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Post by devilinthedetails on Feb 1, 2019 22:38:11 GMT 10
With the Peculiar Pairing Bingo coming up, I thought it might be cool to discuss techniques for writing about pairings that don't exist in canon or aren't commonly seen in fanfiction. In what ways do you create believable connections and closeness between these couples? In other words, how have you been able to sell peculiar pairings to your audience? I'd love to hear your ideas and success stories!
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Post by Rosie on Feb 1, 2019 23:12:31 GMT 10
Calling Lisa, who has written Wyldon/Thayet, Buri/Numair, Maura/Joren, Kel/Lindhall, who normalised Kel/Wyldon (at least for the glake section of the fandom)... I threw Wyldon/Myles at her to try to upset her, and she wrote it and wrote it beautifully (honestly, she won an award called 'That Should Have Squicked Me But It Didn't' with it). Haven't even touched on all the pairings she's written for SMACKDOWN. I don't normally wax so lyrical about her, but she really has mastered peculiar pairings, and presents them in the best light possible. |
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Post by devilinthedetails on Feb 1, 2019 23:48:12 GMT 10
Calling Lisa , who has written Wyldon/Thayet, Buri/Numair, Maura/Joren, Kel/Lindhall, who normalised Kel/Wyldon (at least for the glake section of the fandom)... I threw Wyldon/Myles at her to try to upset her, and she wrote it and wrote it beautifully (honestly, she won an award called 'That Should Have Squicked Me But It Didn't' with it). Haven't even touched on all the pairings she's written for SMACKDOWN. I don't normally wax so lyrical about her, but she really has mastered peculiar pairings, and presents them in the best light possible. Oh, I will have to check out some of these stories for examples on how to write peculiar pairings convincingly. I admit that I have a tendency to focus on pairings that are in canon or else pretty popular or at least accepted in fandom, but I'm looking forward to the challenge of pushing myself beyond my comfort zone a bit with the peculiar pairings event coming up. |
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Post by Lisa on Feb 2, 2019 0:31:04 GMT 10
Eee, I'm completely flattered by Rosie's recommendations. But yes - weird pairings are probably my favorite thing in Tortall-fanfiction. ^_^ For me, the key is finding the connections in the canon. For example, I got stuck on the idea of Joren and Maura when I read that the pages took their trip up to three fiefs in the same region, and those two were listed. Plus Joren and Maura are the same age. So I built a plausible-seeming background of two people who'd known each other since childhood, and have created a bond with each other in their isolation from the aristocrats of Corus. The next level was "how do their world views work together", to which the answer was "they DON'T" - so it gave me a premise: these two have always been together, have always been fond of each other, but are now waking up to their very different outlooks, and it's a deal breaker. Sometimes the unusual pairing ends with the story I write, because I'm RIDICULOUSLY tied to canon. But sometimes it can still work if you're very in tune with the timeline of events and how slipping a relationship between the scenes can affect what happens later in the series. My "Paragons of Knightly Virtue" is probably my favorite ever that I've written in the Tortall-verse, despite the fact that I thought Myles/Wyldon would squick me, because it all hinged on Myles's sarcastic comment to Kel regarding Wyldon as a paragon of knightly virtue. So suddenly I'm thinking "oh my god, their relationship will be about debating the role of a knight", taking into consideration how Myles would but heads with the pages about the Code.  So, yeah... just play with the characters' personalities to see how something could spark between them, either sympathetically or in an antagonising way, and you'll probably find a story to tell! (and if you want some random examples, I'm on AO3 as "Lisafer" and have a LOT of my weird pairings posted. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I think some of them are pretty good!) |
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Post by devilinthedetails on Feb 2, 2019 1:21:24 GMT 10
