thefourthvine | Poll: Tell Me What You Read and I Will Tell You Who You Are

I love the structure of your recs; they're in-depth, thoughtful, and by turns, funny. I've found that I'm reading fandoms I hadn't before, simply because you make the story sound irresistible!

Yay! What fandoms have I sucked you into? (Sorry. I'm just so very proud when people tell me I got them to read in a new fandom. It's my very own feedback crack!)

And as if that news wasn't good enough, you also provided ego-boosting! Clearly, you are an ideal reader-type person.

Yay for the ego-boosting! Good Omens and Sports Nights are two fandoms I've flirted with, but now am reading more and more, thanks to your recs.

Whoops. Don't wanna mess up your poll by submitting twice, but I'd forgot one question. I'd love to see some Firefly, Lotrips, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Ocean's Eleven. More movie slash overall, I suppose?

Ah. For Lotrips and almost all other things RPS, I must refer you to my long-lost mystery relative,

makesmewannadie, who is the half of this LJ OTP that handles the real people. I, myself, have always been more comfortable with fictional people. It's practically my defining characteristic, in fact.

Can't believe I left out OUaTiM, though, because I do read and even rec that from time to time. And I would gladly rec more Ocean's 11 if I could find more. Frankly, I've almost reached the point where I'd be glad to kidnap several of my most favorite writers and force them to watch the movie until the slashmuse grabs 'em. It's gotten that tough to find. Maybe Ocean's 12 will rekindle the flame, hmmm?

Oh, I forgot to mention Firefly and Farscape as fandoms I read and would like to see recced!

Well, Firefly is a problem for me, 'cause I have not the first clue about it, and my Official Whedon Guide does not do Firefly.

And Farscape. Um. I read the crack_van summary. And then I read it again. And I'm thinking this is another one of those shows that is far beyond my meager cognitive abilities. Because that summary was great, and very well-written, and yet - no clue penetrated this thick skull. Plus, tentacles. Blatent tentacles. That's all I'm saying.

A) What is this with your doubting of your cognitive abilities? Dude, you write brilliant recs of brilliant fic, and it's clear you have quite a brain, so stop that, okay?

B) Reading the summary isn't going to do it--it *is* a complex show, even more so than Homicide, but it's well worth watching.

C) If you're talking about D'argo, seriously, his tentacles aren't scary at all. It's not like he *does* anything with them.

D) Start with Firefly--rent the dvds. There aren't *that* many episodes, and you know you want to see them before the movie comes out next year. And you like Buffy and Angel, right? So you'll like Firefly. Once we've gotten you there, we'll talk some more about Farscape (and Homicide!) ;-)

Thirding Firefly, and would also love to read any The Shield fics if any are out there.

OK, but see, my trusty guide to All Things Whedon does not do Firefly. (In fact, I think she might hurt me if I did Firefly. There's hostility there.) And I have not the first clue what that show is even about. I'm assuming not, um, an actual firefly. Right?

It's a space western. Written by Joss, so full of the sort of snappy and slightly bizarre dialogue we've come to know and love.

The guy who played Caleb in season 7 Buffy is Mal Reynold's, captain of the spaceship Firefly. He's a cowboy type. Heart of gold, though. He does smuggling and stuff like that. His crew consists of the woman who played Jasmine in Angel as Zoe, an old army buddy of his; her husband Wash, the pilot; Kaylee, a cute chirpy young girl who is a shit hot engineer; Jayne, a man whose manliness *must* be an attempt to make up for his name, and who has a disturbingly close attachment to his guns; Inara, a whore -- sorry, registered companion -- who rents one of the shuttles to live/work -- and a few other randoms he's picked up along the way, at least two of them being lost sheep who he's taken in, despite the fact it means he's on the run from the authorities.

Oh yes, the authorities. See, the centre of the galaxy is basically the nice suburbs, where everything is clean and good but run by the Alliance, who are, well, let's just say that Mal and Zoe fought in the war of independence against said Alliance, lost, and that's why they don't hang around the nice clean central bits of the galaxy. They hang round the frontiers, where the planets are sparsely populated by gun-totin' settlers, and where smuggling antibiotics is a good business proposition.

