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Though the change from "I don't like it, with these exceptions" to "I like some of it but have very high standards" isn't a huge paradigm shift.
Warning: Sleepy and grumpy, will almost certainly revise this after I've had time to realise which bits of it are stoopid. Sometimes you just have to let your ideas go out into the world knowing they'll almost certainly come back battered and changed.
That which made me abandon my "Fanfic I like are outliers" theory is these recs, since I've enjoyed pretty much all the ones that looked interesting enough to read. Found a remarkably spot-on, tonewise1, Gregor/Miles story which (while I love Kat) is imho a more interesting match than canon, especially in terms of repercussions, though the story lacks LMB's wonderful inventiveness for characters and deep explorations of the Nature of Being. And none of the characters are tortured!
Anyway, I've realised the reason I thought I didn't like fanfic (and slash in particular) is rather like the reason I sometimes feel I don't like fantasy or tv sf, ie
(1) Many of the people I know who rec it like different things to me
(2) I have Very High Standards, especially in terms of character continuity and originality of ideas
Specifically, while I have no problem with reading about gay relationships (in fact they make an interesting change to the norm), I don't like stories which fetishise them. Also, I don't particularly like reading explicit sex or violence, though will put up with it if it aids the plot. What I am after is interesting and new ideas, or a dissection of the original text. Thus "Porn starring two characters whose main appeal is that they're played by hot guys", not so much.
And unless a story is making a metatexual (is that the word) commentary by highlighting things the author didn't do, I don't like it when things happen that wouldn't in canon (things which could plausibly have happened if events had transpired differently are ok). Which, I only just realised, makes me somewhat resistant to slash in contexts where I feel the author is too conservative/boring to have gay/bi characters (hello JKR), but perfectly happy with authors like LMB or JMS who are demonstrably cool with it. Also I prefer book based stuff since novelisations of tv/movies always sound off to me even when they're canon.
Something I find annoying (not that it's anyone's fault) is that most everyone I encounter who likes the kind of stuff I do seems to be into fanfic largely for the squee, so it's lost in a sea of pretty boy smut. *sighs* Luckily I don't mind squee-ish vids, since it's much harder for them to feel OOC.
Anyway, people, feel free to now shower me with intelligent, interesting fanfic which is not about the squee. Or say why you agree or disagree. Assuming you didn't get bored of me rambling about myself several paragraphs up :) And I'm so totally not in a replying to comments space right now, hopefully will be soon.
1) Favourite bit:
Warning: Sleepy and grumpy, will almost certainly revise this after I've had time to realise which bits of it are stoopid. Sometimes you just have to let your ideas go out into the world knowing they'll almost certainly come back battered and changed.
That which made me abandon my "Fanfic I like are outliers" theory is these recs, since I've enjoyed pretty much all the ones that looked interesting enough to read. Found a remarkably spot-on, tonewise1, Gregor/Miles story which (while I love Kat) is imho a more interesting match than canon, especially in terms of repercussions, though the story lacks LMB's wonderful inventiveness for characters and deep explorations of the Nature of Being. And none of the characters are tortured!
Anyway, I've realised the reason I thought I didn't like fanfic (and slash in particular) is rather like the reason I sometimes feel I don't like fantasy or tv sf, ie
(1) Many of the people I know who rec it like different things to me
(2) I have Very High Standards, especially in terms of character continuity and originality of ideas
Specifically, while I have no problem with reading about gay relationships (in fact they make an interesting change to the norm), I don't like stories which fetishise them. Also, I don't particularly like reading explicit sex or violence, though will put up with it if it aids the plot. What I am after is interesting and new ideas, or a dissection of the original text. Thus "Porn starring two characters whose main appeal is that they're played by hot guys", not so much.
And unless a story is making a metatexual (is that the word) commentary by highlighting things the author didn't do, I don't like it when things happen that wouldn't in canon (things which could plausibly have happened if events had transpired differently are ok). Which, I only just realised, makes me somewhat resistant to slash in contexts where I feel the author is too conservative/boring to have gay/bi characters (hello JKR), but perfectly happy with authors like LMB or JMS who are demonstrably cool with it. Also I prefer book based stuff since novelisations of tv/movies always sound off to me even when they're canon.
Something I find annoying (not that it's anyone's fault) is that most everyone I encounter who likes the kind of stuff I do seems to be into fanfic largely for the squee, so it's lost in a sea of pretty boy smut. *sighs* Luckily I don't mind squee-ish vids, since it's much harder for them to feel OOC.
Anyway, people, feel free to now shower me with intelligent, interesting fanfic which is not about the squee. Or say why you agree or disagree. Assuming you didn't get bored of me rambling about myself several paragraphs up :) And I'm so totally not in a replying to comments space right now, hopefully will be soon.
1) Favourite bit:
The Escobarans had a long history of extremely foresighted environmental controls, which had left their planet, centuries after settlement, a near paradise of clean air and sweeping, undisturbed forest. Even here, in the heart of the capital city, trees grew evenly spaced along the pavements, and there was a crisp, green flavor to the air. Miles suppressed a sneeze and inwardly groaned.
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