A Think-y Question about the Ways We Read Fic...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I know it's Thursday, and there's a Reading Room coming up to chat about Free Trader shortly, but cornishcat brought up something really interesting in reply to a Pros-y post of mine the other day, and I can't resist seeing what other people think... *g*

Does knowing the author of a fanfic have an effect on the way we read that fanfic? And whether it does or not, do you think you're more interested in "the finer detail of the writing" or in "the destination of the story", when you read?

I've thought about the first part of that before, because there are various Pros-y writers who say they'll only ever write happy endings, and I'm aware then that I'm going into their stories with certain expectations - that there are unlikely to be what I think of as interesting twists, or emotional turns, and that the end of the road will always be in the same place. I might think the road's pretty enough, but it'll only ever be a particular road. It's generally the same with authors that I know well from reading as much of their fic as I can - if they've never done anything except end a story in a certain way, then I'd expect the same from any new fic of theirs that turned up.

Cornishcat's comment made me wonder about the second part though, which came from thinking about the first part - what do I value most in a story, the journey to an unknown destination, or the scenery along the way? She thought that if she was secure in the outcome of a story (through knowing an author), she could sit back and enjoy the "finer details of the story" - and thinking about it, I suspect I'm the opposite! I want to have confidence that the scenery itself is going to be sound and nice to look at, but I also want the excitement of never quite knowing where I'm going to end up - what's going to happen! I want a surprise at the end - hopefully a happy surprise, but still a surprise...

And I've gone with the journey metaphor, because I rather suspect that's how I travel in real life, too - I want the journey to be pretty and generally interesting, but I love most the thrill of arriving somewhere and seeing it new and for the first time, and hopefully beautiful. If it turns out to be a big, grim, industrial city - well that has its impact as well, and as long as I know I don't have to live there forever, I can enjoy that interesting experience too... Conversely, if I'm going to a known destination then I might sit back and enjoy the scenery, but I am sitting back, which is a completely different experience... I've just read Gil Hale's stories, for example, and having come to most of them for the first time, and knowing nothing about the author, I've been thoroughly enjoying the excitement of wondering where we'll get to...

So for me the experience (of a story or of travelling, or I suspect of life!) is tipped towards discovering the ending/destination - whilst for other people it might be more about what they see along the way. Which is probably a much more zen way of seeing things!

So - alot of us, I'm sure, want both the finer details and the ending, but which way d'you think your balance tips, and why - do you prefer to know where you're going, and read the pretty fic that takes you there, or d'you prefer to enjoy the pretty fic but look forward most to the discovery of destination?

Comments

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Good question! I think my balance probably tips your way, towards discovery of the unknown :) This is strange really as I don't generally like the big unknowables and have zero interest in travelling the galaxies or going where no peeps have gone before :D Fanfic is different though, it's always different! I do like coming across a writer I don't know, plunging in and finding I'm enjoying the pretty as well as not being sure how it's all going to end up. Sometimes perhaps it's possible to guess from the style of writing, you reckon? Do happy-ending writers reveal themselves I wonder? It is good (eeep!) *not knowing*, having that whole-body experience when reading a fic but also, according to mood, sometimes I want to pootle along a nice familiar road and not have to worry about what's awaiting round the final corner! Heh, I like your journeying metaphor.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I wonder if it is possible sometimes to guess from the writing style? Hmmn - I suppose authors I think of as having alot of atmosphere and emotion in their fic, like Sebastian, Helen Raven, M.Fae Glasgow, Kate McLean and Angelfish are more likely to take me to an unusual destination as well... But is that their writing style, or is it the story they're telling... I think they do introduce alot of unknowns into the story - things going wrong that we recognise (sometimes subconsciously) would be difficult to fully resolve, and so make the destination more uncertain... (Oh dear, now I'm starting to wonder what "writing style" is compared to anything else, too... the way you use words, I would have said - and I guess it's the way that you use words that builds up an atmosphere, so...) By comparison... erm... trying to think of someone I know always has happy endings... oh, Pam Rose, maybe? Even though I like her fic, I'm always sure it's going to end up somewhere with the lads together - and perhaps it's not that there's anything specific to her writing style that tells me that, but maybe a lack of things that trouble my subconscious as I read? Ooh, interesting...

