![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrI've thinking about which canons inspire me to write fic, because while I've been having fun with Hakuoki lately (my current WIP is at 50K and counting??) it would be nice to be this inspired about something other than a ten year old dating sim whose fandom is largely not interested in picking up what I'm putting down.
So! Looking at my ao3 the top fandoms by number of fic are:
33: Dragon Age 33
19: Mass Effect 19
3: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Glitch, Yuri on Ice, Hakuoki
The Glitch fic are all under 500 words so let's ignore that.
So, in order of how significant they seem to be, here's the relevant commonalities I can come up with (not all of which always show up):
Other canons I have gotten into creatively that (mostly) fit these criteria:
Homestuck: I found the writing style too hard to emulate so just drew a lot of art and comics.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: It was a little inspiring?
Steven Universe: the worldbuilding is WAY too nonsensical for me to be able to write in that world, so I just draw art.
Canons I have not gotten into creatively that (mostly) fit these criteria:
Knights of the Old Republic: I think the Star Wars-ness put me off? Also I never finished the game.
Seven Kingdoms: the Princess Problem: It's not finished yet! Also the world building is a bit silly.
Magical Diary and lots of other dating sims: The worldbuilding was too shallow.
Anything by David Cage: they sound infuriating.
Babylon 5: I'm not sure, too neatly tied up maybe?
Something I have found really useful with the Bioware games (Mass Effect and Dragon Age) and Hakuoki is there being a repeated underlying plot which the game does variations on: this gives me a flexible template for my own fic. I'm not very good at coming up with entirely unique plots, and the template gives me building blocks I can use to construct a plot I like without being too limited or having to come up with too much myself. Sometimes I don't follow the template but having it there gives me somewhere to start.
The large cast and indepth worldbuilding have a similar effect, I have lots of story-blocks to play with and I don't have to figure out what various combinations/details would look like from scratch, because canon has explored them.
Hakuoki being historical RPF + vampires has me trying to think of other historical RPF + speculative elements. I'm having trouble thinking of examples but have vague memories of finding most historical fiction too focussed on the large scale Epic Political Drama and not enough on the characters and relationships. Hakuoki just covers a period of 4 years, and is about a group of people who are interesting in part because nothing they did made much difference in the end but also adds vampires and the ability to mess about with history a little.
Some historical fiction + speculative elements I have enjoyed but not been fannish about is Wynonna Earp Season 1 and the Gabriel Knight series.
Hmm. No real conclusions I guess but it was interesting to think about!
(I'm more multifannish with art so am less fussed about that. There's always something to draw)
So! Looking at my ao3 the top fandoms by number of fic are:
33: Dragon Age 33
19: Mass Effect 19
3: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Glitch, Yuri on Ice, Hakuoki
The Glitch fic are all under 500 words so let's ignore that.
So, in order of how significant they seem to be, here's the relevant commonalities I can come up with (not all of which always show up):
- Happy ending (and romance?)
- Large ensemble cast of varied and well drawn characters with interesting relationships
- In depth worldbuilding, either a well drawn secondary world or a fictionalised version of a real situation. Fuzzy/inconsistent enough to make me feel ok being lazy sometimes.
- Female main character(s)
- Explores complex social and philosophical issues but in a fairly light way, often metaphorically
- Speculative elements
- Interactively branching story
- Canon queerness
- Animated (including 3D computer graphics and flat sprites)
Other canons I have gotten into creatively that (mostly) fit these criteria:
Homestuck: I found the writing style too hard to emulate so just drew a lot of art and comics.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: It was a little inspiring?
Steven Universe: the worldbuilding is WAY too nonsensical for me to be able to write in that world, so I just draw art.
Canons I have not gotten into creatively that (mostly) fit these criteria:
Knights of the Old Republic: I think the Star Wars-ness put me off? Also I never finished the game.
Seven Kingdoms: the Princess Problem: It's not finished yet! Also the world building is a bit silly.
Magical Diary and lots of other dating sims: The worldbuilding was too shallow.
Anything by David Cage: they sound infuriating.
Babylon 5: I'm not sure, too neatly tied up maybe?
Something I have found really useful with the Bioware games (Mass Effect and Dragon Age) and Hakuoki is there being a repeated underlying plot which the game does variations on: this gives me a flexible template for my own fic. I'm not very good at coming up with entirely unique plots, and the template gives me building blocks I can use to construct a plot I like without being too limited or having to come up with too much myself. Sometimes I don't follow the template but having it there gives me somewhere to start.
The large cast and indepth worldbuilding have a similar effect, I have lots of story-blocks to play with and I don't have to figure out what various combinations/details would look like from scratch, because canon has explored them.
Hakuoki being historical RPF + vampires has me trying to think of other historical RPF + speculative elements. I'm having trouble thinking of examples but have vague memories of finding most historical fiction too focussed on the large scale Epic Political Drama and not enough on the characters and relationships. Hakuoki just covers a period of 4 years, and is about a group of people who are interesting in part because nothing they did made much difference in the end but also adds vampires and the ability to mess about with history a little.
Some historical fiction + speculative elements I have enjoyed but not been fannish about is Wynonna Earp Season 1 and the Gabriel Knight series.
Hmm. No real conclusions I guess but it was interesting to think about!
(I'm more multifannish with art so am less fussed about that. There's always something to draw)
no subject
Date: 2018-09-26 05:58 pm (UTC)I've found myself trying to flesh out less well-revealed parts of canon, but that also drops the numbers of main characters who get involved. Sometimes that works better than others...
Fixit fics in B5 are difficult!
no subject
Date: 2018-09-28 11:53 am (UTC)Yes! It all feels so inevitable, there are things I can imagine being a bit different in the details but mostly it's a seamless whole. Which made for great viewing but is a bit off-putting as a fic writer.
no subject
Date: 2018-09-27 10:00 am (UTC)I've been considering writing fic for Magical Diary on and off for ages but your right, the world building is a bit too shallow. It would be nice if they made another game!
no subject
Date: 2018-09-28 10:39 am (UTC)Apparently they are making a Magical Diary sequel called Wolf Hall where you play as a guy!
And yeah other fantasy RPGs haven't clicked for me either :(
no subject
Date: 2018-09-29 06:24 pm (UTC)