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08/16/2002: the "recs with disclaimer" discussion
I saw this cross-blog discussion mentioned on metablog and I noticed that I do this on my AU rec page too. I sometimes say in a rec things like: "read this story of genre/pairing X even if you normally don't like that genre/pairing" or "I liked this story even though it has the flaws Y and Z". I never saw that as either dismissing genres or as apologizing for my tastes. For me it is more a way to make my recs transparent and usable for readers, to give more information, not only on a specific story but also on that story in relation to my other recs and to my "usual" tastes.
It is a way to convince more people to read a story, for example when I recommended the XF AU The Magician I said that I liked an MSR fic even though my preferences are NoRomo, that I liked it even though it is a Fantasy story etc, because when I first saw it myself I was sure to hate it, I just tried it later, despite my reservations, because it was so consistently recommended by other people whose tastes weren't MSR or Fantasy AUs. A MSR shipper rec without that explanation wouldn't have gotten me to try it.
I think that on a rec page it is useful to make it clear what your regular tastes are, and what you'll only read sometimes when there is something special about a story. Also I think it is useful for readers if the recs are put into perspective, especially if the "standards" for your recs aren't always the same. For example in fandoms where there is comparatively little fiction I like, I will rec stories that from their qualities as stories on their own (removed from my fiction craving for a particular fandom or pairing) are maybe not great, but still fun to read and compared with other fic in that fandom/pairing quite good. But at the same time I know I wouldn't rec a story like that in a fandom with an abundance of fiction.
Also I'm aware that there are things that some people are very picky about, when I don't care quite as much, for example some spelling problems, or things like confusing "its/it's". It's not that I don't notice, just as long as it isn't too bad, and as long as the story is good otherwise, it isn't such an important thing for me. Certainly I don't feel like I need to apologize for being able to overlook these faults, but I think it is only fair to point them out. Otherwise all those people who are not able to overlook these problems (and judging based on list discussion concerning spelling errors in fanfiction they aren't only a few people either) will just wonder why the heck I rec fiction with such "awful" problems and didn't even notice, and they probably put my rec page in the category of rec pages whose tastes they do not share. Which could be the case of course, but it just as well could be otherwise, because after all most fiction I rec has no blatant spelling problems.
Obviously I enjoyed reading all stories I rec, but I don't enjoy everything to the same degree or for the same reasons, nor do I rec only "perfect" or "flawless" stories. So sometimes my recs come with "disclaimers": sometimes I tell not only what I liked about a story but also what I disliked, and I say when I rec things in a genre for which I have a particular fondness, as well as when I rec a story outside my usual preferences. I guess I just try to be as honest and helpful in my recs as I can, and for me that means to be clear about my biases.