Ooh - some authors are like travelling on an unknown trainline, it might be dark and mysterious and full of bumps that make you wonder what condition you'll arrive in; it might be lush and beautiful but with an edge of opulence that makes you wonder where it all came from and so where you're actually going to end up; it might be smooth and slick with the destination written clearly on an electronic sign in each carriage... or it might have the destination written clearly on the windows of your carriage, only for you to find that the next carriage along, where you thought you were going to buy a cup of tea, is saying that it's going somewhere completely different... Or is that taking the travel-thingie too far? If we know we're travelling on the DVS Line, then we know we're pretty safe, but you can never be sure on Kitty Fisher Ltd... *vbg*

And yeah, sometimes I just want to curl up on a familiar journey which I know will be comfortable and leave me feeling a certain way - which is when I re-read old favourites, rather than new fic I think... *g*

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the type of story one enjoys can have anything to do with where they are in their lives at a particular point. Personally, I'm older and I don't want drama in my life. I don't want jealous boyfriends or juvenile delinquent kids or nastiness. I'm not talking the usual thing like the flu or even the death of an elderly relative, but real drama that some people thrive on. (I work with some of them!) I like my life calm. Trust me, I had plenty of drama in my younger days, some you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you!

So while I like a great story with plenty of adventure and angst and h/c and gripping plot, I admit I don't want to feel badly by the end. I like a familiar writer but I do read new ones all the time (just this week in another fandom). I love the journey and a good writer to me puts me into the character's head and I feel what they feel along the way. One reason I don't like head hoppy stories, I can't get into one character's head. A great (and I do mean great) writer can write an omniscient POV and very few fanfic writers do it properly.

I want details and a good ending. I want to walk away knowing things have worked out in my OTPs' favour and I want the ending to actually make sense. Sticking a happy ending on an angst filled story without any resolution of those problems doesn't work for me.

I also am not at all bothered by spoilers or knowing the endings or any of that sort of thing so that's why the end of a story isn't quite as important as being sucked in, being entertained, hearing and seeing the characters in my head as I read. I'd say that last thing is the most important to me. If I can't see and/or hear the characters when I start reading, I bail by the end of the first couple of pages. My brain tells me whether or not the story is in character for me. It's like watching a favourite movie or rereading a favourite book. Even though I know the ending, the journey is still well worth it. That doesn't happen very often.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Good point about wanting different things from a story at different times of our lives - and I'm not sure that's necessarily an age thing, either, though it's probably sometimes a factor... Though (being me *g*) I started to wonder whether we were talking about the same thing when you spoke of "type" of story - if I'm thinking of "type" as whether a story involves jealous boyfriends, or nastiness, or flu or death then I don't think I mind what "type" it is - that's less of an issue for me (and I don't think that's stage-of-life related for me - though I've never particularly wanted those things in my life, and don't understand why some people seem to enjoy overdramatising some things!). I think that as long as the story is logical/plausible (I can look out the train windows without getting dizzy or lost) and the writing is at least competent (the scenery is nice) then the interest in reading to me is where the characters get to at the end - and if it's always the same place, no matter what the drama/story was, then I'm less involved in it...

I like the idea of "head hoppy stories"! I don't mind seeing a story from various viewpoints - in fact I quite like it - as long as I know where I am at the time... *g* Much as I love them, I think there are reasonably few "great" fanfic writers overall though, so on the whole I tend to expect something done... hmmn, less than "greatly"! As long as it's done competently then I'm good and move onto other criteria - but levels of competence, even when you find it, vary hugely... *g* I'm with you about characterisation too, that's probably the most important thing to me - so basic that I was assuming a certain level of all the stories I'm thinking about for this question! *g* If it's not then lads, then it's just not the lads and so why put up with other incompetencies...? (I know, I'm harsh! *g*)

So it sounds like you're definitely a scenery-along-the-way person - though, given two stories of equal technical competence and skill, good B/D characterisation and nothing being over-dramatised, assuming all else was equal, but one was guaranteed to be an ending where they went home to bed together and the other didn't give any such guarantees - which would you prefer to read? Or would you not mind which you read?

