Ha, this is like when someone comes in the shop and says 'TELL ME WHAT TO BUY!!' and they're expecting me to go 'BUY THIS. EVERYBODY LOVES IT. YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO' but instead I say quietly, 'What kinds of things do you like to read/watch?' and they're like 'But you're not selling me things. What's going on?' and then after that, they start telling me stuff.
So, you say sci-fi fandoms, ok. Does she want het or slash? That's quite a distinction, especially for someone coming into fandom for the first time. If someone had shown me a het story when I first got into fandom, I might not have taken to it quite so easily. Similarly, if someone's not expecting it, slash can be a little disconcerting!
Although we all have our favourite writers/fics, they might not work with someone who's never read fanfic before. I could rec Frodo Hill - the first fanfic I ever read - but it worked for me becuase I already loved LoTR, shipped Frodo/Sam (though I didn't know it at the time) and was au fait enough with 18thC fiction to recognise tropes and writing conventions and get jokes.
I'm not so good on sci-fi fandoms, but having said that I would happily rec anything at all by astolat to outsiders - she's produced the best profic, and is basically the best writer in fandom.
FWIW, this is my fanfic equivalent of 'BUY THIS. EVERYBODY LOVES IT. YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO.' IOW: these are my bulletproof recs, all slash obvs (you'll have to get someone else for the het. Sorry!):
Embers (Eminem/Taylor Hanson) First line: It kind of snuck up on him, like the ocean, because he sure as shit didn’t plan it.
Tissue of Silver (Harry Potter, Harry/Draco). First line: Last night's dream predicted that I will receive a visit from Harry Potter this morning. He'll be wearing a truly atrocious yellow shirt and he'll be no less irritating than he was the last time I saw him.
Soft Skin Boys (J-Pop, Kame/Jin). First line: Kame flies into town on a Thursday night, ready to speak with the producers on the Friday morning.
They all got me, even though I wasn't in the relevant fandoms at the time. And for two of them, I'm still not. Solid gold.
I know, I know -- it's a horrible thing to ask -- "Recommend a great fic for this random person! I want her to love it!" I'm having difficulty with that myself, but I really want to try.
She's read some gen and het and we talked about how I read slash, so I'm going to rec both to her (and maybe also gen) and tell her what's in them so she'll know in advance.
I usually ease into fandoms myself by reading many (short) fics before falling in love with the characters, so yeah, it's hard to pick a story that an "outsider" would like because most of the fics I love best, I love because I know all of the context (canon, fanon) so well. On the other hand, this friend reads actual books, so she's more familiar with getting to know new characters, and her attention span is probably longer. Me, I get really impatient really fast and if the story doesn't hook me immediately, I may just click away.
Frodo Hill must have been the perfect first fic for you! It's kind of like a fusion AU with two sources, isn't it? And you knew both of them.
Astolat is so good. I just realised that she's written Thor fic as well, and that might be a great rec -- my friend might have seen the movie or be familiar with the basic concept.
Embers is so amazing! But it's not finished. :/ I might rec it anyway because it's an AU and you don't have to know the canon (and I know this because I didn't know much about Eminem and Tay when I started to read it myself). And pretty boys. :>
Tissue of Silver sounds really good! I've probably read it, at least I've started, but it didn't make that much of an impression on me *hides* -- but the POV is sarcastic, and that's always a good thing.
Soft Skin Boys would also work because it's an AU.
Thanks for the recs! They're excellent. I'll have a rec set ready soon. :)
So, you say sci-fi fandoms, ok. Does she want het or slash? That's quite a distinction, especially for someone coming into fandom for the first time. If someone had shown me a het story when I first got into fandom, I might not have taken to it quite so easily. Similarly, if someone's not expecting it, slash can be a little disconcerting!
Although we all have our favourite writers/fics, they might not work with someone who's never read fanfic before. I could rec Frodo Hill - the first fanfic I ever read - but it worked for me becuase I already loved LoTR, shipped Frodo/Sam (though I didn't know it at the time) and was au fait enough with 18thC fiction to recognise tropes and writing conventions and get jokes.
I'm not so good on sci-fi fandoms, but having said that I would happily rec anything at all by astolat to outsiders - she's produced the best profic, and is basically the best writer in fandom.
FWIW, this is my fanfic equivalent of 'BUY THIS. EVERYBODY LOVES IT. YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO.' IOW: these are my bulletproof recs, all slash obvs (you'll have to get someone else for the het. Sorry!):
Embers (Eminem/Taylor Hanson) First line: It kind of snuck up on him, like the ocean, because he sure as shit didn’t plan it.
Tissue of Silver (Harry Potter, Harry/Draco). First line: Last night's dream predicted that I will receive a visit from Harry Potter this morning. He'll be wearing a truly atrocious yellow shirt and he'll be no less irritating than he was the last time I saw him.
Soft Skin Boys (J-Pop, Kame/Jin). First line:
Kame flies into town on a Thursday night, ready to speak with the producers on the Friday morning.
They all got me, even though I wasn't in the relevant fandoms at the time. And for two of them, I'm still not. Solid gold.
Reply
She's read some gen and het and we talked about how I read slash, so I'm going to rec both to her (and maybe also gen) and tell her what's in them so she'll know in advance.
I usually ease into fandoms myself by reading many (short) fics before falling in love with the characters, so yeah, it's hard to pick a story that an "outsider" would like because most of the fics I love best, I love because I know all of the context (canon, fanon) so well. On the other hand, this friend reads actual books, so she's more familiar with getting to know new characters, and her attention span is probably longer. Me, I get really impatient really fast and if the story doesn't hook me immediately, I may just click away.
Frodo Hill must have been the perfect first fic for you! It's kind of like a fusion AU with two sources, isn't it? And you knew both of them.
Astolat is so good. I just realised that she's written Thor fic as well, and that might be a great rec -- my friend might have seen the movie or be familiar with the basic concept.
Embers is so amazing! But it's not finished. :/ I might rec it anyway because it's an AU and you don't have to know the canon (and I know this because I didn't know much about Eminem and Tay when I started to read it myself). And pretty boys. :>
Tissue of Silver sounds really good! I've probably read it, at least I've started, but it didn't make that much of an impression on me *hides* -- but the POV is sarcastic, and that's always a good thing.
Soft Skin Boys would also work because it's an AU.
Thanks for the recs! They're excellent. I'll have a rec set ready soon. :)
Reply
Leave a comment