doing what I'm doing. He is why I'm sitting in the poorly lit bar, watching as people come and sit around me, their eyes and ears waiting to hear my story that I don't want to tell, but will tell all the same."
• Comments: Yori's absence from Tron: Legacy has made great Fanfic Fuel. Ridyr's story takes the fuel and adds a lit match. It unravels events from the coup to the end of Legacy, casting her as a member of the Resistance, through capture, conscription, and the eventual freedom she and Tron win for themselves. And it handles "Rinzler" marvelously.