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I don't usually think about the type of story a favored author writes, but more the way in which it's written. Two different writers can focus on a specific plot devise (say, Bodie and Doyle being lovers and then Doyle leaves him, sending Bodie into a bottomless spiral,) but I'll have two completely different reactions to them. The one I feel is more "logical," it that the two characters' motivations seem plausible to me, is the story I'll, of course, prefer. Where the story goes isn't half as important as how it gets there.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

The way in which its written sounds rather like the writer's style that Jojo mentioned up above, perhaps? Or is that something different again... I think I do agree that I want a story to be "well-written" in that everything makes sense (whether we like it or not), and touching on my reply to Jojo again, maybe we recognise that both consciously and subconsciously too... If the author introduces a complex situation for the sake of its drama, then I want to know that she's realised the ramifications of that situation in all possible ways or else it doesn't make sense... A really glaring example might be a rape fic where being cuddled by the true love of your life makes everything okay again overnight...

Hmmn - I think I actually consider that at an earlier "level" than I was thinking above, though - if a story's really illogical or makes no realistic sense, then I usually stop reading it, unless there's something else driving me on...

But then I think that makes me wonder what Kat's defining as a "type" of story - for me it's not a particular plot, or even a particular ending, it's more to do with the journey... So maybe I'm saying that I like the journey to surprise me as well as the destination...

So... for you a story just needs to be plausible, for you to enjoy it? What would you say is the next most important thing then, just out of interest?

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

The way in which its written sounds rather like the writer's style that Jojo mentioned up above, perhaps? Or is that something different again...

I think something different because I'm not very good at picking out a writer's style. About the only one I can pick out is one I loathe, the story that has three times the words that it needs because the writer has fallen in love with "style." But it's more if the story draws me in, peaks my interest, which is something I can't point to and say "this and this needs to be in a story," because it's more undefined than that. Yet, it's also many things that are definable, like good grammar and sentence structure, consistent pov and a nice, involved plot line. Oh, and not using twenty words when three will do.

But then I think that makes me wonder what Kat's defining as a "type" of story - for me it's not a particular plot, or even a particular ending, it's more to do with the journey... So maybe I'm saying that I like the journey to surprise me as well as the destination...

More style, then, than type? Though, again, is that really style or just good writing? :-)

So... for you a story just needs to be plausible, for you to enjoy it? What would you say is the next most important thing then, just out of interest?

The characters need to be recognizable, which I suppose is part of the same package. No matter how well written the story, if Doyle is portrayed as a selfish bastard then, no, I'm most likely not going to stay with the story because I've never seen that, not even remotely, in the show. There's a large part of their lives we don't know about, but a lot of their behavior can be extrapolated from what we do.

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

An interesting discussion ... the journey or the destination?

In our previous discussion I didn't actually say I want a happy ending. I'm much more interested in a rewarding conclusion, so if I have confidence in the author's skill then I can concentrate on the finer detail of the story ... the beautiful picture that is being painted for us, the subleties, the humour, the angst, etc.

Some stories initially have great promise and, not knowing the writer, you set off on a journey into the unknown ... and that's great. Unfortunately, sometimes the journey can become quite disorientating ... and that too can be exciting, sending your imagination into turmoil ... but it is so disappointing when you're still lost at the end of the story. That's what I mean about rewarding conclusion. It doesn't have to be happy.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sorry - I possibly did clumsily conflate "rewarding conclusion" with "happy ending" up above, though I didn't mean to (and I don't think I had in my head! *g*)...

So what if you were reading a really long story - a novel - by a brand new author you'd never heard of, and the first fifty pages were beautifully written, plausible and true to life and the lads' character? Could you be given confidence about the author's ability to provide a "rewarding" conclusion part way through, or would you still need to actually read the conclusion for the first time to be sure? As you say, some start out really well, and then fade which is a huge shame - and I suppose down to the author's own attention-span in some cases, and just the ability to write long stories... Or maybe not - maybe it's down to not forseeing the implications of a particular plot, and to oversimplifying them...? It does frustrate me when things I know are complicated in the real world are made to look incredibly straightforward... oh, in fact Pros even dealt with that didn't it - Cowley and Doyle both talk about the blurring of lines between the men in the white hats and the men in the black hats (Cowley) or the two sides of the ring and the middle line becoming blurred (Doyle) - and we see it when we're shown that many of the "baddies" aren't actually acting because they're bad...

Am I getting off your point here? *g* So, is that part of the journey or the destination then - or both, and my whole journey analogy is complete rubbish?!

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

No, your journey analogy is just perfect.

