A question on fandom familiarity

[leethet]

I just read a remark from someone saying they'd read and enjoyed an MFU fanfic despite knowing nothing about the show, and it got me thinking ... how?  Why? WTF? *G*

Then it occurred to me, if you read a fanfic about a show you know nothing about, you're really reading original fic, aren't you? For your purposes, it's all new, there's no "canon" (that you know about) to compare the story or characters to, there's only the writer's skill at telling a story. It's original fic.

I assume this reader read the fic because they knew the writer from another fandom and trusted their work (because I can't imagine why anyone would bother, otherwise). But I'm interested in people's thoughts on this. Is it weird to read in a fandom you know nothing about? Would you do it? If so ... why? Because it's an author you trust from elsewhere? But ... isn't it still, basically, reading original fic? So why?

Any thoughts are welcome here. This is really weird to me. :)

Comments

Re: I confess!

[blktauna.livejournal.com]

But I would also have to say that probably a lot of the writers you feel are not getting the feel and sense of the show feel that they are. :)

I'm sure they do ;)

And I like the tongue in cheek banter, the pink gas, the big gay evil overlords. That's what makes UNCLE UNCLE. Otherwise it'd a completely different show, rather like James Bond isn't Harry Palmer isn't Napoleon Solo. They're all 60's spies but in no way alike. When you try to make one the other you lose the individual flavor. Without the individual flavor, its on its way to ATG.

Re: I confess!

[leethet.livejournal.com]

See, I love - adore - the tongue in cheek banter, but I prefer it with a slightly more serious plot. Not necessarily really heavy, but of the show's plots, I like the serious ones better, so I like fanfic that takes a more serious tone (still leaving room for banter and some ironic humor regarding the situation). But I think I understand the desire to take these guys and put them in serious situations. Granted, it's not the tone of the show, but I admit I like it (when it's not overdone. Too heavy, too dark, and, yes, it loses something of what I love about the show).