Zoe and Wash are the only established couple in the show. Mal theoretically doesn't mix business with pleasure, but has a huge thing for Inara (which he shows by insulting her). Inara snarks at him so much that one has to suspect that she reciprocates his feelings. Kaylee has a crush on the doctor they picked up in episode 1. The doctor is oblivious. The doctor's sister hangs out and plays games with Kaylee. Kaylee also hangs out with Inara, sitting around casually in her boudoir and brushing each other's hair and stuff. Various characters hook up with people when they land on whatever planet.

The most appealling pairings in this fandom, IMO, are the femslash pairings, but people are writing all kinds of stuff for it, I believe. I'd love to read Jayne/anyone if it was well done.

As far as the SF side of it goes, this has pretty much none of the Trek-universe feel to it, where it's all about Warp Factor Nine and holodecks and beaming down to the planet-of-the-week. Also, no aliens. It's very very human, and the world is a complex and interesting one but very recognisably the descendant of our own -- for all that the Chinese seem to have had a very strong cultural influence (since all the characters swear in chinese).

And because I strongly believe that hte only way to pimp someone into a Whedon fandom is by dialogue, lemme give you some quotes:

Mal: "Kaylee, what the hell's goin' on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"

Zoe: "Proximity alert. Must be coming up on something."
Wash: (alarmed) "Oh my god. What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing!?" (deadpan) "Oh right, that would be me. Back to work."

Mal: "I would appreciate it if one person on this boat would not assume I'm an evil, lecherous hump."
Zoe: "No one's saying that, sir."
Wash: "Yeah, we're pretty much just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly."

Wash: "I don't want you to spare me, Mal. If you think you know what's happening, then you tell me. You wouldn't spare Zoe if she were in this situation with you, would you? You would be planning, and plotting and possibly scheming. So whatever Zoe would do in this instance is what I wanna do. Do you know why? No matter how ugly it gets, you two always come back with the stories. So... I'm Zoe. Now, what do I do?"
Mal: "Probably not talk quite so much."
Wash: "Right. Less talking. She's terse. I can be terse. Once in flight school, I was laconic."

Eh, well, and lots more here: http://www.thehallway.net/firefly.htm

And I have not the first clue what that show is even about. I'm assuming not, um, an actual firefly. Right?

Heh. Nope, it's not a bug. Firefly is a delicious space western with pretty people and lots of HoYay, done Joss-style. The name refers to the type (or class) of spaceship the cast uses to travel through the universe. (The ship's actual name is Serenity.) Check this (http://firefly.populli.org/about.shtml) out for more info. You must rent the DVDs! There are only 14 episodes, so it won't take that long! It will so be worth it, I promise. *g*

Erp - I'm echoing what shell and _q_skud said, aren't I? Well then, call this an extra testimonial.

wait, no, I thought of something: M*A*S*H recs would be awesome, but I think that maybe there are three M*A*S*H stories in the whole of the cosmos that are worth reccing. and I've already read those.

further-- in case I come across as flippant, which, yes-- I really do appreciate the work you put into these recs. It's an invaluable service and you perform it very well. Thank you kindly.

You are wonderful. Your comments made me laugh and feel flattered at the same time, and what can be better than that?

But, um, don't hold your breath on the M*A*S*H stories, 'cause I barely know what M*A*S*H is or was (something to do with Vietnam?), and I can only remember seeing, like, two in my entire browsing career.

Technically it's Korea, but because it was made during the Vietnam period it's basically a thinly-disguised Vietnam posing as Korea, if you know what I mean.

Basically you get a bunch of wacky characters, throw them into a field hospital in the middle of a war, and make a surprisingly bitter-sweet show about their lives. One minute you're laughing yourself silly at cross-dressing soldiers or something, and the next you're crying because war is hell. It's also about the bonds that form between men under those conditions, and the friendship between Hawkeye and Trapper, for instance, is both deeply platonic AND immensely slashable. They get drunk together, they slow-dance, they... well, you just have to watch it. It repeats endlessly on TV, you shouldn't have any trouble doing so without actually paying money for it.

to Will/Bran, you've just got to continue with this, because I don't know if I trust myself to read something without you vetting it first. Saves on the going mad, blinding oneself with the nearest sharp object, Spanish Convent fic. Although that makes you the guinea pig, and that's hardly fair! Are there any good het stories in TDIR? Where's Jane? For that matter, where are the rest of the Drews?

