7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
I assume, given that the other 29 questions are about fic I've written, that this question is asking if the experience of writing a given fic has ever changed my opinion of a character.
My kneejerk reaction is to cite Burn Up in Love Love Love, Panic! at the Disco GSF that originated in me saying, you know, I liked all of the dozens of slutty bottom Ryan Ross stories I had read, but why couldn't there be slutty bottom Jon Walker? At the time I said it it was sheerly contrarian, but by the time I finished the story it seemed self-evident to me that Jon belonged on the bottom of the puppy pile (and Ryan on the top).
For a bit more, uh, depth, though, there's also the experience I had while writing When the Reckoning Arrives, which is how I learned who Arkady Jole is (and all about how his life works). This feels a bit like cheating since I was also making up most of what I know about Arkady Jole, but I can't talk about him in the OC question tomorrow, so you get him now. I wound up writing "When the Reckoning Arrives" only after making repeated failed attempts to write "Everything That You Can Keep" without the detour. But I couldn't figure out how Jole worked, what he was thinking, how to write his voice, and finally I went and gave him his own story in which to find out who he was. That didn't exactly change my opinion of him (my opinion: Jole is the prettiest! And best! And loves Aral a lot!) but it gave my opinion something to work with.
Other than that, hmm. I tend to be kind of ... a stickler for canon? (I feel like if I try to say I'm not![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iulia will turn up in the comments to LAUGH AT ME FOREVER, so I should just cop to it.) I try to keep even things that have no reason to be in line with canon in line with canon (and my interpretation thereof), and when writing something that deviates wildly I tend to have a pretty good separation in my mind between, you know, "This is what this character would be like as a professional hockey player" or "This is what this character is like after he's been held captive for months by the bad guys" and "This is what this character is actually like."
On the other hand, lately I have to reach in and forcibly remove the soul-bonded wolves from all my other bunnies that are not supposed to involve soul-bonded wolves. DAMMIT, WOLVES. YOU GET ONE AU. ONE. IT IS YOURS. IT IS A WHOLE UNIVERSE. BUT YOU HAVE TO STAY IN IT.
( All 30 questions under the cut. )
I assume, given that the other 29 questions are about fic I've written, that this question is asking if the experience of writing a given fic has ever changed my opinion of a character.
My kneejerk reaction is to cite Burn Up in Love Love Love, Panic! at the Disco GSF that originated in me saying, you know, I liked all of the dozens of slutty bottom Ryan Ross stories I had read, but why couldn't there be slutty bottom Jon Walker? At the time I said it it was sheerly contrarian, but by the time I finished the story it seemed self-evident to me that Jon belonged on the bottom of the puppy pile (and Ryan on the top).
For a bit more, uh, depth, though, there's also the experience I had while writing When the Reckoning Arrives, which is how I learned who Arkady Jole is (and all about how his life works). This feels a bit like cheating since I was also making up most of what I know about Arkady Jole, but I can't talk about him in the OC question tomorrow, so you get him now. I wound up writing "When the Reckoning Arrives" only after making repeated failed attempts to write "Everything That You Can Keep" without the detour. But I couldn't figure out how Jole worked, what he was thinking, how to write his voice, and finally I went and gave him his own story in which to find out who he was. That didn't exactly change my opinion of him (my opinion: Jole is the prettiest! And best! And loves Aral a lot!) but it gave my opinion something to work with.
Other than that, hmm. I tend to be kind of ... a stickler for canon? (I feel like if I try to say I'm not
iulia will turn up in the comments to LAUGH AT ME FOREVER, so I should just cop to it.) I try to keep even things that have no reason to be in line with canon in line with canon (and my interpretation thereof), and when writing something that deviates wildly I tend to have a pretty good separation in my mind between, you know, "This is what this character would be like as a professional hockey player" or "This is what this character is like after he's been held captive for months by the bad guys" and "This is what this character is actually like." On the other hand, lately I have to reach in and forcibly remove the soul-bonded wolves from all my other bunnies that are not supposed to involve soul-bonded wolves. DAMMIT, WOLVES. YOU GET ONE AU. ONE. IT IS YOURS. IT IS A WHOLE UNIVERSE. BUT YOU HAVE TO STAY IN IT.
( All 30 questions under the cut. )