About all those fandoms....31 Flavors (plus more that I didn't rec this month)
I'm totally a mutlifannish butterfly, because 1) I've been in fandom so long (depending on how you count it, around four decades), and 2) I read every day, for hours, instead of watching TV, thousands of words per day, and 3) I am easy open minded enough to be pimped into a new fandom by a really good story.
How can this be? Well, the thing is, if I don't know a fandom, I read it like original fiction. That's actually a harder sell; the character building can't be short-cut to mere descriptors or just throwing the names around, and the world building still has to be coherent. The plot or the romance has to be well written even in a short piece. So for me to like a story in a fandom I don't follow, it is a better written story than one that is just full of fanon and favorite tropes geared to the hard-core fan of a particuclar fandom. (Yes, I do read those too, but that's not what I rec in 31 flavors. For that meme, I try to pick stories one could read without knowing the canon source.)
So whenever I do 31 Flavors, as I re-read the stories, more than double the 31 as I select the finalists (because I always re-read to give a fresh reaction), I find myself re-delighted by good writing and also open myself to other stories in that fandom by other writers. I might never get truly fannish about that fandom or that pairing, but I open the door of my heart to more experiences. Love might follow...
So I urge you to try a few stories in this month's 31 Flavors tour, even if you don't usually read those fandoms, because you might fall in love with a new fandom (the world needs more love), or you might just find an author whose writing you enjoy.
PS. I also find it amusing to re-read a story, and then click my AO3 rec, only to find I use the same phrases in my reaction, even if it's been months or years since I read the story. I laugh every time... XD
How can this be? Well, the thing is, if I don't know a fandom, I read it like original fiction. That's actually a harder sell; the character building can't be short-cut to mere descriptors or just throwing the names around, and the world building still has to be coherent. The plot or the romance has to be well written even in a short piece. So for me to like a story in a fandom I don't follow, it is a better written story than one that is just full of fanon and favorite tropes geared to the hard-core fan of a particuclar fandom. (Yes, I do read those too, but that's not what I rec in 31 flavors. For that meme, I try to pick stories one could read without knowing the canon source.)
So whenever I do 31 Flavors, as I re-read the stories, more than double the 31 as I select the finalists (because I always re-read to give a fresh reaction), I find myself re-delighted by good writing and also open myself to other stories in that fandom by other writers. I might never get truly fannish about that fandom or that pairing, but I open the door of my heart to more experiences. Love might follow...
So I urge you to try a few stories in this month's 31 Flavors tour, even if you don't usually read those fandoms, because you might fall in love with a new fandom (the world needs more love), or you might just find an author whose writing you enjoy.
PS. I also find it amusing to re-read a story, and then click my AO3 rec, only to find I use the same phrases in my reaction, even if it's been months or years since I read the story. I laugh every time... XD