Saves on the going mad, blinding oneself with the nearest sharp object, Spanish Convent fic.

Oh, god, I know. I have to be in just the right frame of mind to read DIR; I mean, when it's good, I love it - no, when it's great, I love it - but any tiny little problem and I just cannot cope. But the addiction is there - Will! Bran! All grown up! So read I must. (And, hey, I volunteered to be the guinea pig when I started this journal, right? Though if you get brave and head into uncharted waters, I want to hear the results.)

As for het, well, there's some, mostly Bran/Jane, as you'd expect. And I swear the next time I will read some, just for you, because my instinctive slash bias says Will/Bran all the way. The rest of the Drews, well, I don't see much with Simon. Barnaby sometimes also gets paired with Will, but that I cannot read. He's just too young. I mean, yes, OK, they're both grown up, but even so...Barney is the littlest Drew in my mind and always will be. For some reason, I just can't let him grow up the way the others have.

(Um. What in god's name is that in your icon?)

Hee! It's a Green Man, aka a foliate face - a motif that is pretty old, but reaches its peak as a decorative symbol in medieval cathedrals. There are two kinds - an entire leaf with a face, like that guy - who helps hold up a statue in Bamburg Cathedral - and there are faces that sort of spew leaves that become eyebrows and a moustache and so forth. I collect them, and have a ton around my house.

I did wonder if Bran would end up with Jane - she seems allowed more access to the stuff that Will and Bran are doing than the other two Drews are. And her whole interaction with the Greenwitch (which is in some ways an alternate take on my Green Men) is just so gorgeous that I want her to keep in touch with the things that Merriman so rudely removes from them at the end of the books.

Do you ever do X-Files slash (Doggett/Skinner, Mulder/Krychek, etc etc?) I wonder because it's a huge field, and there are great stories out there, but I wasn't sure if you had any interest in that area.

I have recently formed a strange urge to read a Will/Harry Potter story. *hangs head in shame*

I enjoy the hell out of the recs you'r doing as is, even the ones that are outside my area of interest. Just the tag lines make me smile some days. Better yet, sometimes I read a story I'd have never have heard of because you recced and linked it.

The thing about the poll is, I didn't check a lot of the fandoms, because I don't consider myself a regular reader. There were several I will and have read stories from, but only if you recommend them. Or someone does.

Just keep recommending what you want to.

You people are insanely supportive and wonderful. Just had to say that. Thank you for the massive ego-boosting; I feel all waggy-tailed.

Do you happen to know, off-hand, which fandoms you'll read if you get a rec but not otherwise? I'm just curious.

Not exactly off hand.

Fandoms you Listed that I will read because you recced them:

LOTR
Pirates of the Caribbean
Fables/Mythology/Fairytales
Homicide
Sports Night
James Bond
Marvel X-Men
Ocean's 11
Sharpe
Velvet Goldmine

Other things I will read if they are recommended and turn out to be good (I'm history if they're not, unlike some fandoms where I read anyway. Man, when you've got a Magnificent Seven habit like mine you'll shoot up just about any shit, no matter how much rat poison it's laced with.)

Weiss Kreuz
Star Wars Phantom Menace
Sleepy Hollow
Without a Trace
The Faculty
Hard Core Logo
Battlestar Galactica
Stargate
Man From Uncle
Ninth Gate

That would be an embarrassing list, but most of them I've only read one or two stories from. In the case of Ninth Gate, I've never seen any except guede-mazaka's crossovers. I don't make a regular diet of them.

And there's Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I never get enough Sands and El. God. I even wrote it. Sad when you're that desperate for fic.

While I'm at it, I confess. I will read het too. I'm a bi-reader. The shame of it. I hope my parents never find out. I read both ways.

We don't have a lot of similar fandoms but I love reading your recs. The categories alone make it worthwhile, And now that the FT FF thread is all about the Ew!Het, TFV is the one place to get consistent smut.

