fic rec: helenish

[lobelia321]

This is a rec for the absolutely phenomenal Take Clothes Off As Directed by helenish.

She has written one of the weirdest and most compelling stories that I have ever read in any fandom. I can't possibly say anything else about it without spoilering but this is such a thoughtful, gorgeous and 'real' fic, with fantastic unpredictable dialogue, an astounding plot premise and a beautiful twisting-canon pairing.

A symphony of a fic.

I even found myself reading all the comments afterwards; they are fascinating. It's that kind of fic: it makes readers think!

Comments

[ios-pillow-book.livejournal.com]

Interesting. This rec made me realize that fanfic is nothing without the fandom behind it. Fanfic hardly ever bothers to introduce/describe characters or give information on the fic universe itself. These are the basic parameters everyone is familiar with so it's in a way superfluous to elaborate on them.

One could neglect that to a certain degree, but what does capture your attention when it's not about the fandom or the pairing?

Ideally it's the writing, but right behind it comes for me the fandom respectively the pairing. Sad in a way, but true. Which makes me wonder whether it's actually possible to attract readers from outside a fandom because they arent't interested in the featured pairing/s (and therefore may not start reading at all) or can't appreciate the finer subtleties like plot premises or canon-/pairing twists (and may therefore quickly lose interest, as in my case with this fic, I didn't even make it beyond the fourth or fifth paragraph).

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Ah, I have spent many thoughts on this issue... But I have read many fics outside my fandom. Indeed, SGA (Stargate Atlantis which is the fandom of Helenish's fic) was known to me for almost one whole year through the fic alone before I ever clapped eyes on my first episode of the TV canon or, indeed, interacted with fellow fans to any degree. So I, for one, do and can read fics where I know nothing of the fandom. In a way, it's a measure of the quality of a fic: if it can draw me in without any canon-knowledge on my part, it must be good, *g*.

Otoh, knowing the canon does give it that extra dimension. And I have not been (so far) able to write anything sustained in a fandom where I didn't know the canon. For reading pleasure I seemingly don't need canon; fanon will do. But for writing pleasure, I need the canon.

Now, as to Helenish's fic: I am primarily a fan of Helenish, not of any fandom she writes in. She is one of the first authors I ever read, years back when I was new to slash, and it was in a fandom I knew zero about; I just adored her writing style. In this fic, I happen to know the canon but this fic is also special in that it is not based directly on canon, but on fanon. It is based on an alternate universe premise invented by someone called Xanthe. I do not know Xanthe's fics at all so I came to this fic, in a way, not knowing the 'canon' (fanon-canon) it was based on. E.g. the whole sub thing: this is not TV canon; I was as clueless as you. Helenish doesn't elaborate these parameters, as you say; I sort of pieced them together. Not sure how much of Atlantis and John and Rodney you need to know for this fic, i.e. the canon bits. Maybe I'm just less dependent on that because it took me months really to figure out what was going on in Atlantis when I was reading all those fics canon-less. *g*

[sophrosyne31.livejournal.com]

lobe, it's 3 am and i can't read the story now, but with a rap like that from you, i have BOOKMARKED IT.

come back and scold me if i haven't actually read it in three weeks.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*snorts* You think I will remember to do this in three weeks? I can barely remember what to do tomorrow!!