Roses Ablaze
Avatar by Ayumeg
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2003
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- 1,436
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Originally posted on a Sailor Moon community, hence the example.
When it comes to non-canon (or even anti-canon) pairings, what is the difference between handling them well in fanfiction and handling them poorly?
For me, one of the most important factors is the setup of the pairing and, if they do end up together, how they get together. It usually annoys me when the author just assumes that the two characters are in love and everyone is supposed to accept it right off the bat. It's best to build their love first, make us believe it before diving into the dates and sex and whatnot. Act like you're trying to win converts, not just please yourself or people who are already fans of the pairing. You can do the latter, of course, but it won't churn out a quality fic.
Another important thing is characterization. This is important in every fic, but OOCness seems to irk me more in romance fics more than in genfics for some reason. Just because this OTP, whatever it is, defies sexual orientation and/or canon pairings doesn't mean you can scrap everything else we know about the characters. I don't mind Usagi/Rei as a pairing, but if Rei sabotages Mamoru's relationship with Usagi or kills Mamoru, then we've got a problem. Why? Because despite what anti-Rei fans would have you believe, she's just not that malicious of a person. Please, if you're going to write about this pairing, have Mamoru and Usagi break up first without Rei doing something deceptive or dubious, make it an AU where Usagi and Mamoru are not together, make it unrequited love on the part of Rei, but don't make the characters do something they'd never do just for the sake of your OTP.
These are both challenging, but I think they're necessary. Of course, I am of the opinion that AU romance fics and OCs are the two genres that should only be attempted by experienced authors because they're the easiest to screw up.
PS. Please don't put things like "use proper grammar" and "have good description" that you could apply to any fic, unless you think it's more important in non-canon romance fics than it is in other genres. The subject matter of this post is more specific than that.
PPS. And, don't post things like "all pairings that aren't canon suck" or "yaoi/yuri sucks" that waste both our time and yours.
When it comes to non-canon (or even anti-canon) pairings, what is the difference between handling them well in fanfiction and handling them poorly?
For me, one of the most important factors is the setup of the pairing and, if they do end up together, how they get together. It usually annoys me when the author just assumes that the two characters are in love and everyone is supposed to accept it right off the bat. It's best to build their love first, make us believe it before diving into the dates and sex and whatnot. Act like you're trying to win converts, not just please yourself or people who are already fans of the pairing. You can do the latter, of course, but it won't churn out a quality fic.
Another important thing is characterization. This is important in every fic, but OOCness seems to irk me more in romance fics more than in genfics for some reason. Just because this OTP, whatever it is, defies sexual orientation and/or canon pairings doesn't mean you can scrap everything else we know about the characters. I don't mind Usagi/Rei as a pairing, but if Rei sabotages Mamoru's relationship with Usagi or kills Mamoru, then we've got a problem. Why? Because despite what anti-Rei fans would have you believe, she's just not that malicious of a person. Please, if you're going to write about this pairing, have Mamoru and Usagi break up first without Rei doing something deceptive or dubious, make it an AU where Usagi and Mamoru are not together, make it unrequited love on the part of Rei, but don't make the characters do something they'd never do just for the sake of your OTP.
These are both challenging, but I think they're necessary. Of course, I am of the opinion that AU romance fics and OCs are the two genres that should only be attempted by experienced authors because they're the easiest to screw up.
PS. Please don't put things like "use proper grammar" and "have good description" that you could apply to any fic, unless you think it's more important in non-canon romance fics than it is in other genres. The subject matter of this post is more specific than that.
PPS. And, don't post things like "all pairings that aren't canon suck" or "yaoi/yuri sucks" that waste both our time and yours.