I forgot to mention that I'd like to see more movie slash. The rec for Urban Legends was fab. I also asked for more RPS but I am not sure if you are into that. I can send you a few links to help you out, if you are interested:)

Aw. Het has taken over the FT FF thread? I'm saddened. I leave you guys alone for just a few weeks, and look at you! You succumb to the het.

Mmmm. Movie slash. Yes, indeed.

And, no, I'm not an RPSer. For such things I must refer you to

makesmewannadie, my long-lost mystery relative; she got all the RPS genes, apparently. (Although, because I am perennially curious, I would like to see a few links to classic stories, if you have them to hand. Because, hey, maybe my RPS genes are just latent.)

Classic RPS-hmm, I am sure I have something in my bookmarks. I think I read an Oscar Wilde story once. I'll do my best to bring you over to the dark side:P

Not sure if this what you had in mind but worth a read (http://www.livejournal.com/community/contrelamontre/655157.html?#cutid1)

About the "what percentage do you read" question - if it's a fandom I know, I read what you rec, unless your review mentions something that I really don't like in a fic. But I don't know every fandom you rec.

I guess with that question I'm really trying to get a handle on how useful the recs are to you; there probably is some overlap with the fandoms question. (Although, since I brilliantly left out several fandoms from the list, perhaps redundancy is a good thing.) I mean, if you're, say, a big dS reader you'll use a lot more of my recs than if we only share rare lit and movie fandoms.

So, I'm curious. What are your special dislikes, the things you just can't stand in a fic? I'm gripped by this, especially since I discovered just today that an otherwise totally squick-free individual cannot bear to have food and sex appearing in the same story. So now I'm wondering what other people just can't or won't read in a fic.

Oh, god. I think I sense another poll coming on. But I will be strong and wait until next month, because there's only so many boxes I can reasonably ask people to check.

Polls are fun! I think this merits another poll.

I think there are two categories of things I don't like in a fic. The first are things that I will read once in a long while, (assuming it's a well-written fic) but that I generally prefer to avoid: character death, a character that I like being portrayed as evil, long descriptions of torture or rape. Then there are the annoyances that sometimes make me stop reading an otherwise decent fic, mostly too much cuteness and frequent use of epithets. I also don't like fics that focus on an established relationship if there is no tension in the relationship. Unless it's short and funny.

So, your recs are very useful to me, because they I can tell if a fic fits my likes and dislikes. I think it's difficult to do that in a rec - I only write very short recs, partly because I like selecting fics more than I like writing recs, and partly because I don't like to give plot spoilers. Though I realize that's not always helpful to other readers - I may not want to give away that a particular Remus/Sirius fic includes the Prank, but perhaps some folks would be more likely to read it if they knew that.

*smacks forehead*

Of course you rec DS! My current obsession with it is All! Your! Fault!

Heh. ;D

Well. Allow me to be completely smug and self-satisfied. Because if there's one major reason I started this LJ, it's to spread my addictions to others; obsession shared is obsession, um, doubled, actually. But it's also obsession one feels a whole lot better about!

Yay!

I'll mention that although I only ever admit to reading what I checked in the poll, I have read the stories you recced for Batman, and even those for Due South, Homicide, and Sports Night, although I've never seen the canon.

That is an excellent thing. It is good to be a reader of FF when you don't know the canon. And, hey, you're in good company (assuming you consider me good company, which is frankly debatable, what with the whole fannish obsession thing I've got going); I don't know the canon for most of my TV show fandoms, either. So I am thrilled that I've dragged you into non-canon FF reading.

Go me!

I love your recs, and I look forward to them. The 'percentage of stories you rec that I read' is going to be off, because I read almost every story you rec that's a fandom I'm familiar with. Any X-Men, Harry Potter, Dark Is Rising rec - I devour it.

You're terrific, really.

Thank you! I'm feeling extremely loved right now.

(So. May I now tempt you with fandoms you don't know? It's the logical next step!)

Wow, this comment just arrived in my inbox. Damn you, LJ!

