I am an island. Or something. Cheese. Monkeys.

[tzikeh]

Very, very, very simple question, posed because I think I'm the only person left in fandom (and I'm mostly serious) who doesn't:

clarification: I don't mean you have to be *in* the fandom to be a "fan" of the source. If you saw the movie and liked it okay, that's enough. I'm trying to be really specific: if you haven't seen the source (no familiarity other than general fannish osmosis or you've caught an episode or two) or you don't like the source (tried it an didn't like it), have you still gone and read fanfiction for it - for any reason at all. That's the question.

[Poll #540738]

Note that there is no third option, because "Only if Fan X is writing it" falls under "Yes", and "I occasionally glance at stories for Y Fandom because all of my friends are in it but I don't actively seek it out" falls under "Yes", and "I only read Story Z that one time because everyone was raving and I'd seen two episodes of the show" - wait for it - falls under "Yes".

I'm feeling very alone right now....

Comments

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I will say that it's rare, and driven, as you note, by the "fan X" thing. Hell, I don't even read in my own fandoms unless someone vets for me!

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I clicked "Yes," but only because I very infrequently fall under the disclaimers you mentioned. Also, there's a question what "a fan of the source" means; I read some of astolat's M&C fic, and I've seen the movie and read a couple of the books, but in no way am I a member of M&C fandom. Where does that fall?

However, by and large, if I don't like the show, I'm not gonna read the fic. I understand that SGA is sprouting good fic like crazy, but I watched two episodes and cared not a whit for the show, so I'm not reading the stories.

[sanj.livejournal.com]

If I'm ignorant of the source or not excited about it, I don't read the fanfic, period. For me it's all about the interplay between the source and the fic writer's interpretation/extrapolation.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

I chose the NO option.

To clarify, I don't think I'd seek out fanfiction for a source I hated, so by definition if I'm reading the fanfiction, I'm a fan.

But wait, would that be a YES, then? Are you defining a fan as a person who merely finds some enjoyment in the source or as a person who is actively involved in consuming the source?

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

My fanfiction reading is primarily motivated by a desire to spend more time with characters I love, in situations I find intriguing, so I've never felt a desire to read stories outside my own fandoms. I only have X amount of time for reading, and there's so much I want to read in my own fandoms and in original fiction, that it's never really occurred to me to seek out stories in an unfamiliar fandom.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Enjoying the source. I don't mean you have to be active in fandom. I mean familiarity with the source.

[estrella30.livejournal.com]

hmm. I mean, I clicked yes, and I have done this a LOT, but I need to have a general idea of what and who I'm reading about (like I did with Fast and the Furious and now Smallville) and also have a general - hmm - interest in being hooked in the fandom. Again, not to pick on SGA but I have seen a few episodes and didn't like it, and it doesnt matter WHO or WHAT is being written in it, I won't read it. Whereas say, F&F, I'd never laid *eyes* on the movie, but I had a general interest in the idea and the authors, so I read it and then watched the movie and was hooked.

If that answers your question at all *g*

[jfc013.livejournal.com]

My answer used to be "Yes" until viridian5 started writing the Weis Kreuz novel that doesn't end. I'm never gonna see the anime, so I've given up trying to read her story, no matter how good it is. She currently isn't writing any other fandom, so I've stopped reading her other fandoms of which I know nothing, as well. I miss her smut, and she roped me into this SV thang in the first place! It's all her fault... :(

[cereta.livejournal.com]

Very, very, very rarely. I think Pros was maybe the only time I read more than one story for a source I didn't know. For sources I don't like? Never.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I am a firm no. If I don't know the source, or have no interest in the source (or actively hate the source), I don't care if Ursula LeGuin and James Ellroy have started writing fic in it, I'm not going to read it. Well, okay, maybe for LeGuin and Ellroy, but not for any fan writer. I don't even read *pairings* I'm not interested in in fandoms I'm already in, even if the stories are by authors I adore.

