Okay, so I don't know what my stance on fracking is. But here are some things I DO know!
citrusjava linked a really cool fic readers' meme from Tumblr. I went ahead and answered the questions I actually have answers for. Please do feel free to answer the questions you want, either in the comments here, or in full on your own journal! I'm all ears~
When you read a good fic, do you go to the author’s page?
Definitely, yes. XD I've probably LJ-stalked most of fandom at some point. I think a lot of my interactions on LJ (beyond my flist) are essentially, YOU DON'T KNOW ME BUT I KNOW YOU, BUT I'M PRETENDING I DON'T KNOW YOU AS WELL AS I DO BECAUSE THAT'S CREEPY. Oddly, though, this doesn't often land me on anyone's master list. You'd think that'd be the place to be, but.
Name a fanfiction author that you’re scared to talk to because they’re so amazing.
If I think something's amazing, I do my best to let them know, because--especially online--it's so easy not to. To forget, or downplay, or not be as expressive or emphatic as you mean to be (because text isn't an actual face, alas). And I think it's fucking important not to slip into that mode, because people should know how amazing they are.
Of course, I usually do this in rambling, borderline incomprehensible comments, but I like to think that regardless of my being sensical or not, at least enthusiasm translates. XD
How often do you read fanfiction?
As often as I can. I try to read everything by my flist that sounds even remotely in my wheelhouse--caveat being, of course, that I miss all the things, all the time anyway. Boo. :( I like to know what everyone's up to, what you're working on or working through. I think that for creative people, there's a part of them that you can't possibly know unless you're interacting with their creative work. And I think that's important--especially given that there are lots of other facets to you that I probably can't know, just because we're online and not IRL. That being said, I don't think onlineness is a hindrance to friendship in the least; because I think we share a lot of things here that most of IRL will never, ever see. Personal posts, absolutely, but also what's in those fanworks. And that's a privilege I definitely want to exercise. <3
I also have really strong opinions about reading/writing fic. And I'll say this up front: YMMV. But I think if you're going to be writing to/for/within/with a community, you should be reading in it.
Part of this has to do with the world I'm coming from, in the sense that if you're going to write in an academic field, YOU HAD DAMN WELL BETTER HAVE READ IN IT.
Granted, for fic it's totally different. Because this isn't a career, and it's often not this thorough studied entrance into a field--nor should it be. Like, I don't think you need to study up and read a bunch of gen casefic if one day you decide you want to write a gen casefic. Or even that you need to have a broad survey of like, SPN fic, if one day you decide you want to try your hand at writing a fic. (Please do write!) If you wanna write a fic, you can write a fic without having to do any homework/research! Absolutely! (And thank god. XD) Especially since the specific genres of fic we read and those that we write probably don't overlap exactly. You'll write things you necessarily read; and you'll read things you'd never write. That's beautiful and wonderful.
But I'd be lying if I said I didn't sort of...avoid... fic written by people who don't seem to ever, ever read anything (and not like, "omg, I am really busy with my life and with my BB/etc. and if I wanna make my deadline I really just have to peace out and write!!"). But like, people who have flat out said they don't read much fic because there's nothing "of interest" to them, or people who have not-entirely-subtley insinuated that they're too good for the fic other people are writing and they are god's sweet gift to fandom for upping the status quo. Because LOL. LOLOLOLOLOL. /okay, rant over
Do you leave reviews after reading fics? If so, what do they sound like?
Ahaha, I've already discussed what I think my comments sound like. XP I try (but often fail) to leave comments that will communicate exactly how much I liked a thing. Obviously you can't really go through and note every single thing you thought was great--not sustainably and consistently, in any case--but I try to remind myself to comment as specifically as I can, whether it's about craft, or character, or meta, or feelings or some combination thereof. Because as a reader I get more out of what I read when I work through it in a comment, and I know--from experience!--that it can feel really good to have someone highlight a line they especially liked, or describe the sequence of emotions a fic put them through. And if I don't know what to say I basically just ramble, um. Other people tend to be more concise, or silent if they don't know what to say, and that may well be the better option, tbh. XD
I always leave some kind of comment, though, even if it's just to say I read a thing and enjoyed it.
Do you ever re-read fics? How about triple-read?
Not often. Which has less to do with the worthiness of fic to be re-read, and more to do with my investment in fic as a fluctuating and constantly replenishing, forward-oriented body of works.
But sometimes I'll re-read H/C fic, because often when I read H/C it's very specifically trope-related, and very specifically related to my own carnal pleasures. XD I've probably read Sweet as Sweet as Sweet Can Be by selecasharp like five times. (Sam/Dean; hard R, diabetic!Dean, slime monsters).
And I re-read Run by glassshoe whenever I need it (and need to hear it from Dean).
I also...re-read my own fic a lot? .___. Not old stuff, mostly, but whatever I've just posted. I'll compulsively re-read things I just wrote, sometimes to check for typos, sometimes just to go through and be like "is this good"/"is this bad"/"here are x reasons people wouldn't read this/would be turned off by this/would stop reading at this point"/"oh I like this part," etc.
I don't like the act of posting very much--too much anxiety--so making a long mental list of all the valid, legitimate reasons a thing wouldn't be of interest to the Internet makes me feel better. XD Because I can be less like "omg why am I the worst D;" and more like "well, fair enough!"