If I am enthralled by the first 50 pages of a new author's long story then I would sit back and relish the beauty of the writing, without too much concern about the conclusion. I enjoy the total freedom of fiction and hope that the author has the skill to take me on a magical mystery tour. By fifty pages I should be totally engrossed, having gained enough confidence in the author's ability to reach a destination safely ... it doesn't have to be happy but it does have to have some sort of impact that leaves an impression on me.

If I'm loving a story then I would never read the conclusion, in the same way that I don't like spoilers. However, on occasion I have been known to do just that if I have lost faith in the plot and wonder whether I should persevere or not.

So I suppose the journey is most important to me but the destination has to be worth all the effort. (Funnily enough, this does not translate to real life because I hate travel but put up with it just to get to where I want to go!)

[scherwood]

Does knowing the author of a fanfic have an effect on the way we read that fanfic?
- In the beginning I would say not, because when I started in this fandom I read everything, and the name of the author didn't much matter, as long as it was slash. I guess I swallowed everything without really thinking about it, starved for more and more fics.
- Now though the author might be a part of how I read a fic, but I don't think so. I pretty much read every fanfic with my emotions, and if the author isn't good at describing the feeling then it might be a problem for me, but otherwise I don't know. *shrug* I would like to say that it doesn't matter who has written the fic, but at the same time I do have my fav authors and I guess I have higher expectations when they write.

And whether it does or not, do you think you're more interested in "the finer detail of the writing" or in "the destination of the story", when you read?
- Both. Hopefully I'll enjoy it, from start to finish, and long for more. :)
But if the ending suck I'll be really disappointed, and I will never read the fic again, even if I liked the fic until the ending. *sigh*
So I guess, before I lose myself in this, I want to get to the end so I can read the fic again and again. ;P

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sounds as if you read every story as an individual unit by itself, and don't really consider anything else about it? I suppose though, that I was thinking partly that some authors are very good at waking our emotions and others prefer to keep us on an even keel - not make us too worried throughout the fic, for example...

And hmmn - but then ultimately it's the ending that makes you want to re-read things, so you must like the destination... What kind of destination do you like though? Specifically one place (eg, a happy place?) or could it be anything as long as it fit the rest of the story? What do you mean by a "sucky" ending?! *g*

[scherwood]

Sounds as if you read every story as an individual unit by itself,
- Don't know what you mean really, sorry.
I like both emotions and no emotion, depends on the fic.

One place? Hmm... it has to be Slash or Slashy, no permament death (but I do like "Team Spirit, or Better Late Than Never", by Ashlea *g*), and I guess it could be almost anything... if it fits the story, yes. And even if the fic does a drastic turn at the last moment, at least I want a description of Why, than I'm happy. ;D

Sucky endings = too lovely doey (the lads just pouring love over each other, that's just *eew*), and permanent death. Or one of the lads ending the B/D Slash and changing it to, lets say, B/C, D/C, B/M, D/M or something else. I'm all for the lads together.... and I like it to stay that way... 4EVER! *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely in the 'scenery' group!! I am fascinated by writing techniques, descriptions of background and character, and writing style. I prefer happy endings. I don't mind open endings where I can take the story further in my own head, but I dislike most sad or tragic ones whether in fanfic or original fic. If an author makes me cry at the end I probably won't read them again (though I admit to crying at all versions of Romeo and Juliet and still liking Shakespeare). I have no worries about spoilers and quite often read the end of a book before deciding whether to continue with it. I also read and re-read blurbs before plunging into any book, though I dislike reviews that give away the finer details of a plot, especially if it's in any kind of mystery/thriller/spy genre. I prefer not to read about explicit extreme violence or abuse in fiction, even if it furthers the plot. (I don't mind if it's alluded to.)There is plenty of non-fiction for that...and it literally gives me sleepless nights although I still read non-fiction about e.g. the Holocaust.

I suppose I have a sort of escapist attitude to fiction - I want it to be a bit like a holiday, where there can be plenty of interest and excitement but nothing should go drastically wrong. I'm with sc_fossil on that and I think it does have something to do with age. I was less likely to turn down a tragic story/writer when I was younger. I don't mean that older readers always like happy endings, just that my personal tastes have changed slightly as I aged.