Right, so...tempting me into fandoms I don't know. Mostly, I'm unwilling to get hooked on a fandom whose canon I can't actually see. What I mean is, I won't read Firefly stories until I actually by the DVDs (or watch that movie whenever it comes out). I remember reading Homicide fanfic before I had a real grip on what was going on in the actual show (I'd only seen a few episodes) and the fic really skewed the way I watched the show - I feel like I'll never know the canon as well as I could because I'd read too much fic first. But mostly, I don't like being confused - I want to get the subtleties of a story, and of the fandom.

That doesn't mean you can't get me addicted to a new fandom, though. Send me towards an undeniably good fic that doesn't require too much background (or preface the story with a "So, these two guys write for a sports show. It's a comedy known for banter and there is a ton of gay subtext," sort of intro) and then tell me where I can find the show/book/movie.

Not that you should feel the need to give me personal attention or anything. I meant it in the general sense of your nominations. Though I adore you and wouldn't turn down the invitation to follow you into a new fandom.

Oh my GOD how I love your icon. It is insanely fabulous. And I adore that book.

And I have a great deal of sympathy with you on the whole "extremely delayed response notification" - I've been getting notifications from as far back as early June. It makes me all kinds of grouchy. A sensible LJ would fear my wrath, but I don't seem to be able to intimidate it into working correctly (tm Bucky from Get Fuzzy). Darn the luck.

Some fandoms you should try:

Sports Night. Obviously. I mean, you've accurately summed up the show, and the episodes are out on DVD and are so good that even I am really enjoying them, and I do not get TV. At all. Plus, everyone needs to be in this fandom.

Eight Days of Luke. It's a teeny fandom, but if you loved the Dark Is Rising series, you will probably really enjoy the canon for this fandom. And it's a kids' book, so it'll only take you a few hours to read, and you can get it easily from pretty much any halfway decent library, so you won't even have to pay for it. It's by Diana Wynne Jones, by the way.

You might want to consider Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, or DC. In general, you seem to like ensemble fandoms (as opposed to OTP fandoms, although I consider DIR OTP), and these are all good ensemble ones. The first two have canons you can easily (though not quickly) acquire, provided you have no trouble watching TV shows; the DVDs are usually available through a library and they're definitely available for purchase, and most people seem to enjoy them. The last one is an insane, sprawling, impossible-to-master canon, so you don't need to worry about not knowing it; even writers in this fandom usually only know parts of it (though there are some astonishing people who do seem to know the whole; I figure these people have probably made a pact with the Devil for their unwholesome knowledge). Also, DC fic is often exceedingy porny, which makes for easy and delightful reading. And, finally, you already have one superhero fandom; why not acquire another?

These are just my initial suggestions, mind you; I've always got more on tap.

Oh, I'm so glad you like Bunnicula! Those books are gems.

Thanks for your fandom suggestions. You're a very insightful person, because I'm quite familiar with the canon of three of the five fandoms you recommended. I know Buffy super-well, Angel a little less well (and with less passion), and Sports Night - oh, Sports Night! I watched all two seasons while they were still showing on ABC. So why aren't I reading fics in that fandom yet? Well, it's like this....

The thing with Sports Night: It's like Aaron Sorkin is my ex. And he left all these episodes in my apartment when we broke up. They were his episodes, but he shared them with me, and I loved them and cared for them. But we had this huge, blow-out fight over something called The West Wing, and we don't talk anymore, and it makes me really sad sometimes, because I know he's a nice guy, but there are some things that I just can't forgive. It's too bad, because I want to watch those episodes again. The problem is that every time I even open up the shoebox where all the episodes are stored, I think of him, and something stabs at my heart and makes me angry at the way he hurt me and I have a hard time seeing past it to goodness of the story.

So, the major therapy I need to vanquish my West Wing demons aside, I'm willing to give Sports Night fic another try.

With Buffy, I think the major stumbling block has been that I don't know what pairings to read. Really, no clue. I read some Willow/Giles that blew my mind in a bad way, and some Spike/Xander that was icky, and implausible (though there seems to be a lot of S/X out there, so maybe I've had bad luck.) But I've also read a number of really terrific gen stories, especially after the finale, and they were brilliant. So, if you having pairing suggestions, or gen suggestions, that might be a good place for me to start. I certainly wouldn't turn down anything with Buffy/Faith.