Source

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

See, I said no, but there are those rare exceptions--If it's an MPREG or a disability story and I'm vaguely aware of what the show is/who the characters are. Yes, I have weird exceptions, but I'm weird myself.

[par-avion.livejournal.com]

I tried it once (for a favorite author) but couldn't get anything out of the story and stopped reading. So now I don't even clicky the linky.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

"a fan of the source" means; I read some of astolat's M&C fic, and I've seen the movie and read a couple of the books, but in no way am I a member of M&C fandom. Where does that fall?

I knew I wasn't being clear enough - I mean if you never saw the movie, never read a book, but still read fanfiction for it.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I have read stories where I have never seen the source or even a picture of the actors/characters/pop stars. In general, I don't do that with book universes, but movies and tv, heck yes.

Now, if I actively dislike the source or I have issues with the fandom? Not going to happen.

Unless, you know, it's a crossover with something I really, really like by a person whose work I adore. Then I have no willpower at all.

Re: Source

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

But... if you have any exception at all, then your answer is yes. I thought I was being clear, but apparently not.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

But enjoying the source and being familiar with it are two different things... aren't they? There are lots of sources I am familiar with but have no desire to read fanfic for.

And where do crossovers count?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

See, this is exactly how I feel. The draw of fanfiction for me is *more* of something I already love. I don't read fanfiction to be exposed to new fandoms; if I wanted that, I'd Netflix or TiVo or buy the book or whatever. I don't want to be exposed to a new fandom through someone else's interpretation of the characters and universe; I want to experience the canon on my own and then enjoy the fanfiction for what it does best.

I guess people like us are very much the minority in fandom now.

[reginagiraffe]

I'm a big ol' YES! If I've never seen the source but the fic has a character played by an actor I like, I'm there. If I don't know the source but the story is written by an author I like, I'm there. If I've never seen the source but everyone is raving about the story, I'm there.

To me, if I don't know the source than it's no different than reading original fic.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

I grew up mostly without television, and for the first four years of my fannish involvement, I didn't have a TV or any means of playing DVDs, so I got into the habit of reading fic without even having any expectation of seeing the source material.

These days, I still see sitting down and watching a few eps of a TV show as a bigger commitment than sitting down and reading a few fics; I tend to make an effort to seek out and watch the source if I've read and enjoyed the fanfic.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

But you're looking at it backwards.

There are lots of sources I am familiar with but have no desire to read fanfic for.

That's not what I'm asking. Are there pieces of fanfiction you have read where you're not familiar with or don't like the source. That's the question.

Crossovers are pretty simple - did you read it because you're familiar with / like one of the sources? Then it's not something you're not familiar with.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

No, I understood your question, but it says 'are not a fan of the source' not 'are not familiar with the source.' And those are two different things.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

This is exactly how I feel - see response to danceswithwords above.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Hee! Fannish willpower; she is a fickle beast.

Re: Source

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. I changed my answer then. Thanks for the clarification.

[thefannishwaldo.livejournal.com]

What you said.

If I don't know the original source, it might as well be original fiction.

I read fanfic, like you said, because I want more of the characters/situations/whatever of the show/movie/book I like to begin with.

If I don't know Starsky and Hutch from a hole in the wall (and I don't), I can pretty much promise you I won't get more into the fic than I would other non-fanish fiction. In fact I'm more likely to dislike it because I won't understand the references to the little things that are sprinkled throughout fanfic without explanation. When someone writes original fic there's no assumption that you have some background knowledge so everything is explained. Fanfic usually assumes you know the canon. If I wasn't a Sentinel fan, I'd be completely confused by the wolf and panthers that frequently pop up in the fic. If I wasn't a Stargate fan, I'd be completely bewildered by the references to the number of times Daniel has died. (In any other fandom, dead is dead. You get one shot at it. Not so much in Stargate. I think Buffy is like that too to a lesser degree, but the vast majority of the time, dead is dead.)

I don't need to torture myself with the "I don't get its" of fandoms I don't like/know.