fanfic ask meme: o, s, u?
O: How do you begin a story--with the plot, or the characters?
Oh wow, imagine if I had a Method. Like an actual writer! Ahahaha. I... um. Sometimes my brain makes me do things??? I don’t begin them, they just start happening. I guess it’s about characters, if it’s between those two choices, but actually with me I think it’s generally more about a particular theme, or conflict my brain is wrestling with.
S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?
I’m not sure, but I bet there are lots in there, sooo much has become tropey now, it’s hard to avoid! I don’t actually read much fanfic in the classic mode, i.e. canon character pairings, so I can’t keep up. I would love to claim I deliberately undermine tropes, but if I do, it’s more accidental than anything else. For example, I&J getting two beds when they wanted one was less about subverting the “There’s Only One Bed” trope and more about the Real-Life Gay Hotel Struggle.
U: A pairing you might like to write for, but haven't tried yet.
Yeah, I mean... I don’t really do “pairings” on their own much, as I like there to be other stuff going on, so it depends what I have ideas for. Like, it’s fun to think about Iriel’s chaotic relationship with Reu back in the day, but I don’t think there’s enough substance to write it down. Or there’s stuff that’d be good, but I’d need a good action-plot for it, like early Habasi/Helende Thieves’ Guild stories.
I have another “pairing” I’m toying with writing about, as I have some actual Concepts and Plot Structure maybe, but it’s definitely not romantic. Keeping that to myself for now, though. Might come to nothing!