A kvestion, please to be answerink

[nny]

When being recommended a fic, what do you want to know?

Comments

[thingswithwings]

how long it is, romantic pairings, kinks, why you're recommending it (what you liked about it), if there's anything potentially triggering or problematic (including racism/homophobia/sexism), if any of the tags on the story/story description is misleading (like when something's noncon but tagged dubcon), if it has an unhappy ending.

But why you liked it is the most important one! And, by corollary, anything you didn't like about it.

[genarti]

Length (well, mostly whether or not it's very long) and rating, so I know what I'm clicking on. And fandom, of course, but that's probably a given. Why you liked it or a short summary or something is also very helpful in determining whether it's something I will like and am in the mood for! But really, mostly I want to know what I'm clicking on.

[sasha_feather]

What you liked about it, and anything you didn't like about it. Why you are recommending it. Also, what Twwings said, it's great to include potential triggers, although really I think the author should include those, if the author fails to, the reccer should.

[musesfool]

aside from fandom/character-focus/pairing? Length, whether it's complete (I don't like works in progress), and why you liked it. Did it make you laugh/cry/fan yourself/wince in sympathy/all of the above at various points?

I also like to know what the person recommending it likes in general, to see if our tastes line up or not. I find that either people who have really similar tastes or people who have really opposite tastes are most useful to me, because in the first case, I will often like what they like! And in the second, I will often know to avoid what they like and seek out what they don't!

[ashen_key]

Pretty much seconding all of the above, so I'm going to go a bit more into triggers.

I? Have ones that aren't always marked (although, seriously, if more people would be aware that they are writing power-imbalances and mark according, it'd be great), so when people rec me things, I tend to ask about, or if there are other things that know will specifically hurt me. Because I'm a delicate flower with issues <.< (okay, less self-snide, there are issues and mental illness and no fic is worth me curled up crying over it, sooooo I have to be careful)

[skygiants]

"METADATAAAAAAAAAAA!" she screamed, and ran away cackling into the archival night

[celtic_maenad]

Fandom, if it's shippy then what ship, length, if it's a WIP or not, any trigger warnings you feel appropriate, and what made this fic stand out for you. That last could be as simple as "it made me laugh" - no in-depth review required really.

[in_the_blue]

Aside from the fandom and author, I want to know how long it is so I know if I have time to read it now or later or maybe later, and if there's a pairing I want to know that because there are some I just don't want to read, although I might make exceptions for authors I really love to read. Also I like to know why someone's reccing a fic, so tell me what you liked about it ("it's the best explanation of Charlie's relationship with Norbert I've ever read" or something along those lines). I'd love to have the time to read all the fanfiction I see recced, but these days I barely even have time to be online to answer email, so I choose what to read carefully.

[krait]

Mmmnn. Fandom, first! Then pairing, length, and a very basic plot outline (no spoilers!) and maybe some particular highlights/obstacles (kinks, tropes, notable features like writing style, WIP status/frequency of updates, part of a series/length of series); any caveats (unfortunate tropes, formatting failures). And I always like to hear what the reccer particularly liked (i.e. "why I am reccing this"), because that tends to be where a lot of make-or-break stuff turns up! I