What is your favorite all-time fic?
This needs its own post. <3
When you read a good fic, do you go to the author’s page?
Definitely, yes. XD I've probably LJ-stalked most of fandom at some point. I think a lot of my interactions on LJ (beyond my flist) are essentially, YOU DON'T KNOW ME BUT I KNOW YOU, BUT I'M PRETENDING I DON'T KNOW YOU AS WELL AS I DO BECAUSE THAT'S CREEPY. Oddly, though, this doesn't often land me on anyone's master list. You'd think that'd be the place to be, but.
Name a fanfiction author that you’re scared to talk to because they’re so amazing.
If I think something's amazing, I do my best to let them know, because--especially online--it's so easy not to. To forget, or downplay, or not be as expressive or emphatic as you mean to be (because text isn't an actual face, alas). And I think it's fucking important not to slip into that mode, because people should know how amazing they are.
Of course, I usually do this in rambling, borderline incomprehensible comments, but I like to think that regardless of my being sensical or not, at least enthusiasm translates. XD
How often do you read fanfiction?
As often as I can. I try to read everything by my flist that sounds even remotely in my wheelhouse--caveat being, of course, that I miss all the things, all the time anyway. Boo. :( I like to know what everyone's up to, what you're working on or working through. I think that for creative people, there's a part of them that you can't possibly know unless you're interacting with their creative work. And I think that's important--especially given that there are lots of other facets to you that I probably can't know, just because we're online and not IRL. That being said, I don't think onlineness is a hindrance to friendship in the least; because I think we share a lot of things here that most of IRL will never, ever see. Personal posts, absolutely, but also what's in those fanworks. And that's a privilege I definitely want to exercise. <3
I also have really strong opinions about reading/writing fic. And I'll say this up front: YMMV. But I think if you're going to be writing to/for/within/with a community, you should be reading in it.
Part of this has to do with the world I'm coming from, in the sense that if you're going to write in an academic field, YOU HAD DAMN WELL BETTER HAVE READ IN IT.
Granted, for fic it's totally different. Because this isn't a career, and it's often not this thorough studied entrance into a field--nor should it be. Like, I don't think you need to study up and read a bunch of gen casefic if one day you decide you want to write a gen casefic. Or even that you need to have a broad survey of like, SPN fic, if one day you decide you want to try your hand at writing a fic. (Please do write!) If you wanna write a fic, you can write a fic without having to do any homework/research! Absolutely! (And thank god. XD) Especially since the specific genres of fic we read and those that we write probably don't overlap exactly. You'll write things you necessarily read; and you'll read things you'd never write. That's beautiful and wonderful.
But I'd be lying if I said I didn't sort of...avoid... fic written by people who don't seem to ever, ever read anything (and not like, "omg, I am really busy with my life and with my BB/etc. and if I wanna make my deadline I really just have to peace out and write!!"). But like, people who have flat out said they don't read much fic because there's nothing "of interest" to them, or people who have not-entirely-subtley insinuated that they're too good for the fic other people are writing and they are god's sweet gift to fandom for upping the status quo. Because LOL. LOLOLOLOLOL. /okay, rant over
Do you leave reviews after reading fics? If so, what do they sound like?
Ahaha, I've already discussed what I think my comments sound like. XP I try (but often fail) to leave comments that will communicate exactly how much I liked a thing. Obviously you can't really go through and note every single thing you thought was great--not sustainably and consistently, in any case--but I try to remind myself to comment as specifically as I can, whether it's about craft, or character, or meta, or feelings or some combination thereof. Because as a reader I get more out of what I read when I work through it in a comment, and I know--from experience!--that it can feel really good to have someone highlight a line they especially liked, or describe the sequence of emotions a fic put them through. And if I don't know what to say I basically just ramble, um. Other people tend to be more concise, or silent if they don't know what to say, and that may well be the better option, tbh. XD
I always leave some kind of comment, though, even if it's just to say I read a thing and enjoyed it.
Do you ever re-read fics? How about triple-read?
Not often. Which has less to do with the worthiness of fic to be re-read, and more to do with my investment in fic as a fluctuating and constantly replenishing, forward-oriented body of works.
But sometimes I'll re-read H/C fic, because often when I read H/C it's very specifically trope-related, and very specifically related to my own carnal pleasures. XD I've probably read Sweet as Sweet as Sweet Can Be by selecasharp like five times. (Sam/Dean; hard R, diabetic!Dean, slime monsters).
And I re-read Run by glassshoe whenever I need it (and need to hear it from Dean).
I also...re-read my own fic a lot? .___. Not old stuff, mostly, but whatever I've just posted. I'll compulsively re-read things I just wrote, sometimes to check for typos, sometimes just to go through and be like "is this good"/"is this bad"/"here are x reasons people wouldn't read this/would be turned off by this/would stop reading at this point"/"oh I like this part," etc.
I don't like the act of posting very much--too much anxiety--so making a long mental list of all the valid, legitimate reasons a thing wouldn't be of interest to the Internet makes me feel better. XD Because I can be less like "omg why am I the worst D;" and more like "well, fair enough!"
What is your favorite all-time fic?
This needs its own post. <3