And you know, happy endings aren't necessarily 'happy ever after' (and even that's a myth ably shot down by e.g. Sondheim) - if the writer has done a good job with the characters and background I will carry the story on in my head and there might be all kinds of problems in that 'future' - whereas if there's a tragic ending there's nowhere for my imagination to go.

You obviously enjoy re-reading stories and must remember the endings so your 'destination' thrill must only apply to first time readings.

Thanks to you and cornishcat for an interesting post!!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You obviously enjoy re-reading stories and must remember the endings so your 'destination' thrill must only apply to first time readings.
Yes, but re-reading is a different kind of thing for me really - I'll choose to re-read something in the way that, perhaps, I'll decide to go on a favourite walk (or drive or train journey... *g*). I'm comfortable with it, I know where I'm going and am looking forward to my favourite cafe/bookshop at the end... it's for, as you say, times when I want a bit of a holiday. But I don't want that same holiday-feeling from new fic, I want something more - I want to discover that favourite cafe/bookshop at the end, or at least the possibility of it. Sometimes it might turn out to be a derelict, sprawling wasteground instead, but they have their own beauty. I don't want to live there, but I'll probably still come back one day, when I'm in that mood.

And I do that with ordinary reading too - when I want that "holiday" I'll choose something I know will be a comfortable or interesting or happy read (whether it's a re-read, or a favourite author or a particular genre, even)...

But otherwise I do like the discovery at the end... *g*

[franciskerst.livejournal.com]

What I want is a roller-coaster of emotions and surprises on the way with a not too sweet open ending (with more positive than negative prospects though) , thoughtfulness and a high literay quality. What I hate is sugary sweet details, hearts and flowers, teddy-bears, kittens, domesticity , kids, gay marriages, old guys, but also the opposite: kinky scenes, excessive violence, BDSM, even too detailed sex scenes or any fiction which is just a love story and nothing else (in the mainstream commercial literature as well).

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You sound like you're more like me in a lot of ways - enjoying journeys of exploration and the excitement of not knowing what might be at the end... though hoping that it'll be something generally promising and hopeful... *g*

[krisserci5.livejournal.com]

She thought that if she was secure in the outcome of a story (through knowing an author), she could sit back and enjoy the "finer details of the story" - and thinking about it, I suspect I'm the opposite! I want to have confidence that the scenery itself is going to be sound and nice to look at, but I also want the excitement of never quite knowing where I'm going to end up - what's going to happen! I want a surprise at the end - hopefully a happy surprise, but still a surprise...

I'm with Cornish! What's a happy surprise? If the lads aren't together at the end then what's the point? I don't accept that one can beat the shit out of the other and then they end up in happy bliss.

If the ending is crap it ruins everything that has come before. I read Pros fanfic for more adventures of Bodie and Doyle together. Not them with birds or other fellas, or apart most of the time.(I am only speaking of me, myself, and I.)

Some mental and lots of physical anguish is just fine, but the truly happy ending is a must for me.

Re: the knowing the author. Ellis Ward never disappointed me. O'Yardley used to be in that category but that changed with Two Lovers. So, now I would check before starting. MFae is always enter at your own risk. (There are some stories that I will never read.)[[Unfortunately for me my memory is too good and an image created in a story can stay with me for years.Not a good thing with sad stuff.]

Knowing an author personally also affects how I read a story.The plus side, one can ask them why they did something that erks you but on the minus side, I will be much more careful in my critic.

Great question.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I must point out, as Cornishcat corrected me, that she hadn't meant to imply she only wanted happy endings - that was my clumsy use of happy endings as an example of a "rewarding ending".

So... you really just want the ending to be a familiar and pleasant place, and you'll generally enjoy the journey if that's the case, by the sounds!

When I started thinking about things, by "knowing the author" I really meant knowing them personally - having spent time with them and so on, so that you know how their mind works... It's a good point about critiques too - and something I'm quite aware of in general with the Reading Room and Ci5hq, cos I gather it's one of those old saws about whether it's okay to be critical when you know an author's listening, etc... I tend to think that if something's been put out for public consumption and comment, then authors need to be prepared for the negative as well as the positive, but it doesn't stop me wanting to be polite, and not make anyone feel bad!

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Great question - you're going to have me pondering deep into the night *g*

I think I go both ways (hush! *g*). There are times I want the pure comfort of an author I know and trust to take me to a happy ending; but I also love the harder edge and discomfort of not knowing where a story is going - but I have to be in the right mood for that because fanfic is my safe place, my blankie.

