This thread is for people to post about stories that they have read that are out of their fandoms. For instance, I just read a really good one by November's Guest, called "After the Hunt". It's in the Supernatural fandom. I've only seen the show once and it was about a year ago, but of course, I've seen pics of the brothers all over the place. What's not to like about a good h/c with two hot guys? :-)

Here the link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3836599/1/

I hope this thread gets lots of action because it was this aspect of Fanlib that I loved the most. :-)

Are we also going to use this to discuss the questions, concerns, and problems associated with reading outside of your fandom? I always liked that.

Are we also going to use this to discuss the questions, concerns, and problems associated with reading outside of your fandom? I always liked that.

Sure, by all means, discuss away! :-) The more people talk about it, the more interest it will generate. I know some people don't like reading out of their fandoms and have very legitimate reasons for that.

I don't watch a lot of television to begin with, nor do I read a lot of contemporary novels and I tend to stick to a certain type of genre with the movies I watch. I'm not a particularly versatile person in my choice of entertainment, because I have enough trouble as it is focusing on just my fandom of choice, let alone my daily tasks and commitments. So naturally, in the few months that I have belonged to a multi-fandom community like Fanlib, 95% of the time I have been reading outside of my comfort zone...

For me, it's always been a matter of belonging to a community of writers. I didn't join Fanlib with the intention of looking for fellow fans (although its an added bonus if I encountered someone who actually heard of, let alone seen, Young Blades) because I already belonged to a community that was interested in solely discussing the series and exclusively sharing its fan-fiction; I wanted to sit down and connect with people who loved doing what I do: writing. The fandom thing was always just window-dressing.

And I'm under the impression that if one is connecting with a group of writers, one should probably read what these fellow writers are writing. The content should matter relatively little if these folks are good writers-- I forget who it was that said that 'there are no bad topics, just bad writers' but I wholeheartedly agree-- because I know that with a good writer, I'll get the whole picture anyway. And whatever I don't get, well, I can either a) utilize wikipedia to preview the series or b) ask the author. I mean, seriously, what fan or author doesn't like to answer questions about their writing or their favourite fandom, right?

Of course, there are downsides. You don't get as clear of a picture of actual series than if you were to sit down and watch it, and there's always the little subtlties that you'll miss and can't appreciate as the author intended. You also might not even get an accurate idea of the series or the characters or you might get confused.

But what I suppose it really comes down to is your approach and what it is that you're expecting when you read fan-fiction. I know I read YB fiction differently than when I read FNL or Early Edition fanfics. With YB stories, I want to see an alternative look on my beloved show. With FNL, I'm looking at somebody's else alternative look on their beloved show, although to me, it's coming across as if I were reading an original story...Both are pieces of writing, both are entertaining, however, I expect different things from them.

I think why most people wouldn't read outside their fandom is because they're looking at fanfiction as something that needs to be categorized. If you like 'Hey Arnold' you can go read 'Hey Arnold!' here, but since you don't know anything about BBC's Robin Hood, you're not going to click the category, so all the writing over there might as well not exist because it belongs to another group altogether--it's alien, its foreign. Not writing in general, its categorized, its conditional.

Strange, really, because when you go into a bookstore, although things are organized by genre, there's still individual titles that co-exist on the same bookshelf and they're viewed in general as 'books' that have the equal potential to be picked up and read as stand-alone pieces. I don't know if that made any sense, however, I think you get the gist of what I'm trying to say here.

Stories are stories, and stories are meant to be read. It all depends on what it is you're expecting when you sit down to read.

Stories are stories, and stories are meant to be read. It all depends on what it is you're expecting when you sit down to read.

That is true but sometimes I'll sit down to read a fic for a contest, or whatever, and not really think that I'll like it, and yet, it's so good and draws me in that I find myself loving it despite my megative attitude.

I've never actually written a House, M.D. fiction, but have watched the show often enough. (It's hard not to with a sarcastic, hilarious doctor on the show.) I was actually looking for a story on a book I had read with the character, Agent Pendergast. I had only read two books out of the series and so I didn't know as much about him as the author of the fiction I read. It is called "Breakbone Fever" and is written by Nightspore.

What I love best about this fiction is that is quite a bit of accurate medical details, none of which I knew before I read this. There was a steady flow to the story and best of all, House was his normal, taunting self and Pendergast was calm and unbothered by any of the taunts House threw at him. Basically, they were in character. With some fictions, it is fine to have characters out of character, but with this - and how serious of a story it was - it was near impossible.

In any case, I think it has to be one of my favorite fictions. Here is the link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2944599/1/Breakbone_Fever

The only other story I've read out of my fandom is an Aladdin fiction, "Antiphony" by Cantare. I only read it because it was on someone's favorites and it looked interesting enough. Honestly, though, besides the first two Aladdin movies, I've never seen any of the TV series or anything like that. This story holds one of the character's, Mozenrath, as the main protoganist beside Jasmine. I didn't even know who he was until I looked up a picture of him. Even though I wasn't sure of what type of personality he should have, I read the story and was filled in on the information surrounding him. It wasn't as if I was reading a fanfiction, because it was all set up in a way that made it seem as if they were telling the story of Jasmine and Mozenrath's life. It was easy to follow this way since they weren't just building on what had happened in the show.

From talking with the author of this fiction and reading it, I know that she has put a good deal of work into making "Antiphony" into being. She said that she wanted to become a published author and I think it will be an easy feat for her since the chapters are long and follow everything that happens in earlier chapters. To put it shortly, it is a beautifully written story. Here is the link for that one: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3488835/1/Antiphony

:)

I began reading the first fic, you linked, DI Spirit. It is really good and I wish I had more time to read it today. I'm definitely going to go back and finish it though. I am familiar with House, so that will help, but the first chapter doesn't even mention the House characters and I was still caught up in it. Thanks for the link! :-)

:) You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy it. The first chapter actually starts like most of the House, M.D. episodes do. I think that's what got me hooked on it during the first chapter, too.

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