Same thing with Angel. I've heard good things about Wes/Gunn, and the Angel/Spike subtext is actual text in the last season. But who goes well together? I said before that I was less passionate about Angel because I've found it lacking what I love most about Buffy: the kick-ass women in the lead. Never got hooked on either Fred or Cordelia, but, again, maybe I've had bad luck.

I will go to the library sometime this week and get Eight Days of Luke. I am a not-so-secret YA lit nut, and this book looks like fun.

DC - Might just jump in and give it a try. I'm still frightened of the scope, but I'm reassured knowing that the fandom really is as sprawling as it seems and that I don't need to know it all before I start reading.

So, now is it my turn to turn you on to other strange, new fandoms? Not that there's anything that isn't left off your reading list that isn't at least a little obscure. One of the problems with the smaller fandoms is that they just aren't as active, and the fic isn't always of the highest quality. Can't hurt to get you hooked on the canon, though, can it?

Thanks again - for your suggestions and your recs. I'm feeling more well-read by the minute.

I only checked my main fandoms, but I also read the occasional story you rec elsewhere. Thanks to you, Sports Night has gone onto my list of "waiting in the wings" fandoms.

My % read is fairly low, but that's only because I've already read nearly all your DS recs. Mostly, I read your Sentinel recs, since that's my latest fandom. Like everyone else, I love your categories and descriptions, whether I'm interested in a fandom or not!

I must warn you that if you allow Sports Night to wait in the wings too long the SN Cultists will come for you. And that is, trust me on this, a very scary thing. But I am exceedingly proud that I've got you to consider the SN fandom, and I don't want you to be alarmed by the whole brain takeover possibility. Nothing to worry about! Hardly hurts at all! You'll be good as new in two weeks!

And thanks very much for the ego-boost. If I had known about the slew of compliments I'd get, I'd have done a poll months ago. (Yes, I am a total praise sponge. It's pathetic.)

I only checked my main fandoms. But your descriptions alone are so entertaining that I read just about everything you rec. The only things I don't read are the stories I'm already familiar with. Or the fandoms that I know that if I start reading them, I'll get dragged in completely and never see daylight again.

Or the fandoms that I know that if I start reading them, I'll get dragged in completely and never see daylight again.

Daylight is highly over-rated. Read the black hole fandoms! Come join me in the dungeon of the FF obsessives! You'll be happier when fan fiction has consumed your entire life. No, really, you will be. Well, possibly, at any rate.

(So, which are the fandoms that make you fear for your life? I wish to know so that I can better tempt you.)

Yeah, I know if I acquire another fandom, I'll get a toaster. So I'm not going to mention Sports Night. Nope, you'll never hear it from me. Who needs a toaster anyway?

Come now. Sports Night is hardly a black hole fandom. Ask me. Ask

fanofall. You don't lost your whole life when you get sucked into SN; really, you only lose about two weeks.

Surely you've got two weeks lying around.

Plus, if you start now, you'll be able to catch up on all my recs very quickly, as there aren't too many of them. Think of the savings of time and effort!

And, finally, you'll have to join SN now. Because I am a member of the SN Cult (Sports Night is love, and love is Sports Night), so I'm going to have to report your resistance to the True Slashiest Path. My advice to you: succumb to SN now, before the SN Bhagwan's minions show up on your doorstep.

(Everyone needs a toaster.)

I really really love your rec journal. Even though I have much less spare time now, because of all the fandoms you have sucked me into. (Not reading Sports Night. Not not not. Seriously and truly... *reads fic* *mutters to sef* Hey, that's pretty funny... *grips doorway against strong pull of another fandom* *mutters desperately* not not not)
The only times I definately won't read your recs are
a) if I don't know the fandom,
b) if it looks like it has a sad ending,
c) if I don't get enough of an idea of what the story's about. (But that only happens once in a blue moon, 'cause your recs are so good.)

Poll: Tell Me What You Read and I Will Tell You Who You Are

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well, now that you've gotten me addicted

Re: well, now that you've gotten me addicted

Re: well, now that you've gotten me addicted

Re: well, now that you've gotten me addicted

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brace yourself

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