Also, I find the fandom makes a difference: I'm more emotionally involved with Pros, so there I want a happy end most of the time; with other fandoms, not so much so. Some of my favourite fics are dark and angsty and tragic, but they're in other fandoms where I'm less likely to be traumatised.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think when I want that cosiness from a story, I tend to re-read ones I've loved before - or perhaps stick with a favourite author who's fic tends to work a certain way... But I don't always want cosiness from life, sometimes I want to go out and explore... so it makes perfect sense to me to go both ways at different times! *g*

Interesting about fandom - I just don't read in other fandoms, if I'm not emotionally involved with the characters (as I briefly was with Torchwood, and might briefly be with The Dark is Rising, though I've not gone properly exploring there, yet (waah two-job time, shall have to wait until the extra one ends in a couple of weeks!), so that doesn't come up for me... I suppose that starts to get into why we read fanfic rather than original fic at all... *g*

[franciskerst.livejournal.com]

I read the post inattentively and didn't really answer the question by simply listing themes I disliked. To sum up my position, I am more on the side of the trip (hanging to dramatic tension) than of the landscape (contemplating details) though very sensitive to the style.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - no worries! There've been all sorts of interpretations of the question anyway, and that's interesting too... plus I suspect I could have been clearer and less rambling about it... *g*

I like your idea of the trip vs the landscape rather than mine of the destination vs the landscape too (though I think expected destination still comes into it)... and yes, I think I'm with you about enjoying the trip with all its twists and turns more than simply the landscape - although somehow the landscape has to be of a certain quality to start with (which is where I'd say things like characterisation and competency with writing come in - if they're not there, then I won't get as far as the first train station, I'll throw myself from the moving carriage! *g*)

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

For me it's the journey that is key. I like a twisting, roller coaster ride. Lots of action and angst and emotion required! The destination is important, but it's the getting there that keeps me interested in a story. I have been disappointed. There are stories, as mentioned above, that start off great lose their way. I might take a peak at the destination then, to see if I want to continue the trip. There are favorite authors - some that I can count on for a "happy" ending and others that leave me a little worried about the lads at the end. The mood I'm in determines which type story I'll go for at that moment. I love finding new authors because there's an element of "risk" - where is the journey going to take me and the lads - and it's exciting not to have a preconceived idea of how the writer will wrap it up.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Eeeh, I didn't realise that I'd not replied to this - sorry! I am still interested... *g*

I like your thoughts about finding new authors, because they're an element of "risk" - though I hate it when the new author fades into cliche or bad characterisation and so on almost immediately, before you've really had a chance to enjoy the rush of the "risk"... But it was lovely to re-discover Gil Hale (who I'd read before, but not much), and knowing that the journey was going to be smooth and interesting, and that the ending would be some fabulous thing, whatever it was... cos there's thought there...

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

I'm a couple of days late to this, but here goes:

Ideally? Both; but I'm definitely more interested how everything ends. I'm fine with angst, separation, and even character death - as long as it's done well. (*Really* well.) That's not to say I don't like happy endings, but an ending that properly fits the story is the most important thing.

That said, most fanfiction is about the happy ending, and a lot of people are looking for the characters to take some torturous path but eventually get to that happy ending. So I usually go into fanfiction looking at the journey and how well the author guides you down the road.

...But a really well-done story that doesn't end at the expected point B is likely going to be high on my list of Amazing Tales. :D

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

most fanfiction is about the happy ending, and a lot of people are looking for the characters to take some torturous path but eventually get to that happy ending
I wonder why that is - why is it the nature of "most fans" to want a happy ending over an interesting, realistic story? I like a happy ending myself, but as people have said above, it needs to make sense of the story rather than being a happy ending almost as requirement rather than anything else... I've heard people say they only want happy endings cos fandom's their "escape", their "happy place" and they don't want anything bad there, and somehow I've always felt a bit uncomfortable with that... as though they'll give up anything of true worth for the sake of comfort and joy... Maybe it takes me back to alot of the sci fi I read, which questioned how much we'd be prepared to sacrifice for "Utopia"... Logan's Run, for instance - or even The Matrix, come to that! What do we sacrifice in fanfic for the sake of "the happy", and what does that do to us, deep inside...

Bet you weren't expecting that sort of rambling after being late... *g*