Eee, I'm completely flattered by Rosie's recommendations. But yes - weird pairings are probably my favorite thing in Tortall-fanfiction. ^_^ For me, the key is finding the connections in the canon. For example, I got stuck on the idea of Joren and Maura when I read that the pages took their trip up to three fiefs in the same region, and those two were listed. Plus Joren and Maura are the same age. So I built a plausible-seeming background of two people who'd known each other since childhood, and have created a bond with each other in their isolation from the aristocrats of Corus. The next level was "how do their world views work together", to which the answer was "they DON'T" - so it gave me a premise: these two have always been together, have always been fond of each other, but are now waking up to their very different outlooks, and it's a deal breaker. Sometimes the unusual pairing ends with the story I write, because I'm RIDICULOUSLY tied to canon. But sometimes it can still work if you're very in tune with the timeline of events and how slipping a relationship between the scenes can affect what happens later in the series. My "Paragons of Knightly Virtue" is probably my favorite ever that I've written in the Tortall-verse, despite the fact that I thought Myles/Wyldon would squick me, because it all hinged on Myles's sarcastic comment to Kel regarding Wyldon as a paragon of knightly virtue. So suddenly I'm thinking "oh my god, their relationship will be about debating the role of a knight", taking into consideration how Myles would but heads with the pages about the Code. So, yeah... just play with the characters' personalities to see how something could spark between them, either sympathetically or in an antagonising way, and you'll probably find a story to tell! (and if you want some random examples, I'm on AO3 as "Lisafer" and have a LOT of my weird pairings posted. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I think some of them are pretty good!) Oh, I really like that idea of looking for connections in canon, since I really do tend to enjoy all those little details about people and places in canon so it would be neat to be able to use that knowledge as inspiration for connections between characters that might not seem to have a clear link otherwise. Creating a Maura/Joren pairing based on geographical proximity and age makes a lot of sense even if it it out of the box thinking, and I love what you say about making a story center around their realization that their worldviews are fundamentally incompatible. I think I was approaching the idea of peculiar pairings with the assumption that the characters worldviews would have to be compatible in order for the relationship to work but in real life people often get into a relationship with someone only to discover that it won't work out due to deep differences in beliefs or values, so why not have fanfic mimic the real world in that regard? It's totally believable and can make for a moving story. I am probably like you in being pretty crazy tied to canon, which is why I was so proud of myself for writing my very first AU for the last Malorie's Peak Prompt. (This forum is turning me into a risk-taker, ha ha.) So rooting your peculiar pairing in textual lines and details from the books sounds like a great strategy to me. And I definitely will take your advice about playing with the characters' personalities since at the end of the day, characters do have to be at the heart of stories especially ones about romances (however unconventional). Thank you so much for the advice. I will definitely check out some of your stories on AO3 when I get a chance. I have the same username over there as I do here, so if you see a comment from a "devilinthedetails," that's me spamming your inbox. |
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Blue
Message Runner
Sailing all the ships
Posts: 25
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Post by Blue on Feb 5, 2019 21:00:18 GMT 10
I admit sometimes I REALLY want to make wheels of (mis)fortune when it comes to pairings, just to see what crazy things pop up. I'll write the most ridiculous things. *looks at Kaddar/Onua* I can't stop.
On the other half, I'm god-awful at fanfiction because I can't seem to write a consistent characterisation for anyone! Crossing my fingers that the Peculiar Pairings Bingo submission I'm working on will be legible, at least... at least make it legible...
So I guess I don't have a tactic, I'm just insane and will follow a stupid idea until... something. Pierce's characters all have things in common, you can beat kinship into anyone!
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Post by devilinthedetails on Feb 5, 2019 23:19:06 GMT 10
I admit sometimes I REALLY want to make wheels of (mis)fortune when it comes to pairings, just to see what crazy things pop up. I'll write the most ridiculous things. *looks at Kaddar/Onua* I can't stop. On the other half, I'm god-awful at fanfiction because I can't seem to write a consistent characterisation for anyone! Crossing my fingers that the Peculiar Pairings Bingo submission I'm working on will be legible, at least... at least make it legible... So I guess I don't have a tactic, I'm just insane and will follow a stupid idea until... something. Pierce's characters all have things in common, you can beat kinship into anyone! Sometimes it can be good to just follow your inspiration and embrace the craziness especially when writing a peculiar pairing. At the end of the day, writing fanfic should hopefully be fun so it can be nice to just take an opportunity to just go wild in every way. |
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Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!