Fictional Fans

Lol, I know the feeling - the very very few times I've *ever* read a fic I wasn't in canon for were:

a) It was a crossover, and I knew one of the fandoms but not the other. (This was like two? Maybe three?)

b) It was a friend's - and they asked me to read it. (That was like once or twice?)

c) I was betaing the fic. (Handful of fics here.)

d) I was checking the fic as part of Yuletide volunteer duties - to make sure it was complete, didn't have filler text, missing bits like {CHARACTER NAME}, etc.. (OK, I've had to read hundreds and hundreds for that over the years - but most of the time I'm skimming, only slowing to real reading if the fic somehow catches my eye - for good or for bad, lol. Scrutinizing a fic to tell if the author actually finished it or if they were trying to get away with something that was over minimum wordcount and add the rest of the words later… it's not at all the same thing as reading for fun, but requires similar levels of brainpower and absorption of the fic in one's mind.)


On my own, I never go to a fandom and go "oh, let's read this fic even though I know nothing about it". I marvel at the people who do - my brain clearly works very differently to theirs!